New Knits and a Giveaway

When I'm not making jewelry, I usually baking, cooking, making cards or knitting. Yay for knitting! The only problem with my love of knitting is that the finished products keep piling up. I know you're thinking I should either stop buying yarn and slow down my knitting, or try selling some of it. Well, I can't seem to stop buying yarn and I do try to sell some. But I don't try very hard. I have some scarves listed in my other etsy shop, A Peaceful Life and I have some bags and scarves for sale at Dragonfly Gallery in Soldotna. These two outlets don't even make a dent in the pile of knits I'm looking at.

Soooo, it's time for a giveaway!

 I bought this gorgeous hand-dyed yarn from Phydeaux Designs. Check out her etsy shop where you will find tons of lovely yarns and fun patterns. I purchased a beautiful neck warmer pattern from Rabbit Ridge Designs. It was a match made in heaven. Here is the resulting neck warmer:

Sorry, but that is NOT the item I'm giving away. What a tease, right?

Naturally, I had a bit of that multi-colored yarn left over. I searched through my massive yarn stash and found some solid green pima cotton/tencel blend yarn that looked great with the Phydeaux yarn. I turned to one of my favorite scarf patterns and here is the result:

It's about 62" long and 4" wide and the body of the scarf is done in seed stitch, which adds a nice bumpy (but so soft) texture. The ruffle is done with the leftover yarn from the neck warmer.

 As you can see, 60" is long enough to go around your neck twice. Yes, this is the item that I'm giving away! All you have to do is leave a comment and I will use a random number generator to select the winner. Because this is a holiday, I'm going to keep this giveaway open through the end of the week. I will select the winning number late on Friday, January 4.

May the odds be ever in your favor!

(Yes, I stole that line from the Hunger Games.)

I Knit Too!

Many of you already know that I am an avid knitter as well as a jewelry maker. What you probably don't know is that I sell my knitted things in an etsy shop. They are mingled in with a bunch of other things like handmade books and various supplies.

This one features some gorgeous wool/bamboo yarn in a really pretty ombre pattern.

For this next scarf, I used a multi colored wool yarn in a thick-and-thin format.

Next up is a scarf fearing chocolate brown yarn in a wool and linen mixture. Lovely.

I have a few more in that shop as well. Here's the link to the shop: A Peaceful Life and a link to the Knitwear Section. Have a look around at the knitted scarves as well as the supplies. You may find something you can't live without or didn't even know you needed!

A Trio of Socks

Yes, I know that socks are normally found in pairs.  But what's a girl to do when she finds herself with too much yarn for 2 socks, yet not enough for 4?  Why, knit 3, of course!  That one on the far left looks very different than the other 2, but I don't care.

This yarn was wonderful to work with.  It is 75% superwash wool and 25% nylon.  I purchased it in a small yarn shop in Prescott, AZ a year ago.  See, I do shop for things that are not jewelry or bead related!

My First Pair of Knitted Socks

It was with some trepidation that I started knitting a pair of socks a couple of weeks ago.  There were parts that were sort of tricky, but overall, it was not as bad as I was expecting it to be.  For me, it all came down to not overthinking it.  I'd heard and read about how challenging "turning the heel" would be.  I found that if I followed the instructions, one step at a time, it wasn't difficult at all.

Doesn't this apply to so many things we tackle everyday of our lives?

Here are some pictures of the completed socks.  I used Lanaloft (by Brown Sheep).  It's 100% wool sport weight yarn.  This means that it will need to be hand washed -- luckily, my washing machine has a hand wash cycle.

A close up of the heel.

I love the way this self-striping yarn "patterned-out".   The best part?  They actually fit!

I've already started a second pair with sock weight yarn, which is much finer and proving to be a bit trickier.

A New Sweater

I've been working on this sweater for a few weeks now, knitting almost every evening for a couple of hours.  The yarn is a fabulous blend of wool and silk.  At first, the randomly spaced little white nubs annoyed me, but now I like the way they look.

Against the advice of Roberta, good friend and owner of the local yarn shop, I followed the directions for a size XL.  It's huge.  I should have made it in size Large, as Roberta suggested.  The good news is that I like the way it looks with a cotton turtle neck underneath and I really don't even need a coat to go outside!

Now, I've started to knit my first pair of socks!

A New Scarf Pattern

I rarely enter contests or giveaways, but in this case I'm glad I did -- because I won!  Brenda from Phydeaux was offering a giveaway of some knitting patterns from her etsy pattern shop.  I won my choice of 2 patterns and have already completed one.  This is the pattern I just completed:

I did not use as bulky a yarn as the pattern called for -- mainly because I wanted to use yarn that I had in my stash and none of it was super bulky.  Here's my version in a slate-ish blue wool/alpaca blend.

The pattern gives the scarf a really nice texture.  I'll probably make this scarf again and again!

What, you don't knit?  Then you really should check out Brenda's shop of hand knit accessories, Phydeaux.  Her work is absolutely lovely.

A New Hat - Just for Me!

Remember this post?  If you don't, I'll refresh your memory with this photo of some wonderful yarns.

The yummy green yarn (79% wool, 21% linen) is now this cute hat:

Yes, I cropped out my face.  Why, you ask?  Because it was cold and I had an extremely goofy look on my face. 

Yarn Love

Yarn is one of my newest weaknesses -- it's only been going on for about 3 years.  I love natural fibers and rich colors.  I purchased these yarns several months ago and just recently decided it was time to use them.

Half of these are 79% wool and 21% linen.  The other half are 79% wool and 21% bamboo.  Each skein is variegated in color and saturated with color.  There was one more skein in the collection, but it is now a scarf ... a yummy deep purple scarf with a multi-colored ruffled edge.

Now I need to decide what to do with the rest of these yarns!

A New Scarf Takes Shape

Surprise -- I found 2 skeins of yarn that I forgot I had.  This is almost as unlikely as discovering I have too many beads.  hehe.  This yarn is 100% superfine alpaca.  I really don't know what classifies it as superfine, but I DO know that it is amazingly soft.

I selected this basket weave pattern, which looks a lot more complicated than it really is.

The yarn is a yummy forest green with a touch of olive.  Here's a close-up of the fun pattern.  I hope I have enough yarn to make a scarf of decent length.  I'm not really good as estimating that.  Yet.

I guess, whenever it was that I purchased this yarn, I also purchased 2 skeins in a different color.  Those skeins are a variegated blue/purple/burgundy that is just wonderful.

A Stack O'Scarves

I've been knitting a lot lately.  It really helped me get through Xena's final days by giving me something to focus on in the evenings.  Here's a stack of scarves that I've recently completed.

The top one and the third one down are alpaca.  The oatmeal colored one in between is handspun wool.  I love the nubby, yet still soft texture of this one.  I knitted the bottom one by holding together two different yarns: orange & gray mohair and bright orange nylon.  The mohair really tamed the brightness of the nylon.

I finished another scarf ...

... and even though I adore it, I think I need to list it.  How many scarves can one woman wear?  I used 3 very different yarns to knit this scarf and I knit it the short way.  Most scarves are knit starting at one end, this one started on the side.

It's a bit wider than most of the scarves I make, so it could be worn around the shoulders instead of around the neck.  This next photo shows the 3 distinctly different yarns I used.

I think it's yummy.

3 New Scarves

Yes, I've been a knitting fool.  Knitting is my activity of choice while watching movies in the evening, Xena curled at my feet.  This new variation on a drop-stitch pattern has me slightly obsessed.  If I was capable, I would alter a sweater pattern to use this stitch.  I am so not capable of doing anything other than following an existing pattern.

These first 2 scarves are knit with Noro Cashmere Island yarn, in different colorways.  Both are yummy!

Using the same stitch, this last scarf was knit with a variegated blue alpaca yarn -- super soft!

Each of these photos is linked to the listing on etsy, if you simply must have one!

Blue Scarf in Progress

I started knitting a new scarf a few days ago.  This yarn is variegated in all shades of blue.  It's 100% alpaca and is from Chile.  It's soft and such a pleasure to work with.  I have a ton of it because, well, it was on sale from one of my favorite yarn websites.  To get the sale price, you had to buy a ton.  With big plans of sweaters and such, I went ahead an bought the ton.

Now, I see no sweater in my future with this yarn.  I tried.  It just wasn't draping in a way that was appropriate for a garment.  Oh well.

The pattern  is full of slipped stitches, which give the scarf the woven look, which is best seen in the 2nd photo.

What do I do with all these scarves I knit?  I sell some at my booth at the State Fair.  I TRY to sell them in my second etsy shop, A Peaceful Life and I give lots of them away to friends.

Two New Scarves

I've been knitting up a storm lately. Knitting is my evening activity. I do it while watching movies or the few tv shows I actually like. I wish I could say that it keeps me from snacking in the evenings, but that would be a lie.

This first scarf is a multi-directional diagonal pattern and it looks much more difficult than it is. It's the very first pattern I ever knitted, about 4 years ago. It is well suited to a variegated yarn, such as Cashmere Island from Noro, which is what I used here. Over the past few years, I've knitted this pattern with several other variegated yarns: Silk Garden and Kureyon, also from Noro.



This next scarf is the simple seed stitch. It's a time consuming stitch, but the effect is well worth the time. It's very bumpy and when done with a substantial yarn like Mirasol (merino wool, alpaca and silk) it has quite a cushion-y feel. My guess is that this scarf would keep you warm when it's -20 degrees! The color is also quite incredible. At first glance, you might think it is simply brown. When viewed closer, you can see undertones of burgundy.





*Thanks to all of you who expressed concern for Xena's well being. She is doing better, but this thing is not over yet. We're keeping a close eye on her and continuing with the current medicines. I'll keep you posted.

The Completed Sweater

I've worked on this sweater for months. I only knit in the evenings, and not every evening. That's why this sweater too so long to complete. I first blogged about it here. It was not a complete success. It's way too big. I tried to shrink it by washing it first in warm water, which is contrary to the instructions found on the yarn label. That didn't work. Then I washed it again and put it in the dryer on high. That didn't work. I got brave yesterday and washed in it hot water on the gentle cycle. That didn't work. The yarn is a cotton & wool blend. Why won't it shrink?

I decided to wear it today with a white turtleneck underneath. It's big and baggy. On the bright side, it's very comfy and it hides ... well, things that I might want to hide. Let's just leave it at that.

A Special Order

Last week I received an etsy convo from someone who had "hearted" one of my knitted bags. That bag was awesome -- so awesome that I contemplated keeping it -- and it sold in March of 2008. She wanted to know if I would make one for her. I told her I would be happy to do that.

We went back and forth several times regarding colors and she finally decided on a deep burgundy with a creamy color accent. I think it will be a lovely combination. The yarn is now on order. I'm anxious to begin and I'm sure my customer is anxious to see the finished product.

This is the bag:

Color Match :: Three Items, One Color

I started knitting a new top-down sweater a few weeks ago. It's a v-neck pattern that I've done before. The yarn I chose is a beautiful periwinkle color. It's made by Cascade and it is 80% pima cotton, 20% wool. It's a delight to knit with and I think the sweater will be wearable -- much more so than the last one I made.

I've just reached the point where I will divide for the sleeves and continue to work on the body of the sweater. This next photo gives you an idea of how much more I have to knit. These balls of yarn are two deep in the bag!


Knitting this sweater made me think of the wild geraniums that grow along the road and throughout the woods near my house. Their color is similar. This is my kind of flower -- it grows all by itself, with no human intervention. The rain is the only water it gets, yet it blooms for several weeks. Note to self: dig a few of these up and plant them in my perennial garden.


The third item in this color journey is from my etsy shop. This necklace starts with a briolette of gray/blue quartz. Looking up the chain, you can see that I've included some small beads of mystic topaz, which are the exact color of the yarn in my sweater and the flowers that adorn my street.


It feels like a circle has been completed.

Two Pairs of Mittens

Yay! I finished the mittens -- 2 pairs! The only part that I wasn't lovin' so much was knitting the inner cuff thing. It makes for a great mitten because it snugs against your wrist, but knitting it was a pain -- size 4 double pointed needles are very awkward for me.

I used 2 different brands of yarn for these 2 pairs of mittens. Yes, they were both 100% wool and I knitted them in the exact same way. But guess what? The light colored pair felted and shrunk A LOT more than the darker pair. I can still wear them, but they are definitely snug.

Here's a close up shot of how the liner looks. It really is a clever design.



The second pair with the lighter color variegated wool felted up beautifully.


On with the next knitting project!

Last week, I listed this felted bag in my second etsy shop:

Mittens!

I finally decided to try knitting some mittens. I found an adorable pattern for a simple pair of mittens that starts our HUGE and then gets felted, much like the bags I've made.

To demonstrate how big the knitted mittens are, I placed a normal sized red glove over one of them in this photo. Yes, they are big and very floppy.

The yarn I used is dark blue and variegated with specks of color throughout. It seems like a waste to run the washing machine (for felting) for just one pair of mittens, so I started a second pair and will felt them together.

If they turn out ok, I'll share a picture!

Catching up on loose ends ...

The green sweater turned out ok -- not great, just ok. This was quite a disappointment to me, as I had many hours invested in this knitting project. I think the problem lies more with my choice of yarn than my knitting skills. The tencel/wool blend was a dream to work with, but it knits up into a very flimsy fabric. It doesn't drape in the most flattering way. Oh well, live and learn.

I've completed two knitted bags, which are in the washing machine being felted at this very moment. Both are patterns I have not tried before and I'm anxious to see how they turn out. That's a determining factor as to whether I keep them or sell them. HA!

What the heck do I need a shawl for? I don't, but I have to keep this beauty I knitted from some gorgeous yarn I bought on etsy at a fantastic price. Here's a close up of the shawl. It's just a big triangle, so a picture of the colors seemed more important. The yarn is a blend of wool, mohair and rayon. The colors are aqua, deep purple, navy blue and emerald green. It's perfectly me.


The last loose end to tie up is my foray into poetry. I've had to abandon this project for now. Apparently I can only write poetry about sad things and not about things that bring me joy. It was just too depressing.