twenty-two

Two months, two yarn festivals.

Yeah, I didn't mind that at all.

Yesterday was the Pittsburgh Knit & Crochet Festival! I went last year, and had a wonderful time. I bought seven hanks of yarn and vowed to use them all before the 2013 festival. I used four of them to make this Noro Scarf. The remaining three lovelies were used for this hat and this hat.

I only took a small bag, since Stitches West was just a month ago. I did some damage there, and I only posted a small portion of the haul from that trip here on the blog. Seriously, you have no idea. I was really excited about seeing all the indie dyers and especially excited for a few vendors in particular, more on that in a moment...

This year, I ended up with six hanks of beautiful yarn. Since I always immediately reach for the blues, I didn't let myself get any blue yarn yesterday. I need to start to knitting outside my color comfort zone a bit more... I've stashed them on Ravelry, and here's a quick shot below. I picked up three hanks of Zoe Sock from Shalimar Yarns, a hank of Superwash Merino Worsted from Unplanned Peacock Studios (the variegated yarn - top right), my very first hank of Fibernymph Dye Works Bona Fide DK in Golden Brown, and a hank of Ball and Skein Providence in Goldenrod.

And speaking of Fibernymph Dye Works, I got to meet Lisa, the owner (and host of the 90% Knitting video podcast)! She was fabulous and just so sweet. Her colors are so beautiful! Lisa lives right here in Pittsburgh, and it was so nice to finally have the opportunity to squish and squeeze her yarns. As if that wasn't exciting enough, when I got to her booth, I ran into Emily, host of the Whatcha Swatchin' video podcast, and we got to chat for a minute or two. Although, I can't imagine how weird it was for her. She was just standing there shopping politely, and I was like, "OH WOW! I feel like I know you, even though we've never met!" Emily was super fun, just like she is on her podcast, and we talked about her upcoming wedding and our dogs, of course. Here's a picture of Lisa and I (and my first hank of FDW) at the festival yesterday.

I finished my hat last night after I got back from the festival, and decided to take 18 hours without having anything on the needles. I really like the hat, and I'm happy it only took one ball of yarn. Now I still have one left for another hat. Here's a quick shot of the new hat, taken by James, photographer extraordinaire. And here's the project page with all the knitty gritty details.

I also stopped at Natural Stitches, since I hadn't been there in months! I know I've mentioned them before, but it really is the best LYS around. Seriously. What a fun place. Seriously. I would live there. Seriously.

Seriously.

So, after yesterday's yarn crawl and finishing the Bartek hat, I needed to cast on a new project. Seriously, I needed to. I've started a new shawl by Veera Välimäki called Stripe Study. It's an asymmetrical triangular shawl in garter stitch. I'm using two different colorways of madelinetosh tosh merino light (because it's fabulous!), French grey and stove pipe. This one may take a little time, but I'm determined to have only one project on the needles at a time... Probably. I mean, I'll try. Here's the project page, and a quick shot below.

That's all for now.

Oh, and Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Seriously.

twenty

It has been a busy couple weeks.

I've been to the west coast and back, and my trip was fantastic!

Last Tuesday, James and I flew out to California for a "long weekend." It was a Tuesday through Monday trip; that's a long weekend, right? Anyway, our long weekend was riddled with needles and yarn, hooks and patterns, and books and knitting at every turn!

On the flight out, I finished a shawl that I had mentioned starting last time I posted. I don't have pictures yet, and I still need to block, so that doesn't really count today. Next time... However, after I finished that I made a few little Mug Hugs. This pattern was great for worsted scraps. Since I didn't really want to start a big project right before Stitches (even though I did... read on), I made a few of these on the second leg of our flight. Seriously quick knitting, and it's good for the environment, too! Raveled here and here.

We arrived in California and had dinner at my Grandma's house the next night with my Aunt and Cousin. Dinner was amazing, homemade French Dip Sandwiches!! My Grandma (or Nan, in my world) had mentioned to me that she had some of my Great Great Aunt Elsie's knitting supplies, as she had recently passed away. She called me a few weeks before we flew out and asked if I wanted her to hold them out there for me, or just donate them. Well, I'm sure you can guess what I said. "HOLD THEM RIGHT THERE, NAN!" Aunt Elsie was seriously crafty. She was a very skilled knitter, and she also loved needlepoint, crochet, and many other hand crafts. She even helped my Nan knit her very first sweater! Nan had quite a few goodies for me (and even a full set of crochet hooks in my Great Grandmother's old case for James) when we arrived. Here's a few pics.

There were needles galore. I especially love the giant bamboo needles and crochet hooks.

There were many different pattern booklets, the oldest dating back to 1945!! I haven't looked at them page by page yet, but I'm setting aside most of the weekend to pour over the collection.

There was a group of Workbasket Magazines from 1979-1980, and the cover models were enough to make me holler. Their shoulder pads weren't bad, either. I just love these vintage publications!

It was really amazing to see all this stuff, and just to hold the same needles that she held so many years ago. I'm not a great historian, or all about genealogy, but I do love using the same crafting tools that my relatives once used. This was the second time I've received "heirloom" knitting supplies, and I can't express how much it means. It feels quite special, really.

As we still had a few days before Stitches, mom took us to her LYS. A Yarn Less Raveled in Danville, CA is a fabulous store. We met the owner, Mindy, and she was so welcoming. You could tell the yarn selection was carefully chosen, and there were a few items I'd never actually held in my hands before. I bought some madelinetosh (shocking, I know) and decided to cast on a hat that night. I thought, "I can finish this in two days..." Under normal circumstances, that wouldn't be a lofty goal. You know how you get all busy on vacation, though?? Below is the Antler hat I finished on Saturday, out of tosh vintage in the grasshopper colorway. It's nice and bright, and I've already worn it a few times! Details are on my project page.

On Friday, with an unfinished hat in tow, we went to Stitches West in Santa Clara. It was overwhelming, in every sense of the word. There were so many vendors, so much yarn, so many different products, and tons of people. I'm painting this picture for you to try and explain why I only snapped a few photos during the entire event. I was just stunned. In a good way, though. James took a break about and hour after we arrived, as he had scheduled a tour of the famous Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, a mere 7 miles away. This gave him a good three-hour break, as he doesn't get as much joy out of staring at yarn as I do. Everybody wins.

Here's some amazing fair isle hats I spotted, at the Nelkin Designs booth. I love fair isle.

There were so many vendors that I loved, but I wanted to at least mention a few here. I met Karida Collins, owner of Neighborhood Fiber Company out of Baltimore, and she was a delight. Her yarns are just beautiful; you should have seen all the amazing colorways! I was quite impressed and am now regretting that I only grabbed a single hank of her yarn. The folks at Cephalopod Yarns were quite fun and exciting, and their yarns are scrumptious. I've been eyeing them up for a while, but never got to squish the yarn for myself... Until Friday. Also, I stopped by Miss Babs first thing, and that turned out to be the best move of the day. She had a line two booths back for most of the day!

Here's a quick shot of a few of the treats I picked up. From left to right, I got Miss Babs Cosmic Sock in the Mending Fences colorway, Neighborhood Fiber Company's Rustic Fingering in the Logan Circle colorway, and Cephalopod Traveller in the Goodnight, KY colorway. There's also some Tosh Vintage in Betty Draper's Blues and Pashmina in Charcoal from WEBS. I couldn't help myself. I will always need more madelinetosh. Peeking out from behind the yarn is Malabrigo Book 4, a great book with some patterns I will be knitting very soon.

California was wonderful, but any trip to see my mother never feels long enough. We always have the best time.

So, as of this week, my yarn stash has doubled to 28 yarns. I'm totally okay with that. However, the Pittsburgh Knit & Crochet Festival is only 16 days away, so I'd better jump on those needles. Well, not jump, but at least pick them up. And knit. A bunch. Not a problem.

Oh yeah, I started another shawl, but we'll talk about that next time... Promise.

nineteen

I'll be on a plane to California in exactly seven days.

And I will get to see my mother for the first time in five months.

This is some serious excitement, friends.

Among all this anticipation, I still managed to finish the Antelope Hat... and start and finish another hat as well. We'll get there, though. So, the Antelope Hat was really fun, and the pattern was well-written and straight forward. The only slightly fiddly part was the crown decreases at the end. I learned something new with this pattern... I learned that I'm not a fan of working yarn overs on double pointed needles. At least I know now. In any event, it's done and I blocked it over a balloon to let the eyelet pattern open up and guarantee sufficient slouchy-ness. I also used waste yarn (basted in a running stitch, and then cinched) along the ribbing to keep it nice and stretchy. I found this little tip in the finishing notes of the Brambles pattern I knit a while back. It really helped! Details are here on Ravelry.

Since I decided it'd be nice to finish more than one item this week, I knit another hat. This hat, named for a fabulous Broadway tune, is called For Good. If you haven't heard the song, go here immediately before reading the rest of this post. The pattern was designed by Megan Williams, one half of the hosts of a super fun knitting videocast, the Stockinette Zombies. Megan and Amy are a straight out of an owl's beak (A HOOT), check it out! Back to the hat... the pattern was designed in remembrance of Megan's sister Melissa, who passed away in 2007. All proceeds from the sale of this pattern are donated to the National Women's Health Network, in Melissa's name. It's great cause to support, and you get a fabulous pattern to knit as well.

I used Knit Picks Wool of the Andes Tweed in Prussian Heather, and it's definitely one of my favorite (super-affordable) yarns. PS - Does "Prussian Heather" remind you of "Prussian Blue" and then remind you of Bob Ross? That's what my little brain did just now. It's a nice, rich blue with some lovely flecks of black and white. Sadly (kinda), I don't have anymore of this yarn in my stash. Looks like some more tweed might be in my future...

I really loved knitting this pattern. It's not complicated, but the finished product is quite impressive. The fit is great, probably since I knit the large, and I will be wearing this tonight. Even if I'm just on my couch. Now, I didn't really care for the crown decreases of the Antelope Hat, but this hat was the exact opposite. The crown decreases (pictured below) were my favorite part of this hat. Kudos to Megan, because this pattern stays interesting until the end, and (in my humble-ish... okay, maybe not that humble... opinion, ahem) looks great! This will definitely be knit again, because it'll make a great gift. And I'm keeping this one. And I'm telling you... It's not going... anywhere. Raveled here.

Oh yes, if you're keeping track, my yarn stash is down to 14 yarns. OKAY?! I'm pretty excited about that.

Also, I started a shawl yesterday, but we'll talk more about that next time.

seventeen

I don't know about you, but I'm really feeling like a champ.

This week I started (and finished! Oh yes!) two different knitting projects.

Last time I posted, I had yarn picked out, but no project to go with it. Well, I ended up making a Purl Ridge Scarf by Stephen West. This was a good mindless project, and I actually got a lot done during knitting group. Sometimes, when I go to knitting group, I'm more chatty than knitty. However, with this project I was able to be both. I'm not like some of those awesome knitters who can knit and read at the same time (yet, ahem), but I'm now able to focus on a conversation while knitting. It used to be that I'd only catch every fourth or fifth word. "Salsa." "Ribs." "Hospital." "Marvelous." Okay, back to the main road folks. Anywho, I used almost all of the three skeins of tweed for this scarf, and didn't make many personal modifications to the pattern. If you like to see this project on ravelry, click this link please. Here's a pic below that shows the texture of the scarf, and it's the best I have right now. Once it's dry, I'll probably instagram or tweet a pic or two because I'll need to wear it. Did you know we got a few more inches of snow??

Well, I ended up finishing another Stephen West project just yesterday. The Drawbridge Cowl was a super easy knit, for reals. With the exception of the cast on, bind off, and 4 other rows, this thing is entirely stockinette in the round. Hello there, easy peasy... This was the first time that I've used a provisional cast on and it really wasn't that bad. A provisional cast on is when you cast on without an edge, so you have live stitches to pick up later. It was a little scary, but once I got into the knitting, not bad at all. I have an amazing book called Cast On Bind Off by Leslie Ann Bestor and it's proven (time and time again) to be a wonderful resource.

Okay, I'm really all over the map today. For the cowl, I used (from my stash, folks) Knit Picks Shine Worsted. KP Shine is a combination of Cotton and Modal (which Knit Picks calls beech wood and google calls rayon) and it was not bad to work with, for a cotton-based yarn. Cotton-based yarns aren't my favorite, as they don't usually have the spring that a natural wool has. That being said, I enjoyed this cotton yarn more than any others I've tried. If you'd like the deets, here's my Drawbridge project page on ravelry. I have 4 more balls of it in my stash in a nice grey color (I think it's "wallaby") and I wouldn't be surprised if they turn into a Purl Ridge Scarf for James...

Here's a couple pics of the cowl; one a little boring, and one where James was channeling Hodel (or maybe Chava) from Fiddler.

Oy vey.

I think it's been a post or two since I've updated you on it, but in case you were wondering... I only have 18 YARNS IN MY STASH!! I can't believe it's under 20. My original goal was to get the stash under 30 by the end of February and I have really surprised myself. I think the blog is keeping me honest and motivated, so that's a plus. Although, come the end of February, we'll probably be looking at a post (or two, eek!) that says "look at all the yarn I just got at Stitches West!"

Okay, I'm going to stop typing now. I think I've just disturbed someone during their first mid-morning nap.

Sorry, Ringo.

thirteen

Okay... Back to reality... For now.

The holidays were wonderful, and still not completely over for us. I know that the calendar says Christmas has passed, but we are going to see some relatives in a couple weeks so we're prolonging the magic. Well... except we'll be taking the Christmas decorations down. If the decorations stay up too long after New Year's I get a bit twitchy. And cranky.

In all honesty, I haven't knit a single stitch in 3 days. James' sister and her husband, along with our niece and nephew were at our house for an extended weekend. They just left this morning and are now back in Florida. Boo. We had a great time with lots of shopping, cooking, laughing and a couple movies. We always have the best time together. Speaking of the cooking, James and Kristy (his sister) made a few recipes from the new Ina Garten cookbook, Foolproof - Recipes You Can Trust. They surprised us with Amelia's Jambalaya and Straw & Hay with Gorgonzola. Mmm... Gorgonzola. Sadly, I don't have any pictures (gobble gobble), but they both looked amazing and tasted even better! If you're a Barefoot Contessa fan, and you haven't yet, grab this book. It's wonderful. Before our guests arrived, I baked the Chocolate Chunk Blondies from the same recipe collection. I did make a small adjustment, though. My nephew has a nut allergy, so instead of walnuts I used (drum roll, please) more chocolate. Sue me.

 

Today I thought to myself, "It's a new year... I should start a new project." My lovely mother gifted me a few patterns on ravelry for Christmas and it just so happens that my friends Aimee and Darren of the Knitting in Circles Podcast are hosting a Gifted Pattern KAL (Knit-A-Long) in their ravelry group. I've started the Windward Scarf by Heidi Kirrmaier and I'm enjoying the pattern so far. It's an asymmetrical scarf that uses a combination of simple stitch patterns and unique construction, that I think I'll enjoy. And let me just say, this pattern is very well-written. I love it when patterns are easy to read. I'm using two different colors of Knit Picks Gloss since I happened to have them on hand. As you may have heard, I'm still trying to stash down before I head to Stitches West next month. Here's my public project page, and a quick pick of the small amount of progress I've made so far...

Oh yes, and as of today, my yarn stash on ravelry is down to 26!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

ten

I've been all about knitting hats lately.

Honestly, I took a look at the last few projects on my Ravelry page and I've really been on a hat kick. I've finished three hats this month alone, and the only project I have (lingering and languishing) on the needles currently is my Sockhead Hat. Please don't take this as a complaint, though. Knitting, no matter the project, is always fun. And speaking of fun... I already finished the pair of Norwegian Snowflake Hats that I was worried about starting. This was a great project, and I particularly enjoyed the crown decreases. The hat is squared at the top, and I love the look of the additional snowflake that comes together as you are finishing the crown. The public project pages are here (red) and here (navy). I may even have a chance to wear one of these hats, as the weather reports here in Pittsburgh are calling for snow on Friday, the first day of winter. How nice.

Even without snow on the ground (yet), it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas at our house. Full disclosure... We put the tree up (and the stockings, banister garland, and decorations) the Monday after Thanksgiving, and I've been listening to Christmas music since October... So I guess I should really say that it's continuing to look a lot like Christmas. Oh yes, and there are pine cones in a bowl on the dining room table, in case you were wondering. Here's a picture of our stockings hung in the stairwell (since we don't have a fireplace) with care. I knit the stocking on the left for my husband this year (for a few months), and the one on the right belongs to our chihuahua, Ringo. I don't have a knitted Christmas stocking yet, but maybe by next year.

And if anyone is curious, my stash is now down to 36! I'm slowly, but surely, getting to my goal of 30 by February 2013. Sadly, I can't type anymore at the moment. Somebody needs some attention...

eight

I just love a good BLT.

Today's post is a quick one, and is coming to you following a delightful Sunday BLT brunch. I guess I'm using the word "brunch" a bit loosely here, though. All we really did was eat an early bird lunch. Not that I'm too worried about any particular time of day, since I've found through extensive research that bacon can be enjoyed during any hour of the day... or night.

Yesterday, I finished a hat. The pattern is called The Natural and you can take a look at my public project page, if you'd like the knitty gritty details. It was a great way to use up one of those single skeins of worsted, Cascade 220 for me, that most of us just have hanging around in our stash. The pattern was pretty straight forward, and would be a great project for the beginner that's never cabled before. Below is a selfie that took me about 10 minutes to capture, as it was a new angle for me. However, it shows the basic cabled detailing along the hat, so I guess that means mission accomplished.

I'll be casting on another item soon (of course), but right now I really have now idea what that will be. For some reason, I've been a bit wishy washy about what to knit next, and I'm not sure where it's coming from. Hopefully I'll figure it out soon. I'd hate to waste a whole Sunday without knitting...

seven

Photography can be tricky.

I finished a pair of Fingerless Mitts recently. However, the only picture I've been able to take is of the gloves on the table. I haven't quite figured out how to photograph gloves while wearing them, so this photo will have to do for now.

This is the second pair of mitts I've made from this pattern, and they worked up quite quickly. I think the total knitting time was somewhere around 5 hours. The pattern is in the book Knits Men Want by Bruce Weinstein. It's a great book, with patterns written for multiple sizes and gauges. This pattern calls for a diagonal purled pattern, but I just knit the hand in stockinette, for a simpler look. Also, this was my first time using Knit Picks Swish Worsted and it was a pleasure to knit with. It's not my favorite superwash merino, but you can't beat it for the price and array of colors.

I'm still currently working on the Sockhead Hat, but that's not really a surprise. Knitting 144 stitches per round on a US 3 needle in stockinette for 9 inches will take some time... and wine. This hasn't stopped me from casting on another project, though. I was a monogamous knitter for a few months, and I did enjoy the simplicity of it. However, I've been feeling creatively frisky lately, so working more than one project at a time has somewhat satiated my thirst for excitement. Wild, I know.

In other news, my yarn stash is down to 44 and I haven't purchased a skein since November 10th! Personally, I think I deserve a small reward. Yarn? No. Chocolate? Indubitably.

three

Egg Nog.

Can we all pause for just a moment and celebrate the absolute bliss that is Pennsylvania Dutch Egg Nog? Trust me on this one. You WILL NOT be sorry. Well, you might be sorry, but that's only if you don't really care for egg nog. If that's the case, I would recommend that you steer clear of this and any other nogs you may come across. While this particular egg nog is absolutely fabulous, it is still egg nog. It tastes like a glass (or mug, ahem) of holiday cheer. Egg Nog Season is one of my very favorite seasons, along with Sangria Season and Shamrock Shake Season. Oooh Shamrock Shakes...

Whilst sipping on my egg nog, just one mug of course, I have also been knitting on my Geysir Stretch shawl. I'm very happy to be working on the border of this awesome shawl, but these rows are getting quite loooong. I'm hoping to be finished with this project by the end of this month, which I think is a reasonable goal. I have 10 border repeats left, and those repeats are taking me about 40 minutes to complete at this point. As long as I put in roughly an hour of knitting each day (not hard for me to do), I should be finished by next weekend. Well, end of November, beginning of December... tomato, tomato... I guess you have to hear this for it to make sense... potato, potato.

Here's a picture of the progress so far... kind of. I guess it's really to see the colors together rather than the shape of the shawl at this point.

I really love how the colors look together, and I'm still excited that I knit this entirely from my stash. My yarn stash, as I write this post, is now at 47. My personal goal is to get my stash below 30 by February (which is when I'm flying out to California for STITCHES WEST!!!) so that I don't feel bad about all the yarn I'm sure to purchase there.