The skein that sparked insanity

On the cusp of a brand spankin' New Year and I find myself sorting through bins of yarn.

My goal (if you can rightfully call it that) is to get every skein of yarn into Ravelry with a photo and bin location. The craziness that sparked this endeavor was my desire to find a skein of sock yarn that I KNEW I had. It nearly became an obsession as every bin was searched and searched through again. Ha! The bins are see through and laziness overtook me - the one skein of yarn was in the middle of a bin and could not be seen through the outside.

Insane.

After finding the skein of yarn, it didn't match for the project in mind. I refuse to buy new yarn, so a suitable substitute was located for some new socks - Cranberry Biscotti. Love this sock and it will be knit, but probably not soon. You see, the Through the Loops annual sock KAL is beginning tomorrow and this will be my third year to participate. The yarn for that sock has been chosen (yes, from the mega stash).

Neglecting the blog

I have really been negligent both in posting and in reading blogs. I have come to dread the idea of opening Google Reader because the many number of unread blog posts of those I enjoy will throw me into a tail spin. Instead, I remain blissfully ignorant, power up my new iPad, and play Words with Friends.

The holidays were nice. My parents flew in on Christmas Eve and it was the best holiday I can remember. The weather was a little cool for a couple of days, but snow did not appear and it warmed back up as the news made reports of snowy weather across much of our nation.

I've stayed warm by finishing a sweater knit from Punta Merino Solid which I am totally in love with and by reading. Ideas of blog abandonment have crossed my mind. The thought right now is to maybe just let it lie and see what happens. Tennis is beginning again and that takes loads of time. We shall see.

Another gift finito

We played tennis Sunday, it was cold and windy which called for some extra warmth. I grabbed my alpaca Fetching's on the way out of the door. While playing, my friend mentioned that she needed some fingerless mitts.

I dug out the leftover yarn from my daughter's On Demand Gloves and whipped up these little Fetching's for my friend.

Modifications:

6 row cable repeats, just knit an extra row before working cable row

Worked palm rows in stockinette instead of 4 x 1 rib

Bound off normally omitting picot edge (that rolls)

Redwood Smoke: help from a fellow knitter

Back in November I found myself in a quandary. Redwood Smoke was nearing completion and the edging yarn ran about 10 yards short. This is the Woodsmoke scarf pattern published in Brave New Knits. Smoke signals were sent up with success and this sweet knit was finished in a jiffy!

Just one more example of what a helpful tool Ravelry can be in making our fibery dreams come true.

The updated search options made it super easy to locate projects that had been knit out of this particular color of Malabrigo Silky Merino. I searched for finished projects and then asked those who had bits and pieces of the yarn left over for help. Locating a fellow knitter who would not only part with her yarn, but sent it to me right away and refused to accept payment was made easy.

Once the package arrived, this scarf was finished in no time flat. The colorway matched and is indistinguishable from what was originally used.

My plan was to gift this as a Christmas present, but I am finding it difficult to part with.

Many thanks to Mary who goes by Hellskitch on Ravelry. I appreciate your kindness.

It's just that time of year

We are hosting my husband's work Christmas party this year. I believe most of the stress has passed (thanks to red wine)and the oh-well-it-will-all-work-out stage is firmly in place. Up until yesterday it looked as if Elves threw up all over our house. There were boxes and containers everywhere holding plenty of mis-matched Christmas decor. We've tried to whittle down things that probably won't be used, but there is always one more box. Yesterday allowed some headway and I was even able to sweep the floor!









Knitting has been occurring and this vest is a gift for my dear friend, Amy. It is the Mary Swanson cardi-vest and I simply adore it. It is knit in Brown Sheep Worsted and the main color lived in my stash for a long time. I picked up the contrasting colors from my LYS. It was a quick knit and this is definitely a pattern I will knit again.

The colorwork is actually knit in, but duplicate stitch will be used next time. Purling in colorwork was fiddly even though it turned out nice and pretty even.

Typically, I do not gift handknit items for Christmas. Amy is an exception. She appreciates everything and will be thankful (even if she doesn't like it). I suspect she will wear it quite often as a vest in this weight is very practical this time of year.






Stay tuned, there is at least one more post in me before the holidays are over and I might even throw in a photo of the decor!

sending up smoke signals

Have you checked out Jared Flood's Woodsmoke scarf? What a great gift idea! It doesn't take long to knit at all and I've always loved the process of knit-on edging.


The nagging began in the back of my mind two days ago. It seemed like I may run short on the edging yarn. I kept knitting and tried to focus on the positive possibility that there may be enough...just enough yarn to finish.

Sadly, my suspicion was confirmed. Last night, I knit the last full repeat possible and found myself short of yarn.

Estimates put me approximately 10 yards short and I've messaged a Raveler with leftovers to see if she is willing to part with it. Let's hope she answers my 'smoke' signal!

Malabrigo Silky Merino is very pleasing to knit with. I've used it before and remember how yummy this yarn actually is. It usually runs around $11 for 150 yards and the colors are fabulous. The inside of this scarf is knit with Redwood and the edging is, of course, Smoke.

Happy Friday!

Christmas swap

Our first Christmas party in the South introduced us to a different way to exchange holiday gifts.

In the North, you bring a wrapped gift, they put a little number on it, you pull a number out of a 'hat' and receive the corresponding gift. Nice, neat, over.

In the South, you steal. The host figures out a numbering system and each person chooses a gift in order. If you like a gift that someone else has already claimed, you can 'steal' their gift in place of your turn and that person gets to choose another package to unwrap. Ideally, you want to be the last one then you get to choose from everything then no one has a chance to steal it from you.

I must admit, the Southern method is much more fun!

This year, my day tennis team is having a gift swap. Most of the ladies are....a little more seasoned than me and I was having trouble coming up with a gift idea. Hopefully, they will love the idea of an alpaca scarf!