Second ball of yarn!

Very excited to add my second ball of yarn today, that means I am making progress on this custom fit sweater. Still love the yarn and working with Signature needles, sweaters take some time and patience.....

Border Section!

Yes! I am knitting the last few rows of the border section!  I made this much larger than pattern called for since I had 300 + yards of Jitterbug sock yarn and the pattern calls for 200 yards of DK weight yarn.  I will use up as much of the yarn as possible!  Happy New Year!

More Orbit!

Still finding time to knit on the Orbit Shawl by Janina Kallio with this great Jitterbug yarn. Can I finish this by the end of this year?

Waist Decreases!

Working on my custom fit sweater, and already to the waist decreases on the back section. Very exciting to have some time over vacation to be knitting on projects for me!

Sweater Swatching!

Another Ft. Worden adventure into a Custom Fit sweater.  Here is my second swatch with smaller needles.  I love the green yarn with the purple Signature Needles!

Birthday Cast On ~

Of course we have to have our traditional Birthday Cast On today so we can think about the joys of birthday events each time we are able to knit on the Birthday Cast On project.  This year's winner goes to a Janina Kallio design, the Orbit shawl, using some lovely Jitterbug with my Signature Needles.  All good knitterly blessings for a project!!!

Camping Cast On!

I have wanted to knit this Painted pattern by Louise Zass-Bangham since it came out as a Loopy Ewe pattern of the month for a club.  So I waited until I could buy it, and then Jitteryknitter gave me marvelous yarn from Western Sky Knits and the cast on was magical!  Love this pattern, love the new stitch in the pattern, and love the Signature Needles too!

So pretty!

Loving this pattern, Antarktis by Janinia Kallio!  Jitteryknitter and I have our own KAL for this shawl!  Love how this yarn and Signature Needles are working together with the lace!

Custom Fit Progress ~

Wow!  I love knitting with this Elsa Wool and following the very detailed instructions for my custom fit sweater. This will be the ultimate mystery knitting, from the Custom Fit program to see if the sweater really fits me when I am done knitting (and blocking, and assembling...). Part of our wonderful retreat at Fort Worden was measuring ourselves and measuring our swatches. I know all this preparation "up front" will ensure that this sweater will be a success for me.

So far, I am having a blast with the knitting as the wool is so soft and firm and the Signature Needles are always perfect. I am feeling a wee bit guilty that I am not knitting for holiday gifts while I knit on this sweater... but, I'm worth a bit of holiday knitting for myself, too, right?!!

Cast on Custom Fit ~

Secret Knitting ~

Ah, this sparkle scarf is looking good!  A great blend of yarn and pattern, plus these lovely Signature needles are a joy to knit with!

Looking forward to more secret knitting on this project while family is gone!

Dream swatching ~

Our Madrona weekend is always a time of adventure and excitement. We pool our creative ideas and inspiration and end up with many fun projects and lots of dream projects for the future. Typically there are many new project cast ons, a few problem solving interventions and even some swatching.

This was my year for a dream swatch. Using my Signature Needles, which I dearly love, I started to knit a swatch with my treasured Elsa Wool and oh my goodness....the matching of yarn and needles was perfect. This wool is hearty and solid, yet soft and dreamy to the touch. I need to get my pattern together so I can cast on a sweater soon!

Christmas Cast on ~

Now that the Christmas gifts are knit....well, except that second sock, but the additional yarn is in the mail, so I will finish that knitting as soon as it arrives....I can cast on something for me!  How great is that!!!

I have wanted to knit this Deep V Tee since I saw this pattern in Knitwear.  I am using Hempathy yarn and my size 9 Signature Needles.  So far, so good!

Polka dot progress ~

Coming home from the cross country meet, I was able to do some road trip knitting on my lovely scarf!  This is the Polka Dot and Moonbeams yarn that I spun and plyed, it is 50/50 superwash merino/tencel. 

The yarn is so lovely, and my birthday Signature needles match so well, and knit so fast fast fast!

More Rabbit Holes ~

I have a great friend, the Jitteryknitter, who always finds a new and interesting rabbit hole for me to launch myself into.  For my birthday one year, she bought me lovely BFL fiber of lovely greens, just in case I needed to get serious about spinning... and I launched myself happily down that rabbit hole..... One year she surprised me with amazing Signature needles...perhaps because I was babysitting her pair and couldn't seem to find time to return them (we had bonded so well, and I really thought they were happier with me.....but I did (finally) return them..) and I have launched myself into getting...ahem...several pair since then...(how many is "several"?). One year she brought me the most beautiful silk from London, the Most Beautiful Silk EVER....and I almost weep with joy each time I knit on the shawl and feel that silk and see it making such lovely stitches.....

This year she found some fabulous yarn for me, in a super shape of a sock blank!  I have seen these, but never knit with one.  I love the colors, she said the Neon Green spoke to her...perhaps I have been choosing a lot of lime and neon lately... and the yarn is oh-so-soft!  I am excited to cast on!! This could be a great new format for yarn...does not need winding...does not get tangled.... a new rabbit hole for me!!!

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??????

Birthday Cast On ~

For those of you that know me, you might remember that I have a quirky way of celebrating my birthday by casting on a special project, like here, here, here and here.  This year is no exception. In the weeks before my birthday, I begin to fantasize all the projects that could be "the one" that gets the special award of being, "my birthday" project.

This year, I officially cast on a super deluxe project, however I have no pictures of "the first" cast on for this year's birthday. You will be seeing that project soon.  With this amazing surprise of new Signature Needles, size 9, I cast on my most delicious handspun, moonbeams and polka dots! This scarf is going to be fabulous!  Just looking at the cast on, with this glorious yarn and amazing needles, I know this will be a stunning piece!
P.S.  I think I received size 9s as I was about to borrow the Jitteryknitter's pair again....She worries about the way I bond with her special Signatures! I love these needles!

In love with British silk ~

Have I mentioned how much I love knitting with this silk from London?  I love the feel of this yarn, and I love the colors as they perfectly pass over my lovely Signature needles. I also love that the yarn is a special gift from "I Knit London" from the most fabulous friend.  I am so happy to be knitting on this again.

Lovely silk, so very lovely!

Complete madness ~

More madness than can be imagined is going on at my house. As I started knitting the scarf for the wedding in July, I also decided to order some other yarn from the spinningstreak in the UK as it looked perfect on-line. Jitteryknitter, the Enabler, encouraged me to order it, as I still have plenty of time to knit this scarf.

The yarn arrives Monday, and yes, of course it is lovely and perfectly matches my outfit for the wedding. Although I have ten inches of scarf out of artsygal that matches well and is lovely with tencel, I cast on another scarf. Another perfect scarf for the July wedding. Complete madness...

Lovely, but complete madness. Good that today is a holiday so that I can knit knit knit all day, right? Jitteryknitter is loaning me her Signature size 9 needles, in a lovely purple...they will help me knit faster, right?

Cast on again ~

Say "bye bye" to this lovely shawl-in-progress out of my fabulous 50/50 silk/merino handspun that I am oh-so-proud of....as I'm going to cast on again with size 11 needles... I was knitting with my size 8 Signatures, but the fabric was too dense, although super lovely.  Wish I had Signature needles in size 11, but I don't...so I'll be knitting with addi lace turbos....not exactly the heavenly combination as silk and Signatures, but I think the shawl will look better knit with larger needles.

Since I love this yarn oh-so-much, I don't even mind re-knitting it back to life!  I love love love this yarn!