Episode 7: Scratch and Dent

 Chit Chat

       o   Very little Chit Chat today.  I've had some ick in the house.

       

Knit Chat

       o   FO – Irish Coffee by Thea Colman (aka Baby Cocktails on Ravelry)

•    Paton’s Wool in Currant colorway
•    Size 8 needles - Knitter’s Pride

      o   FO -  Basic Tube Socks Recipe

•    Red Heart and Sole sock yarn in the Mellow Stripe colorway
•    Size 1 needles - Addi Turbo - 40 inch
•    Knit 2 at a time, toe up

      o   WIP – Mesh-enger Shawl by Stephanie Shiman

•    Knitting from stash yarn. Main Color is a lovely sliver mystery yarn purchased from LYS scratch and dent sale.  And Contrast Color is Knit Picks Simply Cotton in the Dogwood Heather colorway
•    Size 8 Knitter's Pride needles 

Sew Chat

      o   New book The Sewing Machine Classroom by Charlene Philips

      o   Making plans to sew pajama pants.

Episode 5 - It's Been A Long Time

·      

Chit Chat

• Vacation! Walt Disney World was a blast!  We had so much fun.  They make everything so easy. 
• Kittens! Merry and Pippen.  They have taken over the house. Adopted from FurKids. Highly recommened.  They were wonderful.
• Husband travel and work and taking care of kittens kept me on my toes and not knitting as much and having little time to record.

Knit Chat

• FO – Mitered Hanging Towel by Cristina Bernardi Shiffman
•   Knit using Lily Peaches N Cream Yarn from stash. Mix Match Button. Ha!
• FO –  Helmikuu Boot Toppers by Sunshine Ravioli Knits
• Knit using handspun. Ewephoric Fibers BFL 80/20
• Pattern states to cast on 80 but that was too large.  So I went down to 64 as others stated for a much better fit.
• FO – Boy’s Gone Loopy by Bethany McRae
• Preemie hats.
•  I left off the loop.
• Knit out of donated yarns.
• WIP -  Irish Coffee by Thea Coleman (aka Baby Cocktails on Ravelry)
• Paton’s Wool in Currant colorway
• Size 8 needles - Knitter’s Pride
• At the waist shaping and I’m really enjoying knitting it.  Can’t wait until it’s finished.
• WIP – Mama Vertebrae by Kelly Brooker
• Cascade 220 fingering weight in dark red
• Size 5 - Hiya Hiya’s
• Focused on getting through this knit now that the sleeves are separated.

 

Spin Chat

•  Mohair N More – Etsy Shop
• 4 oz Peppermint.  I’ve spun 2 of the 4 oz
• 4 oz Café Au Laitte.
• Do I spin 2 and 2 then ply single color.  Or 4 and 4 and ply two color.

Sew Chat

• Project Bag! I think it’s my best yet!
• Need to decide on fabric for a couple of new projects.

Book Chat

• Poirot and Me by David Suchet
• For those who love Agatha Christie and have seen the Poirot movies with David
• I highly recommend

• Considering signing up for Audible…

First Video Entry!

Oh my! I have taken the plunge!  I am trying video. Part of my goals was moving toward a podcast but in order to do that I decided I should take a baby step and try video blogging first. So here I am trying it out.  This is a win because it helps me get comfortable in front of the camera and my blog will no longer sit here neglected.

Sorry about the lighting and video quality. I'm a newbie.  I will try to do better.  Hey, this is a learning and growing experiment right?! Sadly, I uploaded to Podcast Garden, but it looks like that load didn't fully take or something.  (Still a newbie!) However, the RSS Feed does appear to work.  The RSS Feed for the Podcast is here: ThatTessGirl on Podcast Garden . It did work for me when I tried that.  I will continue to try the Podcast upload feature. Until then, I was able to get this uploaded using Blogger's features. I will move toward better production and storage features. Promise.

Whew, with that big long disclaimer, here we go.

Show Notes:

What I'm Knitting:

OMG Heel Socks by Megan Williams. Knitting these in Regia Sock Design Line OMBRE Stripe in the Iceburg colorway.

Kaika by Michelle Hunter Mystery Sock KAL. Knitting these in Regia 4-fadig Mosaik Color.

Metalouse by Stephen West. Knitting in Noro Silk Garden Sock and Cascade 220 Fingering.

Random Knit Chat:

I talk about joining in the In A Sknit Podcast KAL (knit-a-long) for a Baby Cocktails Sweater.  I am considering knitting the Irish Coffee sweater designed by Thea Coleman in some stash yarn.

I very randomly toss in a knit chat about washing my hand knit socks.

If you hung around for the full episode, I thank you! You can find me on Instagram and Raverly as ThatTessGirl.

Thanks again.  I will see how this video blogging goes and post again soon.

RSS Feed for the Podcast is here: ThatTessGirl on Podcast Garden

A New Spinner Is Born

Hi everyone out there in Cyberland.  What a great day it is.

You know, it is always hard for me to write up a blog post. Especially since I have not blogged on a very regular basis in such a long time.  I need to work on remedying that. So my posts won't feel so clumsy when I type them up.  Maybe that will be a goal in the upcoming year.

But today I'm not going to talk about goals though. I've been having fun with my Christmas present from my hubby.  This year he gave me a spinning wheel. Yay!

I've been wanting one and just couldn't see myself investing that much money into a wheel when I knew nothing about spinning. So a while back I did invest in a spindle and some fiber and started spinning on my spindle.

Well, I was out doing some searches one day and found a very affordable beginner spinning wheel.  I forwarded the link to hubby, and what do you know, he gave it to me for Christmas.

It is absolutely gorgeous! It's the BlueBonnet BumbleeBee, from BlueBonnett Spinning Wheels.  A beginner wheel, perfect for a beginner like me.

So I've been practicing with the fiber I haven't spun on the spindle yet.  It will take me awhile to get a good feel for the wheel and what to do and how to get better at spinning but that's fine.  I know this will take me some time to do. But in the meantime I'm having fun with it.  The fiber is Ewephoric Fibers that I purchased way back in the spring when I went to the Carolina FiberFest.

Look at this picture I snapped last night.  it's the fiber spun up on my spindle and the same fiber spun on my new wheel. Not much as far as yardage goes. A thick and thin ratio.  But it will make a lovely accent for something wonderful.  I did purchase some worsted weight, dark blue Berroco Vintage to make hats and gloves or maybe a cowl and I want to use this as an accent to that blue. It'll be great.

Even though I haven't been spinning long, I can already tell that I'm going to love it.  I think it's safe to say, a new spinner is born!

And Sew On

Hi everyone! I hope this has been a great week for all.  I've had a pretty good one myself. There is always so much to do and so little time it seems like.  However, when I reflect back on the week, I feel like I've accomplished a good bit.

I finished one of my works in progress (WIP) and it looks even better than I hoped. Yay!  I also knitted some on my Happy Street shawl this week, which makes me happy as well.  Making progress.

But the thing I think I'm the most excited about is my sewing.  Awhile back, I ran across some Christmas themed fat quarters at Hobby Lobby.  Now, I have to admit, I've acquired some fabric stash over the years.  Not a lot because well, let's face it, I'm not a great sewer. But I do love a nice looking piece of fabric.  So when I came upon the Christmas fabric, I bought it.

That fabric has been in sitting in my fabric bin for almost a year.  Awhile back I made an attempt at sewing some project bags for my knitting projects with "meh" success. They were not awful, but certainly not what I would call good, quality bags.  And I really wanted to sew a nice bag.

So, I after my first attempt at sewing some bags I did what many other in my shoes would have done, I turned to social media.  I jumped on the Pinterest train and starting seeking out project bag patterns.

There were many.  Some more difficult than others. Some just right out of my novice comfort zone.  But all superduper cutearific!

As much as I loved all the bags I saw, the patterns to create those bags seemed a little bit, who am I kidding, a whole lot overwhelming.  Kind of like the first time I looked at a knitting pattern.  So I kind of just put my bags on the back burner again. With all my super cute fabric wasting away.  Which is a pretty sad thought, right?

Luckily, I found fresh mojo when I saw the super cool fabric and images via Instagram that Jasmine from the Knitmore Girls podcast was making for her projects.  I was compelled to follow the link she provided to this super neato tutorial on the In Color Order blog.

After reading through the steps, I hopped right to it.  I already had my precut fat quarters and since I'm in the middle of knitting Christmas goodies and Christmas socks, I decided they needed a perfectly cute Christmas project bag to nestle in.  So I got to work.

As I mentioned, I'm not a good sewer, but I do think there's hope of me becoming a better sewer with practice.  And since I am in love with these project bags, I can see myself practicing a lot in my near future.

This is my first finished bag. It is quite roomy.  I have two one skein projects down in there. I'm loving it.

A New First

I have a new first!  My very first handspun skein of yarn!

Can you believe it?!  It's not perfect but I love it. Very thin and then chunky in places!  Still, it's my first!

I'm already thinking of what projects I want to use for this

The roving was 1 oz of an 80% Merino 20% Tussah Silk.  It spun up nice and quick.  And I think I was starting to get the feel for the process there at the end. I spun using the drop spindle I purchased from LaTeaDa Designs a few years ago.

I'm really excited to use this now.  But first it's in the finishing process (wash and dry to set the spin {I'm learning so much!}).  Even though it's not ready for knitting yet, I can start contemplating what I want to use it with.  I only got roughly 45 yards.  For my first try, I was impressed I got that much.  So do I make a small critter like the Bluebird of Happiness, or use it as an accent on a hat or shawl? Decisions...

From the Stash

So this year started off as a stash down, sort of, kind of year.  I made a deal with hubster that since he agreed to take me to the Carolina FiberFest (which was this  past!) that until we go I would not buy new yarn.  Instead, I would work out of my stash and then stock up at the festival. 

I'm proud to say that with a few minor exceptions, yarn for a few hats (two of which will be for him), I have done that.

Below are photos are each project I've worked or am working that have all been knit from my stash so far this year.

First: I'm currently knitting a pair of Hermione's Everyday Socks.  I modified them to knit toe up and used a Fish Lips Kiss Heel.  I love this pattern and the heel. This will be a very favorite heel, I can already tell after one heel.  I'm knitting these using Happy Feet yarn.  I'm not sure of the colorway but it is very lovely! I know I'm going to call them my crushed gingerbread house socks.  I got this my head one day while looking at the yarn and it's stayed with me ever since.

I also knit Tin Can Knit's Barley hat for myself.  I love this hat.  It is their Simple Collection of patterns.  This is an ebook of eight fantastic, beginner patterns but there really is nothing beginner about the look of the patterns.  They are awesome. Fast and easy and they look great.  I knit this using some Impeccable yarn I'd picked up last year for my daughter's pumpkin hat.

I also purchased the ebook Summer Memories by Georgie Hallam.  This ebook contains four patterns of mother-daughter matching cardigans. I love them and plan on knitting all four. For the first two, Carousel and Summer Carnival, I'm using Knit Picks' Simply Cotton sport weight.  I purchased this yarn quite a while back when they discontinued the colorway. But I do love it.  This one is my daughter's sweater.  Mine is still on the needles and I'm hoping for a matching set by Mother's Day.  I was originally aiming for Easter but I still have a way to go on mine.

So next, is a matchy-matchy pair of socks for me and my daugher.  I love these stripped socks.  This is a basic toe-up sock using Paton's Kroy Sock yarn in the blue stripe ragg colorway. They are so awesome.  I love them.

Whew, are we done yet?  Well, almost.

I have also cast on using stash yarn the Follow Your Arrow lace shawl by Isolda Teague.  I have not made very good progress on this shawl because I am one of those types of knitters who has to be in the right frame of mind to knit lace.  And apparently I wasn't when I started this one the first five times. So, yeah, not that far along.  I will work on it here and there as I want a lace fix. Still, I am knitting this from stash yarn, Cascade 220 Fingering weight in a red and teal.  It is very pretty so far.

And finally! I cast on a tunic style sweater for my daughter.  This one is called Strimma by Yarn-Madness (aka Madeliene Nilsson). I'm using some Knit Picks Dishie in a red and eggshell.

So, that about sums up what I've knit from or am knitting from stash this year.  I think. As I knit along I will post more of my stash down 2014 progress.

However, in my next post, I'll most likely talk about about the Carolina FiberFest and what enhancements to the stash were made there. :)

Making it Happen

Hi there! It is hard to get back in the swing of things. I'm working on it.  And sometimes I think to myself what in the world can I post about and I think I have a great idea and then I can't seem to find the time to get out on the blog to actually post it.  So I'm making a deal with myself, no pressure posting but at least post a couple times a week. And see where it leads.

So that's what I'm doing.  I'm making it happen!

And you know, really it's like exercise.  You have to make the time for it because there is never enough time.

Here's the thing. I have some big plans I want to execute on and in order to do that I have to have a real plan, and I believe keeping up with regular posts on this blog are really going to help me execute on those other plans. So watch out world! LOL!!

Now. With all that being said, what in the world am I going to post about today? I'm going to post about socks! Yes! That's right. Socks.  Knitting socks in fact.

You see, I knitted my first pair of socks about.... four years ago.  My lys (local yarn store) had a sock a month a few years back where they featured a pattern and yarn and treated it like a Knit-A-Long with prizes for those who completed the socks within the time frame.  I really wanted to like knitting socks. But.... I did not. Using those double pointed needles was the worst thing EVER. So I decided I would never knit another pair of socks again.

After a while though, a friend kept telling me I needed to learn magic loop and knit socks that way.  I thought she was crazy.  Because how could any method make knitting socks fun? I resisted for a long time until I got a bug to knit these incredibly cute little Owl Puffs. In order to make these fun little guys, I learned magic loop.  And guess what? I liked it!

Once I'd made a few Owl Puffs and then using magic loop to finish off a couple of projects I really liked the magic loop.

This new found enjoyment of a new to me knitting method, combined with my epic project of knitted my family Christmas Stockings, which are just really large socks, I decided to give sock knitting a second chance.  Who would have ever thought, certainly not me, that I would now be addicted to knitting socks. Since the Fall, I've made five pairs of socks with number six on the needles.  One other thing I'm enjoying is learning heels.

I will write up another post on socks and actually include pictures in that one.  If I can figure out how to do that.  My. My. How things change when you're not around for awhile. So yeah.  I will have to relearn the upload and adding of photos.  In the meantime.  Yay! I posted!!

A February Lady

Here she is!  Isn't she won-der-ful?!

I might have mentioned, in my last post I think, that I was doing a few KALs. (Knit A-Longs) This was the KAL for the February Ladies Sweater that the Knit Wits Podcast was hosting for the month of February.

Since I'd been eying this pattern for awhile and loving the FOs I saw on Raverly, I grabbed my nose and dove in.  A LOT of firsts for me.  Well, the overall project was a first.  My very first sweater.

But I took a big gulp and did my first buttonholes, My first sleeves, Not my first lace but it was a lot of lace! First time casting on stitches mid-row.  All those firsts!  And I loved it!

Loved it so much I can't wait to make more. This is a wonderful pattern, and is very easy to follow and memorize.  At first glance, read through, it might seem a bit confusing for a first time sweater knitter.  But it all comes together if you take your time.

Here are the notes, I made for the sweater while working it up.  I don't have Pre and Post Block measurements yet, mainly because I haven't blocked it yet.  But I'll update the post once I have them.  Soon.  Very soon!

FO Notes:

• Cast on for size smaller because I wanted that upsidedown V look to the sweater.
• I made my buttonholes all in the garter stitch yoke, because I wasn’t crazy about the look of the other sweaters where the last buttonhole was down into the lace. But I think next time I will space them out a little farther apart.
• I chose not to do the full length sleeves or even to the elbow. When I cast on for the sleeves I realized I wanted my instant gratification to last longer. Blame it on the rising temps here in the south. So I cropped the sleeves and by doing this I only needed two skeins of yarn.
• I did 18 repeats of Gull Lace for body and the 1.5 inch border.
• For the sleeves, I did 4 repeats of the Gull Lace and then 4 rows of garter stitch for the border. I didn’t want my border to overwhelm the lace. Especially with my cutting the sleeves so much shorter.
• Also for the sleeves I used a 16 inch cir. I couldn’t imagine using a 12 in cir like the pattern called for. At times working the lace was tight even on the 16 in.

 

Knitting-A-Long

On my way to work this morning, I was thinking that I needed to blog.  It's been awhile.  Only I wasn't sure what to knit about.  But as I was driving along and listening to a new-to-me podcast the idea struck me.  I would talk about the Knit-A-Longs.

First time I attempted a Knit-A-long (KAL) was last year around this same time.  It was a bunch of folks on Twitter. I am sad to say that project is still on my needles, buried in the bottom of my knitting bag. I'm not sure if it's the yarn or what, but I just dread the thought of working on that project. So if I can find any other project to work on, I do.  Hence the still on the needles part after a year.

However, I did not let this travesty prevent me from jumping on board to do more KALs this year.

My LYS (local yarn store) mentioned back in December that they were going to host a sock-along KAL for 2011.  The KAL would feature a different sock pattern and different yarn for each month of the year.  Since I've wanted to learn to knit socks and my hubby had been after me to knit him some socks, I thought why the heck not!  Let's do this!  So I did. I actualled started and finished knitting my first pair of socks in January.  And boy did I learn a lot! Whew!  But the cool part was knitting along side all the other ladies working the sock-along.  It was fun to see everyone's progress and finished object (FO).

For January, we did the Ann Norling Basic Adult Sock pattern. (This is a Raverly Link. If you're not a member of Raverly you can click here.)  It's not a free pattern, but because I joined the sock-along, and bought the featured yarn at my LYS, they tossed in the pattern for free.  So score! 

The sock yarn featured in the January sock was S.R. Kertzer On Your Toes. Everyone else loved this yarn.  As for me, the juries still out.  It was a little stiff to work with for me. But that could have been because it was my first time knitting a sock and using the double pointed needles (dpns).  It was very different let me tell you.  But after working on the new sock last night, I can tell I'm learning.  Things went so much easier.  My cast on and joining worked the first try!  GO ME!

I enjoyed myself so much that I climbed on board for the February sock.  I cast on and got a good start on it last night. It's an independant designer pattern and I haven't seen it on Raverly yet.  But once it is I'll link it.  But the yarn is awesome.  It's Karabella Aurora 4 in hot pink.  Well, it's not really a hot hot pink, or atleast not what I would call a hot hot pink. But I do love it.  It's a fun color.  Can't wait to see (and wear) the final product because this yarn is so squishy.  I love it.

So, you may be thinking wow, cool KAL.  And it is.  But it's not the only one.  Oh no.  You know me, I'm a glutton.  GLUTTON I tell you!

When I heard about the KAL for the February Ladies Sweater on the Knit Wits podcast I knew I had to join in.  I've had this pattern in my que for awhile, but it's a sweater and... Yikes!

But with the help of so many other knitters doing the KAL and my desire to finally knit a sweater, I decided to go for it.  I'll keep you updated on the progress of that as it moves it along.  I'm still working the yoke now and can I just say... Buttonholes. Ugh!

And....  What, you thought I was finished?  No way.

I heard about a new KAL project on the CogKNITive podcast, and I really hope I can join this one too before time runs out.  It sounds like such a good, charitable thing and the end product is so flipping cute and would make a child so happy.  It's the Mother Bear Project. The idea, which is explained in greater detail on the website and in Dr. Gemma's podcast, is you knit or crochet a bear and donate them to the Mother Bear Project and they find homes for these bears with kids who have been diagnosed with HIV or who have been orphaned because of  HIV.  It's so sweet to see the photos on the website of the kids who have received their own bear.  I need to find some fun yarn and cast my bear on.  So if you have a mind to do so yourself, please jump in.

So wow.  That's three KALs I'm knitting-along with.  So what about you?  Care to join me?

Off and Running

Well the new year is officially off and running.  Seems like the year started out with a bang and might just continue the trend.  We had some snow and ice down here in the south that completely shut down the city for a week.  It was insane but very pretty.  And to be honest, I did enjoy playing and sledding in it.  My daughter had a blast as well.

So what has been going on so far, well, a few things other than the snow.  I joined a sock-along for 2011.  The January sock is the Adult Sock pattern by Deirdre Wallace in the Ann Norling #12 pamplet (Raverly Link).  The way my local yarn store (LYS) are running the sock-along is you buy the yarn and they give you the pattern.  So, I thought why not?!  There are 1,087 finished objects (FOs) on Raverly for this sock.  I'm knitting this one for my hubby so it's a bit larger than I would like for my foot.  But for his foot it appears to be right on the money.

But I think I will have to pass on next month's sock since I've joined on to do a KAL with the Knit Wits.  I can't wait to dive in.  It's a sweater and will be my first. YIKES! I'll post more about this in the coming days/weeks.

With that in mind, I'm also still working on in progress projects.  One has been on the needles for almost a year.  I feel guilty about not finishing this one, but not really enough to just finish it. Sigh! Oh well.

In other news, I've been toying with the idea of starting my own podcast.  I'm not there yet, but it could happen sometime this year. But I also plan to blog more. Honest to goodness.  I will do it.

And with that in mind, I'm going to sign off this post because I have to get busy working. TA!

10 in 2010 ~ Knitted

I know I haven't posted in like a super duper long time.  I can't believe how crazy busy I have been.  Seems like I have been on the go nonstop since September. But the holiday season is almost over.  Just waiting on that New Year to pop on in and then things might settle down for a few.  One can hope right?!

Anyways, I thought I would write up a few year end posts.  Since I signed up for the 10 in 2010 challange on Raverly I figured I'd start there.  First thing I wanted to do with this challenge is take my knitting to the next level, maybe even do some personal designing and just hone some skills.  Secondly, I wanted to learn to crochet.  I've tried to crochet in the past but never could get past the chaining stage. So with those two goals in mind, here goes my first 10 in 2010 post. (The pattern links are to Raverly.  If you're not a member sign on up.  It's a great community and membership is free.)

10 in 2010 ~ Knitted

First, I tried my hand at jewerly.  A very simple necklace worked up using the I-cord pattern and Needle Loft canvas yarn. I was inspired to try this after doing some Etsy searches and seeing some of the handmade jewerly.

Second, I worked myself up some very comfy and warm slipper socks using my Knifty Knitter Loom.  This was my first loom project. And, so far, my last.  I haven't used the loom again since making these.  Guess I should pull the loom back out and work something up on it.

One of my next projects is a bit of tricky project.  It started out as something completely different than what it ended up being.  Sadly, this is the only photo I currently have this project.  I need to take a new photo and when I finally get one taken I'll update the post.  But what this ended up being is a poncho.  I've worn it a few times and folks seem to like it.  Well, at least they tell me they do. This is one of those personal designs I mentioned earlier.  Since I completely changed direction with this project halfway into it, I made the second half up as I went along and VIOLA! a new design is born.  But it's not perfected by any means.  Needs a lot of tweeking.  But I have thought about working on that by making a second. Maybe in 2011.

Another personal design.  I call it Gray Day Shawlette.  It's very warm and I want to work out some of the kinks in this one as well.

The Wham Bam Thank You Lamb cowl. Sadly, I wasn't crazy about how this turned out.  Could have been the yarn or the fact that I used a larger size needle.  Regardless, I still think I like the pattern and will work this up again.  My goal with this one was bust some stash, and in that regard, I did acheive my objective.

Next up, another personal design.  This is a small satchel I knitted for my mom for Mother's Day.

I was asked by a super, sweet little boy to knit him a 'water blue' scarf.  So that's what I did.  This was knitted up just using the basic garter stitch and holding two strands of Knit Picks Shine Sport yarn together.  If I've never mentioned this before, I love Knit Picks!  They are awesomesauce.  Their yarn is very reasonably priced and goodness gracious but I've fallen in love with their Harmony Needles.

The Black Widow Headband.  This was totally not the right yarn choice for this headband.  Way to small.  But I like the design and hopefully will bust some stash up next year and try it again.

Another stash busting project - The Log Cabin Washcloth.  I plan to make many more of these.  Not only did it bust some stash, but helped me learn the skill of picking up stitches.  I highly recommend this pattern.

This was a fabulously fun and funky project.  It's called the Fabulous Funky Fringe Scarf.  I actually purchased this pattern (and yarn Karabella Vintage Cotton) through my LYS (Local Yarn Store). I spied one they'd knitted up and had on display and after seeing it a few times while attending knit night, I decided I needed one.  I wore this to the Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert and loved it. Well, loved the scarf and the show.  I actually love this pattern and yarn so much I purchased some in black and plan to do a black and pearl scarf next year.  While working this pattern was also the first time I usesd Hiya-Hiya Bamboo Needles.  These were a pleasure to work with. I do recommend this needle as well.

So that is a total of 10 knitted projects.  However, that is not all of my 2010 pojects.  So here a few more completed projects for the last year.

My first in-the-round project- The Honey Cowl.  This one took me awhile to figure out.  I kept twisting my stitches and basically ended up knitting this cowl twice. It was a big lesson learned. On to a mini-rant concerning this project, the yarn I used was an acrylic yarn, James C. Brett Marble Chunky.  I saw it at my LYS and loved the colors.  I thought it would make a very nice, cozy cowl for the autumn months.  And for the amount of yardage in one skein the price is actually very decent. Only, halfway through my skein of yarn the ply changed (It was a two-ply chunky yarn).  Instead of being plyed with the same color, it was now plyed to two different colors.  Now, had the entire skein been plyed this way and my cowl been knitted in this fashion it wouldn't have been an issue.  But since I was halfway through my project this change really stands out.  I wasn't happy with this.  However, I do LOVE this cowl and this pattern.  I used the mid-size cast on.  I will knit this again and use the large size and a solid color yarn.

Another personal design.  This one turned out so much lovelier than I thought it was going to.  I found some Cascade Pearls Yarn on sale at my LYS, and I loved the colors and the uniqueness of the yarn.  It is a blend of cotton and rayon. I knitted the body of the caplet with two strands of the Cascade yarn held together and it has such a lovely drape and springiness to it. The collar is Bergere de France Teddy yarn.  It really made the finished object what it is.  I just love it.  Too bad, my daughter didn't love it as much.  She gets mad at it when she wears it.

And yet another personal design.  I call this the Half-Way Wrong-Way Cowl.  Simply because I messed up half way through the cowl and started knitting backward.  but it worked out great because it gave the front of the cowl some extra bulk and makes the buttons stand out.

Can you guess?  Yep!  Another personal design.  Not only did I work this up in my little brain, but I also dyed the yarn.  I plan another blog post to detail that funness.  The purse is really cute, but I think it is a more spring time purse so it's waiting patiently for spring to arrive.

One final project that I knitted in 2010 is the Pandora Scarf from the One-Skein Wonders book.  I have not taken a photo of the finished project yet.  But I knitted this one up using Ella Rae Bamboo Silk yarn.  It is much smaller than the pattern calls for.  I wear it as decoration more than anything else.

Yikes!  I almost forgot the South Park hat I knitted up for a friend of mine's little 9 month old baby.  I didn't have a pattern so I had to wing it with the hat.  And as luck would have it... No time to take photos of it.  It got wrapped up and placed under the tree before I could even think photo.  So maybe one day I'll get a photo of him wearing it.

Wow.  I think that does it for finished knitting projects in 2010.  Maybe I'll start a post of unfinished projects one day soon.  But for now, I think this will wrap up this post.  It's already ubber long.

Half Way Wrong Way Cowl

Yesterday and into this morning, I knitted two cowls.  One I used a pattern I found on Raverly, and I'll talk about it in a later post.  The other pattern is a pattern I kind of sort of made up by accident. And I love, love, LOVE it!  I couldn't be happier with the way this cowl turned out, and I'm going to share the long, sorded details with you today. Don't you just love that?!

I know you can't wait, so let's get started.

 I call this pattern the Half Way Wrong Way Cowl because as I was working on it I realized at about half way through I switched the way I was knitting up the piece.  Instead of frogging the cowl, again for the 3rd time, I decided to go with it and see what I got.  The outcome was pretty darn cool.

First, the yarn is a 100% Wool super bulky thick to thin, hand spun, hand dyed yarn that I found on Etsy.  The seller's shops is Absolute Knits, and as soon as I saw it I fell in love with the wild colors.

I noticed she doesn't have the yarn listed anymore so I obviously wasn't the only person who fell in love.


So I knew I wanted to knit a cowl with this yarn as soon as I saw it, and I at first thought I wanted to knit the other cowl I mentioned earlier with it.  I soon realized that wouldn't work.  So I tried to figure out how exactly I wanted the cowl to look.

As luck would have it, a while back I'd bought some fun, bright colored buttons and an idea started to wiedle it's way in.  I was pretty certain those buttons would match the yarn.  And if that was the case then the cowl didn't have to be a closed cowl.  I could attach the buttons and wear it in many different styles.

So that's what I did.

 I know, I know.  It seems like I've jumpped ahead of myself.  So here goes the pattern.

Half Way Wrong Way Cowl

Use a super chunky/bulky yarn of your choice.
Size 17 US or 12.75MM Needles

Cast On 11 stitches

Repeat these rows until your peice measures 10 inches.

Odd Row - Knit(K) 1 Purl (P) 1 to end of row

Even Row - P1, K1 to end of row

Once your piece measures 10 inches switch the order of your knitting.

Odd Row - P1, K1 to end

Even Row - K1, P1 to end

Once your cowl measures 20 inches Bind Off using a K1 Purl 1 bind off.

Next, using a piece of your left over material, sew on your buttons.

By doing this switch halfway through the piece, it creates a ridge. See the second photo up top there.  But if you look at the third photo, the switch gives the front of the piece a very nice cushy appearance.  Also by doing this, you don't have to worry about button holes.  The ribbed valleys gives the buttons a nice place to rest so that they pop! And you can just slip through the stitches. Viola! No button holes required.

I can see me wearing this a lot this winter.  And I can't wait!!

Coaster Woasters

Hello there!  Well, it's been awhile yet again since I've been out to post, but you have to admit, it hasn't been as long since the previous time.  I thought a good topic for today would be about getting ready for the holidays.  And by the holidays, I really am only talking about Christmas.  Because you see, I am up to my arm pits (Yes, arm pits!) in Christmas knitting.  However, I am proud of myself.  I started mucho earlier this year than last and I'm knitting up from existing patterns and not making a new pattern up as I knit along.  This is making the process much easier.  Well so far at least.

Perhaps in another post I'll talk about some of my current projects.  But for today, I thought I'd share the projects I knitted up last year and the pattern I used.

It all started when I tried to think up a 'family' gift for my three brothers and their family.  You see, we used to draw names but then a few years back my sister in law thought it would be a better idea and cheaper to do one family gift for each family.  So that is what we have done for the past few years.  The trouble is how to keep from being boring and repeating the same gift over and over.  I thought up a remedy.  I'd knit something.

So that's what I did.  I set out to knit up some coasters to go in a basket full of coffees, teas, ciders, hot chocolate mixes etc.  Sounds cool huh?  Well, it did to me so I went with it.

So in honor of starting the homemade Christmas gift process all over again I thought I'd share with you the pattern I used last year to create these coasters that went into my families Christmas gift basket.

Coaster Woasters

1 Skein Lion Brand Thick 'N Quick Grass

1 Skein Lion Brand Thick 'N Quick Cranberry

1 Skein Lion Brand Thick 'N Quick Natural Cream

(These are the colors I used.  You can choose any contrasting colors of your liking.)

Size US 8 - 5.0 mm needles

Stitches used in this pattern are:

Garter Stitch

Yarn Over (YO)

Knit 2 Together (K2tog)

Gauge isn't really important.  You just want to make sure that your stitches are nice and tight. Which using the size 8 needles really does help with that.

CO 2 stitches

Row 1 K1, YO, K1

Row 2 K1, YO, Knit to end of row

Repeat Row 2 until you have 22 stitches on your needle.

Row 21 K1, YO, K2tog, Knit until 3 stitches remain on needle, K2tog, K1

Report row 21 until you have 2 stitches left on your needle.

Bind off

The increases and decreases with using the YO leaves the nice little openings along the sides.  Using one of your contrasting colors, weave the yarn through the holes and then tie off at the starting / ending corner to make a nice decorative bow.

I made these in sets of 4 and tied them together with a festive card that said Handmade Coasters by my name.

And there you have it.  The pattern I used this time last year to knit up nice, quick and easy Christmas gifts.  In a later post I'll show off some of my current Christmas knitting.  But for now, I think it's safe to call this blog post done.

A New Knitting Project

I'm working on a new project.  A new personal design.  It's coming along pretty nicely and as soon as I am finished I'll post it.  But here are some stats and a sneak peek.

I'm using Stitch Nation Bamboo Ewe yarn.  It's a blend of 55% Bamboo and 45% Wool.  It's very soft and has a nice, natural stretch to it that is working nicely for this design.  Plus, it was incredibly reasonable.  So much so that I would have expected it have some acrylic in it, but it doesn't.

And now for the quick peek.

This photo was taken from my iPhone of the piece in process.

I know.  I know.  It doesn't look like much here.  But I'm loving the way it's coming together and hopefully you will too.