I went to a knit night at Purlescence Yarns in Sunnyvale and learned they carried Collinette Cadenza. While Kristi and Cookie ooeh and ahhed over the Jitterbug, I fell in love with this:
It's the Castagna colorway. However, I look horrible in muddy colors, and as much as I loved that mossy green colorway, I instead bought this:
I now understand the allure of sockyarn. Every colorway looks good on your feet :)
another warshcloth.
And in other news, I have been knitting my favorite thing...hats. This time for the Soaring Eagles Project.
I find that hats don't really photograph well flat.
So I tried to take one on a model, but he wasn't really feeling the love for the papparazzi.
And that Fair Isle sweater? Not me. The Gap, $12. A knitter's conflict - practicality versus sentiment.
to finishing this Child Placket Neck Sweater from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. However, it says to kitchener graft the arms. Ummm, would it be cheating if I used 3 needle bind off?
The one modification that I made to the pattern was to have a polo collar.
It's Caron Simply soft (again it's machine washable) which will probably be able to withstand more wear and tear than the Rowan All Seasons Cotton for the last sweater I made for Caleb.
I wanted to make an 18 mo. old size and since Caron is a worsted weight that knits up at 18 instead of 20, I cast on for the smallest size of 99 stitches, and then went with the length instructions for 1-2 year sizing.
I think the length, despite me adding an extra inch is still not as long as I like.
But I am going to attempt to knit a pair of socks for a Christmas gift for my friend Laura. I picked out the "Petroglyph" colorway from Lisa Souza Sock! I picked out the Mulberry for my friend Kevin and the red for me. Not sure if I will manage even 1 pair by Christmas, but it never hurts to set goals, right?
So after my first foray in the babygirl shrug, I decided not to use Classic Elite Premiere Cotton Tencel for a 2nd one (oh, did I mention that 3 girls were born within a week of my son so I'm still knitting to keep up with the gifts?!) because of two things. One, too much stretch with the blocking and two, not machine washable.
The next one I made was with Caron Simply Soft, doubled and the trims were with one strand of Caron and one strand of Cascade Cherub. I love the jewel tones and it was perfect for my friend's daughter, baby Sage:
There was just enough yarn left for a little matching hat too.
And here's a better shot of the ribbing:
Can I just say that even though it was doubled and knit on size 10 needles, it wasn't any faster to knit? I found it required just as much effort to knit fewer rows/stitches of the double as it did to knit the smaller stitches of Pima/Tencel that just knit up speedily on my Addi Turbos.
is that you have to be a good photographer (or have good access to one.) I recently knit something that I was so proud of. First of all, I wrote the pattern and second of all, I used yarn from the stash. Woo! However, I couldn't get a photo of it to save my life.
It's a shrug for a baby girl. Here's the best shot I managed:
There it is, all blocked and ready to go in the gift bag to my friend's daughter.
The yarn is Classic Elite Premiere Pima Tencel. It's a lovely yarn, but it does shed. Thus the halo in this crappy photo:
The yarn is extremely soft and feels remarkably like Knitpicks Shine Worsted, but knits about 21 st., is actually a bit thinner.
To distract you from the crummy body shot, here are the sleeves (before blocking):
Yes, my first use of the Fibonacci sequence.
I have wanted to buy silk yarn for ages. I have wanted to buy cashmere yarn for ages. I have just never gotten around to it and budgeted for it properly. I have worked like a dog at the office lately and to reward myself (stupid, I know since I'm salaried and don't actually have more disposable income), I bought some Fleece Artist Handmaiden yarn. When it arrives, I will take all the yarn pr0n photos to share.
I also ordered some Hipknits yarn. I'm so excited. It's also in a color family that I like but have never really purchased yarn in. I mean, I love orange, but this is peach. But doesn't it look yummy?
This is the aran silk in "Zing" and I really could not resist it. I love the sheen of silk yarn and I was so entranced by this sunny cheery shade. Can you tell I'm not looking forward to winter?
Also, cashmere laceweight in Peach: The website didn't have a good photo, but I suspect it will be lovely in person and any leftovers of the silk might make a nice trim to the cashmere project.
I'm thinking that I will double up the laceweight and make a lovely capsleeve top with it, with a jewel neck.
of the Socks That Rock from Blue Moon Fiber Arts. Yes, the new lovely yarn store by my house (Purlescence) does carry the magical mystical Seduction. The merino/tencel blend yarn has such a gorgeous sheen. Fantastico. I bought the "brick" which I l
oved (it's red, what can I say?) and will probably make a special request to order some Ruby as well. The brick has none of that orange/brown undertone that you would expect. It's almost got pink/coral undertones. It's so soft. I'm thinking of a soft bias scarf to get that yummy feel against my face.
The other colorway is Carbon Dating. I tend to wear dark shoes, black or brown so this colorway would go great with either.
The first time I knit with it, I thought it was the strangest thing. The lycra was rather disconcerting. However, I think it is one of the best yarns for knitting children's hats and booties since they stretch and you know, kids grow so dern fast. It's a good way to get more wear out of the handknits for babies!
The most recent hat I have knit from Cascade Fixation:
I liked the Cascade Fixation Bulky as well, and knit the vests for the twins in a size 10.5 needle. I had to keep frogging and going up a size for the bulky and probably would have been fine with a 13 even!
I snapped a photo. I was not so good about posting it. Here it is:
She was wildly entertaining, and had a surprisingly husky voice for such a diminutive person.
I was thrilled. She was in town on a Sunday and 5 minutes away in Los Altos. What sheer luck!
The two years prior when she had come to Northern California, it was like a 1.5 hr drive during a work day and in bad weather. (I'm a Californian, our sense of "bad weather" is not really the same as say a Minnesotan's sense.)
Alas, I did not get to stay for the signing at Full Thread Ahead as I had already cashed in all my chips to get DH to stay home with a teething toddler. Hollis is a really an organizational wizard and all the crew were there... (Lu and Freecia, and many many more).