I Dare Say.....

That without good tools, you can't very well produce good products! I have had to "make do" with what I have and look for other ways to go about making something look right. I have decided to invest in great tools for my knitting. I have had the Addi Clicks, which were supposed to be top of the line for knitting needles. When Hiya Hiya introduced their new Sharp Interchangeable Needle Set, I ordered one, they sell them in two different packs. The small set comes with 4 cables of various sizes and needles 2 through 8. They are sharp enough to get into the most delicate cobweb yarn without any issue and knit the bulkiest yarns there are! They are amazing! They did not however, make a large set yet in sharps. So I had to make do with the "original" set of larges, which were great, but not "sharp"! I just found out they make the large shape set, so I promptly sold my "unused" original large set and got a fair price for them. I then turned right around and ordered the Large Sharp set!! I am like a kid at Christmas! I cannot wait for them to arrive! If you want a great set of needles, Hiya Hiya are the ones to buy! They are smooth, the joins are fabulous, the tips are PERFECT and they are reasonable! I am thrilled! I do not work for Hiya Hiya, I am just a 20 plus year knitter, with a bit of experience with needles. I highly recommend these awesome needles!

Selfish Knitting!

So now that the holiday madness is over, I have knit some gifts for loved ones and rested my fingers! I have been busy knitting a square for a baby blanket my knitting club is putting together for a fellow knitter due in a few months. I decided on some lovely Spud and Chloe Sweater in Igloo! Lovely stuff! I have been busy combing through patterns, purchasing patterns and getting my Queue together on Ravelry. I have a plan! I needed to order some yarn for a beautiful sweater I am making, first in my Queue. I have never knit with Madelintosh Yarn. I have only heard about the wonder of it. Right along with Malabrigo, which I love and use! Here are a couple of photos of my gorgeous Tosh yarn I ordered!!! All three are Tosh Merino Light in Antler, Tart and Hickory! I am totally in love!

Now I have wound up the Tart, I was wanting to make a pair of fingerless mitts with those just to test out the yarn. It's a gorgeous "cake" just begging to be knit. I am waiting to start, I need to find the perfect pattern! Here is a photo of my "cake"!

After Christmas.....

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas! I certainly did! It was very low key and relaxing. Of course I spent my six days off from work finishing up my shopping and baking, cleaning house and of course, knitting! I finished quite a few gifts I was planning to give, which included a darling Hello Kitty hat and fingerless mitts for my four year old grandchild Madison. I am including my most recent project, a selfish knit! Just for me! In my most favorite yarn ever, Malabrigo Arroyo, in the colorway Plomo! This yarn is so fabulous, superwash merino wool! Soft, snugly and awesome stitch definition. I highly recommend it.

Really a lovely pattern and fun to knit! Mindless knitting! Just what I needed after the busy holiday rush knits I did! Have a very Happy New Year! Some friends of mine and myself are planning a knit-a-long (KAL) beginning in February. We are planning to knit the Low Tide top from TinCanKnits: http://www.tincanknits.com/pattern-PK-lowtide.html There are so many awesome patterns and yarny yumminess out there, I will never have enough time to make them all or touch all the scrumptious yarns. I am going to try my best to do as many as I can though! I hope you do too!

In Light...

In light of the recent events, tragic events, I don't feel like my posts will have much merit. I can only say that I feel for the families and friends of those lost in the recent shootings. I live one hour away from Portland, Oregon where the "mall" shooting occurred. My family was there just the weekend before. The recent school shooting is just beyond comprehension and I cannot wrap my brain around why ANYONE would want to take innocent lives, especially those of young innocent children. I will never understand it. I believe our mentally ill society is once again "locked behind closed doors" only without treatment they so desperately need. Families are forced to deal with these people the best they can but lack the skills to help them. I have two cousins with mental illness. I know the hardships, and understand how difficult it is. Our society needs to band together to help these people. They are everywhere, on the streets, on the bus, in the shopping malls, in the schools! My experience with mental illness has been that once the person is on medications, they feel better so they stop taking the medications they need. Only to plummet even further into the abyss. We used to have "mental" institutions, so many are being closed and suffering law suits for mistreatment. I do not know the answer, I do not know if our society will ever find one. I am just so sorry those innocent lives were lost. On another note, I managed to finish a cute little "cowl"/"scarf" and it really looks adorable on. I improvised the pattern and made it the way I wanted to. It's currently blocking right now but when it's finished I will have a "modeling" photo! Here is the cast on photo:

this is the finished photo:

I certainly hope that by my next post, we have some answers as to why this tragedy occured and some options to prevent this from happening again. In the mean time, stay safe, enjoy your families and love one another.

Santa Wreath

I decided to go outside the box and make something that was not knitted! I found a simple, cute wreath and decided to make one. I went to JoAnn Fabrics, bought some 100% real wool felt, made 100 3" circles out of it and folded them in half twice, pinned to a styrofoam wreath I bought and here you have it!!

If you didn't have to use pins, this would be a fun craft to involve kids, but to many pins and scissors. They do enjoy however, playing with the scraps! Use your imagination and mix colors and embelishments!! Enjoy!

Sewing and Knitting?

I am the type of girl that loves technology and all the new doors it has opened for me! I have a really nice sewing machine, yes it's a manual one but hey, it works! I have been in such a "crafty" mood lately, I have been buying up every skein of yarn I can get my hands on! I must put a "halt" to that and actually start knitting down my stash. I have been collecting Malabrigo Arroyo, a gorgeous superwash sport weight yarn. My favorite color is Plomo. Hold your breath, here they are!

I am so in love with this yarn and of course the color! It's breath taking to behold and even more so to pet! I am gathering a sweater quantity to make a lovely sweater from one of our own Ravelry designers! I purchased the pattern and will be casting on as soon as the holiday's are over. I feel guilty knitting anything for myself and truthfully, there is no time! The pattern is Pauroxo by Jennifer Dassau which you can find on Ravelry! She really has some amazing patterns!!

Back to technology! I have been debating over new sewing machines. I am not an "avid" seamstress, even though I would love to be! I have been sewing since the tender age of 13. Do you remember "home ecc" classes? I learned to sew and fell in love with it. I had visions of creating quilts and quilted bags. I am creating new Christmas stockings for my family. I chose black burlap with muslin lining. I will post photos of those in the next blog entry. I did some research and of course I can't afford a Janome machine at this time. That would be my pie in the sky machine! I settled for a very nice Brother Project Runway machine. It was on sale and I had a coupon which was good for $75.00 off! I brought it home and before I knew it, my fiance Richard had it out of the box and set up on the dining room table for me in nothing flat! He was fiddling with the attachments and booklets and accessories, I was anxiously watching and waiting for something to get misplaced or thrown out. Neither of those things happened, and I appreciated his help! After I peeled him away from the table so I could "get" in there and look at my new machine, I loaded a bobbin and threaded the machine. I did some practice sewing using a couple of the 80 different stitches she offers. I can tell we are going to become vast friends! I am happy so far and will keep you posted. Here is her first photo debut!

As much as I love and adore my knitting, it's very slow going. I am really hoping that sewing will give me the instant gratification I am seeking at this time!

Spud and Chloe Yarn

A few months ago I purchased two skeins of Spud and Chloe Sweater yarn to make something for my granddaughter Madison. While prepping the yarn to wind, I hit knot after knot and twists that were amazing while I had it on the swift. I have never had such an issue before with winding any yarn! I thought wow I must have done something wrong. I ended up losing half the skein to unbelievable knots that I could not for the life of me remove. I tried, in vain. The second skein, sitting there begging to be knit up, also needed to be wound. Again, I took the yarn out, popped it (kind of a "snapping" motion) prior to placing it on the swift and cut the bindings. Started out smooth as silk until I got half way down to the middle of the skein! I ran in to the same issue. Lost half of that skein also. I asked people on the Ravelry Spud and Chloe site if they had issues with this yarn knotting while trying to wind it. It's not a very common phenomenon but it can happen with ANY yarn. I was told sometimes when they are winding the yarn at the factory. The binding ties are placed wrong or is not tied off properly and can create knots. Just as my faith in human kind was waning, and much to my wonderful surprise today, there was a small package sitting on the door step! It was two skeins of Spud and Chloe Sweater in the beautiful colorway of Igloo!! Here is what I am making and now I will also have enough to make the Hello Kitty Mitts!!!

Imagine these mitts about one half this size! Maddy will be so excited! She is all about Hello Kitty these days. Hello kitty jackets, tops, shoes, backpack, you name it, she has it. This will complete another "phase" for her!

Both of these patterns are free on Ravelry!