Monthly Archives: June 2016

Road Trip!

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I’m taking a road trip later this week with my in-laws (Hi, in-laws!).  And that means one thing:

Dramamine? Car games? Eating at McDonald’s?

No!  It means an excuse to go yarn shopping and start some new projects.  After all, my sweater project is getting too big, and I’m out of purple yarn…

I stopped at a lovely yarn shop over on the other side of Lake Washington, Serial Knitters in Kirkland.  I’ve only visited there once before, years ago, and I don’t know why it’s taken me so long to get over there again.  It has a fantastic selection of local and national brands in some of the most gorgeous colorways I’ve ever seen.

Two skeins came home with me:  OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThe lovely, subtle gray-blue is Madeleinetosh Tosh DK in Cloud Dweller, and the over-the top rainbow of exuberance is Knitted Wit Victory DK in Fairy Garden.  They’re both squishy, but firm, and I can tell that they’ll knit up into great hard-wearing accessories.

(And, I can’t help but smile when I look at the Victory DK colors… so gorgeous!)

I’m thinking, since I’ve only got one skein of each, I should use them to make little accessories.  The Victory DK is slightly thinner, so I’m thinking mitts or gloves.  And, I don’t care for variegated yarn knit into simple stockinette (weird, I know), so they’ll have to have some sort of texture.  I’m thinking these gloves might be just the ticket (and they’re an excuse to use some of my buttons).

Ringwood Gloves by Rebecca Blairringwoodbiggreen_medium[1]Wouldn’t they be just the funkiest, most cheerful winter accessories?!  I’m excited already.

The cloudy blue Tosh DK is just as beautiful as the hyperactive Victory DK, but in a more grown-up, classy way.  I’m thinking the subtle color changes would work really well with cables.  Something with a lot of cables.   Maybe a hat.  Maybe this one:

Antler Hat by tincanknitsiain-5-1024x682_medium2[1]Unfortunately, my yarn is a smidge smaller than the yarn called for in the pattern, but I think if I go up a size, I should be able to knit up a lovely hat as I while away the miles.

What do you think?  How should I use my lovely new yarn?

Nooooo!!!!!!!

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I have terrible news.

Terrible, terrible, heartbreaking news.

You might want to sit down.

It’s about my lovely, purple cabled sweater, the one I’ve been working on for months.  It’s… *sob*… it’s… well…  I’ve… I’ve…

I’VE RUN OUT OF YARN!OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAI don’t know what I was thinking.  I’m easily 3 or 4 skeins short.  I’m not even halfway through the first sleeve, and I’m completely out of yarn.  UGH!

So much for planning.  Sigh.

I’m off to the Knit Picks website to order some more and hope the dye lots aren’t too far off.  Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Have you ever seriously miscalculated on one of your projects?  Ugh!

Quilt, quilt, quilt

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Oh boy.  I really, really underestimated the amount of work on this quilt.

It’s coming along, and it’s going to be really pretty.  But, at this rate, it won’t be done until well into the 2020’s.

Isn’t it funny, I have no trouble spending hundreds of hours painstakingly knitting away on a lace shawl or a cabled sweater without noticing time passing.  But, when I get out the sewing machine, I want everything to be finished as fast as possible.  On the other hand, you know that there are plenty of quilters out there who sew big, complicated quilts but don’t have the patience to knit a pair of mittens.

Weird how that goes.

Anyway, I’ve gotten my first square done, and it is beautiful (and big)!  I love it!  It’s about 18″ across, and my little squares fit together pretty evenly(not perfect, but well enough).OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERANow, I’ve just got to make 11 more!

Have you ever bitten off more than you could chew?