Lovely on Lovely ~

Thanks to our ace blocker extraordinaire, my Chirality cowl looks better than the sample we saw in Serial Knitters yarn shop.

Here is my sweet daughter as the model.  Thanks Patti!!!!

Fabulous Fuchsia ~

I scored this malabrigo lace at my favorite yarn shop for 50% off during their anniversary sale. I will make the Jewel Cowl (free pattern on Ravelry). There is a beautiful sample in my favorite yarn shop, and each time I see it, I vow to knit this cowl.... I need to get beads and a crochet hook soon, so I can cast on!

As I was looking at it, while knitting on these socks, I noticed how similar the colors are....fuchsia is so lovely!

Run for Boston ~

I saw this hat pattern on Ravelry last week and knew I had to knit one, or two or maybe three of them... or perhaps more, as I am in a family of runners. I also sent it as a "gift" to my spinning teacher who ran Boston this year (see previous post). A bonus for me is that the hat needs four colors, and I am all about colors!  I asked Jitteryknitter to help me pick out colors for both my daughters, and we made awesome choices!  She even let me pick lime green! What a great friend! Another bonus, our favorite yarn shop was having a sale!

This is what the ribbing is supposed to look like.  I had a false start with my first cast on as the rows with purl stitches looked wonky. Although I have knit a lot of two color fair isle, I cannot recall ever purling... so I had some trouble with all the yarn getting tangled with the purls....so I ripped it out, pondered how it was supposed to work, and then cast on again.... also texted Jitteryknitter with a bit of *$^%# and that always seems to help!

I Love Qiviuk ~

I had forgotten how much I love this yarn. It is really more like a spiderweb made of a silky soft thread. I pulled this out of my assorted bags of projects and fell in love again. How could I have stopped working on this? Especially when the super star of my favorite yarn shop had fixed my mistake last year?

So I started knitting again, with my 3 by 5 cards with each row written out since the chart was too complex for me (I know, I know...but don't judge me). This scarf is so lovely and soft! I am sure it will be super warm too!

Sunshine 2013 ~

My oldest had informed me before Christmas that her, "new favorite color" is yellow...so she was asking that her new socks be yellow, and she would like a knit cowl out of yellow.  This is great, as who doesn't love knitting with such a happy color?

Our favorite local yarn shop, Serial Knitters was having a lovely sale, and I picked up a skein of Black Trilliam and knit this cowl very quickly...as I wasn't sure how long her "favorite color" would stay yellow!

Michigan Mystery Fiber ~

My mum and sister were at a fiber festival in Michigan in October, and they picked out a lovely bump of what I am calling Michigan Mystery Fiber for me!  They thought it was alpaca, since there were alpacas at the festival, but the fiber is more coarse and long than alpaca. The color is a lovely buff and a bit of peach tones added.  A bonus was a bar of handmade soap from the fiber festival was also in the bag, so it is the best smelling fiber bump I have ever had!

According to the experts at my favorite knitting shop, it seems to be a blend Romney and BFL, with some other wools perhaps.  I am excited to start spinning it, as soon as I finish what is on my bobbins, or when Santa brings me new bobbins!

Frolicking cuffs ~

I have officially started knitting the cuffs on these fabulous socks! I love the yarn and love the very pointy KA needles, size #1. We had to pick up these KAs at our favorite local yarn store just recently since this cuff pattern has some tricky rib splitting involved and I was surprised that super pointy needles made such a big difference in these cuffs!  Worth the investment, as KAs are not as expensive as Addi Lace, and makes the knitting so much better...otherwise these cuffs would have been waiting for a long long time for any action...

 

The socks are stunning, and my 13 year old loves them. She tried them on last night and said they fit perfectly!  Hurrah!   You may recall that my 13 year old picked out this yarn "for me" and gave it to me for Christmas last year....knowing she would be getting hand knit socks with this fabulous Frolicking Feet yarn! Smart kid, eh?!

Cast on Silk ~

A bonus Friday night with the JitteryKnitter, as she needed to stay awake until getting her family from the airport...hmmmm, how could we pass the time with something exciting? We decided to go to our favorite local yarn shop...I decided the night before that I was going to rip out my lovely birthday shawl I was knitting with the silk from I Knit London that JitteryKnitter had brought me from her trip there.  The most lovely silk in the most lovely of color combinations.. I really really want a shawl out of this yarn, and I want it soon.... and the other pattern was not working out for me.... so time to switch gears.

So I cast on for the Annis shawl, as I have wanted to make that one for a long time... the casting on 363 stitches was a bit scary, but I knew I could do it....really....especially with these Signature Needles...

Lollipop Silk ~

There is a story about this lovely fiber.  It came into my possession as the "lollipop" after a doctor's appointment. Remember, as a kid, when your folks promised you a lollipop if you made it through a difficult doctor's appointment in a brave way? Well, this doctor of mine happens to have his office very near my favorite yarn store...so when I learned that I had to have a less-than-appealing-procedure last Friday, I put my Christmas gift certificate into my bag as that reward "lollipop" if I was brave during this appointment. I did this once before, and it worked out then as a great reward, and made me think of the yarn shop visit instead of worrying about the doctor visit....

I was very brave, and didn't cry or freak out or faint....just did a lot of breathing deeply....and was fine at the end...  So my reward was the yarn store, and I looked around to find just the right reward....and saw this lovely 50/50 merino silk in these dashing colors of teal and green and red....

 

and that was all I needed to see to know this was my reward.  I've never spun 50/50 silk before, so I was a little nervous when I started spinning this afternoon... hopefully I'll have some pictures of my singles soon....

Birthday Star ~

We celebrated another birthday at our favorite knitting shop, Serial Knitters! What a great place to meet up with our knitting buddies, share laughs and stories while surrounded by lovely yarn and great people!How special that the Deb, the shop owner, shares the shop crown and scarf for our Birthday Star!Plus there was cake! Hurrah!!

Almost Real Yarn ~

I had the greatest spinning lesson on Sunday at my favorite yarn store, Serial Knitters. I had my great teacher all to myself and was able to ask many many questions and get lots of tips and techniques on how better to spin with my Pocket Wheel. I also learned to ply using my newest spinning gadget, the Katie-a-go-go which is a traveling "lazy Kate" and it worked like a charm!Here is my first attempt at plying my first attempted singles with my Pocket Wheel. Look, this almost looks like Real Yarn!!! Way to go!!! (very very exciting!!!)

Is there cake?

Close your eyes and imagine celebrating your birthday in the best way, ever. Let's think about what would make it perfect........it would have best friends.....check......some spa time for a massage.....check....some knitting in an outdoor cafe.....check....another best friend arrives.....check.....on to your favorite knitting shop....check... getting some coffee on the way.....check.....arriving at the knitting shop to a surprise of another best friend there..... check..... knitting at your favorite shop with your favorite friends until the shop closes...check.....finding some great sales before the shop closes... check....having the shop owner and staffers sit with us to chat and laugh.... check....getting a recommendation to a great outdoor cafe from one of our favorite knitting staffers...check....waiting on the dock, in the sunshine, while waiting for our perfect table on the deck....check...watching a lovely outdoor wedding next door in the lovely sunshine.... check...chatting with your best friends until well after the perfect sunset.....check...oh, and YES, there is cake!!!!

BFL and Tussah ~

The winner is.....blue faced leicester and tussah silk blend. These were one ounce samples from Serial Knitters, my favorite yarn shop. The samples are such a great idea for a new spinner, as it helps me practice on many different fibers without buying an entire four ounce rope.Although, some are so beautiful that I buy all the samples....for example, I bought all 3 of these......and here is the initial spinning. The purple and lime green are amazing, the purple is so deep and saturated, I love these colors! This fiber is a bit messy with the silk fibers, yet still very soft to spin. I had to adjust my drafting as it is a bit different than the superfine merino, but all is good practice for me! I can't wait to get back to this spinning!

Plying Success ~

Oddly enough, I thought of my plying success when I was into my big superfine merino tangle while plying this weekend. My plying bits were still hanging after being washed a month ago, so here they are....can you see any improvement in my spinning and plying?Here is the first lovely green fiber of which I finished spinning and plying 4 ounces, my blue faced leicester, given to me my JitteryKnitter (aka The Enabler). This was a dream to spin, and I learned a lot and improved a lot during this spinning and plying.Here is the 100% tussah silk, given to me for Christmas by sweet Marion. The reds and pinks are so saturated in this fiber ~ just amazing and lovely! Silk was fun to spin, and oh-so-soft running through my fingers. I'm exciting to spin the rest of this amazing fiber.Here is the 50% merino 50% tencel blend which I found as a sample from Serial Knitters, my favorite yarn shop. It is more lavender than this picture shows. I loved spinning it and next time I was at their shop I bought the remaining two samples of this blend! I can see some improvement in my spinning and plying!!! Plus I am enjoying this, too!

Knit in Public again ~

There seemed to be some confusion on which weekend was truly Worldwide Knit in Public weekend. Some websites said the second weekend in June, others said the third weekend. Our favorite yarn shop, Serial Knitters, said that this past weekend was the authentic date for knitting in public, so I thought I could take my babysitting charge out in public to play and get a change in scenery.So I took the Signatures and shawl out to my local coffee shop and enjoyed a delightful visit with Jitteryknitter. We both did a little knitting and a lot of talking. We were the last ones in the shop, and I think we would have stayed longer if their hours allowed. I think every weekend should be Knit in Public!!!

Winner ~

On Thursday there was an amazing track meet. My youngest daughter was running the mile as part of the varsity team, even though she's only in 7th grade ~ 12 years old. As she was on the last lap of her mile run, the sky opened up with sheets of rain and, at the same time she burst into a sprint of speed. A beautiful sight to see, long legs pumping and long hair flying. Soaking wet, she came up to me at the end of the race and said, "I love running in the rain, this is great!" and she had another great event that day. (this picture is from a previous meet, as the rain prevented any good pictures - she is in the blue)At the end of the meet, I asked her if she wanted to go to my favorite yarn shop, just a few blocks away, to celebrate. She gave me a big smile and said, "Yes!" and really meant it - to my big BIG surprise. So we went, both soaked and happy, and now up for another adventure. I told her she could pick out whatever she wanted and I'd knit her socks, and she checked out the Hazelknits, the Madelinetosh and the Black Trillium and then held this skein up with one word, "Winner!!!!! Winner!!!!"
She was right - this yarn is beautiful, and I couldn't have chosen a more perfect color for her. Rain City Fiber, and it is lovely!
Around the corner we were checking the sale bin, and she found some screaming orange/red, so we decided we should get that, too....More lovely yarn for our champion track star! On to district meet next Thursday, and hopefully more great races and more yarn, please!!!

Mother's Day Gift ~

I had a feeling that I might not get a wheelbarrow full of yarn for Mother's Day....or, perhaps not a shopping cart full of roving, or some new Signature Needles.... but I thought, perhaps, if I did not get any yarnie goodness, I needed a Plan B.... Thank heavens that JitteryKnitter needed a Plan B too!
We ended up at Serial Knitters, our favorite yarn shop, and did some shopping for ourselves, as our own gift for Mother's Day - sort of a reward for making it through another year of motherhood! My gift to myself was several 1 ounce roving samples. From top to bottom: 1 merino/Tencel (lavenders); 3 BLF/Tussah silk (purple/red/yellow); 2 Polwarth (greens/blues/orange); 1 superfine merino (blue/yellow-green/berry)
Here is the first of the spinning, my youngest daughter chose the superfine merino in the wild and happy colors, and I love the colors! This is so lovely! I wish my spinning would improve faster!!!

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.....

Tools to Practice ~

When I started knitting hats, I kept finding new yarn and new patterns to try. I couldn't knit those hats fast enough, so I started getting more Size 9 16 inch circular needles. As I look in my Bass Pro Extreme Worm Binder, I laugh each time I see how many Size 9 16 inch circular needles I have....what was I thinking back then? How long would it have taken to finish one hat before starting another one? (I see you nodding your head...right?) Well, a similar phenomenon is happening as I learn to spin. As I look at the silk I am spinning, and how much more there is to spin, I'm antsy to try to spin something else too....sort of like startitis of spinning, perhaps....

So I found these spindles on eBay (plus the squarish yarn gauge) however they do not have a notch on them....and that surprised me, as I've only spun with notched spindles. They make it easier for me to stop and start...... so I started to spin this black alpaca with silk.....ooooooooooooh, so soft.....

also started to spin this 50/50 merino and tencel (Rain City Fiber Arts) that I just purchased at our favorite local yarn shop, Serial Knitters.....this fiber is ooooooooooh, so soft as well...

.......do you detect a softness pattern here? Hey, did someone say, "pattern" - Is it a shawl???

Sweet Jazz and Tea ~

After a 'way too busy' week of no knitting, I was finally able to spend some quality time with my Sweet Jazz shawl. This is the one that begins by casting on 300 stitches, so knitting one row seems to take awhile, and the purl back is painfully slow. However.... I am loving this yarn and the colors are stunning.

As I was sitting in my favorite yarn shop, knitting away, I heard the ladies at the front table knitting and talking about "Nightmare Jazz" and how could it be so hard...and I tip toed up to the front and asked, "Please tell me you're not talking about the Sweet Jazz shawl being a nightmare?" Alas, they said that once one starts "knitting the gaps" there is some very tricky and fiddley bits to work through...but, good news is that they are at the shop to help me if I stumble...