WIPs Wednesday 7/9/14

I've been spinning so much this week so I only have a bit of a WIP to share this week.  One of the class prompts for the House Cup this month is to make something that brings you back to the reason you began crafting.  

My mother taught me how to knit almost 10 years ago.  She has been knitting all of my life (and then some).  I remember the clicking of her needles as a small child and how relaxing it sounded.  In 2004, my oldest brother passed away unexpectedly.  I was devastated.  I isolated myself from everyone, the only social interaction I had was in online video games and talking to family.  His fiancee had started knitting to calm her nerves so I asked my mom if she could teach me how to knit, too.  The first time I picked up the needles, I was so frustrated.  I didn't think it would ever click.  Finally, after a dozen or so tries, it did.  I made a bright garter stitch scarf out of Red Heart.  It was short, it was scratchy, and I loved it.  I absorbed myself in my knitting to deal with the pain.  After awhile, I met my now ex husband.  I still knit, but not regularly.  When we separated, I picked the needles back up and haven't set them down since.  Wherever I go, my knitting goes with me.  

Since the 10 year anniversary is coming up in September, I wanted to do something for my mom as a thank you and also something that could help comfort her.  I am making her 198 yds of Heaven out of the special Malabrigo Rios that Jen brought back for me from New Orleans.   It's soft, cozy and I hope it makes her feel better.

198 Yds of Heaven in Malabrigo Rios 

First off I want to give Jess a big hug right now. I love that the yarn I gave her is going to such a special project.  I have two projects currently on the needles. Lately I have been busy with packing and getting things ready for the move.  My crafting time has mostly been spent spinning for the Tour de Fleece.  I need to finish my OWL in time to turn it in so I worked on it a few nights ago while watching a movie with the hubby.  Last time I shared the scarf I had 35 finished stripes.  Now I have 42! Not only is this an awesome amount of stripes (it is the ANSWER after all), but it also means that I am getting closer to finishing it.  Just 11 stripes to go!  

It was hard to find a way to show all of the stripes!  The other WIP on my needles is a pair of socks that I cast on.  This will be my 8th pair for the year, and is another Christmas present.  I have knit this pattern twice before, it is the Jeck, pattern by Regina Satta.  I love that the combination of purl and slip stitches adds so much character to the sock.  

Jeck - Plymouth Yarn Happy Feet

Sorry about the bad pictures, my old laptop died and with it my photo program that I prefer to use so I am going to have to find something else to use on the new laptop.  

Spunday 7/6/14 TdF Edition

Yesterday was the start of Tour de Fleece and everyone is off to a great start!  I am loving seeing everyone's photos on Instagram and in our group.  Keep it up!  

I had a busy start to my day yesterday so I didn't make much progress on Day 1.  I definitely made up for it today!  I spun for a couple of hours and am almost half done with my first single.  I am so pleased with how I am able to control the colors while spinning.  The fiber I'm working with is soft and real easy to spin.  I'm staying consistent and the yarn is pretty thin.  I am hoping by the end of this I will have enough to make a shawl.  The only issue I am finding is the black dye keeps rubbing off onto my fingers.  At first I thought it was from the heat and my hands since I was spinning outside at the time.  Later, after being in the central air and my hands were no longer sweaty, it was still staining them.  Now the dye from my fingers is staining the shaft of my spindle.  I just hope that most of the color stays after it's bath.  

Shadawyn Fiber Arts Merino Silk 80/20-Severus Snape

Yesterday I was really productive with my spinning.  I just got going, and it was so hard to stop. I managed to spin half a braid yesterday!  

Into the Whirled - 100% Polwarth "Godswood"

I bought  this fiber at Maryland Sheep and Wool this year so it is nice that I am already spinning it up.  The colors range from a light blue, to a deep green, a deep purple, and a deep wine color.  I think it will be gorgeous once it is all plied up.  I am managing to spin it pretty thinly so I think I should get a good amount of yardage from it.  I will be turning this braid in for the final round of Quidditch this term too. I love when something I was going to do anyway, spin for Tour de Fleece, can be used for the House Cup. 

Today I actually did some chores around the house and ran a few errands so I only spun for about an hour.  I am aiming to finish up the braid tomorrow and hopefully ply it up on Tuesday. Keep spinning everyone!

FO Fourth of July!

Happy Independence Day to our readers in the states! I hope you get to have a nice day off full of family, fun, and fireworks. I know that I am lucky that the hubby is off this year (I am sure he feels lucky too since he loves to see fireworks).  

I finished another Christmas gift! I am planning to knit 4 pair of socks for people this year and this is the second pair so I am halfway there! My goal is to get the socks done by the end of August so I am not so stressed at Christmas time.  These socks are the 30th pair of socks that I have knit since learning in February of 2012.  I do not have 30 pair though as many of those socks have been gifts, and 2 pair have felted :-(.

Simple Skyp Socks - The Cyborg's Craft Room "Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard Spock"

These socks had a few tricky moments like when I dropped a YO that had a stitch wrapped around it, but overall were pretty mindless after a bit.  

The next FO is from the year long swap that I am participating in.  The theme for one of the months is toys, so this is my Minion

He was trickier to knit than the socks.  The pattern calls for you to use intarsia or duplicate stitch for the overalls. I kind of did a modified fair isle.  I think he turned out cute even if his smile is a little crooked and his hair resembles Bert more than a minion. 

I've been busy trying to get alot of projects done before July.  I am dedicating July to deadline knitting and Tour de Fleece.  
First is a monster that I finished awhile ago, but forgot to share.  Susan Claudino teamed up with Little Skein in the Big Wool and Highland Handmades for the Wild Thing kit.  She designed an adorable Wild Thing and I had the pleasure of test knitting him.

Wild Thing by Susan Claudino Yarn: The Cyborg's Craft Room Bested in Yer Mom Wears Teal

Next, I knit a pumpkin baby hat that I am donating to the church food bank:

Pumpkin Hat

I finished the mittens for my swap partner.  Overall, I liked the pattern.  Quick knit, easy to follow.  I never did an afterthought thumb before so the lack of a gusset was a little strange.  I would definitely knit it again.

Cruiser Mitts

Finally, I knit a wee Bluebird of Happiness for my swap partner as well.  This pattern is so fun!  

Bluebird of Happiness

WIPs Wednesday 7/2/14

I only have two projects on the needles right now. I have finished a few projects in the last few days so I am left working on my Mission and my OWL.  I have 27 rows to go on my second mitt. Almost done!

Winter Twilight Mitts - Cascade heritage and Crystal Palace Mini Mochi

The colors do not match up, but they definitely look like a pair of mitts.  I definitely see a second pair of these in my future.

My OWL is slowly coming along. I have 35 stripes of the 53.  I found the needles chomped and the yarn messed up on the scarf this evening. Luckily when Athena chomped the needles, none of the stitches dropped.  So all I had to do was transfer the stitches over to new needles.  Then when I finished the grey stripe I wound the tangled yarn into a ball.  

Spunday 6/29/14

Tour de Fleece starts on Saturday and I wanted to clear my spindle.  I spent most of this weekend finishing up the plying on my Knitting Knorth Polwarth.  I finished it on Saturday morning, gave it a soak and hung it outside to dry all day.  It's 288 yards of sport weight and it's the most yardage I have ever spun.  The colors are super bright so I think I will make a larger toy with it rather than something to wear.  

Knitting Knorth Polwarth-22713

I decided on spinning my Shadawyn Fiber Arts Merino/Silk blend for Tour de Fleece.  I've never spun anything with silk in it so that will be a challenge for me.  I also think I am going to try to fractal spin this time.  Every time I have spun I just split the fiber in half and spun randomly.  I want to try to have more control over my colors and have less of a barber pole look.  

Shadawyn Fiber Arts Merino/Silk 80/20-Severus Snape

FO Friday 6/27/14

I mentioned in our last post how I got 2 larger projects done this past week.  These looming deadlines kicked my butt into gear!  After 8 months of on again, off again stitching, I FINALLY got my Spooky Sampler done!  Now I can frame it and be ready for Halloween!  

Halloween Spooky Sampler pattern by The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery

Not only did I finish my sampler, but I also finished my June socks and I am so glad they are off the needles and safely tucked away in my sock drawer.  
The pattern is easy to follow, the yarn was lovely to knit.  About halfway through the leg on the first sock I was ready for it to be over.  I think I had so much going on  in my world that following a detailed pattern was too much for my brain to handle.  On Sunday, I went to see the Iron Pigs play (That's our local minor league baseball team).  I had just started the second sock and managed to knit 2 pattern repeats during the game.  After that, I went into beast mode to get them done.  By the time I got to binding off the cuff, my brain was dead.  I stupidly cut the yarn to pull it through the last stitch when I realized that I wasn't done with my bind off.  I still had another needle to go.  D'oh!  So, I joined the yarn and continued binding off.  I moved on to my afterthought heel.  No big deal.  I've done this like twenty times before, right?  Yeah...about that.  While I was kitchenering the heel, I was singing along to music playing on Spotify.  Somehow, I got so into it that I forgot that I was even working on my sock.  I looked down and the stitch count on the two needles weren't the same.  So, at this point I fudged it and went on my merry way to the finish line.

Rainbow Explosion pattern by Lauren McMordie  Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Slushie Facial

I have a few knit FOs this week and a sewn one as well.  The first I have to share is another Voodoo You Love me  by Susan Claudino.  There are two Puffs who are expecting their second child, so I am sending a softie for each of the older brothers.  That way when mom gets a big box for baby there is something for the big brothers too.  

Voodoo you love me - Susan Claudino - Dancing Dog Dyeworks - "Jenna"

I brought this little guy up to Glen Onoko so he could bask on the rocks there.  I love how bright and colorful he is.  I have made two of these toys so far, but think I need one to hang out in my craft room in the new house.  I am so excited that I will have a room where my sewing machine can be set up all the time.  I can also have my spinning wheel there instead of hanging out in my living room.  
The other FO is a shawl knit in some gorgeous yarn dyed up by the Three Irish Girls.  This colorway is called "You are my Sunshine" and they donated part of the proceeds to a group called SHARE that supports people who lose pregnancies and babies.  I loved the colorway when I saw it and love donating to a worthy cause. This was a limited colorway so I have been holding on to it trying to find the perfect pattern. I decided to knit up the Holden shawl by Mindy Wilkes. I knit the smallest size and left off the picot hem and I really like it.  It is an easy knit and I finished it up in a little over a week. 

This week I also sewed up a little pouch with a zipper. This is the first time that I have put a zipper in all by myself! I think that it turned out pretty well. I can see a few things that I can improve the next time that I sew one up. I am just glad that I am not as scared of zippers anymore.  My projects survive better from the chomping kitty in house in zippered bags, and if I can make my own, I will have one for every project on my needles!

I followed the tutorial found here. It was really easy to follow. The only thing I would make sure to add is before you top stitch on your zipper you should iron the fabric back away from the zipper.  That way you wont get the fabric caught up in your zipper when you use it later.

WIPs Wednesday 6/25

I am back this week with my WIPs too!  I am still working on my Dr. Who scarf. I have about a month to go to finish it in time for my OWL and I hope I can do it.  I am on stripe 30/53.  I didn't take a photo since it it doesn't look all that different from the last time that I posted. I worked on it yesterday in the car on the way up to Glen Onoko falls.  The hubby and I had lunch outside and it was so nice out he said we should go for a walk.  We hopped in the car and headed to Jim Thorpe. We have been up in that area before, but not to the waterfalls.  We have been living here for 4 years and haven't seen many things in the area. We are hoping to spend as much time as possible outside while we can since it is so much harder to do in the winter.

Glen Onoko falls, Jim Thorpe, PA

I am wearing an FO in that pic that I will be sharing on Friday!! I have also been working on my Simple Skyp socks. I have one finished and am halfway through the leg of the second one. The goal is to finish these by the end of the month so I can submit them for Flying class.  

Sock #2, Simple Skyp Socks - The Cyborg's Craft Room - "Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock"

Lastly I have been working on my Wintry Mitts. I finished the first mitt and continued on in the Crystal Palace Mini Mochi skein. So whereas the first mitt starts at green at the bottom, this one is a purple.  I know that looks more magenta than purple, but the color is very different in real life.  Hopefully my swap partner is not too OCD about her mitts being identical.  

Wintry Mitt #2

I made a list of all of the deadline knitting I have to do and I almost cried.  When I first commited to doing everything I figured, I have all year, why not?!  Now that the year is half over and I am just starting some of these things the panic is setting in.  There's no way I can do everything, so my Adrift cardigan is going on hiatus until I can finish up some deadlines.  I would have loved to finish it by the OWL deadline, but there's no way it can happen.  

I am happy to say that I finished two bigger projects this past week that I will be sharing on Friday.  Now I am just working on my deadline knitting.  I plan on knocking a huge portion of it out in July so I wanted to see how many of the smaller projects I can finish before then.

I cast on this adorable pumpkin  hat using Knit Picks Brava.  When Brava first came out I loved it!  Now that they changed manufacturers I'm not a huge fan.  I think it will still be durable, it's still easy to care for.  It just doesn't feel nearly as nice as it did before and squeaks when I knit it up.

Pumpkin Hat pattern by Eileen Casey.  Yarn:  Knit Picks Brava Worsted in Orange.  

The other project on the needles this week is for my swap partner.  I'm knitting her the Cruiser Mittens.  The pattern calls for worsted weight but I am double stranding sport weight instead.  

Cruiser Mittens pattern by Cailyn Meyer.  Yarn: Cascade 220 Sport in Charcoal Grey

Tonight is your last chance to enter our spindle and Gourmet Stash puni giveaway in the Ravelry thread!  The winner will be announced in the group tomorrow morning so if you haven't already, get those last minute entries in!