Tag Archive | knitting

This is a big deal

Sep27

I’m going to make a sweater! Whoa, right? No, I know, I’ve done this before. I’ve actually crocheted one sweater and knitted three. My first knitted sweater was a Harvest cardigan that came out HUGE but is super cozy to bum around in at home. My next two knitted sweaters were pullovers that actually fit the way I wanted. That cardigan I made with cotton; it was soft but still not a high-quality yarn. The pullovers were both made with acrylic yarn. I love them, but I decided that I’m ready for the big leagues now: I want to make a sweater out of GOOD yarn.

I’ve never bought a sweater quantity of good (i.e. non-acrylic) yarn before, instead choosing fun single skeins. So for my birthday earlier this month, I told the husband that I wanted a sweater quantity of yarn. He’s a smart man, so he gave me the money for it rather than trying to pick it out himself.

But what yarn? What pattern? What color? Well, the yarn itself wasn’t too hard: Malabrigo has been one of my very favorite yarns for years. For pattern, I wanted something interesting and pretty, a little more intricate than the basic pullovers I’ve made. It took a lot of browsing but I settled on Penny by tincanknits. And color? Well, at first I thought about a neutral. But then I thought, NAHHH! Let’s have fun!

img_5618This is six skeins of Malabrigo Arroyo in the glorious Fucsia, which might possibly be the most difficult color of yarn to photograph. Subtle, it is not! But it will make a gorgeous sweater and I’m pretty sure I’ll be doing some swatching this weekend!

Color Me Happy

Sep25

I have a new WIP! The reason why is a bit convoluted so bear with me. See, I agreed to test out some new circular needles, and I have one size. That’s actually how I ended up casting on the Spring Rain shawl, but then I realized that 24″ circs aren’t long enough for a shawl. I needed to put the shawl on a longer cord, but I needed to go to the LYS for that. Then when that was done, I needed a pattern for 24″ size 2.5 circs, and I thought a cowl would be perfect. I plugged all the necessary info in Ravelry and ended up choosing the Color Me Happy cowl.

Oh, what colors? No, not the pink and purple in the original, though I totally tried to find something similar in my stash. Instead, my stash threw out these three skeins and said they’d really like to work together.

6444a1bb-dd52-4c08-9fc0-a1375cfdc1e2Won’t that be lovely? I purchased the pattern and got all ready to cast on with my little 2.5 circs…only to see that that size was needed for one section if you were doing a straight bottom edge instead of the kerchief style! For everything else, it recommended a size 4.

Well, to heck with that, I say, and I’m just going to use these darn needles and it’s going to be just fine!

img_5584

Honestly, now that I’m this far into it, I think the size 4 would be too big and I wouldn’t like the loose drape anyway. Now I’m just eager to get to the point where I can join in the round and start zooming along!

Spring Rain

Sep23

As I mentioned yesterday, I’ve been working on my new shawl as much as I can, and I’m loving it so much. I don’t really even understand why, since it’s not even purple! But I’ve always loved the vivid green of MadTosh Seaglass, and I’m just so delighted with how well the yarns play together.

fullsizeoutput_237cThe pattern is a nice mix of lace and garter stitch, switching it up so I don’t get tired of either. Okay, well, yeah, I get a little tired of the garter stitch, but it’s fine. Worth it to get back to the lace and the green!

IMG_5586

I never thought I’d be so excited to knit something non-purple!

I went to a yarn store

Sep22

But I had a good reason, I swear! I’ve been working on my Spring Rain shawl with the Seaglass green and I’m obsessed with it. But I realized that the 24″ circular needles I started with weren’t going to be long enough for a full shawl. I have one pair of 2.5 interchangeable tips, and I found out that one of them is stripped and wouldn’t screw onto the cord. It just popped right off. Now, I couldn’t just STOP knitting that shawl, right? It simply wasn’t an option. First I tried to be good and went to Michael’s, because I’m rarely tempted by their yarn anymore. Sadly, size 2.5 is apparently not a common size, and they didn’t have it. I was going to have to go to a LYS.

I went to the closest LYS, which also happens to be the biggest, with two yarn stores combined in one huge brick building. So much yarn. I petted a lot of it, even carried a skein around for a while before putting it back. I was just there for ONE size of needles.

But.

One of the stores had a sale section. And in that sale section were needles! Addi needles, which I love! Well how about that?? They didn’t have the size I needed, but I found two other sizes that filled gaps in my needle inventory. Then I went straight to the ChiaoGoo circs, found the size I actually needed, and went to the counter, yarn free.

But.

They had a big display of new yarn up there, all spread out before the counter. Colorful new yarn, in bright pink and purple and green and blue and turquoise and it was all so PRETTY. And that’s how I ended up coming home from the yarn store like this.

fullsizeoutput_237e

The yarn is March Hare, a worsted from Wonderland Yarns, in their new Luminous Collection. It’s super hard to photograph it well, especially since it’s pouring rain outside so I had to take the photo inside. But you can see their photos here, along with all the other gorgeous colors that I wish I had. It might be a cowl, or I might go a little mad and make a crazy colorful sweater with all of these.

IMG_5587

Bright, right? I may be entirely Bonkers, but all the best people are!

Shawl Storage

Sep20

Someone commented on my post yesterday, asking how I store my shawls, and it reminded me that I wanted to ask for advice on that! My skinny scarf/shawls go on hooks on my closet door and that’s great, but it’s getting full.

img_4054

When I started making full-sized shawls, I used some scarf hangers and hung them over the top and through the loops and it was okay. But I keep making shawls because I love to make them so much, and my situation is getting out of hand.

img_4053

I’ve added at least three shawls since I took this photo. I just keep layering more shawls on top, and I can’t see them all, and the hangers are getting heavier. I love having them out where I can see them, but either I need to buy more hangers or I need a different solution! How do you store your shawls??

 

I need some lace, stat!

Sep19

I sat down to knit last night and realized that there was a big gaping hole in my WIPs. I currently have two in-the-round stockinette projects, and two simple socks. That’s it. Now, those are very nice projects and I like them, but what happens when I want something more interesting, more engaging? I got nothin’.

Fortunately, that’s easily remedied. After a little bit of time on Ravelry, and a little bit of time digging through my stash, I’ve got a new project ready to cast on.

img_5567I was kind of saving the green (MadTosh in Seaglass) for a fade project, but it looks so good with this mystery gray/green that I’m willing to make the sacrifice. Plus, heck, I can always get another skein of Seaglass green someday if I need it. This one is going into a pretty two-color shawl called Spring Rain!

Estonian Lace Cowl

Sep16

I spent the last three days working on donation knitting, but today I need to share a cowl I finished over a week ago! I was just really slow taking pretty photos. This is my Estonian Medallion Lace Cowl.

img_8572

This is some of my most recent vacation yarn from Colorado, from a local dyer called Herd of Cats. If I read the tag right, the base is Streets, and this might be the Champion Street colorway. Because it was only around 181 yards, I had to modify the pattern a little bit, just by casting on fewer stitches. Toward the end, I was afraid I was going to run out of yarn so I only did 2.5 repeats of the lace instead of three. (Probably could have done all three, though.)

img_8587

Anyway, the important thing is that the yarn is delicious! It’s thick and squooshy and so soft that I really thought it had some cashmere or silk, but it’s all merino. I believe they sell under the name Road Trip Sock Yarn on Etsy, and this looks like what I had. But also, if you’re ever in Denver, stop by the LambShoppe and check out their yarns!

img_8584

Okay but seriously

Sep15

Do mittens need to be exactly the same size?? I’ve been working on my donation hats and mittens, and I have two awesome mittens but one is two rows longer than the other. Argh.

img_5534I have enough green yarn left to make either a hat, or a second set of mittens so that I have two sets that match. I prefer making hats to mittens but I also prefer to have mittens be the same size. What would you do, mittens or hat?

While I ponder, I’ll make a set of brown mittens and cross my fingers that I can make them the same size! And if anyone else is interested in donating, here’s the info: Maine Access Immigrant Network, 237 Oxford St, Suite 25A, Portland ME 04101.

A hat in a night

Sep13

The other day I saw a post on Instagram calling for hat and mitten donations for asylum-seekers in Maine, and I knew I had to send a few things. I even knew which yarn to use: I had some Cascade Superwash Aran in green, tan, and brown. I’m pretty sure the only reason I bought it in the first place is because it was on sale. It’s very nice yarn, just not my colors. It’s thick and warm, soft for kids, and easy to take care of. Plus it knits up quick: I made this in one evening after work.

IMG_5494This one is child-sized, which made it quicker too, and a very simple ribbed pattern. But it’ll be stretchy and forgiving, and I hope it keeps a little head warm this winter!

I’ve already got a second one done, a little smaller and in the brown, and I’ve got a few balls of leftovers that I’m hoping to make into simple mittens. But first, I discovered a partial skein of hot pink KnitPicks Brava Bulky in my stash that will make a great hat too. It’s a pretty small ball, though, so it’ll probably become a baby hat.

Happy Friday, friends! I hope you have a wonderful weekend awaiting you!