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!

Yak Reward ~

After spending yesterday in a wonderful slog of pattern interpretation and fighting a bit with intarsia, I decided that today would be about rewards. Since I slogged through the "stuck" part of the Christmas Stocking, a reward for my hard work was needed.

Enter the yak blend fiber that we found at the Blue Moon Fiber Arts Dye Day at the Barn sale...yes, starting to spin this delightful bump of softness is just the perfect reward for slogging through intarsia. This fiber is so soft and buttery that I may not stop until I am done.... my family is away for a week, so who would know if I didn't sleep?

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.

Holiday slog ~

When one is stuck with one's knitting, one needs a slog with one's knitting friends.  This is wisdom for all of us knitters, as we all get stuck in our projects.

Jitteryknitter and I picked today for our slog - she was weaving a lovely sparkle scarf and I was trying to get past the snowflake pattern in the Christmas stocking.  We had a great slogging day and made lots of progress on both of our projects....however did not finish either of them.... need more slogging time!!!

Sparkle Cast On ~

With family out of town this week, it is time for serious and secret Christmas knitting! For those of us that knit holiday gifts, we know it is difficult to surprise members of our family with knitted items as knitting that special gift takes more time than a secret trip to the mall to purchase an item and hide it in a bag until it can be wrapped.

So, I cast on a super sparkle-y scarf today for a super sparkle girl that I dearly love!  Let's see how fast I can knit this so it can be done by Christmas, plus keep it secret!

Party Angel ~

How can one pass up yarn called Party Angel?  Obviously, not me...... With some help from Jitteryknitter, I cast on for a lovely shawl that will be another Christmas gift....

So far, it looks lovely - lightweight and a bit of twinkle as it catches the light. Christmas knitting in July is a good idea!

Sherbet Socks ~

Although the label says, "Sherbert" as the color, and the website also has that spelling Jitteryknitter says that it is a typo in all places.  So, I shall call them "Sherbet" like the yummy iced delight that the colors mimic.

This yarn is oh-so-soft and I LOVE the colors, as I fell in love with these colors as they hung from the barn rafters on Dye Day.  One of Tina's staff found a skein of this yarn while I was dying my own fiber, and I've been itching to cast on since Dye Day.  Since I cast off BOTH socks yesterday, I was rewarded with casting on this lovely electric sherbet. Happy, so happy with these!