Yarn Winding Madness

So I finally got my yarn swift created. Well, actually hubby did most of the work, I watched. I did glue the peg holders on though. Anyway, the swift was completed last week. In good time too, I had several hanks of lace that needed to be wound. I spent all of Saturday morning working with the ball winder and the swift. My poor right arm and shoulder got quite the workout. It ached all weekend! It was worth it though, I was able to get all of my lace wound into nice neat center-pull skeins!

Don't they look pretty! The ball winder and the swift were definitely good investments. Also over the weekend I completed two more hats. I'm definitely going to have to order the Hip Knit Hats book from Knit Picks on my next yarn order! The hats are very easy to knit and can be completed in a matter of two days. I knitted a second beret using some leftover I Love This Yarn in peacock. I think it turned out fairly decent. I knitted the larger size to see if it would fit a little better than the first one I made. The top turned out a little weird, I tired the crocheted circular cast on where you can just pull the string to close up the hole. I think for future hats I'll stick with the normal cast on and join in the round.
I also knitted up the Nina Hat from Hip Knit Hats. This was an extremely easy knit. It took two days to knit, but that's only because I started on in later in the afternoon and then had to finish it up the next morning. I bet this could be knitted up in one day. I used a skein of Lion Brand Homespun, The tag was lost so I'm not sure about the colorway on it. But it did knit up pretty neat. You can see some wide subtle strips in the hat. It starts out sort of reddish, then blue, then a light blue-green. I'm thinking about knitting up a beret using the leftover yarn in the skein. I could probably get at least one more hat out of it, if not two.

I've also made some pretty decent progress on my Arctic Diamonds stole. It's still coming along pretty slow, but you can see the diamond pattern now.

I also started another lacy hat. The pattern is Lace Leaf Hat. I'm using a ball of my Knit Picks Palette yarn in Lipstick. I ordered 4 balls of this yarn for a shawl pattern, however after knitting a few repeats into the shawl, I found that I didn't really like the yarn for the pattern. The Palette isn't as soft as I would like a shawl to be. So the 4 balls are going to turn into a hat possibly two, and probably a set of Selbu mittens. Here's where I am on the hat: I'm on row 3 of the actual leaf pattern. The first ten rows of the hat were knit on size 4 needles. I moved to size 5 for the body of the hat. I think it is going to turn out pretty good.

Until next time!

~HAPPY KNITTING~

This week feels like Christmas!

The last two days have felt like Christmas. I received my Peacock Feathers kit on Tuesday. I cannot wait to knit up this shawl! It is so beautiful! The kit included the pattern and enough yarn to complete the project. The instructions seem pretty straight forward, and the charts are nice and big. The yarn is just wonderful! It's a zephyr silk/wool in Jade. It's really pretty! It's going to make a real nice shawl I think. I'm going to try to make myself wait until after I have completed one of the two other lace projects I have going right now.
Yesterday I received my Knit Picks order. Talk about ending a long day of work on a happy note! 3 hanks of Gloss Pinot. This is going to make a real pretty shawl!

3 hanks of Alpaca Cloud Bermuda Heather. This is going to become the Water Turtles shawl from my Wrapped in Comfort book.
4 Balls of Palette Lipstick. This is a fingering weight yarn and it is going to become an Argosy shawl that I found on Ravelry.
3 hanks of Shadow Aegean. It is so pretty! I'm not 100% sure yet what it wants to become, I'm pretty sure a shawl, just not sure which one yet.

2 hanks of Shadow Hot Rod Heather. This is going to become a Adamas shawl.


I had such a good time sorting through all my new yarn! I plan on using my ball winder this weekend and get everything into nice neat little yarn cakes.

Also yesterday, I finished knitting a black beret. I find it helps to have a smaller project that can be completed rather quickly when working with larger projects that take considerably longer to finish. I have some more hat patterns to work on, a few lacy that will count in the season of lace competition, and a few more that aren't lacy. I just like to feel the joy and satisfaction of completing a project.

Here's a picture of the beret. I got the pattern from the book Hip Knit Hats. I have two more patterns from the book to knit up. I plan on ordering the book with my August Knit Picks order. Well that's all the news for now. I also plan on making significant progress on my Arctic Diamonds stole over the weekend. So hopefully I'll have some better pictures of it to post next week.

Until next time,
~~Happy Knitting~~

Lots of progress

I can't believe how long it has been since I last posted! I have made significant progress on my projects that I started in June. My mystery shawl is really grown!
Here it is at clue 1:Here we are at the end of clue 2:Here's where I goofed with the lifeline at the end of clue 2! I totally threaded the lifeline through the stitch marker. Needless to say I took the lifeline out! LOL!
And here at the end of clue 3:I'm currently working on clue 4, I'm thinking that this one is going to take a while to complete! It's pretty big. After this clue I'll be working on the knitted lace border. Yet another new technique to tackle. I'm curious as to how it is going to turn out once all the knitting is finished and the shawl is blocked!

Although the mystery shawl has commanded most of my attention the past 5 weeks, I've managed to make some pretty good progress on my Arctic Diamonds stole that I started. I really like how the snorkel is knitting up. It's such a pretty color! The diamond pattern is starting to show too! I'm very pleased with it.
So much has taken place since my last post. I'm not even sure where to begin! I finally made it into my local yarn shop! I was excited to find some lace yarn that I have never knit with before. I picked up some JaggerSpun Zephyr Silk/Wool yarn! It is so soft and so pretty! I bought two skeins of Daffodil and one skein of Dianthas. I'm thinking the yellow will be a shawl, and the pink is going to be a scarf from my Ocean Breezes book! I can't wait to knit up a project with them.I have so many lace projects lined up that I want to knit. I don't know where I'll find the time to get them all done!
I also placed another knit picks order on the 3rd of July. I'm still anxiously waiting for it! I thought it might be in today, alas I was wrong, and very disappointed! I've ordered several more hanks of lace for more projects! I also ordered a new color (Lipstick) in the palette yarn for a shawl. In addition to my knit picks order I also ordered the Peacock Feathers Shawl kit from Fiddlesticks.com. The kit includes the shawl pattern and enough yarn in the color of your choice to complete the pattern! This pattern is just beautiful! I chose the new Jade color, fitting for a peacock I think. I've always loved peacocks and their vibrant feathers! I can't wait to make this shawl! I'll post pictures of these goodies once I get them in!

Some other ideas I have in the works right now. I'm planning on turning my side of our office into my knitting command center! I'm in the process of cleaning up and organizing my desk my bookshelf to better suit my knitting needs. I also am going to be organizing my desktop PC to file and store the electronic copies of all my patterns! I have big plans for this! I'll have to post a picture once I get everything moved around and situated!

One more idea before I end this post. I'm thinking about starting another blog that will be connected to this one, where I will write reviews. I'll be reviewing my knitting books that I currently have as well as books that I will buy in the future. I'll also write reviews of the books I am currently reading for pleasure. For example, I have recently discovered Debbie Macomber! She is a great author! I've already read the first three books in her A Good yarn series (The Shop on Blossom Street, A Good Yarn, and Back on Blossom Street). I've read these in a matter of about two months! I'll post an announcement once I get things up and running!
Until Next time!
~~Happy Knitting~~