Purchase, Knit and Spin

One sleeve complete and progress on my second for the Notre Dame Pullover. I am enjoying this project. The knitting is going faster since it's on larger needles and it's fun to see so much progress. It's a nice break from sock needles! The pattern is knitting up beautifully. I'm anticipating lots of compliment when I wear this next fall/winter - can I say that?? ;-)


My next batch of pictures turned out fuzzy - sorry! Wrong setting on the camera . . . Anyway, this is spun up from my Spunky Eclectic Strawberry Fields fiber. It's Corriedale. It's destined to be my next pair of socks. I think I'll have a little fun with these and knit the toe and heel using some sock weight cream color yarn from the stash.


SHHH! This is my secret purchase from the Loopy Ewe! And it is fantastic! It's Superwash Merino hand painted yarn from Perchance to Knit in the Citrus Grove colorway. this is destined to be my Chevron Scarf. I'm going to pair it with a solid though, more of the cream color sockyarn I'm using on the socks.

Progress on the Tofutsies Jaywalkers socks. The color in this is pretty bad. In reality the pinks and blacks really pop out. And the design shows well. I was a little afraid it would be lost in the colors but it is fine. The Rowing Cat is coveting this pair . . .


More Spunky Eclectic Roving on the wheel. This is the colorway Chocolate Covered Cherries. I'm spinning this thicker because I want to make a Booga Bag with it. I've also split the roving top to bottom consistently so that I can get definite color changes. Another experiment! And as you can see, I'm finding it a little hard to go back to spinning thick after trying so hard to spin thin! The right hand side is the thickness I'm looking for, but it took a little while. The Rowing Cat came over to look when I started and asked if I really wanted it that thick . . . I explained the problem and she understood when I showed her the finished results. This will just be singles, so it should spin up pretty quickly.


Finally, I joined the Mystery Shawl 3 Knitalong this week. What was I thinking??? Actually, it sounds fun and I have some KnitPicks laceweight burning a hole in my stash. We get clues along the way so the finished shawl will be a surprise!

I go in for my final treatment today (YAY!!) so I'll be in a chemical haze for about a week. Talk to you all later!

Tofutsies

I am making some progress on my Jaywalkers with the Tofutsies yarn. This yarn was a total impulse buy - my LYS sent out an email to say they had some in - one color only. So I thought, why not try it? The color is a bit crazy - it's really really pink, but maybe I'll let the Rowing Cat have them!

Knitting Knirvana asked how I'm liking the yarn. I like it a lot. I found that it was splitting a little when I did my cast on, but that has stopped now that I'm into the plain knitting. That might be a problem if you use very pointy needles, but my Addi Turbos are fine. The yarn is very very soft to work with - it just glides through my fingers. And that's a nice attribute with the humidity we've been having here over the last few days. The sock itself feels very soft on my foot too. So I will definitely look to use this yarn again. Maybe in a more muted colorway?? :-)

Also, I did read somewhere that you should work this yarn from the outside and not try to pull from the inside of the skein. So I went with that advice and it's working fine.

And, can I tell you a secret? I ordered some yarn from the Loopy Ewe this week!

Favorite Books

I thought I'd share some of my favorite knitting books today. I received my Ravelry invite yesterday (YAY!!) so I've been thinking about what I want to post there and what projects I might like to tackle next. Come say hello on Ravelry - you can find me under Saratogaknitting!

Greetings From Knit Cafe is one of my favorite books. I've already made the yummy soft baby blanket for my Swedish ex-aupair. But I have to admit, this is not a book I would ever have purchased for myself. I would have picked it up in the store and put it back down. However, thanks to Guido at It's a Purl Man podcast, I have it in my library after winning it as a prize! The photography is wonderful and the patterns very approachable. I always feel relaxed after sitting down for 15 minutes perusing this book!


I'll soon be picking up some yarn for this adorable baby sweater. It's knit side to side!




Favorite Socks is my latest purchase. I love socks, I love Interweave Knits, what's not to like? This should keep me in sock patterns for quite some time. And the book is spiral bound so it lies flat!

I think I'll try this pattern first!


Mason Dixon Knitting is just plain fun! I love to pick this up and just read a page or two! I haven't caught the dish cloth bug, but the log cabin concept really appeals to me!

This would be my luxury dream blanket. Someday . . .


Exquisite Little Knits is exactly that. It has lots of small projects, hats, scarves, shawls, etc. that use luxury yarn. This is a great book to pull a pattern from if you have one or two expensive or unique fiber skeins in your stash.

This is a fabulous shawl that is on my list!

Last Minute Knitted Gifts is also a recent purchase. I've taken this out of the library a few times and thought it was time to own it. I can see myself choosing many patterns from this book for Christmas gifts.

Should I take this on?

These will definitely be in my mother-in-law's stocking this year!

One finished sock! The second is rows away from being done. This really gives me a sense of accomplishment after spinning and knitting this yarn! Using the worsted weight for the cuff has worked out very well - no one would ever know!

Oh yes - I also splurged on a little Tofutsies! I think I might tackle Jaywalkers again with this yarn. I don't want to admit defeat on this pattern. I'll do them toe up and really take care to check the size often. That's what happened last time - they turned out to be JUST TOO TIGHT and I had to abandon them. I'm deteremined this time though . . .


Mark is off to Camp Chingachgook today to teach sailing! Does anyone have a camper attending this summer? Let me know!

New Projects

My roving is all plyed, washed, and ready to go. I love the colors although I'll be happy to move on to some of my Spunky Eclectic roving in bright spring colors!

I cast on for a pair of socks with this. I'm knitting on size 3 needles and the fabric is very firm. The Rowing Cat commented that "they look big" but I showed her that the fabric is not stretchy and fits my foot perfectly as is. The question will be if I have enough yarn to complete a pair of socks. I should say that I have enough yarn, it's just that the first half of the roving spun up at worsted weight and the second half spun up at sport weight. I keep reminding myself that it's a learning experience! I may knit this sock to the cuff and then cast on the second and work to the cuff to see if I have enough of the sport weight to complete both. If not, I'll just knit the cuffs in the worsted weight - why not??

I have cast on for some new projects - how can I resist? This is the sweater from the new Interweave Knits. I really like it. It looks so comfortable. The Cascade 220 is working up beautifully and the stitch pattern is easy enough but still interesting. I decided to start on the sleeves first this time so any glitches won't show up in the main body. I've never done a sweater this way before - we'll see!

And just for fun I started this crochet scarf from Interweave Crochet. (Is there a pattern here? Can you guess my favorite magazine??) It's a very interesting pattern, but easy to do once you've completed the first repeat. Besides, the Rowing Cat is very impressed with this!