Lambs appear in the spring.....

Much of my knitting has been given as gifts.   This year is no exception.    One of my friends has a new and beautiful granddaughter.   This baby has more clothing, at six weeks, than she will ever wear.  Earlier, I made her a sweater from a yarn I wanted to try.  At the end of the month, the baby and her parents will visit.   For the gathering for us all to meet the baby, I need a gift.

Stuffed animals are a lot of fun to make.  My nephew Owen has received many from me and will likely receive more.   As I was in the mood to make another, I decided Ameerah should have one too.

As well as having an embarrassing large yarn stash, I have a trove of patterns.  That does not stop me from collecting more.  At least being able to store them electronically until I want to use one cuts down on the clutter.  I am spoiled for choice.

A few months ago, I saw the pattern for Sawyer the Sheep.  I knew I wanted to do that but have just been waiting for the right recipient.  I found the yarn and got ready to go.

This is a quick and fairly fun knit.   Using Wendy's Eider Chunky, I knew I could get a nice woolly critter.  I used Encore for the feet, hands, and face.   All gear assembled I was ready to go.

Gauge swatches are ALWAYS important.  I started the head as a gauge swatch on the needles I thought would work.   After ten rows, I knew that the fabric would be too stiff.  That yarn is not fun

to rip out.  I started again with the next size up.   Still a little stiff.  One more size up and I knew I could make the cuddly toy that I had in mind.

Working fairly steadily over several days, the lamb is done.   The face was easier to embroider than I thought it would be.  I still need practice but I am pleased.   On to the next gift!

The Peril of Regia's Arne and Carlos Pairfect Pair Design Line

A couple of months ago, I was in Depth of Field in Minneapolis.  This is one of my happy places. 

The first sock begun...

When perturbed, I go here and feast in the textures and colors and then come away calmer.

I do try not to buy more yarn as my personal store has become just a bit overwhelming, almost oppressive and I really need to shop there rather than ANYWHERE else.  Sometimes I see something I really want to try.

Resting on the shelf in Depth was a very bright purple and orange skein of yarn.  Intrigued, I picked it up to read the label.   Arne and Carlos...who are a color genius duo...have come up with a way to make a matching pair of socks from the multi-colored sock yarn.   One just begins the sock at the end of the yellow stretch of yarn.

That same day I cast on the first sock using my favorite Karbonz size 0's.   The colors...which also

I begin to feel fear.

include a bright pink.....rolled off the skein.    The first sock looked good.   I set out on the second sock and was knitting away.   The sock did look like the picture on the skein! After I marveled at how the sock really did match the first once I rounded the heel and did the gusset, I looked at what remained from the ball.  

A shiver of fear shot through me.   The small ball left did not look as though it was enough.  I went on through the foot (or the straightaway as I fondly refer to this part of a sock).   I kept glancing at the remaining yarn.  I kept knitting.  In my head I kept coming up with solutions for what I would do if.....I......ran.....out before the end of the sock.

As this was making me a little nervous I pressed on quickly.  The yarn continued to go down.  In my head I tried to do calculations to see if this was going to work.  Finally, with not much left over, the

Whew!

socks were done.

The socks are now tucked in a drawer.  I had flirted with the idea of giving them away and decided these really did need to be mine.

Regia Makes a Dang Fine Sock Yarn

Regia was really the first actual sock yarn that I used.  I liked the feel of the yarn as it slipped through my fingers.  I liked the way the socks wore and the way they laundered.

When Regia came out with self-striping yarn, it was like....magic.  Since then the variety of colorways has expanded.   This particular pair is a 6 ply colorway designed by Arne and Carlos .  Whoever sets up the dye sequence for this yarn makes the best use of math EVER.

Living in Minnesota, I like the 6 ply socks for a little extra warmth during my commutes in the cooler months.

While I do knit with a wide variety of sock yarn, Regia will always have a soft spot in my heart!

Things have gotten done!

All hail the Queen!

This queen dishcloth was too good not to do for one of my friends.  The project took less than a day.   My favorite dishcloth yarn is Willow Yarns Sudsy.   Sudsy has several versions.   This would have been much better in a solid color, but I did not have a color I liked at home when I wanted to knit this.   I will likely restock as dishcloths are a nice gift and quick to do.  During the summer this is a great project as it is small, easy to carry, and even in the heat, easy to handle.

Knitpicks Felici is a very nice sock yarn.   Felici comes and goes off the site.  The colorways also come and go.   The last time I was buying something from Knitpicks, Felici was available in a worsted weight.   Goth Kitty is the colorway I chose partly because I loved the name and partly because I really liked the color combination.  This was a soft yarn to knit.  Handling this yarn was as nice as handling fancier, luxury blends.  The yarn is a bit softer than the German-made workhorse blends that I like to use for socks.   While it is really luscious to wear, I am concerned that it will pill and develop holes sooner than the hardier yarns.  Time will tell!

My friend really wanted this hat for a trip that is upcoming faster than he would be able to produce it.   Kind soul that I am, I stepped up and knit this.   As I was ill and not up to doing much but knit, this took a week.   The small stitches in black were not bad until the shaping.   That had to be done twice and sworn over a lot.   Now that it is done, I am pleased with it.  I also realize that I need much more light for small black stitches.....I had to lean into the sunlight to work the shaping.   All is well that ends well as Rick loves it and wears it often. 

After doing this hat in the fingering weight, I decided to give myself a break and do the next hat in DK.   That is a stealthy project that is in the design process.   Details to come.

A month or so ago, I saw a yarn in the Willow catalogue that I really wanted to try. As a baby girl who could wear it was about to be born, why not?   The lovely soft shade of pink in the Peter Pan Petite Fleur begged to become the Aida Top Down Cardigan.  While I think I might have liked the cardigan a bit better in a non-fuzzy yarn, it turned out well and the baby's grandmother liked it.  That is what is important.

Would I use this yarn again.  I don't think so.  While the yarn is pretty, it had no elasticity and was not that much fun to knit.  The girly-ness of the color kept me at it.   It can go through the washer and dryer which is a plus.   The down side is that laundering it gave it a static which needed to be toned done.   Glad to have done it and gladder to be done.

Sock yarn comes out in new and interesting offerings.   Regia has a colorway that is called Pairfect

Pair.   The idea is to start at the end of a yellow stretch of yarn.....and each sock will be the same...or that perfect pair of striped socks than are the dream of many and difficulty to achieve. The colors drew me in and I began.  

The first sock is partially done and the colors are rolling out.  I love the way it is knitting up.  Time will tell if I make the match!   

February has flown by....

This month, I have been turning out socks....for me.   One pair, made of Opal Tiger, has been in the works for more years than I care to remember.   The last time the Tiger socks popped out of the stash, I decided it was time.   Today, I am wearing them.

The carrot to finish the Tiger socks was a skein of 6 ply Regia Arne and Carlos....the first of those socks is coming along nicely.   I am also doing a pair from a Berroco socks colorway that I liked so much...I think I bought it twice.

As this projects come along, I also pick up the pink baby sweater...one sleeve and done...and more sporadically....a wedding present.

My goal?  Finish things up that I have started...and use what I have.  This year....I do want to get closer to the center of the stash.

Thoughts on thrummed mittens....

Both pairs of thrummed mittens are getting me through my subzero commute to work each day.  As I have worn the mittens, ways to make the mittens better keep coming through my mind.

The mittens, as knit from the pattern are much too wide in the hand and in the thumb.  The stitches that show roving on the outside of the mitten are taking a real beating.  Maybe if I made the thrums much thinner and twisted them tighter?  The final thing is that I would like a longer cuff.

These changes are pretty straightforward.  All I need is a careful checking of measurements accommodating the thrums on the inside of the mittens, and the time to work on this project.

If you live in a climate that gets really cold, these are wonderful.  Working on these mittens and figuring out how to do it better has been interesting....and I have warm hands!

Being January, a new hat is a good thing.....

Stranded knitting is fun...most of the time.   Lately, I have been working on improving my technique.  When I saw the North Star Hat, I was itching to take on this project.

Last fall I decided I was tired of my hats.  I gave a couple away and was looking around for a few ideas when the North Star Hat popped up on Ravelry.   I had yarn left over from the thrummed mittens.  Off I went!

As I new my gauge for this yarn from having just done a project with the same yarn, I daringly skipped doing a swatch.  Fortunately, this turned out not to be a mistake.

It seems that I have THREE sets of 16" interchangeable needles.   The Karbonz were first to hand...and a lovely need for this kind of work.

When I got to be fairly skilled at color knitting, I used to hold each color in a separate hand.  That was fine, but I wanted to see if I could do better.  Keeping in mind that the yarns have to be worked consistently -- one from the bottom and one from the top -- to achieve the color dominance -- I used this to practice holding both the yarns in my left hand.

In my knitting stuff, I had a Swedish thimble.  As I started this, I gave it a try.  The yarn thimble

proved to be a disappointment.  I thought it was clunky to use and did not want to continue.  Maybe I will try again on another project....or not.

This project sped along.  When I finished it a week later, I was pretty happy with the result.  I took a picture.   I looked at it closely.   OH.  NO.

Yes, I HAD checked this as I went along and did not see this.  The only explanation that I have is that it takes place at the jog between rows.  Yes, I should have caught this.  Did I take it out and fix it?  No.  I even opted not to fix it with a duplicate stitch as I thought that would end in drawing more attention to the error.  Lesson learned.  The hat fits well...and is nice and soft.....

OH NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!