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!

Finished Project Three: New Orleans scarf

I have long fancied Prizm's "Stuff" yarn. I have looked at it in stores, online, on Ravelry, in more stores...but I just couldn't bring myself to buy it. Why? It's a cool 100 bucks for a full skein and 50 bucks for a half skein. "Why so much?" you ask. Because it is awesome. That's it, the end. The skein is made up of a variety of yarns with vastly different textures. The yarns are hand-dyed and tied end to end every 3 yards or so. The result is a magnificent and unique striping. I've never seen a project done with Stuff yarn that I disliked.

I went to New Orleans in June and in keeping with my "a skein of sock yarn in every city" tradition, a co-worker and I made our way to this great little yarn shop in the French Quarter--The Quarter Stitch. Fabulous. Very charming, old New Orleans place. A dazzling array of yarn--it was too much to take in at once and certainly too much for my budget! With an armful of yarn, I stumbled across the most extensive collection of Stuff yarn that I had ever seen in person. Wow. I was faced with a choice: keep all of the yarn in my arms or buy the Stuff. I just couldn't do it, I couldn't spend that much on one scarf.

That night, in addition to the standard show-and-tell of yarn that my husband knows and cares nothing about, he also got an earful about the amazing Stuff yarn selection at the shop. Now, he knew about Stuff already. He'd heard the tales and legends. Wouldn't you know that on the last day of our trip, while I was working and he was partying in the French Quarter, he went into The Quarter Stitch, picked out a skein of stuff and bought it for me? I was completely stunned and excited beyond belief. I had the yarn of my dreams with none of the spending guilt--perfection!

The scarf has been *almost* done for months. I set it down because the very last of the yarn had a nasty tangle in it. I finally sorted that out and finished it up. Without further ado...

Finished Project Two: Second City Socks

In 2009, I began a new tradition of buying sock yarn in every city that I visited so that the result would be a really great souvenir (once the socks were knit). The idea is that I would have my New York socks, my Orlando socks, my New Orleans socks, and so on.

The first city that I visited after making this vow was Chicago, the Second City. This particular yarn was purchased at Knitwerks and the colorway was a Lorna's Laces custom lot named for the store.

Coincidentally, this is my second pair of socks. They have been sitting incomplete and unwearable, because I needed to finish a toe. Really? One toe stopped me from finishing these socks for at least four months. Shame. So I sat down and made myself finish them.

My second city, second socks...in baby cable rib:

Finished Project One: Christmas Stockings

Last year I found a stocking pattern that I fell in love with...the first stocking went very quickly, but the subsequent two dragged out a bit. With the Christmas season approaching and my new goal of knitting my stash/finishing projects, I decided that getting these stockings done and felted was a priority! My camera charger is still MIA, so this is a poor quality Blackberry photo, but I still wanted to share!

Knitting my Stash

I've talked about this...I've threatened myself...but now I'm serious. I have a ridiculous yarn stash and I always want more. I always find yarn that I can't live without. But today, today I take a stand. One year from today, my entire stash will be knit.

Crazy? Yes. Dangerous? Slightly.

As soon as I find my camera charger, I'll post pictures of my stash in it's current state and then I'll post photos as projects are finished.

Got quick project patterns or ideas? Please share!

Hand painting commentary with pics!

As promised, I took pictures of my oh-so-lucscious hand-painted yarn!

My first attempt was with a sock weight wool. I attended the workshop with my good friend and long-time knitter, Melissa. She came to the workshop with a clear picture in her mind to use as inspiration--a beautiful tree with large cream-colored flowers and small, purple accents. I came to the workshop with no plan at all, but soon realized that I needed a plan because all of the colors seemed great to me.

I soon decided that my wedding day would be great inspiration. Jose and i were married at Duke Gardens in Durham. I chose a pink that reminded me of my stargazer lilies, a green that reminded me of the entire backdrop of the gardens and a lavender that reminded me of Jose's shirt and tie and my niece's flower girl dress.

Here's the product...how'd I do?


































My second attempt (this time a DK wool) started out as a teal and gray combo...then I added raspberry and kiwi green to the mix. I think it turned out pretty well for something that I didn't plan:


















Stay tuned for the knitted results...I'm taking pattern suggestions for both yarns!

My dyeing debut

Today was the first day of the Carolina FiberFest and Melissa and I were signed up for the sock yarn dyeing class with Nancy Shroyer. I went in with low expectations because I'm usually not that great with craft projects (knitting aside), but this went well. I had a good time and I even like my finished products! I only have grainy Blackberry photos, so I'm going to wait until I have real ones, because I need to do this yarn justice!

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...