Summer Vacation Knitting

Well, it has been awhile since I have written. I teach, so school got in the way. We are now on summer vacation, and I have had some time to knit. I am still recovering from collecting new yarn, but I have refocused on making my own. I have two projects going right now. They are both in the spring 2009 Interweave Knits. I am in the process of finishing the Net Duffle Bag by Vivian Hoxbro. That project was a great way to learn and practice mitered squares. I also am learning the I cord bind off. To comment on the pattern, I forgot to count my squares (note, this might be an important step). Don't count the open squares; make sure that you count the actual squares. I added an accidental row of miters. I don't recommend it unless you really shorten the handle. This is already a large bag. I agree with other knitters who have done this project. Because the bag is so long, the handles may be shortened by half. I did not, so I have an extra long bag. I do love the bag, though. I made it with Linen Isle from Plymouth in a verigated pastel color (pink, light green, lavender, and light blue).

I also am STILL working on the Fountain Pen Lace Shawl. You can follow it in the KAL in Ravelry. I have ripped out the fourth and fifth repeats several times. Thank God for lifelines. You get them in life, why not use them in knitting. Unfortunately, I tempt fate a couple times before adding one. After two repeats and ripping it out, I decided to break down and add one. I also found out it is helpful to add stitch markers by every repeat, FYI. I am in the process of doing this, and I hope it will make counting and finding mistakes much easier. Once I finish my bag, I will be back on that. I love Lorna's Laces Helen's lace. I am using it in the color watercolors. I bought it originally because my late mother-in-law was named Helen, so it has some sentamentality to it. After this project, I hope I still love to knit lace. I think I need to get some lace needles. My Harmonies are OK, but I think the lace needles may help with the process.

Spinning news: I am also spinning some yarn. I made some worsted, rainbow color yarn from 8 oz blue faced leicester top from Frabulous Fibres. It is very nice material, and the yarn is very nice and squishy (yes, this is a technical term, OK I may be stretching it). I cannot wait to knit it. I also spun up a ball of roving I bought last summer at Wool, Warp, and Wheel in Richmond, IL. It was a mystery blend, but it is purple with firestar mixed in. The artist then added turquoise, yellow, and red to the purple before making the roving. It was about 6 3/4 oz. I really enjoy that yarn as well. I am not sure on the yardage on either one, but I will measure it on the McMorran balance to get an approximation. I am working on cleaning a cotswold fleece right now as well. I will experiment on dyeing this summer and see what results I get.

As you can see, there are a lot of fun things going on at my house. I hope you find time to enjoy what you are doing for the summer. I will try to update the blog more often.

I hope to add pictures soon, once I figure it out.

Spring Break Knitting

Thank god for lifelines. I reached the fourth repeat of the pattern on the fountain pen shawl, and for some reason I lost my ability to count. I had to rip it out about ten times or so before I got it right. I decided that I needed to find a new project for spring break so I didn't stress myself out. Something that took less concentration would be great for the plane and during down time.

Ok, geeky or not. I went to Ft. Myers for spring break, and I brought a new project with me. It was a good thing, too, because it was on an off raining while I was there (boooooo!). It was good to go see my dad for a couple days, though. For fear of having to mail back my needles and project, I left the fountain pen at home. I started the Basic Ribbed Socks by Kate Atherley. I had some yarn in my stash that I wanted to make socks out of, and these happened to be the ones. I bought some superwash merino/nylon blend yarn from LaLa's Knits in the Lost Boys colorway. It is a mix of purple, lime green, and brown. Sounds kind of weird, but it is actually very cool. The leg turned out almost candy striped (it wrapped down the sock in a spiral instead of just a straight stripe). I really like how the socks are turning out, and the yarn is very comfy on my feet. I finished one sock since Sunday. It is a great pattern for mindless knitting. You may consider it for your next SnB project. If you can count to four while you talk, you should have no problem. I actually follow the pattern of the previous row. I will finish the other sock and continue on the Fountain Pen Shawl now. Pictures should be coming soon.

One note, since my last post, I have fallen off the no yarn buying bandwagon. I fell off the wagon because my LYS, Hank of Yarn, received new stock that I could not resist. She brought in Plymouth Yarn's Mulberry Merina (52% mulberry silk and 48% merino wool). Talk about heavenly. Once I laid my hands on it, I could not resist. Have you ever had yarn talk you into buying it. Oh, wait, maybe that was my friend I was shopping with. :) Anyhoo, I bought that and some Cascade baby alpaca lace weight in a purple color. I also bought some sale yarn for a bag in the Spring Interweave Knits. I will post more on that once I get started.

Knitting Lace-One New Year's Challenge Being Met

Well, this year I have set some knitting goals for myself. One of these goals is to knit a lace shawl. Low and behold, there is a beautiful Fountain Pen Lace Shawl from Susan Lawrence in the new issue of Interweave Knits. It is also made out of a yarn I currently have stashed. I had a skein of Lorna's Laces Helen's Lace yarn in Watercolors (a beautiful pink, lavender, blue, and olive color). I am hoping this will turn out nice. I already had to frog it because I didn't read the chart close enough. Note to self, watch which way the slashes go in the boxes or you will mess up your pattern. Lesson learned, and I am on my way.

On another note, I made an exception to buying yarn today. I could not pass up some cashmere lace weight yarn that was on sale at Hank of Yarn, my LYS here in northern Mississippi. I cannot wait to plan the project for it.

Yarn Reduction

As many knitters and fiber people can identify with, I have found myself overwhelmed with stash. I guess I found out why it is called stash because I kept stashing it here and there. Now, having accumulated a couple bins of yarn, I find myself wondering what to do with it. I have started knitting from my stash in hopes of using it up some day (one can only dream). This year have resolved not to buy yarn until I have used enough of my stash to see a difference. So far, since January, I have knit up 6 and 1/2 skeins of yarn and counting. I have no goal in mind for destashing, only to use up what I have bought and do projects I have been planning instead of continuing to plan new ones. I just finished Pomatamus socks by Cookie A using Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock yarn in Bumble Bee (a great striping yellow and black yarn), and I am planning to venture into a lace pattern from the new Interweave Knits using some Lorna's Laces Helen in Watercolors. It should be interesting since this is my first large lace piece.

New Blog

Hello. I am planning on starting my blog soon. It will be a way for my friends and others to check out my knitting projects. Please come back and check it out.