Valls Yarn Stash & Stuff

A Warm Jumper

2012-03-04T13:38:00.000-05:00

Finally some real knitting :D

My current project A Warm Jumper a vintage pattern from the 1940's updated by Susan Crawford from A Stitch In Time Vol.2. Worked in Excelana 4 ply, A vintage inspired wool from Exmoor Blueface, processed and spun within the boarders of Devon UK by John Arbon's Fibre Harvest Ltd and Susan Crawford. The wool is realllllly lovely! Soft, warm and the colors are gorgeous.

I swatched according to the pattern than set to work. I decided to knit in the round so I didn't have sides to sew, I will do that with the sleeves too.

Last Sunday it looked like this:

and today it looks like:

I have divided for the sleeves and I am currently working up the right side of the neck. I love the pattern, Its a rib cable, I hope it fits :) It stretches A LOT so that's good :) I am really enjoying this one.

I figured it would take me quite a while as its in 4 ply, but its working up rather fast :)

I also took a pic of the rest of the Excelana that came in:

Gray, Ruby Red, Nile Green and Sandstone.I am really happy with this yarn purchase, which is good because its my last for quite a while!

My On-going blanket made of Briggs and Little is coming along too:

Used up are: Rose Pink, Yellow, Fundy Fog and Grape. I'm working on the Turquoise Blue at home and Seafoam Green at work. I am not sure how it will all go together and will be 2 blankets. I have lots of Black and white for boarders.

Balls used up in the last week: 4.5 (2 Briggs and 2.5 Excelana)

Happy Knitting!

A Trip To Colinette

2012-02-20T13:13:00.000-05:00

Jan 2011 Klaus and I headed over to the UK to be the surprise at our good friend Ron's 70th Birthday party. We had a great time.. he had no idea :) We spent a week and went all over as we usually do. Went to Milton Keynes to visit our good friend Nyein and family, Stayed in Stafford Staffordshire, we use that as a base, went to Liverpool to see Liverpool Vs Stoke at Anfield (Liverpool won :D) that was on my bucket list :), we went to Abbys, Museums and took a trip into Wales. Wales is awesome.. so vast, the views are amazing! We were on our way to Alternative Energy (if you ever get there its really amazing!) Our friends Ron and Bren decided to stop for a cuppa at a little rail road station that they know.. we went in, but it was shut :( so we went up the lot to turn around and there it was... Colinette Yarns!

Oh the Colors:

A whole warehouse full... it was Awesome! Colinette yarns are beautiful and over here cost a small fortune. I don't mind paying money to kit with a nice yarn, but for me Colinette was something to look at, squeeze, dream and move on. I wondered around this amazing place, the yarns priced a fraction of what we pay in Canada.. than to top it off a discount room... I went shopping!

They even mailed it for me so I didnt have to lug it all around, which was good, cause I had fun lol.

So there it was sitting in my stash.. What to do with it??? I would look at it in the bin, squish it than put it back.. I decided this week some of it had to be knit lol

I am still waiting for my Excelana to show up so I took the bulky Point 5 out, wound it into balls and made 2 pillows and a scarf, Heres the pillows:

They are soft, warm and rich in color... loved knitting with it

Now to figure out whats next.

Happy Knitting!

91 Balls

2012-02-05T20:13:00.000-05:00

91 Balls used so far!

Wow... I had to count twice. I'm half thinking this can actually be done!

Most have been small quick projects, but there were a lot of small amounts to be used up.. 1 ball here, 4 there, That is basically 1 bin gone! Mind you I still have 4 bins, because I have it all sorted but if I really wanted I could reduce it :D

I received word this week that my one yarn purchase that was allowed (as I planed to buy it before I put myself on a diet and I had mentioned it in my first post) has been shipped!!!!!! :D

I can't wait!!! I will take pictures when it arrives, I already know which pattern I'm going to do first too! for now I must finish my current project...

Rowan All Seasons Cotton

It is very nice to work with, I'm quite enjoying it. It was going to be a dress for my Cousins new baby, than I changed my mind and decided on a cardigan... I started the cardigan, it looked to big, but I liked the pattern, so I restarted and figured I would make a blanket... than I read the label on the yarn! I had it in my head that as it is a cotton/Acrylic mix It could wash no problem.. well that's not what the label says! There is no way she will take care of the yarn the way it needs to be cared for so after knitting 2 balls I looked at it laid out on my lap... A PILLOW COVER! It is the perfect size for a pillow I have upstarts that really needs a new cover :) So I am on to side 2 now :) I managed to knit 1 balls watching Skeleton finals tonight, not much else is on now so YouTube here I come!

My hands have been good, knitting slow and taking breaks. I have not done any crocheting. I am starting to think that the crocheting is harder on my hands than the knitting. My blanket project may slow down to 1 square every week lol.

Till next week.. when I may have my pretty new yarn and start a real project :D

Hands need a holiday

2012-01-29T20:47:00.000-05:00

Its been a busy week.. lots going on besides my knitting, so I really didn't get done as much as I wanted.

Prime example was yesterday, The Liverpool Vs. Man U FA Cup Match was on... I figured I would get the pillow finished.. I mean really.. its easy knitting... no purls, no cables, no two handed fair Isle...

Liverpool Won! Thanks to a late wonder goal from our Dutch Magician Dirk Kuyt! I sat on the edge of my seat, yelled, Booed ( at Evra of course) cheered.. and managed to knit 2 rows during the 1/2 time commercials. It was one of those games we want every match to be like... fast past, moments to cheer, moments to cringe and Goals! I did catch the replay later last night and did actually get some serious knitting done... it was easier to watch the second time lol.

Heres the second pillow:

DD Jax has it now.. she really likes it :) I got to move 5 stashed yarns in Ravelry from Stash to Used :D

I have also come to the conclusion that my hands need a holiday, just for a few days. I have this problem with them, have as long as I can remember, no matter how much I do to strengthen my hands, they dont like to be over worked and go well.. dead on me. The muscles and nerves kinda give out. I did have it looked into a loooong time ago as a teen, This Dr put these needles all the way up my arm with electrode like things on the ends and I had to move, squeeze etc... it was PURE torture! I could feel things being ripped apart inside and they are worse now than they were before I had testing done. Needless to say I stopped the tests and never went back. Its weird, they don't go numb,they just give out, It feels kinda like when you smack your funny bone. I can't make a fist, some fingers I can kinda move. It usually happens in the morning, I spend the first 20 min after waking up without the use of them. I can do just about everything tho.. you learn to adapt lol. Tonight I was making dinner and I was 90% finished when... they went. I was peeling apples and I can do a lot of things when they go, but peeling apples was a little too challenging! So hubby came to the rescue. Thanks Hubby :D So I figure I really need to step back and not knit for a few days... thats not easy! I hate being idle. But I do have this to work on:

Its not easy to carry around, but its easier on the hands... I have been working at it for 3 years now lol.. its almost done :)

Once me and my hands are friends again, I am going to tackle:

It was a Rowan Members Club Free Thing and I didn't like the pattern it came with so it has been sitting in a bin. I found a cute little baby dress pattern that will use it up. Hopefully I will have it done in time for my Cousins baby shower.

I am off to watch some you tube and not knit... I cant even hold a needle yet so I wont be working on my needle work either. I will just cradle a hot cuppa tea instead. This was all typed with 2 fingers... not bad lol.

Cheers!

Bit Boring at the Moment....

2012-01-25T21:52:00.000-05:00

I didn't post on the weekend as I usually do.. main reason.. I am knitting some pretty boring stuff at the moment.. I'm not really sure its blog worthy lol. When I get an idea into my head.. like this de-stashing business... something weird comes over me and a little voice says.. you must complete this task... YOU MUST COMPLETE THIS TASK .. it seems to work as I did manage to get rid of our debt in about 2 years when the voices appeared after the idea of eliminating debt lol.

Current Projects:

Mission Falls Pillow .. to use up odd balls of Mission Falls Wool. It looks light in the picture, but in real life its darker. I'm done one pillow and have plenty more, so I'm doing another.First one went to DD Rayne.. Second is going to other DD Jax. I was going to do it with a lot of fair isle in it... but as you can see I haven't had the head for it this past week and it turned stripey lol

Also on the go:

Granny square blanket using Briggs and Little... I have done 10 so far.. got a long way to go!

I also took a bit of time Sunday and updated my Ravelry stash. When I first put it in, I used a lot of stock photos, however I have been slowly updating that with my own and Sunday I tackled my Jamiesons collection. I had forgot just how beautiful the colors are.. Heres one of my favorites that one day will be made into something:

Sage .. Willow was rather nice too!

Also new and exciting.. Thanks to Anne de-stashing over at Shades of Shetland I'm going to take a drop spindle off her hands :) ... Don't worry... I have no desire to start spinning, but it would be fun to play with.. and one day when I have a craft room and have my tapestry loom set up again I can use it to create some nice plied yarns to use :) (We are all allowed to dream arnt we?)

Happy Knitting.... I know I will be happy when these boring pillows are done!

Bits N' Pieces

2012-01-15T19:36:00.000-05:00

First off is finished projects of the week :)

Our house is cold, its electric heated and open plan... it doesnt work. So we resort to Hot Water Bottles quite a lot. I had 6 Balls of Sirdar Crofter Chunky in my stash that I wasnt sure what to do with.. well here they are:

They are soft, washable and practical.

Misson Falls

Next up is going to be a Fair Isle Pillow. I have Bits and Pieces of Mission Falls in stash, they are next on the Knit List! The colors all go together really well, I have worked out gauge, done a bit of math, found a few nice charts and hopefully I will get it started tonight. I'm not using a set pattern... Just going to freestyle it.Check back next week to see what it looks like lol

Also started this weekend, my second On-Going Blanket. I dove through the stash and pulled out all the heathery Briggs and Little. I have had it around as I used to use it in weaving. I have 1 ball of lots of colors. I like having a no-brainer, easy thing on the go and you cant get easier than Granny Squares. They dont take a lot of time and you can use up all your odd balls :)

I figure each skein will give me 6 squares... may be more than 1 blankets worth here. So far 1 is done

Fundy Fog.... Awesome color name! lol

I will be so happy when all these little odds and ends are gone... I have been wanting to do a far more challenging project for some time now.. I'm also way to determined to put all these bits to use and get them our of stash, I just keep saying to myself.. I'm almost there... I'm almost there...

Happy Knitting!

Off to the Charity Shop with you......

2012-01-08T15:25:00.000-05:00

This little pile is now in the Charity Shop pile, Those yarns that you have to ask yourself.. why? Why do I have these, Why do I keep them and Why not pass them on! lol. Thanks to Anne for Blogging about her stash diving! It gave me the idea.. why keep it about?

Its an odd assortment of Briggs and Little (Peacock blue, This weird Dark Green/Purple Mix called Evergreen, Hunters Orange, Light Blue and a Red/Brown) Some Fuzzy stuff by Berroco, Some Lopi, and a few odds and ends of other unlabeled weird stuff. I hope they will find homes somewhere :)

I am finishing this up:

The 4 Balls of Ella Rae Classic went a long way! I have the sleeves as rolled, but I'm going to take that out and put in a rib. Should be done tonight, than just need to tuck in the ends :) Fits really well, super easy, kinda boring, but sometimes easy is good. I watched Foyles War while knitting, I could pay more attention to it than the knitting, so it worked out well :)

Sirdar Crofter Chunky! Its a really nice cotton/acrylic blend that knits up to look kinda like fair isle. I bought it to make some socks out of the pattern book for around the house, however I made 1 pair for Rayne last year and she walked though them in a week :( I was poking around on Ravelry for some ideas and hot water bottle covers came up, Brilliant! Being in a Electric Heated house that is always cold, we use these... I have 3 Balls of another color way to use up if this is successful lol. Wish me luck!

2011 in Review

2011-12-31T11:30:00.001-05:00

The end of 2011...

Knitting:

I decided several months ago to de-clutter.. everything. From Knickknacks, clothing, collections to Yarn, After a while you start to realize what is important in life. For me it is experiences, not material items. I love knitting and fiber, but its only so useful sitting in a bin. So I'm knitting it.... well as much as possible. Since I started I have used 69 Balls of Yarn + 4 that are in my current project. That's a total of 73! and I still have 3 bins full!

I have made:

3 Vests

7 Hand/Wrist Warmers

5 Children's Vests/Cardis

2 Child Aran Sweaters

1 Dale of Norway

1 Shrug

2 Blankets

2 Scarves

1 Beret

2 Pillows

Quite a few Dish Cloths

and ... A Top Down Sweater in progress...

Over the last 2 weeks I have finished a Lopi Blanket, A Scarf made from a lovely skein of Colinette (pictured above) and started a Vintage Sweater. I rummaged through my stash and found 4 Balls of Ella Rae Worsted. Found a beautiful Vintage pattern from my New Book and swatched... Gauge was off... so I swatched again.. and again.. It was supposed to be on 6mm needles, I finally got gauge at 3.5mm needles and decided to give up lol! I wanted to use the yarn up.. so I have ended up making a Top Down Sweater for myself. Top down has a few advantages, I only have 4 balls, Top Down allows me to know when I have enough length without running out of yarn and I can play with sleeve lengths easier

Non-Knitting

There's 3 Deaths/Events that happened this year that really hit home besides all the knitting I've done this year and made me think

Gary Speed / Shay Given

Link to Video

Gary Speed, an AMAZING Footballer and Wales Coach took his own life Nov 28th of this year. It wont mean a lot to those who could careless about the sport of Football.. However even if your not a fan , watch the video.. it shows just how strong we can be. Shay was given the news about his Hero/Mentor/Coach and Best Friend's death right before a game, an event that shook the Footballing world. Did he walk away.. no.. He took his place between the posts and played. Makes me think: Could I do that? and as for Gary.. I dont think he ever knew just how much impact he made on the sport... and how much he was loved. Thank you for everything Gary, and for Shay.... you tested the foundations of human courage and won.

Libya/Arab Spring Uprisings

Being a history buff, I was hooked... Twice in my lifetime I have been able to witness the strength of the Human spirit and need for change on a large scale, The Fall of the Berlin Wall, and the Liberation of Libya. Here's a group of people, who decided enough was enough and wanted change. The sheer networking, danger and amazing result was captivating. I will never look at a White Toyota without thinking of it. I wish the people of Libya all the best in their new lives.... Amazing. To Egypt, Tunisia, Syria and the other country's looking for a new future, I hope it comes in 2012.

Claude Stanley Choules

May 5th 2011 we lost the last WW1 Combat Veteran. Just think, in 2 years we will be looking to start 2014, 100 years since the Great War. What can one really say.. but Thank You.

They have pasted into history.. never to be forgotten.

Have a Happy New Year .. Happy Knitting!

Dale's Finished, What's next?

2011-12-18T14:34:00.000-05:00

So, It's finished! YAY..... Happy Dance!!!

First I Did the neck ribbing, ended up hand sewing the bottom and sleeve facings, than....

I cut the steeks! I did find not everything was as secure as they were supposed to be, so out came...

Yup the machine! Secured all the edges, than pinned the arms and the body together and put it back under the machine....

and Volia! It looks a bit wavy here, but its not. It only took a week and a bit to finish it, wish I had done that a long time ago! But I guess each day brings more experience (and guts!) lol.

Also this week.... this showed up :D

I pre-ordered it in the spring and it was finally released in Sept :) Took its sweet time getting here, but its here now and its mine.. ALL MINE! An AMAZING data base of Vintage 1930s-1950s knitting patterns. Each pattern has the original pattern, than a modern equivalent. Honestly Susan Crawford is amazing... and THANK YOU! :D

I now get to order the excelana wool now :) I have picked out 2 patterns from the book to make and the colors I want to use. Excelana is vintage inspired British sheep breeds wool in vintage colors designed by Susan and spun in Britian... Heres the link if you want some ... Excelana Vintage Wool

Heres a peek at one of the patterns I want to do

So while I wait ... I have been working on a Lopi crocheted blanket for about a year. I bought the Lopi with the intention of making a rowan pattern, but its too *hairy* for me, I can't imagine wearing it, I don't even pick up the Bunny or Guinea Pig due to not liking to be covered in fur lol. So I decided to make a throw, it lives in a basket upstairs and I work on it while waiting for my turn in the bathroom at night. I decided to get it done so I can put a new upstairs crochet square project up there. I have one or two squares left to do before sewing up. I have also found 2 Balls of black Lopi in my weaving bin, I might just use it to edge it.

After that.. I don't know. Looking through my weaving bin I came across lots of 4/8 and 8/8 cotton. To a knitter that's 4ply and Dk weights lol. Before I invest all my time into knitting with it, I'm going to crochet a few dish cloths to get used and abused to test toughness and color of the cotton.

It will also give me something to do over the busy holidays, use up some yarn and give me a bit of time to think of whats next :)

Happy Knitting!

The Dales Crocheted Steeks

2011-12-11T16:01:00.000-05:00

For those who dont know what a steek is, it is when your knitting (usually in the round) and instead of making holes for your sleeves etc, you make a *steek* where your sleeves will go and cut them open when your done the body of the sweater

I am not afraid of cutting my knitting, I have done a typical Fair Isle steek before and it was fearless and easy. I do wish in a lot of ways I had done that here.. however I started knitting this thing 2 years ago and I seem to have different things in mind at the time.

Norwegian sweaters and Icelandic usually ask you to use a sewing machine to sew on either side of where you will cut to secure the stitching, I'm an ok sewer.. but there was no way I was going to attempt to get the machine out on this. Looking into what options I have, I decided on the crocheted steek. Looked at many a web page and you tube videos than dove in.

I had to make some markers as silly me didnt leave any defining rows what so ever and its black and gray yarn. The gray is ok.. the black.. a nightmare.

Crocheting the left seem is the worst, the right is easy as you have something to follow. I have 1 side finished:

I haven't got the courage to cut it yet, I'm going to finish the second one and leave it for a few days and look over it again and again to make sure there is no drifting off the center stitch so it wont fall apart lol.

I have the sleeves both finished now:

Everything got pressed with the iron. It did two wonderful things! 1. It killed all the dust mites :) and 2. it make the stitches and edges nice. I'm terribly allergic to dust, and this thing had sat in a basket in a corner for a good year before I put it in a bin. Every time I picked it up to knit, my eyes would itch and water and made me sneeze. I have been fine since steaming it :)

After the second steek is done, I'm going to work on the neck, cuffs and bottom. I have decided they will be taken out and ribbed. My gauges were really off when I made the facings and they won't look nice. It will be best to rip back and rib. There is WAY to much time in this thing to have it look like crap lol.

Off to finish steeking.....

Return of the Dale

2011-12-04T15:10:00.000-05:00

Lavender Pillows...

Not filled with Lavender, just Lavender in color:

First one took less than 24 hours.. the second took all week. But to be fair, work as busy and I had a stock order for my online bead shop to do as well.

I managed to get all my stash into actual bins! I've used up enough that the stuff in the basket and bag are now happy inside a bin :), I was so happy.. I tried to imagine what my room would look like with my collection down to 1 bin.. and I think I will like it :) However.... The stash bins did come in handy later this week:

Dear Little Yoshi decided to find a way upstairs! She has 1/2 my living room, so why she thought she needed more space, I don't know. She can get up no problem, but cant get down lol. She visited Rayne and before Rayne could get all the doors closed, she went into my room under the dresser. Took us a good 1/2 hour to get her out and we used the stash bins to block other pathways off lol! One is currently in front of my door to act as a barrier if she decides to go wondering again. Thank you stash bins :)

What next.... Well Christmas is almost here... I think I'm done all my Xmas knitting and really wanted to work on something more challenging. I have a Dale of Norway sweater I started in '09 for Klaus, Got the front done in less than a month, than got stuck on the sleeves. They have been knitted and ripped back about 10 times so far. I think they are now figured out :)

Hopefully it will be finished before the new year. I really should have put fair isle steeks in, but didn't :( I think I'm going to do a crochet steek for the arms. Your supposed to machine sew the steek, but knowing me and my sewing it will not be pretty lol!

Left to do:

Finish both sleeves

Put shoulder seems together. (smart me kept live stitches for 3 needle bind off :) )

Crochet and cut steek

Sew sleeves in.

Finish neck edge, I'm thinking of ribbing it, also taking back bottom of sleeves and ribbing as I find I did the bottom facing a bit tight, it doesn't fold nice. I will have to look at the bottom too. This should keep me busy for a bit lol!

Busy Week!

2011-11-27T16:27:00.000-05:00

So I started Hanny's blanket last weekend.. and Ta-da ........

6 Balls of Rowan Pure Wool 4 ply in Baby Pink! I crocheted 2 small squares, sewed them together than did simple granny square design around them till I ran out of wool. Turned out rectangular which I wanted. Looks quite cute :)

Last night I was at a loss, Nothing to knit and nothing in mind. So I started looking over my Ravelry stash and saw the Rowan Cork in Lavender/Lilac that came as a gift with my Rowan subscription. Not my color by any means, and with only 4 balls its not enough to do much with. It did come with a very hideous neck warmer pattern, however I opted not to use it lol. I could have made something for Abi or Hanny with it... however those poor kids are already going to be drowning in knitting and this stuff is hand wash only, not really suitable for most kids. I went upstairs to the bins, found it buried in Bin #3 and sat looking at it for 1/2 hour until I remembered I had picked up some pillow forms last time I was at Ikea. Cabled Pillows!

Got some needles swatched, measured and calculated and came up with this:

First of 2 done :)

I thought it would take 3 balls.. but nope.. 2 is enough. Now who wants some lovely Lavender Pillows?

They are up for grabs....

So Wed. morning I log on to twitter to see that Chapters is having Black Friday Sales :) So I head over and see they have Brit Com DVD's.. who knew? All excited I searched for one of the ones I have always wanted but is quite expensive.. Allo Allo .. and low and behold there it was... complete set all 15 DVD's (it was a loooong running series) and $100 off .... out came my credit card.. and along with it I got:

I have wanted this one for a while :) Not only does it add to my Starmore Collection BUT it should come in handy when I start to use up all that 4 ply sitting in my stash :)

By the way if you have never seen Allo Allo... One of the Best to come out of the UK... EVER! Set in France during Nazi occupation in WW2, it takes you on a journey about the fascinating and crazy life of cafe owner Renee. Its pure genius and its on you tube.. enjoy!

I'm off to finish Pillow #2

8 1/2 Balls Less

2011-11-20T19:10:00.000-05:00

Yup.. 8 1/2 Balls of yarn/wool used this week :D

The second pair of Klaus' Hand Warmers were done by last Sunday night (1/2 a ball)

Than I decided what I was going to do with the Thick Green Sirdar Big Softie.... Abi's got yet another Cardi... I have decided its her last for this year.. a kid can really only needs so many lol!

It needed a button, I looked through my button stash, which isn't very big and there was nothing to suit.. so I made one :) I tool two 9mm chain links, held them together and Crocheted around them in green... than did double crochets around in a flat spiral until I thought it was big enough. The thick yarn makes it thick enough to work as a button. Than used some scrap acrylic for embroidery. Turned out really cute. Looks better in person, couldn't get the camera to capture the color.

With that used up... on to something else... Marisol Sulka! I had 4 skeins of this lovely wool/alpaca/silk in a deep plumy red so I went looking for a pattern.. and found a shrug :) Easy from the top down, used 8mm needles .... it was super easy and fast!

I tried it on, fits well but looks better fastened somehow... must find a nice stick pin or shall pin of sorts.

So onto something new..... Looking through my stash I came across some Rowan 4ply wool. It came with my Rowan subscription a few years ago. The patterns they provided were really nice... I just had one problem.. it was Baby Pink!

Its SO NOT ME ...... I thought of knitting something cute for my little niece, but came to the conclusion that by the time I finish it, she will have out grown the item. I have already made Abi a blanket, so I'm using this to make Hanny one too. Crocheted as its faster. I'm still playing with some ideas, will post a picture when I figure it out.. Hopefully by next weekend when its finished :) (crosses fingers! over 1100 yards of 4 ply may take a bit!)

Off to.. Crochet!

Bye Bye Acrylic :D

2011-11-13T13:15:00.000-05:00

In less than a week 6 balls of acrylic went from in stash to used :)

Here's Abi's Blanket

With special thank you to my Aunt Susan who had fun putting all the squares in order and for the flower suggestion :)

I can now happily say I am done with acrylic for a while.. till next fall maybe when I knit for the kids again. I will be happy when Christmas is over so I can get knitting something more technical, but for now this time of year is a great time to use up orphans and do lots of quick projects.

Next is some more simple rib hand warmers for Hubby using an orphaned ball of Black Ella Rae Classic. Each ball does 4 warmers (25 grams each). I have manged 1 so far, another should be ready tonight or tomorrow. I usually work on 2 at once, it helps to combat SS syndrome (Second Syndrome.. second sleeve, second sock etc, you know when you have one done than realize you have to start all over again to do another and you look at your empty needles and say uh!) But his hands are larger than mine and he wanted the top part higher on his hand so I figured its easier to play and rip back one than two lol. He is going away this coming weekend, so he's getting 1 pair in advance

I'm not sure whats next, I have 4 balls of Sirdar Softie in Greens that's been looking at me saying.. use me.... use me.. so I think its next.. just not sure what it will be tho! Any Ideas?

Happy Knitting

Operation Acrylic .....

2011-11-06T17:16:00.002-05:00

So I have this pile to deal with:

I'm not a huge fan of acrylic.. however it has its place, and that place is children! I have knit quite a few things for Nieces and Nephews so far for Christmas and I'm left with this pile of Acrylic. So it must be dealt with! I spent 1/2 hour last night staring at it and I think I have it figured it out. A crochet granny square blanket for my Niece for her Birthday (which is right after Christmas). I am not the worlds best crocheter, no do I overly enjoy it, but it too has its place. You see there is this yarn that has been haunting me, I took my niece to the yarn shop this summer to pick out colors for the Christmas sweaters and she really really liked the purple Darling yarn from Peter Pan. Its DK soft somewhat fluffy sorta stuff. I have had NO idea what to do with it. Now that I have leftovers of other pinks, purple and blues I decided last night to make a blanket, I managed 4 squares last night :) I am really hoping determination of wanting to use all this up keeps me motivated. The red yarn in the picture I'm thinking of donating.. I honestly have no clue what to do with it.

These were finished this week :D :D :D along with:

I had started these Thursday, didn't do much Friday, but by the end of the Liverpool game Sat they were done :D I could move that yarn from my Stash in Ravelry to Used :D I liked that very much!

I haven't got much done today however as Hubby and I went out for the day to have breakfast and visit those things that fly at The Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum. I have a thing for airplanes, especially vintage ones and this is one of my favorites that I know I am very luck to have around

Isnt she cute??? One of two Lancaster Bombers that still fly's :) and she fly's over my house and this whole area from late spring to fall, Her name is Vera. She is very special as the other Lanc is owned by the RAF in the UK and not out in public much, they like to hide theirs away.. where as with Vera... you can walk right under and when your reallllllly luck go have a peek inside :)

(Taken in June 2011)

So with the thought of a WW2 Bomber in my head.. I'm off .. Operation Acrylic is calling!

Happy Knitting!

Orphan Yarns..

2011-10-29T15:47:00.000-04:00

Why do we buy odd balls.. one of color?? Because we like the color or feel sorry for that poor orphaned single ball sitting on a shelf, because it was on sale or we wanted to try out how it knits up... but eventually you realize you have several of these little orphans around and they need to be something other than a ball of yarn.

Pictured above is some rather lovely Twilleys Organic DK Cotton, it was on sale, looked pretty and I like cotton for somethings hence some Orphans, well 3 single balls on one color each and 2 balls of a darker brown. With Christmas approaching its a great time to put these little guys to use and seeing a my kids love arm/hand warmers... thats what they shall become!

Me and cotton have always had issues.. I like it, I think its a wonderful natural fiber however I can never seem to get the gauge right when working with it. I knit continental and I find I'm bang on with wool gauges but loose with cotton. Ball band suggested 4mms, as most DK weight yarn would.. so after trying that and ending up with a tube that would warm an elephants trunk, I went down to 3.5mms and its perfect :) I could have made these really fancy, but in reality, the kids aren't really going to care how much time and effort go into that so rib works just as well :)

Pattern: Divide yarn into two balls of equal weight (use a scale) Cast on 40 sts, 2x2 rib for 10 rounds (or however high you want it on your hand above your thumb) than work back and forth 2x2 rib for 11 rows to create the thumb hole, than rejoin in round and work till your out of yarn. I work the back and forth rows right on the double pointed needles, you can switch to a circular for that if you want. One ball almost used up.. Four more to go!

I also got around to blocking my Aunt's vest today.... Here she is lying damp on a foam work-out mat all pinned down to dry.. The vest, not my Aunt.

Happy Knitting!

Vest Almost Done

2011-10-23T11:52:00.000-04:00

By the end of today Aunt Susan's vest will be done :)

I not sure what I'm doing next, I want to use up some odd balls so I'm thinking some fingerless gloves/hand warmers for more Christmas presents.I have some Twilley's Organic Cotton in DK that will be perfect

I also re-arranged my needles and knitting bits last weekend, My knitting shelf is now all organized :)

I LOVE tins! Especially really different tins. Every year we get a German Gingerbread Cookie Delivery from Nuremberg curtsy of my Mother In Law and they come in the coolest tins! The large round one holds all my crochet hooks and cable needles and the smaller one holds all my bits and pieces (stitch markers, sewing needles etc) The chest tin holds all my Addis and other needles like this:

There is a larger tin as well you can see off to the side, that one holds all my needlework stuff :) I also have a tin pencil box I got in a tourist shop in Camden Market in London that holds all my little knitting bag do-das as seen in Pic 1. I love the vintage feel to them all.

Can't wait for this years Gingerbread delivery.... I'm not sure if I get more excited by the cookies or the tins lol

Happy Knitting!

Time to Declutter.. No yarn till its gone.

2011-10-15T12:37:00.000-04:00

Recently my local Yarn Store closed :( It was sad. My first thought was where am I going to get my yarn.. I have a few online haunts I like too..but its not the same as in person. I already had a big enough stash, but the sales.. it hard to say no. So now I have more yarn than bins to put it in... I was tempted to buy another bin.. but realized what I really need to do is stop stashing and start knitting! So no yarn until this stash is under control with one exception... Im waiting for my Pre-Order copy of A Stitch in Time 2 to arrive and I have allowed myself some Excelana for a project or two :) I know I wont be able to knit ALL the way through my stash, as I used to weave (and I loved tapestry until my back didn't like it on my floor loom anymore and although I have an upright tapestry loom, I just haven't gotten into it yet.) I have LOTS of 4 ply and worsted in 1 or 2 balls that I used for that.. However I want to get through as much as possible. This Blog is to help me stay on track.

My method for using my stash....
1. Realize just how much you have (take a picture):

2. Put your entire stash into your Ravelry stash. (along with your needles and books)
To me this did a few things, it helped me realize just how much I had, What I have in different yarn weights and types (wool, cotton etc) The needles and books come in handy when I'm looking through patterns on line so I know if I already have it, or if I have all the materials to make it.

3. Look at my Ravelry stash at least once a day to stay focused and put all my projects in it.

4. Keep to one or two projects at a time. (I usually do 1, but if its a complicated pattern, I usually keep a simple one on the go that I can knit at work or while waiting)

5. Knit or Crochet.

I have already used up quite a few balls since I started thinking of this, mainly stuff for Christmas as Its coming up. I have 2 nieces and 1 nephew under the age of 5 and a cousin with a little cutie so I started things for them first. I've managed 2 Boys Aran Sweaters, 2 Cabled Cardis and 2 Lacy insert Cardis for the Girls, Hand Warmers and a Scarf for my Aunt. Not a bad start. My current project(pictured above) is a vest by Rowan called Orford for my Aunt. I made one for myself and she really liked it, I told her if she bought the yard, I will make it. The patterns originally in Cotton, I have modified it a bit, did it in wool (cascade 220 Heather), took out one very small part of the main cable and changed the side cables to a pattern I liked more than the little wave like cables they had in the original.

Off to knit now...... Vall