A really big yarn along!

Hanks of yarn at Ginger Twist Studios in Edinburgh

So I owe you a HUGE yarn along, featuring Edinburgh yarn! So let’s get cracking.

The first thing I’m making is a Saturday Shrug:

There are a TON of ways to make this. In the shop, the lace weight yarn (the yarn at the bottom in the above photo) was used to make thin stripes:

I decided to do it with both yarns held together:

isn’t it pretty?

This is pure comfort knitting. If you want to use these yarns (which I recommend!), they are Ginger’s Cumulus Humilis Aran and Leading Lady Lace. Jess, the lovely shop owner, ships to the USA!

The other yarns I got from her shop are:

Masham Mayhem in Lallybroch, Hocus Pocus, and Au Naturel, which will be used to make a Drachenfels shawl.

I HAD TO (yes, had to) grab two skeins of the yarn on the left (above)—that color! And the name—Voyager is the title of the third Outlander novel. This is Yakety-Yak 4 ply, which is merino, yak, and silk. It’s so squishy! I haven’t decided on a project for this yet….any suggestions?

Another thing I did was purchase one of the mystery bags they sell. Once I was home, I knew I wanted more yarn (space constraints limited me!), so thought this was a great way to get a mix of gorgeous yarns. Jess will send you yarns based on one word you give her, and she’ll also send patterns! I mean how fun is that?

I got:

Victoria DK in Breakfast with Ginger (below) and the pattern BRU by Amanda B. Collins

Halo Honey Aran (currently unavailable!) in Ginger, a lovely warm ginger (obviously) red color, with the pattern Little Squirrel Socks by Tin Can Knits. This has inspired me to conquer socks! Halo Honey is 100% British Wensleydale Wool and I have no doubt it will make wonderfully cozy socks. (Or I could use it for something else but I REALLY want to try a pair of baby socks with it, especially since I have many babies and toddlers in my life!)

Finally I received the Hipster Hat pattern by Alexa Ludeman, the co-founder of Tin Can Kits. This also comes in a variety of sizes, so….baby hats! :-D And the yarn, St. Magnus DK in Gold, will definitely make for a happy hat!

So that is the Great Scotland Yarn Round Up! I am really exited to use all of these beautiful yarns!

Yarn Along: The Summer of I-Cord

This summer I have been diving into the fabulous world of knitting I-cords.

What is an I-cord, you may ask? It’s the border and loop you see in the mini washcloths above (knit during Modern Daily Knitting Summer Camp, which was all about dishcloths that use I-cords!). They are delightful and pretty and sometimes functional, as we see here!

The I-Cord obsession began with the Sophie Scarf and Sophie Shawl—if you knit, you need to knit these patterns because they are truly delightful and adaptable. These projects use applied I-cord for the pretty edging. All this means is that you slip two stitches with the yarn in front at the end of every row, and voila! I-Cord!

The large Sophie shawl n Quince and Co. Phoebe—colorway Orion.

I’ve made three Sophie scarves (one as a gift, two for me), and one shawl. They make fabulous gifts!

Using La Bien Aimee’s merino boucle

I-Cord is also used in Andrea Mowry’s Everyday Cowl—both for edging and bind-off. I-cord bind off is sort of the equivalent of one step forward, two steps back, but it does look nice and tidy.

Close up of the I-cord bind off.

Then I decided to get really crazy, and learn how to do two color I-cord bind off for Andrea Mowry’s The Shift cowl!

This wasn’t in my plans. I’ve been trying to work down my Ravelry queue of patterns and use up stash, which is what happened with both the Sophie Scarf above and the Everyday Cowl. But when I saw that Andrea had designed this pattern for the Edinburgh yarn festival, and since I’m going to Edinburgh in September, and all the colors she used were named after places in Edinburgh, I not only had to make this, but I had to use the original colors. (They’re the bottom three colors here.)

From the bottom: The Meadows, Leith, and The Castle.

I also learned mosaic knitting with this project (Mosaic knitting is basically slipping stitches in various patterns.)

While on the needles. Check those gorgeous colors!

This is about to go in the bath and be blocked, then seamed, to create the finished object. Keep your eyes peeled for an update!

And then finally, I learned to knit a single I-cord during the Modern Daily Knitting (MDK) Summer Camp held last Friday. This was pretty amazing; if you’ve never taken a class with them, I highly recommend it! Lorilee Beltman taught us all sorts of tricks using her Sinkmates Suite dishcloths, which use I-cord and various stitch techniques to create beautiful dishcloths. I generally hate working with cotton yarn, but the Rowan Handknit Cotton we used for this class is great!

I’m addicted, I’m just going to admit it. So far I’ve knit one basic, one striped, and I’m about to start a mosaic one. The other great thing about these patterns is that they help me master a technique that’s stifled me—picking up stitches from a cast-off edge. I’m really bad at this! But I get lots of practice while I knit these dishcloths, and this will definitely come in handy for future projects, especially cardigans that have a shawl collar!

In the non I-cor world, I’m also working on a blanket for a friend’s little boy, and there’s another MDK online class coming up in August where I’ll be knitting a cowl that looks scrumptious.

Have you ever fallen in love with a certain type of technique, recipe, or music, and then just couldn’t stop doing it? :) Tell me about it!

August Yarn Along--Christmas knitting takes off!

I went on my first “yarn crawl” on Monday and so that was a lot of fun! A crawl is basically visiting a bunch of shops that are all participating in the event; it’s a great way to visit new stores and get discounts and other goodies, like….TOTE BAGS.

The bag with….

My goodies inside! :)

The Carnation Yarn Trail runs through Michigan, Ohio, and Kentucky, and man, it’s extensive, as you can see on the map (scroll down)—it goes from Grand Rapids, MI, to just outside Louisville, KY! A lot of knitters will visit stores as a vacation or a fun thing to do with their yarn buddies, but I “just” visited two stores, though I am keeping this list for future reference.

First I visited 614 Knit Studio, which is on the north side of town. I’d never visited it before but it’s so gorgeous that that’s going to change! The top photo is of their ‘baby yarn’ wall and I bought almost all of the teal yarn for a dress for Maddie. I also picked up some Malabrigio Rios in Anniversario for me (that’s the pretty multicolored yarn!) that might be (yet another) shawl. :) Shawl knitting is my love language! I also got a shawl cuff so I can experiment with different ways to wear my many shawls, and some blocking pins that I think will work a lot better than the ones I currently have, which are sort of fiddly.

My second stop was Yarn it and Haberdashery, which is my “regular” local yarn store. I got the dark blue yarn you see in the photo for a Christmas project. (You can see the project on Ravelry here), as well as the knit picks needles so I can cast on a baby blanket without waiting for a current knit in progress to be done! :) (Yes I have a second niece coming, she needs a blanket! Yay babies!)

In progress we have:

*Chocolate Lily, where I have just finished the main body increases. That means there are two more sections to go before it’s off the needles!

*Christmas project (see link above)

And things that need blocked: Quindici and Take It All. (Seen below—quindici is the one done in blues)

Whew! That’s a fair bit of knitting and finishing to do.

Onto reading!

Above, The Silmarillion surrounded by the projects that need finished. :)

I’ve been meaning to read The Silmarillion* for awhile, but it wasn’t until a week or so ago that I decided to be serious about it. Thanks to this great reader’s guide, I’ve been making progress! This is very different from the Lord of the Rings books in that it’s very dense—I’m taking a ton of notes in the margins—but rewarding to read.

I’m also re-reading Cardinal Pell’s prison journals*.

Yarn Along: Digging into the stash!

I don’t know what it is about vacations but it always seems to give me mental clarity. Does this happen to you?

One of the things I was thinking bout when I was in Texas (which I will write about soon!) is knitting. I didn’t bring a knitting project with me, but I was thinking about what to do with some yarn I have and hadn’t used. That lead me to remember this kit that my parents got me for Christmas, for a shawl called “Take It All.” The kit uses one main color (that’s the ‘natural’ color you see) and a mini-skein kit for the contrasting colors. I thought that would be a great project to work on. I wanted something pretty simple but also fun, and this checked all the boxes. (You can see a version of it knitted up here)

I also decided wht I’ll be knitting next, so I have my updated “knitting queue” ready to go. It can be so overwhelming to have yarn for so many projects, and to have a huge Ravelry queue, so sometimes it’s easier for me to write a “top three” list and then work down that.

My Ursina sweater is sort of in limbo because I have to learn how to do magic loop! So I’m taking a short (I hope) break from it. I finished my Quinidici shawl, and that was a lot of fun. I especially liked working with La Bien Aimee’s cashmerino yarn! I used Winterfell, Hegelia, and Nymeria for my Quindici. (I bought the yarn with birthday money—a very good expenditure if I do say so myself!) I actually have a ton of Nymeria left so I’m thinking about doing another quindici with two other colors…hmmm! (You only use a little of the second contrast color in this project.) I mean, waste not want not, right? :)

As far as reading: I love visiting a little independent bookshop whenever I visit Diane. So we made a trip to the Blue Willow Bookshop!

It’s so adorable and it’s home to lots of amazing things. I bought two copies of the 200th anniversary edition of Emma for Di and I….she’d never read it, except in its Baby Lit version:

Johnny: Emewee, are these the same book?

(Yes I have multiple copies of Emma, don’t judge.)

When I do the full Houston write up I’ll include book links.

What are you making/crafting/reading?

Yarn Along: Ursina body!

About to begin bust darts after separating the sleeves from the body

It’s an Ash Wednesday Yarn Along! :) And we’re continuing adventures in top down sweater knitting!

I am loving this sweater. It’s so fun to knit, and I love the color and yarn I’ve chosen (Quince and Co Lark, in limited edition color way blue balloon). (Ravelry notes here)

In the photo above, you see the sweater after I separated the sleeves from the body (this link is genius for explaining it!), and began the bust darts in size D. (The sizing options are part of the pattern) The bust darts give you extra fabric so that you’re not pulling your sweater down! They’re genius! It gives you more length right where you need it.

After the bust darts it’s just regular rows, working the half brioche stitch when you get to them (that’s the bit in between the stitch markers). Now I’ve finished the body rows and I’m on to the triangle detailing at the bottom of the sweater, which you can see here:

From the designer’s website: you can see the sweater can be cropped or full-length. (I chose the latter.)

The triangle detailing is one of the things that drew me to this pattern in the first place because it directs attention up toward my face as opposed to on places I don’t want attention directed! The v-neck collar does the same thing.

you can see the bust darts here--those will smooth out after blocking.

I have 48 rows to do for the triangle shaping, and then it’s on to the sleeves. I will say I’m a litttttle nervous about the sleeves, but the one thing I’ve been using as a motto for this sweater is: do not read ahead. Read the directions one line at a time and do what that line says!

Since today kicks off Lent, my reading is all Lenten: Restore by Sr. Miriam James, SOLT, and Just Rest (a bible study of the Book of Exodus) by Sonja Corbitt.

What are you making or reading?

February Yarn Along: Colorwork and a sweater! (And Candlemas poetry!)

Welcome to a pre-snow/icepocalypse Yarn Along!

(Right now the weather forecast is basically doom. 2-4” of snow isn’t bad in an of itself, but we’re talking about accumulating ice, too, and that….is the danger. Lots of ice can take out the power. So let’s hope that doesn’t happen!)

Up first: My first piece of stranded colorwork, and I love it! (photo above)

This is Jennifer Berg’s “The Peaceful People” cowl. (Ravelry notes at that link) I used Malabrigo Caprino yarn, which is a wool/cashmere blend and is so perfect for something that’s going around your neck! I used Pearl and Pines.

I think this is a great first time stranded colorwork project. The pattern is very well-written and really, you’re just working with two colors in each row, so it’s not overtly complicated. And it’s so pretty.

Second: Emily Knits A Sweater!

This is the Ursina Sweater, which you can make in a cropped or full-length size (I’m going for the latter). My Ravelry notes are here. The yarn is Quince and Co Lark in Blue Balloon (a limited edition color way).

This project has a bunch of make one right and make one left (M1R and M1L, respectively) notations in this, plus a half brioche stitch (hbs) detailing. To keep that all straight, I’ve gone through the pattern and color coded each. M1R is blue, M1L is pink, and the hbs detail is underlined in pencil. This really helps me keep things straight.

I also write in the number of repeats for my size above the instructions and then cross them off, so I always know where I am in the pattern.

I will also be making another baby blanket for Alice (my friend Tiffany’s daughter), but I have to order the yarn first!

As for books: I’m about to start reading Dante’s Inferno * (the Anthony Esolen translation), and probably The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, which is an Anne Bronte book I’ve never read but I bought a copy over Christmas.

ALSO, here’s a poem by Robert Herrick about Candlemas—well, Candlemas Eve, which was yesterday, since today is Candlemas, but hey, I’m going to share poetry!

CEREMONIES FOR CANDLEMAS EVE
by Robert Herrick


DOWN with the rosemary and bays,
Down with the misletoe ;
Instead of holly, now up-raise
The greener box (for show).

The holly hitherto did sway ;
Let box now domineer
Until the dancing Easter day,
Or Easter's eve appear.

Then youthful box which now hath grace
Your houses to renew ;
Grown old, surrender must his place
Unto the crisped yew.

When yew is out, then birch comes in,
And many flowers beside ;
Both of a fresh and fragrant kin
To honour Whitsuntide.

Green rushes, then, and sweetest bents,
With cooler oaken boughs,
Come in for comely ornaments
To re-adorn the house.
Thus times do shift ; each thing his turn does hold ;
New things succeed, as former things grow old.

Are you working on anything crafty?

Blogmas Day 12: First Yarn Along of 2022!

I have so much yarn and knitting to show you! (and books. Always the books.)

Let’s get started!

First up: Jacqui Fink’s Heartstrings Shawl

This is a project from Knit Stars Season 6. It’s not a technical project, it’s an emotion-guided project. Each color represents a certain emotion and you knit with that color until you feel like you’re done with it. So it’s an intuitive project, as well as an emotional one. There’s also a journal that accompanies the project.

I’ve used every color in the kit except black (the dark color you see is navy), and it is really surprising to see what emotions I’ve assigned to each color.

It’s called the “Heartstrings shawl”, and you see the loose ends? Those are the heartstrings—they don’t get woven in.

Jacqui (the designer)’s mother died a few years (five, I think) after receiving a double lung transplant, so I knew this project would be really resonant for me, and it has been. I’ve really enjoyed working on it, and so far I’ve had 21 colors changes!

The yarn is KPC’s Glencoul, which is absolutely buttery. Seriously. I just love working with it. So this project is really just total indulgence!

(Ravelry notes here)

Second: Jennifer Berg’s “The Peaceful People” Cowl

Since the project is still on the needles, it’s a little scrunched up! When it’s done it’ll be easier to see the pattern.

This is my first stranded color work project and I am absolutely in love! This pattern is so much fun. (You can get it from Jennifer’s Etsy shop). Jennifer, who is a Navajo woman, is inspired by Native American history and culture in her work. This design is based off of a Hopi design.

I’m using Malabrigio’s Caprino (80% superfine wool and 20% cashmere, be still my heart) in pearl and pines.

If you’re looking for a first stranded color work project I think this one is perfect! (Ravelry notes here)

Third: “Whatever the Weather” shawl

This is a finished object! It’s an entire year of weather in my town!

I used the high temperature to determine what color to use (you could use the low, the high, or the average temp).

Unlike heartstrings, I have a LOT of ends to weave in here. Also pardon apartment carpet.

2021 began on the right side of the photo. The dark burgundy divider shows where winter and spring end, and after the divider, its summer and fall (through the end of 2021). Once all the ends are woven in you’ll have a better idea of its shape, but it’s a big project! I loved making this. All my notes on it are here.

Book time!

As you know, I got lots of books for Christmas. I’ve made a dent in some of them: The Ballerinas, The Lost Crown*, Clanlands Almanac*, and The Ballerina Mindset* have been read (I got The Last Crown and The Ballerina Project with Christmas gift cards). I’m about to start The Island* (also Amazon gift card purchase) and I’m re-reading In This House of Brede*. (If you want to follow me on Goodreads, here’s my profile. )

I also took advantage of Barnes and Noble’s hardback book sale and got The Tenant of Wildfell Hall for my Penguin clothbound collection!

What are you reading/making?

December Yarn Along

Last week was “technically” yarn along week, but I was having surgery, so no yarn along for me, haha. But I can talk about yarn and books this week!

This project has been a year long knit along, and I’ve had so much fun with it! Whatever the Weather wraps up this month and I’m really going to miss it! The Ravelry link is above if you want to see all the details. There were three size choices: scarf, wrap, or blanket, and I chose the wrap. You’ll see it in all its glory next month.

I’ve finished Madeleine’s (my niece’s!) blanket:

And I have two more Christmas gifts to knit. I’m about halfway done on one and once that’s done I will start the second. I’m hoping to get them done by Christmas, but if not, they’ll be done by Epiphany!

There are lots and lots and lots of fun projects on the horizon but right now Christmas knitting has taken precedence over all the things.

But just WAIT.

In terms of books: I’ve started reading Dune! I was really intrigued by the movie trailers and I have to say I am liking the book so far! I have it on my iPad because that’s easier for me to read, post-surgery, for some reason, so no good pictures of it. :)

I also re-read one of my absolute favorites, In This House of Brede, which EVERYONE must read.

Long Time No Yarn Along! :)

I know it’s been FOREVER since I’ve done a yarn along for you, so here we go, I owe you one!

So the first thing is finished objects, or FOs in yarn speak.

-one-

This is a finished Free Your Fade shawl from Andrea Mowry. I just adore her designs! (I have to weave in the ends and block but it’s off the needles, so finished for our purposes!) I used Wonderland Yarns fingering weight yarn in Egypt (light blue), Seography (bright blue), and Jerusalem (all the colors!). Egypt and Jerusalem are limited edition yarns for their 2020 Around the World collection, and as of right now, Jerusalem is still available!

This is an amazingly fun shawl to knit—very relaxing, very portable (I took on the wedding trip!), and a lot of fun when it comes to color combinations. I am definitely knitting another ASAP. (You could also make it bigger!)

-two-

In progress: a sweater!

From Jacqueline’s website

Jacqueline was one of the starts of Knit Stars 6, and she talked about how to adapt patterns to fit your body, which I loved. The pattern we got in her class was this sweater, called Ursina.

I’m going to be adapting that as my new project. I want the length to be more full length, not cropped. (I don’t like cropped). I love the v-neck that isn’t too deep, and the shaping at the bottom which points to the face—all good things! This is a top down sweater which I’ve never done, but I have a knitting friend who is doing it with me so we can help each other!

For my yarn, I chose Quicne and Co Lark (the same I used for my cardigan project), but this time in the Limited Edition Blue Balloon color way (which, as of this writing, you can still get!)

SO MUCH Blue Balloon to wind!

Blue Balloon was also offered last year and I grabbed some to knit a Hawthorne Shawl (which is currently hibernating, bad me!) But I just love this yarn and the color is perfect for me!

I knitted a swatch but I was off a tiny bit on the gauge, which, not to brag, is rare for me, so I’m trying again, going down a needle size (to a 6, instead of the recommended 7). I’ll see if that helps.

-three-

In progress: Confetti Shawl

I belong to a knitting/yarn club where every quarter you get a special skein of yarn, a unique pattern for that yarn, and fun surprises. This was the yarn for summer—it’s a cashmere blend! I didn’t want to make the pattern that was included, so I decided to use another pattern they recommended, a shawl called “Confetti”. I haven’t cast on yet, because I wanted to finish the Free Your Fade at the top of the page first before I started another shawl, but the time has come to cast on with this guy!

I might not do the picot bind off—we’ll see. I was supposed to do it on Free Your Fade but I was so confused when I looked it up that I said, FORGET IT. I don’t like to be too frustrated with my knitting, so I just did a basic bind off.

-four-

In progress: Rosarium shawl

Quince and Co—in case you haven’t realized—is one of my favorite yarn companies. In fact, it’s my go-to for good, quality wool in solid colors. I’ve never used their Finch fingering weight yarn, though.

Well, that’s about to change. I just had to get some of their birthday limited edition in Parakeet!

image from Quince and Co’s Facebook page

(Yes, I like blue, OK?! :) )

Quince describes this as a tonal variegated yarn, so I’m really excited to knit with it. At first I was thinking of a shawl that was two colors, but then I thought, wait, what about Rosarium?

A rose garden—but that’s also where we get the word “rosary.” So….a Marian blue shawl? AMEN! I can do that! I had been waiting for a good yarn for this and voila! I think this will be amazing. And since it’s fingering weight, it will be a lightweight shawl that’s an easy size to throw over a dress or short sleeved top for Mass or anything else, really. Catholic knitting! And also it’s a solid color, which none of my shawls are, so it’ll be a nice addition to my shawl wardrobe.

-five-

Texas yarns!

I have a cowl planned for the Texas Tulip yarn, and the matcha is still sort of up for grabs. Like Rosarium, it’s waiting for the right pattern. I might do it up in the Confetti pattern if I like it—we’ll see!

Teas Tulip on the top, matcha on the bottom.

-Books!-

As for books….

I re-read Tokyo Ever After (love it), and read Artemis, the only one of Andy Weir’s books I haven’t read. I’m re-reading the Harry Potter series, and I’m currently on Chamber of Secrets. I’m also reading No Man Knows My History, Dominican Spirituality, and Emma.

The Massive Birthday Yarn Along!

OK folks, settle in for a nice, long YARN ALONG!

There is so much going on here!

First project: Whatever the Weather Knit Along (KAL)

This project has been going all year! I’ve been loving it. Every month there is a different stitch pattern, and the color of the day is determined by the high temperature. Ravelry notes here.

Here you can see February (some of it) and March, as well as a seasonal marker (the lace) in Kerfuffle, one of the shades I haven’t used (yet). The pattern said to use one of the colors you haven’t used or haven’t used much, so I chose the coldest temperature color (-2!). April has seen the addition of a new color, “ablaze”, which is a really pretty pink-coral (which you’ll see next month!)

You could choose to make a scarf, a wrap, or a blanket, and I chose the wrap size. I’ll try to get a photo for you of how it looks as a whole, as opposed to just this little bit.

Second Project: Riverwild Quiviut Scarf

Ravelry notes here

So there’s a story about this one.

Last fall, a twitter friend sent me a big box of yarns she wasn’t going to use. At the time I briefly looked through the box but put it aside to dig into more carefully later. That time didn’t come until last week—bad me—and I was looking through and deciding wht yarns would be good for which projects, I found a tiny cake of QUIVIUT yarn.

This is yarn from a musk ox. It being from a musk ox—aka, a very large, very strong animal—it’s hard to get and is expensive. I had never thought I’d actually knit with it because it’s, well, expensive. It’s softer than cashmere!

So I double-checked with my friend to makes sure that, indeed, she meant to send this little jewel to me, and she did. Wow!

Now I had to find a project worthy of this yarn. I found this one, because the yarn was just crying out for lace, and I like the pattern very much. It’s simple, repeated over 12 rows 27 times. I’ve been working it in sets of 12, so I have two repeats done so far.

It’s a project that I’m taking my time on, which is just fine!

*

So let’s talk about BIRTHDAY YARN!

These weren’t actually gifts—they were bought with birthday money people sent me. :)

First up is “London”, from Frabjous Fibers and Wonderland Yarns. They do a wonderful “around the world” series of yarns, which each month having a different country/city/region as the focus. Past destinations have included Egypt, Japan, China, India, Jerusalem, New Zealand, and New England.

At first, I wasn’t thrilled with this yarn, even though I love London, because it seems too dark brown and sort of boring. WRONG. When I got it in person, it is a rich chocolate/coffee brown! It’s their “Lory” yarn base, which is DK weight and 100% Superwash Merino (280 yds per skein).

*

I’ll be using it in the pattern that came with the yarn, called the Pub Crawl Cowl. It features some different stitch patterns and will be a great thing to wear in the fall!

Second is some beautiful Nua Sport for a Twining Wrap.

This is the “figment” color way. This yarn is so fun—it’s mohair/yak (!)/linen blend. There’s also a worsted weight, but this is the sport. I don’t like knitting with straight linen but I love it in blends!

This wrap will take awhile—the pattern is fairly complicated, at least it looks complicated to me right now! But since I love this yarn I do not mind. :)

Third and Fourth come from the Loops Yarn store in Tulsa. They are responsible for the fabulous Knit Stars series of online knitting summits, which have done so much for my knitting skills!

The first two (going from the left) are for a lovely cowl called, well, “co.wl” :) When Loops knit it up, they made it smaller than the pattern calls for, and it’s SO pretty!

From the Loops website

I mean look at that! So they were selling a kit of the two colors, which I got: Robin’s Egg and Dandelion. It’s just such a phenomenal combination! And I’ll get to learn fisherman’s rib!

The last yarn is Loops “house” yarn, Luxe Royal Alpaca. It comes in four color ways (Luxe Natural, Loops Blue, Luxe Charcoal, Luxe Perfectly Pink, and Luxe Light Grey) sold in a pack of three. There are a few patterns I can make with this so I’m considering. They’re all fairly simple, which is nice because sometimes you just want a simple project, right? I don’t see them on Ravelry right now so I can’t link to them, but they’re all variations on cowls or scarves. Obviously I had to start with the Loops Blue. I can see myself working all four patterns with this yarn over time in various colors, or even trying some other patterns. We’ll see!

And of course it being my birthday, there were also books.

The two knitting books are Tudor Roses and Elizabeth Zimmerman’s Knitter’s Almanac. Tudor Roses is gorgeous—the designs are based off the royal women of the Tudor court—but complex. I might make one or two of them but I just love looking through it!

I haven’t read any Elizabeth Zimmerman, and I know that she’s An Authority in the knitting world, so I picked up her almanac as well. It has a project for every month of the year, as well as tips and notes about what’s going on in her life at the time, so it’s sort of journal-ish as well.

My friend Andrea sent me the Little Library Cookbook, which I am about to dive into (cooking-wise, I mean). It’s so lovely and the recipes are delicious sounding. My parents got me Dark Tides, which is the second book in Gregory’s Fairmile series. In the Name of the Rose and How To Be A Tudor were also gifts from them after we had birthday lunch!

Finally we have Chesterton’s The Everlasting Man, which wasn’t really a birthday gift—I bought it for myself—but it came the day before my birthday so it belongs on the pile. :) This is the Ignatius Press edition which I got right from their website. (Amazon doesn’t always have the “nicest” editions of books, and I wanted a nice edition of this one!)

So the is the massive pile of books and yarn which will keep me busy for, oh, a month? :) (just kidding)

What are you reading/knitting/making right now?

Yarn Along: The Cardigan is DONE! (and so many other projects!)

Well, well, well.

My people. After starting it as my Quarantine Project, the Boothbay Cardigan is DONE!

Check those seams, folks!

Wearing it in an Instagram Friday Introductions post.

The back—you can see the collar curling a bit.

I promise that at some point we will have a photo of me wearing it that’s full-length. I promise! :)

So, final notes:

1) The sleeves are long. I knew they would be, because my arms are like T. rex arms. So it’s nice that the cuffs have a garter stitch detail, so that when I roll the sleeves up it still “works” with the overall design and doesn’t look like Emily has rolled the sleeves of her cardigan and made the sleeves too long! (Well, I did, but I was following the pattern. So.)

One of the KnitStars 5 lessons I watched during quarantine was all about how to adjust clothing measurements to your measurements, and I’m going to use that a lot the next time I make a cardigan, and there will be a next time.

2) Picking up stitches is much easier when you’re moving vertically, rather than horizontally. At least, I find it so. So the one thing with this cardigan that I don’t like is the bottom collar. The collar for boothbay is picked up and knitted all around. When I picked up the stitches on the bottom, I must have done it wrong, because it’s a little more “cocoony” than it should be—as in, if you look at the piece as a whole the collar is an oval shape. It doesn’t really hang “open” at the bottom as much as it should. However, I realize this is a very picky thing and if I hadn’t mentioned it you might never have noticed.

3) I didn’t use all the yarn called for in this pattern. I think I had two or three skeins left over. Not a problem, because it’s always good to have extra yarn!

4) One of the things I am happiest about is my decision to size up. I wanted this cardigan to have some extra give in the arms so I could wear it over things. That also probably led to the arms being longer, but I have exactly the right amount of ease in the arms, and I can wear it over things, as seen in the photo above. That makes me really happy.

5) Knitting clothes is like an entirely new world. To knit something for you, that I can throw on and wear hen I go out to get the mail or whatever, is sort of mind-boggling. I can make clothes!

6) Like I said above, I will definitely be knitting more clothes! I have my eyes on the Lesley sweater which was in the same pattern collection as booth bay—and honestly, it should be easier because it’s only FOUR pieces as opposed to six! (I definitely like seaming.) I don’t think I’d go for the negative ease that it’s shown in. With my body I’d want a little more give around the tummy area. But we’ll see when I go to look at the schematic. I’m also looking at the Georgetown Cardigan (also from the same collection).

WHEW! OK that’s it for the cardigan! If you want to see all the posts in this series, here you go.

Onto my other knitting projects!

Patty’s blanket has been sent to her….

I’m working on the Whatever the Weather Mystery Knit Along—you could knit a scarf, a wrap, or a blanket, and I chose a wrap, using the daily highs as my temperature guide:

January and February

And I also knit an insanely fun, chunky cowl with Knit Collage yarn:

I love pairing the cowl and my cardigan together when I go out. Together they’re perfect for the late winter/early spring weather we’ve got here in Central Ohio right now:

Now that the “big” project is done, I’m in the middle of finishing some projects that have been hibernating, and working on smaller projects. For Christmas I got the Harry Potter knitting book, and I’ve decided to knit the seven horcrux washcloths, because they seemed fun and easy. I started with Ravenclaw’s Diadem. I’m not too far into the pattern yet so you can’t see the design that well, but it will come:

As for what I’m reading—I’ve been on a bit of a Chesterton kick. Part of that is reading all of the Fr. Brown stories, which I’ve actually never read, but I’m working to fill that gap!

What are you reading/creating? Let me know in the comments!

Yarn Along: Picking up stitches and finishing a baby blanket

Welcome to the February Yarn Along!

The big news: I have learned how to pick up stitches for my collar cardigan!

I went to the local yarn shop (LYS) after asking ahead if it was OK, because , COVIDtide. Normally they have sit and stitch hours all day but…not right now! One of the owners said sure, come in.

So I went down after endo last week, and she (one of the owners) sat with me and showed me how to pick up stitches—and she was so patient, and sat there until I told her to do what she had to do because I think I had it! :) So that’s when I bought some of this delicious yarn…

From L-R: Wonderland Yarns, Mary Anne fiber base in Jerusalem, Seaography, Egypt, and Biscotti

So that is a huge step forward and the best tip she gave me was—look at the Vs, not the windows. HUGEEEEEEEE.

See the vees here?

So we picked up the collar and then picking up the rest of the body is easier because it’s a 1 for 3 ratio, meaning pick up one stitch for every three stitches. Sometimes those Vs are hard to find! So I’m not quite done yet but I’m making progress. There’s only so long you can concentrate that intensely, or at least, only so long that I can. But the plan is that by next Yarn Along it will be done!

The nice thing about this—besides knowing how to do it—is that it’s not really an exact knitting science.A lot of it is by look and feel.

Speaking of things that are done, or almost—Patty’s blanket!

I’m on the last stripe and then I can weave in ends and send it off to her!

I’m reading G.K. Chesterton: The Apostle of Common Sense and I’ll be following that up with Common Sense 101: Lessons from Chesterton. Yes, I’m on a Chesterton kick right now. I also read The Survivors last night and really liked it, so if you like crime/mystery novels, try this one out. Jane Harper is a fabulous Australian author, and The Survivors is her fourth book.

What are you reading/knitting/making right now?

The First Yarn Along of 2021!

Welcome to a new year of YARN ALONGS!

So, what have I been working on?

Two things, mostly: a blanket for Patty, and the cardigan. :)

First, the blanket

I did make Patty a blanket over the summer, but it was with a cotton yarn that I really didn’t like. It was hard to work with and so I made mistakes. After finishing the blanket I realized I didn’t want to give Patty a blanket full of mistakes. So the blanket is still here but I knew I was going to knit Patty another one.

This blanket is done in super wash wool and it’s much better. No arguing with the yarn!

( If you’re wondering about this: yarn from animal sources—wool, yak, whatever—has “give”. You can tug on it, manipulate it, it’ll work with you. Plant fibers—cotton, linen, etc.—do not. You are tugging them. At least this is my experience. I do not like working with pure linen and pure cotton. Blends are OK.)

So this blanket is done in Ewe Ewe Yarns Ewe So Sporty. I’m using Berry (the pink), Iris Blossom (the dark purple), lavender (light purple), and vanilla (white/cream). It’s the same Sully blanket pattern that I love.

The book I’m reading, Miss Austen, is one of my Christmas books. :)

In the #emilyknitsacardigan realm, picking up the collar has been….challenging, to say the least. I did OK when I practiced on the swatch but when I went to pick up the stitches on the actual cardigan, they didn’t seem to want to come! So if anyone has tips on picking up stitches I’d love to hear them!

Yarn Along--Find Your Fade is almost done!

Hi everyone! Time for the December yarn along!

Yes, yes, my cardigan is still happening, I’m just being really lazy about picking up the collar! BAD ME. So I’ going to do that this week and hopefully by the January YA you’ll get to see the finished product! Actually I want it done by Christmas, which is totally doable.

But the project that I am working on, which is almost done, is my Find Your Fade shawl:

So a few notes on this:
Not all these colors are available any more, but the ones you can still get from KnitPicks are:

• Hawthorne Fingering: Abernathy, Alameda (These are the two right before the deep pink section)

• Hawthorne Fingering Kettle Dyed: Delphinium (the jewel blue), and Turkish delight (the jewel pink).

• Hawthorne Speckle: Berry Smoothie (the last color, still on the needles)

(The first two colors, Sellwood and Goose Hollow, aren’t available anymore, but they were the Fingering yarns.)

I’m on the last section. In this bit there isn’t any lace—it’s just the garter ridges until the end. Then it comes off the needles, gets a nice bath, and then gets blocked!

I changed the pattern a bit—I only did one repeat of the lace section each time because I am still learning lace. :) But this is a great project for learning it, so the next one I make I’ll do more of the lace repeats. This pattern is really forgiving in terms of customization.

I love the way the colors fade into each other. It’s just so nice to work on such a colorful project. I bought this as a kit from Knitpicks and their inspiration was wildflowers in the Rocky Mountains, and I have to say it really does remind me of that! (Having spent minimal time in them since my sister lives in Denver, and got married near Rocky Mountain National Park.)

As far as what I’m reading:

I’m reading The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock, which was a Christmas gift (I exchange gifts with my friends really anytime in December, and this year we’re mailing them to each other. And yes, I open my gifts when I get them.). It’s an interesting book so far. I’m also re-reading Harry Potter (I’m on Chamber of Secrets) and the Sherlock Holmes/Mary Russell series (which I love)—I’m on the fifth book, O Jerusalem. For Advent reading I’m re-reading my favorite, Come, Lord Jesus. I’ve read this book so often that it’s falling apart and it’s all marked up. I love it. If you’re still looking for a good Advent book I highly recommend this one.

(book links are Amazon affiliate links)

I actually didn’t have any Christmas gifts to knit this year, so I’ve had time to work on my own projects!
What about you? What are you reading/knitting?

Yarn Along: A Tale of Three Shawls

Yes, there’s only two shawls in the photo, the third shawl is below! :)

I’ve been digging into my stash to work projects that I’d sort of forgotten about!

So the blue and green shawl is the sail-away shawl from Modern Daily Knitting’s Ease edition. And it really is easy—lovely garter stitch and KFB increases in gorgeous wool from Sincere Sheep! These are Suerte (the green) and Hathor’s Gem (the blue) . These were actually birthday gifts so they’re finally getting used, yay! I’m making the smaller version of the pattern.

The second, on the right, is the Find Your Fade Shawl, which was super popular a few years ago when it came out but I finally got the yarn for it…two years ago? And I started it but I thought I was messing it up so I frogged it and put it away. BUT the yarn was calling me!

Turns out that the stitch count isn’t really important in this guy. I got to the end of the first section and I had the right count on one side and the wrong side on another—how did that happen?—but I forged ahead anyway, and I’m also only doing one lace section instead of three as you see here, which I might change to two and then to three in the following sections. But the point is, this is a really forgiving shawl, so as long as you’re increasing and decreasing at the right rate, you’ll be fine if your count is off. All the colors here are from the various Hawthorne lines from Knit Picks. (You can see all the colors on my Ravelry notes, but the colors you see here are Sellwood and Goose Hollow, which they don’t make anymore! Sadness! :( The third color which is just coming in here they do still make, and that’s Delphinium)

The third shawl is the Hawthorne Shawl from Quince and Co, using their lark yarn in a limited edition color way called Blue Balloon:

I haven’t worked too much on it because it requires a lot of concentration! So I’m working on the other two shawls and will circle back to this guy. She is pretty, isn’t she? :)

What I’m reading: My copy of Clanlands just arrived so I’m really excited about that. In case you’re new here, I love the Outlander books and TV series, so a book written by two of the stars? Sign me up. Another new novel is The Strawberry Thief, by Joanne Harris. It’s part of the Chocolat series, so I enjoy spending more time with these characters.

Yarn Along #102: Blanket, shawl, cardigan....pick your project!

So the pieces of the cardigan are done, but with all the craziness of September, I didn’t start seaming it yet. That is going to happen. Probably this weekend because I want to devote time to it without being pulled in five million different directions by other projects! So the pieces are all waiting in my bedroom to be seamed. I’m a little nervous that the cardigan will be wonky—sleeve lengths or other issues—but you know what? Who cares, right? It’s my cardigan and I can wear it around the house and WHO CARES. I gotta get over the perfection idea. I mean it’s my first cardigan! So down with the fear of imperfection and ON TO SEAMING!

Patty’s blanket is now in the last set of stripes, yay! It’s part of her Christmas gift so I have a few more weeks to finish it, but I’m probably going to finish it soon and then get it all wrapped up to send to her come December.

Remember the lace scarf?

yeah, I loved it. And then I had to rip it out. :( Sigh. I haven’t gotten my courage up to cast it on again but I think I will in the next week….I just love that yarn so much!

DO NOT try to knit lace when recovering from surgery. That’s your free tip from me. :)

And finally….

a new shawl!

I love this pattern. It’s Hawthorn from Quince and Co and I’m using Quince’s Lark yarn in a special edition color way they had over the summer called Blue balloon. The great thing about the Hawthorn pattern is that it’s designed to be worked in any weight yarn! So if you see a color you just love, you can snatch it up and knit Hawthorn with it! (Hmmm, maybe my pretty yarn from the scarf above will get used here? :) :) )

It does use yarn overs (YO), so it’s good practice for those, but it’s not “true” lace. You just get these lovely wrapped eyelets and things like that. So this isn't a hard project, at least I don’t think so. It’s a good chance to practice YO! :)

I’m reading Story of a Soul, because St. Therese’s feast day was last week, and I generally re-read it every year. I love this edition because my friend Elizabeth Foss wrote the introduction!

I’ve been reading a lot of different things, sort of dipping into books here and there. I always have a mountain of books that I’m working on at any given time!

Like what you’ve read? Consider supporting my writing on Patreon !

Yarn Along #101: The Cardigan Is Ready to Seam!

In #emilyknitsacardigan news, the carding is READY TO SEAM! Right now it’s just a stack of pieces, so no picture, because….stack of pieces. :) But! This is very very exciting. very very nerve-racking. I’m holding off on seaming until after gallbladder surgery because it will require attention!

In other WIPs…..Patty’s baby blanket keeps growing!

I’m more than halfway done, so yay! I still haven’t decided if I’ll block it. Hmmmm. Do you block blankets? (I mean you personally.) Ravelry notes here.

And I’ve started a lace project!

This is from Modern Daily Knitting’s “Open” edition. I’ve never done lace before, but this project is just my favorite, although I can’t do too many rows at once because I have to concentrate on the pattern! But I’m getting it down so hopefully I can move a little faster! It’s called the rib lace scarf, and the Ravelry notes are here.

I adore the yarn! It’s from Lichen and Lace and it’s called pressed flowers. How can you not love yarn called pressed flowers?!

As for reading….I’m having surgery tomorrow so there will probably be much reading and less knitting over the next week!

As you can see the book pile is….massive.

Because, surgery. I’m going to have a lot of free time on my hands so I can read!

(There are actually even more books than this. Scary but true)

And I’m re-reading Mansfield Park as part of the great Jane Re-Read. I love Mansfield Park. This might be the book I take with me tomorrow because I probably don’t want to have to concentrate on anything new.

Yarn Along #100! --Cardigan sleeves and two finished WIPs!

Garter Graffiti shawl—Ravelry notes here

So, before we get to #emilyknitsacardigan progress, here’s some finished objects!

The first is the Garter Graffiti shawl, featured above, and here’s a closer look at the design:

I loved the yarn. I’d used the Mad Hatter speckled tea party yarn before in another shawl, but the Snowdrop yarn, which is the purple, is amazing. It’s 45% Alpaca, 45% merino, and 10% silk, and it’s wonderful to work with! I ended up with more yarn than the pattern called for and actually ended up using only one skein of the purple (called “ Piece of Rudeness”, isn't that great? They all have Alice In Wonderland inspired names), so I have a whole skein left and I’ll have to ponder what to do with it, because it’s great. Highly recommend!

This is also a great project for a beginner. It’s a great way to learn color work, and the only “tricky” stitch is a KFB (knit front and back) at the beginning of every row. This is a stitch I’ve used a lot in shawl making, so it’s a good one to pick up!

The second is the Puck Scarf, which I made for my friend Kathleen, using Quince’s Ospery in Peaks Ferry. If you’re an OSU fan, this would be great for a Scarlet and Gray themed item, because it’s bright scarlet! The only thing I do differently here is I weave in the ends (why are ends loose, Quince pattern people???)

OK so, onto #emilyknitsacardigan!

The first sleeve is completed, and the second is in progress!

(Ravelry notes here)

I’m glad that I get to do the second sleeve because I can use what I learned from the first one! After this sleeve, it’s on to mattress stitching the pieces together, and then picking up the collar, which you can see here:

From Home and Away

I really like how the cuffs and collar have the garter stitch detail; I think that adds something special to the overall project.

One tip I’d have for a big project like this: print out a clean copy of the pattern or make a copy from the pattern book, so that you can mark it up and make notes and HIGHLIGHT your measurements! It can be confusing seeing all the numbers, so I highlighted the ones for my size so that I knew what to do. I also made notes on the different stitches I needed to do and wrote out how to do them, and other notes as I went along.

And the other project in progress is a baby blanket for my goddaughter Patty!

The pattern is Quince and Co’s Sully, using their willet yarn (which is a Cleaner Cotton, which is better for the environment!) I chose colors haze, regatta, sail, and bowsprit, because I wanted some feminine colors, but ones that weren’t too juvenile, so that she could hold on to this blanket for awhile.

So here you see Haze (the strawberry ice cream pink) with regatta. I really love this pattern and I hope Patty likes it! (Not that she’ll be expressing an opinion for awhile yet!)

Yarn Along #99: Emily Knits A Cardigan--Sleeves!

Previous posts in this series:

The Back is Done

Update!

Emily Knits A Cardigan

My notes on ravelry

June has been busy in cardigan land! I managed to knit both front pieces and learned how to M1L, which was not a lot of fun but now I’ve got it and I am proud. They lay sort of oddly so it’s hard to see here how they fit, but you can see the place where the sleeves will go. All around the cardigan border will be a garter stitch collar.

Above you can see the three pieces together; they’re not lined up appropriately yet, so it’s a rough estimate of what it looks like! (especially the front on the right, just go with it! )

So now I have begun the sleeves! YAY SLEEVES! These have a nice garter stitch cuff detail that I like.

Garter stitch cuff

So the sleeves increase every six rows, on both sides, gradually getting bigger, and then I shape the raglan and it gradually gets smaller, to fit in with the pieces you see above.

After both sleeves are done, then it’s time to SEAM!!!!

I am actually really excited about this, can you tell?

As to what I’m reading….

I got The Ten Thousand Doors of January after Christmas, because it was on sale at B&N (see the sticker? :) ), and yes , I’m just now reading it. Quarantine (which for me is going on and on and on, like the Journey song) is giving me time to read all the books I have stockpiled! This book starts off….oddly. I’m hoping it sort of evens out and we get into a groove, because right now it’s the main character, January, reading a book about someone else who discovered these doors (portals?)…so yeah. It’s sort of weird but I’m hopeful! (really, it’s that gorgeous cover that sucked me in. Well that, and 50% off.)

Yarn Along #97: Emily Knits a Cardigan UPDATE!

Hello alll!

So you may be wondering where my cardigan project is?

It’s on the needles, humming along….

In case you’re new to this, here are the posts in this series so far:

Emily Knits A Cardigan—pattern, schematic, basics

Once I got gauge, I was happy as a clam and began immediately.

This little gauge is the BEST THING EVER, really.

So all was going well until…..

I had to RIP OUT. Alas! I dropped a stitch and I didn’t like how I fixed it, so I figured it was better to just rip it out and start again….so I did. I’m almost back to where I was before that, which is good! (I had just joined the third ball to the back piece, and was getting close to beginning the raglan shaping. EXCITING! :)

(Really, it is!)

So that’s been my main project. I am loving it. I have a bunch of yarn here for other projects that I’m debating casting on and then just rotating through projects but I also feel like I need to give the cardigan most of my love.

I’ve also been loving my Knit Stars classes, which I bought when they were on sale during the Early Bird period, so now I have Knit Stars 1 and 2 and 5, when it officially opens in October. Yay! I’m learning so much, which is great, especially as I work on the cardigan.

I’m also still working on the Elementary Wrap from Purl Soho, but that’s more like weekend knitting. Most of my time is on the cardigan. :)

Although I did pick up this GORGEOUS yarn….

As for books.

Yes, a lot of reading. Some of this is research for book 2, and a lot of it is just reading to keep me sane. :)

What are you reading/knitting/doing?