A simple hat!

When I was at Stitches, I picked up some a skein of MacKintosh Yarn's Iona Worsted, a yummy MCN base! It was that lovely cabarnet color I talked about earlier, remember? The day after I got back, I wound the yarn into a cake and casted on for a Felicity Hat (pattern by Wanette Clyde). I love this hat! I wish it weren't nearly summer so that I could wear it more often! The fit is a little tight, but I am sure it will stretch some.


Most importantly, the yarn really is great! It's very soft and almost feels a little silky. (I know, there's no silk in it, but it's almost slippery like silk is. In a good way.) The color is gorgeous. I love how it has some subtle color variations, and it knits up beautifully. For all of my Kentucky friends reading along, if you're going to the Kentucky Sheep and Fiber Festival this weekend (and you all are going, right???), you'll have to check out Mac's other yarns. She'll be there as a vendor selling her hand-dyed yarn and fiber.

Stitches Part 1: The Yarn

As promised, here is the first of my three recap posts of Stitches South. I decided to break it down into three posts: one detailing my yarn purchases, another discussing my new-found love of spinning and fiber, and a third reviewing the classes I took and my overall experience. I will say first that I had a great time! I went by myself, and was worried that I would miss having a group of friends to peruse the market with or have meals together. But, it really was nice being alone and getting to do what I wanted. I stayed with my aunt who lives about thirty minutes away from the Cobb Galleria. It was nice to have a free place to stay, but I would have enjoyed being at the Waverly and getting to enjoy some of the late-night events! Maybe next time.

Okay, the market was seriously overwhelming. But, I went in with a bit of a plan. I had a budget, knew some of the stuff I wanted to buy, and pretty much stuck with it. For example, I knew I wanted to buy a nice drop spindle, which I will talk about more in the next post, and I knew I wanted to buy some Bugga. I did both. But not much else, as you will see.

My first stop was at The Sanguine Gryphon's booth. Actually, I was the first one there that day! I was in line early and headed straight for her booth. I love bugga, and intended to buy a couple skeins of their spring line, plus a skein for a friend. But, I got there and instead decided to buy four skeins of holly blue butterfly for a sweater. Maybe a lightweight pullover? Any thoughts? I hadn't planned to purchase that much bugga for me, and that decision started me out with a budget issue! But, as you can see, it is gorgeous!



I also got a skein of bugga for a friend of mine in blue emperor dragonfly, a color that will be gorgeous knit up.



From there I went to buy my drop spindle, so that I would know exactly how much I had left to spend. After making that purchase, and without much money left, I continued my browsing throughout the market. There was really a lot of gorgeous stuff, and a lot of yarn I'd never heard of. I wish I were more adventurous at trying new yarns from unfamiliar places, but I often still feel like I don't really know what I am doing when it comes to judging yarn. But, I did find a new-to-me company that I really like so far: MacKintosh Yarn. I enjoyed talking to Liz, the owner of the company, and she does a beautiful job dyeing her yarn. I ended up with one skein of iona worsted yarn, a really lovely merino/cashmere/nylon blend, in cabernet. I wound this last night and decided it wanted to be a felicity, a simple, somewhat slouchy stockinette hat.



And one skein of iona fingering, also a merino/cashmere/nylon blend, in misty highlands. I just love the color of this yarn and can't wait to knit it up. It will look awesome in a shawl. Maybe a herbivore?


All in all, I am really happy with my yarn purchases. I didn't come home with a ton of yarn, and had projects in mind for each of the skeins I purchased. I did buy some fiber in addition to the yarn, which I'll talk about soon. I guess if I hadn't bought the fiber I would have bought more yarn, but I am really excited about learning to spin! I can't wait until my next yarn/wool festival! I am going to the Kentucky Sheep and Fiber Festival in May and taking a dyeing class, and, of course, going to their market!

Stitches South

The time has come! I am at my first Stitches convention! I had only recently started knitting when Sitches Midwest hit Chicago in 08, and had already moved by the time it came in 09. So, I am finally going to my first Stitches in Atlanta! I am taking two classes: Basic Intarsia Techniques with Sarah Peasley and Advanced Finishing with Margaret Fisher. And, I will be spending lots of time at the market today, hopefully buying lots of yummy yarn and a new spindle. I'll be sure to report on my experience when I get back!

Work-appropriate vest

I am in a fairly conservative profession as far as fashion is concerned. This year in particular, I wear suits almost daily to work. Although I will be able to dress more casually at my new job--which I start in September--it will most likely still be somewhat conservative. For some time now, I've been wanting to make some work-approrpiate attire. My first thought was a vest: it can be worn over a button-down shirt, with dress pants or a skirt, and still be professional. So, then I went on a search for the right pattern. I found Crisp by Wendy Bernard almost a year ago, and thought it would be perfect. Although the neck is a deep v, it would still be appropriate worn over a button-down shirt that covers everything up! And, I loved the cute play with color on the shoulders and the waist. Plus, I'd heard great things about Wendy's designs. Although I own Custom Knits, I've yet to make anything out of it. So, I was looking forward to finding the perfect yarn and working on the pattern.

I eventually chose to use Berocco Alpaca Ultra Light in salt & pepper, with a coordinating white color for the accents. The yarn was okay. I guess if I had thought about it more, I may not have opted to go with alpaca. It sheds like crazy and looks kind of hairy, which is to be expected for alpaca, really. On one hand, it hides any imperfections, particularly along the armholes and necklines where I had to pick up stitches, but it also hides the stitch detailing. The sizing is pretty spot on, other than being a little large in the back. In the end though, I am really happy with the vest!


I started the vest back during Ravelypmics, and although I made a lot of progress on it during the competition, I wasn't able to finish it. Once I finished the body, it sat around waiting for me to get up the energy to pick up the stitches for the armholes and neckline. I HATE picking up stitches!! And the alpaca made it even more difficult to see where I needed to do the picking up. But, the effort was worth it!

Here are my post-blocking thoughts: I read someone's comment on Ravelry, suggesting to leave a long tail on the waist coordinating color yarn. She's right! I left a very long tail, but after blocking and stretching, it either wasn't long enough or it broke. I need to weave the second strand through about 5 of the stitches, which won't be a problem. But, I highly recommend leaving it extra long. It's such a cute accent, though, that it's worth trying to get it right!

My sort-of LYS

When I lived in Chicago, I faithfully shopped from my favorite LYS (Loopy Yarns) I learned to knit by taking a beginning knitting class there, and then they couldn't keep me away. I'd go weekly for Friday Knit Night, I took several more classes, and I would walk by the store on my way home from work to say hi or see new stock. I became really close to a great group of friends from Loopy and had a very difficult time telling them goodbye when I left. I still miss them dearly!!

I moved to Berea, KY, a town known as the folk arts and crafts capital of Kentucky. I thought that surely there would be an LYS here, or, at the very least, a fiber-related shop. Although there are a couple of stores that sell yarn, there is nothing close to an LYS. Don't get me wrong, I have met great fiber friends, but the closest true LYS is about 45 minutes away. Because I work south of Berea, it would take me about an hour and 15 minutes to get to the nearest LYS during the week coming from work. So, I have had to find other ways to fill my LYS needs. Thus enters The Loopy Ewe.

The Loopy Ewe, run by Sheri, is amazing! (Check our her blog, where she posts about store-related events and random knitting/fiber/life/cooking-related thoughts.) Sheri stocks some incredible yarn, including yarn that you can't buy at an LYS. She is the only American distributor of Wollmeise, apart from buying from the Wollmeise herself (although Sheri doesn't keep it in stock all the time, you can buy it there if you get lucky, and I have!). She also carries lots of other fun, independently-dyed yarns, like dragonfly fibers, the sanguine gryphon, numma numma, etc. So, I have essentially turned to The Loopy Ewe to become my "sort-of LYS." She process her orders so fast that if I place an order on Monday night or even Tuesday morning, I can get it to my house by Thursday! Considering the fact that I can only make it to an LYS on the weekends, I get yarn in my hands faster than I would if I waited to go to the LYS. That's what happened this week! Although I swore I wouldn't buy yarn until Stitches South (which is less than a week away!!!), I folded. Sheri teamed up with Lorna's Laces to offer a special "team spirit" line of sock yarn and, what can I say, I am a sucker for blue and white (gotta support the UK Wildcats!). Plus, I knew I had to by some Cascade 220 to complete my homework for stitches. So, here is what I got in the mail yesterday:

Cascade in Natural, Bluebell, Primavera, and Framboise (the Goldenrod on top was from my stash)


And, of course, my Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Team Spirit #15


Although The Loopy Ewe not close enough for me to just walk in and say hello, I feel like I know Sheri. She writes a note on every order, includes little treats with your first five orders, and a big treat with your sixth order, when you're welcomed into the "loopy groupie" club! She also has other incredible incentives, like $25 back for every $250 you spend. And, she has an incredible five-installment sock club, which I was lucky enough to get to join this year. This week's order just happened to be my 6th, and I got my "Loopy Groupie" welcome package. My jaw dropped at Sheri's generosity! When you're welcomed into the club, you get a very large Loopy Ewe bag, two sock patterns, a stitch marker, the infamous hershey kisses, a sheep calendar, and even a skein of sock yarn! (Mine was Earthly Hues's "seedling" in Acid Wash--I don't know if this is her norm, or just what got stuck in mine.)





Wow, Sheri! Thank you for allowing me to find a replacement for the LYS that I loved dearly in Chicago! Although I can't walk in weekly, I can always try to make one of your special events like Spring Fling, and I can say hello and talk with other Loopy Groupies on Ravelry. For now, this will have to work as my LYS. And, even though I will be moving in a few months to a city where there are lots of LYSs, I think The Loopy Ewe will always have a place in my life! If you haven't shopped there before, you really should think about it! If you follow the link on the sidebar, I even get a referral credit! (Okay, shamless attempt to be able to spend more money on yarn. Who can blame me?)

Ode to Spring

As promised, I am bringing you pictures of my most recent FO, my haruni shawl.



The yarn is Wollmeise Twin in Lowenzahn-dark. The color is spectacular! I got the yarn in a swap on Ravelry, and the minute I got it in the mail, I knew I wanted to do some sort of shawl with leaves on it, to show off the color. The color reminds me of the color of green in the spring--you're starting to get a bit of dark mixed in with the younger, yellower green. I love it! I wish I had this color in the 100% instead of the twin, because the nylon content made it a little twisty while working with it. Other than that, it was great!



As for the pattern (haruni by Emily Ross) I cannot tell you how much I loved it. The pattern is a free Ravelry download, but was so clear! There were both written instructions and lace charts. I really enjoyed that, because I am still learning to do lace, so having both options helps my understanding. I opted for the crochet bind off--my first time crocheting! I love the look of the bind off and think it was a really genius way to bind off this shawl.

Here are some helpful details:

After I finished Chart A, I had 80 g of yarn left (out of approximately 150g).
After Chart B, I had 10 g left, and was sweating it for the bind off! But, I ended wit 5g to spare.

Irish Hiking Scarf--Belated FO Posting

This post is certainly outdated, but wanted to include it here nonetheless. This is an FO picture of the Irish Hiking Scarf I made for my MIL for Christmas. I used malabrigo worsted in sealing wax. The 2 skeins were very different, which is not unusual for malabrigo, so I alternated skeins every other round. I am actually really happy with the result--I like the color variegation that alternating gave it, and it doesn't have the drastic color changes that some people find when working on a malabrigo project.

I also really enjoyed the pattern. Like any scarf, it felt like it would never end, but I love the end result. I have since found some double-sided patterns that are very similar, and may consider doing one of those if I decide to do this scarf again. I sometimes hate having a wrong side on something like a scarf. But, my MIL loves it, and that's what matters!

Ravelympics 2010

It's official: Ravelympics 2010 is here! For those of you who think I've gone crazy, let me explain. Ravelympics is a world-wide knitting event that coincides with the Olympics--both winter and summer. Knitters (and crocheters, spinners, designers) compete as teams and individuals on ravelry to complete various types of projects. There are events to cover just about any type of project you can imagine. Everyone casts on at the same time (6:00 pm PST TODAY!), and has until 11:59:59 on 2/28/2010 to complete their projects. The different events have olympic-esque names (such as "bag jump," "beading biathalon," and "hat halfpipe"), and the event really encourages people to embrace the Olympics, not just the Ravelympics. It gets everyone excited about watching the Olympics coverage and cheering on their favorite athletes.

I wasn't a knitter during the last summer Olympics, so this is a first for me. Here is my plan:

• First: Cashmere Cowl, using Plucky's Cashmere Lace

• Second: Crisp vest, using berrocco ultra alpaca light in a dark gray, with white coordinating color

• And, finally, if I still have time, I will either finish those ailbe mittens that have been hanging over my head, or do a shawl. Probably the aestlight shawl

Of course, I still have other projects that I'd like to finish. For example, my clapotis (I finally started on the decreases!) and a pair of socks that I casted on this week. Those don't qualify for Ravelypmics, however, because I have been working on them too recently. To qualify for the Work In Progress (WIP) event, they have to have been untouched since 1/12. So, we'll have to see what all I am able to get done in the next coupls of weeks!

Sockdown: October

These are Finished Object (FO) pictures of the socks I made for October, as a part of Sockdown, in Sock Knitter's Anonymous on Ravelry. The pattern is Simple Skyp Socks, by Adrienne Ku. I used some of the yarn I picked up at the Kentucky Wool Fest, by Knitted to a T -- Sensational Sock 3 in April Showers. I call them "hubby's game day socks," because I made them for my husband and the colors are the same as the University of Kentucky (go cats!!). They're the first pair of socks I have made for him, and I am hoping they will bring good luck to the cats. So far, so good! We won both games we played on Saturday, and DJ was wearing the socks. We not only won our basketball game, but we also beat Georgia in football at Athens, for the first time in 1977!! Here's hoping there is more luck with these socks.

Knitting for Babies

I love knitting for babies!! Especially clothing. It goes so fast, yet you feel like you've accomplish so much! I recently finished my first project from Vintage Baby Knits, the Louise Cardigan.



I used Lorna's Laces sock yarn on size 3 needles. It used less than 2 skeins for the 3-6 month size. I am really happy with the way it turned out. I do think that the pattern would look a little better with slightly textured/tweedy yarn, but I still really like it a lot! I didn't modify it at all, although I could have done the sleeves in the round, as some on Ravelry have done. But, I was glad to have the seaming practice, because I don't have much experience with seaming. I love the pattern and hope to do others from her book!