Sunday, March 18, 2012

Can't Say I'm Bored With My Projects

As I mentioned in a previous post recently, I've had the "ooo! shiny!" mentality.  Maybe it's Spring Fever.  I've made progress on most items.  Here's a picture of my Dragonfly Wings Shawl by Boo Knits, and a close up of the beading in it. 











The third picture is of the shawl and my Kandahar sock.  As I was knitting on the sock, I realized the colors in that yarn were very similar to the colors in my shawl yarn.  I can wear them together!


The next picture is of the Cashmere Lace Scarf progress.  According to the pattern, there should be 25 repeats of the 16 row pattern.  Since I tend to knit looser, I think I will end up with 24 repeats instead.  It's a nice pattern and not hard to knit.


The final yarn picture is some Enchanted Knoll Superwash I've had in the stash for a few years.  I plan to take it with me on the retreat and start a pair of Plain Vanilla socks with it. 


Here's a picture of the FatCatKnits "Tapestry" fiber I'm spinning.  The first four ounces is finished and about an ounce of the second four is done. Today found me sitting on the deck spinning on this for about an hour.   I hope to get it finished and plied by next weekend.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Currents

Listening - the hum of the computer and animal snores

Eating - nothing right now

Drinking - French Vanilla Ice coffee

Wearing - Sweatpants, t-shirt, and leopard slippers

Reading - not anything except a couple of knitting patterns

Weather - dark and cool right now. It's 11:45 p.m.

Knitting - cashmere scarf, a pair of socks, a beaded shawl and the darn sweater

Wanting - to finish that darn sweater

Needing - to take my meds and call it an early night

Enjoying - feeling better after having a cold

Looking Forward - sitting on the deck now the nice weather is here

Wondering - which projects to take on the knitting retreat in a couple weeks

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Knitted Wire Bracelets,Winning a Prize, Distractions

This past Thursday was my monthly knit guild meeting, and we had a guest instructor.  Donna from The Beads and More shop in Cranston, RI taught us how to knit with wire and beads.  It was a bit fiddly at first and had a bit of a learning curve involved for me.  I was working my stitches a bit too tight. This is ironic since I'm usually a loose knitter.  My resulting bracelet is in very pretty shades of blue with hints of silver beads and silver wire.  Once I loosened up my stitches, it was a fun to do. 

There hasn't been any progress on my Dragonfly Wings Shawl lately.  I've been busy with the Kandahar socks and finished the first one.  The ribbing and a few rows of the leg is done on the second one as well.

Yesterday, Friday, was the monthly knit and tell at Eneri Knits in Exeter, RI. Irene always has door prizes during this event.  I won a lovely skein of Malabrigo Lace in a pretty pink shade called "Molly".

I decided to bring my socks and the stuff for my cashmere scarf to work on. I forgot the needles for the scarf so I was going to buy another size 4. When I knit the first 2 rows I knew it was too loose, so I'm knitting it on a size 3. At least I didn't waste the money on needles I wouldn't be able to use.  I had a size 3 16-inch circular needle at home and they are working perfectly.

Tomorrow, Sunday, is Happy Hands.  I'll be bringing my Sonata wheel.  The second 5 ounces of Shetland will accompany me so I can ply it using the Jumbo Flyer, resulting in a nice, big skein.  I'm also bringing the current bobbin on my Minstrel, which has some FatCatKnits Falkland in "Tapestry" in progress.  This is gorgeous stuff.  I think it will be mitts and a hat for next winter.  My knitting bag with the three projects might get tossed in as well. 

I've got the "ooo!shiny!" mentality lately.  Otherwise known as easily distracted from one project to another.  An example of this would be the scarf.  It wasn't suppose to be cast on until I finished the Dragonfly Wings Shawl and my never ending sweater.  Oh well. At least I didn't cast on the other 4 items screaming at me for attention right now.