Trish Knits.com

Tag: Yarn

Must. Make. Mittens.

Ok, I know I said in the last post that I was going to write more about the baby blankie I made. But the truth is, there isn’t much more I can say! It was presented this evening on the occasion of the recipient’s baptism, which was a wonderful celebration in song. I was so happy to be able to give it to them. But now, alas, I am ready to move on.

So I actually stewed for a couple of days wondering what I will make now, if you can believe it, especially since I already have lots of things in my project queue. I even cast on for a scarf based on my Fancy Cabled Braided Scarf, only using an extra repeat in the width and really big needles for a looser gauge. What was I thinking? It’s about the last thing I need right now to work on a scarf that could take months to complete (I like them REALLY long).

What I really want to do is learn to make mittens. I have been practically devouring mitten patterns for the last couple of months and have even purchased a few. I have decided that I need to make Tina Whitmore’s Mosaic Mittens from KnitWhits.com. I don’t have five colors of yarn to use, but I think I will use three colors and alternate one contrast color with another over a gray background. I have a bunch of skeins of Lamb’s Pride Worsted in several of my favorite colors, and I think I am going to tackle color work AND mittens at the same time. (I think I can, I think I can, I think I can…) Heck, I really don’t think it will be so bad.

The pattern is written for DPNs but I am going to use magic loop and just place markers where the DPs should be. The pattern is charted but easy to follow, so I don’t think I’ll screw up too bad there. The decreases at the top scare me a little but I will figure that out, too. Tina’s patterns seem pretty clear. I own a bunch of them and have read many of them through, but this will be the first time I actually make any.

Wish me luck! I think I’m going to go to bed now before I turn into a pumpkin (for a change!). I’ll be seeing mittens in my dreams…

December 8, 2007
OOOOOOh, Shine-y

Ok, when is it too much? I do think I am addicted to KnitPicks Shine yarn. When I was reading the KnitPicks Lover’s board on Ravelry the other day, someone mentioned that certain colors were being discontinued. You can guess it took me all of about 30 SECONDS to surf on over and pick up TWENTY balls of one of my favorite colors–Crocus. Not that I have anything specific in mind to do with it at the moment, but you know how it is when it’s on sale! Irresistible. I probably have enough to make myself some kind of top and have some left over, but time will tell what I do with it.

Blankie Update

Three more rows. Then I’m done. Just sayin’…

October 20, 2007
Unfaithful

Time to ‘fess up! You know how I’ve been going on and on about my rainbow baby blanket for months and months? Well, I’ve been cheating. You see, the blanket is so big now that it’s not really a carry-along project anymore. So I’ve been carrying along the beginnings of a wide lace scarf done in the Flame Chevron stitch pattern by Barbara Walker. I did carry this very same ball of yarn around in Disney in August, and I did start to knit this project then, but I had many false starts before finally getting the hang of it. It’s going well now, except that I am finding knitting on this project to be something of a guilty pleasure. I know I should be finishing the baby blanket, and to be honest I don’t know why it’s not finished yet! I have completely lost my mojo with that blanket and I only have about three rows left. (Oh yeah, it’s the finishing. I almost forgot.)

The scarf/stole is knit with Lisa Souza’s Sock! Merino in the Emerald City colorway. Have I ever mentioned how much I l-o-o-o-o-v-e this yarn? Berry Pwetty!

Twisted Sisters

This week I have received the book, The Twisted Sisters Knit Sweaters: A Knit-to-Fit Workshop, by Lynne Vogel. What a concept! The concept is that with a little figuring and knowing your gauge, you can plan and knit your sweaters so that they always fit. There is a a lengthy section on gauge and measurements, and a worksheet is included where you can copy it, then write down all of the needed measurements and calculations. Then there is a schematic for every design so you really can see how the project comes together as it is knit. It explains various neckline options and sleeve options. It looks like a really cool workshop that can really help one go to the next level of knitting an idea instead of a pattern.

The only drawback? I find that I don’t really like the designs in this book. But, it is chock full of enough information that I should be able to take the info they give and run with it. Someday, that is, if I ever knit a sweater. I’m still chicken. Wish me luck.

October 12, 2007
Shine Overboard

Well, today my Shine Yarn from KnitPicks finally arrived. Wowwww, what a lot of yarn! I saw the Flower Power Baby Hat in Knitty this week and I am in love! The color possibilities are endless! I think I am going to try a couple of those. Then I have this book called 1000 Great Knitting Motifs and it is generating lots of ideas.

I want to make a couple of hats for my mom and this yarn seems soft enough that it won’t hurt her sensitive head. The chemo is over now, but it has been rough on her and I think it will be a couple of months before she’s back to her old self.

Would I be bragging too much if I said how much I am loving Ravelry? I’m tellin’ you, it’s like a drug. I can’t stop poking around and looking at people’s projects. I am also enjoying the huge sense of community there and I am loving all of the resources I can find with just a few clicks. My favorite thing? Say I like a project, like the aforementioned Flower Power hat. All I have to do is enter that project into my queue and it finds all of the other people who are making it or who have made it already. COOL. It’s a great way to get new ideas.

Pretty Needles

Lookie what I got with my yarn! I’ve been waiting to get these <a mce_thref=” />Harmony needles and give them a spin. More on these later, I suppose. Yes, I know I said I’d have to wait for Christmas, but you know, I just had to have wooden needles for that slick cotton yarn! Right? A necessity! A lot of the commonly used sizes are on backorder already. This is what I could get for now, but I think it will do the trick.

September 29, 2007
Oh, My… YYYYYYYYYummmmmmy!

Lookie what I got in my mail today:

After weeks of listening to Lime and Violet go on and on about Lisa Souza and how wonderful her yarns are (Did I know this? Yes I did but I had resisted temptation until now…) I bought SEVEN hanks of her Sock! Merino yarn. Why, you ask? Well, the usual reasons that most people say, I guess… they were ALL so pretty, that I couldn’t narrow it down! Yikes!

This color is called “Emerald City,” and I have it in mind for a stole for a friend. About three years ago, I started a poncho for her, and it is my most embarrassing UFO to date. Hopefully something knitted up in this greeny beauty will make up for my transgression.

Then there is this beauty, called “Berry Poppins.” Of course, the purples spoke to me! Maybe it is with this yarn that I will finally break the sock barrier (more like a mental block) and learn to knit toe up on magic loop.

Of course I couldn’t go without a hank in the “Lime and Violet” colorway. It was, after all, their doing that pushed me over the edge. I think it will make a cool, funky scarf to go with my purple leather jacket (the one that matches exactly the Jordana Paige bag!).

This one, called “Wild Things” is my favorite one of the bunch. I wouldn’t even know how to describe it, except that it calls to mind a forest at twilight. Moi, in the forest, you ask? Not hardly! But if I were to go in the forest, I do hope that this is what it would look like.

But alas, though I am in love with the new yarn, and now finally, understand why Lisa Souza is a goddess in my knitting community, I still have that rainbow stripey baby blanket going on. Soon, I must be done! The baby is about to be born! And then… ahhhhhhhhh…..

August 11, 2007