Yarn!

Yeah, I know.  Original title, huh?  A knitting blog about yarn.  heh.  ;o)

 

I just placed an order at Blue Moon Fiber Arts...whee!  I had SUCH a hard time deciding what colors to get.  I love so many of them!  Some are not "me" but so many are that it was nearly impossible making a decision.  Especially since I am not a very decisive person!  I got three skeins, two just for some fun socks and one for something else.  I can't wait to see them in person! 

 

See, I know I mentioned starting that Print O' The Wave Stole, and I will soon, I promise, but I'm actually still waiting for the needles I ordered.  Plus, I have this other reasonably quick project in mind that I want to start as soon as I get the yarn because it's going to be a functional item for a big trip we have coming up in July.  I'm making a purse!  See, for travel (and many other times as well) I really like the style of purse where it is a smallish, flat bag that has a long enough strap you can put it across your body/over your head so that your hands are free.  This is of course ideal for a trip.  I have a small bag like this which I like, but wanted to make one myself, and by doing so, I can improve on the design of the other one.  (Plus, I am a bag person and simply can't have enough bags!!)  I have grand plans in my head for this one and I promise to share them with you when I get started.

 

In the meantime, some links!  Okay, so, I was thinking about the type of pattern I wanted, and am going to swatch both a woven stitch and also the stitch pattern from a scarf called "My So Called Scarf."  I decided I wanted a fun, colorful, variegated yarn for this and that led me right to BMFA Socks That Rock...I figured, why not?  So many colors to choose from, and I decided to get their Socks That Rock Heavyweight yarn for this.  Sock yarn will definitely make a sturdy bag, especially if I knit it with small needles. 

 

I plan to line the bag too, and use some strapping stuff to reinforce the strap of the bag.  There will be a nice secure zipper on the top (main part), a slip-in pocket inside, and a nice zippered pocket on the outside.

 

What color, you might wonder?  After MUCH deliberation I ended up getting Peaseblossom with which to make the bag.  I wanted something light and summery that will go with most things I wear.  I think it'll look neat in either one of those stitch patterns, I can't wait to swatch!

 

And because I couldn't pass up this opportunity to get a couple of other colors just for socks, I picked up two skeins of STR lightweight in Pink Granite (because I think it's pretty AND practical!) and Fire on the Mountain.  That last one I've been drooling over forever and can't wait to see how fun and colorful those socks will be!

 

That's it from here for now!  Now I'm just going to be hounding the postal service for my yarn and needles.  ;o)

Brown Bear

I finished my little brown bear! This project required a lot of assembly after the knitting portion was done. But it was fun, and I'm quite pleased with the results. I think I got his arms and legs on a little too far forward, but he's still cute. I learned quite a bit making this!

The pattern, as I've said before, is well written. And the bear is made entirely from scratch...you knit the pieces, and then use a combination of buttons and thread to put it all together. It's pretty cool.

So here goes. Here are all the pieces laid out ready to be assembled (oh and please excuse the less than stellar photos...it's hard to get good pictures of dark brown yarn!):



First you sew the front and back together and then stuff it. I used the little markers to remind myself which was the front of the bear.



Then you use clever techniques with needle and thread to draw in the neck and muzzle, to give him some definition and shape:





After that you make him a little nose out of black felt:



And then you stitch it on:



He's starting to look like a bear!



Then he gets his button eyes:



And arms and legs are stitched up and stuffed, and he's ready to be assembled, using buttons buried inside to make his arms and legs jointed.



And here he is, all done!





I think he's kinda cute. As I say, I think I got his arms and legs a little too far front (this was a learning experience!) but he's got personality. :o)

Miscellaneous updates

I finally have some photos to share. I've been busy knitting and sewing up my bear and boy do I have photos to share. :) I finished my Whidbey the Bear but he deserves his own post, so first I'll get to my other stuff.

I finished the first of my Summer of Love Lace socks. I LOVE it! It fits perfectly, and I love this pattern, and how the colors did their almost-striping thing.

Here it is, with the inside of the cuff showing:



And this is the outside of the cuff with the little split:



Now it's on to sock #2! I now also only have two WIPs...I can't believe it! Two pairs of socks...this pair and my Pink Flamingo socks. It's kind of nice and refreshing! Although, I am now debating whether I want to start another Big Project...but the one I have in mind would be a Very Big Project. So we'll see. I'm tempted, but a part of me is afraid to start something I know is going to take forever to finish. Then again, it's something I'd like to have. What is it, you might wonder? A shawl. Specifically, the Print O' The Wave Stole.

This is the yarn I have already, which is partly why I am thinking of choosing this pattern, because I think it would go well together. And that way I'm using stash yarn too. I do have other shawls/wraps that are on my list of things I'd like to knit, but I think that I really ought to use stash yarn first!







I love the color of this yarn. When you look closely you can see it's made up of various colors...blues and greens and a lighter green, but the overall effect is such a pretty turquoise!

And here's my swatch (look, I even pinned it out for the picture!):





I am normally not much of a swatch person (I know, I know) but this one I needed to do because I don't have any circular needles smaller than size 4 and I will need to order some, and needed to decide what size to get. I did this on size 3's, and I like it. From what I've read on this pattern, it can end up being really huge, so I don't want to go up a size needle to make it any bigger.

I think this will be a fun and challenging project! I like that it's done in separate sections, so even though it'll still be a ton of knitting, it might seem better if there are stages to it. (At least that's what I'm telling myself!)

Back soon with a post all about my bear. :o)

Busy bee

I'm still here!  The weekend got away from me without much time for a reading blogs let alone a post.  But it was a good weekend...full of house chores and stuff that left me feeling like I had accomplished something.  Lots of laundry, a good housecleaning, yardwork...mowing the lawn, cleaning gutters (okay DH did that) but I got up on the ladder and scrubbed some of that green stuff off some of the roof shingles...went for a 15-mile bike ride and even did some sorting through a closet and throwing out of some old stuff...felt great!  Inspires me to do more.  So yeah, great weekend, accomplished a lot, and it felt good.

 

I have been knitting quite a lot of my Summer of Love Lace sock.  I'd started a post the other day which I had all ready to go with some photos but those are now very out of date as I am past the heel and gusset and onto the foot now.  Totally loving this sock though...yarn and pattern alike.

 

Sorry for no photos but I will leave you with a Moose story.  This morning before I was completely awake, my husband was up and first noticed a tissue on the floor...have I told you that Moose likes to eat paper?  Just about any kind...tissues, napkins, paper towels, mail...whatever's around, it's all good.  Anyway, he'd munched on a bit of that tissue sometime during the night.  heh.  This is nothing new though, he frequently does this.  But the funnier part was when my husband wandered to my side of the room, and asked "What's all that stuff on the floor?"  I peered over and started laughing because I knew instantly what was going on...our lovable little Laundry Thief is back!  I spotted three things that had just last evening been hanging on the drying rack: two of my handknit socks (both Twinkle Toes, actually) and...get this...one of my, um...undergarments.  HA!  I giggled and told my husband I'd have loved to have seen Moose dragging that into the room!!