Anniversary

Last night we marked our 15th wedding anniversary at my favorite Greek restaurant for a family dinner.  It was a very enjoyable meal with joking around and our "Would you rather be this or that" game.  Pretty mellow on the whole.  When we returned home, I went to my knitting while my husband and son did a little computer gaming.  Then right before bed I said "Oops I almost forgot" rushing downstairs to find my husband's gift - a pair of wool socks for winter.  He opened them and gave me a hug, but I felt a bit of something extra under his shirt.  He reached under his t-shirt to give my the yarn you see above.  He's tricky that husband of mine and oh so fun!  It's a pair of matched self striping sock yarn from Turtlepurl in the colorway called "OM".  Of course, I had to quick wind it into cakes, cast on and knit to see how the stripes would play out.  Really a fun rainbow progression.  The violet and indigo are a bit hard to tell apart, but other than that I just love it.  I am a pretty big rainbow fan growing up in the 1970-80's I had many a rainbow shirt and sweater.  I'm knitting the socks toe up as you can see, in a 3x1 rib and will be using a afterthought heel for these to keep the stripes nice and even.  So,that's all I have for you today.  See ya all next week! 

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

A Year of Projects 2015 - 2016!

   

This is the start of my "A Year of Projects" for July 2015 - June 2016.  What is this all about?  It's a group on Ravelry of bloggers getting together to share progress on their knitting/crocheting/spinning and all around crafting goals throughout the year.  I enjoyed reading others blog posts from last year so this year I decided to get off the bench and join in.  Yay!

Without further adieu here is my proposed list of knitting for this year:

Cowls and Scarves:

Classic Cowl by Purl Soho knit in handspun 

Field of Stars by Amy van de Laar knit in handspun alpaca

Dudester Scarf by Jana Pihota 

Dryad by Jared Flood

For the Home:

Sock Yarn Braided Trivets by Martha Lazar 8 of them

Sock Yarn Braided Rug by Martha Lazar

Socks:

Slip Stitch Heel Basic Sock by Wendy D. Johnson

Simply Elegant Cable Socks by Judy Alexander

Broken Seed Stitch Socks by handepandehttps

Taylor's Orange Toe Up Socks by Jasmyn Cunningham

Sweaters and Vests:

Glen Moir Vest by Luise O'Neill 

White Russian by Thea Colman

Three in One Sweater by Elizabeth Zimmerman

Glenfiddich by Annamária Ötvös

Tops:

Astonish Top by Katy Banks 

Jordan by Wendy Bernard

Mittens and Gloves:

Connnectivity Gloves by Mari Chiba

Nordic Mittens by Beth Brown-Reinsel

Double Knit Mittens by Sue Hedgecock

Hats:

A Family Tam by Beth Brown-Reinsel

Ok, now that I write it all out it looks like an awful lot to accomplish, but some are already WIPS which will help (or at least I'll tell myself that.)  It was really fun to figure out what I wanted to knit over the course of a year and surprisingly easy when things like Christmas, birthdays and anniversaries dictate so much of what "needs" to get done as opposed to all my wishful thinking and wants.

What's on the needles currently is the Basic Cowl by Purl Soho using my own rainbow handspun yarn.  The colored wool is plant dyed by this lovely lady and the white is an angora/wool blend I purchased from here.  It's a very simple pattern, but my yarn makes it a bit tricky to keep track of where I am in the 4 row pattern.  In a solid color this would be a snap I think.  I have only a few rows of yellow and the white angora twisted ribbing left to go, which I hope means I'll finish by tonight.  Cross your fingers for me.  

Next up will be some bobbin clearing as I finish spinning some aplaca/angora three ply yarn.  Then I plan on casting on the Field of Stars cowl.  If I have way too much yardage for it I may have to pick another pattern though.

All these projects (listed in no particular order) will be knit with yarn I already have in my stash as I am trying to cut back on my fiber spending.  Oh course when we go to the Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival I will be making a few purchases, but then I am holding out until Minnesota's Shepard's Harvest Sheep and Wool Festival in the Spring of 2016.  Well, hopefully I will be too busy finishing knitted objects to mind.

See ya next week!