January 2012

The first month of 2012, gone already.  Is it just me or does time just seem to dissapear?  Especially with so many knitting project that need knitting.

Well, January saw the end of a few and the beginning or a few more.  Mittens, check.  Knit with Noro's Silk Garden, they match my scarf and coat great.

Also finished my husband's navy blue V-neck.  Boring, but done.  He just needed a plain indoor sweater, so here it is.



Then the new Vogue Knitting magazine came in, of course there was this cute sweater I couldn't resist.  It is a Dloman sleeve, drapey thing.  I am wearing it today.  It is really comfy and cute (if I do say so myself).  It is knit with Filatura Di Crosa's Gioiello with just a hint of glitz.

Then in between we got this cute scarf yarn in, Berroco's Lacey, so... a scarf!  It is super easy, you don't actually knit, you just sort of bind off.

And on the needles... Another boring sweater.  I needed a plain black cardigan to wear with... everything, haha.  So I am trying a new yarn, we don't even carry it, but maybe....  It is Ultra Alpaca DK.  Very nice, of course we have the worsted weigh, which I love, but I wanted the sweater to be a littl more lightweight, so I am trying it out.  So far, so good. You may see it on the shelves soon.

Well, that about it for January.  There are balls of yarn sitting on my desk waiting to be knit, so as soon as the black sweater is done....

Until next month, Happy Knitting, Nancy

December 2011

Happy New Year!!
I finished up a couple of 2011 knitting projects and am ready to start the new year with some new knitting projects and finishing up a few older ones too.

So, finished. The afghan. Though I will say this week I missed knitting it a little because it was so warm on my lap.  As you can see, it got lots of use during the holiday week with a visiting daughter :)


And finished, just last night at 11pm, my sweater.  The seemingly endless project.  An A-line, tunic, knit with fingering weight yarn (Ella Rae's Lace Merino).  Did I mention, I LOVE this yarn!  I am wearing the sweater today.  It is just what I'd hoped it would be.  I love when that happens!

Then the project that was started and finished during Christmas week.  As you can see from the picture of the couch above, my daughter was home.  She got a cute dress at the outlet mall that is sort of dressy, but no sleeves.  Navy and grey.  She thought she needed a navy blazer to go with it, but navy blazers are harder to find than you might think (like impossible), So, mom volunteered to knit a cardigan for it.  She told me what she wanted, found a yarn, Cashsoft DK, and a week later... a sweater!  I had to show you the back, too.  I think it turned out cute and will go nicely with the new dress.

That's it for finished projects.  My husbands navy sweater is still on the needles, with a little progress.  I am about an inch from the armholes.  So, progress...   Same yarn as my daughter's sweater.  I was hoping there'd be enough, but I think we'll be ok for him. 


And I deceided I need a pair of mittens to match (well, almost) the pretty scarf I made last month for my new coat.  So I found a Silk Garden color that is close to the Silk Garden Sock I used for the scarf and started mittens. These and my husbands sweater are first on the list, then on to more fun stuff...

That's about it for December, except for a few customer finishing jobs.  I have piles of yarn sitting on my desk waiting to be knit and ideas swirling around in my head, so I guess it swatching time!

Well, I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and is ready to start a New Year.  Until next month, Happy Knitting, Nancy

November 2011

Whew, it's been quite a month..., but on to the knitting.

A couple of finished projects from last month, my husband's sweater. Done.  But.  Just had him try it on, the sleeves are a bit long, so I have too fix that, so I guess it's not quite done after all.  That's the beauty of knitting sleeves from the top down, all I have to do is take the bind off out, rip back and reknit the cuffs at the right length. One of these nights soon, I promise....

And for me, knit with Cotton Classic, a summer sweater. I know, it's winter, but.... it is actually from a winter pattern and knit in a cool weather yarn, but I don't do alot of short sleeves in the winter and loved the sweater, so I knit it in cotton for the summer.  The buttons are actually in the back, cute!  (Though, you could wear them in the front too)

A couple of new scarf yarns, one in stock, one coming, so a couple if new scarves.

And a new coat (on sale at Coldwater Creek) so of course I needed a new scarf to go with it.  The multi-directional scarf from Ann Norling, knit with Silk Garden Sock, is what I chose.








And I have 3 projects on the needles, all fairly big projects, so they are going slow, especially since I am working on all three instead of finishing up one at a time.

First, I have had yarn set aside to knit an afghan for the newly painted family room, since it was newly painted... a couple of years ago.  hmmmmm... hope I get the afghan done before it needs painting again :).  Anyway, it's a pretty slip stitch pattern and I am making progress.  I love making an afghan in the winter, the bigger it get, the warmer you get.

Another sweater for my husband.  A boring one, DK weight, navy blue, raglan sleeves, knit in the round.  He needs a good basic sweater, but, not interesting knitting, which maybe why I keep working on the other things.

And the sweater I love, and want to finish because I want to wear it, but.... it is an A-line tunic knit with fingering yarn.  Yes, you heard right... and maybe a little crazy, but....  I am 7 inches into it and I start decreasing, so it will start to go faster, right??
(I am not sure why these pictures won't go where they belong, but I am sure you can figure out which one is which.)  

Well that's it for me, other than a few customer finishing jobs.  Hopefully December will bring the end to my 3 projects and the beginning of a few more.  I wish for all of you the happiest of holidays filled with joy, wonder and finishing knitting projects.  Until next month... Happy knitting and holidays, Nancy

October (and the end of September) 2011

Whew, another busy month (just life in general).   So anyway, on to knitting...

Finished from last month, the potato chip scarf (you just can't knit enough of them...).  This one is knit with Filatura Di Crosa's Gioiello.  It is a soft Mohair with a strand of color and of bit of glitz. It's a fun little scarf.

Also left over from last month, another scarf.  This one is knit with Rowan's Cashsoft DK and is a Christmas gift for the young man in my daughter's life.  My one and only fishished Christmas gift.

And there was a Jacket started last month, finished!  Knit with Tahki's Jackson, the colors are great.  I love the sort of textured color effect it makes.  It's a quick jacket, since the yarn is chunky.

Then... a yarn I've been wanting to try.  You've heard me talk (on and on) about how much I love Ella Rae's Lace Merino (fingering weight).  Well now they have the same yarn in a worsted weight,  Of course, I had to try it.  I used a Plymouth pattern for this cute slouchy sweater with pockets.  I've worn it a couple of times and I love it.  The yarn and the sweater.

Another new yarn.  I have been admiring this yarn, it is wonderful!! Silk and wool, lace/fingering weight, almost 800 yards per ball.  Beautiful clear colors. What to do, what to do??  The pattern book came in and though I liked the patterns, I wanted something else.  Hmmm, argyle lace.  That sounds interesting, so I went to the drawing board (aka. the computer) and came up with a pattern.  And swatched.  I liked the pattern, not sure about the fabric.  A little flimsey for a sweater, perfect for a shawl, but not quite right for a sweater.  Hmmmm, again... Double it.  So I did and it knit at a DK weight and I LOVE it! And so, the birth of a sweater.  If you listen closely, the yarn will tell you what to do.

We needed a sample.  A fun Chunky yarn from Noro, Hitsuji.  Lets try vertical stripes.  So I knit this vest side to side and put the seams on the outside for fun.  Cute over a plain blouse. And very easy to knit.

And in my bag. A sweater for my husband (probably a Christmas gift)  Knit with Noro's Retro and Silk Garden.  It's almost done, if you look closely at the picture, you'll see the yarn hanging off the sleeve.  Finish the sleeve, weave in some ends, buttons and done!  He loves a Henley neck.

And  sweater for me.  Actually a summer sweater (I know, my timing is a little off), but I saw the pattern and really liked it (with a few minor adjustments, of course).  It has short sleeves and buttons down the back, at least it will, right now it's just a blob.  Cute.


And a few more ideas brewing and yarn in bags waiting...

Until next month... Happy Knitting, Nancy

August (and a little September), 2011

First let me say, that my thoughts and prayers go out to everyone impacted by the recent flood.  I was very fortunate here to miss it by one block, but can see the devastation around here and the surrounding areas. My prayers are with you.

On to the blog..

We have a lot to talk about...Sorry this is late, but as I said in my shop newsletter, it was raining one day in late August, then a crack of lightning and "snap", the lights went out and came back on, the computer did not... so, I am late.  And I've been busy... So here goes..

I finished some of the projects on my needles... Flicker, a beautiful Alpaca blend from Berroco with a touch of glitz.  This pattern is free from Berroco.  It turned out so pretty.

We have a yarn called Quillay from Araucania, a wool/acrylic blend, that's been calling to me from the shelves.  It's purple, you're surprised, I know.  And the yelling from from the shelves was saying "Wallaby", so that's what it is!  If you've never made a Wallaby for yourself, you should try it.  They are the most comfy sweater.

Also on my needles was the Entrelac Scarf for the Entrelac class.  It is knit with Noro's Retro, which has very pretty subtle shading.  When I was done that one I decided Plymouth's Mushisi would make a great scarf.  But since that yarn has 491 yards, I had more than I needed for a scarf, so I designed a hat to go with it.

Then, a yummy new yarn came in.  Tuhu, from Mirisol, Baby Llama, Merino and Angora. It is pretty and soft and I had to knit it.  The colors are fun, so I knit a hat and scarf set using 3 colors.

Another new yarn... (you'll see a trend here, this happens alot this time of year)  Riva from Debbie Bliss.  A Chunky, stripey fun yarn.  This cute shoulder cape only takes 4 or 5 balls.  I wasn't sure about the shoulder cape idea, but they are showing them everywhere and they are cute.  You can wear it over a coat or jacket instead of a scarf.  Very cute!

Debbie Bliss has another new yarn Paloma.  The yarn is a cabled Alpaca/Merino blend and even though it is chunky, knit on a 15, it is very light and airy. I let my daughter pick a sweater out of the book that she likes.  She keeps asking me when she gets her sweater, I told her in about 2 years, after I sell all the yarn (she isn't that happy about that, haha).

The hats are in the mail.  I told you earlier about the hats I promised to send to my daughter's boyfriend in Afghanistan, well they are on their way.  23 hats.  I had the help of some wonderful knitters (you know who you are and THANK YOU!!), so I only had to knit a few.  We are hoping they will help keep him and his platoon warm and safe this winter.

More new yarn, more knitting.  This yarn is called Grace from Louisa Harding.  It is beaded, so pretty.  It needed to be a scarf and so it is. And a beautiful one at that.

Another scarf.  This yarn is pretty fun.  It is called Autumn from KFI and it has beads and leaves attached.  One skein made this cute triangle scarf.  You can download the pattern free on Ravelry.

Well, you probably fell asleep by now but there are a few more things in the works.  I've got a Potato Chip scarf on the needles in a new yarn from Filatura Di Crossa, Gioiello.  A little sparkle.. It will be done tomorrow!

Another scarf, a Christmas gift, shhh... A man's scarf in double moss stitch and Cashsoft DK.  It's really going to be very nice. Hope he likes it...

And finally, you thought I'd never finish..  A soon to be jacket in Jackson a new yarn from Tahki.  I am playing with this, doing knitting in different directions in parts, we'll see how it works.  It's still a little early to tell, but I like the yarn.


So there are 3 things on the needles and a problem has come up.  We got another new yarn that I am dying to try.  It is a silk/merino blend in a fingering weight. It is amazing and I am itching to get to it....Patience....


So, until next month, November, probably.  Happy Knitting, Nancy

July 2011

Well, July was a busy month.  New fall yarns are starting to arrive and as usual, I can't keep up.  But I tried....



First, I finished something I've been working on for a while.  The Ruffled sweater knit with Ella Rae's Lace Merino.  And... I love it, just what I was going for. (I love when that happens!)  This is a wonderful lightweight cardigan that I can wear all year round and in my favorite color (surprising, I know!)

So in between, there was a scarf.  This new yarn from Katia, Triana.  So cool and so quick and so cute!

Then a Sweater, new yarn from Berroco, Boboli.  It reminds me of a Monet painting,  the colorways are great.  And it needed an embelishment, so a cute flower corsage. The flower is just pinned on, so you could add it to any sweater, a coat, jacket or headband and dress it up.  They would make cute gifts. (A free pattern from Spin A Yarn or on Ravelry: here)

And inbetween, that, I had to do a project for the Knitting Guild for the October meeting.  We will be learning the Brioche stitch, so I made a Brioche Cowl and Gaiter.  They turned out really cute (if I do say so myself).  Brioche is really cool because it creates a reversible fabric that can feature a different color on each side.  Fun!  On the Cowl I used 2 different colors of Ultra Alpaca and on the Gaiter I used Mochi Plus (a self striping) and Tancano (solid).

Then, I had a lot of customers coming in to buy a ball of ribbon yarn.  They were taking a class at the library to make a felted purse.  Well, one of my customers made the purse and brought it in to show me.  Adorable!!!  So I called Sherry Kowalski from the Broome County Libraries, who held the class and asked her about the pattern.  It is her own design and she was kind enough to allow me to share it with my customers.  So naturally I had to make a couple.  I did one with worsted weight wool (as the pattern calls for) and one with bulky wool, making a little larger bag.  Aren't they cute?  What is so clever is that the addition of ribbon yarn is what makes it "bubble".

And in my bag.... Berroco Flicker.  This will be a beautiful cardigan, someday soon.  This yarn is interesting it is a cabled yarn with an amazing amount of stretch and it's sooooo soft.  It is alpaca with a just a touch of glitz.

And...  A Scarf.  I am going to offer an Entrelac class in October, so we need a sample.  This is the beginning of a the scarf we will make in the class.

Then, because I didn't have enough to do, I started a Wallaby.  Actually I love this yarn and have been wanting to knit with it and Wallaby seemed to suit it and it's an easy pick up sweater when I need "social" knitting.  So, that's it for July... Who knows what August will bring. There is still lots of new yarn that hasn't been knit yet, so I guess I still have lots to do..  See you in August... Happy Knitting, Nancy