Plugging Away and An Upcoming Project

 This morning I find my right forearm is sore from all the blanket knitting I've been doing as of late.  I have been diligently plugging away and finished another square ring yesterday.  While I'm pleased I'm a bit overwhelmed that there are still 2 more skeins left to knit the final edging.  There will be some leftover yarn to be sure, but it's still quite a lot of yarn to knit when I just want to get this project done and out of my WIP pile.  Actually, I want to put it into use as the weather has turned colder and in our drafty house you can feel the difference (not that you can tell by my barefooted short sleeve t-shirt wearing son but that's another story.)

Since I don't have too much new to show you on that project I thought I'd show you a future project I have planned that I'm both excited and a bit nervous about.  When reading the Interweave Press KNITS magazine Santa so kindly left in my stocking this Christmas, I ran across an article about some very unique yarn.  It's called Silver Spun and as the name implies it actually has silver spun into the yarn.  The contents to be exact are 87% Combed Cotton / 5% Silver / 5% Nylon / 3 % Spandex.  We all know what cotton is, nylon I know is added for durability and strength but I was thrown for a loop as to what the silver and Spandex would accomplish.  Well it turns out the silver makes the yarn therapeutic because it has excellent thermal properties as well as making it conductive.  The Spandex is then used to keep the silver from breaking apart.  Interesting no?  The conductive properties really hooked me because that means you could wear gloves made out of this yarn and still use your smart phone.  The Feel Good Yarn Company who makes this yarn thought of that too and put together the above kits with this free pattern for making just such a pair of gloves.  I instantly thought of my husband who is in the tech trade and gets many business calls on his cell phone, sometimes at less than opportune times as he is on call 24/7.  For example, he was walking home from the bus stop this winter with his hands laden down with many bags and got a call on his phone.  He managed to get it out of his pocket but with only three rings before voice mail kicks in there was no time to take off gloves so what did he do?  Why used his tongue of course!  Can I get an ewww!  Yes, that was my reaction too.

Anyway, I purchased this kit right away after I read the article in December, but they have yet to knit themselves into gloves so I thought I'd give myself a deadline.  My plan being to knit these up for Dan's birthday which falls on the last day of March.  Plenty of time of course, but they'll come after this blanket, a hostess gift I'm knitting for a friend who's hosting me on my trip to Washington DC at the end of February and of course since I'm going on a trip I want to knit this scarf to wear while there...  So, I'll probably won't start these gloves until I'm on my plane to see my friend Anna.  They are the perfect travel knit though as they are small and will tuck easily into my purse.  The only reservation I have is knitting 10 individual fingers knit in the round on US size 2 needles.  Sounds very laborious, but hopefully they will knit up fast.

Joining in with Nicole for Keep Calm Craft On and Ginny for Yarn Along.

Distractions - Blanket Knitting

 

The double knit mittens I'm making have my fingers cramping (my needles are very pointy too leaving my finger tip sore from pushing the stitches off - angora yarn can be "sticky") so I started looking about for a distraction.  Well, knitting distraction that is, as there is plenty of housework needing to be done I'm just not of a mind to do it.  But, being productive is important to me, which had me turning to my WIPs hoping for something simple and a bit mindless.  This blanket fit the bill even though it's technically not a WIP, as it was finished and has been in use for some months, but I decided a few weeks back that it was too small at only 45 inches square (it doesn't really wrap around the body enough when cuddling on the couch).  

I began searching for some yarn on Ravelry looking through people's stashes of Lorna's Laces Shepard Worsted and Green Line Worsted, as those were the yarns I used previously, to see what was available in the sell or trade category.  This is a good way to find great yarn at discounted prices.  Although, really this blanket is not an economical project even having purchased all the yarn in this manner.  The afghan was knit using 8 1/2 - 225 yard skeins and now I'm looking to add 6 more - yikes!  Tallying up the cost officially is something I'm not ready to face up to, but in for a penny in for a pound and I might as well end up with a blanket in a size I'll regularly use.  See, I never really thought this project through and I think that's the problem.  It began with a lone skein of worsted weight yarn along with a bad case of "start-itis" (you know when you want to start a casting on a million knitting projects at once?  Oh yeah, it's a disease all right which comes and goes like the common cold, but leaves a devastating wake of partially knit projects behind) and thought "Hmm an afghan knit with only ten stitches - that sounds like fun."

Back to searching for those 6 more skeins of yarn.  I found 2 skeins of a Navy Blue which I loved, and I thought would make at least one ring around but I still needed even more yarn to get the 60 inches square blanket I desired.  As luck would have it I found 4 skeins of the exact same yarn, same colorway (Lorna's Laces Shepard Worsted in Edgewater) that I began with in the blanket's center.  Yay!  It will now look like I planned the colors out instead of buying random yarn as I went along.  The messages were sent, money changed hands and in a manner of days 6 skeins of yarn arrived in the mail  - easy peasey!

The navy ring was completed yesterday and I'm hoping by next week I'll finish the last 2 multicolored rings.  Then the blanket will be complete and the distraction will have passed and maybe, just maybe I'll get back to those mittens. 

Joining in with Linda for Creative Friday and Andrea for Fibre Arts Friday.

Cold Sheep and Stash Update - August

 

 

Wow, the summer has flown by me this year!  It's hard to believe it's the end of August and the weather is already cooler.  It wasn't cool on the day I modeled the above shawlettes though; it was muggy and hot!  It made for a speedy 5 minute photo shoot before "the boys" (my husband and son) went to play some tennis at our park across the street.  My son Sam was trying to distract me while Dan was snapping pics, but I think the photos came out alright despite Sam's best efforts.   The first shawlette (not quite a scarf but not big enough to be a true shawl) was a kit that I won from Luna Grey Fiber Arts.  Yes, I won something!  And a wonderful something at that!  I was so excited to win the lovely skein of sport weight yarn  from Luna Grey along with the White Dwarf pattern by Amy Miller.  What  do you think?  The color is similar to one in the Pendulum shawl (also designed by Amy Miller) I finished last month, but being a solid color I'm sure I'll get more wear out of it.  It's asymmetrical which I'm not usually drawn to, but I'm quite pleased with the result.  The second shawlette is a pattern by Ysolda Teague called Marin done in Three Irish Girls Kells Sport yarn in their Solar Flare colorway.  I loved this pattern with it's scalloped edge and center triangle (achieved with short rows), but was pretty nervous while knitting it that it was not going to turn out right.  When I did finish it was small, very small, hardly enough length to wrap around my neck.  But once it took a bath and was stretched and pinned out to dry it shaped right up to my expectations.  While not looking too happy in the picture, I am thrilled with the end product and know I will wear it lots this Fall and Winter.  Though, safe to say I won't be knitting many shawls/shawlettes in the future as my drawer is now quite full with wonderful choices of what to wear.

August is also the month of my son's birthday, so even though I had hopes of completing more projects it wasn't meant to be.  And when you can't finish a project what should you do?  Well knitter logic says "Start more projects!"  Crazy, I know, but that's just what I did.  First up is yet another pair of Taylor's Orange Toe Up Socks, and this time I actually did use a different color for the toe, heel and cuff.  The blue is some Yarn Love sport weight yarn that I over dyed with indigo (I guess you could say I didn't just "love" it - haha.  Sorry I couldn't resist,) while the orange is leftovers from Marin.  They are going along fine, but I'm a little bored so...

Yes, I started another project.  This pattern is a free one from Rowan and it needs concentration which is nice when your other project is simple but boring.  I used more yarn from my indigo dyed yarn stash (Cascade Yarns Ecological Wool which is a bulky weight) for this project along with some yarn I did buy (I know I am so failing at this Cold Sheep thing) from  Knit Picks called "Aloft" which is a lace weight mohair silk blend.  The Aloft really is the key to making this a soft fluffy sweater and is a MUCH cheaper version to buy than the recommended Rowan's Kidsilk.  What do you think about buying yarn to use yarn I already have - is it a good thing?  My team says Yes!

Last up, is what is going to be a very long term project (think years here) - a Sock Yarn Blanket.  Yup, you heard me right I am going to knit a blanket out of thin sock yarn on teeny tiny needles.  To give you an idea each of those squares is a mere 2 inches in diameter.  Uh huh, it's going to take an awful lot of squares to make even a throw sized blanket.  The idea behind the pattern is to use up leftover sock yarn which is a great idea for me as I always have left over sock yarn sitting around looking at me wondering why I don't knit with it (well maybe not that last bit.)  And, if you've read any of my posts before you know I love, love, love to use up every bit of yarn.  I adore scrappy projects, but I also adore balance of color, so get ready, yes, I bought a couple of skeins of sock yarn in oranges to balance out all the blue sock yarn I will be using.  Again, it's buying yarn to use yarn I already have, which is a bit of a slippery slope I'm finding out.  

Well, my going Cold Sheep lasted a whole 50 days before being reset yet again and is now standing at a mere 13 days.  Oddly enough, I think I'll make it through to the holidays without buying anything else as it's the busy season for my knitted toy business Simply Playing plus I already have all the yarn I need for my holiday gifts. Hmm...this was yet another long post so I think I'll try for a least two posts next month.  A girl can dream can't she?

Joining in with Linda for Creative Friday and Tami for WIP Wednesdays (but on a Friday)

Cold Sheep and Stash Update - July

 

July has been a great month for finishing WIPs that have been laying around looking at me longingly through their Ziploc plastic bags.  Maybe it's because it's been a cooler summer here in Minnesota that I have felt like doing so much knitting.   Or maybe, it's simply the "high" of finishing one project has just been carrying me to finish more and more projects.  Either way I'm pleasantly pleased!

I finished my teal Pendulum shawl from this Spring, my Color Affection shawl from last Fall, and my 10 Stitch Blanket from the previous Summer!  Also completed are 2 more of these lovely coasters in blue and brown fuzzy alpaca yarn.  With so much yarn leftover from this project I decided to make 3 matching trivets to coordinate with the coasters.  You know how I love using up all my yarn!

Speaking of yarn, I went through my stash yet again and sold everything that I didn't just love, love, love on Craigslist.  So, my load is getting lighter literally and figuratively.  Now I just have a cardigan and a vest on the needles as well as the afore mentioned trivets, 8 patterns in my Ravelry queue with yarn in hand, and probably still too many skeins of sock yarn (but everyone could use some more socks right?)  I really feel in control of my stash again instead of my stash controlling me.  It amazes me how "good" things, like knitting or other hobbies, can turn into burdens if not kept in check.  Purchasing yarn only takes a few moments where as knitting said yarn can take a very long time; as can be seen by the projects I just finished.  Ah well,live and learn as they say.

I have been good about going "Cold Sheep" this month and haven't bought any yarn which puts my day total at 35 days.  Since I only seem to post once a month this Summer I guess I'll see you at the end of August.  Have a good month everyone! 

Joining in with Tami for Finished Object Friday and Linda for Creative Friday.