Work in Progress Wednesday 208

Hi everyone! I hope you're all doing great. I'm sorry this is so late today. I kinda forgot it was Wednesday since my normal Wednesday knitting group met yesterday. I'm so excited for the next few days because I have a group of friends coming to visit, Ruth from Rock and Purl, Rijel from Black Market Wool, Stephanie, who is starting an amazing bag company soon and does the Pick and Throw blog with Rijel, and significant others. We're going to Disneyland on Friday and California Adventure on Sunday, and of course knitting while we're there. The rest of the time just bumming around San Diego, knitting and cross stitching.

I don't have too much to share this week. I'm working on another secret project that I can't share just yet. What I CAN share is the progress of my awesome Armande cardigan!

The picture is a little dark, as I was at a coffee shop, but as you can see I've finished the pockets, zoomed my way up and just finished the decreases. I'm not two rows away from starting the upper body! I adore this pattern so far and it's FREE!


As mentioned before, my husband and I are turning our basement into a tiki bar. (A basement in SoCal...odd I know). Anyway, it already had a wet bar from the original part of the house (the house was built in 1955), so we're just tiki-fying it. We have a TON more to do, but we finished the bar front this weekend. The top will be totally covered as well, but I wanted to show you the work so far (and my mom really wanted to see it. HI MOM!) If you look in the reflection of the mirror, you can also kinda see the side walls...and me. LOL

 

The side dark pieces are carved by my husband, though it's a little hard to see. Soon we'll be finishing the ceiling, painting the floors and finishing the walls. It's definitely an on going project. I'll keep giving you guys updates if you're interested.

That's it for me today. I hope you have a great rest of your week! For fun knitting pictures at Disneyland this week, you can follow me on Instagram at @candyskein, Rijel at @rijelviolet, Ruth at @rockandpurl and Stephanie at @befadee.

Work in Progress Wednesday 204

Hi everyone! Sorry I'm a little late today. I was out late at a concert last night and had to get my orders out this morning. The mailman seems to be coming earlier and earlier lately to beat the heat, I'm guessing!

I haven't had much time to knit lately as I'm working on a SUPER secret project that I hope to share with you guys come mid October at the latest. I'll just say that I"m so so so excited about it and it will be an expansion of Candy Skein.

Before I spill more of the beans, let me get into Work in Progress Wednesday!

As mentioned last week, we went to Jimmy Beans Wool during the retreat. I didn't buy much, as I was almost too overwhelmed and really, I have enough yarn in my stash. It's a little ridiculous. I bought one skein of yarn, fabric (I could have bought so much more fabric and it was 50% off too! I had to contain myself) and needles, because you can never have enough needles.

I wish you could see how intense this yarn is. I cast on another Sockhead with it while at the airport. It's a company I haven't heard of before, Vice Yarn. So far I like it. It's either going to be the most amazing Sockhead or the most hideous Sockhead. I haven't decided yet. I'm going to give it until a little into the stockinette section before deciding.

I posted this yarn on my Instagram a week or so ago, and I can't stop thinking about it. I think I'm going to snatch them from the Candy Skein shelves to make a Halloween shawl. The colorways are Pumpkin Spice and Oyster. I'm considering making the Jolly Roger Shawl and then adding stripes into the body of it. Thoughts?

That's it for me this week. I'm off to work and make Gluten Free banana bread! I hope you have a great rest of your week.

Work in Progress Wednesday 202

Hi everyone! I must start off with an apology. I'm sorry I disappeared for a few weeks unexpectedly. I just realized I needed to step away for a week, and a week turned into more. As a few of you know, I've been doing this a LONG time, 202 weeks which is pretty insane (and almost 4 years!). It's almost 4 years! Wow! I love doing WIPW and FO Friday, but needed a break to realize that. It had become a chore. Sure, it only takes a few minutes, but I would put it off later and later each Tuesday night, until I was already asleep and would sit bolt upright in a panic that I didn't schedule a post. I've had a lot going on the past few weeks with Candy Skein, a new exciting side branch off of Candy Skein that I hope to tell you about soon, my husband not feeling well and home from work for a few days and company in town. Enough with excuses! I just want to say thank you for sticking around if you have and I hope I haven't lost too many of you. I will continue to publish posts for WIPW and FO Friday, but please understand if it's not there as soon as you wake up on Wednesday and Friday mornings. I also hope to post more about other things, as I've gotten away from that as my love for posting diminished.

Enough of that. Now to WIPW!

 

This is August '14 colorway, Prickly Pear Margarita. I have to admit, it wasn't what I was going for when I first set out to dye August, but sometimes you have to go with the flow. I adore it, but I had no clue how it would knit up. Of course, every skein is extremely different when kettle dyed, but I at least needed an idea before I put it up for sale!

 Do you adore it as much as I do!? It's so different than anything I think I've released before. I love how the colors are completely random and it works amazing with this pattern. This is Ruth Garcia-Alcantud's pattern, Sinuous. You all may know her by her company, Rock & Purl! She's amazing, and a good friend of mine. In fact, we'll both be at a retreat starting tomorrow! If you're looking for a pattern that looks amazing and hard, but is really easy to knit and remember, this is the pattern for you!

That's it for me today. I've been working on my Sock Blanket, but want to wait to show it to you until I have a little more progress. I've also been working on cross stitch which I hope to share with you soon!

Have a great rest of your week!

Work in Progress Wednesday 192

Hi everyone! I hope your week is good in your neck of the woods. It's been pretty darn hot here this week, making me tires and sluggish. Luckily I knew the heat was about to hit (it's been on the 90's F here), so I took advantage of a slightly cooler Monday and dyed a bunch of May colorway, Berry Sangria!

Over the weekend, or last week in fact, I finished my Strathcona scarf. I hope to share it Friday with you. It still needs to be blocked, but that shouldn't be too much of an issue with it drying considering the heat!

This is the start of a new project, and though it doesn't look like much, it's actually bigger than it is. It's the start of the Mielie Vest pattern. I'm actually making it with a group of friends, but we're just doing it for fun, not a serious KAL. I'm using Candy Skein Yummy worsted in Oyster. I've decided not to bring in two balls of yarn yet, as they looked so similar. If I get some striping oh well. A few of the skeins are lighter and I'll have to bring those in together. I'm a little further now than this picture shows, as I've started down the front (this is the start of the back).

I hope you all have a great rest of the week!

For those that are new to WIPW, to share your WIPW post with us, just fill out the Mr. Linky below. Despite it saying you must comment, don't feel as if you do. That is something Mr. Linky automatically adds. I just ask you to check out a few of the links posted to see what everyone else is working on and comment there if you can. Everyone loves feedback and a little encouragement on their projects! Also, please link back to this post in your post to get the word out! The more the merrier! 

Work in Progress 179

Hi everyone! I hope your week is going as good as you'd hoped! I've been doing a lot of knitting, as I had a group Monday night, Tuesday night and one tonight as well! Such the social calendar! ;) We had a great weekend and I got an awesome old storage drawer cabinet at a flea market in LA! I can't wait to organize my crafts in it, so I will call it a work in progress! How nice it will be to actually have a place for my needles, hooks and accessories! I'll never wonder where all the tape measures are anymore! It came bolted on a typewriting table, but I decided I'd rather have the drawers on my craft desk and the table separate.

I finished the second sock of my 2x2 ribbed Tardis Tart Ombré socks, which I'll share on Friday!

As far as work in progress projects, I don't have many. I'm all about finishing right now. These socks I started in October '12 for a sample of my monthly colorway. I've decided it's time to knit the second one, which was already started. The pattern is Skype socks and is a free pattern on Ravalry. Hopefully I have the pair finished soon!

I also started this last night. It's my February '14 colorway, Broken Heart Tart and will be available on the Candy Skein website later today. I'm going to be doing the Waffle House pattern (also free) from Ravelry, but cuff down. Right now I just started the leg pattern.

That's it from me this week. I hope you have a great rest of the week and I'll see you on Friday for my FO!

For those that are new to WIPW, to share your WIPW post with us, just fill out the Mr. Linky below. Despite it saying you must comment, don't feel as if you do. That is something Mr. Linky automatically adds. I just ask you to check out a few of the links posted to see what everyone else is working on and comment there if you can. Everyone loves feedback and a little encouragement on their projects! Also, please link back to this post in your post to get the word out! The more the merrier!
 

Work in Progress 177

Hi everyone! I hope you're having a great week and had an even better weekend! This weekend was low key for us. We took Milo (our Corgi) to the beach and a pub where we can sit outside with him and eat. Yes, it's been 85 degrees here in San Diego. I think most of California forgot it was winter. I've been wearing tank tips while working and am still hot!

Before I get started, I want to apologize as my pictures will probably be blurry again. I figured out what is going on (or I think). So I've been writing my posts from my phone app while waiting for my husband's train at the station every Tuesday night. Most of the pictures I take from my phone, which I then used to upload to my Flickr and then from there save to my computer and put them in Blogger from there. That's when I used to write my posts from my computer (and sorry for any major typos as it's hard to see/read the post on the phone while writing it). Since the pictures are already on my phone, it seems silly to put them on Flickr and add them to my computer when they can be uploaded directly into the app. Unfortunately, I think the Blogger app makes them crappy resolution, despite them being clear on the actual phone gallery.

I've been knitting a bit lately, or at least it seems I've gotten a lot done. Socks are flying off my needles lately! I finished the Hermione's Everyday Socks in Confetti Cupcake, which I'll share on Friday. I decided that I needed to finish a lot of the pairs that I've started over the past few months/year. Since I got my yarn bowl my husband commissioned for my as a Christmas gift, what better thing to work on than my 2x2 ribbed Tardis Tart Ombré socks that I started in June! 

The first sock has been done forever, but just never got around to making the second. You know how that is.

I'm a little further than this picture. I took it before knitting group. I'm now ready to start the heel flap. I'm not following a pattern. I just made the first one as I went and am now trying to remember what

I did for the second.

I decided to make this pattern, Imagine When by Joji for the Yarniacs Self Indulgent KAL. I'm using my new skein of Wollmeise Pure in the colorway Barista. I have to say, it's the first time I've used this yarn, but it's always been on my list to try. So far I'm not the hugest fan. It's gorgeous, don't get my wrong. My issues so far is that it's splitty and is plied so tight that it twists upon itself so much that it knots almost every row. But did I mention it was pretty?

Well, that's it for me this week! I hope you all have a great rest of the week and I'll see you on Friday with my socks FO!

For those that are new to WIPW, to share your WIPW post with us, just fill out the Mr. Linky below. Despite it saying you must comment, don't feel as if you do. That is something Mr. Linky automatically adds. I just ask you to check out a few of the links posted to see what everyone else is working on and comment there if you can. Everyone loves feedback and a little encouragement on their projects! Also, please link back to this post in your post to get the word out! The more the merrier!

FO Friday 137

Happy Friday! I hope you had a great week, and are happy that the weekend is upon us once more. I just have a small project to share with you that I made last minute.

As I mentioned last week, my husband's work was having a Defiance launch party for the release of the video game/tv show he has been working on the last five years. I bought a new dress just for the occasion, but of course, as I always seem to do, I ordered it from Modcloth at the last moment possible. We ended up having to pay for faster shipping, as I kept debating on which dress to get, and also which size. That's always the dilemma with online clothes shopping, right? I've always had great success with Modcloth, but this was a little different as it was in UK sizes.

The great news was it fit perfect and came in the nick of time (it arrived at 11am on the day of the party!). The bad news was, it was supposed to have a little red belt with it, and the belt was no where to be found. I called customer service and they were very awesome, as usual, and promised to put the missing belt in the mail ASAP at no extra charge. Of course, that didn't help me that night, right? So, I turned to my crafts and figured out what to do...

At 3pm, only 3 hours before the start of the party and when we were meeting our friends for dinner beforehand, I came up with a plan. I took my leftover Hazel Knits Artisan Sock yarn in Ruby Love, held it double to make it a little thicker, grabbed the only double point needles I could find (I usually hate DPNS) which were a US 7 and went to town on a very long I-cord. In an hour and a half, I had a belt! I seriously was weaving in ends as we walked out our front door. I think it worked out PERFECT, and of course my husband had to mention to everyone we talked to that I made my belt right before we came to the party.

Here is the final product!

How's that for some quick thinking and craftiness?? Have a great weekend!

Share your FOs!

A Look Back and a Look Ahead to the New Year!

First off, happy new year everyone!!!!!!! It's New Year's eve and I hope you all have a fun and SAFE time celebrating the start of 2012. We have a pretty quiet night on tap, but I think after our trip, we're happy for it.

I wanted to write a year end post to thank you all of you for being so awesome. You've not only supported the blog through the past year and a half, you have encouraged me not only to improve (and take up) knitting, but you've also been a huge part of Candy Skein. Without all of you, I would have never dreamed that I could have opened up my own hand dyed yarn shop and been successful. You've let me live my dream, and I thank you for that.

As you can imagine, it's been a crazy year for me. A year ago, almost to the day, my husband and I were sitting in the Trader Vic's restaurant in San Francisco trying to think of a cleaver name for my company. That's when and where Candy Skein was born. Since then, he's done all of the artwork for me, I built the website, dyed a LOT of yarn (I was trying to figure out how much I've dyed, but that's pretty hard. Let's just say 100s of skeins) and opened my virtual doors to you. I've done two shows/fairs and will be doing at least 2-3 more next year. Candy Skein is growing each month, as all of you spread the word loud and wide. I can never thank you all enough for that. I have great plans for Candy Skein in the next year, and I hope that you will join the wild ride with me.

A year ago this month, I learned how to knit, thanks to all of you. You were amazing sending me videos and tips, as well as projects for me to try. Not only did I learn to knit, I love it way more than I could ever imagine. Sadly, though I still love crochet, I can't remember the last time I picked up a hook to do something other than catch a falling stitch. Knitting has become a part of me and my life, and because of it, I've met amazing people. I went out seeking a knitting group in my local area and found a group of amazing ladies that I thank my lucky stars for each day. They've not only become close friends, but I think of them as part of my family. Each Monday night, we sit around a table for three hours and laugh while (kind of) knitting. I never seem to get a ton done (this past week, I knit a total of 1 row), but I wouldn't give up that time to anything else. They've taught me so much about knitting, yarn and even life and I can't repay them enough.

I've come so far in my fiber arts endeavor in 2011 it's remarkable. I completed 25 projects this year, and have another few that will be finished in the next few weeks of 2012. I bought and used a LOT of yarn (though, not as much as I'd have liked) and survived a yarn diet. I have so many projects dancing in my head for 2012, I can't even believe it. I have a few 2012 knitting resolutions I'd love to share with all of you! I hope you make me stick to them, and it will be fun to look back in a year from now to see how many I've accomplished.

2012 Knitting Resolutions

1. To use at least 40-50 skeins of yarn from my stash. I know that will be hard, but I think I can at least come close!

2. To finish my first sweater, and make at least one more in the next year.

3. To learn how to make cables and how to do stranded/colorwork knitting.

4. To finish all the socks in my knitting group's Harry Potter sock challenge (one pair each month of the Harry Potter sock patterns on Rav by Erica Lueder.

5. To keep track of my stash better on Ravelry so I have some kind of idea of all that I own.

6. To sell at least three times as much Candy Skein yarn as I did in 2011.

7. To be better about blogging. I know I'm pretty good about WIPW and FO Friday, but I hope to have more regular posts, much like this one. I want to start doing knitting book and podcast reviews and more! Make sure you really keep me to this one.

8. Finish at least 10 more projects than I did in '11.


That's about it really. Oh, I know I haven't posted in awhile about A Year of Projects, but I am still following it! So far I've finished 7 of my 21 projects listed. A few I've changed to other projects/yarn as I've worked. I know that's not a ton, but I'm going to keep knocking them off. I have about half the year to do it in. Wish me luck!

Again, I hope you have a very happy and SAFE new year. Let's all toast to our knitting and crochet!!!!

Love, Tami

Work-in-Progress Wednesday 22

My life is passing me by. How is it another Wednesday? How is it 2011? Scary, isn't it? I don't have a ton of WIPs to show you (okay, I actually have 3, so that's something, right?) because I've been busy completing projects, which is a good thing I guess. I still have Christmas presents to finish and ship off. My sickness and vacation sure turned that upside down. I feel bad, but then again, we never seem to send gifts to my in-laws on time for some reason. It's so much easier when family lives close and you have the stress of having to give their gifts in person. In the end, it's the thought that counts, right? Who cares if it's a little late. Let's hope they don't. LOL

Another piece of news that I wanted to share. I got a message on Ravelry the other day, Lion Brand wanted to use my reindeer I made last year as one of the pictures on the pattern page for Ravelry! I was SOOOO excited (and still am), maybe a little more excited than that warranted, but LOOK! They used my picture as the second one, right below THEIRS! Cool, right? I always wondered how they picked the pictures for the front pages of patterns. Now I know!

Now on to WIPW 22:



First off, sorry for the crappy picture, but I worked a little on it at my crochet meetup, so I couldn't take the pic until tonight with no lighting! Yep, here's the corgi (even though it doesn't look like one yet)! I haven't done much to it, but still wanted to add it to my WIPs since I'm still working on it. It's coming along good, though not fast since I have to keep changing colors. Normally that doesn't slow me down as much, but it's so small, that it's hard to get my fingers in there to swap the yarn, etc. I hope to have this finished by the weekend so that we can package them up and send them off with the other gifts going to my in-laws in Illinois.



After I finished the first fingerless glove, I didn't work on the second right away because I had all of the Christmas gifts to worry about. Now, I still have Christmas gifts to worry about but the stress has been taken away with them, so I thought it would be nice to have a mate for the first one. I decided to go up a needle size as the first one is a little snug at the finger area where I casted off and in the squishy part of my thumb. I can already see the difference in size, so that's a good thing! I think this one will fit perfect. At least one of my hands will be happy when wearing them. I'm still in love with this yarn color. I wish I could duplicate it again exactly, but unfortunately, with hand-dyed, that's not really possible. That's the blessing and the curse of it, right?



In last week's WIPW, I said I'd hoped to have both dishcloths finished by that post. I didn't get as much knitting done as I thought or wanted to on the trip, so I didn't finish this guy (pattern here). I hope to finish it this week, but we'll see. I don't have THAT much more to go, so if I just sit and concentrate on it, I can probably finish in an afternoon or evening.


For those that are new to WIPW, to share your WIPW post with us, just fill out the Mr. Linky below. Despite it saying you must comment, don't feel as if you do. That is something Mr. Linky automatically adds. I just ask you to check out a few of the links posted to see what everyone else is working on and comment there if you can. Everyone loves feedback and a little encouragement on their projects! Also, please link back to this post in your post to get the word out! The more the merrier!

Weekend Fun

First off, I wanted to thank everyone for the amazing suggestions/ideas on what to work on for my next knitting project. You are all awesome and I knew you'd come through for me. I didn't want you to have to wait holding your breath (because really, who isn't? I mean, isn't the project I pick like the biggest thing ever...umm, yeah, I know. No one probably cares. LOL) until Wednesday, so I thought I would share with you what I decided.

I decided to work on something flat before jumping into the in the round train. Autumngeisha suggested the Waffle Stitch Fingerless Gloves. After looking at the pattern, I thought it was the perfect project to move onto. It was a new stitch that I had yet to use, but a quick and easy project. I also knew just the yarn to use. I decided to go with my kettle dyed (by me) Lion Brand Fisherman's wool that you can see here. Since it was a huge skein split up, I had no clue how much I had, but once I wound it into a ball, I realized that I would have enough for at least a pair of the fingerless gloves. Perfect! I started right away, despite Christmas looming (I know, how dumb can I be?). I'm happy to report, it's going great and I should be finished with the first gloves today! I don't want to share a picture, since WIPW is right around the corner, so you'll just have to wait. :p

That all being said, my next knitting project will be a hat in the round and I can't wait! I think I'll be using this pattern, because it looks pretty simple, but still cute. It might be the perfect project for this yarn or this one. What do you think?

On to my weekend fun!

My neighbor asked me to watch her cat this week, so she showed me where everything is, etc. When walking to the door, I saw a set of knitting needles. I couldn't believe it! I asked if she knit, and she pulled me back inside and showed me what she's working on (about three different projects), as well as ones she had recently finished. I had NO clue she knit, not at all. You could imagine my surprise! She was showing me a few different yarns (some very expensive...around $32 a skein) and it was all beautiful. She told me I could ask her any questions and she could help me out. I'm so excited to have someone close by that can help when needed. She didn't know about Ravelry, so I was sure to tell her about it and make sure she signed up.

Lastly, I was able to go to a LYS in a town about an hour and a half away from where I live. My husband needed to pick up a piece he had framed there (shipping was going to be insanely expensive, so it was much easier to make a trip out of it) and we decided to make it a day. We weren't able to leave yesterday until about 2 hours before the LYS closed, so we would definitely be cutting it close. Speaking of which, why do LYS close SO early on Sundays, if they're open at all? This one closed at 4pm, which I found a little odd, but then another one I also looked up in the area closed at the same time. If I owned a shop like that, I would stay open until at least 5pm, especially since they open at noon. So odd. Anyway, we made it in time, despite getting a little lost.

Since I'll be starting a yarn diet January 1st (more details to come in a later post), I had an idea of what I wanted to buy. I realized recently I don't have much chunky yarn, so to make sure I had enough to do a simple projects which may call for it, I wanted at least 2 skeins of something in that weight. I have also been dying to try Malabrigo, and from the store's website, I knew they sold it. Sure enough, not only did they carry Malabrigo, they carried Malabrigo Chunky! It fit both categories I was looking for in one swoop. Here is the colorway I chose. Isn't it pretty?



I continued to wander the store. I didn't want to buy too much, as I'm trying not to buy things for myself right now. Also, we'll be going on a trip up the coast of California between Christmas and New Year's and I knew we would be stopping at a few shops along the way. I was content with my Malabrigo Chunky...and then I saw this. Cascade Eco Duo. OH. MY. GOD. Now, I previously didn't think I really liked Cascade. I'd never used it, but the only lines I had come in contact with were crazy scratchy and I would never been able to use (like Cascade 220). This was different...WAY DIFFERENT. I couldn't stop hugging and petting it. I was instantly in love. My husband could see the gleam in my eye, and knew we would be coming home with at least one skein. Now, normally, when it's an impulse buy like this one, I buy one skein and call it good. But wait! What if I wanted to do a larger project with it, and I AM going on a yarn diet in about 2 weeks. What's another skein going to hurt, other than my bank account? You guessed it...I came home with 2 skeins of it. Here it is:



Amazing, no? I mean, it doesn't look like much, but if you could only feel it. I wish I could just sleep with it. LOL I think this is the first yarn I've felt this way. It's 70% undyed baby alpaca and 30% undyed Merino. Can't you just imagine the heavenly feel of it? Have any of you worked with it yet? The lady at the store mentioned it's one of Cascade's newer lines. I see a lot of this yarn in my future, and in fact, I think it's soft enough that once I start making sweaters, I would be able to wear it without any discomfort. I think this yarn will be calling my name until I made something from it.

So that was my weekend, how was yours?

FO Friday 13

First off, you may have noticed it on the sidebar this week (or above in this post), Stacey was kind enough to make us a FO Friday button as well! Please be sure to thank her when you get the chance. Just like the WIPW one, please feel free to use it on your sidebar or posts.

Friday is upon us and I think for the first time I have more than one FO (though very small). Exciting! I hope that in the next few weeks, each FO Friday will have a few items to share because that will mean that I finished, or at least got close to finishing my Christmas crochet/knitting.



Here's what I have to share!



We got our Christmas tree on Saturday. I am so excited because I think this is the best tree I've ever had. It's so rich, full and it smells amazing. I thought I would share a picture of the whole tree as well, just for fun. Since we got the tree, I wanted to make a little something for it. The pattern I think calls for acrylic, but I decided to use cotton since it would be next to warm lights and I didn't want any melting action to happen. I think the shape would have been better in acrylic, but oh well. I still think it's really cute. He's happy hanging there with the rest of our ornaments.

Materials used:

5.00 mm (H) hook
Lily Sugar'n Cream (yellow)
Yarn needle



And on to the FO I am most proud of, or at least since the Owl Bag. This washcloth (Dragonfly Washcloth) is the first thing I have officially knitted!!! I'm really happy with how tight my stitches are, as well as even. The needles I used (Knit Picks Harmony needles) were heaven. I want a whole set of them! They made knitting so much easier than my other needles when I was doing my first swatch or when I attempted the scarf using Clover ones. I'm not exactly sure what to do with it now, but it's awesome. Since it's my first ever knitted item, I feel weird using it. LOL Anyway, I'm proud of it to say the least. I know to all of you who knit sweaters, it's probably silly, but there you go. :)


Materials used:

Size 7 needles (Knit Picks Harmony interchangeable)
Lily Sugar'n Cream (Denim)
Yarn needle

I took two pictures, one of each side. I wanted to show the double-sided awesomeness of it.

Share your FOs!

My Next Knitting Project?

Since most of you who regularly read this blog are knitters, I thought it would be a great idea to get your opinion on what my next knitting project should be. I have a few washcloths/dishcloths/bar cloths to make, but then wanted to take the next step up.

I've realized recently when trying to find a place for all my yarn (remember my beautiful yarn chest? Yep, it's full. A Flash Your Stash post should be coming soon) that I have bought some amazing yarns at the LYS I've visited, but have yet to use any of it. I think I've avoided it because I don't want to "screw it up", which is silly, but there you go. I'd love to try and knit something with some of it, but I'm not quite sure what. So, I'm calling upon all of you to help!

Here's what I have to work with, or are my requirements:

• I want to work with needles that I have. Since it's Christmas coming up, I'm trying not to buy anything for myself this month. So far, so good. Here are the sizes/type that I currently own (I'd love to try my other KnitPicks ones since I've used the Harmony):

  Knit Picks size 6 acrylic interchangeable with 24" cable
  Knit Picks size 7 Harmony wood interchangeable with 24" cable
  Knit Picks size 8 nickel interchangeable with 24" cable
  Clover size 8 straight
  Clover size 10 straight
  Clover size 11 straight
  Clover size 15 straight
  Susan Bates size 5 circular with 16" cable
  Clover size 8 circular with 16" cable
  
  

• Obviously, a pattern that isn't too hard, but I would like one where I could learn something new knitting wise with it. So far, I've only made dishcloths, and started that scarf that I frogged.
  
  
• I'd like the pattern to be free.
  
  
• I'd like to use some of my LYS or Knit Picks yarn. You can find a lot of it listed here in my Stash on Ravelry. Obviously, I can mix and match, especially the ones that are the same brand, but different colorway.
  
  

So, what do you all think? Any pattern suggestions that would be a good idea? Please leave your suggestions in the comments if you can! Thanks for all your help!

Work-in-Progress Wednesday 18

Wednesday, again. Can you believe it?? It is already the 8th of this month, and that has me pretty much hyperventilating. Yikes! Luckily, to take off some of the sting, I was able to order a few bought gifts online yesterday. Now I just need to worry if they will make it here in time. As far as the crochet/knitting presents are concerned, I'm running out of time. There are a few that can be mailed a day or two late, so I am putting those on the back burner. We'll see how it goes. My days are pretty much devoted to crocheting/knitting. Needless to say, I'm getting a LOT of TV time in.

Just a side note, I plan to have a few fun things happening on the blog coming up, including a yarn giveaway, a CAL/KAL (patterns haven't been chosen yet, so if you have any suggests please let me know!) and a yarn diet challenge for the new year (gasp!). So stay tuned for that!

As far as WIPs are concerned, this is what I have on my plate.



The dragonfly washcloth turned out sooo great (will share pictures on FO Friday), that I wanted to do another one. This will be a gift and will look like this. I don't want to say too much about it, but I hope to finish it quickly so that I can get to another one and make them a little set. We'll see. This wasn't originally in my holiday gift making plans, so I can't add too many items at this point or I will simply run out of time...or just not sleep leading up to the holiday.

Sorry for the picture, it's hard to get a good picture of the black yarn doubled over.

I've been dreading making this. I started way back when and then stopped and ripped it out. I love the way that the purse looks in the end, and use the one I made as a test purse a bit! The problem is, the pattern isn't written very clearly and so I have to look at a breakdown someone did on Ravelry with pictures (thank god for that person). Once I get out of the flow of making it, I can't really restart again for some reason. So, here I am starting it again. I have to make two more by Christmas. This one (obviously black) is going to be the worst because it's so hard to work with black, IMO. The next one I think I'm going to do a tan color, so that should go much faster. Luckily, when I stop whining about it and just do it, I'll be fine. It's a fast pattern to do once you get into the flow of things.



For those that are new to WIPW, to share your WIPW post with us, just fill out the Mr. Linky below. Despite it saying you must comment, don't feel as if you do. That is something Mr. Linky automatically adds. I just ask you to check out a few of the links posted to see what everyone else is working on and comment there if you can. Everyone loves feedback and a little encouragement on their projects! Also, please link back to this post in your post to get the word out! The more the merrier!

Work-in-Progress Wednesday 17

First off, I'm sorry that I've been quiet since last WIPW. It's been a crazy week with Thanksgiving, being gone for four full days and the end of NaNoWriMo...which leads me to something I'd like to share. I know it's not craft related, but I can't help myself.

That's right, I hit 50,000 words. It's not the first time I've "won" NaNo. Actually, just the opposite. Each time I attempt it, I hit 50k, but this year felt better than most, with also trying to work on a lot of crochet Christmas presents and going away for the holiday, things got a little hectic. In fact, I didn't hit my word count goal until yesterday morning! Now back to craftiness.

I had a great time up in Los Angeles visiting family. I bought a lot of good yarn, as well as a few books, but I'll share them in another post! I hope everyone had a fabulous holiday in the US, and for those of you who participated in FO Friday this past week, I promise I'll get to commenting on your posts now that my life isn't all about furiously typing on my NaNo project.

I don't have anything new to share, but I did make some progress on the two projects from last week:


I was able to work on the market bag on the way to and from Los Angeles, thanks to my husband who drove both ways! I really like the way it's coming out. My gauge seemed a little small, so I added two extra rows of increase before starting my way up the sides of the bag. This is going to be a great size for supermarket and farmer's market shopping! I can't wait to give it to the recipient! I hope to finish this week, so I better get hooking!



I wasn't able to work on my washcloth much more, but you can see I've just started to hit the point of where the first (or second, depending on how you look at it) set of wings starts for the dragonfly washcloth. I'm still super stoked about the way it's coming out and LOVE knitting. I actually bought more cotton so that I can make more of these. They're fun, quick projects (when you actually have time to knit) and are actually useable! I hope to finish this one soon too, but the market bag takes precedence since it's a Christmas gift and the washcloth is just for fun.

For those that are new to WIPW, to share your WIPW post with us, just fill out the Mr. Linky below. Despite it saying you must comment, don't feel as if you do. That is something Mr. Linky automatically adds. I just ask you to check out a few of the links posted to see what everyone else is working on and comment there if you can. Everyone loves feedback and a little encouragement on their projects! Also, please link back to this post in your post to get the word out! The more the merrier!

Work-in-Progress Wednesday 16

Happy almost Thanksgiving to the WIPW peeps who live in the US! Have a great time with friends, family and eat TONS of turkey, pumpkin pie and sweet potatoes. YUM! Also, don't forget, a lot of LYS and craft big box stores have Black Friday sales, so don't forget to check all of the ads.

As I mentioned last week, I will be posting a FO Friday for everyone to take part in, but will not have a FO to share. It's been a crazy week, which is why I haven't posted anything since last Friday. It's the last real week of NaNoWriMo and I'm having to write my little fingers off since we will be away for the last four out of six days remaining in the month. Next month I'll probably be posting so much, you'll all be sick of me.

Now onto WIPW 16!


Yes, this is a different knitting project than I shared last week. Last week it was the scarf, but I screwed up and decided to start it over again. In the meantime, I wanted to try something I could make fast and really master the knit and purl stitches. Oh yeah, and getting these beautiful new KnitPicks needles kind of talked me into being used as well. The pattern is a dragonfly washcloth. Depending on how it goes from here, I may keep it or gift it out. How do cotton knitted washcloths/dishcloths hold up in the washer and dryer? I'm using Sugar 'n Cream, which I'm not crazy about for crochet (or any cotton for that matter, which makes this whole WIPW kind of odd since both new projects are cotton), but adore with knitting. I may have to buy a few more skeins on Friday since they're on mega sale to go crazy on making dishcloths and washcloths!



This is a gift for someone (and I'm not going to mention who, because they may read this blog) for Christmas. I wanted a practical gift, and this is one for sure. It's a market bag. Originally I started a different bag, but then decided to do one in the round because it was easier and worked up a lot quicker. I increased a few more rows, so that it would be nice and wide at the bottom for maximum holding. I'm using Bernat Handicraft Cotton that I got on clearance on Labor Day weekend. So nice to have a project for this finally. When I bought it, I couldn't pass it up. It was on clearance for $4.97 and then I got another 20% on top of that. Not bad considering it 710 yrds worth! The colors are fun without being too obnoxious (you should have seen my other choices!), so I thought it would be perfect for this project.


For those that are new to WIPW, to share your WIPW post with us, just fill out the Mr. Linky below. Despite it saying you must comment, don't feel as if you do. That is something Mr. Linky automatically adds. I just ask you to check out a few of the links posted to see what everyone else is working on and comment there if you can. Everyone loves feedback and a little encouragement on their projects! Also, please link back to this post in your post to get the word out! The more the merrier!

Work-in-Progress Wednesday 15

First off, I have to say a HUUUGGGEEE thank you to Stacey, one of our lovely weekly WIPW members, who made us a WIP Wednesday blog button to advertise on our blogs! I love it so much, and I hope you all do, too. Please feel free to use it in your WIPW posts and on your blog in the side bar. If you like, you can link it to my WIPW tag here, that will pull up all of our WIPW posts from the past, including the newest one that will appear first. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please feel free to let me know in the comments section.

Now onto WIPW 15!



That's right...I'M KNITTING A SCARF!!!!!! It's from this pattern, using the knit stitch and purl slip stitch. I screwed up on one row I realize now, so that the first few rows of the ribbing doesn't line up with the rest, but it's hard to see it so no big deal. It also doesn't look much like the project pictures, and I'm not exactly sure why. All the same, I'm super excited about it. At first I thought it looked like crap, but the more I worked on it, I like the way it's shaping up. I'm using Patons Shetland Chunky which I really like, though I wish it would slide on my needles better.

Thanks to all of you who suggested knitting videos and a special thanks to Paula and Alea on helping!

For those that are new to WIPW, to share your WIPW post with us, just fill out the Mr. Linky below. Despite it saying you must comment, don't feel as if you do. That is something Mr. Linky automatically adds. I just ask you to check out a few of the links posted to see what everyone else is working on and comment there if you can. Everyone loves feedback and a little encouragement on their projects! Also, please link back to this post in your post to get the word out! The more the merrier!

Look Mom, I'm Knitting!

I feel like a little kid, smile beaming proudly, as I show my mom an ugly project I made at school. This weekend I made my first few knitting stitches and you would have thought I had cured cancer. I was SO excited, I showed it off to anyone who would look at it. Of course, that only included my husband, dog, two cats and Alea, but it didn't make me any less proud!

Now, if you don't laugh, I will share my first swatch. I AM calling it my first, despite starting another before it with Vanna's Choice that split like no other. It was so frustrating I almost threw my needles across the room. Instead, I decided to switch to another cheap yarn in my stash, TLC Essentials in Surf and Turf. Let me tell you, it was a smart move. This is the first time I've used TLC, which I got on sale on the big Labor Day sale Michaels and Joann's was having. It's a perfect practice yarn! As far as needles, I started on size 10 Clover bamboo needles when I was working with the Vanna's Choice, but when I switched to the TLC, I used size 8 Clover bamboo needles. I like the feel of the size 8 better I think.

I just noticed there is some crazy pooling going on with this yarn! It doesn't look as bad in person.

As you can see, I made an error, dropping a stitch (at least I think that's what happened), but instead of worrying about it, I decided to move on and just learn from my mistake. Other than that little booboo that resulted in a nice hole in my swatch, I think it looks pretty good. The last few rows I did were starting purl, so like 99% of the swatch is the knit stitch.

I love the differences between crochet and knitting. They are so different, it's like night and day. I'm left handed, crochet left handed but decided to learn to knit as a rightie. I'm one of those weird people that uses their opposite hand a lot. In fact, when playing baseball, I bat left handed, but can only throw accurately with my right. Same with hockey. I shoot right handed, but I play goalie left handed. Odd, I know, but I decided to do the same with crochet/knitting. So far, my choice was a good one, as there is less tutorials of left handed knittng as there is for the south paw crocheters.

I started with a few different videos, watching each technique for casting on (the Knitpicks video seemed the easiest for me) before choosing my poison. I know that different patterns need certain casting on (or I think), but right now I wanted the most simple. I then moved onto the Knit stitch, working on the garter stitch for this swatch, before moving onto Purl stitch Monday night.

Between Knit and Purl, I have to say, I like knit stitch MUCH better. Purl seems/feels so unnatural for some reason, but this may be because I just started it. I hope it comes a little easier to me. I was at Borders yesterday and saw a great book, The Harmony Guides: Knit and Purl: 250 Stitches to Knit (or it seemed great, I didn't buy it) that really opened my eyes to the K & P stitch. I didn't realize that you could do a ton of different stitches just with knowing these very basic things.

I did buy this book, Chicks with Sticks: Guide to Knitting, which so far is a great way to learn and have patterns based on my very beginning level. Each "lesson" they teach you a new stitch, which then leads to a pattern using it, so it builds on what you know from the previous one.

I'm SO excited to learn more, and I love how different it is from crocheting. I can't wait to start making things, instead of swatches.

I'd love to have a few books, patterns or videos recommended, so if you have any, please be sure to comment!