Knitting Notions!

Wow! My family gave me a laptop for Christmas!  This has been on my wish list for many years, and I am so excited to have it now!  My youngest set up the screen with these adorable alpacas, plus my identification picture is Bad Alice, the sheep from Trenary. Yes, my family gets me!!! :)  So, now I'm knitting my custom fit sweater and using my laptop for blogging, Ravelry and all those important knitting activities.  Thanks Family!!!!!

Bye Bye WIPs ~

The day has come when one needs to review one's Works In Progress and ask The Clash question, "Should I stay or should I go?"  Say Bye Bye to Bonnie, my ribbon tank top that was cast on a long time ago, perhaps in 2008?

Say Bye Bye to my baby blue lacey top that had hidden armpits that I could never locate in the pattern notes....

Both projects were listed on the blog as "On The Needles" items #1 and #2, yet both predate Ravelry. Now I can cast on more projects!

Special hats ~ Special kids ~

I cast on my first of several hats for some special kids.  Detroit Achievement Academy has approximately 90 kids that need warm wool hats and mittens this winter. The school has kindergarten, first, second and third grades.

One of their teachers is my niece. She told me how rough their winter was last year and asked me if there was a way that I could knit hats and mittens for her class of 20 third graders. Once I talked to some others in our wonderful Eastside Stitchers group on Ravelry, they said we should try to knit hats and mittens for the entire school - for now, we are starting with the 3rd graders.

Their school colors are navy and white so we are keeping to these colors so all the kids feel that they are all getting equitable knitwear. It is cold and snowy in Detroit. The kids play outside a lot, plus walk to and from school. All wool/alpaca is preferred, as acrylic isn’t as warm. I’m not worried about superwash as I don’t think there will be much washing of hats/mittens.  This first hat happens to be superwash, as I have this yarn in my stash.

Auditions ~

I have had this dream yarn since January, and I knit my swatch in February. So, you ask, "Why haven't you cast on that sweater yet?"  Well, that is a very good question....I thought I knew which sweater this yarn wanted to be.... Gwen...... and then I started thinking about Gwen, and why don't those models from Rowan ever look like they are enjoying their knitwear? So I looked on Ravelry and there are happy people wearing Gwen....so that was good news...... Then there was Maureen.....simple and oversized as a cardigan should be, and I could change the bottom and cuffs to ribbing......then there was the Moss Cabled Cardigan, which has always tugged at me as it is the Central Park Hoodie sans hood. Each night I look through my three books......Gwen?

Maureen?

Or Moss Cabled........

You might think that this sweater business is too much of a commitment for me....so I go back to knitting on socks.....and the auditions for "perfect sweater" continue......

Ravolympics Cast On ~

I have never participated in the Ravolympics Games, however when asked by Jitteryknitter to participate, I could not really say no. There was a delightful cast on party at FiberCat's house, and she had made us all project bags, complete with winter sports theme fabric, lining and zippers. Major Cute Project Bag!  Mine has kids making snow angels in the glittery snow, and I love it more than I can say.

We all knit while watching the opening ceremonies and checking out the knitted accessories for each country, and some lucky countries even had beautiful knit sweaters. We could not decide whether we liked the USA sweater or not....I cast on the Baby Mac blanket, and I hope I can finish it by the end of The Games!

Cast on for Valentine's ~

When I was in Michigan in November, I was wearing a headband that I knit for my kids. My sister-in-law saw it, tried it on and asked if I would knit one for her in red yarn.  I agreed, and started looking for more yarn like the yarn I had used for my headband, as it has elastic mixed with wool.   Of course that yarn had been discontinued.

I tried the standby of Cascade Fixation, as that also has elastic and would substitute close enough. I found two balls of red as a destash on Ravelry, so I can finally cast on. I am hoping to finish this for Valentine's day, but not sure if that's possible with all the other knitting going on!

My Hero ~

You are not going to believe this....of all the messages I sent on Ravelry desperately seeking Magenta Jitterbug to finish my Little Colonnade, I had just one response.  MY HERO!!!!  She wrote back and said she would find it in her stash, and just charge me for shipping.... MY HERO!!!!!   That afternoon she sent me another message to say the package only took two stamps, so she was considering it as a gift.... MY HERO!!!!!

May she have Great Knitting Karma and Fabulous Karma of All Other Types for all her many many many many healthy and happy years.... Bless you!!!!!!  (P.S.  The label on her yarn was dated 2008!!)

Trouble here ~

I have trouble here, right here in River City....(that is a nod to my Dad, who always sang this song from The Music Man while we were growing up.....) as I have been knitting away in a Jitterbug Frenzy with the magenta colored perfect yarn and amazing Signature needles and.......oh dear.......

I have five rows left, and there is not enough yarn.....oh dear.....So I have searched on Ravelry, and there is one skein of Magenta Jitterbug for sale, and four knitters have posted that they have "leftovers" of Magenta Jitterbug in their stash... I have messaged all of them....My yarn is from 2009... what are the chances that I will find more??????

Cast on madness ~

Most knitters I know have a strange sense of time. Not only do we know that we can knit up all our stash in our life time (of course we can!), we also know that we can knit anything once we have a deadline, right? Well, my niece is getting married July 23.

So I have 23 days to finish this lacy scarf that I have just cast on, as the yarn matches my outfit perfectly...No problem, right?  Plenty of time, right? Especially since the wedding doesn't start until 4:00 pm....plenty of time!!!

Pretty Wild 2-Ply ~

I was correct to think this would be a wild ply with this super deluxe colorful fiber.  I was thinking that the singles already looked plyed since there was already a mixing of colors in most of the segments, in a lovely barber pole pattern  ~ and I do love a barber pole pattern in my yarn!  Why have one color when you can have all 64 in the crayon box?

So, here is the 2-ply, certainly thicker than the bamboo/merino I just finished, but still a very fun color riot that will be something very whimsey and happy when it is knit...I have to measure to see how much I have, and then I'll start trolling Ravelry to find a pattern that fits the yardage!  Hurrah for Ravelry!  Hurrah for handspun!

Silk and Signatures ~

Look at this lovely shawl!  The yarn is so beautiful and soft and the colors are so yummy.  Knitting with the Signature Needles is amazing, it is like the silk and needles are made for each other!  Several rows in, and I still have the correct number of stitches!  Way to go!!!

The wee points are starting to show and they are lovely, I can't wait to get back to knitting this shawl! On Ravelry, there are several Annis shawls knit out of this yarn, and they are all lovely as well...

I love these colors!  Thanks again to JitteryKnitter for bringing back the BEST yarn for me from I Knit London!

Mothers' Day Cast On ~

I had a super deluxe Mothers' Day because I spent time with my family, talked to my mum and was able to do some delightful knitting with some super special yarn!  Yes, this is the 50/50 silk merino that I spun and plyed and measured to be 125 yards.  Since there are not many shawls on Ravelry that use such a little amount, I cast on my go-to Lake Champlain pattern....which I think may have another name in some circles...

 

Using my Signature Needles, so it is a perfect combination!  I am so happy to be knitting on a new project!

River cast on ~

Getting closer to the end of the Hazel Knits socks for my 16 year old, and I am thinking of the next cast on. That same 16 year old requested a scarf that is, "a circle" and that she could loop around her neck if needed. I thought, perhaps, she needed a moebius, so I did some research. Instead, I came up with Encompass by our favorite Yarn Harlot....and cast on!It may not look like much yet, but it is oh-so-soft and the stitch patterns are fun.Plus, it is always great to cast on at the river!Looking great so far, eh?!!!!!
Yes, I love this - on Signature needles too - Yippee!!!

Superfine Saved ~

I made it through untangling my superfine merino. It took a long time, but the results are so beautiful! Some of the colors barber pole against each other, and other colors line up to be one color.I was so excited at this ply that I've taken a picture of it wet!!!It is still lovely wet! I'm wondering what I can knit out of 83 yards of handspun! I'll have to check Ravelry for those great little patterns, especially for handspun!

Discontinued, really?

Do you ever find the most perfect yarn, after looking high and low, north and south...and knit several projects with happy success...only to find it is now discontinued? Some of my favorite favorite yarns are made by Natural Dye Studios, and I found out they are now discontinued.I was able to find two skeins for U.S. sale on Ravelry, but the others for sale are only in Europe.I will really miss this yarn! The colors are perfectly lovely and saturated, the yarn is soft and springy, and I'm oh-so-sad that it is not being made anymore!I am posting these thoughts about UK yarn in honor of Jitteryknitter who is now on her way there!!! Enjoy!!

Tosh Madness ~

I keep hearing about Madelinetosh yarn. Some people say there is no better yarn, some even say they must have more Tosh as it calls to them. It says, "Bring me home to be with my other Tosh colors"....
I have a skein of Tosh, truly vintage or classic (or, some would say "old") that I bought for $10 in a sale bin at the 2009 Sock Summit... so I thought I should start knitting with it so I could see, for myself, what all this craziness was about.... so I cast on Forest Canopy, a pattern I purchased on Ravelry.Well, there is a bit of madness in the air... no doubt about it....

198 Yards and warning ~

As I mentioned, I cast on 198 Yards of Heaven while waiting with my mum in the hospital. It will match her winter coat, so that's a double bonus. The pattern was going smoothly and I thought this would be as easy as most on Ravelry have posted. Until I made it to row one, again, for the beginning of the second time through rows 1-22. I checked the pattern, I checked my knitting, I checked the chart....no way could I get row 1 to line up with the center stitch with my row 22.....I decided to cast on again, with larger needles... and while at my favorite yarn shop, Serial Knitters, I learned from one of the wonderful employees that there are problems with the written pattern, but not with the chart....gosh, I wish I could read charts.....

Power of Knitting ~

I received this simple email from a lovely sweet lady I know from our church:
My daughter is undergoing chemo for breast cancer and has already lost most of her hair. She saw a knit hat on someone last week that had cat ears, nose and whiskers on it. Do you have any idea where to get a pattern like that? Well, it happens that I know Ravelry, so I sent her some links to some hats that might fit this description. I cast on in a lovely and soft grey merino/bamboo, as I knew that she doesn't knit, and emailed her that I would be happy to knit a cat hat for her daughter. I'm busy with work, home, kids and "all things in my world" but I'm not fighting cancer, nor is one of my daughters fighting cancer...so knitting a cat hat seemed like a very small effort given the circumstance.....
I received this response:

You have no idea how much this means to me. She and I had not spoken but twice since last September when there was a "blowup" at our other daughter's wedding in SF. As horrible as this disease is, it has brought our family back together and brought my daughter back to me. We text back and forth several times a week (it is easier for her as talking on the phone seems to tire her out more quickly). My heart is nearly at peace again. When I sent her the cat hat picture yesterday, she wrote back, "Wow Mom, you have no idea how very much this means to me!" So, finally I am, through your kindness, able to do something special for her that no one else is doing! It is thrilling for me. She said she is resting lots this week and maybe she will be able to come over on Saturday, when we will celebrate Easter and her daughter's birthday. Keep your fingers crossed. We are so hoping she will be able to join us. I'm sure she will feel she can never have too many cat hats - she loves cats and takes in every one people dump on their road. They don't all stay, or survive the coyotes out there, but she is very much a nurturer. Thank you again for your thoughtfulness and kindness in doing these hats for me and my daughter.
I was speechless......
Do not ever underestimate the power of knitting - even knitting a cat hat.... I encourage you all to share some knitted kindness this holiday weekend of Easter and Earth Day... knitting makes the world a better place...

Tea and Jazz ~

I watched the video to see how to fill in the gaps of the Sweet Jazz shawl. I found the link to YouTube on one of the comments to the shawl in Ravelry. Very helpful!

Now I've made it past the gaps, and just knit the row where you increase to 450 stitches. I only have a few more rows to knit, and they are long ones! I can't wait to see how the edging turns out, as it was delightful to be knitting this Hazel Knits yarn again!

Loopy Ewe Found~

I love Ravelry for many reasons. Now I have another reason to love Ravelry. In trying to find another skein of Loopy Ewe Sock Club yarn from an unknown year, the Jitteryknitter said I should post something on Ravelry and see what happens.

I posted this on Wednesday evening, and by Thursday over 300 Ravelers had read the post, and many had commented on the year of the sock club, and giving ideas on how to find some one that would sell from their stash. Then someone wrote that they would sell their skeins...so I bought them Thursday night, and they are now in the mail to me!!! How great is that!! I apologize for this same picture, but the other two have not arrived yet!
Now that I'll have 3 skeins, I think I should make a shawl, instead of socks...what do you think?