New Finishes

I have 2 new finishes. I finished the scarf and I made a pair of fingerless mitts. The scarf looks odd because I had to use two seperate colors. But as long as it will cover up my scar I don't really care. I really do love this yarn as both projects were made out of it. It's called Bernat Waverly. Joann's sells it. It's really soft and doesn't feel cheap like Red Heart does.

 I made the mitts for me but I realized they don't keep my fingertips warm. I never did understand the concept. So I will make the other one and give them to Hannah who said she liked them. Grace said she liked them to but really likes fliptop mittens and I do to. I just need to figure out how to make the flip top part on this pattern. These were so easy and quick. My knitting was good-finally!. I was worried about the thumb but sewing up the thumb area while wearing really does help you see what to do. I must say I was surprised the girls like these mitts since I made them. Hannah bought a beret hat yesterday (on sale for $2) and I was disapointed and told her I was going to knit her one for her birthday. She said she wanted one with color in it. The one she bought was a beige/creme color. I will show her yarn I was going to use and see if she likes it.

Back to working on my WIPS...

Knitting black hole

Here is one of the scarves I am making for my surgery. Problem is, it's only half done. You would think that bulky yarn and garter stitch would make for a fast scarf, well, it doesn't. I couldn't find the same shade of blue so I had two options: I could go a darker blue or go lighter with a white/cream. I choose the lighter. I figured it wouldn't look so stark up against the blue. You can see a little of it here. basically it's going to be half blue and half creamy white. It needs to be long enough to go through the loop and hang down a decent amount.

I have been working on the other scarf as well. I really like the feel of the yarn but it is as slow as the blue scarf. I am at 24 inches and need 42 at least. Then I'm not even done. I need to knit on the edging of ruffles. In the dark recesses of my mind I am contemplating not knitting on the ruffle. I can always do it later if I want, that's the cool thing about this.  It is very demoralizing to knit and knit and never get anywhere.

I'm doing a row here and there on the hat for Joel and a scarf for dad.

Toys and scarves

Look what I bought!

 

 

                                             
                                            The beige scarf, my thyroid scarf and Joel's hat.

                                                                      A scarf

                                                                      The poncho

I have two socks that I am working on that I didn't put in there along with a shawl and one or two other projects. I wanted something to put my knitting in to organize it and so I can let Daisy into the living room on a more permanant basis. It was 40% off and was $35.00 regular price. So far I really like it. I want to get some smaller ones to organize my odds and ends so I can get rid of the two baskets on either side of the rocker.

I started Joel's hat. I started two other things which will be gifts down the road. I am still working on what I now call my thyroid scarf.

It will cover up my scar quite nicely, if I can get it done. I am looking for the yarn in the color I have and I can't find it. It's after Chrsitmas so inventory is low. I have at least one more Joanns to look at before I give up and make it a double color scarf which I don't want to do. Problem is I don't have the ball band so I don't know what color it is called. It's light blue.

I decided that I am going to try and work exculsively on my 3 scarves in progress. This one and these two:

Not much progress made on either but I can wear these hopefully soon. I just knit a row of the maroon scarf and I forgot how soft and thick it is. I will work on this more. It's just that it is a very long scarf 47 inches long. That's why I don't work on it much. I fear I will never get it done. The beige one looks to be about half done. There is supposed to be 12 leaves and I have 6 done.

Startitis again?

Now with the hat and cowl done I am at a crossroads. I do have to make the second hat for Joel. Do I pick up my poncho and keep knitting on that or do I give in to the desire to start new projects? I was looking at my queue in Ravelry.com and I have a few projects I want to start. I can't show all of them because some are gifts but here are some I can show:

I want to make these for the family for next Christmas. These stockings call for bulky yarn and I have 2 skeins of bulky Packer yarn I had no idea what to use it for. Now I do! It will be a stocking for Sam. I will have the girls and Joel pick out what colors they would like. I want gray. I will have to figure something out for Daisy to. I love the colors in this picture.

I want to make one of these for Hannah for her birthday. April might be warm around here but I couldn't do it for Christmas with the hats I made.

I have mentioned this before. I can't explain how I feel when I look at this. It's like looking at the warmest softest hug you can imagine. I even want to make it in the colors shown. It's really big though. I would like to make it smaller but not sure how.

I saw this sweater made up in the yarn store in Delafield. Fell in love! It would cost around $80 to knit this in the largest size. The skeins are $20 each but have 475 yards in them. I love the rustic simple look to them. I even toyed with making a thermal shirt to wear underneath for an extra layer of warmth. I was freezing at my mother-in-laws house. Problem is with so much to knit this year it doesn't make sence to start this.

Two Finishes!

 The big finish is the cowl. I had a skein of alpaca in my stash and I decided to use it on this. It's a big cowl! I really wanted to use all the yarn so the 7 inches it was supposed to be ended up being 8 inches. I didn't use all the yarn. I still have yards and yards left. Not sure what I will do with it. I found the guy I bought this from online and he has an online store and sells the yarn. I may buy another skein of the gray and make something else. Can't bear to waste it or use it as waste yarn.

 

The other finish is a scarf I made for my mom for Christmas. It is a bit small since it was only one skein of 120 yards. I hope she can use it somehow.

 

 

Now I have to decide what do work on next. I have 3 projects in my baskets. The poncho, a shawl for Grace which will never get done because the yarn is to grabby on the needles. I need to consider different needles for this or it will take me 3 years to finish it. My goal is to be done by next winter. I also have a shawlette I'm working on. Plus the other UFO (un finished objects) I have upstairs. Of course the urge to cast on something new is strong. Plus I have to decide what to take to WI for the trip.

 

 

So what did I do? I cast on this! I have a specific reason for which I am not comfortable revealing at the moment. Needless to say it covers the neck area high and low well which is the only thing I will say. This looks like it will fit the bill. I have 114 yards of light blue bulky yarn. The pattern says it uses 100 yards of bulky. It will be interesting to see because I got a yardage counter last Christmas and used it to measure what I had left in the blue yarn. I hope it is accurate. I am enjoying using straight needles in the harmony from Knit Picks. Have I ever shown you a picture of these needles? Here's one:

 

Aren't they pretty? These are my needles of choice. I would love a full set of these in straights and interchangables. I am very slowly working on it. I plan to buy some when I am in WI for vacation. I use circular needles much more than straights. I think I only have 2 pairs of straights of these. I have a bunch of metal needles someone gave to me who can't knit anymore.

That's it for now. Sorry I couldn't post this earlier but I had to wait for the scarf to be opened!

 



One is done!

I really apologize for the bad picture. I just couldn't get a good one. At least you won't be able to see my bad knitting.

I finally finished one hat. It took longer than expected because life got in the way and I also wasted a day knitting extra ribbing when I didn't need to. I'm not happy with my knitting on this second half hat. I didn't realize the second half hat is the outside hat. It looks decent till about 3/4 of the way up and then it looks bad. I washed it and blocked it. I just laid it out and let it dry. I will start Joel's hat tomorrow and it will be done either in January or February. I haven't decided if I am taking it to WI or not. The way the weather is here Sam may not wear it this winter.

Here is the hat with 2 rows left to do. You stick your hand in the open side and grab the other end and pull it toward the opening. Then you do the last 2 rows and bind off. You turn the cuff and waala a hat!

Here is a note I wrote to put in with the hat. Hopefully Sam will not laugh at it and take it seriously. I think this is the first thing I've gift knitted made of 100% wool. My mittens are 100% wool and are looking good. But then I baby them a bit. My alpaca mittens are on their second winter and look good. Maybe these natural fibers hold up better than I thought. But then I hear stories of sweaters pilling when you look at them sideways. Maybe my tight knitting is a good thing.

"Your hat was knit with love and careful but not perfect craftsmanship. I thought it would be good for you to read about the wool your hat was knit with. Please wear your hat with pride and warmth and do not EVER put it in the wash machine or dryer since it will felt and shrink so much you will not be able to wear it again. Many, many, many hours were put into the making of this hat. Please take good care of it and keep track of it. Your hat may feel a bit scratchy. An attempt was made to soften it. It may soften further with wear. Having it slightly scratchy is not a bad thing. It reminds you your hat was handmade with special wool that is rustic and tough. If you need to wash or dry your hat, please tell the knitter who made it and she will wash it or dry it so it will not shrink or felt. Please feel free to brag about your hat to others if you wish. How many people do you know that have a handmade garment to wear!"

Wool — the most versatile of fibers.

It is the little black dress of the knitting yarn world. Whatever the occasion, be it formal or completely casual, there is always a type of wool to complement your look. Wool is a protein fiber (meaning it comes from animals) and can withstand a great deal of use. Like other natural fibers (and many small children) one must pay attention to the personality of the wool in order to make it behave in its most attractive fashion.

Wool is strong. This is always a plus. No matter what the garment or item is that you are knitting; you know that the fibers are resistant to breakage.

Wool is elastic and resilient. When a sweater has been stretched, it will retain its shape. If you grow, the sweater will grow with you (to a certain point, wool doesn’t do miracles). It is also very pleasant to knit with wool yarn due to the fact that it has some give to it. This is a result of the natural crimp in the fibers that puts a little spring in their step.

Wool is absorbent. Whether you are sweating due to exertion or you are soaked from trudging through the snow, wool will help to keep you dry by drawing moisture away from your skin and retaining it in the fibers.

Wool is flame retardant! This is not only a positive safety bonus, but it is also ideal when knitting and felting up some potholders, oven mitts or trivets. It probably gives you added peace of mind if you wrap your kid up in it, too!

What your hat is made from:

PERUVIAN WOOL

This wool is special because it is harvested from Peruvian sheep – specifically a cross between the finest Corriedale and Merino breeds. Both of these breeds are forerunners in the wool apparel industry. The Corriedale breed is very sturdy and able to survive in relatively harsh mountainous climates. Paired with the Merino, which produces the finest of all sheep wools, the result is a strong fiber with an excellent softness quotient and a wide variety of uses. The micron count of Peruvian wool fiber rests at about 25-27 and the average fiber length is 3.5-5 inches. Micron count is a scientific method of measuring the fineness of various fleeces based on the diameter of their individual fibers. The lower the micron count, the finer the fiber. Peruvian wool is a great value that is soft enough to wear next to the skin, it felts remarkably well, has a nice finish to it.

A micron (micrometer) is the measurement used to express the diameter of a wool fiber. The lower microns are the finer fibers.  Fiber diameter is the most important characteristic of wool in determining its greasy value.

Every fleece comprises a very wide range of fiber diameters—for example a typical Merino fleece will contain fibers of as low as 10 microns in diameter, and there could be fibers with diameters exceeding 25 microns, depending on the age and health (or nutrition) of the sheep. What is usually referred to as wool's "micron" is the mean of the fiber diameters or average diameter. This may be measured in a number of different ways.

MERINO WOOL

One word you see frequently when reading about protein (aka animal) fibers is crimp. This may call to mind the hairstyle that was popular in the 1980s which involved using a hot iron to press the hair into z-shaped waves. The crimp in sheep fleece is a similar concept, but is all natural on sheep. All sheep breeds have different levels of crimp. Merino have one of the most consistent and frequent crimps of all. This gives the fibers, and the yarn, a good amount of elasticity and flexibility. Merino wool is known for its superior softness and is therefore often used for baby knits or for fine garments.  Merino wool has been prized from as far back as the 12th century. It has even paid the ransom for a king’s head!

An update on my cowl. I am on the 4th repeat (of 16 rows) of this pattern with yarn left over. I do not know if I will have enough yarn for a full repeat or not. I am anxious to finish this. My hope is to have it done by Christmas (or in the car on the way to WI) so I can wear it in cold WI. I will post a picture when I am done. 

 

New in the Queue

This is the end of November and in the knitting world that means it's Wovember. What is Wovember you ask?

" The idea is to show our collective appreciation of WOOL by wearing as much of this fabulous fibre as possible, and celebrating WOOL and its unique qualities in stories and pictures throughout the month of November. We hope that through our enthusiasm and creativity we can raise awareness of WHAT MAKES WOOL DIFFERENT, and jointly create a force for WOOL APPRECIATION strong enough to effect changes in how garments and textiles are described and marketed."

Here is the website if you are interested in checking it out: http://wovember.com/




The reason I mention this is because today I got a email from them and in the artical was this: The picture is so striking because of the sweater. Who wouldn't want to wear this? Then there is the dog who looks as good as the sweater. The two make a great pair. But here is a story that goes with this picture and I wanted to share it with you.

Susan Gibbs in a 20-year old sweater!

I hope Susie won't mind our recounting the story again here for WOVEMBER readers; it's really a wonderful 'Wearing Wool' story;

I bought this sweater 20 years ago at a farmers market in Washington D.C. and I wear it nearly every day in the winter. I wear it to feed the sheep and work around the farm, or when I’m running errands. It’s almost like a coat for me.

When I first bought it, it wasn’t particularly soft but it has softened up a bit over the years. Most remarkably, it hasn’t pilled the way sweaters knit from softer yarns are apt to.

Last year, I brought that sweater with me when I did my yarn shop book tour, and, in nearly every yarn shop I wore it into, a customer would come up to me and say, “I want to make a sweater like that! Where can I find that yarn?” I would explain that most shops don’t carrying hard-wearing Aran weights and why, and all the knitters within earshot would protest loudly that they would absolutely buy that kind of yarn if shops sold it. Then the shop owner would point out that they had carried that kind of yarn and it never sold.

It was like being in Groundhog Day. It happened in every store I wore that sweater to.

The fact is, most knitters judge a yarn by it’s softness, not by it’s hard-wearingness. I admit I am guilty of this too. Don’t believe me? Hang out in a yarn shop for a couple of hours. Everyone who walks in will pick up a yarn they are considering and rub it on their neck to see if it’s scratchy.

The problem with this is that every garment isn’t suited to a buttery soft yarn. There are some yarns that will pill if you stare at them too hard, let alone lean against the back of a chair. The key is to select the right yarn for your project, and for a sweater like the one I’m wearing above, you need a sturdy, aran yarn. And if you live in the United States, good luck finding one.

- Susan Gibbs of Juniper Moon Farm

A few thoughts I had on this. First off from personal expeerience, if you make a shop sample of something it will get a lot of looks. If you pair the shop sample like the sweather with the yarn it was made from, I think the yarn and the sweater sells itself or each other. I'm sure shops do this but maybe not as hard as they should. Two examples: I went into my local yarn store in Hartland and fell in love with a sweater they had on display. The yarn was nearby but at $14 a ball I couldn't afford it. But the sweater sold me on the yarn and I now have 1 skein of it waiting to be knit. Another example was in the same store. They had a shawl on display. Fell in love and did buy the yarn for it as well as the pattern. It is on my needles. The last example is in another store. I walked in to buy a completly different yarn and I had 2 patterns in my hand. I looked up and there was a shop sample of one of the patterns I was considering. The yarn was right there. I bought the yarn because the shop sample was so nice. It to is on my needles.

The other thought I had was the last paragragh made me think of the mittens I made myself last winter. I bought "rustic" wool because I was going to use them shoveling snow. I figure if the sheep can handle it then their wool must be good. I bought some of my favorite brand but a new line that I had recently heard about. I love my mittens, just hate my knitting.

Back to the title of new in the queue. I thought I would share some patterns that I would like to knit someday. This pattern is called Thermal. It is made with fingering weight yarn and I can see this as being worn like it is or under a sweatshirt or other big top. Made from soft wool it would be very warm. Think about this under that sweater above... :-)

 

The next pattern is thermal also: socks! This really interests me. Pair them together. Love the color to!

 

This one I like because of the design. It's so different! Would go good with a lot of things but I might knit it in a thinner yarn. It's knit with bulky weight.

 

Finally since it is the season: I have a beautiful tree skirt already that I love but the thought of knitting my own is intriquing. It will probably be a year before I would get to this since this next year I am making the stockings.

 

Speaking of stotckings. I took the girls to get the yarn for their stocking. Grace picked a peach and Hannah picked a turquoise. Both will have a fuzzy white top. Hopefully they will like them.