Knitting. So much yarn, so little time. I have a significant S.A.B.L.E...Stash Available Beyond Life Expectancy. It's a real struggle to divide my time between my hobbies: Reading, Knitting, Beading, Painting. Then there are the mundane chores like cooking, cleaning, laundry, dishes. Sigh. I'm not a compulsive 'starter'. I only have one major project and one TV/Social Knitting project (wash cloth, garter stitch blanket/scarf etc.) on the needles at any given time. A great deal of my SABLE was purchased with no project in mind at all. But sometimes I buy for a specific purpose. I took a Fiber Road Trip in April 2019 to attend a spinning class given by Kate Larson at The Fiber Event at the Putnam County Fairgrounds, Greencastle, IN. Kate was so informative and patient with the small class. We weren't overwhelmed with statistics or extraneous details. I learned a lot. While I was the...
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Or Blankets for the Whole Family. Some 9 years ago a Dear Friend asked me to make a particular knitted blanket for her daughter 'ET's 13th(?) birthday. Well I didn't knit at the time so I crocheted one. Add caption 'ET' loved it and used it every night on her bed. Well apparently her younger brothers 'MT' and 'BT' loved it too and would sneak into her room and steal it! They needed blankets of their own so, I used the left overs from ET's blanket and made them each a blanket of their own. Add caption Eight years after the youngest boy was born, My Dear Friend gave birth to another girl 'ST' and of course she needed a blanket (or three) as well. Add caption All this brings us to the point of this post. 'ET' is now 22 and has had a baby of her own! So the tradition continues. I knit these for ET2 in May during the COVID-19 (continuing) Isolation Period . All of these were made with acrylic (Caron and Red Heart) so as to be mac...
Last Fall I decided to start Stash Busting with my Acrylics... this is Winter's Coming by C-Lo, free pattern Do you see a Storm Trooper face? I wanted to try stranded knitting. I tend to be a tight knitter which doesn't really lend itself to carrying yarn. Not my best work but as my friend Holly says 'They'll fit somebody!' This is Copy Cat C.C. Beanie by Emily Ingrid. It was a fun knit. Sometime in December there was a request for yarn donations for school kid crafts. About then I gave up on Busting my Acrylic Stash a donated the entire tub. A non-knitting friend admired my blue Tilted Texture and asked if I'd knit one for her. I don't usually say yes but I love, Love, LOVE Jennifer Weissman 's patterns!! Every time she posts a new one I'm like "Damn! I HAVE to knit that one too!" I bought the Dragonfly Fiber , Dharma (50% Yak-50% Mulberry Silk) in Cognac...
There was Knitting.... and all the yarn used was from STASH! I've put myself on a Yarn Diet these last couple years. At the rate I knit my yarn stash is considered S.A.B.L.E “SABLE- A common knitting acronym that stands for Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy.” Atlantic Cowl by Antonia Shankland in Classic Elite Yarns Majestic Tweed - Gifted This yarn was purchased in 2015 Denver Cowl by Veronica Parsons Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted - Donated to Charity Yikes, purchased in 2009! About time it found it's project :) I often bought yarn without a project in mind. Not the best idea really. But these yarns have told me eventually "I want to be a scarf/hat etc." Cloud of Softness neckgater by Marji LaFreniere Bijou Basin Ranch , Bijou Bliss - Gifted Yarn purchased in 2015 Great yarn! I'll be buying more from them. Oops! Awe, forget the Yarn Diet! Dangling Conversation by Mindy Ross Wolle's...
Yea. Remember when I posted this list of Knitting Plans? And a few months later changed that plan to this one ? Well let's just agree that this will be a fluid, ever changing plan, O.K.? O.K., good. I did complete the Ocean Cable baby thrown and I frogged the Ethereal Shawl. And since I didn't have the yarns for Simply Sheer I started Tilted Texture a pattern that wasn't even on either of the two planned lists. I'm using a beautiful, hand-painted, fingering weight, 50/50 Merino/Tencel from Briar Rose Fibers called Sea Pearl that I purchased at fiber fair back in 2010. Sigh. Well at least I'm knitting.
After accepting the I discovered I needed to make some changes to my queue. There were some errors in available Stash, yardage and weight. There will probably be more changes but at least this Challenge is keeping me motivated. I've complete 3 projects in 3 weeks. Dangling Conversation is a triangular shawl, paid pattern by Mindy Ross. I used a color changing cotton by WOLLEE's , purchased in 2013 at SAFF . It's basically 480 yards of 4-ply sewing thread. It sounds 'splitty' and difficult to knit with but it wasn't. The Cloud of Softness neck gaiter is a free Ravelry download by Marji LaFreniere. It was a late Christmas gift made from one skein of Bijou Basin Bliss Sport weight 50/50 Yak & Cormo. It is a really lovely fiber, very soft and very nice to knit with. The recipient was very happy with it :D The Mini Bunny & Baskets were also a late Christmas gift made from scrap acrylic yarn. ...
The New Year has traditionally been a time to reflect and make resolutions. I have long since given up on resolutions. (I can't stick to a routine for more that a few days. Diet, workout, swearing. All broken in less than a week.) I just try to be a better person than I was yesterday. I will try to continue to knit down my stash and knit only from my current queue. I did pretty well on last years Yarn Diet until SAFF . I managed to hold it to one purchase, a shawl kit, which is an achievement for me. I've already completed two projects. Go me! Since starting this draft post Ravelry has initiated the 2018 Ravelry Project Challenge . " You can enter a goal for the year or opt out, which will remove the tab from your view. After you have set your goal the tab is a home for your challenge – the projects you have completed this year and the ones in your queue with a deadline in the current year stay up to date to track...
Thanksgiving is gone and Christmas in coming. As I and my siblings and their children get older the gift giving becomes less and less. I've already completed my shopping for this year, thanks to Amazon. I abhor holiday mall shopping. As the nearest mall is an hour away, just the thought of all the traffic and PEOPLE! Bah humbug I say. I had to go into the mall area a few weeks ago to pick up a baby gift and was nearly homicidal before I even got into the parking lot! The store was a mad house. Thank the Maker I had ordered the gift on line and was just there to pick-up. I started the Miya shawl twice and frogged it twice. Apparently even with a life-line I can't knit. So with ELPH out of town this week I'll have some absolute, uninterrupted quiet and I might be able to get this shawl rolling. To sooth my frustrated knitting Mojo I knit this sweet little hat for a friends newborn. I'm planning to knit a tiny sw...
Two years ago I saw this beautiful shawl pattern (Miya Shawl by Mari Chiba) on display in the Bijou Basin booth at SAFF and I just had to have it. And a hank of Bijou Basin 100% Goat Cashmere (Xanadu) to knit it in! I had never done lace knitting like this before and was therefore completely intimidated by it and put it on the shelf to await my better knitting skills. Yea right. This from the woman who requires a lifeline in her Garter Stitch because she has the attention span of a gnat. Well last week I decided to Hell with my fears (and lack of knitting skills) and to just go for it. How difficult could it be? Let me tell you. Cast on 31 stitches, knit 3 rows of pattern = wrong ending stitch count. Frog. Begin again. Turn off TV. CO 31 st. Manage to get through first 12 row repeat, YEA! Put in Lifeline. Knit 2nd repeat. Correct stitch count! YEA! Move lifeline. 3rd pattern repeat... 4 ...
Crochet is always faster than knitting for me. I guess 40 years of experience will do that for you ;-0 Feather and Fan Baby Blanket by Alexis Middleton I used Red Heart Soft Baby Steps for this blanket. I always use acrylic for baby items. Acrylic these days is way softer than it was when I first started crocheting back in the stone-age '70's. And what new mother has time to hand wash a blanket or the room to it lay flat and wait for it to dry???? Free pattern can be found here . Whipped up Dakotah's Fabulous Scarf by Kathy Lashley at ELK Studio Handcrafted Crochet Designs in a couple hours. Don't let the 'crochet through the 3rd loop' scare you off. Super easy! So quick and easy I made two! Again I used acrylic for wash-ability. Above is Red Heart Unforgettable in Dragonfly colorway, below is same yarn in Echo colorway. This is a free pattern as well. And becaus...