blogmas 2018 :: yarn advent calendars

Hi friends! I hope that you are having a great start to your December. Do you have any fun plans for celebrating the season? One tradition that I love is to count the days until Christmas with a yarn advent calendar. It is so fun to mark each day with a little pretty miniskein of yarn. This year, I treated myself once again to the advent calendar from Adelaide Cottage. I also bought a Christmas frankensocks kit from Havirland (thirty -  5 gram mini’s) which I put in a little mailbox. I then pull out a mini each day until Christmas. The first picture shows Days 1-3 so far. I foresee lots of cozy knitting time ahead. Planning on making some sock ornaments as well as adding to my various scrappy blankets with all this pretty yarn.

Hoping to be back soon with some more holiday fun!

catching up

Exploration Station 

Madewell 

Sorry for the radio silence but things became crazy busy once August hit. My mom was here visiting from Vietnam which is always so fun. I miss her already. And then back to school happened and we are still adjusting to the change in schedule. Having to wake up super early is probably the hardest thing for us to get used to. Especially when I stay up way past my bedtime knitting. There has been a lot of that going on lately. I have been trying to finish up some lingering WIPs which is such a great feeling. But there are some new cast-ons as well so it all balances out in the end. I finally started a new sweater, my first for the year. I am making surprisingly fast progress on it, considering that it is knitted with fingering weight yarn. The color fading definitely helps to make the knitting more fun and compelling. I am also looking forward to the Speckle & Pop! Westknits Mystery Shawl KAL starting this Friday. Just need to finalize my yarn choice. I can't wait to catch up and see what you all are knitting & making! Are you giving into the urge to cast-on all the shiny new Fall things?

spring mix

We are in the heart of springtime here in Maryland and enjoying every minute of this beautiful season. Easter was a quiet affair since I had to work. But the Bunny did stop by to bring the little guy some treats to feed his sweet tooth....and also left a little yarny goodness for me:

Can't wait to cast on a pair of spring/summer monster socks with these speckled mini-skeins from havirland....as soon as I finish the other two pairs of socks that are still on the needles. Still trying to resist the urge to start new projects but it's hard when there are so many pretty patterns and yarns floating around. I finally caved in last week and casted on a Campside with the beautiful Rifton yarn from Jill Draper Makes Stuff that I bought last year at Maryland Sheep & Wool. The colorway is appropriately named Spring and is lovely to knit with.

Here are some other things that are making life grand at the moment:

*Going for nature walks and enjoying some relaxing time with my little guy who is on Spring Break this week.
*Practicing & improving on my lettering skills.
*Spending time at the various fishing piers scattered around the island, especially at sunset.
*Eating fresh & healthy meal bowls like this and this.
*Listening to fun covers of some favorite mid-century songs from this soundtrack.

So, what's currently in the mix for you? Any fun new projects or favorite easy meals?

the doodler

No this isn't a belated April Fool's joke....I actually finished something :) And it's not a pair of socks! I think this shawl has been on the needles since autumn of 2015. Not sure why it took me so long to finish since the pattern is wonderfully fun to knit. I remember making a mistake on the cabled section which set me behind on the mkal. And then it was cast aside because of holiday knitting. So happy to have it off the needles at last. Now if only my other WIPs could magically be done. It feels like ages since I casted on for anything new! Which leads to me buying All Of The Yarn.

Oh the vicious cycle of a bored knitter :p

bowknot tabi socks

I don't know about you, but as soon as the warm weather hits, out come the flip-flops. They are my favorite summer accessory. I can remember many childhood summers spent cycling, climbing, fishing and even playing tennis in my trusty flip-flops. It was a wonder that I didn't end up with a sprain ankle! Later, when my college boyfriend (now the hubby) went to Japan to study/teach, I became slightly obsessed with collecting various styles of zori and geta. So when I had the opportunity to try out a skein of Saucon Sock by Kraemer Yarns, my first thought was designing a pair of fun tabi socks to wear with them. The fiber content of the yarn consists of cotton, acrylic and nylon which makes it an excellent no-wool and warm weather knitting option. It is available in many pretty colors (I am currently eyeing the carnation, coral, ginger & turquoise colors for a cute stripey version). This particular colorway is called Sea Blue and has a lovely and subtle marled effect achieved by combining a ply of azure blue with a ply of purple. The socks were knit cuff down using a simple textured stitch pattern that resembles little bowknots. I used a mystery yarn from the stash for the contrasting ribbing on the cuffs, heels and toes. If I can make heads or tails of my jumbled notes for the split toes, I will post the pattern here for anyone interested in knitting a pair. I hope that everyone is enjoying their summer so far. We just came back from a relaxing oceanside holiday where I did nothing but lazed in the sun, eat, read, knit and repeat. I just love the laid back rhythm of summer.

farmers socks at maryland sheep & wool

The first full weekend in May is one that I look forward to every year because it's when the Maryland Sheep & Wool festival is held. This year's event was amazing as always, despite some rather unpredictable weather. I actually didn't mind the cooler temps and was able to comfortably wear my Stopover sweater and farmers socks. The socks were hidden inside my wellies since the ground was a muddy mess after a week of rain. That didn't stop me from visiting every single outside and inside vendor though! As you can see, I made out like a bandit:

Lots of pretty sock yarn. Bartlettyarns sport cone for a yet to be determined grey sweater. A gorgeous ombré from Jill Draper (who is super adorable & sweet in person). Cute little sock stitch markers from Jennie the Potter. A set of Signature Needle Arts dpn's for socks. A nostepinne for winding balls of yarn. Some funny buttons & a handy Folca notions container. I'm rather proud of myself for sticking to my pre-festival list this year. One of the many highlights of this year's festival (eating fried artichokes, petting unbelievably cute animals & spending time with the friendliest people just to name a few) was getting to meet sock knitting expert/teacher, Kate Atherley. She very graciously listened to my gushing praise over her gapless gusset technique :)

Here's a look at my farmers socks:

I absolutely loved knitting these. Yarn is from SpunRightRound who is one of my favorite indie dyers. The pattern is a great choice for showing off variegated yarns and was simple yet interesting to knit.

reverse dipped hermione's everyday socks

I tried really really hard to knit something besides socks with this beautiful ombré yarn. But as I was searching through shawl & cowl patterns on Ravelry, I couldn't get the idea of simple gradient socks out of my head. So I started to knit a test swatch in order to get a feel for the yarn. Ok, so the swatch happened to be 64 stitches divided evenly onto 3 dpn's. After one inch of ribbing, I decided to switch to a simple stitch pattern in order to see how the yarn behaved. Hmmm, but stockinette was too boring. There had to be just enough texture to keep things interesting. Then I remembered seeing a gorgeous pair of Hermione's Everyday Socks knitted by the beautiful & talented Nikki on IG. The stitch pattern was exactly what I had in mind! And that's how I ended up with a pair of quirky mismatched but fun gradient socks. The yarn is Tibetan Dream by Bijou Basin Ranch in the gorgeous Pink Ombré Flow colorway. It is a fingering weight yarn consisting of 85% pure yak with 15% nylon added in for strength and durability. This was my first experience knitting with yak fiber and I honestly didn't know what to expect. First impressions: luxuriously soft, non-irritating, beautiful drape, strong. It would be a wonderful yarn option for those with wool allergies. I can attest that my feet are feeling well and truly pampered right about now!

lichen cowl

I was recently given the fun opportunity to try out a skein of Big Squeeze by Ancient Arts Yarn, a bulky weight 3-ply superwash merino whose name fits it to a t: squishy soft and squeezable from skein to fabric. The yarn is available in many beautiful hand-dyed colors. It also held up extremely well to my repeated swatching and frogging as I was obsessed with finding the perfect stitch pattern to highlight this beautiful Inuit Art colorway. After settling on the wild oats pattern, it was just a matter of time before I was sporting my new cowl. Isn't knitting with bulky yarn super fast and fun? The colors in this skein totally reflect the island that I call home, especially in wintertime. Moody greys & blues of the Chesapeake Bay interplay with the greens, browns, golds & purples of the wetland plants & flowers. I will be joyfully wearing this cowl on my winter hikes on the cross island trail.

 

To knit your own lichen cowl, you will need:

*1 skein of Big Squeeze
*16 inch circular needle size 10.5 (6.5mm) or size required to obtain gauge
*Cable needle
*Gauge in stockinette stitch = 4 stitches per inch
*Finished dimensions = 20 inch circumference x 8.5 inches tall

3x1 ribbing: *knit 3, purl 1*

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Wild Oats pattern stitch: (multiple of 4 stitches)
rounds 1 & 2: *k2, slip 1 stitch purlwise with yarn in back, k1*
round 3: *slip 2 stitches onto cable needle & hold in back, k1, k2 from cable needle, k1*
round 4: knit to end of round, remove marker, knit 1 stitch, replace marker.
rounds 5 & 6: *k1, slip 1 stitch purlwise with yarn in back, k2*
round 7: *k1, slip 1 stitch onto cable needle & hold in front, k2, k1 from cable needle*
round 8: knit to 1 stitch before end of round, slip stitch purlwise to right needle, remove marker, move slipped stitch back to left needle, replace marker.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Cast on 80 stitches, place marker, join to work in the round.

Knit 3x1 ribbing for a total of 3/4 inch from cast on (4 rounds).

Switch to Wild Oats pattern stitch and knit a total of 5 pattern repeats. Then knit rounds 1 to 3 of Wild Oats pattern stitch, ending after round 3.

Knit 3x1 ribbing for a total of 3 rounds.

Bind off in 3x1 ribbing. Wear with a smile :)

cables & flannels

Happy last day of January! I went through my WIP basket Monday night and discovered that there were not one or even two but five unfinished cowls waiting for attention. It's a good thing that I like to wear cowls with my flannels during wintertime because there will be lots of them coming off the needles in February. First one to be completed is the reversible braided cowl knitted with Plymouth Baby Alpaca Grande yarn.

Yes, the yarn is as soft, warm and cozy as it sounds. This pattern is definitely a contender for Christmas gift knitting since it is so fast and easy to make. And who doesn't love squishy cables?

What kinds of projects are multiplying in your basket? The temptation to cast on for another pair of socks is pretty hard to resist (especially when I keep splurging on new sock yarns, patterns & books ... need to stop my bad habit of midnight window shopping ... sometimes I hit the buy button when I'm half asleep LOL) but so far I've been sticking to my finishing goals: knitting on one project at a time until it's done & reserving the evening hours for sock knitting. We'll see how long that lasts! Next up is a new design using just one skein of this luscious yarn:

And in other happy news, my husband & I just celebrated our 20 year anniversary. Feeling so blessed to share my life with such a wonderful partner in crime. We met out of the blue in college (although he has since insisted that he planned the meeting all along) and now I can't imagine my life without his oddball sense of humor and aggravating little quirks. On our first anniversary, he gave me a hickory farms cheese set. And on our 20th I got this:

It's nice to see that he's gotten wiser with age!

hermaness worsted

Presenting the third hat in the fringehatalong series and my favorite so far: Hermaness Worsted by Gudrun Johnston.

I love the look of the simple Shetland lace pattern knitted up in Brooklyn Tweed Shelter. The colorway is Almanac which is a gorgeous dark blue with bright blue flecks that seem to glow. Would love to knit a big cozy sweater with this yarn! It's so lightweight but with a rustic feel and very warm. I did have one occurrence of a breakage in yarn while working the crown decreases but no other issues. And now that I've fallen down the Brooklyn Tweed rabbit hole, there are some fall knitting plans in the works involving Loft:

Like my back-to-school haul? Toms sheep sneakers, Knerdshop knitting bag, Midwestern Knits book, Brooklyn Tweed Loft.

Also, the fourth hat in the fringehatalong was just announced last week. Can't wait to pick out some colors for this one. Not to mention the second Fringe and Friends Knitalong coming this fall. Must knit faster!

knitting retreat

In order to jump start my somewhat lackluster knitting motivation this summer, I scheduled a two day personal retreat this past Friday and Saturday. The first day was spent at my secret spot, sitting next to the water & getting quite a bit of knitting done. The weather was absolutely gorgeous and thankfully not too hot. Here's what my Hekla looks like with one sleeve finished. The second sleeve is underway, but I am kind of worried about running out of yarn. Also having some doubts about this one...

massive sleeves + petite frame = not a pretty sight

On Saturday, I went on a solo trip into DC to do two things that would have caused my guys to scream with boredom:

1) visit the US Botanic Garden:

 2) and browse the shops in Old Town Alexandria:

Ummm, one shop in particular:

fibre space! (what's a knitting retreat without a yarn marketplace, right?)

It was my first but definitely not my last visit. Their yarn inventory was droolworthy. Lots and lots of gorgeous hand-dyed yarns such as The Plucky Knitter, Miss Babs, Hazel Knits, The Neighborhood Fiber Co., Sweet Georgia Yarns & Dragonfly Fibers just to name a few. They even stocked Brooklyn Tweed Loft and Shelter! I went a little overboard in the hand-dyed imports section:

Skein Yarns (Australia), Hedgehog Fibres (Ireland), Sweet Fiber Yarns (Canada), Freia (USA)

To be fair, my next visit will have to focus on domestic yarns. Then the following one after that will be for local yarns :) Next time I will also try to take some pictures of the shop's cute interiors. They have a wonderful cozy space for people to sit, chat & craft.

I feel quite recharged and inspired to frog finish some WIP's so that I can start playing with these new pretties.


(linking up with WIP Wednesday)

serendipity

I am sure that you can all relate to the irresistible draw of an impulsive souvenir yarn purchase. You know, that odd one skein that you love to look at but have no idea what to do with. This was mine from last year's Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival.

The dramatically variegated colors immediately jumped out at me. I snatched it up without a thought to what it would become. Now, almost one year later, a pattern has finally come along that I think might be well-suited to this odd skein. In fact, it was designed by the talented Kristen Finlay of Skein to show off the beautiful colors of strongly variegated yarns just like this one. See?

The little guy's spring break starts tomorrow, so this easy one-skein project will be perfect for (weather permitting) outings to the park and playground. We had a snow day on Monday so here's hoping that Mother Nature doesn't pull another trick on us.


(linking up with WIP Wednesday)

Yarn Fumes

One of the best things about being a knitter in Maryland is having the opportunity to attend Maryland Sheep & Wool which is held annually on the first full weekend of May. This year's festival proved to be as fun and amazing as ever. It was especially wonderful to talk to and watch experienced spinners since I am trying to learn how to spin on a drop spindle. They were so patient while answering my beginner's questions as to the best fibers to start out with, drafting techniques and so forth. But all their wonderful fiber advice flew out the window the moment I stepped into the Loop booth. Fiber candy everywhere...it was impossible to resist!

bullseye bump in arctic spruce (merino/corriedale/nylon/angelina)

Another hard to resist purchase was at the popular Tess' Designer Yarns booth, where I walked away with 660 yards of cotton candy yarn.

I have several fun projects planned for this yarn, one of which is the Color Affection Shawl. Yes, I have caught the affliction/infection!

combined with neon rose and gossamer by Madelinetosh

And then there was the impulsive no plans but it must come home with me now buy of the day:

The yarn fumes and fried twinkies made me do it.



(Go to WIP Wednesday and join in the fun! I also want to say a huge thank you and shout of excitement for being one of the ten finalists in the 'Something A Bit Different' Creative Blogging Award. There are quite a few WIP Wednesday regulars on this list and I am thrilled to be among their company. Please check out the many creative posts for that day by typing 3KCBWDAY5 in your search engine.)

In Bloom

The cherry blossom trees in our backyard seem to have bloomed overnight. We are enjoying their transient beauty.

Despite my best efforts, the stash also seems to have bloomed as well. Oh the dangers of having temptation in the form of my LYS within a five minute drive from the house. Looking forward to coming up with a new design for this unusual felted yarn. I love the earthy browns and roses.

Couldn't resist picking up a few more balls of Zauberball, especially in the tropical fish colorway. Thoughts of summer knitting are already in the air.

But before that, there is the little matter of getting these two sweaters finished. Aidez has just a few more inches to go before the lower body is completed.

Nanook is also growing steadily along. I love how the sleeves are blossoming from the radial lifted increases of the back neck stitches.



(As always, check out all of the amazing projects on display at WIP Wednesday with TAMI'S AMIS)

An Oprah Moment

[As I was preparing my stash to be flashed, I had an Oprah Moment. I pictured myself on television with Oprah by my side. The segment was about Knitters Who Hoard. There were all sorts of experts on the show who were there to provide all their expert opinions. Dr. Phil was there (for his expert psychoanalysis). Dr. Oz was there (for his expert good looks). And then, after all the tearful confessions (from knitters) and angry testimonials (from their significant others), Oprah looked right into the camera and said, "Get a grip, people! These knitters are just exercising their creative rights to make beautiful objects instead of going out and buying mass produced goods manufactured without care or thought! I say, LET THEM BUY YARN!" Who am I to argue with the most powerful woman in the world?]


I wrote the above post over a year ago and never published it. Why? Maybe because I couldn't find all of the yarn that was randomly hidden around the house. Maybe because I was in denial that I had such a thing as A Stash. Maybe because...well...I love yarn and didn't want to stop buying it. This past year, I made a promise to myself to declutter and reorganize the house. The Stash cannot be ignored any longer because it is in almost every room of the house. I am going to try to take a realistic approach to my goal of Surmounting the Stash. I know that new yarns will be purchased and that's okay. But I will try to limit them to small projects that do not require much yardage. However, as far as the sweaters that will be made this year, The Stash will be my first place to shop.

my hoard of dishcloth cotton

(Care to join in the Surmount the Stash challenge? Then go to Revelations of a Delusional Knitter)

Closeup - 2KCBWDAY5