Mission Accomplished (part 2)

I am so excited that I signed up for two groups in Ravelry. I was starting to get a tightness in my chest thinking about working and trying to knit a scarf, spin eight ounces of unknown fiber and then knit a cowl with it. I don't usually set deadlines for projects but for the Ravelympics that was required. You cast on during opening ceremonies and then have everything done by closing ceremonies.

This is my second time doing something for the winter Olympics. The first one was this. I was so excited that I made it! I gave it away but it was still such a thrill for a pretty new knitter. I thought I had been knitting longer than what I thought, but guess not. So I think that I should make this an event from here on in every time there is a winter Olympics whether or not it's with a group like Yarn Harlot formed or Ravelry. Either way, it is a challenge either with time or a skill. Fun, fun!

My second challenge was to spin a declared fiber and then knit it into something.
I picked a project and then tried my best to match the type of yarn the original pattern was knit in. It was sock yarn. I have never tried to spin that small before so this was a challenge for me. I bought a tool months back that would help me gauge how thick I was spinning. It's such a basic tool, but it did the trick when the directions were read and followed. Yes, I followed the directions. You know that is so unlike me but this was the Ravelympics you know!

The tool that was used to help me gauge my spinning is called a WPI Tool Kit. It's such a simple concept and works like a very basic charm. This my first time using the tool. When using the tool, you wrap the yarn around and around to measure an inch. There are four one inch marks on the tool. Then there is a card the helps you determine what kind of yarn you have just spun. I was shooting for 15-18 wpi (wraps per inch). That category is called sport yarn. I managed to get 12 wpi. I thought I was going small but guess it wasn't quite small enough. I still need way more practice getting small. I have heard from other spinners that once you've gone small, it's hard to make fatter yarn.

So I got 412 yards from the eight ounce of roving. It was WAY more yarn than what I needed to make the Good Luck Cowl. The most important part is that I finished it! My assessment is that I need to spin a wee bit tighter and this roving wasn't really the perfect yarn for this project but it turned out okay.

While I was knitting it I started to get panicky. It was looking kind of small. When I cast off I ran into the bathroom and tried it on. It fit. I have a short neck thank goodness? So it's done and now it needs to be wet and blocked. Here is my favorite model showing it off.

So with my finished Robin's Blue Egg Hat and now my newly completed Good Luck Cowl, I am ready for the snow they are predicting this week. Oh, goody!

Mission Accomplished (part 1)

I finished the first of two scheduled projects for the Ravelympics. I completed the Irish Hiking Scarf. It was easy and fun at the same time. It refreshed my memory about how to do cables and how wonderful a knitted item looks with cables. I won't let this project be the last one with cables. I will have more cabled projects in the future. I was thinking a pair of socks...anyway my first project is done!

The scarf ended being a wee bit over 60 inches. I had hoped for 70 but since I knit one other scarf and a hat to match that scarf, there wasn't enough to make this scarf really long nor is there enough to make a matching hat. I am disppointed about the hat because I have seen a matching hat for this pattern on Ravelry. I might have to break down and buy another skein of this same yarn and try that hat.
Here is the scarf stretched across my dining room table. I hope the cables are the way they are supposed to be. I think they are. The next step is to wash the hat and the two scarves and get them dried and stored away until I have enough of them to mail off to OFA. Now I am off to finish spinning my roving for the next Ravelympics project. I am almost done with the spinning and then the knitting will begin!

Since this post was created I got this...I am really excited to knit for a logo. Silly, I know but it was fun and despite how easy the pattern was I feel like I pushed myself to get it done in a timely manner.

Revving Up for Ravelympics

I have been laboring over what to knit for weeks and what Ravelympic groups to join. Don't you know that I would finish other projects (UFOs) and then be left with time to kill until the official cast on time. This can make a compulsive knitter nuts. No sticks and strings in my hands? What do I do while avoiding laundry and housecleaning? Look for a small project to whet the knitting appetite but of course!

Since I am trying to do a serious stash down I went right to the source of all of my efforts. I found a ton of single balls of yarn that needed to be knit down. So I picked this project to work on while I watched the clock until cast on time. The worst part of waiting was knowing that we would be on the road while I was waiting. It's hard to pick the right project for a road trip. I didn't want to over pack but pack enough knitting supplies that I could have anything I needed for a knitting emergency at my finger tips. So one small one ball project was perfect.
Here is the perfect short-term project while traveling. This is the Knit Baby Hats 1 by Sandra Huffines. It was knit on #3 dpns with 60 stitches. I found two half balls of yarns in a zip lock bag; Plymouth Yarn Dreambaby DK and Sirdar Snuggly. I don't know which yarn is which and at this point I don't suppose it matters. I just wanted to knit. So I did and when it was finished, it was perfect timing for the opening ceremonies of the Olympics.
It's a wee bit blurry and the lighting isn't great but it's still a finished hat. It satisfied my need to knit, be a short and quick knit and it will be donated to yet another great cause sometime this year. I just love it when a plan comes together well... My model was another spare ball of yarn that was in the zip lock bag. It was probably between the size of an orange and a grapefruit. I think the pattern said it would fit between an 2-3 baby. I am not such a good judge of those kinds of things but it doesn't matter as long as it goes to a baby who needs it.
Then the opening ceremonies started and I cast on my project! Here is the pattern and the beginning of my swatch. I cast on and then measured the width and decided that it was outside the measurement specs set down by the OFA. So I went down to size 7 needles. I am using the rest of my Caron One Pound skein.














I made good progress while the opening ceremonies. I haven't done cables in years and years but found that they came back to me quickly. This Irish Hiking Scarf is super simple for anyone who is a beginner at cables. I really didn't remember how easy cables were until I got a good mojo going. It really was like riding a bike. I have made great progress over the weekend and am very pleased so far. I hope who ever gets the scarf likes it as much as I do so far. It is a bit stiff so I think I am going to wash and dry both scarves to soften them up a bit. I will post the finished project once it's done.

Simple Satisfaction

I am in sort of a knitting limbo currently. It's the time before the Ravelympics and the opening ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Olympics which is Feb. 12th. I have committed myself to two groups and hopefully I will accomplish the goals I have set for myself. In the meantime I want to continue knitting but on a project that I can finish by the time I have to concentrate on my two projects.

So to fulfill the need to be obsessive about knitting every single day, I decided that knitting my very first project for the Red Scarf Project was the way to go. I joined the group on Ravelry and have been looking forward to my very first project and yesterday I completed my very first project to be sent to them when the time comes.
So here is a close up of my very first non-pattern effort. It's a simple nondescript pattern of K3P3 for 6 rows and then do the opposite for the next 6 rows. I cast on 36 stitches on US 7 Addi Turbos. I used acrylic (please do not run from the room screaming) yarn because these scarves and hats are going to very busy college students who don't have time to worry about hand washing and blocking a lovely wool scarf and nor do they always have the money to have something dry cleaned. So truly acrylic or a super wash wool was the way to go. I went with acrylic because of the affordability.

I used Caron One Pound skein in the color called Claret 562. It's more of a maroon than a "real" red. I paid about $8 for it at our local A.C. Moore. I don't usually buy yarn from them but I really wanted something super affordable as I mentioned above.

It's such a simple knitting pattern that it only took me two days to make. I am not really a fast knitter but it was so easy, it was hard not to whip through it. I was so happy with the way it turned out I thought it needed an accessory... a nice warm hat to match. I did not have a pattern but used the basic concept from another hat to make this one.

I cast on enough stitches (78) to make it around my head and then continued the same pattern that I had used the for scarf. I knit about 5-6 inches of the pattern before starting the decreases. To start the decreases I knit 7 and decreased in the pattern by either P2tog or K2tog. Then one row of knitting in the pattern and so on and so forth. I did try to stick to the pattern of changing the K3P3 every 6 rows and then switching to P3K3. It worked out pretty well. I was pleased with the end product even thought it's not perfect. I hope that who ever gets the set, will have a nice warm head and neck!

Here is my model wearing both the scarf and the hat together. She looks warm although she wasn't so sure of my choice of fashion eye wear for this photo shoot.

If you are thinking that you would like to do some charity knitting and you belong to Ravelry they have a great group and their site has all the free patterns you could hope for. The site also has care labels and washing instructions. I printed them off today to wrap around my scarf and hat.

I wound up the rest of what was left of the One Pound skein and have it ready for scarf #2 . I have chosen a cabled pattern for my 5K Stashdown Ravelympic challenge. I haven't done anything with cables in over 5 years so I thought this would help me get back into cabling. The name of the scarf is the Irish Hiking Scarf. I sure hope I can get it done in the time allotted. I don't know if I will end up doing a hat to match the scarf but I will know after I have finished the scarf! Nothing like a new or rusty skill to shore up your knitting confidence!

Treading Water

I thought I was going to hit my knitting stride in 2010 but it has not turned out that way. Between working and trying to purge my office, I have not done nearly the amount of knitting I had thought I would. I have been working on the same project as has been seen here many, many times in the past few years. I so love this pattern as is evident of how many times I have knit the Mary Scarf. Now I am just knitting now to knit down my stash.

I joined a group called 5K Stashdown because another Ravelry friend mentioned it. I thought it a bit silly but when I sat down for 2 1/2 hours and started an Excel sheet with my stash inventory; I was mortified. I always knew in the back of my mind that I had a lot yarn, but I didn't know I HAD a lot of yarn. I am up to item #98. That doesn't mean that I only have 98 skeins, but different kinds of yarns and colors. Some of the catergories I have listed have 7 skeins, so I have more than 98 skeins of yarn. Say what? No, it can't be. I have only been a knitter for five/six years and there is no way that I could have bought that much yarn. Really?


I have still yet to tackle my closet. I have bags in the closet that are for sweater knitting that I have yet to inventory. I am dreading that. It only reminds me that I have been overly free in my spending for my hobby. I used to laugh and have self righteous thoughts about those who had storage sheds with yarn in them. Not anymore.

So to help relieve myself of some of the "yarn burden," I have been knitting on several projects at once. One of the projects was for a co-worker who admired my fingerless mitts. I told her that if she bought me the yarn I would knit her a pair. So she did. She purchased one skein of Homespun yarn. I let it sit on the diningroom table for a while until I could get motivated to knit the mitts. When they were done, I was happy with them and I think she liked them too.

They do look rather plain but when they are one someone's hands they do look so much better. The pattern is rather simple which gives me courage to step up my design selection for the next pair.
I had to try them on before taking them to work. I don't think they look so bad. Homespun is rather bulky so they are very warm. I took them to work and then my co-worker modeled them for you.

Notice the chef's jacket. That is the co-worker at work trying on the gloves.

I used the same pattern for these that I used in the first pair I made over a year ago.
There are the palms. The whole pattern is basicly a ribbed pattern with a thumb hole, which I had never done until I knit my first pair, which I gave to another co-worker. Then there was so much left over yarn, that I knit her a hat.

I took the hat to work for her to put a button on. I sadly did not get a picture to show you the hat but she did promise to bring the hat back and model it so I can take her picture. Stay tuned for more!

Wrapping Up

I was thinking that I had another blog entry in the wings so I have been sitting here all fat, dumb and happy. I just checked and there is not another post. I could have sworn that I wrote one before the end of 2009 and it would be posted sometime this year so I could coast. No such luck. So here I am trying to come up with a post with last year's news. Does that really matter as long as it's a subject that brought others joy? Probably not. So I will wrap up what was wrapped up and given away.

I sent out my last package for my Santa Swap right before we left for our Christmas vacation. It had to be in the mail before Dec 16 and I did have it out before that to my partner who lives in Lawton, OK. Everything they say about mailing early is totally true. My box got there in three days. I was shocked and very pleased that my partner got her package so quickly. It's a good thing I did mail it early. She posted on the Ravelry site that my gifts were her only gifts under the tree because she was snowed in and was not able to be with her son and his family. I sure was glad that I mailed that box on time.

I tried my best to give her things that I thought she would enjoy. When I went to Rhinebeck back in October of last year, I was shopping for gifts for my friends and my swap partner. I know that my partner loves to make Tams and I tried my best not to come up with some more chunky weight yarn but my yarn was pretty fat. This is how it turned out below.

I know this is dark but the yarn is very dark too. It's a dark green with smatterings of orange, brown and shades of a lighter green. There was about 7 ounces all spun up. It was wonderful to spin and actually went very quickly.
I sent the tag with the yarn so that Laura would know what kind of yarn she would be dealing with. It was a blend. I was pleased at how well it turned out and I hope that Laura was too. Laura also received the red felted bowl. I purchased that roving from Rhinebeck too. I spun it and then made the bowl. I loved the bowl and gave some serious thought about keeping it for myself. Now I have to make another one!

I wanted to put in an ornament so I decided to sort of make one.

I took some of the yarn that I had spun and put it into the ball, some stitch markers, a stitch counter, and some point protectors. I bought some needles to put into the ball but they were too long to fit. The ball is plastic and can be opened in case of a fiber emergency; a knitter never knows.

Here is what the box looked like right before I packed it up.

There is the handspun, some Biscotti I baked, the little box that the ornament was in, the red handspun bowl and the left over yarn and a cute little felted sheep pin. I am never sure if it's enough. I hope that Laura enjoyed the box. I had fun playing the fiber hunter gatherer.

So here is what I got from Laura.

This is contents of the box I received minus a few things. You'll see in a minute what is missing.
There was a box to make some socks. The box has the yarn, instructions and includes the needles. Then there was a lovely gold shimmery gold tam. I have a model showing it off. She's doing such a lovely job that I took two shots of her and the Tam.

I also got a pillow sham with purple and yellow and then some single serve coffee bags from Starbucks And last but not least the things that are missing...
I would say the box was a success! I ate them all! I was happy to swap with Laura and hope that she had a lovely Christmas. I know I did. Thanks Laura.

Simple Yet Effective Shawl

I found this pattern on Ravelry. The designer is Laura Chau. She also wrote this book. I met her very briefly at Rhinebeck (NY Sheep and Wool Show) this past October. She was there to sell and sign her book. I don't own one but might consider buying one due to this shawl that drove me a wee bit nuts.

I thought that since it had the word simple in the title I would breeze through it. Three skeins of sock yarn later and it's finally done. I picked sock yarn for this project because I thought it would wash and dry up like a great pair of socks would. Wrong. Let me refresh your memory. Here is the shawl I worked on for months...

Not much to look at in this form or the next one either...
I decided that months of my grubby hands on this piece, it might need a bit of a wash. So I had some special wool wash that smells like lavender and gave it a nice dunk in tepid water. Not hot mind you, just tepid. As I watched the water fill the sink, I started feeling sick to my stomach. Panic set in. See how murky the water is?? Does this tip you off to the next shot?
See that lovely shade of blue? It's bleeding from my sock yarn shawl. This is not hand dyed yarn mind you. This yarn is made by a big named company, Berroco Sox Metallic. I have never had sock yarn, hand dyed or other wise bleed like this before. I am so thankful that even though it says you can wash in the washing machine and dry in the dryer, I did not. I rinsed it off and hopefully that will be the one and only time it bleeds blue everywhere. I will never wash this in with any of my clothes at this point because frankly, I don't trust it. I know yarns bleed all the time but just never thought that it would happen with a product from Berroco which I have knit socks with before.

I rinsed the shawl out as much as I could. I did see the water run clear but who knows...I still don't trust it. Then it was off to the next step of blocking. I have never blocked a shawl because I never really had anything that needed to be done that way in the past. Lucky for me my friend had a brand new set of blocking wires and let me borrow them. So without really knowing what I was doing I started to thread my shawl on to the wires through holes as consistently as possible.

It took way more wires than I thought it would but there were some to spare. The cat loves to lay on my bed upstairs so I can't lay it out on the bed. So the dining room table had to be cleared off and there it will sit until it dries. Thankfully Thanksgiving dinner is over and we don't have to eat there for the time being. It's not as flat as I have seen in other photos but this is all I have to work with for now. I will check on it tomorrow to see how the drying process is going.

This post was right after Thanksgiving when I started it and now it's 2010 and the shawl was given to my SIL for Christmas. Since both my SIL and MIL read my blog, I have to be careful what I say the closer it gets to Christmas every year. I am really mad at myself that I didn't get a picture of my SIL with her shawl. I hope it brings many, many warm days to come!

Same Song, Green Verse
I know there are others out there in cyberland who keep knitting or crocheting the same pattern over and over because it makes them happy and brings such a satisfying sense of accomplishment. I love that feeling when I knit. I have looked at pattern after pattern of dishcloths so I know that others are knitting the same basic pattern over and over and over. You know a good pattern when you knit it. It feels good and you are comfortable with it. You know inside and out. Slipping into a familiar rhythm.

So this one is no different. I think I have knit at least 12 of this pattern. What can I say? It's the perfect 56 stitch lace scarf for a beginner. It's just enough lace to satisfy a need to knit lace and not feel like it's a life time commitment. Thus this makes the perfect gift for almost any occasion. I can knit this in 10 days or less even while working a part-time job. That's about the same amount of time that I can knit a pair of socks. Of course this time it took me a bit longer because I have been spinning and felting the same time I was knitting on the scarf.

I have never been one for doing gauge, swatching or blocking. I know better but some things you really need to know the gauge, swatch or even block. This pattern however does need to be block ever so slightly. All of the other times I have made this scarf I either steam and hand blocked or hand blocked it on an extra large bath towel. This time I have a new way.

My favorite enabler and I shared an order for KnitPicks and we bought blocking squares. I haven't used them yet and since I returned her blocking wires, I thought the blocks and some old sewing pins would do the trick. They did!

I love the blocks. I really wasn't sure about them but they are wonderful. Why did I wait so long to do this? The pins just slide right in and look at that! There was one little problem though...
My diningroom table isn't long enough to block the whole scarf. Since I sleep on a Sleep Number bed, pinning it the the bed to accomodate for length, isn't happening! So 3/4 of the scarf will be blocked over a two day period. Then I will have to wet the last 1/4 and block that. A little awkward but with five dogs my options are limited for sure.

Here is another view of the scarf in the process of being pinned for blocking. Lastly the close up of the lace. I am sure that if you are a member of Ravelry you can link to my project page and then follow the link to the designer's page. I feel like I got my money's worth from this pattern! I sure hope my friends think as much as their gifts as much as I did making them.

Pattern Stats: Mary designed by Linda Johnson. Knit with US #4 Addi Lace circulars with Misty Alpaca Lace weight.

Seeing Red These Days

Seeing Red These Days

I have to admit that I learned how to spin about four or five years ago, bought a wheel and then set it aside. It's been collecting dust and would continue to do so if it not for the small group of spinners that belong to Yarn for Breakfast. I have talked about them before. Every once in awhile they meet at someone's house and spin, talk about fibers and where to get the "good stuff". Being with them inspired me to start spinning a little more every week.

I went to Rhinebeck (NY Sheep and Wool Show) and bought roving. I have five fleeces stored in the house but thought I needed some more color in my life. I bought red roving what was really meant for felting but didn't realize that until I started to spin it. It's coarse and I have no idea what the fiber was other than it was a nicest color of red. So I snagged it and started spinning. I ended up with this... It's a bit blurry but you get the jest of it. I triple plied the yarn for a project. I did two plies red and threw in one in a misc. light colored roving that I had. The yarn ended up being a bulky yarn. That was what I wanted. It's for a project that needed bulky weight yarn.

I wanted to make my very first bowl from this book. I love books but never seem to use them after I buy them (except for sock books). I have thumbed through this book many times and admired the felted bowl. I have seen them on blogs and different sites and decided I wanted one. So I made one. I have to say that I was totally impressed. The pattern was wonderful. You can be the judge.

Here is the yarn in a cake (same blurry picture as above). Then I knit the bowl. I am sorry that I didn't get a before shot but I was so excited about getting it into the washing machine that I forgot.

After I felted it I found a bowl to serve as a form to put the newly felted bowl on so that it would dry like a "real" bowl. I was lucky because I found a pyrex bowl the perfect size in my cabinet. I wanted the outside of the bowl to dry first so I flipped it upside down and left that way on the dining room table for two days during Thanksgiving.

This is the bowl upside down drying. Once the outside felt dried to the touch I turned it back on the flat side of the bowl so that it would sit flat . Worked like a charm.

I love the texture. I haven't shaved it. Don't think that I will either. I did think that the two colors would be stripped or marbled or something but it turned out speckled. I really do love the way it looks; hairy and speckled.

Here is the final bowl. It's dried and it stands up really well. The walls are not as thick as I thought they would be but I really love the bowl. It has given me great satisfaction to spin the wool, knit the bowl, felt it and now get to use it. I have got to use my books more often!

50, Twice

Fifty, Twice
Not too long ago I turned 50 for the 2nd time. I have to say that it was one of the nicest birthdays I have had via my friends from both close and afar. One friend locally treated me like a princess with some nifty gifties and then two good friends from Ravelry made going to the mailbox a delight.

Let's start with local...

I got lots of goodies in bag. There were designer Kleenex, pads for writing down my thoughts, a mask (we all tried them on), a bouncy balloon and a crown. Not only that but I got treated to lunch out too. It couldn't have been a nicer day with three of my favorite people.

Next a gift in the mail made my day. Even though I am a knitter, I rarely knit useful things for myself (except for a shawl here and there and of course my beloved socks). So my friend from IN sent me these lovelies.

I do knit, but I never knit dish cloths for myself so she did it for me. Not only did I get that but I got a nice message center where I can put paper and a pencil so that when I answer the phone I can actually write something down without searching for something to write with.
She also sent me my favorite candy but as you can see it didn't make it to the photo session...ahem...

I am sorry for the bad quality on my pictures. My camera was have a cranky episode and I couldn't get the flash to work correctly. So it's a bit dark. The back drop is my new bookcase that DH built.

Then my friend from CO sent me these items. I was speechless!

Since the picture is so horrible I will tell you what's in it. There are two felted acorn bags. There is a large one and a small one. Each has a dark brown lid with a nice little handle on it, I think icord. The lids are held shut but little loops that wrap around a cute little wooden button. You can take the lids off and put lots of lovely thing inside each of the acorns. Let me tell you, they were both packed with tons of goodies.

This picture is a better one with all the of contents of both the acorn bags laid out. I got all kinds of things. There is (was) Emerald dark chocolate covered almonds in little bags that were 2.5 ounces that had 100 calories. They didn't last very long...ahem. There is roving I have to add to my spin list, flavored tea bags, a pair of tiny scissors, a tape measure and a bag of earrings. It was just the neatest presentation for a ton of little gifts. I can't tell this person how impressed I was that the whole time we are talking about our knitting projects, she never once mentioned she was knitting on these guys. Just too cute!!

So the gifts in the mail, gifts in person, Birthday greetings both from Ravelry and Facebook and a dog singing Happy Birthday made the day a lovely one. Everyone should be so lucky to have so many nice people in their life.

Today is the day after Thanksgiving and I am thankful for those people in my life who put up with me with a smile on their face and those who put me in my place with a gentle hand. I am very thankful that my grandmother started me down the road of knitting and crocheting when I was a child or none of this would have been possible. I hope that everyone out there in cyberland had a Happy Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving should not be one day of the year but everyday!