On The Needles – June 2018

What’s on my needles right now!

With a couple things done, some more have been added.

• Weirwood Shawl – I finished the first garter stitch section and originally planned to use a gray in the same yarn as the varigated yarn.  But the gray just didn’t work.  Then I tried bright blue, then electric purple and last night I wound up some black yarn to try.  I feel pretty sure it will work and not detract from the beautiful varigated yarn.  IThe pattern is Weirwood of Winterfell by Sarah Bench and costs $6 on Ravelry.  The pattern uses two colors of yarn, both fingering weight.  I’ve used Destination Yarns Note Yarn (100% merino single ply) in the colorway MiraCLE for the garter stitch sections and Madelintosh Tosh Merino Light in the colorway Onyx for the lace.  Game of Thrones bag made by me with fabric from Joanns.

• Super Top Secret Project – I’m working on a super top secret project that I can’t talk about because it’s a gift for someone special.  I’m not working on it exclusively so it might be a while but I am enjoying the knitting.
• Wicked Mormorio – One of my social-knitting (aka don’t have to pay attention to) projects.  I work on this every now and then but it isn’t an “exciting” knit for me. Pattern is Mormorio by Heather Zoppetti and costs $6 on Ravelry.  The pattern uses two colors of yarn, both fingering weight.  The first I’ve used is Another Crafty Girl‘s Strong Sock in the colorway Numerical Vampire and the second I’ve used is Dyeabolical Yarns Tenacious Sock int the colorway Ever After.  Beauty and the Beast bag made by me with fabric from Joanns.

• Golden Rapunzel – This is very much NOT brain-dead knitting.  Lace (both right and wrong side) with beads.  The other fun part of this pattern is its knit bottom up (so from the large edge of the shawl up to the neck).  Pattern is Rapunzel Let Down Your Hair by Lily Go and costs $5 on Ravelry.  Heads up – it is not a beginner friendly pattern.  Yarn is Iachos from A Hundred Ravens in the colorway Apollo. I’m a bit worried about running out beads at this point.  Forget yarn chicken – I’m going for bead chicken!

• Lambton Panes – This is also not a brain-dead project.  I think it will be gorgeous when its done but I’m a bit worried my gauge is too loose and I may need to start over.  Pattern is Lambton Panes by Cowtownknits and costs about $5.43 on Ravelry.  The gradient yarn is 50 shades of gradient from The Fibre Studio  at Yarns to Dye For in the colorway United and the gray is superwash merino in the colorway Noir.

• Starry Whovian Socks – I am still loving knitting on this tiny circular needle.  I’ve made just a bit of progress since the last time I posted, mostly because I don’t work on it very often.  It’s become my current “brainless knitting” project that I can do anywhere, anytime.  These are plain socks with ribbing across the top, knit toe-up with an after-thought heel.  I’m using Quaere Fibre Sparkle Sock in the colorway Dr. Who Vincent and the Doctor. Bag is from Erin Lane Bags.

• Sock Yarn Blanket – I am still loving knitting on this tiny circular needle.  I’m still on track to meet my goal to hit 100 squares by the end of the year. Bag is from Erin Lane Bags.

 

 

 

The Wool Gathering Festival 2017

It’s been a couple years since I’ve been to this show and its grown even more!  The Wool Gathering is near Yellow Springs, Ohio and is held in middle September of each year. The show runs Saturday and Sunday and there are no classes due to space limitations. It is on the grounds of a dairy farm and vendors are set up under tents. WARNING: Picture heavy post.

I went with several friends and we got there right about the time it opened on Sunday at 10am.  By noon it was crowded and hot (hot being almost 90 degrees in mid-September).  We shopped, ate, then shopped some more.  I had a couple items I was on the hunt for but otherwise wanted to spend time looking at yarns from vendors I hadn’t seen in a while.

The non-fibery stuff:

• Chocolate Cherry Lip Balm from Ballyhoo Fiber Emporium.  This stuff is like dessert for your lips, minus any calories.  Goes on smooth.  Go check out her website for some amazing photography and cool products.
• For Feet Sake by BarMaids in the Peppermint Plus scent – This stuff is amazing for your feet, especially if your dry feet tear up your knee high hose (yes, I wear knee high hose with my dress shoes).  I like that you apply it like a stick of deodorant, leaving your hands mess free.
• Lotion from Amazing Grace Farms – I love this stuff.  It is by far my favorite lotion.  No dyes and its very hypoallergenic.  The proceeds go to support her animal rescue, which makes it all the better.  Please check out her website and consider ordering.  The peppermint and lavender are my two favorites.  I bought one bottle of apple cider and have two more bottles of the peppermint cream coming to me via mail.
• Pattern for Rookwood by Mindy Wilkes.  Ravelry pattern page is here.

One of my favorite vendors (of many favorites) at the show was Destination Yarns.  I met the owner, Jeanne, at Stitches Midwest the first year I went and love her saturated dyeing.  She also uses the most scrumptious yarn bases.

• (left side) Suitcase base (a worsted weight merino yarn that I swear feels like it cashmere in it) in the colorway Underneath the Christmas Tree
• (top) One skein each of her Note base in the Miracle and Stormy Skies colorways.  This is aiming to be a two-color shawl such as Quicksilver or Blackbird.
• (right) A mini-skein set on the Postcard base in fall colors.  It’s a merino yarn and each mini (there are eight) has 92 yards.  This, and a solid, will become the Take It All shawl.
• You might also notice I got a couple bags, including a Game of Thrones themed drawstring and a Destination Yarn tote.  I’ll just keep telling myself one can never have too many bags.

Long-time favorite dyer – Kimber Baldwin of Fiber Optic Yarns.  She was really one of the first doing gradient yarns (as mini-skein sets) and I used to see her every year at The Fiber Event in Greencastle.  She has a background in chemistry and has a very good eye for color.

• (upper left) Two skeins of her Kashmir yarn (merino/cashmere/nylon base) in Citron and Wicked Good.  This bright of colors is wayyy outside of my norm, which was my goal.  This is likely to become either the Cypri shawl or the Fallston shawl.
• (lower right) A mini-skein set on the Footnotes base in the colorway Fire and Ice and a full skein of Footnotes in the colorway Ft. Knox.  I tried matching the mini-skein set with a gray but could not find a combo that made my heart sing.  The gold one did though.   This is for the On the Spice Market shawl.

A new to me dyer – Ewetopia, out of Wisconsin.  The yarn base is called Pashm and is merino/cashmere/nylon and the colorway is Country Fair.  Given the cashmere content this will become fingerless mitts.

A second new to me dyer – Betwitched Pigments.  I’m a sucker for tonals and her’s have a lot of depth.  I actually got an aran weight yarn (I know, not my norm) in the colorway Surprise!  These are pretty springy and soft so I’m hoping they will make good legwarmers.

Last one, I promise.  A third new to me dyer – The Fibre Art Studio at Yarns to Dye For. This was the last yarn I bought, even though I had been looking for a bright rainbow gradient with over 500 yards of yardage.  The base is Fifty Shades of Gradient (funny pun) in the United colorway.  This and some black will become my Lambton Panes shawl which I’ve been lusting over since Sarah of Yarn Geek Fibers finished hers.

 

Stitches Midwest 2017

I know what you’re thinking – Courtney, you didn’t go to Stitches Midwest this year, how do you have goodies from Stitches.  Well, my wonderful friend Erika (and her sister) offered to do a little personal shopping for me. I’ve linked to each vendor, just in case you’d like to check them out.

Some Non-Yarn Goodies

From Erin Lane Bags – one of her new Sheeple prints, Larry.  I’m also planning to get the Dr. Who prints/

From KnitBaahPurl – a shirt that says “I’m Only Fluffy on the Outside”

The YARN! Sorry I didn’t take the yarn out of the bags for the pictures.

From Dragonfly Fibers – A gradient set of DK weight Traveller (100% superwash merino) in the colorway Starry Night.  The set consists of six 2-ounce skeins for a total of 840 yards.

From A Hundred Ravens – A set of Yarn Poppers, which are small mini-skeins of coordinating colors on the Aesir (DK weight merino) base.  There’s a total of 75 grams in the one set.

 

 

Finished Object – Chomatic Cowl

I actually finished my first brioche knitting project.  I’ve had learning brioche as a goal for about two years now and tried learning via YouTube with no success.  So, when a brioche class was offered the day before the Knitting Pipeline retreat started, I jumped at chance.  Once I got the rhythm of brioche down it was actually an easy and fun knit.  Only reason it took two months was because I had to stop in between and work on knitting for classes.  But it’s done!

My Rav project page is here.

Pattern – Chromatic Cowl (Ravelry pattern here) by Amy Detjen (who taught the class).  It’s worked in the round with two colors.  I think its important to note that the pattern itself doesn’t teach you how to do brioche – it assumes you know this.  You use a solid color to start and end with a curled border.  Normally I dislike edges curling as an intended border but on this it works out well.  Pattern is free on Ravelry.

Yarn –  I bought a kit at the start of the brioche class that was designed specifically for the cowl.  The yarn is Greatest of Ease from KnitCircus Yarns and is a fingering weight 75% superwash merino and 25% nylon blend.  The kit included two 50 gram cakes, one in a solid (cream in my case) and another in a gradient (I bought the Over the Rainbow colorway).  I really liked the feel of the yarn (squishy and soft) but I did have some spots where the yarn had frayed a bit (as in it was becoming unplied).  The rainbow colors are very vibrant and it became “potato chip knitting” to get to the next color. 

Stitches Midwest 2016 – The Goodies

This is probably the post you’ve *really* been looking for – the yarn and other goodies that came home with me.  I’ve linked to each vendor, if available, in case you’d like to check them out.

Some Non-Yarn Goodies

From Erin Lane Bags – a circular needle organizer (the Knit Pack Circular) in a fun retro cat print and the Sheeple sock bag with specially designed Stitches Midwest print.

From KnitBaahPurl – a shirt that says “Three Sheeps to the Wind”

From Michelle’s Assortment – a shawl pin with a Dr. Who Tardis

From Pawley Studios – a red mug with the Star Trek Insignia (insert red-shirt joke here for any Trekkies)

The YARN!

From Dragonfly Fibers – Three skeins of sport weight Damsel (100% merino) in the colorway Sugar Shack.

 

From Destination Yarns – Three skeins of fingering weight Letter (100% merino) in the colorway Harvest Moon.

 

From A Hundred Ravens – Three skeins of fingering weight Iachos (100% merino) in the colorway Apollo.

From Fresh From the Cauldron – Two skeins of fingering weight Schoodic Sock (75% merino, 25% nylon) in the colorway Poe’s Absinthe Induced Dream.

 

From White Birch Fiber Arts – A long gradient (200 gram cake) in a sock base (80% merino, 20% nylon) in a Roy B Giv gradient (one repeat).  This was something that was on my “serious” shopping list since I prefer to knit larger shawls.

From White Birch Fiber Arts – A rainbow mini skein set (75% merino, 25% nylon) in the colorway A Rainbow to Adult By.  I also got a matching black skein (same yarn base) to use in the same project.

From A Hundred Ravens – A mini skein set (100% merino) in the colorway Starry Night.  I also custom ordered a dark gray skein (same yarn base) so I can make a larger shawl.

I also bought, from Wandering Wool and Grinning Gargoyle, some one-off mini skeins for my sock yarn blanket.

Stitches Midwest 2015 Part 3 – Yarn Goodies

The post you’ve probably been looking for since last week is here.  Or you’re so bored at this point you’ve nodded off and are busy snoring at your screen.  Either way, just don’t drool on your knitting.

From A Hundred Ravens (Owner Kate is amazingly friendly and cheerful, they also have a cool yarn club)

• (left) Iachos, a 100% superwash merino, in colorway Rivendell (a soft olive green and grey)
• (center) Iachos in colorway Hecate (light to dark purple and grey/black)
• (right) Iachos mini skeins in colorway Into the Darkness (catch the Star Trek reference?) which is a light to dark teal

 

From Grinning Gargoyle

• (left) Lux Lace (laceweight alpaca/cashmere/silk) in the colorway Shiny Penny
• (center) Primo (DK weight merino/cashmere/nylon) in the colorway Signature Red
• (right) Shimmer (fingering weight merino/nylon/metallic) in the colorway Black Spruce

 

Three More

• (left) From Wandering Wool: Udaipur (50/50 merino/silk in a fingering weight) in Emerald Isle
• (center) From Buffalo Wool Company: Buffalo Skies DK (50/50 merino/bison in DK weight) in Indian Paintbrush.  I actually sort of won this yarn from a grab bag.
• (right) From Buffalo Wool Company: Sexy (50/50 bison/silk in lace weight) in Night Shade.

 

And the Final Four

• (left) Valley Yarns Sunderland (DK weight 100% alpaca) in colorways Charcoal Gray and Brilliant Blue
• (center) Lost City Knits Oak Barn Merino (laceweight 100% merino) in colorway Spring Valley VFD
• (right) White Birch Fiber Arts long sock gradient (80/20 merino/nylon gradient) in colorway Shake Your Tailfeathers

Finished Object – Spectra Scarf

I started this last May while on vacation with my family.  It’s been restarted many, many times.  Enough such that when I told a coworker I was finished he asked if it was “40 feet long.”  I put it on the back-burner several times to work on other projects too.  I just don’t think I’m cut out for scarf knitting – I get in my groove and BAM, it’s the end of a row.  I’m happy with how it turned out.  Very bright is typically not my color pallete but for this it looks sleek.  I’m also glad I flipped the Color A and Color B.  Normally the wedges are the gradient but I used the gradient for the background and black for the wedges.

Moving on.  My Rav project page is here.

Pattern – Spectra (Ravelry pattern here) from Stephen West of West Knits.  This is a scarf that uses shaping to create the wedges and coiling effect.  Intarsia (type of colorwork) is used with two colors, one of which is usually a gradient.  The wedge pattern is easy to memorize (wrap and turns on multiples of 6) and you basically just keep going until you have the correct number of wedges.  The pattern doesn’t state how to carry the wedge yarn (black in my case) so I just twisted the two yarns any time I was on a right side row. Fingering weight yarn in two colors (one solid, one gradient) that contrast would look best – you want the colors to pop against each other. Pattern is $6.00 on Ravelry.

Yarn –  Fiber Optic Yarns Footnotes Paintbox.  Footnotes is a fingering weight blend of 80% superwash merin  and 20% nylon. One Paintbox contains 15 mini-skeins of 30 yards each in progressing gradient colors.  A paintbox is 450 yards.  I used the entire paintbox of my turquoise to tangerine gradient for my scarf.  For the black wedges I used a skein of regular Footnotes in Morticia Black and needed 153 yards.  Obviously, the background color uses more yardage than the wedges.

Finished Object – Watering in the Garden Shawl

I’m in love with gradients.  I’ve been alternating this with the Spectra since the end of October.  I love knitting it and still can’t decide if it was the gradient yarn or the lace pattern that kept me enthralled.

Moving on.  My Rav project page is here.

Pattern – Watering in the Garden Shawlette (Ravelry pattern here) from Giddy Davies. This is a half circle shawl with five lace sections, starting at the center of the straight edge.  Instructions are charted and written out.  The pattern is designed to use about 350 yards of fingering weight yarn but you can extend this by adding repeats of the last chart.  Pattern is about $5.60 on Ravelry, depending on the UK exchange rate.

Yarn –  Fiber Optics Yarns Foot Notes Paintbox Gradient.  Foot Notes is a fingering weight blend of 80% merino  and 20% nylon. One paintbox is 4.25 ounces and 450 yards.  It is actually made up of 15 mini skeins of 30 yards each in a very gradual color shift from red to black.  The colorway for this is Onxy to Crimson.  I used 437 yards with the modifications (essentially adding two repeats of the last chart).

 

On The Needles – October 2014

What’s on my needles right now!

Post Spinzilla I haven’t done any spinning.  The first weekend after I reorganized my stash, picked up the loft and put together project bags.  Putting together project bags is basically my OCD version of startitis.  I select my top projects I want to knit and bag up the yarn, pattern and needles.  It looks a lot like the picture above.  There’s actually more project bags not pictured but I’m only going to talk about those I’ve already started or actually plan to work on within the next month.  I have an additional five queued, bagged and ready to go.

• Scarlet Capelet – Yep, still working on this.  Hopefully when I pick it back up I can get the same gauge.  This pattern (Scarlet Capelet) is also by Heather Zoppetti.  The yarn is Miss Babs Northumbria Aran in Vlads.

• Reverse Spectra – I started this puppy in May, put it away for several months and then actually completed over a dozen of the wedges.  But, I have several oopsies along the edging and I wasn’t happy with how I carried the black yarn so I ripped it out.  Knitted about six wedges and had to rip again.  Hopefully third time is a charm.  The pattern is Spectra by Stephen West.  Gradient yarn is Turquoise to Tangerine gradient on FootNotes from Fiber Optic Yarns.  The solid black is also in FootNotes.  Most people have used the gradient for the wedges but I mixed things up and used the solid for the wedges!

• Starshower Cowl – Bagged up and ready to go.  I selected this to use my blue/purple handspun from Spinner’s Cottage.  The pattern is Starshower by Hilary Smith Callis.  It looks like it will be a cool knit – a cowl with a twist.  It is designed to be able to be worn around the shoulders.

• Up & Away Hat – Also bagged up and ready to go. A colorwork hat I will be knitting out of gray and dark green. Yarn is Sublime Yarn’s Baby Cashmere Merino Silk DK.  Pattern is Up. . .up & Away by Grace Akhrem.

• Watering in the Garden Shawl – This one is bagged up except the pattern.  I changed my mind when I noticed my prior selection did not have charts for the lace.  Knitting lace without charts didn’t sound too appealing.  Anyways, pattern change.  This is a shawl for me I hope to be able to wear to holiday parties.  Yarn is Crimson to Black gradient from Fiber Optic Yarns. The pattern is Watering in the Garden Shawlette by Giddy Davies.

The Wool Gathering Show Goodies

Wow.  This show is now crazy big.  Obviously not Rhinebeck big but probably the size of The Fiber Event in Greencastle.  It’s called The Wool Gathering and near Yellow Springs, Ohio.  The show is only Saturday and Sunday and there are no classes due to space limitations. It is on the grounds of a dairy farm and vendors are set up under tents.

I went with three friends and we got there right about the time it opened.  Man was it crowded already!  We shopped, then shopped some more and then shopped even more.  I had a couple items I was on the hunt for but otherwise I want to buy some “unique” fibers and/or blends to try.  Mostly that ended up being yak.

The non-fibery stuff (#1):

• Eucalan in Wrapture scent – what I used for washing handspun and finished knitted pieces.  Not exactly exciting but this is my favorite scent.
• Lotions from Amazing Grace Farms – I love this stuff.  It is by far my favorite lotion.  No dyes and its very hypoallergenic.  The proceeds go to support her animal rescue, which makes it all the better.  Please check out her website and consider ordering.  The peppermint and lavender are my two favorites.
• The candle melts aren’t actually from the Fiber Festival – we stopped at a huge candle store on the way home.

On to the fibery stuff:

• (#2) Fiber Optic Merino/Silk Gradient Top in Onxy-Crimson
• (#3) Fiber Optic Merino/Silk Gradient Top in Black-Red-Yellow – this is to try some fractal spinning
• (#4) Fiber Optic Foot Notes Paintbox in Blackbird Gradient
• (#5) Abstract Fiber Yak/Silk blend in the color Alfalfa – normally I’m not a big Abstract Fiber fan but I loved this colorway, especially out in the sunlight.
• (#6) 100% natural yak down roving from Lucky Cat Craft.  She always has the most unique and unusual fibers.  I can’t wait to try this!
• (#7) 100% Eri silk roving also from Lucky Cat Craft. So soft and luxurious – this will be my first time spinning 100% silk.
• (#8) Last but not least – something from a dyer whose work I’ve admired but never tried – Happy Fuzzy Yarns. The fiber is 50% merino, 50% yak in the colorway Mostly Water.