Presents!

Yesterday I came home to find the latest present for me from the Loopy Ewe.

I love their little 'box of fun' sticker... here's what was in the box:

This is called Socks that Rock Heavyweight from Blue Moon Fiber Arts, it's hand dyed and the colors are fabulous.  There are three shades of blue/green.  The center skein looks gray but in real life it's kind of celery green and cream.  The colors are from top to bottom:

Dip-It-Us

Winter Solstice

Big Brain Blue

 

Who would not want a yarn called Big Brain Blue??  LOL!

I spent an hour pulling the two dark skeins apart and rolling balls that I can actually knit from. 

I found a pattern I want to make called the Downtown Cowl by Christy Becker.  You can get it free at www.ravelry.com if you're a member.  Sign up, that's free too.

The pattern was designed with variegated yarn in mind... so any one of these would work, but I'm thinking of using a bit of all three.  There's much more than I need for one cowl so we'll see what else I come up with.  Maybe a matching hat...

Also I got a gift from Loopy Ewe with my order!  I love that.

It's a small ball of yarn, a pattern, a button, and some posties so I can mark where I am on the pattern or make notes.

Color me happy.

Knit on....

Knitting Project in Process

There are a bunch of blogs and web sites that I check frequently that have user updates on what's 'on the needles', what's going into and out of the stash of both yarn and fabric.  At one point I thought I would do that too.

Hmmmm... not working well so far!

I've blogged about the yarn shop the Loopy Ewe in Colorado.  I bought this yarn a couple of weeks ago:

It was so pretty the colors really popped while it was twisted up like that!  The teal is very prominent, as is the red/coral/purple section.  It actually looks black but up close it's more purple.

I read about (and blogged a bit about) Camp Loopy too.  Camp Loopy started June 1.  You have to knit something with 400 yards of yarn you bought at the Loopy Ewe between June 1 and June 30.  I didn't officially sign up for camp, but I thought I'd work unofficially, just to see if I could finish a 400 yard project in that amount of time.

I started late, June 6.  I picked a pattern for a pair of socks that appeared to be pretty easy.  I've knit at lease one pair of socks in the past two years, so I thought I could do it.  This yarn is a sport weight, the recommended needles are a size 3 US.

I read about knitting two socks at one time using one big circular needle.  It's called the magic loop.method and it didn't LOOK too hard... there are some You Tube videos out there, and Knitting Daily has a tutorial.  Just Google 'sock knitting magic loop method'. I actually bought a book on the subject too, if I could just find it.

 

Evidently I can't follow You Tube directions or something because my cast-on didn't look like this picture from Knitting Daily!  I knit several rows and it felt clunky.  It messed up my tension too.  So I went back to one-at-a-time sock knitting using double pointed needles.

 

Here is what that first sock looks like on the needles.  As far as the color goes, I see the teal and I see the coral.  White's there too... but somehow I've lost the feel of what it looks like in the hank.  Time will tell!

So stash report is:

How many yards I started with this year:        No idea, maybe a gazillion.
Used so far:    Oh, was I supposed to be keeping track???
Purchased this year:   Um, let's see, seven or eight skeins from  Loopy Ewe, six or eight more from a Michaels trip, two more last week from Joann's...

OK.  Just forget the stash report.  It's not that important until my house starts bulging at the seams.  Besides, then I'd have to admit to myself that I just love having the stuff around!  Remember, people, I am a process person, not a project person.

Ah, well, knit on...



Judy Made Me Do It!!

Most mornings I do the same thing, my regular routine... I get up and shower, get ready for work, go downstairs to greet the hubby and grands, make my lunch and drive to the office.  Today, hubby said "the computer's broken", which really means "I saw something I didn't understand, can you please fix it?"

It was a pretty easy fix, a Microsoft message that didn't require response, but then I had to check the internet, because he has to check the bank statement and his lottery numbers or the whole day will go badly.

So I checked a couple of my favorite websites, Rita's Sew Fun blog and Judy Laquidara's Patchwork Times. 

Judy loves a yarn shop in Colorado called the Loopy Ewe.  I've seen her blog about Loopy challenges, and her yarn stash grows with the most gorgeous colors of hand-dyed yarn that I have ever seen.  And when she knits these wonderful yarns into garment she posts photos that make me jealous -- first of the yarn and second that she actually completes things!

I saw a scarf she knitted called the Hitchhiker.  There's a reference to a book about 43 steps or something, I know I'm not getting it right, but this scarf has one edge that curves around your neck, and the other has periodic decreases that create little steps.  You can find the pattern like I did, on ravelry.com, which is a site for knitting and crochet projects and patterns.  You join for free, but the pattern is not.  I bought it and made one with some variegated yarn I had, which turned out really well.  If I had taken a picture before I gave it away, you'd see it here.  (Next one, I promise.)

Today I also checked out Just Quilting, a blog by Denise Russart who also sews and knits.  She was talking about having sent in an inspiration for colors for hand dyed yarn to guess where, Loopy Ewe!  Her color is called Denise's Mandarin Duck.  OMG the picture of the duck is gorgeous.  She said Judy had asked her about it.

Of course I HAD to go look at the yarn at loopyewe.com.  I had to. 

Judy made me do it!

I ordered some -- not the Mandarin Duck, I started looking at the colors and the other hand dyed yarns, and before I knew it, I had five skeins in my cart.  I bought some red/teal/black/white called Lisa's World Fair Celebration dyed by Lorna's Laces, and some green/teal/brown called Lark which is dyed by Huckleberry Knits.

I'm going to try the Loopy Challenge for the second quarter of 2014, which is to knit (and finish and post a photo) of something made with multicolored yarn. 

If you read my blog you know that my speed is little things that knit up quickly.  Baby sweaters, doll clothes.  Scarves.  Maybe some socks.  This challenge will have to be done by the end of June.  Wish me luck!

Hopefully I can do something for myself.  I was thinking of another Hitchhiker that I will keep. 

Fingers crossed... knit on!