Almost Done!

I'm almost done with my Christmas knitting!  The orange shawl is blocking, I have about an inch left on the blue/green sockhead hat and one sleeve left on the sweater.  One sleeve sounds like a lot but it will probably take about the same time to do the inch in the hat with fingering weight yarn and a sleeve in the super bulky yarn.

Merry Christmas to all!

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Christmas Gifts

It's been a few weeks since I've posted - there have been family gatherings, work, Thanksgiving, basketball games, sewing, shopping, etc, etc.  I have been working on a few knitting projects yet though.  Two of them are supposed to be Christmas gifts so I had better hurry!

The ISU cardinal and gold socks are my take along project, getting longer but don't have to be done for Christmas.

The orange Boneyard shawl is getting bigger, it is for a gift but I think I'll be able to get it done.

The sweater (which looks like it will fit a doll in the photo!) was just started last week and I'm ready to start on the bottom ribbing part.  It's super bulky yarn and large needles so it knits up very quickly.  The yarn is Rowan Drift and the pattern is Weekend Pullover.  I was able to get the yarn at 50% off when a store closed last year.

No ice here but very cold, I think it will be a good weekend to stay home and knit!

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Another pair of socks done!

Back to the brown striped socks and they are now done!  The yarn is Lang Jwolla and the pattern is Zora.  I like how they look and love how they feel on my feet.

Since I finished something I can start something - right?  The pattern is the Basic Ribbed sock but I just did the rib for 1 1/2 inches for a cuff and will knit the rest and see how I like it.  The yarn is Lorna's Lace sock purchased at Rose Tree Fiber shop in Ames, IA -- an easy walk from campus for a nice lunch time break :-)

It's off to quilt retreat now - no knitting this weekend!

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Mitten, Mitten, whose has the mitten?

Time to go back and finish something I started earlier - mittens for DD3. The pattern is Spruce Tree Mittens and the yarn is Plymouth yarn  Galway, worsted weight and the color is named Fired Brick Heather.  They were pretty quick to knit with an easy cable pattern on the front.  Now back to the shawl!

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Woo Hoo - I won!

I'm back from a short trip to Colorado for our grandson's third birthday.  We had a great time and when I got back and catching up on my blog reading I saw that I had won the Camp Loopy Project 3 random drawing for a $25.00 gift certificate, Woo Hoo!!  Thanks Loopy Ewe!  Now I need to plan what to buy, maybe some of the new Loopy Legends yarns. 

I finished up the colorful wingspan before we left and since I had lots of travel time knitting and I got the Calm Seas Cowl done, this is the 4th quarter Loopy Ewe challenge.  The challenge is to knit a project using worsted or bulky weight yarn and it needs to use at least 250 yards.  The pattern minimum says 250 years so I added extra rows and the beginning of end to make sure I had enough for the challenge.  I need to weave in the ends and block it yet.  I also got started on another Boneyard shawl.  Both of these will be for Christmas gifts. 

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Knit me, knit me!!

I was really trying to finish up some of my unfinished socks.  I got one pair done and a second one almost done when I was tempted into working on a wingspan scarf.  The yarn is Vice Paradigm, colorway Plain Jane.  It is no Plain Jane colors though and the bright, vibrant colors were saying knit me, knit me!  I started last Saturday and have 5 1/2 "wings" done. 

I also wound yarn for future projects, they look pretty as is, hopefully they will look good finished too! 

The owl bag is one I made as a donation for an auction at work. 

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Another sock WIP

I've been trying to finish up some sock WIP projects I had.  I finished the blue/green pair that were started last January.  The next sock project up was the brown/tan socks from the Zora pattern.I have one sock finished now and the second one to the gusset section.  These socks are knit in Lang Jawoll sock yarn.  I hope to have these finished by next week, have a beautiful yarn waiting to do a scarf and the Loopy Ewe 4th quarter challenge ( I told myself I wasn't going to do it - but I did!) 

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One finish, one start and one WIP

I finished the blue/green pair of socks and have gifted them to my Mom.  She says that hand knit socks mean warmth :-)  I'm trying to finish up socks that are "in progress"  from the last year so I also worked on the brown socks using the Zora pattern using Lang Jawoll yarn.  I had knit the leg of the sock and was ready to start the heel when I put the sock down last January and now I'm almost ready to start the toe part.  My photo doesn't show the pattern very well, will take a better one next week. 

For some reason I also decided I needed to start a new project, mittens.  The pattern is Spruce Tree mittens and the yarn is Plymouth Galway yarn, color Fired Brick Heather.  I did promise these mittens to DD3 and cooler weather is coming so time to knit! 

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Back to socks

After finishing the sweater project it's back to socks.  It was time to finish up a few of the started/not finished socks.  This pair I started last January.  I got one sock done and the leg started on the second one and then they got set aside to work on other projects.  The pattern is my the Basic Ribbed sock pattern from Ravelry and the yarn is an Opal yarn.  Hope to have these finished by next week!

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Done!

So I just made it, finishing on August 31 but I finished all Camp Loopy 2013 projects.  I got the Long Sands Cardigan completed, all the ends woven in and the pieces sewn together.  It even fits the DD it was made for, woo hoo!  This was the first time to make a sweater and do the seams, learning new things with knitting.  Good thing there is google and YouTube videos to view for how-to's.   The yarn is Malabrigo Mecha in Prussia Blue, a bulky weight yarn. 

I'm happy with the finished sweater but now maybe back to some socks or a hat, projects that don't have deadlines!

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Almost There!

I think I will actually get my Camp Loopy Project 3 done by the end of the day tomorrow.  I have all the knitting done, the sleeves are blocking now and I have started the seaming.  I did the kitchener graft stitch on the back of the collar section and have pinned the shoulder seams and neckline.  Then it will be to sew in the sleeve cap and the underarm seams. The photo is a weird angle shot of the two fronts with the collar grafted.  I'll get a better photo for next week.  

We had a great time when the kids were all home, an epic water fight, found Ole and Lena, and trips to the Des Moines farmers market and the Iowa State Fair.  My little grandson enjoyed the fair more than the farmers market, lots to look at, the Little Hands on the Farm area and he got to sit in every John Deere tractor there.  He was a happy little boy!

My husband and I have done lots and lots of canning, the cupboards are getting full and the garden is starting to dry up.  We'll do a few more things this weekend and that might be the end of the big canning days.

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Camp Loopy Update

I was a little apprehensive about attempting a sweater for the Camp Loopy Project #3.  The requirement is you have to knit something and use at least 800 yards of yarn and get it completed in one month.  I choose what I thought looked like an easier pattern for a cardigan (Long Sands Cardigan from Ravelery) and bulky yarn (Malabrigo Mecha in Prussia Blue) and it's knitting pretty quickly.  I have the back done and about 2/3 of the right front.  And I was actually right, it is a pretty easy pattern and the front pattern is interesting.  I might actually get it done.....hopefully.

No knitting this weekend though, all the kids and assorted others are home for the weekend and a trip to the state fair is planned for Monday.

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An end and a beginning

I finished the Boneyard shawl and have already given it away.  It was hard get a good photo of it and getting the colors to show.  It's so soft and DD3 loved it so mission accomplished. 

I started on my Camp Loopy Project #3 yesterday.  The challenge is that it has to be a project that uses at least 800 yards of yarn and is completed 8/1 - 8/31.  I choose the Long Sands Cardigan (Rivalry pattern) using Malabrigo Mecha in Prussia Blue. The photo is the start of the back.   I have no idea how I am ever going to get an entire sweater knitted in one month!  In addition to the knitting the garden is producing so there is a lot of canning to do.  Last weekend DD, DH and I froze 57 bags sweet corn, 7 bags frozen peas, and canned 27 pints green beans and 7 pints dill pickles.  The tomatoes are just getting started so they are next.  I guess DD earned her shawl :-)

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So Close!

I am so close to getting my Boneyard shawl Camp Loopy project #2 done!  I just needed to finish off the binding last night and I would have been done but it was getting too late and there was still one more work day left in the week.  This whole work thing really gets in the way of what I want to do! 

Tomorrow morning I will get to the post office to pick up my yarn for Camp Loopy #3, it's been waiting there since Monday.  I live in a very small town, post office is only open for a few hours in the morning so sometimes I have to wait to pick up packages.  I'm glad we still have a post office though!

The shawl is getting quite large so it was hard to get a good photo and the pattern doesn't show very well. 

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Back from Vacation

Back from vacation and back to work.......sigh

It was hard to re-adjust to the real world of the alarm clock!  We had a great time, loved spending time with my family.  (and chasing a 2-1/2 year old wore us out but we loved it!)

I had a couple of days that were pretty free so I turned on the GPS and did some exploring.  I went to The Quilt Store in Broomfield, CO which was a wonderful, bright quilt shop.  The next day I went to Fort Collins and visited The Fig Leaf, The Sewing Circle and Loopy Ewe!  All the stores were great, the only issue I had was that the The Fig Leaf had just moved the week before so it was a little hard to find.  It was fun to see Loopy Ewe in person after seeing images online.  I was greeted warmly at the door and had the store layout explained to me - WOW what a lot of beautiful yarn!  

I working on my sockhead hat until Camp Loopy Project 2 start day of July 1.  The hat is a slouchy style so the hat part is bigger.  The yarn is so soft and the colors are pooling. 

July 1st I started on Camp Loopy Project #2.  The project had to be a popular pattern and use 500 yards of yarn.  I choose the Boneyard Shawl using Malabrigio Rastita (a DK weight).  It's been a pretty easy knit but the rows are soooooo long now, supposed to have it done by the end of July.  I think I'm about 3/4 done.  The photo doesn't show the ridges very well. 

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Travel time knitting

I had lots of car travel time yesterday so I was able to finish up the Seyfert cowl, yarn is Berocco, Quasar.  I like how the colors stripe and it's a simple pattern but effective.  I need to block it yet, the one edge wants to roll.

  I had cast on a hat earlier in the week to work on on the car too (it's a long way from Iowa to Colorado).  The hat pattern is Sockhead hat and the yarn is Misty Alpaca.

Part of the time here we will be chasing a 2 1/2 year around while his parents go on a two day bike ride, probably not much knitting time then!  I do have my yarns ready for camp loopy project #2 for the ride back home next week.

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Camp Loopy project 1 done

Woo hoo - I finished my first Camp Loopy project on time.  I made the 3S shawl in Mountain Colors - Bearfoot in the Gold Rush  Like Judy I ended up with around 180 stitches on each side when the yarn was running out.  I didn't figure out how long each row was taking, just that they took a long time!  The yarn is really nice and the colors are very bright, great yarn.

I also finished another hat made with a chunky green cascade yarn.  After blocking it seems to have lost it's "spring" but I think it will still fit the daughter with thick curly hair!  The pattern I used is called The Republic Hat.

What is actually "on the needles" is a new cowl, Seyfert.  I wanted to use Quasar - Berroco yarn and when I searched on Ravelry this pattern popped up.   It has been quite easy to knit but I still had to knit backwards for a while to fix a mistake.

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ps - I won't win any photography awards either !

Camp Loopy Project

When I was young it was 4-H camp and Bible camp, now it's quilt retreats at camps and Camp Loopy for the first time.  Camp Loopy has very good accomodations - aka my own bed :-)  The June project for Camp Loopy is to use one skein of a yarn you have never used.  I choose Mountain Colors - Bearfoot in the Gold Rush color.  The colors are so vibrant and the yarn has a very soft feel,  fiber content is 60% Superwash Merino, 25% Mohair, 15% Nylon.  The pattern I am using is the 3S Shawl, hopefully I can finish by the end of the month.  

On the sewing side I got a few more knitting project bags done that I put on my etsy site, one with monkey fabric and an owl shaped bag.  The owl bag is an Embroidery Garden design and the other bag is a Digistitchs Design 

I also made a couple of summer mug rugs, design by Omas Place.

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Who Knew

Guess what - it takes a lot less time to knit a hat than to knit a pair of socks.  I guess I'm a slow learner.  Anyway I have been making hats lately, it's fun to see the finished product relatively quickly.  The first hat I knit was Jesse's Christmas Hat made from Malabrigo Rios, color Arco Iris.

The second hat is called BeeHive, a pattern I picked up in a yarn shop.  The yarn is Scrumptious Aran by Fyberpates in teal blue.  The fiber content is 45% silk and 55% merino and is sooooo soft.

My son made me a wooden yarn caddy for Mother's Day.  He only uses hand tools and it's beautiful. My yarn for Loopy Camp is wound and ready to go on it.  I'm planning on doing the 3S Shawl with Gold Rush in Bearfoot from Mountain Colors. 

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A scarf and the start of a hat - no socks!

I'm taking a break from socks, bigger needles, bigger yarn and even shorter time to finish a project.  The scarf is made from Florafill - American Wildflowers yarn that I got in Door County last summer.  It said it was a chunky yarn so I used the needle size recommended by the pattern for that yarn but I think it could have used a smaller needle.  It will be a nice summer weight scarf though.  The pattern is Cantaloop from Ravelry (needs to be blocked yet).

When I finished the scarf I started on a hat using Malabrigo, worsted weight, so soft to knit with.  The pattern is Jesse's Christmas Hat also from Ravelry.  I just finished the first rib part and the first two rows of the short cable section.  I put the top of sock in there for size reference, otherwise the photo just looked like the close up of a sock rib.  

We had a baby shower at work for a co-worker, I embroidered some baby bibs for the gift. 

And.... this snow would have been called beautiful in December.  Snow the first week of May, not so much!  Our trip into the ditch on the way to work also wasn't much fun ( no injuries to people or car!).  There have been some funny posts and pictures about it at least! 

Check out what everyone else has on the needles at Patchwork Times.