Knitting :: Cowl For A Friend

Last November I spun and knit this cowl in a matter of days. The fact that it was on drop spindle is what amazes me for bulky weights on a spindle are not my forte. I should say Single bulky weight. But it turned out very nicely and I do believe my friend was quite pleased with her cowl. It was a birthday present and since I spun and knit it quickly I did not keep proper notes and write down the pattern like I should have.*Ehem. Cough.

One of these days I will spin up more bulky yarn and write out the pattern for all of you. I'll keep you posted if/when that happens.

Just popping in.

Today it is raining again. And I am not complaining. It is wonderful to have all this rain after our long dry spell. It feels a bit like autumn, like it did when I blogged this post. The house is quiet, so quiet that you can hear the clocks ticking, and the rain hitting the stove pipe outside the living room wall. 

Rainy weather always puts me in the mood for tea. I turned the electric kettle on, fished out my tea pot, wiped the dust out of a cup I have not used in awhile and made a pot of Rooibush Chocolate Tea. It is made by the Tea Gschwendner company, and oh so tasty. As the description says: "The creamy sweetness of chocolate combined with refreshing mind blend perfectly for a delightful cup!"

Things are going to be different around home for awhile. Grandma had surgery and Mother and I are switching on and off taking turns caring for her. The last two days I had previous commitments, and getting back earlier then planned, I had intended to dye fiber today  The rain put a stop to that and I found myself home this afternoon, with less to do then I thought.

So today I am working on my Etsy shop, blog and some knitting. Last week I picked up this lovely skein of Ella rae merino lace yarn. It is kettle dyed in gorgeous shades and I was so excited to start knitting it up.

I picked this yarn with my Seaweed Stole in mind, so as soon as I had found the right size of needles I got right to it. This is an easier pattern to work on then the other lace one I was doing. It works well for when I am sitting with my Grandma while we watch the Olympics. I kept losing my place in the other one, staring at the telly and holding my breath until a critical moment in the games had passed. Needless to say, I was not getting anywhere fast on that project! 
The Seaweed stole only has 4 rows to repeat, and just one of them is lace, so it is easy to keep track of while other things are going on.
I'm planning on selling this in my shop once it is done. Though that may not be for awhile, it needs another skein of yarn and the shop where I purchased it is across the state. I'll keep you posted on how it goes!

Of Coffee, Rain, & Spinning.

Having a snack while I blog. Coffee and cookies. Or biscuits, as they are referred to in the UK (and probably other places as well). 

 It is raining here. Hard. A good steady, pouring sort of rain. It is beating down on the metal roof and creating quite a cozy sound and feel in the house. We are having a bit of thunder and lightening as well. I do so love a good thunderstorm! We have needed rain desperately. I am not home this week, but thankfully it is raining at home as well. I was so glad to hear that. It will be interesting to see if anything looks different when I get back. When I left everything was parched dry, and brown as can be. Even the trees looked dry and thirsty.

 This week I finished spinning and plied both of these singles. Not together, they are separate skeins of yarn. 

 Here they are hanging to dry. A friend gave me some flip flops from Old Navy and I save the plastic piece that held them together. I thought it would work perfectly for drying yarn. And it did! Originally I set this yarn over the fence to dry. But the evening sun was low in the sky and soon moved, leaving the yarn in the shade. I ended up hanging the skeins from a branch in the mulberry tree. It worked like a dream. 

The completed yarn is a gorgeous 3-ply. I intend to keep this one for myself! It has such a nice feel to it. I love the way a three ply feels and knits up! I navajo plied my single to get this three ply yarn.

My lace design is coming along beautifully. It slowed a little since I have been gone this week. I am hoping to add an inch or two tonight when I am relaxing. It is such a fun pattern to work on, just enough lace to keep you occupied, but not such a complex pattern so that it makes your head hurt after staring at the chart for awhile. If my design progresses at all while I am here, I'll share another picture with you. For now, I shall close and go enjoy this lovely storm!

Catching Up

I have a new design in the wings and I am so excited about it! Last September I was visiting my sister-in-law and somehow did not have a project to work on. I can not remember now if I forgot to bring something, or if it was simply a case of finishing up what I did bring along. Either way, my hands were empty and I needed a project. She rummaged in her craft room and came back with yarn, needles and the stitch dictionary and basically  said "design something". So with plenty of quiet and spare time on my hands, a new pattern was born. I only knit the left mitten, then it got put on the back burner as other projects came along. This week I puled it out and sorted through my notes, determined to make a go of it and finish it off. I'm pleased to say,as of this evening, I finished the mitt! Well, all except the top part of the thumb. I need to jot down how to do it, as I failed to make thorough notes on the first time around. 

While visiting a new yarn shop this week I picked up this yarn for a test knit of my new pattern. The yarn is "Rustic" by Cascade Yarns, Fiber content is 79% Wool 21% Linen. I purchased two skeins as I am hoping to have enough yarn left over for a complimenting accessory. I am looking forward to sharing more with you about this project in the near future.

I have several Christmas presents that I never showed you. The first being this adorable hat. I knit this for one of my sisters. 
Yarn: Handspun Blue-Face Leicester
Pattern: Kim's Hats from "Last-minute Knitted Gifts."

Up-close detail of the hat.

Jillian & Bilbo

Christmas 2010 I made Jillian as a gift. She was made out of hand carded, hand spun Alpaca/Angora yarn,
Christmas 2011 I made Bilbo as a gift. He is made out of hand carded, hand spun Merino/Corriedale/Dorset/Angora yarn.
Pattern: Loveable Toys from "Last-minute knitted gifts.
The rabbits are quite different from each other, because of the differences in yarn. Jillian is more soft and floppy, and thanks to lots of angora, she has a nice fuzzy halo. Bilbo is soft but sturdy, with a nice firm hand. He does not have nearly as much halo as Jillian does, seeing as I did not card as much angora in with the the rolags.
I suppose it could also be due to the fact that he is only 4 months old, whereas Jillian is over a year old and has had time to grow fuzzy.

Bilbo

Such a sweet little face!

The boys were exceedingly interested in the goings-on of the photo shoot. I do believe they thought the rabbits were edible. I couldn't get a single photo without the alpacas in the background! Not that I minded though. They are inquisitive fellows, and so sweet.
   

Difference in ears.

I also made a pair of wristlets for another sister. These are from one of the older issues of Spin-Off. Though at this precise moment I do not remember which one. If anyone wishes to particularly know I will gladly look it up. This is the fourth pair that I have made. They only take a small amount of fingering-weight yarn, and work up very quickly. The only modification I made this time was to lengthen the ribbing.


Next up: Spring updates!


For now, farewell my friends!

New Free Pattern! Toe-up Cabled Bed Socks

Toe-Up Cabled Bed Socks

Notes: This pattern is worked from the toe-up. It is called a bed sock because there is no heel. Thus they can twist around on the foot without becoming uncomfortable, making them perfect for wearing to bed! The size is pretty flexible as it does not have a heel. I made this pattern for a friend's birthday. Her feet are smaller then mine, but the socks look well on both our feet. ***If you want to make them shorter or longer just add or decrease the cable repeats.***

Yarn: 1 skein Paton Classic Wool OR 220 yards worsted weight yarn

Needles: US #6 set of four double points

Notions: Measuring tape, cable needle, stitch marker

Approximate length: 14 1/4 inches

Cable Pattern

Row 1-4 :*K4, P2, repeat from * around.

Row 5: *C4, p2, repeat from * around.

Row 6: *K4, p2, repeat from * around.

Abbreviations:

k=knit

p=purl

k1f&b=knit 1 front and back (this is an increase stitch)

C4= slip 2 stitches on cable needle, hold in front of work. knit the next 2 stitches. Knit the 2 stitches from cable needle. One cable twist made.

Pattern:

Using Judy's magic cast-on, or your favourite toe-up method, cast on 14 stitches. Knit one row

Divide the stitches onto 3 needles as follows: Needle 1: four stitches, Needle 2: three stitches, Needle 3: seven stitches.

Round 1: K1, K1f&b, knit across to last 2 stitches of needle 2, k1f&b,k1. On needle 3, k1, k1f&b, knit across to last 2 stitches of needles 3, k1f&b, k1. ~4 stitches increased. 18 stitches total

Round 2: Knit

Repeat rounds 1 and 2 seven times. You will have 46 stitches.

Next Round: k1, k1f&b, knit across to the last 2 stitches on needle 2, k1f&b, k1. Knit across needles 3. ~48 stitches.

Next Round: Knit

Redistribute stitches on needles as follows: Needle 1: twelve stitches, Needle 2: eighteen stitches, Needle 3: eighteen stitches.

Now you will be starting the cable portion of the leg.

Work rows 1-6 of Cable Pattern 14 times.

Rib Row: *K2, P2, repeat from * around.

Repeat Rib Row 7 more times. 8 rib rows total.

Bind of loosely in a K2,P2 rib. Fasten off and weave in tails.

And your cabled bed sock is complete! You can also wash and block if desired.

Yarn Galore!!!

Isn't all this yarn simply scrumptious? My parents generously gave me a gift card for Christmas and I used it to purchase yarn and a book from Knit Picks. I am planning on using most of this yarn for designing. I already have quite a few projects in mind, nothing solid yet, but some vague ideas. You know how those vague ideas go. They tend to blossom into whatever they want, and often something quite different from what I intended. I'm excited about the possibilities though. The last time I saw this much yarn together in one place was at the fabric store! Unlike many knitters, I don't have much of a stash right now. Well, I didn't. Now I do. :)

This lovely skein of Alpaca Cloud is SO soft. I have no idea yet what I will do with this one, I just like to hold it and imagine the possibilities. It should have a beautiful drape when knit up.

I had a hard time deciding what to order. And when I say hard, I mean HARD. Just ask my sister-in-law. She was siting there while I was hemming and hawing. And just when I thought I had my mind made up, all the certain I was unsure and rethinking my options. One of the yarns I wanted was not available until February, so I switched my order around a little. I certainly couldn't imagine waiting until February to use my gift card!

The Palette yarn has SO many options, 100 colors in all! I am pleased with everything I ordered, and Knit Picks was very prompt about getting my order to me. I ordered on a Thursday, it shipped the next Monday, and I received it on Thursday. So it was only a week wait, I was expecting it to be longer since I did they're free shipping option. It was a lovely surprise to come home and have it waiting for me.

I also order a workshop on lace knitting. That has me excited to no end! It is quite thorough, and I believe I will be able to learn much from it. It will be like taking a class, which I find quite wonderful. I'll let you all now how it goes.

Well, I'm off to look at my yarn. ;)

I have a couple new projects in the works right now. Some might be offered as free patterns, so stay tuned! The project pictured above is kind of at a standstill because I am not sure if I have enough yarn to do what I want. It is my own handspun, so I'll have to pick up some more roving and spin it up before I get any further on this design.

Over our family vacation I was working on these wristlets. The design is out of the Spin Off Winter 2007 issue, page 46. They work up pretty quickly, but I would definitely lengthen the cuff.

In fact I have another pair in progress for myself and I am doing that very thing. I only added an extra inch to the cuff, just because I want to make sure I have enough yardage to finish them both.

The yarn is Ramboulette wool that I dyed as roving and then spun into a fingering weight on my top whorl spindle. It is lovely, and very soft. It should make excellent wristlets.

Aren't these mittens so cute? They are the tiniest things ever, and whip up in no time. The only problem is this is the only size they come in. However they are a perfect gift for a newborn. I worked mine up in a soft, Cascade cotton, on size US7 needles. You can find the pattern "Baby Mitts" on Ravelry.

Well, I am spending a couple days with my sister-in-law. We are doing all kinds of fiber related things. She also did some sewing this week for the first time! We worked on a neat floor cushion and also a heart, accent pillow. She did an amazing job, I was pleased with the results.

I would love to hear what you are working on. Please feel free leave me a comment and let me know what knitting/spinning projects you have in the works, it's always fun to see & hear what other people are working on in the crafting world!

Have a lovely week my friends!!!!