Finished Baby Bear

It’s hard to post a lot when most of the things you are working on are going to be presents.  Not that everyone I know looks at this blog, but sometimes you just don’t want to ruin the surprise.

When I first bought this High Society Sock Yarn, I wasn’t quite sure what I would do with it.  It is very bright and colorful which always appeals to me but besides making socks (I haven’t finished the first pair that I started over two years ago) it wasn’t clear what I’d actually wear in such bright colors.

But then I realized it would make a great stuffed animal for my newest nephew and I found Susan B. Anderson‘s Baby Bear in her book Itty-Bitty Toys.

For my bear I mostly followed the instructions except that I increased the needle size to a US 5 and I waited until the end to put together all the parts.

The other thing I didn’t do was put a face on this bear.  I started with a nose and besides not liking covering his cute little yellow nose, I decided I didn’t like how my poor hand stitching made for a sort of scary face.

Knitting a whole project on DPNs is not my most favorite (see sock comment above) and you can see in some spots that the knitting could be a little bit nicer. But mostly I just love how he looks like a rainbow.

The pattern was so easy to follow and all of his parts look so great.  I especially love his cute little tail that took maybe five minutes to knit up.

Overall, I am very pleased with how he turned out.  I hope that he becomes a cherished toy that my nephew drags all around the house and snuggles with at night.

Lehigh Valley Yarn Stores

This past week I was traveling around the Lehigh Valley area in Pennsylvania and got to visit two different yarn stores.

First I went to The Knitter’s Edge in Bethlehem.

This was a really big store and it was so crowded with people knitting together and buying yarn and other supplies. The selection was amazing and I can see why it was so busy.  The staff was also very helpful.  I was excited to find they were having a sale on Noro and bought myself some Taiyo Sock and Kureyon.

My next visit was to the shop at the Kraemer Yarns factory in Nazareth.

I’ve bought and used Kraemer yarns for other projects and knew it was made in this town in Pennsylvania and on a whim I googled to see if they had a store since I was going to be there.  Their store isn’t huge but it is packed with their yarns.  I ended up getting some of their Perfection Worsted with the plan to crochet it into a granny square blanket.

Finished: Inspira Cowl

I finished my Inspira Cowl this week.  Monday night the knitting was completed and then on Thursday I weaved in the ends and gave it a light soak to soften it up a bit.

I really liked knitting this cowl.  It has great texture and I am pleased with how the two different Noro Kureyon colorways worked together.  I had plenty in my stash to use up and it worked with just the two colors — no need to use some Silk Garden to fill in as I had worried about before.

It’s so colorful and I love it.  I was reading comments on some of the project pages for this pattern and one person said it looked like clown collar and didn’t like it.  I get it, I do.  But it totally works for me.

Here is a very poor photograph of me wearing it to prove that it doesn’t look that weird on.

 

Knitting in Color

After I finished my Augustine Shawlette this week, I knew I had to knit with more color.  I love the results but if you look at my Ravelry project page, you can see knitting with a creamy white is not typical for me.

I looked at my knitting goals for the year and I probably could have made a commitment to finishing that Fishtail Lace Scarf because that has plenty of color. But instead, I did what every crazy knitter does and started a new project with even more color.  And it’s making me so happy.

I decided to cast on for an Inspira Cowl.

I cast on using some Noro Kureyon from my stash. I’m knitting the Mesa Rock version and cast on 180 stitches on US 10.5 needles.  I want it to be big and cozy and fit around my shoulders.  I suspect I might run out of the 154 colorway partially through but I have some bits of Silk Garden laying around that might look okay. Or I guess if I have to I’ll buy another skein of a similarly bright colorway of Kureyon because it doesn’t look like I’ll find any 154.  But I really want to avoid buying any because the point is to use up yarn.

I already love the way it looks.  It’s totally filling my need for color.

Keeping people’s ears warm

My friend Marla has always been an admirer of my knitting and first requested a hat well over a year maybe even much longer.

A couple weeks ago when I was in Lancaster, I picked up two skeins of Noro Bonbori.

I was specifically planning to knit an earflap hat for Marla.  This is the fourth hat I’ve made in this pattern and it’s so simple and has a great result.

I’m loving the unseasonable weather we’ve been having but I hope that she gets some use out of this hat this winter.  I’ll send it out this week!

More Noro

Previously, I posted about my Noro Striped Scarves and how much I really like using Noro. On the scarves, the color changes are interesting and appear even more gradual because of the alternating yarns.

I used Noro Kureyon to make my mom a Star Crossed Slouchy Beret.

The Kureyon blocked so nicely and the hat grew a lot and softened quite a bit.  I like how you can see the color changes more clearly when you knit with just the one skein.

When I decided that I wanted a bulky ear flap hat, I went into Knitting to Know Ewe in Penns Park, PA and asked what they recommended. The woman working there was so helpful and she introduced me to Noro Transitions. At the store, she told me it was discontinued so I don’t mean if that meant the colors they had or the entire line.

I ended up making short & sweet with my yarn. What’s so cool about transitions is not just the color changes but the different kinds of fiber that make up the skein. And, instead of being a blend, the actual fiber changes as you knit also. It’s a super bulky weight of wool, silk, alpaca, angora and cashmere.

That hat is so warm and so soft around the brim. I really love wearing it.

WIP: Almost there!

I started my Boneyard Shawl in March. In June I posted my progress on my blog first post ever.

Here’s what it looked like then.

And now you can see how much progress I’ve made.  A few more knitting sessions and I’ll be casting off.  Look how little yarn is left!

And here’s Butler modeling it while on the needles.  The rest is all garter stitch and I’ll just continue until my yarn is finished!

Here’s a picture where you can kind of see the color changes from this awesome yarn from Wolle’s Yarn Creations.

New Yarn!

I haven’t bought any yarn since May when I got the yarn for my Sunday Market Shawl while I was in Vermont.

I have been coveting Misti Alpaca Hand Paint Super Chunky since I saw it in yarn store in North Carolina. It feels great and the colors are so vibrant. But I didn’t need it and with 55 yards in a skein, I knew I’d want to get two to make sure that I wasn’t limited in my pattern choices.

Then I saw it on sale on WEBS so I had to get it.  And it arrived last Thursday. In the rush of the weekend, I actually held off on opening it until Friday night! That’s restraint.

It’s soft and beautiful and I can’t wait to find a pattern for it. This color is called Red Rover.

And since I was already paying for shipping, I got another skein of Ella Rae Lace Merino because it was also on sale and I can’t wait to knit my other skein, so I figured I’d be just as excited for this one in orange, yellow and denim!

On my needles

What isn’t on my needles is probably a better question.

I have six projects going right now (I’ll talk about the ones that are hibernating another time) and one that really should be cast on and knit as there is a baby coming in a month who I want to have a pair of booties!

The most active projects are three scarves that I am so excited to wear. Each serve a different purpose. The first is a Fishtail Lace Scarf which is being made with Kauni Effekt.

Fishtail Lace Scarf in Kauni Effekt

This is going to be my most colorful project yet. I’ve had the yarn in my stash for over a year and finally feel that I’ve discovered the pattern that will show off the rainbow best and in a way that I’ll be able to wear a lot. This is a wool that’s a little rough on the hands so delicate people might complain about it.  I love it and love the gradual color changes. This is my project that requires my attention and I can do it when I want to only concentrate on my knitting.

My next scarf in progress is a Boneyard Shawl made out of Wolle’s Yarn Creations Color Changing Yarn.

Color Changing Boneyard

I chose this pattern for this stranded cotton yarn to really show off the changes. I saw a few others on Ravelry also made from this yarn and I love the way they turned out.  This is a perfect scarf for summer so I really need to speed it up and it’s an easy pattern and great for mindless TV knitting or knitting in a group.

The other scarf in progress is a Sunday Market Shawl.

Sunday Market Shawl

I travel quite a bit for work and last month, when I was in Vermont, I was able to stop at the Northeast Fiber Arts Center in Williston when I had a half hour of free time. They have a whole display of yarn they’ve dyed in the store. Last year when I was there I discovered the shop and bought some of their store-dyed yarn that turned into striped fingerless gloves and so I knew I had to try something else because the colors are so beautiful. This pattern is really interesting because on the last row you drop every two stitches to create a beautiful loose shawl.  I hope it works out (I mean, it should if I followed the pattern properly) because I won’t know until the very end and on it’s own, it’s not very special. This is the easiest knit ever otherwise.  I could do it anywhere with any distraction.