To knit or not to knit

Chicago Yarn

2006-07-12T22:26:00.000-07:00

While I was in Chicago I found this great little yarn store called "we'll keep you in stitches" at 67 E. Oakes. Betty is the owner of the store and she has been selling yarn for the past 30+ years. She's great. At first she just let me wander. Then she pulled somethings out to tempt me. When I saw this Coventry yarn by Trendsetter. It is delicious. It's pretty and it feels great. So I had to find a pattern. Hmmmmmm. How bout something different? Maybe a purse? Ok, ok, purses are a weakness for me. But in my defense, they are easy, quick and they always fit.

Here's the front pieces. I am now knitting the back and then there is the finishing. Argh, not my favorite thing. But hopefully it will be quick and easy to finish, or you will hear the whining.

I found the pattern in Berroco Bags #251. It's supposed to look somewhat like the picture below. Except the yarn is different, making the bag a bit larger than the one below. But hopefully it will all work out and look very cute when it's done. We'll see. Or I will just have to rip it all out and try something different. I really liked this yarn and think that I bought twice as much as I'll need, so I'll be looking to make some other fab accessory.

It's not a rug

2006-05-22T07:14:00.000-07:00

It's a trivet. And it bears absolutely no resemblence to the pattern in the book. The book is Leigh Radford's One Skein. I really liked the last project in the book, the Labrynth rug. Which obviously this is not. As I was digging through my stash, I found this yarn, which is beautiful and soft and I have a ton of. so I thought, Why not? I'll try it and if it works I will have a rug for Katie's room. Also I had 3 days of training and needed something mindless to knit. No charts, no counting, easy. Since this isn't the recommended yarn I had to go down a couple of needle sizes (actually making the whole rug thing take a lot longer to knit) For the pattern you have to knit for 19 1/2 yards (don't know why it's not just an even 20). So I made it about 3 yards before deciding that having 16 1/2 more yards was not going to make a very interesting looking rug. Anyway, I needed to sew it onto a cotton cord and then sew it together. And sewing, not my most favorite of activities. I decided to make this into a trivet to see if it was going to be a drag to put together. And it wasn't too bad. So I may someday attempt a rug, but I will stick to the pattern and use a variety of yarns that change randomly. But when I do start it, I am anticipating that it will take months since I will have to be working on other projects along with it so I don't totally lose what little mind I have left.

Spring Fling bag 3

2006-05-15T07:04:00.000-07:00

So, I really like knitting this bag, especially since I have gotten a little more creative with the yarn combinations. Not that I need all of these purses, personally. My thought is to hold on to them and possibly participate in Rags next year. Rags is a fundraiser for the YWCA. But if I lose steam and don't produce enough, I know enough charity auctions that I am sure I find nice places to donate them to.

The yarn on this one was a bit over the top (not even admitting to how much it cost me). But when I get an idea, I just have to see it thru to the end. I really like the way it turned out. The next one that I have started is green. I'm really hoping that I don't like it to much so I won't be able to part with it. Oh well, it's a quick 2 day project, I can always make more.

Spring Fling bag 2

2006-05-01T22:46:00.000-07:00

So a friend at work, Tara, asked me if I could knit something for an elementary school auction. What could I make? It needed to be impressive, but it also had to be easy and quick. Ahhh, my Spring Fling bag from the Pursenalities book. The I found all of this fun yarn & I thought I might do a little mixing and matching. I think it turned out great & it was really fun. This gives me a new idea, I'm thinking there will be more Spring Fling bags to come.

Rose bag substitute Spring Bouquet

2006-04-21T22:37:00.000-07:00

So I love the Rose bag, then I heard that Nicky Epstein was coming out with another book, Felted Flowers. That gave me an idea. I could knit the body of the bag Spring Green and then just make a bunch of different flowers out a variety of different yarns and then put them all together like a Spring Boquet.

Rose Bag

2006-04-16T21:53:00.000-07:00

Another bag from Nicky Epstein's book is the Rose Bag. (Don't worry I don't plan to make all 15, but I think I will stop after 8) The example in the book was made out of lavendar and purple. But I thought black and white with some super fancy beads would make a great evening bag. Then I thought to add one red rose for a little excitement. It turned out great and was super fast to knit. even the 30 roses went pretty quick. This was a lot easier to put together than the Wisteria.

Katie's First Scarf

2006-04-06T21:37:00.000-07:00

Katie's a knitter now (yeah)! This was her very first project & it is remarkable. She took to knitting right away and is a very even knitter. Now she has begun project #2, a felted bag. She needed to learn how to purl and she couldn't wait for me, so she made friends at the local knitting store & viola', she's a knitter and a purler. Can't wait to show off project 2 when its all done.

Wisteria bag

2006-03-21T21:27:00.000-08:00

A book that I had to pick up at the Retreat was Nicky Epstein's Fifteen Fabulous Felted Bags. This is the first one that I wanted to knit. The knitting was pretty quick and easy, but the sewing was long and tedious. Actually, some of the knitting got kind of repetative too. But, I really wanted to make this bag & now that it's all done, I absolutely over it!!!!

Shadow Knitting

2006-02-12T21:06:00.000-08:00

I took a wonderful class about shadow knitting from Vivian Hoexbro at the Madrona Fiber Arts Winter Retreat. It was a great class and this was the result. A couple of practice squares magically turned into this cute bag. Hope Katie likes it since it will be her Valentines day present!

When you look at it from straight on, it looks like it is just striped. But if you look down at it, you see the "shadows" appear. Pretty darn cool!

True Confessions

2005-11-10T21:28:00.000-08:00

Forgive me fellow knitters, I have not been knitting as much as I should. It has been a rough start to the school year. I haven't quite gotten back into my knittin' groove, and it's November. This is my shrug, or at least the start of it.

Hopefully, I will get my groove back & I will be able to show off my finished shrug before next July.

Ho, Ho, Ho

2005-08-15T15:44:00.000-07:00

Christmas in August. This is my first attempt at a Christmas Stocking. I used this fabulous pattern by Nancy Lindberg that makes it very easy to design and create your own stocking. The possibilities are unlimited. Of course mine is gianormous! Knitted in Encore yarn it is about 25% bigger than it is supposed to be. So my next go round I am going down 3 sizes in needles and knit it on a 6 instead of a 9. It will be more dense, which I think will work better because this one is very stretchy. I am usually a very tight knitter but when I am carrying yarn and changing colors, I loosen up a lot. But now is the time to get those little Christmas projects started.

Puppy Booties

2005-08-12T16:25:00.000-07:00

Every puppy needs a good pair of booties. Not really, these booties are for "people puppies". Aren't they cute. And pretty quick and easy. Which is my mantra these days. Not for long though, I just got the yarn for a fabulous shrug in the current Interweave magazine.

Anyhow, I got this great puppy pattern from the knit baby Heads & Toes book. I used Cascade 220 on the puppy part and Encore Worsted Weight for the cuffs. Wonder which little people puppy I will have to give these to? Hmmmmmmmm.

Husky Hats

2005-08-08T22:13:00.000-07:00

Aren't they cute!!! These little hats both came from the knit baby Heads & Toes book. I knitted them for a niece and her due in September sibling. Can you tell who Mom and Dad root for during Apple Cup?

The stocking cap is fun to knit, but not fun when it comes to weaving in all of the ends, which there are a bunch of. So I am taking a break from baby hats & moving on. Not back to the sweater, I'm gonna let that chill a bit more. Stay tuned if you want to see what's coming next.

It's the Yarn Harlot!!!!

2005-08-05T17:15:00.000-07:00

In Seattle, of all places. Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, the Yarn Harlot, is on her 4 month book tour (or as she puts it "Yarn Crawl, funded by her publisher"). Her book, At Knits End, is hysterical and speaks to knitters worldwide. It is a tribute to all of our little quirks and ideocincracies that make us appear strange to non-knitters, but make perfect sense to us. She is even more funny in person. What a great, honest sense of humor. She would be a hoot to travel with. I am really looking forward to her next book, Yarn Harlot: The Secret Life of a Knitter, which will be out this fall.

Keep on Knittin'!

Where's Katie?

2005-07-27T23:42:00.000-07:00

Felted hat b4
Originally uploaded by sfarewell.

Katie is modeling a hat from the knit baby Heads & Toes book. This is the 2-3 year old size. Looks a little big. Luckily I still have to throw it into the wash and felt it. I used Cascade 220 yarn. Like the colors? It's for a little husky fan that we know. Hopefully it will fit her better than it fits Katie.

Not Katie's size

2005-07-27T23:36:00.000-07:00

felted hat after
Originally uploaded by sfarewell.

Sorry Katie, this hat is meant for a 2 year old. Amazing how much felting changes a project. It's like magic. I start out with this big floppy (and ugly) thing that looks like a bag. Then into the washing machine and viola' out comes a very cool hat.

Still not a sweater

2005-07-24T22:13:00.000-07:00

red stocking cap
Originally uploaded by sfarewell.

OK, I got really motivated by this knit baby Heads & Toes book. Now that I am being stalked by all of these babies, I thought that knitting "quick" baby projects would be fun (and a nice break from this sweater that takes forever). Of course, "quick" would mean that I am suppose to do more knitting than unknitting. I knitted & unknitted some of these stripes over and over again making this project take up most of my weekend. WARNING: The size on this pattern is waaaaaay off. I made the 0-3 month size which would fit a preschooler nicely. So I had to unknit, yet again, and eliminate the last increase. I would definately reccommend stopping at 80 stitches for an infant. 90 stitches makes a child size & I am just guessing but I bet 100 stitches which the pattern calls 1 year would fit an adult. Let me know if you knit this pattern how yours works out. Now I have it down, so I can make more.

I knitted the 0 to 3 month size out of Tahki Cotton Classic. I have never been a fan of Cotton Classic because it is so danged slippery. I must be evolving into a better knitter, despite my love of making numerous mistakes, because knitting with Cotton Classic, not so bad. Which is lucky because I have plans to make at least 2 more of these stocking caps.

Gotta go, there is another hat in this book calling my name ... wait til you see the cute booties too.

Baby Week

2005-07-22T07:51:00.000-07:00

This past week has been a baby week for sure. Friends expecting, twin cousins to meet and yesterday we visited Miss Maegen Michelle, 6 1/2 months old, sportin' her first tooth and very cranky. Not listening at all to Mom's instructions. So all of this motivated me to pick up a book on baby hats and booties at my Thursday night knitting group. I also got some yarn and started a hat last night but I am not telling for whom. I also decided on some munchkin Christmas gifts, but I am not blabbin' that idea either.

I have been very anti-knitted-baby gifts. Mostly because I am such a slow knitter. I refuse to knit something that takes longer to knit than the amount of time a baby would fit into it. (Grandchildren may totally blow that rule out of the water). So what to do? Since I am plodding along on this green sweater, that will probably never end, I am treating myself to a quick project with every row that I finish. With this concept, I should be done with the sweater around Christmas & have 30 baby hats knitted, well maybe that is an exageration.

Just wanted to give everyone fair warning, if you want a knitted Christmas gift out of me this year, your best shot is to have a baby. Maybe I'll knit Aran Sweaters for everyone on my list next year.

It doesn't look like a sweater.

2005-07-22T07:00:00.000-07:00

wash cloth
Originally uploaded by sfarewell.

Well, it's not. But I needed a break from green mitered squares for a kit quickie. Something brainless that I can finish in an evening. I was inspired by a knitting prodigy named Sarah who knitted her first scarf and wash cloth on our trip to a conference in Yakima.

I found some great Cotton Twist multi pastel yarn and viola' - wash cloth. I know, not as impressive as a sweater, but it works. Now back to the sweater, maybe.

A good read!

2005-07-09T15:54:00.000-07:00

Debbie Macomber Novels
Originally uploaded by sfarewell.

No more quickie knitting projects for me any time soon. I'm back to working on my green sweater and am committed to make some major progress on it. So I thought I would share some knitting books that I have really enjoyed. Both are quick, entertaining summer reads.

I thought they were very fun because they are both set in Seattle and I get a kick out of reading the descriptions of places that I know. They are set around a ficticious yarn store & remind me a bit of every yarn store that I have been to around Puget Sound. The characters start out in a knitting class and you follow the changes in their lives. Since knitting is a life altering experience, don't I know it.

The author, Debbie Macomber, is a local and uses quotes in her books by some local knitters. I am looking forward to meeting her next Saturday at a book signing that she is doing in Gig Harbor at the Yarn Garden.

Another Felted bag???

2005-07-06T23:43:00.000-07:00

green felted bag b4
Originally uploaded by sfarewell.

Ok, Ok, I am done with felted bags for a while, I promise. I had this yarn just sitting in my closet waiting for me to get around with it. In my pursuit of being a more efficient continental knitter, I decided that another felted bag would do the trick and perfect my skills. And it was quick & fun. And I am avoiding my mitered square sweater that has been languishing in my closet for more than a month without any activity whatsoever. Oh well. Next week is a conference in Yakima, the Palm Springs of Washington, or so the sign says. I will be taking my sweater to knit on and nothing else, I promise. So hopefully there will be lots of progress by the end of the week. My goal is to get the back completed and if I do I will post a picture to prove it.

Fast & Felted

2005-07-06T23:36:00.000-07:00

green felted bag after
Originally uploaded by sfarewell.

A quick bag to knit is the "Pris"tine Shoulder Bag. I knitted this in a few hours over 2 evenings. The Burly Spun yarn that I used is very fast to knit with and see great results. I love how this felts up after only one wash in my front loading machine. It's easy but very impressive, at least to people who don't knit.

Vintage Bubble Bag

2005-07-02T22:49:00.000-07:00

bubble bag before
Originally uploaded by sfarewell.

This looks like a very tacky toilet seat cover to me. Hopefully, after I send it through the wash to felt it, it will look like a purse. This bag took less than a week for me to knit & I knit the whole thing continental style, carrying the yarn in my left hand. I must admit that I felt like a total uncoordinated mess throughout the process. Not a master of continental knitting yet, but I'll keep practicing.

The pattern for this purse is from the book Pursenalities by Eva Wiechmann. For yarn, I used 3 skeins of Cascade 220 and 2 skeins of Smash.

Finished Bag

2005-07-02T21:45:00.000-07:00

Finished Bag
Originally uploaded by sfarewell.

Ta Da! Knitted, felted, & now its a purse!!! All that is left is to find 3 buttons to top it off! Oh, did I mention that I made my first knitted button holes? Well I did & they even ended up in the right place.

This was a very fun project and the Pursenalities book has a lot more cool purses left to knit. Of course, this book is now in the care of Jewel. Jewel is an ol' bud who is new to knitting. After 2 scarves, this would be project # 3 for her. She is using the same Cascade 220, but she chose a very different accent yarn. When hers is complete I will post a picture of it next to this one to show the contrast.

Doll bag delivered!!!

2005-06-28T07:58:00.000-07:00

Eva & doll bag
Originally uploaded by sfarewell.

This is why I like to knit. My friends are so excited when they get a handknit gift. This is my friend Eva and she is turning 4 today. I'm guessing that she won't get another doll bag just like this today. I hope that she enjoys dragging this around with her & this doll becomes a good friend. I have never given a gift that I have been more proud of. Almost motivates me to get working on some Christmas gift. Almost.

Back to working on my "Spring Fling" purse. I know it's summer so I am running a little bit behind. This is the project that I am forcing myself to knit continental style. I wish that I was a quick continental knitter & I thought a felted project would be the way to practice so all of my uneveness will disappear when the bag is felted.

A Big Boo Boo

2005-06-27T10:31:00.000-07:00

basket before
Originally uploaded by sfarewell.

Believe it or not this was supposed to be another "Pris"tine Shoulder Bag. But I had the great idea that I wanted to make it bigger. So with my great mathmatical mind I made all of the enlargement adjustments in my head and began to knit. When I got to the flap I realized my adjustments were a bit off ... Ok, waaaaay off. So my choices were to rip it out & start over, throw it out & pretend it never happened, or just put it in the closet & ignore it. Being the advanced knitter that I am, I went for the last option.

Boo Boo Saved

2005-06-27T10:30:00.000-07:00

basket after
Originally uploaded by sfarewell.

This weekend I pulled it back out, ripped out the partially done flap, bound off all of my stitches and threw it into the washing machine. Viola', a basket. Not a basket pattern that I could sell to Interweave, but a reclimation project. Now I just need to figure out where to put it and what to put in it. Maybe I should just plop it on the floor next to the front door, fill it with dog toys and announce officially that this was the project that went to the dogs!

Multidirectional Scarf

2005-06-25T22:17:00.000-07:00

farewell scarf complete
Originally uploaded by sfarewell.

Yeah, it's all done. And it feels great to wear. Only, I don't think I'll be wearing it too much in July. The Karen Baumer's Multidirectional Scarf pattern is free and can be found online. I added a corkscrew fringe that I found in Hip to Crochet by Judith L. Swartz. It was very easy to knit even though most people are impressed what a "complicated" project I've knitted. The yarn is custom hand dyed, hand spun from Kaleidoscope Dyeworks. This yarn is created by Roxi Willoughby in Tacoma and is wonderful to work with while really lending itself well to this project.

A yarn to call my own!

2005-06-25T00:33:00.000-07:00

farewell scarf
Originally uploaded by sfarewell.

Literally, this is MY very own yarn. Dyed for me, spun for me, named for me. The Farewell yarn. My yarn dealer, mentor and friend, Roxi is adding a new dimension to her business, Kaleidoscope Dyeworks. She is now creating custom made yarn. This one she made for me, me, me!!! I just love all of those luscious greens & it feels so good to knit with. She also sent me the link to this free pattern online. And it is the first project that I did all on my own without adult supervision. Usually I start a project right at Roxi's table with a lot of , "OK, tell me how to do this." And she is very patient with me. But it is her fault that I am a knitter. She missed her chance back in February when I said that knitting was too hard and I could never, ever learn. She should have just nodded and said, "Yup, you're right, bye now." But nope, she had to be helpful and demonstrate what a superior teacher she is. And all she has to show for it is me, the knittin leech, I can just suck the yarn right out of a person. So I am knittin just as fast as I can, before she wises up & kicks me to the curb.

Ain't she sweet!

2005-06-25T00:22:00.000-07:00

doll bag
Originally uploaded by sfarewell.

I found this pattern in Folk Bags by Judith Square. The pattern suggests that you knit with wool, but since my plans are to give this to a 4 year old, I used Plymouth Encore, so she would be washable. This little doll bag took me a whole lot longer than I expected. The dress went really quick & that was the part that I was worried about. I really like knitting patterns. So I expected that the rest, just little bits, would go lickity split. Not so fast. But now that it's done, I love it & I am softening about doing another, since I have enough leftover yarn from this project to make 6 more at least. Just not gonna do the next one anytime soon. Got some yarn & projects waiting in my closet already just dying to be knitted & I guess I am the one to do them.

it's growing

2005-06-24T08:52:00.000-07:00

it's growing
Originally uploaded by sfarewell.

20 down, only 52 to go and the back will be complete. I will post a picture of the completed back. It may be a while since I have started a new project, a doll purse for a 4 yr old birthday party in June. So that makes me an official knitter, 2 projects going at once. And if this sweater sits for a while and becomes a real UFO, Un Finished Object, I will have joined the ranks of an experienced knitter.

Will the real sweater #2 please stand up?

2005-06-24T08:47:00.000-07:00

the new & improved sweater #2
Originally uploaded by sfarewell.

So this is the very beginnings of the sweater that I chose after the first mitered square sweater disaster. I really like doing mitered squares. I better because this sweater has 69 squares on the front and 72 on the back. I found the pattern in Module Magic and I am knitting out of svale yarn (cotton, viscose & silk) colors sage & spring green. I will keep all posted on it's progress

Sweater # 2

2005-06-24T08:41:00.000-07:00

Sweater # 2
Originally uploaded by sfarewell.

And this is all that you will ever see of it. Roxi and I fell in love with the same pattern. It had these mitered squares around the bottom edge of the body and sleeves. I really liked this yarn because it was out of Cascade Sierra Quatro, the same cotton yarn that I knitted the shell. The cool thing was that I choose the 4 colors for this sweater that made up the the one strand of yarn for the shell. Luckily, I had only knitted this much when Roxi found a fatal flaw in the pattern (she had knitted halfway up the back of the sweater). Cascade Yarns,the company who made the pattern also manufactured the yarn and was nice enough to take everything back and refund all of our money. The only thing that we didn't get back was the time that we had invested. It will be a while before we ever trust a Cascade pattern again. But I did realize that I liked doing mitered squares.

Something for Moi

2005-06-24T08:34:00.000-07:00

1st sweater
Originally uploaded by sfarewell.

Up until now, I have given everything that I have knitted away. This one's for me. My very first sweater. Ok, it's really just a shell, and there are no sleeves, so techinically it's not really a sweater. But it's mine, so I'm calling it a sweater. I found that pattern in a Manos Del Urguay booklet "Cotton Collection 1". I knitted it with Cascade Yarns Sierra Quatro color # 83. I really liked the 4 colors that they put together for this yarn. Could it have been the 2 shades of green in the yarn??? Mmmmmmm. Could be. Even though this project was intimitdating to start - Hello! This is a sweater & I'm not ready for this yet, merely 2 months into my knitting career! - it was easy and went fairly quickly. It knitted into a thicker fabric than I thought it would be, but hey, I live in the northwest, how often can a girl wear flimsy?

I love this hat!

2005-06-23T23:37:00.000-07:00

noro hat
Originally uploaded by sfarewell.

Now this was fun! I whipped this bad boy out in one day! I knitted most of it in a cold ice rink during a hockey game. I wish that I had gotten the knitting bug when Katie was playing hockey. That would have been 10 years of knitting for countless hours every week. Of course, we wouldn't have been able to afford hockey and knitting. So I would have been a frustrated knitter, knitting hockey blankets and scarves out of the team colors with Red Heart yarn on a pair of sad aluminum needles. Ick, now is that a pathetic picture or what????

I do love this hat. The pattern is soooo easy it's almost sinful. It is knitted with one skein of Noro yarn & when the skein runs out, that hat is finished. And, of course, it looks particularly cute on Katie.

first socks

2005-06-23T23:21:00.000-07:00

first socks
Originally uploaded by sfarewell.

When the felted bag was all done, I asked Roxi, what should I make next. My goal was to be a good, well rounded knitter. I wanted to develop my skills so that I eventually I could knit anything. So Roxi said socks. My response was No Way, I'm not ready, socks are too hard, etc. Roxi is not a good listener so here are my first pair of socks. I used Fixation sock yarn & it's a Roxi pattern, so it was free with the yarn.

Some people love socks. This project was not a love affair. I did learn alot. Cuffs aren't tight enough for my taste. And I did the Kitchner stitch, twice. Once with a lot of adult supervision & once all by my lonesome, with detailed written instructions. If I can ever whip out a Kitchner stitch from memory, that will be a major accomplishment!

felted bag

2005-06-23T23:17:00.000-07:00

felted bag
Originally uploaded by sfarewell.

After my scarf run, this was my felted bag was my first project. Errol, another new knitter, was knitting this bag the first day I came into the yarn shop. As I learned the challenging garter stitch, he completed knitting this bag and felted it. How cool! I thought that Katie would love this, so I decided that I needed to make one. The pattern is the "Pris"tine Shoulder Bag. I used Burly Spun wool. It was so quick and fun to knit that it surprised me. It felted up great and made a fun Easter basket for my daughter. I encourage all new knitters to do a felted project. The beauty of felting is that knitting with bulky yarn and big needle goes fast & any new knitter uneven tension disappears during the felting process

orange scarf

2005-06-23T23:13:00.000-07:00

orange scarf
Originally uploaded by sfarewell.

I did several scarves in the beginning. All of which I gave away. I gave this one away too but it made it back from college for the summer so I was able to take a picture of it.

I learned that working with this fuzzy yarn covers a multitude of uneven stitches that are inevitable during the learning process. The color changes made this more fun to knit & also hides food stains well.

In the beginning ...

2005-06-23T23:01:00.000-07:00

first scarf
Originally uploaded by sfarewell.

was a scarf and the scarf was good. Actually it was pretty sad. But I sent it off to Katie with instructions that if she didn't like it, she should give it to a homeless person. She said that she loved it and I was tickled that she wanted to keep it.