Blue Sweater

I know the weather is trying to be Spring and  that I knit this sweater last Fall, but I just got the design wall cleaned off enough for me to pin it up and photograph it.

All wool. VERY warm.

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No More Yarn

That’s my New Year’s resolution. I’ve been sort of slogging around, not too motivated about a resolution for 2013 until today. It was below freezing for three days  when I needed to go to the city yesterday and decided to dress up a little with my alpaca yarn, hand knitted lace shawl.

I discovered a hole in it. %#$%. Most of today has been spent looking for the extra skein of yarn that was used to knit the shawl  and I’ve yet to find it. But – in searching I have found all kinds of beautiful yarns that have been squirreled away under the work table, in the corner, and wherever else one squirrels away yarn.

Here’s the shawl that needs repair:

I’d show you the hole but it’s held together with a big safety pin so that it doesn’t unravel further. All the yarn has been “organized” now. Meaning it’s all dumped into a big plastic tub. And a basket. And a big plastic bag.

This is all the sock yarn and a pair that is almost finished.

And this is yarn that just arrived Monday,

to make this scarf with a Classic Elite pattern. That’s the next project.

I shall continue to look for the white alpaca shawl yarn and will probably find it when I’m looking for something else. And, I’ll unsubscribe from the yarn site which tempts me. As I’ve stirred through the yarn I’ve  gotten  inspired with combinations and ideas for more projects. Maybe I’ll take a little rest from quilting. HA!

Yarn Scraps

After knitting socks for the last four or five years, or more, I have a large collection of scrap yarns. Looking through Elizabeth Zimmermann’s Knitter’s Almanac, I found an interesting hat pattern. The hat comes down over one’s ears which I always complain of mine being cold.  Rather sassy looking aren’t they?

Still lots of yarn left so I decided to make a sweater for Mandy, using her old sweater for a pattern.

Does she look happy? I don’t think so. It may be a bit small. I still have LOTS of yarn left. I’ll try again and make it larger.

Scraps of yarn

Isn’t this a beautiful basket? I bought it in Sweden in 1972. What’s in it?

Small balls of left over yarn. What does one do with little balls of left over yarn? I’ve collected quite a few.

One makes yoga socks. Of course.

Here’s another pair in progress. Both are knitted at the same time so they will match, if that’s important. They are so easy. No heels or toes.

Ugly foot. Nice Sock!

UpDate –  Pam asked for the directions for making Yoga Socks. Here is my version:

Size:  Average

Materials:  1 –  50g  ball of sock yarn, set #3 double point needles

Instructions:  Cast on 56 sts, divide between three needles and join in round.

     Work  10 rows of knit 2, purl 2, for cuff

     Next round – knit every row until work  measures 4 inches from beginning

     Next round – increase 8 sts evenly around (knit 7, inc. 1, to end of round) Total – 64 sts.

      Work 5 rounds in (K1, P1) ribbing.

Shape heel opening:  next round:  cast off 36 sts. Rib to end of round.

      Cast on 36 sts loosely, Rejoin in rnd and rib to end of round.

      Work 5 rnds in (K1, P1) ribbing.

       Next rnd:   Knit, decrease 8 sts evenly around. Total 56 sts.

        Work in knitting every round until work measures 2 1/2 inches from end of last ribbing.

         Work 10 rnds in (K1, P1) ribbing. Cast off in ribbing.

Seeing Red

Two knitting projects have been finished.

These were knit from scraps and there’s still enough left over to knit another pair!

Finally!   I knit a sweater out of the varigated yarn last year and when finished I didn’t like it on me. I unraveled the whole thing and started over with a new pattern and extra yarn. This one makes me happy.

For you knitters out there I used grograin ribbon to stabilize the ribbing down the front. I tend to knit loosely and it almost became a ruffle! Buttonholes were made in the ribbon to correspond with the knit buttonholes and then sewn onto the sweater by hand. Much, much better.

 

Taking a Break from Quilting

I’m having trouble getting in the quilting mode so have taken a break and am doing some sewing for myself and knitting.

The variegated is a Noro cotton which I knit into another sweater that was unsuccessful so I’ve unraveled it and started over with another pattern. The red is a heather-ish wool. Not really sure if cotton and wool go together like this but we’ll see. I’ve grafted the shoulders together ready for the neck band. Usually I knit the fronts and back together, eliminating side seams, but I got confused with the pattern when I started and knit each independently. You’ll see little bumps on the left side of the sleeve. Those are safety pins at each increase. I’d rather count a few safety pins  than a lot stitches. And here’s a detail of the stitch pattern.