Wanna see my tank?

My lovely Blue Sky Alpaca organic cotton. Oh how I love thee. The tank however is a whole other story. I believe this picture is from the first time I started it, just a few more inches into it and I had to frog it for being too big.

Last night I was close to finishing it.

But now my attitude has changed a bit.

$%^# this tank. I had it done to the armholes, and the entire front finished. I tried it on and still it was huge!! I had already went down a dress size and a needle size as well. I did a gauge swatch, but I should double checked it as I went on. I am going to have to go down another needle size and maybe make the small. That is when it is allowed out of time out. Bad bad project. I think with that kind of behavior and the fact that it is now just another part of my yarn stash removes it from the WIP list. So now I just have the Minimalist and the Rainy Day scarf.

ETA: Okay so it's not just me! I looked at others' tanks on Ravelry and there were a lot of tears and frogging going on due to it being huge. Also many people said it was too heavy for summer. So I'm going to give this yarn some time to figure out what it wants to be. This looks promising!

Perhaps it is better to talk about the other things I am doing at the moment. Out of the stash has come some stones to be made into new necklaces. A lot of these beads I bought almost two years ago at the bead show in Vegas. So I have had plenty of time to find inspiration to create something out of them. The orange one already existed, I just restrung it due to a faulty clasp. It is still my favorite.

Mmm looks like candy!

So I think I mentioned in my previous post that I didn't go to Taos after all. I knew the weather was going to be dismal and I just really wasn't up to going. Four days of quiet time and knitting time and sleeping in sounded so much more appealing. However, I did still benefit with some awesome souvenirs brought home by my boys. Little A picked this one out for me. Isn't he cute?


This one is soo fuzzy and soft.

And who can resist this gorgeous little vicuna? Now they just need names. Suggestions are welcomed.

Dh did good with this purchase. It is a mohair/nylon boucle from Southwest Weavers. I can't believe he actually bought yarn that was $25 a skein, and not just one skein but three!!! I think I am going to make this out of it. I just love the colors. What a great guy I have!! Swoon.

And lastly I must say, it hasn't all been bad in the knitting world. My Revontuli is coming along gorgeously. I can't wait to wear it for Easter. It is over 300 stitches now and a bit slow going but I am still enjoying it.

It only took three years!

I finally finished my Mom's Philosopher's sweater. I thought the day would never come, but with a little diligence and commitment to my resolution it happened. I finished it at 2am this past Friday night. It took me about 8 hours that evening to sew around the steeks, attach the arms, knit the button bands, cut it and add the buttons. I just couldn't go to bed until it was done. Luckily I was home alone after deciding not to go to Taos and was able to sleep in uninterrupted.

Today my Mom and I went to brunch and I was able to finally give her her birthday present. I think she really likes it.

I made it a v-neck because my mom doesn't like stuff around her neck and it is indeed not next to the skin soft, more functional for outerwear.

I also made the button bands taper down and I made a facing for the back of the collar.

Cutting it wasn't as scary as I thought it would be. I cut the center after I picked up for the button bands and before I knit them. This made it easier to knit the kind of neckline I was going for. I'm soo happy it is finished and out of my WIP pile. I only have 1 tank, 1 minimalist cardigan, a scarf left to finish! The scarf will be for a gift in Sept. so really that is only two more UFOs to go!

And lastly to brighten your day I give you 2month old Grey in his Sweetpea ensemble. I had the pleasure of spending the day with him and Mariah yesterday. Is there any rules on how many times you can kiss a baby?

New Project

Yesterday I cast on for my Revontuli shawl. I am doing this as part of a spin along in the Spinner Central group on Ravelry. It's fun to see how everyone is spinning for and knitting the pattern. So far they are all beautiful. I decided to use this roving, Lemon Berry BFL, that I hand painted. I started by

separating out the colors. For the purples and yellows I spun directly from the roving, for the pinks I blended the odds and ends on my drum carder to get a more heathered look.

I had to run both skeins through the opposite direction to remove some twist so it would be balanced, but I think it is worth the extra effort to have an unbiased knit.

The good thing about spinning specifically for a project is the amount of control you have. I started with short color repeats and gradually made them longer.



Hopefully this will work out so the last rows of the shawl are distributed as evenly as the first few rows. I am having fun watching it come together.

We are off to Taos this Wed. for Spring break, so we will see how much knitting time I get. I think this will be perfect for the long drive.

I also have finished the main knitting for my Mom's sweater and just have to sew it together and make the button bands, so close!

Happy Spring!

There is always an exception to the rule.

These are socks I just finished knitting, I had to make an exception to my New Years Resolution to only knit UFOs and gifts because I was dying to knit this yarn. So now there is an exception for handspun. I had never made plain jane socks before, they knit up fast! The roving is from Spunky Eclectic. It is Finn and the colorway is called Acadia. I spun it as a 3 ply and ended up with 210 yards from 4 oz. The socks were knit toe up on size 2 needles and I even had a little left over. They make me happy.

Fletcher is finished!!!

Woo Hoo!!! Another project finished! I love this coat, it turned out awesome. I got the fronts and the sleeves to match up perfectly. The size is just right, although it looks big here modeled by Maddie. I ended up using almost every yard of the extra skein I bought. I must have wove in a billion ends by the time I got to the hood and was knitting with all the little tidbits I had taken out to make it match up. I am so thrilled I finished it in time to wear it a bit before winter is truly over.

Substantial Progress with a slight Detour

I have no clue why my pictures are sideways, but anyway, I am making great progress on my Fletcher. These are the sleeves, I am working them at the same time and attempting to get them to match.

The back:

The fronts which I took great effort in matching. I am way to retentive to have it not match up. It wasn't that hard really, just a few extra ends to weave in and lots of little balls of Noro bits and pieces.

When you wake in the morning and your seven year old tells you that there is a detour sign right in front of your house, you don't really think he means literally.

These are the joys of having teenagers. I just have no idea where Ian should put the cones once he removes them from his vehicle. I imagine this is a direct consequence of the prank calls he made to his friends last night for a 3OH!3 contest.

And lastly is the yarn I spun up Sat. night at the Sit n' Spin I hosted. This is Romney in Eclipse colorway from Spunky Eclectic's monthly club.

This was a quick spin of heavy worsted/bulky weight, 100 yds from 4oz. I think I am going to make the Maine Morning Mitts out of it.

Have a great hump day and watch out for the detours.

Well Ian could not be the only kid sporting a new hat. I made these for little A and Madison, they chose the pattern and colors. I think the pictures speak for themselves.

(I never want to make a pom-pom again.)

So much extra time!

Well the one benefit of the economy is increased craft time. I got laid off from my job last week so now I have a bit of free time on my hands. I only worked 10 hours but it still consumed time, if I had a 10am meeting I didn't really have time to do anything in between dropping A off and leaving for the meeting, same deal in the afternoon...so essentially a few hours at the office would take up most my 8-3 time. Any way.....I've been busy trying to put my time to good use. I finally finished the tussah silk I have been spinning since this summer. I must say silk is a joy to spin, I love the way it has such strength and yet seems so delicate. I ended up with 770 yds of lace weight from 4 oz. I am thinking of making a shawl with it, just waiting for the right pattern to pop out at me. A triangle shawl might accent the long color repeats better but rect. shawl is appealing as well. Luckily Christie gave me another escape clause, casting on for this will not be a new project but merely a continuation of the same one. Thanks Christie!
I received a gift card for Joanne's from a friend for Christmas and finally got around to using it this week. I found this sock yarn there that is actually pretty nice, it is 50/25/25 wool, bamboo, nylon blend and was only $4 a skein. (blogger is posting my pics sideways again.)


So if you turn your head you can see I also bought some scrapbooking stuff. I think these will make some lovely cards and am eager to start working on cards and scrapbooks again. Those supplies in my craft room have been quite ignored, yet somehow they have managed to multiply. I also want to use some of my time to get making some more stitch markers and get my business back up and going again, I have kind of ignored it and haven't actively tried to get any new business, so now that I lost my yarn fund, I mean job the extra dough might be nice.

I also bought this at Joanne's. It is super cool and does an awesome job of making i-cord, the only drawback is it doesn't do worsted or heavier weights.

And lastly with my time I have been on another big organizational frenzy. I hit Staples and loaded up on P-touch tape and went hog wild in my closet and craft room. Now all my purses are labeled so I will start using more than just the one I always seem to carry.

And all my boots too. I forgot I had some of them.

And it had been quite a while since the shoes were updated with labels for the newest purchases. No more digging around trying to find the right pair or forgetting about the pair I love but somehow got lost in the masses. Dh drew the line when I went to put the "husband " label on his forehead. Someday me and my p-touch will organize the whole world!!

An escape clause!!!

Indeed I have managed to use my little escape clause to the maximum. Remember how I said I would not start any new projects until I finished my old ones? Well I also said EXCEPT for gifts. So guess who is feeling generous?

This scarf is a gift for my Aunt Maria as a thank you for letting us stay with her during our recent CA visit. This project was fast once the yarn finally decided what it wanted to be.

This was mystery yarn I purchased sometime ago on ebay. I had two skeins of it and wrongfully assumed that both skeins would be the same yardage. With that assumption in mind I knitted my way gleefully through the Hug Me Boucle Shawl. The concept was simple, knit until you finish half your yarn and then start to decrease to knit the other half. Well guess what, the two skeins were indeed not of the same yardage and this is where it ended.
Too bad too, because I really like the pattern. I think I may use it in the future with this boucle in my stash. However next time I will measure it out on my niddy noddy and give myself some room for error.
Frog, Frog, Frog was in my future.

After several different attempts at several different scarves with different needle sizes and gauges, I ended up doubling the yarn and using size 19 needles to whip this out. I sorta was at the end of my rope with this yarn and wanted to get this shipped out sometime this millennium. I kept with the yarn over pattern of the shawl and I think it turned out pretty well.

It isn't super long, but the yarn has a lot of elasticity to it, and besides it is more for accessorizing than utility given CA's mild weather.

The next gift was made at the bequest of my 17 year old son. Now it is a rare day when Ian takes any interest in my hobbies. The beautiful scarf that I so painstakingly made out of my own seat of my pants pattern, in my early knitting days to boot, alas ended up in the corner of his closet to be left behind when we moved. So although I was delighted for the request I also knew that this time I wouldn't be whipping out the luxury alpaca for this project, especially when this was the inspiration I was given directly from him.

He seems to be quite appreciative and happy with the end result. At least that is what I am assuming by the fact that he hasn't stopped wearing it. 17 year old boys aren't ones to gush their gratitude. I used Plymoth Encore and this pattern and heavily modified it, but luckily kept good notes because now both siblings want matching ones.
Btw, I did manage to do a few rounds on the infamous mom sweater, so I'm not slacking too badly.