stripe study: complete

I actually *have* been knitting, just not blogging much. Major props to the creative folks who do both on a regular basis.

The stripe study was my Alaska/Seattle travel project, and it shows. There are some minor bobbles here and there where you can tell I was knitting while toasting the bubbly, or trying to knit on a bumpy flight. Ultimately, I'd rather spend my time knitting and not un-knitting, so I left it as-is.

My only other complaint is that I ran out of red yarn and couldn't include the last stripe. That's partially my fault...while I had more than enough yardage, I did go up a needle size since I'm a tight knitter. So I bought 440 yards of the gray and 440 yards of the red - ran out of red, had a whole extra skein (220) of gray. Snap. I'll definitely knit it again, with different colors next time. I'm thinking gray and a bold raspberry or maybe gray and a deep purple. Or maybe I'll go outside of my color comfort zone and do something really different (riiiiight...we'll see!).

More FOs and UFOs to come...

WIP Wed...wait, Monday: Everyday Wrap

I'm working on the Everyday Wrap in Noro Taiyo. I saw the pattern and picked up the yarn during the Autumn 2011 Yarn Crawl. The project is a bit stalled because I need to confer with my friend Meg about the alterations that I'd like to make, but overall I'm pretty excited. Noro is always a favorite. I wish I could knit with it every single day. I guess I could if I knitted the Everyday Wrap every day. Chuckle, chuckle.

P.S. The question is not do you, but how much do you love the solemn, artsy Pug in the background?

Abitita shawl=complete

My first (and probably only) knitted Christmas gift is finished! A few weeks ago I posted some photos showing my progress...just before I ripped it all out. The yarn subtly shifts colors as you knit - I started with the dark end and didn't like the look at all. It was a ridiculous amount of work to re-do, but I think it looks much, much better this way!

Here's hoping this little number keeps Abitita warm on those (rare) chilly Puerto Rican nights. The likelier story is that it will keep her warm in chilly, air-conditioned restaurants. Brrrrr!

P.S. If you know Abitita, you have to keep this secret for a few months!

WIP Wednesday: the Abitita shawl

I started a shawl with color-changing cotton (yarn and pattern available at Yarn Tree Studio in Raleigh). The shawl is meant to be a gift for Jose's Abitita, and as I started knitting (pulling yarn from the inside) and the color was really dark for the first third of the shawl, I started having my doubts. Taking a leap of faith, I pulled the whole thing out (I was on row 52 of 114).


I started over, pulling yarn from the outside, and I it's like a breath of fresh air. Definitely the right decision! Now I'm pretty much back to where I started.

P.S. If you know Abitita, do not ruin her Christmas surprise :)

Drop-Stitch Wrap...Take 2!

In June, I made my MiL a drop-stitch wrap in black pima cotton. She was too nice to say anything at the time, but it was shorter than she would have liked. This Fall when I was knitting her mint chocolate wrap, the subject of length came up and I offered to add some length to the black one.

Along with our shipment of Christmas gifts came the wrap. Since the "winter" in Puerto Rico is brief, I knitted it up and put it in the mail today!

Stalled Wrap, Stalled No More!

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I have been knitting a wrap for my MiL out of Colinette Giotto and the project was stalled because of a completely bogus skein. I emailed the shop where I bought the yarn - Yarn Paradise in Asheville, NC - and they had another skein in the mail to me immediately. I was able to complete the wrap and get it in the mail to my MiL. BIG thanks to Yarn Paradise!! I'm pretty happy with the end result...































Yarn: Colinette Giotto in Mint Chocolate
Pattern: Stolen Moments

Stalled Project: Mother-in-Law Wrap

This summer, my husband and I went to Asheville, NC with his parents, sister and brother-in-law. Asheville is fabulous--if you've been there, you know. It has amazing food, great drinks, friendly people and fantastic wildlife and natural spaces. It's also home to some amazing yarn shops, so I have to stop in and spend my life's savings there when I'm in town.

I've made a few wraps for my MiL, who lives in Puerto Rico, but I'm never sure what fabrics and patterns are best for the climate. At night it gets chilly, but do you really ever want to wear wool in PR? No, the answer is no. So while in Asheville, she was nice enough to go to my yarn shops with me (and sit and play with her iPhone and pretend not to be bored). In Yarn Paradise, she started checking things out and she stumbled upon some Colinette Giotto yarn in Mint Chocolate and asked if I would knit a wrap for her. First of all, I was impressed with her excellent taste. Second of all, uhh, yes, I will knit you a wrap with this delicious yarn.

So we bought three skeins and I toiled and toiled until I found the right pattern with the right needles, and things were going well...until the third skein. The third skein looked like burned mint chocolate. The dye lots were the same, so I don't know what the problem was. I emailed the shop some photos and asked who I should contact at Colinette. With no questions asked, they sent out a brand new skein. Fabulous customer service, I will definitely continue shopping there.

Here's a photo comparison of the third skein (left) next to the first two.
















Tonight I will tie in the third skein and work on finishing it, since it's "winter" in PR and the MiL could certainly use this little lovely. Fingers crossed that the dye lot on the new skein is right!

Bad blogger

The bad news: I'm a terrible blogger
The good news: I'm a better knitter :)

We're in the process of moving, so I've been super busy...not too busy to knit, just too busy to blog about it. I finished the hat/scarf combo I was working on and I'm half way done with my second Noro sock.

I took a class to make a lace wrap and I loved the pattern, hated the yarn that was suggested. Someone suggested making a clapotis wrap with it instead...so I am. AND I LOVE IT!! It really looks great! I have been taking pictures of my projects, I just can't seem to locate the adapter for my computer needed to upload them. Maybe in a few more boxes...

One of the women I work with is a fantastic knitter, and I'm really lucky to have her around to make suggestions and answer questions. We just started knitting a cabled hat/scarf combo for a baby. It's aaadorable! Pictures to come (I know, I know).

One thing that I DID do (that you can see) is update my stash on Ravelry.

I'm wrapping up my time with free internet at Panera, so until next time...

1 project down, 13 or so to go :)

I finished my Malabrigo hat last night. I'm happy to say that the size seems perfect and I followed the pattern to the "T". I'm not entirely pleased with the way the pattern decreased at the top, I thought it could have been done a little more gracefully...but until I know enough to re-write or improvise, I will just do as I'm told.

I bought new yarn today =/ But I think it's justified...I'm taking an "intro" lace knitting class and you have to buy your yarn from the shop that hosts the class. I decided that this project will be for my mother-in-law. She is in Puerto Rico, and I've been wanting to make her something, but what does a person on the sunny island of Puerto Rico want with something knitted? Well, she wears wraps and shawls in the evenings because if it dips below 90 degrees, it's "chilly" out. So I saw that this class at Yarn Birds does a cute little lace wrap and that seems perfect! Pics of that yarn and finished hat coming soon. For now, I'm finishing up this Malabrigo scarf. And watching Phish DVDs.