Wednesday, August 31, 2011

I Couldn't Resist

Kirsten Kapur has some of the prettiest designs on Ravelry.  One of my current favorites is Cladonia.  I think I'll knit it as part of the Small Knits Knitalong (SKKAL on Twitter) that Rachellynnec on Twitter is hosting.  Yes, another knitalong, but, really, who could resist knitting such a pretty shawl!


Cladonia by Kirsten Kapur on Ravelry
Knit from the top down, it has a large stockinette section and a comparitively smallish lace section.  Perfect for sitting in carpool (the stockinette section) and night-time knitting (the lace section).  I found this beautiful yarn at The Loopy Ewe:



 

It's Alpaca with a Twist Baby Twist in Natural and Seasprite. It is amazingly soft! 100% Alpaca, DK weight. Hand wash and dry flat. Each skein is approximately 245 grams and 549 yards, so I am hoping to make two shawls from this beautiful yarn! 


I love knitting with this yarn!

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

WIP Wednesday: Knitalong Progress

Whew! With the kids going back to school (and, for the first time ever, going to two different schools), knitting has take a bit of a back seat to, ummm, driving. My daughter is in a school carpool which is a blessing and the kids get out at different times so the biggest distraction to my knitting is getting my son to evening cross country practice while my daughter is at dance. This is temporary (I hope!) because once it gets a bit cooler, his practices will be after school and not at night. Also, we will have a dance carpool too! Yay! More knitting on the way!
Needless to say, there are way too many projects on my needles right now!  I seem to have a fear of the kitchener stitch so I have two and a half pairs of socks sitting on needles waiting to be finished.  Just the kitchener stitch, that's all! The funny thing, I'm actually pretty good at the kitchener stitch once I sit down and get started.  Also, two shawls waiting to be blocked, a half complete sweater and one mitten half-way completed.  A definte case of startitis this summer!  And, to add to all of that, there are two shawls that I absolutely must knit! Yikes! I need a plan to get these off the needles! Help! I need ideas!



Cladonia by Kirsten Kapur on Ravelry
 
Holden Shawlette by Mindy Wilkes on Ravelry

Definitely must knit both of these soon!

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Sharing Secrets about Wollmeise Craziness

Today I scored two skeins of Wollmeise yarn...that beautiful sock yarn that is so coveted and so hard to obtain! How did I do it? Let me share my secret....sshhh!

I had, in the past, been able to buy a skein from The Loopy Ewe (online) by keeping an eye on their Tweets.  It pretty much was just luck that I noticed their Tweet while in the carpool line about a year ago. But...here's my just discovered secret....

About a week ago, I noticed in Sheri's Blog that they were expecting a shipment of Wollmeise very soon.  So what did this resourceful knitter gal do?  I text followed The Loopy Ewe on Twitter!  And late this morning, The Loopy Ewe announced that Wollmeise was on line.  I received this tweet via text as I was standing at the pay register at the grocery store!! Whoosh! I practically ran out of the grocery store!! No, I don't need help out to my car! (I just grabbed all the bags and threw them in the front seat).  Would I like my receipt? Well, not really, but if I have to, sure.  Got to the car, started it up and blasted the air conditioning to keep the refrigerated and frozen items from melting.  (It was already 90+ degrees out!)

Wollmeise Sock Yarn in Turkise Markise from
© The Loopy Ewe


I got to The Loopy Ewe website on my phone and found my way over to Wollmeise 80/20 Sock Yarn. What I noticed on my past attempt to buy Wollmeise from TLE is that it literally goes in front of your eyes!! It is crazy, crazy, crazy! (That really is half the fun...finding out what you actually manage to get!) I'd put a skein in my cart and by the time I was checking out, it was gone, literally gone, from my cart! You just hope you can get through the checkout process with something in hand. But I think I caught some pretty colors:   Nazar Boncugu and Turkise Markise. 

So, keep track of Sheri's Blog and The Loopy Ewe Tweets for Wollmeise announcements and, hopefully, you will be somewhere that you can join in all the Wollmeise Craziness!! Good Luck! 










Wednesday, August 10, 2011

What Size Do You Like Best?

I'm talking about knitting needles, of course!!!



When it comes to DPNs (Double Pointed Needles), I find that I am rather picky about the length that I use.  For instance, I've tried those tiny, 5 inch long DPNs for knitting socks but I always tend to lose stitches even if I spread the 64 or so stitiches amongst 4 needles.   Seven inch needles tend to be too long and pointy when I use smaller size needles for knitting socks but are perfectly fine when I'm using a larger size to knit, for example, hats and mittens.  My favorite DPNs are generally six inches long which is long enough not to lose stitches but not so long that I keep getting jabbed in the wrist!  So...what size do you like best? 

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

So Many Knitalongs!

Have you been keeping track? So far this summer (well, since mid-May, which is almost summer around here!), I have joined five knitalongs! Plus one more knitalong queued!  First, I joined SubwayKnits Rose Lace Stole Knitalong....check, project complete, waiting to be blocked.  Second, I joined Camp Loopy Ewe Project 1 Knitalong...Andrea's Shawl...check, project complete, waiting to be blocked.  Currently, I'm knitting The Loop Entrelac Tank in the Sweatshop of Love Summer Sweater Knitalong, (I'm a little behind but think I will catch up soon!)  The Camp Loopy Ewe Project 2 (a ginormous thank you to all that chose Irish Hiking Mittens as their cable project! I'm knitting them too! And I should finish on time!) and NotGoingToSockSummit Socks.(Alas! I am still on sock numero uno!)  Coming up BmoreCrafty's Small Project Knitalong which started August 1st! (I'm hoping to join in later this week). Whew! 



So, what's the appeal of a knitalong? Knitting with someone! Talking through yarn selection, pattern selection, swatching, problems, alterations etc! And seeing everyone else's projects as they progress! Knitalongs keep me inspired!  

Have any terrific knitalongs that you've really enjoyed?  Share here!