Garter stitch scarf underway
Other than what you see here? Not much else to say about this project. It’s garter stitch. It’s a scarf. ‘Nuff said.
On to Another Scarf
September 25, 2011 By 2 Comments
Biggo
September 19, 2011 By
You don’t have to tell me; I know I have enough yarn in the stash. But then last week, I saw Knit Picks‘ new yarn, which is a new bulky yarn with a funny name. It’s called, Biggo, and I had to give it a try.
New "Biggo" yarn from Knit Picks
I’m nearly done with my charity scarf for work. And, there aren’t that many donations coming in, so I feel like I have to make more. Except that I am a slow knitter. So I’ve been looking for a bulky, washable yarn, and then this one just fell in my lap at just the right time.
Biggo is 50% merino and 50% nylon. I don’t know that much about fiber construction but it looks basically unspun and then wrapped in a thread. It’s BIG, hence the name, so it will knit up quickly. And it’s SO squishy and soft. I bought 4 hanks, and I’m actually hoping I’ll get two scarves out of it. Secretly, I want one for me. I think it’s going to be great for what I’m going to use it for but I have to wonder how it will hold up in something like a sweater. It’ll be interesting to see what others think of this yarn.
Hopefully I’ll have an FO report on the other scarf soon. Keep on knitting!
Knitting Weekend and Catching Up
September 11, 2011 By 2 Comments
Scarf Progress
At least one person has asked me if this scarf is of my own design. Well, yes, and… no. It’s a simple thing, really, in a basic seed stitch with a plaited cable in the center. So, nothing earth-shatteringly new there. But, someday soon I will write it all down for the curious and post in these pages. Perhaps when the thing is finished.
I’ve been away from the blog for a long while. No good reason, really… but I will say that this summer I have been in a kind of a slump. It was just the scarf and me, all summer long, day in and day out… and I thought certainly it would be too boring to hear of this same project over and over, so, instead I’ve been quiet. While knitting this scarf I have been pondering my next one, which is a commitment I’ve made to do a Special Olympics scarf. In the meantime I’ve developed a strong love-hate relationship with knitting scarves at all, so I’m starting to lose hope a bit that the next project will ever get off the ground. What is it with scarves, anyway, and why does something that seems so simple take forever to do?
A couple of other things to catch up on:
A few weeks back I bought some new yarn that I had never heard of before:
mink and cashmere yarn
This is the Mink and Cashmere Yarn from the Great Northern Yarns company. The fiber content is 70% mink (sheared) and 30% cashmere. It sounded on the surface, like it should feel like the most amazingly luxurious yarn ever made. Well, let’s say that I was somewhat under-impressed for what I was thinking it should feel like. Don’t get me wrong, it’s certainly soft, but I’ve had my hands on a mink coat or two in my lifetime and well? I guess I was expecting it to feel like that. And it doesn’t. Not really… but it did sort of remind me of this silk that I have, at least in the feel of it. I haven’t knit with it yet so I don’t know what it’s like to knit with. But I’m thinking maybe someday DH will get a scarf out of this to go with his dress coat. He can’t stand the feel of wool (“itchy”) so I think this will fill the bill for him, someday.
I have something else to share:
Jackie's Tam
This is my friend Jackie, from knit group. She is a relatively new knitter, and she made THAT hat, from the book, Colorwork Creations: 30+ Patterns to Knit Gorgeous Hats, Mittens and Gloves
As for me, it’s back to the scarf. I must keep knitting, must keep knitting, must keep knitting… ciao for now.
Day Three: Organization? What’s That?
March 30, 2011 By 3 Comments
Tonight’s Blog Week question? “How do you keep your yarn organized? I’ve even been dared to flash my stash. Well, I can take a dare as well as anybody! So, here you go:
Le Stash
This is an alcove corner of my dining room, which is mostly used for storage except for the occasional Sunday Family Dinner. I keep my yarn in these semi-opaque bins, and they’re all labeled by general category of what’s in them:
closeup of bin label
That one is obvious what’s in it, and for the most part, they all are. For example, I actually have two bins of Cascade yarns in tons of colors. Are these bins the entirety of the stash? Um, no. Not even I’m crazy enough to show you the whole thing. But, truthfully that is the majority of it. It’s stacked taller than I am!
Then there’s the ottoman in front of the sofa, that holds yarn I’m actually working with.*
Storage ottoman, full of yarn
*This, of course, was the theory when I bought the ottoman in 2009. I filled it with yarn for projects I was working on at the time, and THAT yarn is still in the ottoman, even though for the most part, I am not actively working on any of the projects in it. Except that that’s where the Noro Kureyon ended up, which I love to make hats with, and I’ve been using the leftover bits to make a sort of patchwork blanket with. I figure that blanket is going to be the equivalent of my life’s work, because I only work on it a little bit at a time, when I’m between projects, and that, in itself, is rare.
Next to the ottoman is my wall of knitting books:
Knitting bookshelf
This shelf unit is along a long wall and is overstuffed with knitting books and magazines, and a few tools that I need to reach easily, like the blocking squares and the ball winder. I have them organized by frequency of use; that is, the ones I refer to all the time are easy for me to reach, and the ones I need less often are in kid-climb-after-that-please-and-hand-it-to-mommy range. I have a lot of knitting books. A LOT. I recently reorganized the shelf and was embarrassed to find a couple of titles that I had more than one copy of, and I’ll be sharing them with my knit group. I love having so many books at my disposal. Creativity most often hits me in the middle of the night when the library is closed, and I’m known to take a pile of books down and have them all open and mash together an idea for my knitting. I almost never knit a pattern as is from a book, but I rely on them heavily for inspiration.
The Amazing Worm Binder is great for my interchangeable needles
Does all of this mean that I am organized? I’d be lying if I said that I was. But, I try. And, for the most part, if I want a particular yarn, I pretty much know which bin it’s in. I probably have more stash at this point than I can knit for the rest of my life… and I am hoping it doesn’t get to the point that it completely takes over my house.
Wish me luck on that!
Day Two: Improvement? Nah.
March 29, 2011 By 1 Comment
Today’s Knit and Crochet Blog Week topic is supposed to be something about “what new skill have you gained in your craft over the last year?” I’ve struggled all day and don’t really have an answer. So, I’m pulling the wildcard, and sharing some exciting yarny yummies that I received this week.
I can’t believe my luck.I never get to take advantage of “yarn frenzies” as I call them–those crazy mad rushes that take place when a vendor announces a limited quantity of a wildly popular yarn. But as luck would have it, I had the day off work on Friday, and happened to notice a tweet from The Loopy Ewe that they had some Wollmeise lace yarn being put up on the site at that moment. Wow. Wollmeise is like the holy grail of yarn brands and I have one skein in my stash, just for petting. And here I was. able to score some lace weight yarn. And I managed to get two of my favorite colors:
My Lucky Wollmeise Lace Yarn
The yarn is Wollmeise Lacegarn, in the colors Madam Souris (aubergine) and Graf Ratz (gray). I’m hoping I can find a couple of small shawls to work up. Looks like Ravelry is showing me plenty of options! I’ll have a long time to think about it though because I of course already have a shawl on the needles. (It’s going well, thank you!)
While I was shopping at The Loopy Ewe, I also got these:
Sajou scissors
They are Sajou Kingwood Handled Scissors. They are a huge splurge for me but they are so lovely! And POINTY! Wow. I sure hope I never sit on them.
So I guess this means that it’s official: I’m on a lace kick. My current shawl is stitch patterns that I have done before and know from memory but maybe by this time next year? I can write that I am the Ace of Lace. Next year, I will have a new skill. Next year, I will have completed more than one thing to show for all of my hours of knitting.
(I can dream, can’t I?)
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