Rose Lace Stole - Subway Knits KAL - Progress Update

I'm knitting along with Maria aka @venusfueri on Twitter and several others on the Rose Lace Stole by Susanna IC. Maria has a Podcast called Subway Knits (one of my favorites...you can find it on itunes and is the moderator of the Subway Knits Podcast Group...which is where I found the knit-along.

I love this yarn! It is Malabrigo Lace Weight in a medium to dark blue called Paris Nights. And I love the rectangular shape of this wrap. As a general rule, I would prefer to wear a rectangular shape wrap over a traiangular shaped one. I can't wait to see the flower pattern that I'm almost ready to start. So far, the pattern is relatively simple...Six more rows until I get to the lace chart...I've been saying that for almost a week now but, unfortunately, the last week of school and ballet recitals have gotten in the way of good, quality, concentrate on knitting lace time. But get back to it I will. Oh, and there is this small problem:

Somehow in the first repeat, I knit 6 stitiches instead of 5 and, generally, I don't notice it until the end of the row. And then I have to tink! (I'd never be able to pick up the stitches if I frogged a row!) This has probably happened now about half a dozen times on the first half! That's a lot of tinking! I find I have to really concentrate on the knit row and then I usually repeat the pattern back to myself on the purl row just to make sure I still have the pattern correct.

So, are you a tinker or a frogger? How do you make sure you stay on track with projects like this? Share with me, please!

Knitting & Crochet Blog Week 2011 - Day One

I just found out about Knitting and Crochet Blog Week 2011.  It runs from March 28th  to April 3rd 2011 and is a week of fibre-arts related posts where many members of the knitting and crochet community worldwide blog daily together on the same subjects and topics.  Wow! Sounds like fun! The BIG question is, think I can keep up?  We'll see....

So today's topic is....A Tale of Two Yarns

My absolute favorite yarn is Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport.  Socks and Shawls knit up quickly with this yarn.  And it is soooo squishy and soft using a size 2 needle.  Colors are great and I have found it at Jimmy Beans Wool, The Loopy Ewe and Eat, Sleep, Knit...three of my favorite online yarn stores.

River Rapids Sock in Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport in Midway

And then what could I say about Malabrigo worsted that hasn't been said by everybody else?  Soft, soft soft to the touch.  Again, I found some at all of the three yarn stores listed above.  Sadly, most of my local yarn stores do not have much in the way of either of these yarns.  However, one local yarn store has been much better lately about stocking all the pretty yarns that I love to find online.

Brattleboro Hat in Malabrigo Worsted - Verde Esperanza

Four Hats, an Ishbel and a Twitalong

I can’t believe that we are already two weeks into our summer break! We’ve just returned home from a wonderful family vacation. I knit four Turn a Square Hats by Jared Flood. A very easy knit for relaxing evenings watching movies with the family. No stress except for adjusting the size a bit. The instructions as written resulted in too large a hat for my husband and son…I hope the large one fits my father in law…I guess he will love that my daughter has a matching hat! Because the lovely Malabrigo yarn that I used for the first time yielded two hats per skein!! A quick length adjustment resulted in a nice hat for my husband and decreasing the number of stitches and shortening the length worked for my son’s and daughter’s hats. My adjustments are found here: Turn a Square for My Son

The next time I knit this hat, I’m going to follow the striping directions because it’s a very cool looking hat! Now, back to the Malabrigo merino worsted yarn - I love, love, love the softness of this yarn and its slightly felted quality. I can’t wait to knit something larger with this yarn. Definitely a sweater. For me. Maybe even an afghan.

And since I’ve last blogged, I finished my first Ishbel Shawl by Ysolda Teague. Ishbel was a huge challenge for me! It really tested my patience. I’m very thankful for that center stitch marker, letting me know that I was halfway through a row and letting me know that I was knitting a row correctly (or incorrectly as the case was several times!!) I used Shadow Tonal Lace Yarn in Queen Anne from KnitPicks.com . I love the peachy-pink color! I think if I were to start Ishbel again for the first time, I would use a fingering weight yarn. The lace weight yarn was so delicate that I lost track of stitches in counting and double checking resulting in numerous recounts.

I am most certain to tackle this project again. Probably in a fingering weight to get a heavier shawl. But before I knit another Ishbel, what am I knitting next?

I’m joining a Twitalong! So far, @Cheekytart, @Jbee42 (and hopefully @Killerlashes) and I are going to knit the Cotton Bamboo Smocked Top by Rebecca Hatcher. I’m going to knit this for my daughter using Shine Sports Yarn from KnitPicks.com in blush and cream. Who else wants to join the knitalong?!!

I'm Seeing Red!

Red yarn, that is! Look at these beautiful yarns that I found at http://www.jimmybeanswool.com/. First, this beautiful Malabrigo sock yarn called, are you ready, Ravelry Red! What a great name!

Next, from Lorna's Laces, another sock yarn called, yep you guessed it, Ysolda's Red. Perfect for knitting up an Ishbel shawl which is on my project to do list!

Why the great interest in RED yarn? My niece is going to the University of Maryland next year! Yay Magpie! That means I get to knit red hats, red socks, red shawls, red sweaters, red scarves, red afghans...you get the idea!

Go Terps!