Corona

The first project of the new year is now complete, and just in time for some cold weather heading this way. I started Corona in November and worked on it while watching The Walking Dead and trying to catch up on that show.  I also made it through season 4 of Game of Thrones while working on the sweater.  It's always nice to finish up a tv project like that.  Without further blabbing by me, here are some shots of the finished sweater.

A New Year

Hey, everyone.  Well, it's the new year and so to prepare, I spent the last couple of days organizing my stash and getting everything wound and put up.  While doing this, I made a horrible discovery. My beloved wool had been attacked by a tiny creature.  At first, I thought it was a moth that had done the damage, but after grabbing a skein of cascade 220, I caught the little bugger red handed.

Carpet beetles.

I had never heard of these before, but after googling for what the tiny creature was in my skein of yarn, I now know just how destructive their larva can be.  So, please join me in a moment of silence for the fallen yarn.

12 skeins of knit picks palette yarn that was part way knit into a fair isle vest

2 skeins of cascade 220 heathers in a lovely lavender color

1 skein of malabrigo lace yarn in a deep blue

1 skein of dragonfly fibers squishy lace in browns and blues 

2 skeins of unmarked wool 

Close to a third of my stash was wiped out.  I have now put all the wool yarn in plastic sealed tubs and the part that couldn't fit in those is now in ziploc bags.  If I can give one piece of advice, it would be to look at your stash often.  Check it for tiny invaders.  That way, you can catch them early and not take as big of a hit as I just did.

If you suspect an invasion, freeze your yarn for 48 hours.  Let it thaw, then repeat the freezing so you can kill any newly hatched larva that survived the initial freezing.  Store your wool in sealed containers and keep an eye on it.

On the bright side, my stash is now organized and stored much better.  May 2015 bring no more vermin!

Heart Throb

I decided to do some spinning this weekend as well and got the finished yarn skeined up last night.  It still needs a bath to set the twist, but overall, I am very pleased with how this turned out.  It's about 180 yards of a light worsted weight yarn, navajo plied.  The roving was from Knitted to a T that I purchased at the 2011 Sheep and Fiber Festival.  I am working on spinning through some of my older stash right now to make way for some of the goodies I purchased at the Sheep and Fiber Festival this year.  The roving was a merino/bamboo blend, but I am not sure what the ratio was since the tag didn't have that information on it.  Here's the yarn:

Knit on...

Wind in the Willows Clue One

So I joined the Wind in the Willows KAL from The Unique Sheep and got my first clue in my email box yesterday.  I went home and finished my run, then sat down to work on the clue.  I had some trouble starting out since anything that lacey on tiny needles in the round gets a bit wonky at first, but overall, I like how it turned out:

Bad picture from early in the morning, but you get the idea.  I can't wait for this to get big enough that I can get it off the DPNs and onto my Karbonz circulars since the points on those are much sharper and will make this much easier to do.  Plus, I won't get the laddering that I am getting a little of in the first clue.

Knit on...

Finished Boneyard

I finished the boneyard shawl on Friday and blocked it out on Saturday after returning from the Sheep and Fiber festival.  I had a good time at the show and came home with a gradience colorway from The Unique Sheep so I could participate in the Wind in the Willows KAL that started on Friday.  I just got the first clue this morning, so I know what I will be knitting tonight.  Anyways, here is the blocking boneyard shawl:

It's still wet in this picture, so it lost all the shimmer, but I am very pleased with how it turned out.  I'll try to get a better picture once it is unpinned.

Knit on...

Boneyard

So I continued my sick knitting on Monday by working on a new project.  I found some Pattons Metallic at Michael's on Saturday morning (about 5 hours before the crud invaded my lungs) and was enamored with the feel and the sheen on the yarn.  At first I thought I would use it for a biased scarf after watching Joan at work make her version of Totally Biased.  I started working on it and decided it needed to be something else, so I searched through patterns on Ravelry.  When I saw Boneyard by Stephen West, I decided it would work lovely with the yarn and be a good knit given that I have enjoyed everything else he has designed that I have worked in the past.  So, without more blabbering, here is the shawl in progress:

Knit on...

New Socks

Well, I came down with a respiratory infection on Saturday night, so I have had a lot of time to just sit around the house and knit given that I haven't felt like doing much of anything else.  I finished up the weaving on Sunday that I posted about already and today, since I had to take off work, I sat on the couch and knit the second sock of a new pair.  Here's the finished sock:

It was the same dye lot, but the socks look very different to me.  Since I don't care too much about my socks really matching exactly stripe for stripe, I'm not too worried about it.

Knit on...

Weaving

Hey, everyone.  I actually finished some weaving this weekend that's been on the loom for a while now.  I finished the mate of the red Christmas plaid scarf, and without further ado, here it is:

I crocheted a border on the scarf to hide the long ends that hung out on the side for the color carries.  I really like how it turned out.  I also rather adore how it looks with the red scarf:

Now to figure out what to weave next...

Knit on...or weave on in this case...

A Little Sewing

Well, I've taken a little break from knitting to practice my sewing skills.  So far, I have sucked horribly, but I am having fun with it.  This weekend I made pajama bottoms:

A Finished Object

I managed to finish another project this week.  It seems everyone at work is either pregnant or expecting grandchildren.  I was asked to make a baby sweater for my coworker's granddaughter.  The only requirement was that it be pink and it be girly.  I grabbed the Modified Drops Baby cardigan pattern and got to work.  So without further ado, here is the finished baby sweater:

Ravellenic Baby Blanket

I have been furiously knitting since the Olympics began, and I have actually finished my project.  Not going to post a long post today because of travel plans, but here's proof that it is finished:

Modelled by my parents' cat :P

Knit on...

And Now For Something Completely Different

In addition to working on my 50 Knitted Gifts project, I was commissioned to make a dog sweater for one of my coworkers' dog.  I had never made any kind of project for a pet before, so I figured this would be a good learning experience.  I grabbed a free pattern from Drops and began to knit.  It ended up taking right around a week to make, so it was a fast knit.  Here is the recipient and her new coat:

She now gets to wear the school colors while in the office.  Her human also seemed to really like the sweater.

Knit on...

A Little Weaving

So I'm not only working on the 50 Knitted Gifts workthrough.  I'm also working on a few other projects, one of which just came off the loom this weekend.  Right after Christmas, I warped the loom with the intention of getting a head start on some Christmas weaving for next year.  I figured I could get two scarves out of the three skeins of yarn, and it looks like I will be able to do so.  Here is the first finished scarf:

I still need to do something about the edge that has the yarn carries from the stripiing, but it's basically done.  I warped the loom with a more white dominant plaid pattern.  It should be about the same look, just swap the red for white in the new one.

I really like how the weave turned out.  I really do like playing with colors, and affter receiving a new shuttle for the loom for Christmas, it has certainly made it much easier to do more than two color weaving.

Knit, or weave rather, on...

Project the Second

Well, I finished the second project this weekend in the 50 Knitted Gifts book.  The second project in the 

book is a wine bottle cozy.  I made this one out of some scrap Red Heart that I had lying in the random odds and ends bin in the craft closet.  It was a very easy knit and I finished it in a few hours.  Without further ado, here is the cozy:

Knit on...

A New Year and a New Goal

It's a new year and I have set a resolution that involves knitting.  For my birthday, DF gave me a copy of the book 50 Knitted Gifts. 

 I decided that since I am always frantic around the holidays trying to finish up presents, I would get a head start by working through all 50 projects in the book in the next year.  Most of the projects I like, but right off the bat, the first project kind of irked me.  I just couldn't get behind the concept of the knitted necklace.  

I have nothing against knitted necklaces.  I even took a class with Betsy H. at Stitches South a couple of years ago on how to make knitted beads.  I think the main issue I had with this interpretation of a knitted necklace was the construction.  I thought each bead was rather fiddly to make.  The original pattern calls for 36 beads, and I only made 20.  I'm still not sure if I would give this as a knitted gift or not.  I guess I just need to see if anyone likes it when I show it to them.

Anyways, here is the finished necklace made out of some leftover handspun yarn:

Sorry for the dark picture.  You can at least get the idea of what it looks like.

Knit on...

A Little Knitting

I haven't done a whole lot of knitting while on this trip because I've been playing with my new ipad mostly.  I have managed to get two more mitered squares finished though, so I'm fairly pleased with that.  Here are the finished squares.

Knit on...

The Travel Sock

As I was traveling yesterday, I did what I always do and started a new travel sock. I was even able to get a good chunk of the cuff knit.  Of course I brought a ton of things to work on while lounging around, but there should always be a travel sock when on the road in my opinion.

I wish everyone a very merry Christmas!  May you find lovely yarn and notions under the tree :)

Knit on...

A Finished Hat

Well, I finished the chemo cap for my friend's aunt.  I tried to publish a post from my phone, but it blew up, so here's the finished hat:

And I pulled out an old WIP from the craft room this morning.  I'll be trying to finish up the Noro mitered squares blanket that I started ages ago.  Looks like I had about 6 skeins of kuryeon in my stash, so hopefully this will be enough to finish up the blanket.

Knit on...

More Hat Knitting

I also worked on the windschief some last night on top of weaving the scarf.  I am now on the final crown decreases and should be able to finish up the hat at lunch today. Here is the progress so far.

Knit on...

Another Project

The great thing about having a loom at your disposal is the ability to make quick gifts that would otherwise take a much longer time. Tonight, a Christmas present for my new boss was started and completed within 2 hours. It was just a simple weave of yellow warp and blue weft for the school colors. Gotta love quick projects!

Knit on...