“knit on, with confidence and hope…”

One thing that I love about knitting is that it interjects some sanity when the insanity gets too much.

In the midst the knitting and knitting ideas & inspiration, I’ve decided on knitting monogamy – only work on my handspun shawl until it’s finished. I need to move it to a longer needle because the 24″ circular is no longer long enough to hold all the stitches. So, hopefully, on Wednesday, I can take a trip to my yarn store to pick up some needles and couple of skeins for the ornaments. Maybe I’ll stay and knit for a bit as well. When I go into the yarn store, the world and it’s troubles seem to stay outside.

Sorry, no pictures today but tomorrow, I will have some pictures of my handspun shawl to share with you. Wanna hint?

Think S T R I P E S! :)

Stay tuned.

p.s. Credit where credit is due: The quote in the subject is by Elizabeth Zimmermann. :)

hats, yarn and fiber, oh my!

ok. I LOVE the first section of Knitting Workshop! It answered practically all the questions I had when I was a beginner knitter. … about joining in the round …. purling the ‘easy way’ … and knowing the difference between the ‘back’ & ‘front’ of a stitch.

and……. LOOK! at my ‘swatch cap’!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D

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SPECS:
Lion Brand Wool
Size 6 US needles. (DPNs & 16″ circular)
Cast on: 84 stitches, increased to 112
Gauge: ? (I haven’t measured yet)

I’m so proud of this! It fits!! It’s a little long, but I’ll roll up the ribbing and my ears will be warmer. This is the first hat I’ve made that fits me!

Oh! and the colorwork design is mine, all mine. :) After all, Elizabeth said ‘Don’t use mine. Make up your own’. So I did! :D

I was all fired up to make another. But the yarn is not co-operating. It’s Knit Picks Wools of the Andes. It is soft, but not as soft as the Lion Brand wool I was using. So, it’s going back into stash until it lets me know what it wants to be. In the meantime, I went to the Yarn Store today and look what followed me home so I can make more hats!

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It’s all worsted weight yarn. The right three skeins are Cascade 220. I’ve never tried it before and I keep reading how much people enjoy using it so I wanted to try it.

The skein on the far left is dream in color. Does the colorway look familiar?
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It’s the same colorway as the sock yarn I bought previously. I’d totally forgotten!! :roll:

And as promised, here’s some images of some of my favorite spinning fiber that I’ve purchased:

From CJKopecCreations:

Custom Blended Wool/Bamboo Roving – SECRETS
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From AllSpunUp:
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Both below are from Spincerely Yours:

Superwash Merino/Tencel Top – Sedna
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Superwash Merino and Tencel in Freya
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Hope to see ya soon! Happy knitting & spinning! :D

happy knitting!

knitting with Elizabeth…

It’s ironic that on the day of my 2nd blogiversary that I find myself wondering where knitting fits in my life these days. My blog has become quiet. My life has totally changed in the last four months. I’ve dealt with loss of job, unemployment and getting used to a new job with new hours.

What has come with all these changes is a shift in my knitting. I still love it … but … previously it was an escape from stuff in my life at the time. Now, that need for escape is not there and my knitting is, well, floundering… for lack of a better word. Especially after the disappointment of that too small beret.

I was working on these fingerless mittens….
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and now I don’t like them. I didn’t enjoy knitting them. So I stopped.

I was practicing some entrelac in the round…

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and I got a little frustrated with that so I stopped that as well.

Yesterday, I picked up the VHS set of Elizabeth Zimmerman’s “Knitting Workshop” from the library. I have the book from the library as well…

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I watched a little of it tonight. And I think I’m gonna take a break from the year long gift along and maybe follow along and knit a hat with Elizabeth.

Wish I’d known about these videos when I started knitting.

Happy Blogiversary to me. :)

Next up: Some lovely pictures of some of my spinning fiber stash. :D