Tag: yarn

New Sock Yarn!

Posted on Posted in art, fiber love, socksTagged , , , , , , , 1 Comment

I decided to embrace being an “over the pond” knitter and buy my sock yarn from over the pond. This blog post explains why long fiber, tightly spun wool makes the best 100% wool sock yarn, so I went for it. Plus it’s such a pretty blue!

I’m still working on my WHW club hat. I’m almost to the crown. I may need to redesign it so the pattern works with the decreases. I may not be able to enter the contest, but that’s ok. It’s been a good exercise.

I signed up to participate in an art show. It’s the first since 2015. I’m planning a felted piece. I’ll blog about that later.

Cats Like Bird Knitting

Posted on Posted in design, hatsTagged , , , 2 Comments

I am still pottering away at my Birds of Blendon Hat. I don’t get much knitting time, which is my own fault, I guess. JoJo likes to play with my yarn while I knit, so here’s another gratuitous kitty pic, only a little staged as I obviously don’t leave my knitting lying around like this for her to get into.

I’m falling for all the Carbeth hype. Everyone is doing it, and now I want to do it too. I’m only human. I think I should lengthen it a bit though, since I’m short-waisted. I might also add a hood. Why not? I love the color Between Weathers. I am a sucker for blue.

I’ve decided I need to learn to knit and walk, and although I don’t typically like sock knitting, a nice plain stockinette sock sounds like just the thing. I found a plain sock pattern I want to try, now I just need sock yarn. What is your favorite sock yarn? Inquiring minds…

On a personal note, my oldest son just moved into his own place. I’m so proud. My middling son will also be leaving the nest in a few months. Luckily my youngest son has a few years left at home. He is tinkering with a song on the pan flute right now. I wonder where he gets that pottering-tinkering inclination from?

And then the kitty couldn’t hold her head up any longer. It just fell “plop!” On my lap.

I love how there are already Black Panther patterns out there!

Sorry for the randomness. Do leave me some sock yarn recommendations though, if you please.

New Year’s Day Round Up

Posted on Posted in art, design, hats, inspiration, sweaters, what makes me tickTagged , , , , 1 Comment

img_2258

I finally get to hang up my Goats of Anarchy calendar. I’ve had it since September!

I didn’t blog every day between Christmas and New Year’s, but I did knit almost every day. Here are some project updates.

My J&S swatch is coming along. It’s time to experiment with the cables. I was pleased I could jump right back into 2-color stranded knitting, although my tension was a little off on the purl row back. Luckily the sweater should be knit in the round.

Here is a tip. If you want to manifest something into your life, put it on your blog! Look what I got for Christmas!

img_2257

One of my presents from Bob was also to sign me up for Kate Davies’ West Highland Way Club – patterns only, but I will certainly be saving my pennies for some yarn as well. I’m very excited about it and can’t wait for it to start!

I did swatch the J&S Shetland while watching Shetland a second time. (I had to for tongue-in-cheek purposes.) I tried to take a photo but couldn’t get one worth sharing. In the first episode, one of the characters is wearing Kate Davies’ Peerie Flooers hat. When I saw that, I remembered I was introduced to Kate Davies Designs through the show the first time I watched it. I think that moment was the spark that rekindled my love of knitting last year. (Hmm… that hat is knit with J&S jumper weight… Hmm…)

Although, I will probably knit the Goats of Inversnaid hat first. What can I say? I really love goats. And so does my youngest. He might get a goat hat, too.

I’m off to make a digital vision board for 2018 full of knitting hopes and dreams.  Happy New Year! What are your aspirations for 2018?

Swatching Shetland for Christmas

Posted on Posted in design, sweaters, what makes me tickTagged , , , , , , , , , 2 Comments

img_2092

If the week between Christmas and New Year’s is a sign of things to come for 2018, I’ll be working on a lot of new projects next year!

I was very excited to get my hands on some J&S Jumper Weight yarn. I’ll admit it. I became fascinated with the idea of knitting with shetland wool yarn after binge watching Shetland on Netflix. I couldn’t order it directly, or find it online, until Ravelry pointed me in the direction of Lost City Knits. The fact that she is in Oklahoma City (I’m a displaced Okie) sealed the deal for me. I only ordered enough to swatch, though.

My first idea was to knit a simple navy blue pullover for myself. That is the type of thing I enjoy wearing: basic and neutral. It’s a gorgeous yarn, a little smaller gauge than I normally like to work with, but the fabric is perfect.

Now I have more ideas, and this swatch will hopefully help me flesh some of them out. I ordered an additional color to experiment with, and will probably introduce some cabling as well as 2-strand color knitting. Hopefully I’ll be able to work on both sweaters in the coming year. The big question is, of course, funding for yarn.

I see some bingeswatching Shetland in my immediate future.

We had a nice, low-key Christmas with mostly-grown kids coming and going. My Christmas cactus bloomed again because I locked it in the root cellar for a month. It is beautiful but it bothers me that I have to deprive it of sunlight to bloom. Why is it that some of us only perform under pressure? I’m hoping to change that for myself in the coming year and become the kind of person who can succeed without trying too hard.

img_2089

More Looking Back (and a Free Pattern)

Posted on Posted in design, free patterns, hatsTagged , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Back in the old Liberty Handknits days – one of my small businesses I tried to get off the ground – the Button Up Cloche was my most popular and best selling handknit. It was the first pattern I wrote out and dared to put out into the world. I submitted it to a knitting publication, though it was not accepted. I did sell a few on Etsy. I thought it might be fun to offer it here for free!

This pattern only includes the pie crust cable pattern for the brim, but you can knit any cabled pattern that can be worked in bulky yarn in a panel of about 4 inches, button the ends together, turn it on its side, and knit a hat on top!

Button Up Cloche Knitting Pattern

I found the pattern in an old email I had sent to myself for some reason, in Microsoft Works format! 😆 Luckily I found a file converter online.

I didn’t have as much luck finding the Geensie pattern.

I really like this hat, though, and will probably try to recreate it, or some variation of it. And it’s hard to believe my eldest son is now a full grown man!