Decisions, Decisions

I am trying to decide which top to knit with this yarn.

Schoeller+Stahl Eviva - Emerald - 18 skeins or 1980 yards
Gauge 22 stitches = 4" (worsted) on size US 4 needles

The choices are Buttercup or Broken Rib Tank.

Please tell me what you think. This will be my first garment for an adult (me). So I am nervous. And as usual making the decision to get started is taking so long because I am afraid that I will make a mess. I need to just get on with casting on, because I can always rip it out if need be, right?

If you've made a great summer top please share, I am still open to suggestions.

Work in Progress

I have been working on the Cat's Paw Scarf since January 4th, well not really.


I cast it on then but I haven't worked on it in many months. I like it and plan to give it to my aunt for Christmas so it's time to get back to work on it.

Patons Lacette - Cream Caress

All Done

I finished the baby sweater. After much trouble -

1. Begin knitting with lovely yarn that turns out you don't have enough of
2. Rip it out
3. Go buy new yarn
4. Love new yarn and cast on
5. Finish body of sweater and go back to sleeves
6. Totally screw up first sleeve
7. Rip out sleeve
8. Get first sleeve right
9. Start second sleeve
10. Make a mistake, but only pull out a few rows
11. Finish sleeve
12. Ta Da - Sweater done!

Who knew an easy baby sweater could be so much trouble. I have a feeling it was all operator error. Who cares now, it's done!

Making the Best of Bad Yarn

Is there really such a thing as bad yarn? Well, let's just say yarn that was not my favorite when I pulled it from the bag. You see, I bought several bags of yarn sight unseen. They were a really good deal and I got lots of great stuff. But I also got some stuff that quite frankly at first glance I was ready to give to the closest Goodwill. But then I packed everything away and I've just now pulled it back out after about two months and guess what, I am seeing it all with fresh eyes. And I am seeing new possibilities for some of it. So I am challenging myself to use some of the yarn that was at first glance less desirable. The first yarn up is this lovely.

Reynolds Reggae

and for a first project I have turned a bit of one skein into this. It's okay. I like the yarn now. And I'm seeing new life for it, in other words I won't be driving to Goodwill any time soon.Simple Dishcloth

Does anyone have a suggestion for the other 8 skeins?

Baby Gift

I made this a month ago to give to an adorable baby. I loved making this sweater. It is the first sweater that I've made and I was nervous about it. Turns out this pattern is so easy and it went much faster than I expected. It is the same pattern that I'm using for the blue baby sweater that I am currently making. See link to pattern in previous post.

Berroco Comfort in Ballet Pink

Casting On

My brother's dog is sick. She is at the vet clinic staying for a second night. They have run lots of tests and are not exactly sure what's up with her. She is a great dog. I hope she feels better soon.

Callie

This is the yarn for socks that I am casting on today for my niece's birthday in November. I know it is early to make these, but I just want to get them done and off the "to do" list. I think this yarn will make great socks. First of all, it's acrylic, this is most important since my mother-in-law is responsible for washing these and I didn't want to burden her with hard to care for socks. And the color, well, that's my niece's favorite. I also like the sport weight, they should knit up quickly.

Lion Brand Baby Soft - Lavender

I decided to play around with a swatch. There are several different stitch patterns here. I am going to make socks from this book with a 2x2 rib pattern. This swatch helped me make some other decisions for upcoming projects.

The all important swatch for gauge

Dyeing

I didn't get a shot of the bare wool. But here it is in the pot:

Knit Picks Bare - Superwash Merino DK Weight
Dyed with lots of Kool-Aid and overdyed multiple times.

Dried and ready to reskein. Notice that the yellow that was in the pot is not on the final skein. The yellow just didn't work so I used some blue Kool-aid and turned it green. I overdyed this yarn twice after the original dyeing. I am finally happy with the results.

This is my favorite part. When you reskein it and see how all the colors work out. I think this skein is well balanced. The big test will be when I knit with it.


I always love the close up pictures of yarn.

Little Progress

But it looks more like a sweater now.

And here is a picture of the yarn. I like these close ups.

Bernat Cashmere Natural Blends - Rain

Okay, here is the pattern for the sweater.

What's on the needles currently

I am really enjoying knitting with this yarn:

Bernat Cashmere Natural Blends - Rain

I am making a baby sweater and so far this is what I have managed to do:

It's time to put the sleeves on stitch holders. Which in my case will be some scrap yarn. I love this pattern. And I tried to post a link for you but I'm having trouble getting it to link properly. I'll keep working on it and put the link in my next post if I'm able to work it out. Sorry.

New blog . . . but not really

I've had this blog saved for a while, but I haven't posted anything. I really thought that I would save it to use in conjunction with an etsy.com store but that hasn't happened and may not for a long time. But I wanted to get this going with a few pictures of some of my projects from this year.

Child's hat donated to a local children's hospital for a child undergoing chemo. (made in January '09):
Socks made for husband's valentine present (February 2009):
My first attempt at dyeing yarn with kool-aid:My first attempt at spinning wool: