Summer Knitting Obsession

Queensland Pima Lino

More Pima Lino, in a different colorway

The Mackinac Tank, from the summer edition of Knit Scene

Layout, just started in the Pima Lino (pattern here)

Plain and Simple pullover, 2/3 done (pattern here)

Usually my knitting tapers off in the summer.  But as our summer road-tripping has increased, as well as my work related travel on long airline rides, I have had a need to knit. But I couldn't knit in wool!  Too hot for car rides!  So my "Plain and Simple Pullover" has been tabled until fall, and I knitted up a sexy-back tank from the summer edition of Knit Scene in Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool.  I think every woman over 30 should have a sexy-back tank of some sort.  In fact, I may knit another in a different pattern (with a lace panel in back).  This is my second Silky Wool project, and I have to say I love the yarn!  Light enough for summer, but warm enough for summer evenings in Idaho.  

The Pimo Lino though--I have to say I am in love. I bought two grab bags of "Lovely Linen" from The Yarn Underground, my LYS, and then immediately had to buy more skeins to get sweater, (or at least tank), quantities.  Well, extra skeins and a third grab bag.  Because that's how obsessed I was.  But it's knitting up quick!  If I hurry, I may be able to wear it on vacation this summer!

In other news, we did about seven loads of laundry today.  After a week with no washing machine, the laundry was starting to get restless.  

Easter Weekend

Happy, happy Easter weekend.  We've been blessed by beautiful spring weather...way better than we usually get for Easter, especially when it's early in the year.  So today we spent outdoors:  gardening, riding bikes, visiting neighbors, decorating our eggs.  So much fun.  I worked in my perennial bed, trying to get it under control.  I'm working in sections, and it's looking so much better.  Then I cleaned my garden shed.  Perfect for working now!

Oh happy weekend!  I love it when our little family gets to be outside so much!  Even though we were a little low energy after a week with some sickness and rough nights, we  still had such a nice day.  I'm looking forward to tomorrow!

My native honeysuckle, budding!

Happy Bulbs!

We did a little excavating in the garden!

Rhubarb!  Transplanted!

Beautiful cutwork from my grandmother.

Eggs!

Knit eggs!

Winter Knitting

It's winter, and I'm on vacation, so I've been knitting non-stop!  I've been planning projects and going through my stash and generally having withdrawal symptoms if I'm away from my needles for too long.  I bought a new book with the LYS gift certificates I received for Christmas...Coastal Knits.  I am in love...I want to make so many of the patterns.  I also bought yarn for a new sweater for me, Plain and Simple Pullover.  I'm going to knit it in a beautiful grey yarn from Palouse Yarn Company.  But for now, I'm focusing on finishing Christmas presents (yes, still!) and knitting for the plethora of babies expected in 2013!

Preschooler Sweater #1

Preschooler Sweater #2 (Matches Mama's!)

Inca Hat (From Itty-Bitty Knits)

The cloche I knit for myself on the way home from Bend!

 

Knitting Update

Unlike most years, my knitting did not taper off this summer.  I'm on my fourth sweater for myself, plus I've finished two sweaters for friends' babies, and have started one for my son.  

So first, the sweaters for me...

I made two short-sleeved sweaters this year.  Haven't done any short-sleeved sweaters before, but they knit up super quick and I think I'm in love.

I knit this sweater (Mud Season) in Cascade 220.  It's perfect for those fall and spring days when it's still actually pretty chilly around here! My only complaint is that I wish I had shaped a little more around the waist.  

Ok, this sweater (Rusted Root) has to be about my absolute favorite ever. I did shape at the waist, I love the yarn (Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool) and the leaf pattern is awesome!  Perhaps this would have been better knitted in green but I had just done a green sweater and wanted some purple!!

This sweater (Dimple V-Neck) took me over a year to finish because I didn't like the original neckline (with no border).  The neckline just hung open a little too much without some support, so I added the border.  I wish I had knitted in cotton, as it's not really a summer sweater, (my original intention), knitted in wool as it is.  I also think the sleeves are too wide, but I'm just going to take them in with an additional seam.  Wide sleeves are a chronic problem for me!   

For the babies, I knit the Tiddlywinks Baby Set.  One baby, a girl, got the t-shirt, while a little boy got the hoodie.  Which was no longer a hoodie after I got through with it, mainly because I was tired of knitting a sweater on size 2 needles.  Whose idea was that anyway? 

But I do love, love, love the pattern, and the sweaters both turned out great!  I added a zipper instead of hooks and eyes for the cardi because who wants to fuss with hooks and eyes on a wee babe?

 And now it's fall, so the knitting can really ramp up!!  Yeah!!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Some of us in this house are part Irish and thus must adhere to certain St. Patrick's Day traditions.  When I was a kid my father used to line up and inspect my brother and I to make sure we were wearing green.  Dad wore this awful green cardigan that my grandmother had given him (apparently my grandmother bought my mom one too, but she didn't wear it).  When I was in my early teens I bought a green aran sweater for him and threw out the old one.  I felt our family was much more respectable after that.

On my son's first St. Patrick's Day, he wore a green sweater I knit for him.  He has long since outgrown it, but it is still probably my favorite of the (many) sweaters I've made for him.  It looks blue-green in this picture, but it's definitely green.

Today I'm wearing a sweater I knit for myself in just over a month!  Now if I could only get some of my other UFO's done!

One of the best parts of today was having a couple of hours to myself when my husband took my son hiking on Moscow Mountain.  I went out, bought a Guinness, came home, and drank it while knitting and watching the basketball tournament.  And people wonder what there could possibly be to enjoy about this little March holiday!!

Rainy Days Are Knitting Days

Apparently if you walked into the Yarn Underground today and said "Rainy days are knitting days" you received 30% off bulky yarns.  I showed some amazing restraint by not going (although truth be told, the graupel coming down sideways was also a bit of a deterrent)!

Mourning the loss of the warm weather from yesterday, I spent some time today knitting and crafting.  I worked on my St. Patrick's Day garland.  I finished cutting out the shamrocks and sprayed them with stiffener. 

I'm also getting MUCH closer to finishing a long overdue baby gift!  I have plans to modify the original pattern a smidge.  I'm going to omit the hood and I'm planning on either doing a zipper or a button row in place of the hook and eyes. I just can't imagine trying to close a hook and eye on a squirmy boy!

Knitting Weather

To say I am disappointed with the weather this year is a bit of an understatement.  After a promising Thanksgiving weekend with lots of snow, we have had nothing in the way of precipitation.  It doesn't bode well for the water year, and it doesn't bode well for our frame of mind!

But, given that we have limited options for playing in the absence of snow, my knitting needles have been busy!  I had a yarn-centric holiday, with visits to three different local yarn shops:  Paradise Fibers, Little Knits, and of course my home town favorite, The Yarn Underground. 

The result of these pilgrimages is that my stash has increased in volume, with some really gorgeous yarn! 

I have no idea what I'm going to do with these two skeins of Araucania Lenga, a cotton blend, but I am thinking a nice scarf or hat.  It was on sale at Paradise Fibers and I couldn't resist.  Paradise Fibers has grown a lot since it existed in the basement of my friend Kate!  I was overwhelmed with the selection of both yarns and notions.  The real jaw dropper though was the $70 hank of bison yarn!  I was really interested in it, as my grandfather who just passed away loved bison, but I didn't know what I would use it for and any project I could think of would require two skeins at least!

I am so in love with this Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool that was a Christmas present, and purchased at Little Knits!  I have in mind making this sweater with it!   

Here is the Christmas present from my husband.  I have been picking up and putting down this yarn every time I go into the Yarn Underground and I finally have a project for it!  It's Joseph Galler Prime Alpaca and I'm going to make this cardigan, as soon as I finish my two current projects.  


I also just finished a plethora of Christmas gifts for others:  four hats in all!  The name of this hat is "Foliage" and was in the Fall 2007 issue of Knitty.

Check out the detail of the pattern!  It was fun to knit and not too challenging, although I made several mistakes (can you spot any)??

I also made the Twisted Reversible Hat by Dorothy Jane for a friend of mine using locally spun yarn (Feline Fibers) purchased at the Yarn Underground.  I like it so much I think I'll make one for myself at some future date! 

I made the Girls Lacy Sun Hat for a toddler friend of mine.   It turned out well, despite several do-overs. 

So what am I knitting now?  I am trying to finish up a baby gift.  The baby is already here, but that's how I roll--never knit a newborn size!  I'm also making this sweater for myself and love a quick knit on bulky yarn!!

Short Days

The days now are painfully short.  Maybe not Alaska short, but short nevertheless.  Short enough that I want to sleep all the time.  Then I kick myself for any moments slept during the day because it reduced my exposure to daylight by a non-insignificant amount.  Fortunately I live with a toddler that prevents that from happening very often.  So in the meantime, I've been trying to focus my energy on making the house cozy and bright, to the extent that's even possible.  To that effect, I bought paper white bulbs at the Winter Market on Saturday and began to force them using any receptacles I could find.  It's hard to take pictures, even in the middle of the day due to the low light.  Too dark without the flash, too glaring with it.  But I'm looking forward to floral loveliness in a few weeks!

I've also been knitting like there's no tomorrow--winter always puts me in this mood.  Plus, I am trying to make a lot of Christmas gifts this year.  I've been working on the hat below for about a week, and it feels like I've ripped out more stitches than I've put in.  The pattern is just knit two, purl two on an uneven number of stitches, but if I'm not paying attention (or the light is too bad and I can't see), I tend to loose track of what I'm supposed to be doing next and the pattern gets wonky. 

I'm also making yoga eyebags as gifts.  I'll take more pictures when they're done, but here's what the outside will look like.  I'm going to stuff them with flax seed and lavender from my garden.  These little beauts sell for $15 online...hmmm.   

Well, that's all for now.  I think I'm going to go knit.  Or sleep.

On My Needles...

The weather this past week has been unruly at best, downright discouraging at worst.  Other than on the first of the month, it has been windy and cold with intermittent bouts of rain, sleet, or grapple.  This weather precludes bike rides, gardening, and most trips to the park (walks around the neighborhood are still fine).   We managed to get in a kite flying and soccer session on Sunday, which was excellent, although our fingers were just about frozen by the time we came in.  Needless to say, we are ready for warmer weather.

However, the cold weather has been good for one thing:  knitting.  I'm working on two projects right now (not counting the project that has stalled out for months).  The first one is a long-promised scarf for a friend.  I'm knitting it with vintage mohair from the 60s (cookie monster blue, of all colors!) and recycled sari yarn I recently purchased at the Yarn Underground.  The mohair has an interesting history.  My grandmother, who volunteers for the Kingman County Historical Society in Kansas, was helping to sort through the estate of a woman named Sadie Journey who had volunteered countless hours and donated many items to the Kingman County Museum.  Grandma was deciding which items should go the museum, and which should be given away to individuals who could use them or to charity.  She ran across about 20 balls of mohair, in a variety of colors.   I had just started knitting, and she sent the balls to me to encourage me in my new hobby.  Nine of the balls were cookie monster blue.  It took me a while to decide what to do with yarn that has such...personality...but eventually I decided to make scarves and weave in a variegated ribbon of color to create an accent.  They've turned out surprising well, kind of eclectic and charismatic.

 The other item I am knitting is a summer sweater for me--the Dimple V-Neck sweater designed by Lucinda Snyder.  The pattern is in the book Pure Knits by Yahaira Ferreira.  I love her original design in white, but I wanted something with a little more color.  I chose to use Nature Spun sport in Mango and French Clay.  The latter color truly does remind me of the roof tiles used in the southern French city, Toulouse, where I once spent part of a summer.  I know that once the weather warms up, I will be less inclined to knit, so I'm trying to finish the sweater quickly! 

  

The Yarn Underground

I am a knitter.  Sometimes I knit more, sometimes I knit less.  But my number one hobby is knitting.  It is the one thing (besides reading, I suppose) that I can do almost anywhere.  I've carried my knitting needles into the backcountry.   I've knit while sitting next to a river and while cooling my feet in an alpine lake.  I've knit in tents, hotel rooms, airplanes, cars, backyards, living rooms, coffee shops, and occasionally through an otherwise painful and/or boring meeting.  I've knit to get through times of great grief and times of great joy.  I knit.


So it is with great anticipation I welcomed the opening of Moscow's newest yarn shop, The Yarn Underground.  A tiny shop located in the alley off of 3rd Street between Main and Washington (across from the Wine Company), they have been open since November 2010.  Their bread-and-butter line of yarn is Cascade, and they have a good selection of colors in Cascade 220 and 128.  They are offering a broad range of classes (upcoming classes include intarsia on March 19, raglan sweater construction on March 20, and needle felting on March 27. Or, you could just come by for open knitting on Sunday afternoons (1-4 pm) and Wednesday evenings (4:30-7:00 pm).  Other unique features of this store are its Needle Exchange program where knitters can bring in their gently-used needles for store credit or buy a set of discounted needles that someone else has brought in.  The Yarn Underground also features the de-stash bin with random skeins of consignment yarn at deeply discounted prices.


One area where the Yarn Underground is really excelling, however, is its supply of locally-made (Northwest) yarn.  Everyone month it seems they have a new line.  This lovely yarn is made by a good friend of mine, Kate Painter, and her hard working sheep. The yarn is called Kate's Natural Rambouillet Yarn.

Some of the notions sold at the Yarn Underground are also handmade.  I received a notsepinne in my Christmas stocking, and check out these handmade darning eggs:

 

The Done Roving Yarn (Frolicking Feet sock yarn, 480 yards Superwash wool) is not local but is so beautiful I had to take a picture.

 

The Yarn Underground also stocks Kidding Ewe by Done Roving Yarn.  Kidding Yew is a worsted weight mohair/wool blend in 300 yard skeins.  

The Himalaya Yarn is so beautiful, made of wool and recycled silk.  I think I have to come up with something to make from it!

I did buy this recycled Sari yarn, to use along with mohair in a scarf for a friend.

The Yarn Underground also has a wonderful selection of fiber, much of it local as well.  It could almost turn someone into a spinner (actually I think it has, in a couple cases)!