Some Progress

It took a little bit but finally I have something to show for it.

All this time I have been saying that I am not just a winter knitter. Because knitting is for all times. But now I think that it may not necessarily be true. While I knit in the summer because I like to knit come fall I think I knit more. Not because the weather is cooler but rather because I do more things. I travel on the bus (knitting time), I sit in class (knitting time), I have down time before classes between classes (more knitting time). It was how last week I finished my Escher socks.

And this week what I can show you is that I finally have progress on my Potpourri socks. So much progress that I almost wonder if I can pull this off in a year. Probably not. But you know it might be possible. Once I got over how much I hated the double figure eight wrap in the pattern, it is a breeze. Well... I shouldn't say that. don't want to jinx myself.

I also started on a different pair of socks. They are the spot check socks and it will be some color work which I am excited about. It is going to be made out of Malabrigo in ravlery red and Mountain Colors Bearfoote in Bitterroot Rainbow.

The differences in the size of balls is actually somewhat comical...

Well hopefully this means the amount of knitting I am doing is on the up swing. And for the mothers and fathers that are worried, yes, I take notes in class as well. I wonder when I will knit when I graduate?

WIP Wednesday: Guild edition

I have joined a Guild. And not a WoW one either. The nerd in me is jumping up and down for joy right now. Last month I decided to attend a meeting of the Minneapolis Modern Quilt Guild. They meet once a month and talk and plan and have a show and tell of quilts. It is hosted at Sewtropolis and a lot of fun.


And boy did I choose a good month to come! In July they decided to start TWO that is right TWO challenges. At the time I could only pick one. I went with the rainbow-y one (big surprise) But today I stopped by and picked up the fabric for the second one. That is a lot of free fabric for this very happy little girl!

The First one which I started planning and cutting immediately is the Kona Soilds challenge where you are given a charm pack of Kona solids to do with what you please. You can only add other Kona solids into the mix. I picked out the ones I am planning on using and getting to work. As a Guild we decided to impose another challenge on ourselves and that is that we must use half square triangles to make these.

Oh you notice something? That my half square triangles are already stitched? Well that is because I JUST got my sewing machine back! (YAY!) For those of you who aren't ravelry friends with me. After the awesome Kay gave me a sewing machine I managed to/ It broke on me. In about 10 minutes. turns out it had a broken part that needed to be ordered. But I just got it back in time for happy quilting times YAY!

The other challenge that I picked up today is the Jay McCarol challenge. I received a fat eighth of eight of his fabrics from his line to make something out of. Aren't they pretty? The guild imposed challenge on this one is "wonky" I have an idea in my head. And just randomly cut strips out of my fat eights and I am about to go work on them now as soon as I am done making this blog post.
The more I look at these fabrics the more I like them. They don't all exactly match but I think that is part of the charm right? AND Jay McCarol is the season 1 winner of Project Runway! I had no idea he was designing fabric now. But he definitely has a flair for it.


I'M SO EXCITED TO BE QUILTING AGAIN! AHHHH

PS: I'm trying the Mr. Linky on Tami's blog for the first time today! check out other WIP

Tour de Fleece CHALLENGE Day

Today is the 22nd. It is the hardest part of the Tour de France which means that it should also be the hardest part of the Tour de Fleece. That though is open to interpretation. For me I have decided that the hardest part of my tour will be spinning with an unfamiliar short stapled fiber. Enter the llama fiber. I picked this up at the farmers market in my home town a month ago and now I get to spin it up.


I chose to try it out which my new cascade spindle. Which was the replacement for the one I broke a couple weeks ago. (Yes spindles don't count in my fabric, fiber yarn diet. But I did decided that I would rather buy a spindle than groceries this week. I have been living off of rice, and noddles) I am happy to report that even though the look of it is slightly different, it does spin very similarly to my old Cascade spindle. A huge relief.

Llama fiber spins up a little like my merino/angora blend that I've been working on. But it is very fine and doesn't have a lot of stretch to it. I won't really know until I knit with it though.

My plans for this llama fiber I am spinning up is going to be to ply it with this beautiful woolgatherings fiber I have that is a merino/tussah silk/bamboo blend. I didn't plan on spinning them up together. Actually at all. But it is sort of a new thing for me to blend a rainbow fiber with a solid neutral color.

These two were also sitting next to each other in my fiber closet and they just went so well together I couldn't resist. I think I'm going to split the rainbow as much as possible to get the short color repeats in there and it (should) be really pretty. That's all I've got for challenging myself. A fiber of a different nature. It is very very soft though

Also, I wanted to show off. (pardon the terrible bathroom picture) I got new extensions put in my hair last week they are fun I love the colors

I've come so far, yet so far to go.

I have been knitting for a while. In just a few short years I will be able to say that I have been knitting for half of my life. And for someone who didn't learn from their parents when they were younger that is a pretty big accomplishment in my book. Truely though I've only been really "into" knitting in maybe the last four years or so.

Something that I am still terrible at though? Garter stitch.

I know I said a few posts back that I didn't find it comforting instead I found it boring. However, it may very well might be that I am not good at it. I ended up ripping out the first band twice and then googled how to do a garter stitch (I find lace charts not intimidating. First stitch you learn whilst knitting? Hard.)

My first random pull for the Year of projects was the color colision socks in Paca-peds tye-dye. It is going alright but it has two things I'm not very good at, garter stitch and short rows (and short-rows in garter stitch). After all that is said though. I have a sock. Just one for now. The other is barely even a square big. Should get going on that.

I will admit though I am rather tempted to cast on another project. I have never been a serial project knitter anyways. What is stopping me though is the fact I have two sock WIP that I was planning on finishing before this whole thing started! (oops)

The Weekend Update

Okay. I was too busy on Wednesday to do a WIP: Wednesday, had a needle malfunction on Thursday (I lost my spare DPN on the bus!) to have a FO Friday, I was really really close. But so far. So for the silence of this week am I just going to give you a rundown of the projects (except my YOP sock that will be for tomorrow).

1. On the wheel is a BFL silk blend from wool gatherings that i have an idea for that I am excited for.

2. Yesterday felt like a spindle day so I pulled out an old project it is a Merino/Angora blend and I sort of forgot how deliciously yummy it is. Going to work on it more today I think I'm going to make it my goal to finish it for the TdF.

3. I have been teaching one of my roommates how to knit whilst we watch Merlin. Isn't she doing fantastic? I also lent her my copy of stitch and bitch she seems to like it. I'm so excited to live with another knitter again.

4. In honor of the Tour de Fleece I was going to teach my friend Paul how to spin. Because we are both broke and wanted to do something that was free. He liked treadling but lasted about 10 min before he gave up on drafting. Oh well.

5. The only WIP currently besides a few pair of socks I"m trying to finish up is this big and awesome shawl.

The needles are comically big. Size 36's my normal standard size I use most often is a size 3. Think about that for a second. Here it is in comparison to a size 10 needle and my thumb.

A little while after I took that picture I realized that I screwed up the pattern a bit, ripped it out and started it all over.
That is all I have for now. I'll try showing off some more of my work. And maybe blog about my new job later! Tomorrow I'll put up a post about my Year of Projects update. But that is all I have for now.

A Girl, a Book, a Year, and a Dream.

Every once in a while I get it in my head that I like to challenge myself (sometimes not true). And I see something on Ravelry and it's like WOW I want to do that! Sometimes it works really well. Last years Tour de Fleece made me a much better spinner. Sometimes I crash and burn. I once tried to talk part in the 52 pair plunge (knit a pair of socks a week for a year) got ALMOST 15 socks in and failed badly. So badly I gave up before the half way mark. Let hope that this is going to be one of those good ones.

I was poking around the forums, looking at peoples' profiles when I stumbled upon a group called Come Blog-a-Long (link on the side). And they had this interesting idea, pick a book (a pattern book) and see if you can knit through it in a year.

As luck would have it I was looking at the book "Knitting socks with Hand Painted Yarn" the day before wondering why I had yet to knit anything out of this wonderful book? There wasn't a single pattern in it I disliked. So this group, this book and this Annie just seemed like a good fit.
There are 21 patterns in the book, while not quite the 52 required of the plunge a daunting task. But I think I can do it!

That was too weeks ago since then I have been planning. Ball winding. Needle buying. Yarn sorting (and a little bit of yarn buying) in preparation for this. Here has what my preparation has yielded!

I had the stash for 19 of the projects (yikes that was an eyeopener!) I scared my roommates by taking my stash out of my room all at once, not going to do that again. I picked yarn, bagged them all individually along with a note.

The note is the pattern I plan on using, page number, toe up/ topdown, needle size, circ/DPN, yarn I plan on using and whether or not it is flat or in the round.

My goal is once I've made it through 10 socks and am on a good track my reward is buying myself the yarn for the remaining two socks (four balls in all). Most of my yarn is commercial a wide variety of brands, the only repeats are Dream in Color Smooshy and Malabrigo (not surprising two of my favorites). And two of my socks will be tackled in Hand Spun. One of which I'm not done spinning yet...

Enough Jabber here is the full list in order of appearance. (Note: These are all Ravelry links to projects that don't quite exist yet, but if you want to know what yarn/needle size I'm planning on using take a look!)

Longbourn Socks
Zigzag Socks
Punctuated Rib Socks
Staccato Socks
Copper Penny Socks
Color Collision Socks
Split-Toe Sweethearts
Whirlpool Socks
Herringbone Rib Socks
Schooner Socks
Corrugated Stripe Socks
Flame Thrower Socks
Chevvy Socks
Spot Check Socks
Potpourri Socks
Spread Spectrum Socks
Braided Gem Socks
Escher Socks
Goldengrove Socks
Rib Fantastic Socks
Switcheroo Socks

All of this. This entire exercise is in hopes of finally having enough scraps to finish my Barn Raising Quilt. I decided that I'm only going to knit squares from projects that I've already completed. It's more special that way.


I'm planning on doing this whole shebang by randomly grabbing a bag, seeing if I have the proper needles available and then CASTON! I will start tomorrow though right now it is late, and I am tired. I stayed up just to post this =D

Wish me Luck!

WIP Wednesday: Clockwork Rainbow

You can't quite tell yet but this is going to be a rainbow scarf/shawlette/ Hipster Scarf I'm really excited because I'm a little less than half way done and I can already tell that it is going to be a visual stunner (I hope)

It's for the MOHS June KAL- Let's Hear it for the Boy. Which is actually being hosted by yours truly. The Pattern is Clockwork by the immensely talented Stephen West.

I have a big blog project coming up soon that I just decided to do today so I'm making a quick update post and then I'm going to get planning!

The rainbow yarn is Kauni which is famous for its long color changes and for being quite a visual stunner. I don't actually like the yarn that much it's a bit scratchy for my taste. But the colors might just make it worth it.

Why friends are awesome

This post could also be titled I had to work yesterday and didn't get to take pics in time to make a WIP: Wednesday post.

Last week my Rav friend Jen and I struck a good deal, in which I came away with a pound of unwashed alpaca (I wanted it! even though it is covered in poop!) and her second hand but still in great condition ashford hand carders. And Jen came away with money to buy some more yarn of course!

I've washed a little bit of the alpaca but haven't gotten it too clean, mostly because my dog keeps on trying to eat it. And I'm nervous my mom will discover just how dirty the alpaca is and will get mad that I brought it into her house. Instead I will wait until I am back in my own apartment with the aid of some rubber gloves and then I can get my hands all dusty and dirty all on my own.

In the mean time. Some great news. Steven's Point Wisconsin now has its very own LYS! It is called the Wisconsin Wool Exchange. It is a little store that specializes in local yarn, and it is absolutely adorable and I can't wait to go back when they are fully set up (I went in on their first day open in their new location).

While there because I wanted to play with my new carders, I bought roughly 3 oz of merino wool in cordinating colors that I could blend together.

I'm still playing around with the blending but it looks like it is going to be a very nice light shade of greyish purple. I'm carding them in all sorts of different ways and I think it will turn out to be a very subtle striping that will be very pretty. (I hope).
So my work in progress this week is really me learning how to card (oh and the other 2oz of my merino to bend together)

Mostly I am just incredibly happy that I got some carders to play with. And that Jen was nice enough to sell them to me even though she wasn't planning on selling them. and that I get to play with putting colors together! Everyone knows I'm a total sucker for colors. I am quickly turning into a jack of all trades, but master of none.

And Don't forget there is still one more day to enter in my very first giveaway! (see post below).

WIP Wednesday: The never ending scarf

Last week when I posted about my sewing machine being broken? Well it still is. Still waiting for word on it. And as a result I've thrown myself into my knitting specifically a strange determination to make a scarf that is comically long. Currently it is hovering around 6 feet long. Here is my roommate indulging me for a photo op.

I've also spread it out on our couch...


on a nicer day I will try to take more accurate pictures of the colors because they're really quite nice. Unfortunately I live in the midwest and today it has decided to snow. SNOW at the end of april. Sometimes I just don't get it.

WIP: Wednesday Who's Hungry?

I know it seems like the only project/thing I've been blogging about lately is my Who's Hungry? quilt. And you might have a point. But it's just that I recently decided that I really wanted to finish it the blocks are easy so why haven't I finished it yet? even more recently I decided that I was going to finish this quilt (including the quilting) in April. Seeing as it is not april yet it looks like I'm probably in pretty good shape. However, my boarder number 1 fabric isn't supposed to get here until April 5th. Wish me luck!

Enough talking time for quilt progress:
I am eight blocks from being done with the block part of the quilt top

They mostly made out of blocks with a corduroy middle, but them a few of them are a semi irregular four patch ish type block made out of the middle scraps like this one:


They are not intentionally wonky... I'm just not good at peicing lots of little squares together, I don't think the tape marking 1/4 inch is straight on my machine right now. I should try to fix that.

WIP: Wednesday

It is really satisfying to take something from the beginning all the way to the end. Someday I hope to sheer my own sheep wash the wool prep it spin it, dye it, and knit something pretty out of it. The best I can do right now is to take this lovely bump of roving dyed by the awesome woolgatherings who paints some of the best rainbows ever. It is a merino, bamboo, tussah silk mix which is some of the nicest fiber I've had the pleasure to spin.

Last week I had this vision of a rainbowy mixed up shawl from my own handspun. right after finishing my arabella, which I will post about soon. I was itching to do another shawl. I put it off for a while but then I could resist. I spun it up and then started my shawl