Finding my Zen.....

Several months ago a post came across my timeline on Facebook with the most beautiful colors and textures of different yarns. I explored the corresponding page and immediately fell in love just looking at all the saturated colors and colorways in these hand-dyed beauties. Thus I was turned on to Zen Yarn Garden. 

Unfortunately no one in my area stocked this eye candy, so I was on a mission to find it somewhere just to get my hands on it. My search for a store on line that carried the yummy yarn was fairly easy, finding one that had some of it, any of it no matter the yarn content or color, well that was the tough part. I began to feel that this must be popular with the customers at the LYS's I was calling. Naturally that made my desire to capture some Zen Yarn Garden for myself even more urgent...lol....finally I tracked down some of the awesome Serentity DK (90% superwash merino/10% cashmere) at Knit and Stitch in Bethesda MD. SCORE!....not so fast there Wonder Woman...they had a very limited amount in very limited colors, sooooo I went with the advise of the very nice lady helping me via telephone and ordered the Serenity DK in the colorway Magenta.

FINALLY, it arrived. Didn't take long, it was really here in a jiffy, it just felt like a long time because I was so excited to get it.

Now, what to do with the wonderful stuff. I knit a swatch just to feel it, awesome. Then I let it sit and sit, every now and then I would take it out just to pet it, sounds weird I know, but fiber freaks will understand.

I just waited until late on night trolling Ravelry and voila there it was! Elk Tooth by Caitlin ffrench! If any of you have seen her modeling those awesome shawls you are aware of her infectious smile and demeanor in the photos, she actually makes me want to knit what she's modeling when I'm not even sure I want to knit the item, go figure. Anyway, I saw her pattern Elk Tooth and checked it out. Yep that's the one for my Serenity DK and for me as well! Very quick and fun pattern to knit. These two aspects speak to me and always get my attention. 

This picture is more representative of the color
than the others due to lighting

If you have never used yarn overs, seed stitch, passing stitches over or increasing by knitting in the front and back of a stitch, but wanted to, this is a great pattern for it. Give it a try you can do it!!!

Knit on my friends!!!!

Lace Knitting...Not as hard as I thought....

Lace knitting has always intimidated me...until I saw what was the perfect pattern for me to give it a whirl! 

I had previously purchased a beautiful hank of Madeline Tosh 'Tosh Merino Light' in colorway 'Cathedral', I had absolutely no idea what I was going to do with it, but it looked so lonely in the store I decided it needed a good home so I just had to adopt it! Couldn't just leave it there. I drooled over it for a few weeks and late one night while trolling Ravelry for inspiration, I ran across a lace shawl pattern that I thought I could handle. (I've been trying to increase my knitting skills this year). As I said previously lace has always intimidated me, I look at it and think how beautiful, but all those YO's, ssk's etc. scared me! Many of the patterns I have seen have you knitting top down with short rows or bottom up with short rows and my brain just can't process all that, at any rate while trolling I came across some patterns by Mindy Wilkes, they were sooooo beautiful and in reading the description I saw one that was knit sideways, meaning you knit the lace as you knit the body of the shawl, well that got my attention, because that meant NO short rows! Yay me! I found something my brain could handle. I immediately thought of the 'Tosh Merino Light', could even see it finished in my minds eye.

I got stymied a few times with rows 5-6, but that was totally me forgetting a YO, nothing to do with the pattern at all, it was all me.(Luckily I have a great friend and knitting teacher to correct me and get me back on track. Many thanks Teresa Shankle). The result is beautiful, light and airy!

Project Info:

Pattern: Flower Moon by Mindy Wilkes

Yarn: Madeline Tosh 'Tosh Merino Light'

         Color: Cathedral

Needle: 24" #6 Addi Turbo Click

Blocked using blocking wires(my first attempt)

Close up of the lace

This is my year to challenge myself and see what I can really do, and  I encourage any knitter to try something 'out of your box', something that is a challenge. Don't let all the symbols scare you off like I have done in the past, after all they are just letters and someone, somewhere can help you decipher it and create something awesome!

Knit on my friends!

What's Your Favorite?

What's your favorite yarn to knit with and why?

Mine:  That's a hard question to answer....hmmmm....at this moment in time I would have to say anything by Malabrigo. I'm in a color frenzy and they deliver in all weights!

What's yours? Excited to see your answers!!!

Knit on my friends!

Eliminate Bleeding

Using hand-dyed yarns is always fun...

Until they bleed...eliminate this when wet blocking by adding a little white vinegar to the soak!

Another Flower Headband

How I Almost Ruined Christmas....

I always knit something for my niece at Christmas. Around December 20, 2012 I suddenly realized that I hadn't knit anything for her. I had been busy with everything else in life etc....Panic set in....what in the world could I do in that amount of time? Thankfully my friend and knitting teacher came to my rescue, she had the 'perfect project in mind'.

 'Another Flower Headband'

This headband is super cute, super easy and super quick.......

My niece modeling again.
This one is a little too big for
her but I didn't feel like modeling.
She's cuter anyway.

My niece modeling her
pretty pink headband at Christmas

I used Mirasol Sulka for both headbands shown. 
I chose not to do the wrap and turns in the section between the K2,P2 rib sections so it is the same width all the way around. The only bug-a-boo for me in this pattern was knitting the flowers, not hard it just took my ADD brain a little while to 'get' it, after the first one it was no problem.


The pattern can be found on Ravelry: 
"Another Flower Headband" by Susan B. Anderson. 
It is very well written and easy to understand. 

Enjoy and knit on my friends!!!!!

UPDATE Finished Chevron Scarf..........Davidson Style

UPDATE! The Chevron Scarf is finished and ready for fall and winter. 

The pattern can be found on Ravelry "Chevron Scarf". I used 1 ball of Cascade 220 Superwash(worsted weight) in Black and 1 ball in Red, school colors for Davidson College. #9 needle.
The pattern is pretty, easy and fun, however weaving in all those ends not so much fun. Next time I will weave them in as I go! 
Blocking was a necessity with this scarf as the edges rolled considerably.
Can't wait to deliver it to my niece!

Thinking of all the possibilities for this pattern, gradient yarn, self-striping maybe even a solid would be nice! Endless ideas!





Work in progress for the other twin headed to Davidson College in a week or so....first ever chevron pattern for me.....fun and easy to memorize.....will update when finished, gotta get busy knitting!!!




Knit on my friends!!!

Chain, Chain, Chain......Chain of....Wool and Angora!

Couldn't resist the Aretha Franklin nod on this one! Thanks for indulging me...

My cousins twins will be going off to college in the next few days, wow can't believe they are ready for that, remember when they were born, cute little girls, one looked like her granddad the other like her dad, boy my cousin did all the work! I digress anyway....

I promised them scarves in their school colors for graduation. Obviously this one is for the Carolina Girl...(getting ready to cast on for the Davidson Girl)



Saw the chain scarf in the book "LOOP-D-LOOP by Teva Durham many years ago, been in my mind since then. Used the idea to do my own thing!
Been wanting to do this chain scarf for along time and this was the girl to do it for!


THE LOW DOWN OF THIS BEAUTY!

Yarn: Cascade Yarns "Cloud 9"
          2 balls #176 - 1 ball #101
Needles: #9----9" Circular
                         12" Circular
                         16" Circular

CO---Can't tell ya, because I cast on enough stitches each time to get it in the round. I didn't take notes and each time I'm sure it was different....my apologizes
You knit one link and bind off. Cast on for the next link, once you are cast on insert one end of the needle through the link you just knit making sure stitches are NOT twisted and then start knitting in the round, do this for all subsequent links, when you are done all you have to do is needle weave the ends from each link into them. NO sewing together!

I did however knit each link about 3" to 31/2". They will naturally curl so I just let them! The size and color combination of the links are totally and completely random. I just knit what I felt....Ravelry has a pattern for something similar if you need complete instructions or you can find my inspiration in Teva Durhams' book Loop-d-Loop. Fun, quick and easy! The kind of knitting I like.



Knit on my friends!!!!

***Doing some charity knitting(see previous blog "Charity Knitting....To knit or not to knit") so my blogging and knitting have taken a backseat***

UPDATE!!!!!
Blankets are finished, boxed and ready for shipping. Special thanks to Carole Gray, Donna York, Judith Wyatt, Delzora Clark and Margaret Moore Holmberg!!

Charity Knitting....To knit or not to knit....You Knit of Course!

I like to think that I keep myself informed about what is going on in our world. Living in an area with several major military bases nearby, I am always aware of those who protect our wonderful country and the sacrifices that they and their families make on our behalf. 

Sadly, many of our soldiers male and female are not appreciated for that sacrifice.....I could go on for another hour or two about this but will get to the point.

I have a friend whose girlfriend is a Army veteran, she and I have never met, but through the wonderful world of Facebook we have become friends. She kinda noticed that I knit and approached me about doing a project for the AMVETS organization in which she is very active.When I heard that there are HOMELESS female veterans in need in my state I knew I wanted to help. Don't get me wrong I am aware that there are homeless men, women and children in all states, but thinking you know something and getting confirmation really makes it hit home. The fact that many of these homeless people are veterans made/still makes me angry! 

So back to the point.........at the end of a particularly tough day, when we aren't feeling our best, or feel like we just want to wrap up in someones arms, a favorite blanket or afghan for comfort most of us have options. These women don't have those options.........very sad to hear but it is their reality.

I pooled together a few fellow fiber fools and we are committed to making sure that these women will have a afghan of their own, something that they don't have to beg or pay for to help comfort them any time they need it! These afghans will be theirs to take with them when they transition back into what we all consider a normal life.

(Will post pics of the afghans when they are all done! Can't wait to see them all together before they make it to their destination!)

Been spending time on this project, so my blogging and other knitting has taken a backseat. However, I did finish a project that will be posted soon! 

If you read this and it compels you to give of your time and bust your stash for this project, contact me and I will give you the particulars. If you read this and it moves you to help in your area awesome! Find a worthy organization and find out how you can put your particular skills to use to help make someone else's life a little better. It really is a great feeling.

Knit on my friends!!!

Cowl For My Cousin

Ever heard of a 'double first cousin'? If you have then you can skip this part...lol....if not, it's real easy to explain if you don't think too much....

Claude married Casey, then Sherwood married Marie....got that part? Now Claude and Sherwood are brothers, Casey and Marie are sisters, following me so far? Claude and Casey had Bryan and Myra, Sherwood and Marie had Susan and Chris...still with me? The result, Bryan, Myra, Susan and Chris are double first cousins. If you are still confused, sorry bout that, gives you something to think about...lol

So, my cousin Myra and her family came to visit. She and I took a girls day, shop a little, do the lunch thing. As luck would have it we went to Swansboro, NC and ended up (big surprise) in a yarn shop. The Salty Sheep to be exact.
Anyway, long story short I offered to knit (the closest thing I have to a sister, genetically) my cousin a scarf. She found a cowl pattern that she liked so we searched for a suitable yarn and as usual it wasn't hard to find, just hard to decide. The Salty Sheep has an awesome selection of fine yarns!

She decided on a yarn I had worked with before (see Saroyan post)....Malabrigo Rios!!!! 

Malabrigo Rios colorway Volcan

On the needles

YAY I love that yarn!!!! 

I couldn't wait to get started and after a long day of family fun came home and cast it on right away. Got up early the next day and started knitting, finished it that night.......I'm often asked 'how long did that take you to knit'? I usually have no idea, but this time I kept loose track of the time and it took approx. 12 hours, give or take.

Looks primarily orange, but I see more brown in 'real life"

Unblocked

After wet blocking

No flash!

With flash!

****The pics don't really give you a good idea of colors, I have a NEW awesome camera, but no matter the setting, flash, no flash etc., it never looked exactly like the real thing to me...just sayin****


Below is the info on the finished "Cowl for my Cousin"......


Pattern:  Stacked Eyelet Cowl from Ravelry
Yarn:       Malabrigo Rios, Colorway: Volcan (almost one skein)
Needle:   Size #9, 20" circular

***Pattern note: I did not follow the pattern to the letter, used it loosely for cast on and general info, but did my own thing on a few rows***

So, having said all that, it was fun and easy and I would do it again, just not today...lol...gotta find something new to cast on....
Me and my Double First Cousin and the recipient of the Cowl

Knit on my friends!!!!!!!!!!

Very Easy Finger-Less Wristlets

This pattern is very easy(almost mindless my fav)!!
I have knit these sooooo many times for friends and family. Big kids, little kids and everyone in between.

Thanks to Chelsea Mash for modeling!!

I'm a big fan of easy and simple. I am not however a fan(yet) of DPN's or casting off to make thumb holes, therefore this pattern works for me.

Endless combinations of yarns make these fun to do anytime. Below is the pattern-----

Yarn: Approx. 109 yds. worsted weight yarn and 109 yds. kid mohair
Needle: #7    Gauge: 5sts=1"

Holding both yarns together CO 38sts
Row 1 - K2 P2 end with K2
Row 2 - P2 K2 end with P2
Repeat these 2 rows for 7" or desired length.
BO
Fold panel sides together and sew 1" down from top and 3" up from the bottom leaving a hole for the thumb. Needle weave in loose ends. Now you have warm and cozy fingerless wristlets. (If longer wristlets are desired you will need more yarn)

The wristlets pictured do not have the mohair added. I loved this yarn just as it was and chose not to use the mohair. Love the ones with mohair tho! The yarn is from Yarn Hollow "Twisted" 100% Merino  www.yarnhollow.com.

Try them you will like them....

Knit on my friends!

UPDATE!!! 28's Cousin 53 is FINISHED!!!

YAY!!! I finished it..........

 This scarf was tons of fun to knit!!! I can see myself knitting this again and again. It's only 53 rows, alot of bang for the buck so to speak. OK here are the details........

The pattern: 28's Cousin 53! Scarf version II by Lynne Ashton found on Ravelry

The luscious yarn!

Yarn: Sweet Georgia Superwash DK Colorway: Rosebud
 Needle: I deviated from the pattern and used a Size #8

I lusted over this yarn since it came into my LYS. I just had to have it, of course I had no idea what I was going to knit with it, but nevertheless I added it to my stash. I didn't take long to find the perfect pattern. 28's Cousin 53! had been in my Ravelry library for awhile and then it hit me! Eureka! I had found a match for this luscious, lusty, lovely yarn.

I have to say I am over the moon with this scarf, I think it just might be my favorite project so far.

Blocking

Hope you can see the color variation

The pattern says "no need to block" but I chose to wet block as it had puckers at the cast on, probably because I used the 'cable cast on' for the first time ever and it was kinda tight...blocking cured this.

Knit on! my friends..........

Saroyan Scarf.....Finally finished







Finally finished and blocked my first attempt at lace knitting. This scarf pattern is very well written and easy to follow, even for me! Lots of fun to knit! 
The yarn is Malabrigo Rios colorway Ivy, a wonderful Pure Superwash Merino that is a dream to knit with and even better feeling after wet blocking. 
The Saroyan pattern was free on Ravelry at the time I got it. Free or not it is worth it! Thanks to Liz Abinante for an awesome pattern that I am sure I will knit again and again. Give it a try and knit on!

28's Cousin 53! Scarf Version

Trying to finish this beauty...only 9 rows to go til bind off........should be quick right? Nope not when its 514 stitches...LOL....will post a pic of the finished product....

Simple Tip For Staying on Track

  Ever been knitting and 50 stitches in the row you discover you are on the WRONG row?  We've all done it at one point or another.
My friend and knitting mentor Teresa shared with me a simple but very effective way to all but eliminate that stress from my knitting. It was one of those palm to the forehead moments for me.
So easy...wait for it.....here it comes....

Use a STICKEY note! Just put it directly under the row you are working on that way it blocks out the rows underneath so when you look at the pattern your eye automatically goes to the row to be worked. You can even make notes on it as you go.....Now why didn't I think of that?

Got an awesome tip to make things easier? Please share!!!!
Knit on my friends!!!!

Breaking the monotony.....

So you are knitting a baby blanket, sweater, afghan or a long scarf. You love the yarn and the pattern (else why would you be knitting it?) but it's the same stitches and color over and over. Getting kinda tired of the same old same old, BUT you wanna keep knitting something, so what do you do?
I break the monotony by keeping a dishcloth on needles almost all of the time. I know, I know it's just a dishcloth. Wrong! It's a lot more than that. The dishcloth is the perfect way to break away from the samey same of the long project you are working on. You keep knitting, you get to look at a different color and pattern, it knits quick and you have a useful item when finished. (Kinda instant gratification) 
They are also a great way to try and learn a new stitch or pattern!
Once you have stocked your own kitchen with these awesome little devils you can give them as gifts to your friends and family, careful you may get requests for more. There are dozens and dozens of patterns for these little gems. Enjoy!!!


Below is the pattern for the classic knit dishcloth pictured:

Lily Sugar & Cream works great and is inexpensive, but any worsted weight cotton will work

Needle Size: #7

Cast On 3 stitches

Knit 2 yarn over, knit to end(this is your increase row)

Continue knitting this row until you have 40 to 50 stitches on your needles

Knit one, K2tog, Yarn over K2tog, knit to the end of the row(this is your decrease row)

Continue decreasing until 4 stitches are left, K1K2tog, K1

Next row: Slip 1, K2tog, psso 

Finish off, weave in ends. Now you have a hand knit dishcloth for you or a friend!

This is a LONG Infinity Scarf I designed. I call it "The I Will Knit Whatever the ____ I Want Infinity" (you can fill in the blank).  Super easy and fun because you basically knit whatever stitch you want for as many rounds as you want. No stress right? Knit, purl, yarn overs, seed stitch, ribbing the possibilities are endless and totally in your control. Will post the pattern and other info as soon as I get it down on paper. If you are adventurous and want to 'Knit whatever the ____ you want', basic info is as follows: 

Yarn: Eco Duo by Cascade(almost 2 hanks) or any worsted weight yarn(approx. 400yds)

Size #10 circular needle 40 inches long

CO 200sts, place marker and join in the round and KNIT whatever you want!!! 

First Blog!!! EEK

Yep I'm a virgin to this blogging thing, so please keep that in mind. Sharing info about knitting is always a useful experience. We can always learn new and fun things from each other that make reading patterns, casting on, binding off and tons of other things easier in our knitting ventures....
Traditionally I like to knit quick and easy however, I ventured out a few weeks ago to socks!!! Wasn't as intimidating as I had once thought.
My vision is to share any and all tips, info, patterns etc., that encourage knitters of all levels.
I look forward to the experiences this journey takes me on..........