Dream In Color: Classy

I love this yarn! It is so soft and smooshy! Dream In Color Classy is a Hand-dyed Superwash 100% Merino Wool Worsted Weight yarn.  Skeins are approximately 4 oz and 250 yards.  That is a lot of yarn! More than enough for most one skein projects! Gauge is 4 - 4 1/2 stitches per inch on US Size 7-8 needles.  I love that it's a Superwash yarn....machine wash then lay flat to dry or tumble dry (I use the low setting) and remove while still damp.




Dream in Color Classy in Beach Fog from

© The Loopy Ewe

  I just bought this Gorgeous Skein of Dream in Color Classy in  Beach Fog from The Loopy Ewe in St. Louis.   I love the the blues and light purples in this colorway.  I'm going to use it for my 2nd Camp Loopy Ewe Project - from Sheri's Blog:

"Project Two is called “Hiking in the Mountains”. Doesn’t everyone have to go on a hike when they’re at camp? I know that it’s not always in the mountains, but it always felt like you were dragging yourself up a steep hill/mountain, by the very end of the hike, waiting for it to be done. (Or was that just me?)  For this project, the challenge is to knit or crochet either a pair of socks or a pair of mittens or a pair of gloves, in an adult size. (No fingerless mitts this time around.) The other part of the challenge is that the pattern you use needs to contain cables, which are always fun to do!"

As you can guess, I am going to knit Irish Hiking Mittens and I have been so thrilled to see that some other people joining in the project are knitting them too!  Thank you everyone!

Something New! Entrelac Knitting!

Have you ever looked at a knitting pattern and just sighed and thought, "That is sooo pretty but I'm sure that technique is waaay too difficult for me?" That is exactly what I thought looking at all things Entrelac...scarves, totebags, felted tote bags, sweaters....so pretty and, I was so sure, much too difficult for me.

Then, through the magic of Twitter, I saw @sweatshopoflove's The Loop Entrelac Top.  What an adorable summer sweater!  I queued it when it went on Ravelry.  And there it sat for a year, a whole year!

The Loop Entrelac Top by Allyson Dykhuizen

Really cute, right? Well, I have never tried knitting anything Entrelac and that diagonal, diamond-shaped, basketweave pattern was more than intimidating! But then I saw (again, on Twitter!) that Allyson was having a summer sweater knitalong and one of the selections was this very sweater! I was in!  The time frame was June 1st to July 31st....more than 8 weeks plus Allyson made a how to knit Entrelac Video!!!  Her written instructions are very easy to follow and the video is terrific!

Just so you know, Entrelac is basically just knit stitches, purl stitches, knit 2 together, purl 2 together and picking up stitches....really easy stuff!

So, despite a busy summer, waaay too many projects on my needles, and a lingering fear of this new technique, I finally cast on The Loop Entrelac Tank Top last week.  As of right now, I am almost done  with both Entrelac straps! I should be onto the main stockinette sections tonight! And, PS, since this sweater is for my daughter, I made the straps a little short and put them on stitch holders so I could get a perfect length for her.  Actually, I'm hoping I have a few more sections of Entrelac to knit!

Do you have any knitting techniques that you've been afraid to try? Share here!

Yo Adrian!

Yo, as in YO, a familiar abbreviation to knitters for yarn over.  A simple stitch really...just bring the yarn when knitting from the back of the work to the front of the work by going under the right needle and, then, back over the right needle to knit the next stitch. The result is an extra stitch.  Sounds so simple, doesn't it? I thought so too until I started the lace edging for Andrea's Shawl.



Andrea's Shawl on Ravelry



What happened? I knit the first 24 rows (that sounds like a lot but the edging is knit first in a 7-9 stitch pattern with a 4 Row repeat so it really was only a few minutes of knitting). It didn't look anything like it was supposed to look.  Why? It appears that I have been knitting YO completely wrong forever!! Instead of under and over, my yarn went over and under.  Honestly, I never noticed a problem until this pattern.  So, I hurried on over to the Knitwitch website and watched her video on yarn over.  With the correct stitch correctly on my needles, I've knit about 100 repeats of the pattern now:

I love the way the YO's (when knit correctly!!) make this lattice pattern:



With only 30 or so repeats left, I plan to start the lace portion of this shawl tonight.  Then, I'm going to go through some of the patterns that I've knit using YO incorrectly and decide if there's anything I'd like to try again soon to see how the project knits with the correct stitch!