There is snoring

My house if filled with the sounds of naptime snoring from my husband, dog..... and the cat if you listen very carefully.

So what better time to update the blog!?

Looks like I have to upload some new photos too. I had some finishing. I completed the tan hat from my previous post, as well as the blue hat, a baby hat in the leftover blue and finally a second hat in the Elizabeth pattern by Jane Richmond.

Vancouver Mini Maker Faire was this weekend too and I volunteered yesterday. Always fun to teach folks how to knit, it makes them feel accomplished and happy. Gotta love a gift of time and skill. It was super tiring though, and I went to bed really early last night. Good times. I hope I'm not getting a cold I have vacation coming up.

A Hat, a shawl and a hat.

I may have mentioned that we (meaning my knitting guild) was given a bunch of yarn by some lovely knitters who are downsizing, in addition to willingly carting off the leftovers from our stash swap the other month. 

Wait..... I didn't mention that? 

Really?   

oh, I see.........

Well, um. It isn't staying at my house. Honest. Most of it is acrylic, or fun fur crazyness. I spent the other weekend winding it up to make learn to knit knits for Guild events. We generally set up at community events to get the word out about knitting and our guild...... for proof check the FVKG blog.

Any-way I did manage to find something nice at the bottom of one of the bags...... and I made a hat. It's even finished. YES! DONE!

The Elizabeth hat by Jane Richmond

I have had this hat in my queue for ages..... since she first put it out and I have just now knit it! It was very enjoyable and easy to knit. This photo is just before the final bind off. I should really have some photos of my hats on heads...... that would look better. So glad I used up that bulky alpaca blend. That one lost skein was super lonely in the bag of orange acrylic. It broke my heart. Now it's a hat, and happy.

I completed my Cassandra shawl as well and since I had an extra pair of blocking hands here on Sunday I enlisted help to get it done quicker. Thanks Jen!

Lovely isn't she. There are more photos on the project pages in Ravelry if you need more detail. Malibrigo lace in Purple Mystery.

Finally I began a second hat 

That looks alot like the first hat I already made out of this yarn. I liked it so much I wanted to make a second to give to my sister or my gal pal. We shall see. Who knows.....

Happy knitting!

Sunday trials

Today was an experiment day!

Our experiment was Tie Dye! Fun was had and learning happened!

I haven't tie dyed in ages, and I will be showing a few friends this week so I wanted to remind myself that it really was as easy as I recalled. It was! 

We set up.......

We decorated...

Several different items....

We marveled at the result!

)

Yay tie dye! Honestly Jen and I had fun and we are planning another dye day. Which could include more tie dye, as well as some general yarn dying too. If you haven't tried it, you should!!! There are tons of tutorials on the internet, as well included in some kits that you can buy. I know that my local art supply store Opus has a great couple of kits from a really good dye brand. If you don't have a boss shop line Opus around............ uummmmm   some of the big box stores also sell the brand Tulip kits. (honestly we went cheap and old school.... Tintex and Dyelon using a soda ash bath first) I honestly bought all the dye before I went to Opus for squeeze bottles..... ooopy. LOL  There may be more dye photos later this week as I am, as I mentioned teaching a group of ladies to do this Tuesday. Hope your weekend was sunny and bright!

Stashes are crazy out of control creatures.

That are both Lovely and Terrible to behold. 

It's true! My Guild had a stash swap at a meeting two months ago and I tried to pull some things out to get rid of...... honest I TRIED. It didn't work though. Not at all, my stash loves me and wants to stay at home. So a few weeks ago I pulled it all out. As much as I could find anyway, I have a feeling that something is missing and I searched everywhere but that white yarn I just can't find!

Here it is. All I could find.

To some I know this is a puny stash.... but it's mine and I love it, I love it all!

Some is planned projects. We all have a few of those, and some is just a beautiful acquisition that I needed to add. I don't want to get rid of it....... I want to KNIT it. So there has to be some way that I can gain some type of organization, so nothing gets lost. Honestly though, it escapes me. The idea of organization for this or any of my crafty things makes me think that if I had a week I may get it done, but only if I took it in small bites and didn`t have a deadline. LOL.

I love my stash and I hope to show it off in finished things soon. I`ll keep you posted.

The Questionables

We all have them, projects that have gone awry.

Sweaters that linger at the end of the bed waiting for a bit of completion, that zipper or finishing button.

I am not immune, I know I am not alone. So when is enough enough?

When do you decide that the yarn is better served in another project?

I have a few confusing projects at the moment. A few however are straight forward finishes.

These two need to be finished with zippers. 

Yup, just zippers, thankfully.... but also I am not great at zippers, the last one I tried did not work out so well. So I think I have to take some time to check out a tutorial and then get the zipper in. So that is the stall. Time to watch a video on zippers. lol

This sweater is too short to wear much, but I do like it enough to wear it.

So I have to undo the base and knit it longer. I have yarn, but I don't really have much info on it, I don't know the needle size as it pre-dates Ravelry. IS that possible? Yes, yes it is. So not only do I have to take out the base edge I have to try needles out to see what works..... another road block but not insurmountable.

Frogging! for sure!

No discussion needed..... it's a goner.

This little number is a bit of a issue for me. I like the pattern and I have some to finish, but more than I though. So frog or finish the knitting and put it together.....

I waffle a bit on this one because it should be a very useable sweater when all is said and done. It currently lives in my working basket, so I can move on to it once my current project is complete, but I seem to keep avoiding it. So I will have to keep considering the pros and cons. It's no so far from being done that it will be a terrible slog, but I still have two front pieces to make. This is why I usually knit in the round.... less procrastination about completing pieces.

This blue number is a good sweater, but I never wear it. It's a sad combination of being too bulky for me and a mis-matching of pattern/yarn. Lionbrand Homespun was not made to be a sweater for my chubby little body! So as a result I think a frogging or give away is in order.... can't decide.

This next one is my Central Park Hoodie, I used it alot... but mostly under a vest. It's warm and lovely, but not long enough...... so I'd have to make it longer or totally re-knit it. depending on the construction. I am unsure whether I knit it in one piece or in pieces.

The good thing is I have more yarn and I have the details on Ravelry, so I can find a solution readily enough. This one was a great knit and if I did have a piecing issue I could totally see myself making another. No sweat, I like the sweater and I want to wear it more, but fit issues are a problem. So this one will also have some specific consideration go into it.

Following that we have a recently completed object. The Oatmeal Playmate.

Another problem sweater. A great knit, a nice fit....... but see how the collar pulls up in front? Yea, re-knit that in five different variations to get a good fit...... this was the last. None worked for me. So good house sweater? Or just wait a few months for my hatred to subside and try another method?  So many choices. My last sweater object for this post is a red wool sweater that is mt first personal steeking project.

,

I am glad I knit it and I have a problem that was out of my control. My animal was sick on the arm..... and I couldn't salvage the yarn. So the trouble here is that I don't have the same amount of wool needed to finish the arms, (no ordering more, it was discontinued a few years ago) however the baggie you see sitting on the side is remarkably similar. if not the same red. So it may work. I only cut the steek on the sleeve I was working on so that if I decided to frog I wouldn't loose the whole sweater. This one is less of a question for me. After having the yarns out in the lovely sunlight it was hard to tell them apart, which gives me a good feeling about substituting the Cascade in.

Wow, this was a long post with my sweater issues. Hope I didn't bore you and as I find my solutions I will update. My plan is to have them sorted by the end of the summer, when I will start needing sweaters again!

Comments are always welcome, suggestions too. Thanks for visiting! Hope your knitting is going well.

Shawls and neck things

Shawls!
Seriously....... a friend of mine wanted to see them all in one shot....

So here they are, with my dog!
I may do a "one a week" profile thing, but I have posted about each of them on this blog. I know it. LOL
I may do it anyway. I was playing with my stash the other weekend, trying to get things in some kind of order. I am pretty sure it didn't work. More photos on that to follow.

Mostly I am out of the shawl making stage, as a frenzied, must make kind of way. I still have one on the needles and I have a second planned, but it's not all consuming. The hardest part is wearing them all..... not all at once, that would be crazy. (but the picture may be funny)

Here is the first one in the triangular shawl as scarf knitting if my memory serves the Multnoma.

Really enjoyed knitting it, in fact this collection has more that one Multnoma in it. Three I think, two were also knitted as gifts, it's so easy and relaxing to knit up. In addition it makes variegated yarn look lovely!