The No Knitting Challenge

I am about to go on vacation. I am taking two weeks off from teaching knitting and one week off from taking care of Miss Claire and am going to Utah for a few days to visit Mom.

Before that time comes I have decided to try and take two weeks off from actually knitting.

Why would I do such a thing?

Part of it is the heat, but mostly, I need a break before I have to get fall classes figured out and knit up the samples for the classes. Just thinking about it makes me want to go and hide.

So I thought that" Not knitting" and taking a break from all things fiber for a couple of weeks would rejuvenate me.

Progress Report:

~I am doing pretty good not trolling around too much on Ravelry.

~I am enjoying the new magazines as they land in my mailbox but not researching them or looking for yarns that I would like to knit my favs in.

~I have not been on Webs (and they have a sale going on) and have clicked off all emails that have to do with yarn.

Sounds like I am doing well, right? HaHa

~I am knitting a sock.

Not being able to survive "No Knitting" made me realize that I have never gone any length of time without creating something with my hands. Before knitting there was beading, before beading there was quilting, before quilting there was cross stitch and before cross stitch there was knitting. I have to be creating something regularly. I have creating fiber kinds of things or creating music since around 6th grade. That would be forever!

I did spend a Sat. a couple weeks ago on my front porch reading a book which was quite lovely. I don't have a book in the house right now that has me hooked (note: need to go to the library).

As for No knitting,

Not going to happen.

But the socks I choose are very simple. Does that count?

I am casting off my Kauni Damask Bag that I have made into a tote

similar to this one. Then I need to felt it and find handles.

And will finish my Art Deco Beaded Scarf which is 80% done.

And that, in my world, is considered Not Knitting. The best I can do.

Now if I could only get myself to feel the same about exercise!

What is on the Needles

Where did the month go??

I have been knitting away on class projects and socks. Here is what is on my needles.

Toe-up socks: This pair has been giving me some trouble. The yarn is a light weight fingering and I am knitting on a size 1.5 needle. That means that my row gauge is smaller then normal. I usally knit the foot to 3" before the heel. But doing this with this yarn I ended up with a sock that was too short.

Hmmmmm. Now what?

I took out the heal and knitted for another inch and then tried the heel again. Better, but the heel was still to small.

I took it out again and made the largest size on the pattern, I had been making the small for the other socks I have done off this heel pattern. So I have my fingers crossed that this will be the final tweak.

There has to be a mathematical way of figuring this out. I will have to start researching that.

Oh No!! The "M" word!

I have done a little research and found this pattern with lots of "math" and also found this book which has several heals and the "M" to go with them.

Kauni Yarn changes it's color.

I found this great Rainbow Scarf (blogged here) that used the double knitting technique. Decided it would be a great class last winter. It was a good class but a little difficult because of the colors changes happening. After knitting on it and teaching the class I decided that it was way too heavy to ever wear here in So Cal.

I casted off the 6" square as a souvenir of this project.

So now what does my Kauni Rainbow Yarn want to be?

A Felted Bag of course. I have been eyeing this bag for a long time and decided that is what I really wanted to do with it. It falls right into my "Year of Color" theme.

So I have it on my needles. I have several people signed up to make it as a class. This is so much fun to knit and it is soooo pretty. I may change the actual bag some but the fair-isle pattern is wonderful.

That is what I have been knitting in the heat that was this past week. I sure hope it cools back down or my knitting my have to switch to crocheting cotton somethings. I know I said I was going to try and crochet something fun this summer so that wouldn't be the worst thing that ever happened.

How are you staying cool in 100+ degree weather?

Toe-Up Socks I Love You

I have not been a real sock knitter. I have about 4 pairs and I love wearing them. I get tired of knitting them so I just don't do it that often.

Enter Toe-up socks. I learned how to knit these for a class I was teaching and they have changed everything. I love knitting socks from the toe up. They fit perfectly. All the "hard" parts of knitting a sock is gone. I used up all of my yarn, no left overs. They seem to go faster. That is probably in my own head but what ever works.

I have knitted 3 pairs of socks in the last month!!

Berry Toe-Up Socks - "Lifestyle Toe-Up Socks"

The stranding pattern was easy to figure out and fun to do. With stranding you have to be careful that the sock doesn't end up to tight to go over your heel. There isn't much stretch. I went from a 1 1/2 size needle to 2 1/2. It is still a little tight getting it on but I love them.

Baudelaire Socks - Cookie A.

This was a very easy lace pattern to memorize and they are so beautiful.

Crocus Socks - Wendy Johnson

These are the ones that came off my needles last night. The pattern was a lot of fun but I had to keep the chart in front of me the whole time. It was a simple chart to read, only k2tog, ssk and yo's. Again very fun and really pretty.

I fear I am going to have to get some more sock yarn. I love the lace socks and they really need to be knit in solid or mostly solid sock yarns. I don't have a lot of that kind. My stash is mostly variegated sock yarns. What to do?

This weekend is our 2nd knitting retreat for "Marvels of Knitting" in Oceanside!! I know you are crying you feel so bad for us.

Knitting, beach, friends, several really nice yarn stores in the area, great food, too much fun. I will have to get my hands on some great sock yarn while we are there!

Knitting, Lot's of FO's

I have been finishing a lot of projects lately. Feeling the need to find all my needles missing in action or held captive on different projects. Finishing projects and gaining back needles is much more fulfuilling then buying more needles because I can not find the size I need.

Botanical Hat by Stephen West

I made this for Wesley. It was sort of an add on christmas present I made when he came down mid January for a visit. I used Casacade for the black and Noro silk garden for the color. This is a really fun hat to make. I think there are at least 3 of them in the knitting group now. The guys seem to really like it too. It is reversible and designed from a really cool architectural design. Very guy like.

Barb's Koigu Ruffle by Kit Huchin

I was looking for something fast and with a lot of color. This has been in my queue for a while. I went stash diving into the Koigue corner and come up with this. The pattern is a really easy knit as long as you can get past the idea that you cast on and cast off a crazy number of stitches (648!!) But you are knitting two together right away for the ruffle...... It was a great addition to my wardrobe.

Hemlock Ring by BooklynTweed:

This has been in my queue even longer then the ruffle scarf. I used the Knitpicks City Tweed in Brocade. I love this yarn. It is really soft and the tweed is wonderful. I made mine bigger then the pattern so I could use it as a lap blanket. I had a hard time getting the blanket to block perfectly flat. I would go up at least 3 sizes needles sizes bigger to cast off and use Jenny's Surprisingly Stretchy bind off for the k2tog sections and a regular bind of during the yarn over sections. I really enjoy using this as a lap blanket in the evenings while I knit.

Byzantine by Susan Pandorf

This was one of the most fun projects I have done in a long time. Mosaic knitting is really easy and fast and watching the colors change made me happy!

Clapotis by Kate Gilbert

This is one of the most knit projects on Ravelry (14,735 as of this post). The pattern came out in Knitty the Fall of 2004. I resisted knitting this one for years and then within a few of months I have now finished my second one. Why did I finally fall you ask?

Because of Noro sock yarn and Noro Scarf Stripping. I love love the way this turned out and the silk garden sock yarn is pretty soft.

Whirligig Shrug by Stefanie Japel

I knit this up really fast for a class. It is another great instant gratification knit. The pattern is from Interweave Knits Weekends 2009. I used Soft Wave Cotton from Queensland. I think it was a closeout yarn from Webs at some point. It was in my stash. Of course Miss Claire will end up with this at some point. It sure is fun having a little princess to knit for after having boys of my own.

Last, but the most fun of all, is Mr. Bender, a character from Futurama. This is a B-day gift for Wesley. We used to enjoy watching this show together when he still lived at home. As an art student he has great appreciation for such creations.

I have most of my needles back and the knitting is a bit quiet right now. The only thing really on my needles is Baudelaire by Cookie A , my second pair of Toe-up socks. I am already on the second sock in less then a week. The pattern is easy to memorize, learned a new heel and I just love knitting these. Socks may be back in my life just in time for summer!

How many needles are missing in action at your house?

Dream Knitting

My taste in knitting changes a lot once the days get longer and warmer. I think many of us feel that change especially here in So Cal where the weather can be warm for half of the year.

Since I have just spent the last couple of weeks getting things off my needles I feel I can indulge myself in some "Dream Knitting".

Dream knitting: The gigantic queue of ideas that one creates with a real since that one could actually complete all the projects in such a queue within a proportionately small amount of time.

Shhh...... I am dreaming........


Yarn Dreaming:

It starts with a list of wonderful new summer yarns that I need to get my hands on and then find something wonderful to knit with them. Some of my favorite summer yarns right now are linked below. But there are soooooo many to chose from you could knit all summer and not have time to knit with all that is available.

Tahki Yarns Replay 100% recycled cotton

Tahki Yarns Good Earth Cotton 100% organic cotton in natural cotton colors

Rowan Purelife Revive 36% Recylced Silk/ 36% Recycled Cotton/ 28% Recycled Viscose in a tweed!

Misti Alpaca Tonos Pima Silk 83% Peruvian Pima Cotton and 17% silk. Hhand dyed in tonal colors. Love this!

Elsebeth Lavold Hempathy 40% Hemp/40% Cotton/20% Modal

Rowan Lenpur linen 75% Vi Lenpur/25% Linen What is Lenpur?????

Kolláge Yarns Milky Whey 50% Milk/50% Soy Great Colors


The Dream Continues: Summer Tops


Berroco's Peltigera, I saw someone wearing this at Stitches and man was it cute!

Inamorata Little lace top from Knitty.com

ButterCup (rav) This is done with the Hempathy listed above. There is also one done with the Rowen Lenpur linen


Petrie I love the shape of this shell



The Lace Dream:
Anything Lace is another great choice for the summer. The best thing about lace is you can use just about any yarn you want and come up with something wonderful.

There are so many choices out there it is really hard to choose just one.

Art Lace Bag scroll down. This uses bulky yarn!


Vogue Knitting Cover Lace Wrap.
There are several people wanting to make this one. You could join us!! Actually there are a lot of really nice projects in the current issue of Vogue Knitting.


Summit from the new Knitty.


Citron Not really lace but such a nice useful project for the summer. Out of bamboo??


Emily Dickinson with beads. Beads added to any lace is a beautiful thing!!



Crochet Dreaming:

My fancy often turns to crochet this time of year. Small projects for the home. They are fast and portable. The beach is always calling and crocheting with cotton is the perfect beach project. Here are a few fun projects that might be seen on my hooks soon.

Wavelength (rav)


Trinity Lace Shrug (rav)


Disc-Disc (rav) hotpads


Tiny Pin Cushion


I might start a motif blanket. I have wanted to do that for a couple of years.

Garnet Hill Inspried (rav)



Sock Dreams:

They are the perfect summer knit and your toes will thank you come next winter.

Nebula


Toe-Up Bayerische


Drops 100-20 socks


Get Rid of Terrible Sock Yarn. How cool are these!


Skew



Shhhhhhh......

I hear you mumbling about how I will never get this all done.

Shhhhhh.......

I am still enjoying all the possibilities and the options. This might be one of my favorite parts of knitting.
Dreaming it all up and changing my mind constantly about what yarns I want to use for which pattern.

Shhhh..... I won't tell anyone.....

What are your Knitting Dreams???

Year of Color

I have been putting together the classes for the next few months. Almost everything I am drawn to right now has a lot of color in it. There are so many things to choose from it is hard not to just start one project after the other.

Luckily I have friends to help me make my choices. Because I teach knitting I am able to pick out some of my favorite things to knit and then see if there are others who want to learn to do the same thing.

I used to have to guess at this. But now there is a great online site, "survey monkey" that allows me to send my ideas out to my mailing list and see what everyone thinks about my choices before I schedule them. Of course I still knit things that are not on my class list. But I love that I can knit some wonderful things and share the joy with others.

Here are some of the projects I am really excited about.

Byzantine Scarf by Susan Pandorf
(thanks Debra for finding this one)

The magic of these beautiful colors are accomplished by using a technique known as Mosaic knitting. Only one color is used per row along with some slip stitches. Looks much more involved then it is. Love that!


Then there is this lovely Rainbow scarf. (rav. link)

Double knitting and one skein of yarn used from both ends is the magic behind this color wonder. Another very impressive scarf for such a simple technique.


The one project I am really going to sink my teeth into is the "Mona's Shawl".

This is going to be a KAL with some of us knitting the shawl and then several people have opted to knit the "East meets West" bag. Knitpicks


Both projects are what color knitting is all about.

This is the Year of Color for me. I want to really push myself and see where it leads me. Want to join me?


Harika Socks by Stephanie van der Linden
(thanks Lisa for pointing these out)


What are some of your goals for knitting this year?

The Finished Project Parade

I have finally put up a lot of my FO's on Ravelery which means that I have finally taken pictures of everything. Here are some of the projects that have been keeping me busy the last couple of months.

Baby Blanket Tulip Style



Yarn: Lion Brand Nature's Choice Organic Cotton
1 skein of pink, cream and green. 2 skeins of the brown
Needle: #10
Cast-on 100 stitches.
Blanket measures about 32x32

I love this yarn. It is really soft and has a lovely weight to it. This pattern was inspired by the Tulip Baby Sweater. You do a seed stitch pattern on the row that you add the new color and that makes the "eyelet" effect. I think EraLunaris came up with the idea.
Simply Lovely!

Veyla Gloves



Pattern: Yoslda's Veyla
Yarn: Knitpicks Gloss 1 skein (had a good amount left over)
Needle: #3

I loved making these gloves. The lace is a simple 23 stitch pattern (except for evil row 4). The pick up edge for the hand is done with the wrong side facing and the slip stitches form a wonderful edge. The thumb is shaped with yarn overs, genius. Every little detail is just beautiful. I hope I have time to knit another pair of these for myself. Yes, these are mine!

Beaumont Tam



Pattern: Jared Flood's Beaumont Tam
Yarn: Classic Elite Fresco in Cool Raspberry and Graystone
Needle: #4 and #8

I love this yarn. It has some angora which makes that wonderful halo that looks so good in color work. I never noticed the angora when I was knitting it. It wasn't on my cloths or in my nose. The finished hat is so soft and lushes.

The hat pattern was a fun knit. Easy to understand. I enlarged the charts so I could see what I was doing. Have I told you how much I love color?

Damson






Pattern: Ysolda's Damson
Yarn: Malabrigo Sock Yarn
Needle: #6

I have knitted several of Ysolda's patterns and have enjoyed them all. This one is no exception. Super simple, lot's of garter stitch, yarn overs and K2tog. Talk about something you don't have to think about yet the results are wonderful.

Malabrigo, need I say anything more. A simply beautiful pattern + luxury yarn = my definition of heaven.


Most of these project where either for classes or for christmas. I am starting to think about classes for the winter and what I want to knit. The goal is to make them one and the same. I find that the project I love to knit are the classes that end up with most of the buzz.

What are you looking forward to knitting after the holidays?

Mom's Eden

I went to visit my mother and my sister in Eden Utah a couple of weeks ago. I have been going to this part of Utah since my sister moved up there over 20 years ago. Eden is over the mountains east of Ogden.

My mom and dad retired there almost 11 years ago now and my father passed about 5 years ago. My mother moved down the hill to this amazing condo with a million dallor view. It is play land. She is 73 and still snow skies at a slop that is litteraly 20 minuets from her door. Boating, water skiing and golfing are all close at hand.

This last visit was the first time I was there during the fall. My visits have all been either during summer vacation or over christmas break. Inspiring fall colors where to be found at every turn. I made my mom drive me all around so I could take lots of pictures of this place called Eden.


The View From Mom's Balcony
(yes, those are hot-air balloons in the air)



Reflections on the Lake




Road to ???




My Beautiful Mom and her new "Monkey Socks"

What to Knit

I have been knitting a lot for the store and class samples over the last few months. I am trying to figure out what I really want to be knitting now. I am looking at a sweater for my mom for christmas. It will be fun since I am starting it so early and there is no pressure. But it is more obligation knitting.

I am not even sure what I really want to be knitting.

But while I am trying to figure that out here are some of my FO's.




Flower Hat Pattern in Itty-Bitty Hat book
yarn- rowan hand knit cotton for the hat and Tahki cotton classic for the flowers.

I followed the pattern straight out of the book. I did stitch the flower together on the sides once I had them sewn onto the hat. It seemed to help them lay better. I also did not go all the way around the back for the smallest hat. I felt that the babies would not like laying on the flowers. For the toddler size I would do the flowers all the way around.

Crochet Hat
I used RYC cashsoft which is just wonderful to work with.

This is a felted stash bag I put together with a lot of leftover yarns. Super simple and fun. I lined the bags and put a cardboard bottom on it so it is really sturdy. I used leather handles from Trendsetter that just clip on the bag. I love the handles, there is no sewing and they are really sturdy.



This is a great little crochet bag. I made it with Rowan Tapastry yarn. I don't like the handle too much. I will change it next time.





Last but not least I finished a pair of socks for myself!!
Pattern: From Sensational Socks the slip-stitch rib pattern
Yarn: Socks that Rock Fairground color
Needles: 2 circulars #2
Modifications: None.

So what is next??