What I have been up to

Well the past week I have been so busy. So busy that I just can't seem to get things done. I just hate that. Well this week I have gotten myself a bit more organized and now I am able to get some things done. First thing I am working on are a pair of socks. I will talk about them later, so stay tuned. Tonight I was able to finish clue 1 in the mystic waters shawl KAL. I am using a light sage green yarn called Alpaca pure from Alchemy. I have started a couple of the shawl or stole KAL's that have been all over the web. I haven't been all that thrilled with them. Not that they were bad but just not my style. Well so far I have totally fallen in love with this pattern. I think the alpaca with drape really well, so I'm looking forward to getting this one done. I can't wait until tomorrow to see what clue brings. By the way you can see some of my finished and in progress things on Ravelry. My screen name is of course Yarnsnthreads.

Finished!

Well I was able to finish my entrelac sock last night and even wear them to work today. I have to say they were a lot of fun to knit but I did cop out a bit on the pattern. By the time I finished the entrelac part of the pattern I was ready for easy knitting. So I just stuck with the blue and kept knitting until I ran out of the blue. So not to make it a total cop out I did add color to the toe. I have had several people ask where the pattern came from. Its from the book Socks! a special Spin off publication. I know you can still get a copy from Interweave.com. The book has great sock patterns. Its mostly for handspun but you can easily figure out what yarn will work. So what's my next project? Another pair but these are from the Knitting Vintage socks by Nancy Bush.

Baby its cold outside

Well the weather here in Idaho has change, in what seems like over night. As a matter of fact my husband and all his hunting buddy's came home a day early because it was so cold. He said it was snowing every day they were up in the mountains. Well its not quite that cold here in Boise but it is cold enough for my fingerless mitts. So I went to look for them in a basket that I keep all the gloves, mittens and hats for winter. But of course they weren't there. So what is a gal to do? Knit another pair. Yesterday I was looking through my stash for some yarn for projects that my daughters want to make and came across this yarn. I have no idea where it came from or what it is. I do have a strong feeling that its alpaca and maybe some wool. It appears to be hand dyed but not hand spun. I don't remember dyeing it but of course that means nothing. Anyway I used a pattern from the book One Skein Wonders ( don't you just love that book) and knit them up in about an evening. And yes they are warm and fit me like a glove. Sorry

Clue 2 complete

Well I had a bit of a slow start but I have been able to get a lot of knitting done over the past few days as my hubby is been busy hunting, or like we like to call it hiking with rifles. He never gets anything. Anyway I have been able to spend a lot of time knitting so the first thing I want to get done was to catch up with the secret of the stole KAL. I am using Knit Picks bare lace weight wool and what I would call antique white beads. I wasn't so sure I would like this stole when I saw the first clue but when clue two came out I fell in love with the design. I can't wait for Friday and clue 3.

What color next?

Well so far these are the funnest socks I have knit. Of course so far I have loved the entire process. From shopping for the roving at a fiber fair to the spinning and now the knitting. Because I have 8 colors that I'm working with I do have to take a minute to think about colors. I really don't want all the greens together or all the purples and pinks. I wasn't so sure about the orange ( not my favorite color) but I think its working out really well. I have a deep purple that will be the next color, after that I'm not sure what I will use. The Pattern calls for the entrelac only on the cuff. I plan to continue with color work on the heels and foot. After all I have lots of colors to work with. I think I may have enough left over to fingerless mits too

Can you...

As a knitting teacher I am asked all the time if I can change a pattern to fit the yarn I want to use. Or in this case I only had 648 yards of yarn and I wanted to make something out of it besides a hat or two. So here is what I did. First let me tell you about the yarn. I was given this yarn a year or so ago from a secret swap or something. Well I had never seen this yarn so I knew was I not going to be able to get more if I needed. So I have been looking for something that would take 648 yards. Well I wasn't able to find anything I liked. By the way the yarn is called Goddess Yarns Ellen. Its a deep purple and each ball has 81 yards and it suggest I use a size 8 needle.

Well after looking and looking I found a really neat vest pattern from Plymouth. The pattern called for Turino Silk, which by the way is a discontinued yarn. The pattern called for a size 5 and 7 needle with a gauge of 18 stitches for 4 inches. It also called for about 900 yards. So what to do. Well I did a swatch with size 9 needles and it turned out to be a gauge of 14 stitches to 4 inches. The fabric was a bit looser but not bad. The yarn is a55% cotton, and 45% wool so its very soft so a soft fabric is just fine with me. Now that I had my gauge I needed to adjust the pattern to get the fit I was looking for. I usually wear a 44 because I am a 42 1/2 well I knew that if I made the vest with my gauge my regular size would of course end up way to big, so what I did was knit the small instead of the large. What was the result. I had plenty of yarn for the vest, I was even able to make it 3 inches longer then the pattern called for. The best part was its fits great and I have about 1 1/2 balls left over to make that hat some day.

I have learned over the years that for me its easier for me to change the gauge to either larger or smaller then the original pattern called for then make either the size smaller or larger to get the end result I want. The beauty of doing it this way is I don't have to change any of the numbers of stitches and I usually have some yarn left over. One thing I do when using this method , when the pattern tells you to knit for say 10 inches for a small I will knit for the length of the larger or even the extra large. I want it to be sure its long enough.

And the socks keep spinning

I am still working on the yarns I need for my big enterlac sock project. In reality I have all eight skeins done and am taking them to work so that I can wind them into balls so that I can get started on the socks next week. But first I have to finish up a couple of projects. I'm working on a purple vest that I should have finished today and then I need to finish up the I love gansey socks. I need to get them done so that I can have the needles for the enterlac ones. I really love how the yarns came out on for these socks. I would compare it to Jitterbug or Loute's little gem yarns. Soft but still spun tightly. Which I think works best for socks. Well I'm off to get a few things done so that I can get started on the new socks.

And the winner is...........................

Well after read all the names that were entered in the spinning wheel contest, and after everyone thought about we have decided on Amy's idea of CLEMENTINE! We must confess we all love a good western here so Clementine just seems to fit with our family. Thanks so much for all the wonderful ideas. I will try to think up another contest before the year comes to an end. Amy please leave me your email address so that I can contact you for your address so that I can get the skein of handspun out to you.

ITs beginning to look a lot like fall?

I'm not sure why I like fall so much. It could be the changes of the leaves, the cool crisp mornings, Halloween. No its really the fact that the hot temperatures are gone for another year. This year in Idaho it seems like we are about a month ahead. Its already been cool enough for me to turn the heater on. OK it was just one time but still I had to turn it on because it was so cold in the house. So in honor of Fall's arrival here in Idaho I needle felted this little guy. I picked up the orange roving while I was attending a fiber fair in Salt Lake last month. I just love the color and I think he works well with my other fall decorations. Enjoy.

I've been socked!

Over the past couple of days I have been socked! I received two boxes that contained socks and other goodies. First I received a neat pair from Lisa Ping. These are part of the Sock it to me swap. They are made from Brown Sheep Wildfoote in the color of deco lime. She designed these herself and are just wonderful and fit just great.

Then I got a box from Suzie Racho. These came from the Monkey sock swap. If you have not tried to knit the monkey sock from Cookie A. then you have missed out. This is one of my favorite sock patterns. Suzie knit these with socks that rock yarn and I just love them. She also sent some monkey goodies and of course some chocolate. Part of the swap was to send yarn and another Cookie A. pattern. She sent a skein of socks that rock yarns as you can see in a wonderful colorway. In the little white bag are some brown stitch markers.

The best part of both of these swaps are the socks and the both fit like a glove. Thanks ladies.

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name that Wheel Contest

Well the name the contest is now over. Thanks so much for all the wonderful names. There are 56 entries and they are all wonderful. As a matter of fact its going to be hard to choose just one. So what I'm going to do is talk with my daughters and let them help me choose. So check back in a day or so and see which one we chose.