Fiber Friday - Silver Thaw

Another Noro yarn from my stash. This one is being held to make a cardigan sweater. I have no idea when I'll actually get started in this sweater - but it is sitting there paitently waiting. This yarn seems to have a lot of orange in it. I'm hoping that when it is knit up that some of the blue and purple will show up.

I actually have yarn for three sweaters sitting in the queue waiting to be started. The one last week, this one, and one I'll show you next week. All are scheduled to be made from Noro yarn. The good thing is I bought all of the yarn on sale. My goal is to get all three finished this winter.

Yarn Details
Brand: Noro
Yarn Name: Silver Thaw
Color: #5
Content: 50% wool, 25% angora, 25% nylon
Skein Weight: 100 grams
Yardage: 220 yards
Yarn Weight: worsted

Nifty New Knitting & Fiber Tools

I had been looking to expand my knitting needle selection and was considering buying some of interchangeable needles. Zonda brought some of her fabulous needle cases she makes specifically for interchangeable needles to SAFF. I couldn't resist and bought a case on the spot. I ordered the needles when I got home and now I've got needles to go into my cool new case. You can get your own case in Zonda's Etsy shop.

The needles fit nicely in the case and I have lots of room for expanding my collection. My original goal was to get some needles and long cables so I can knit my STR log cabin throw and keep the needles in the live stitches. So for this plan, I'd need a total of 4 size US 6 needles on 60" cables.

I usually use addi Turbos and didn't want to go that expense for needles I probably wouldn't use again - so I decided to go for the Knitpicks Harmony Interchangeable needles and ordered a few needles and cables. I ordered 4 60"cables not realizing that 2 cables come in each package. So now I have a total of 8 60" cables. I need to read a little more carefully before hitting the order button.

But my favorite new knitting toy is my spindle. I haven't done a lot with it yet. I did spin up a 2oz ball of unknown pink fiber that I got at SAFF. The picture above is my first spindle full. I've taken this off the spindle and it is waiting to be plied with the results of my second attempt - pictured below. I've thought about just tossing this out and starting fresh - but I figure I can make an attempt at plying anyway. I'll be sure and post the results.

I've been using the park and draft method while sitting in a chair. It is slow going, but I think my second attempt, while still fairly thick is at least a little consistent. I've ordered a book by Priscilla A. Gibson-Roberts about spinning on a high whorl spindle. I'm going to try plying this weekend and hopefully I'll have a chance to try spinning something else. If you've got a favorite book or website about spinning - please share. I'd like to read more.

Free to Good Home - Felted Mittens

After knitting my hat, I still had a couple skeins of Kureyon in color #95 leftover so I decided to knit a pair of mittens and I figured felted was the way to go. I'm not that fond of wearing Kureyon next to the skin, I find it too scratchy. So I though maybe I'd tolerate it better if it was felted.


Once I knitted the cuff on the first mitten, I realized that these would never really fit me if I went ahead and felted them. I went ahead anyway - I wanted to see how they turned out. I knit them using two strands of yarn and I was curious how they would felt. you can see them pre felting to the left.

They did come out okay - in my opinion they could use a couple more turns in the washing machine to get rid of the remaining stitch definition. But I did go ahead and stop since I'm not going to be wearing them anyway. As expected, the mittens turned out to be way to small for me.

So if you know someone you think these will fit; email me and I'll send them to you! the finished measurements are below. I want to get some more yarn to see about making a pair that will actually fit me.

Project Info
Project: Felted Mittens
Pattern: Fiber Trends - Snow Country Felt Mittens
Yarn: Noro Kureyon - color #95; 2 skeins plus leftovers from hat
Needles: addi TURBO - US# 11 (8 mm)
Pattern Size: Medium (Women's)
Pre-felting Measurements: 11" x 5"
Final Measurements: 8" x 3.5"
Notes: I knit these according to the instructions for the medium size - but they seem very small. I would knit these again. I like the patterns - it gives the mitten shape. The double strand created a very nice thick material. Next time I would use US 15's and knit a larger size. They were very quick to knit.

Fiber Friday - Sakura Sweater

In the spirit of Norovember, I'm going to try and highlight the Noro yarns that are currently in my stash for all the FIber Fridays that are in November. I'm thinking I have enough different yarns to show.

So, first up is Noro Sakura. I bought this yarn while it was on sale and ended up with three different colors of it in total. I used the pink color (#6) to make a dream swatch. I also have some blue (#1) stashed away that I'm going to use for Monika's Cherry Blossom Shawl and then I also have the color in these pictures, green (#5), that I'm going to use for a lightweight sweater.

I've even gone ahead and done up a guage swatch for my sweater. I am right on target accorfding to the pattern at 6 stitches per inch. The sweater will be the Portland Sweater pattern from Webs - it was design for one of their Vally Yarns. It seems like it will be vey easy to knit.you knit both sleeves and them pick up and knit the body. There will be no seaming at all.

Yarn Details
Brand: Noro
Yarn Name: Sakura
Color: #5
Fiber Content: 36% Rayon, 28% Polyester, 18% Nylon, 11% Silk,
Skein Weight: 40 grams
Yardage: 147 yards
Yarn Weight: DK

Which Way Do I Go?

I've cast on for my next Noro project, but I've kind of reached a stand still. I've decided to knit a felted bag and I'm going to be using one of the Noni Carpet Bag patterns. I'm going to be knitting the largest size, The Rather Huge Carpet Bag.

The pattern calls for holding two stands of yarn together for a firmer fabric and I like that idea, especially since the bag is large. I'm going to knit this with some Kureyon (color #147) that was in my stash and now I'm trying to decide if I should match the colors of the two strands for knitting. I've knit several rows of the bag bottom to help me decide.

This first example was knit with the colors matching for both strands as close as possible. I like the way it came out and the stripes are easily discernible. I think it might be important to note that the individual stripes of color will not be as thick on the sides of the bag. There are a lot more stitches in a round as I knit the sides than there are on the bottom of the bag.


For this second example, I just randomly selected two skeins and held the strands together with no regards for matching the color of the strands. You can still see the stripes, but maybe the stripes aren't quite as prominent. I do like the way each color is variegated too. The overall color effect of this one does remind me of some old 70's shag carpet. But I kind of like that idea since it is a "carpet" bag.

If you have an opinion, I'd like to hear it. Maybe you don't see a big difference. My husband didn't. He first said that each sample had different colors in it. And while that is true, it isn't the difference that I was going for. I explained the differences and then he picked, but he really wasn't into at all. I don't know why I keep asking his opinion on stuff like this.

So maybe you can help me decide. What do you think? I'm leaning towards option two. I think the mixed colors might look really good together when felted. But I wonder if I will miss the regular stripes of Kureyon.

Jabba the Hat

Well - the hat kind of sinks in on itself when I sit it on the table but it does look better on my head I promise. When pulled onto my head, the hat resumes it's normal more familiar beehive like appearance.

This photo is a better likeness of what the hat looks like on. I did try and take a picture of me wearing the hat. But I couldn't get it right and I didn't want to take out a tripod and try to set the photo up properly. Instead, I found an old wooden spool and used it as a hat stand.

This project kicks off Norovember for me. I always like knitting with Noro. I was having trouble picking a project to start next and I ran across the post for Norovember. One of the reasons I love to knit with Noro is that I love to watch the color changes as I knit. I have plenty of Noro in my stash, so joining this knit along made sense.

When I started knitting the rounds of of knit and purl, I realized I have knit this type of hat before. It was for a much smaller head and the final outcome was a little different. But it is still basically the same type of hat.

I knit this for a co-worker a couple of years ago before I started blogging about my knitting. it was very easy and quick to do. the only down side was the little one only got to wear it once or twice before it was too small. I guess that is just the down side of knitting for little ones.

Now - off to start another Noro project.

Project Info
Project: Jabba the Hat
Pattern: Noro Hat by Saartje de Bruijn
Yarn: 1.5 skeins; Noro Kureyon; color: # 95
Needles: addi TURBO (Lace Needles)- US# 7 (4.5 mm)
Notes: I added an addition section of knit and purl rounds before starting the decreases. I wanted to make sure the hat was big enough to cover my ears. This turned out to be unnecessary.

Fiber Friday - Mas Acero

I got this yarn while I was at SAFF. The Brooks Farm booth was great. They had several nice yarns and each yarn came in a good variety of colors. The one I ended up choosing feels very soft and seems like it will drape very well.

I'm planning on knitting a simple shrug with this yarn. I got the pattern while I was at SAFF too. I'm trying not to buy random yarn anymore. My goal is to have a pattern or project in mind when I buy something. I looked at my stash a last week and saw so many things that I want to knit. I'll never get to them if I keep buying all the new yarn I see.

I did decide to go ahead and get this because I had a specific project in mind and I could get this yarn at the local shop. I love the colors and the feel of it. I'm really looking forward to getting it all knitted up to wear.

Yarn Details
Brand: Brooks Farm Yarns
Yarn Name: Mas Acero
Fiber Content: 60% Super Wash Wool / 20% Silk / 20% Viscose
Skein Weight: 8 ounces
Yardage: 550 yards
Notes: 2 skeins; heathered look
Website: http://www.brooksfarmyarn.com/

Turtle Hat

This hat was given to me by TurtleGirl while we were at SAFF last weekend. The cool thing about it that she knit the hat with some of her hand spun yarn. It is a very cool memento from a great weekend from a great new friend.

This is the first hand knit item I've been gifted since I became a knitter a few years ago. It is pretty cool to be given something hand knit by someone else.

Now that I knit, I appreciate hand knitted items a lot more than I did when my mom would knit for me. It does make me sad that I didn't fully appreciate it then.

The photo on the left is of the stitch detail of the hat. I love the colors and the stitch patterns she picked out for the hat. Everything came together really well.

Heck, I even stole the photos TurtleGirl took for this post. All I did was crop and change the coloring a little bit in the top picture. So a big thank you to her!

I do know that when she handed me this hat I decided I'd at have to at least try my hand at spinning yarn. I'm going to have to sit down with my new spindle for a little while this weekend and see what I can come up with.

SAFF = Friends + Fiber

I had a great time at SAFF this past weekend. There was the expected fiber, yarn, and animals all weekend. But there were several unexpected things that cropped up during the weekend too.

You might not be able to tell from this picture, but I didn't come home with a lot of stuff. The picture shows everything that me AND my roommates, Zonda, TurtleGirl, and Katydid Knits bought. I only ended up with one skein of sock yarn, two skeins of Brooks Farm Mas Acero, and a skein of worsted weight from Miss Babs. The Brooks Farm yarn will end up being a shrug - I bough the pattern while at SAFF, the sock yarn will eventually become socks, and the skein of worsted from Miss Babs will become a hat someday.

You may have noticed a spindle in the picture of all goodies we bought. That is mine too. I've never had a desire to spin before, but seeing everyone spinning and being all around that unspun fiber was putting ideas into my head. Now I think that I might really like to spin - or at least try.

I decided to try the spindle out and see if the spinning bug really has a hold on me or if it is a false alarm. So during a lull in the crowd, I bought a spindle and got a quick lesson.

I want to make sure I don't end up with a wheel that only sits in the corner but actually gets used. I spent the rest of my time looking around for roving to try out. I did end up with a little bit of roving. Now only time will tell if I spin or sit on the fiber. I figure I can always try felting if the spinning doesn't work out.

The other nice thing about SAFF was all the nice people I ended up meeting. That was probably the best part of SAFF overall. I had a great time seeing friends I already knew and meeting a few new ones too. I wish I had time to meet everyone. But, there is always next year.

Fiber Friday - Zitron Unikat

I'm not sure what this yarn will end up being. Right now it's sitting in a plastic bag in the crap room. (The crap room is what my husband calls it; I prefer craft room or work room.) I really want to knit something up with this yarn to see how it turns out. I love the rich almost velvety look and feel of the colors.


I've been trying to decide if I should go with a scarf and hat type combo outfit, maybe even for the afore mentioned husband. Or maybe he'd like a pair of those felted clogs to wear around the house this winter. The colors seem manly enough I suppose.


I've also though about knitting him some mittens. He 's the one that walks the dog the most. In the winter time, he bundles up like we live in Minnesota when he goes out with the dog - so maybe he'd like some mittens. When my mom visited recently she had a pair of thrummed mittens with her that she knit and he was impressed with those. I could try that with this yarn; I'd just need a little fiber.

I've got four skeins of this yarn; that ends up being about 700 yards of a heavy worsted weight yarn. So I've got enough for a nice sized project or a couple of small ones. I'm leaning to the scarf and hat combo mainly because I can use it if he decides not to wear it. But I suppose the first thing I need to do is ask him if he even likes the colors. Cause if he doesn't; I'll make something for myself.

Yarn Details
Brand: Zitron
Yarn Name: Unikat
Color: #6
Fiber Content: Merino Wool
Skein Weight: 100g
Yardage: 175 yds
Care: Hand Wash & Dry Flat
Notes: single ply, feltable (4 skeins)

Quilted Kiwi Socks

I love how these socks turned out. The yarn, Sock Candy by Blue Moon Fiber Arts, turned out to be great. It is a nice thick cotton that knit up into a nice comfy pair of socks. This is the first pair of cotton socks I've knit and I love them. The cotton didn't wear on my hands while knitting and didn't seem splity at all.

Last year I ordered three colors of sock candy when Blue Moon was still taking custom orders. I haven't been watching too closely, but I haven't seen any on the website lately. I hope they get some soon. I really like the high cotton content of this yarn. It doesn't feel scratchy or woolly at all. I am in love with these socks.

I picked this stitch pattern for a couple reasons - it seemed easy to remember. It is only a four stitch pattern over eight rows. The pattern created kind of an embossed diamond shape that reminds me of an old quilt.

That seemed to perfect to pair with the cotton yarn. The diamond shape may be a little hard to see in the photos. I think the variegated color of the yarn has obscured the diamond pattern, but it is there.


Project Info
Project: Quilted Kiwi Socks
Stitch Pattern: Embossed Stitch
More Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Church
Yarn: 2 skeins; Blue Moon Fiber Arts - Sock Candy; color: Kiwi
96% cotton / 4% elite; 200 yards/2 oz
Needles: addi TURBO (Lace Needles)- US# 1 (2.5 mm)
Finished Size: 8 women
Date Started: October 14, 2007
Date Finished: October 21, 2007
Notes: socks were knit toe up using a short row toe and short row heel; 1.2 ounces leftover
Website: http://www.bluemoonfiberarts.com/

State Fair Time

My husband and I went to the State Fair on Friday afternoon; we played hookie from work. It was nice to get out and spend the afternoon together. We did end up eating a lot. We ate our share of typical fair food; we got eclairs, apple cider, roasted corn, maple flavored cotton candy, fried green beans, and caramel apples.

My favorite are the caramel apples. The ones I like are dipped in caramel, then white chocolate and covered in cinnamon sugar. My husbands favorite is the eclairs. They are about as big as a your head. We always end up bringing home the eclairs and caramel apples for later.

There is more to do at the fair than eat, but it seems like there are more food carts every year and less of everything else. The whole place seemed overrun with fried dough stands.

We did visit the animals, the garden and flower show, and other assorted exhibits. This horse was painted by some high school students. I liked the American Gothic guy holding the cotton candy. I also liked the used paint brushes they used for the horse's mane. There is also a roller coaster running through the starry night background.

This little goat was asleep on top of a huge huge mound of hay. It is always amazing to me to see the contorted positions that animals can twist into and still sleep. If I tried this, I'd wake up with a huge crick in my neck.

We also stopped to watch the pig races. They usually race the pis as seen in the picture and ducks too. The winners get cheese doodles. I guess that is what they use to train the little guys to run around the track. We only got a chance to see one race - the rest were all rained out. It started to pour down rain during the first race.

To get out of the rain we did stop by to see some of the crafts that were entered. We weren't able to linger too long because everyone else decide to get in out of the rain too. It did stop raining pretty quickly, but by that time we were done. We had our fill of the fair for the year and had to go home.

Fiber Friday - Purplexed

I've always loved purple for some reason so when I say this on vacation I decided to go ahead and buy it. I've always wanted to try some bamboo yarn. It is so soft and it feels like it will have a great drape to it as well.

I got this at a shop called Needles and Knobs in St. Petersburg. The interesting part was they sold knitting supplied and knobs - cabinet hardware. They really had some interesting knobs too. She had some more unusual yarn too, like yak, but it cost more than I was willing to spend. The shop wasn't as busy as the Tampa shop, but the owner was friendly and I would definitely visit again.


This yarn isn't plied like a typical wool yarn. It appears to be woven in a chain or something. I've never really knit with anything like this before. I've got two skeins and I'm hoping to get a generous sized scarf out of it. It will probably take me longer to pick a pattern than actually knit the darn thing.

Yarn Details
Brand: Southwest Trading Company
Yarn Name: Bamboo
Color: #138 Purplexed
Fiber Content: 100% bamboo
Skein Weight: 10 grams
Yardage: 250 yards
Online: http://www.soysilk.com/yarn.html

One Skein

When I finished my last pair of socks, I just couldn't put the yarn down. I had 74 grams leftover. I guess I never realized just how generous the yardage is on one skein of Wollmeise. I was only about 10 grams short of knitting another complete full size pair of socks for me.

I decided to knit these cute little booties. They were really easy to complete. I knit them in one evening while watching TV. The next night I seamed them up, wove in all the ends, and sewed on the buttons. I didn't worry about gauge. I just picked up needles and the yarn and knit. They did come out pretty small, so I don't know if they would actually fit much more than a doll.

Project Info
Pattern: Saartje's bootees (Version: May 22, 2007; by: Saartje de Bruijn
Yarn: Wollmeise Sockenwolle; color: rhubarar
Needles: addi TURBO (Lace Needles)- US# 1
Finished Length: 2.5 inches
Finished Width: 1.5 inches
Finished Weight: 12 grams (bootees with buttons)
Date Started: October 13, 2007
Date Finished: October 14, 2007
Notes: used scraps leftover from sock knitting, buttons came from box of old buttons

I also knit a square for the sock yarn blanket I've got going. I'm just knitting a square when I finish a pair of socks and there is enough leftover yarn. These squares usually don't take much yarn, this one only weighs about 14 grams.

I've still got 46 grams left from this skein. I haven't decided what to use it for yet. Maybe a little hat to go with the bootees or a couple more blanket squares.

The rest will have to wait though, I've set it aside for the time being. I'm using some Blue Moon Fiber Arts Sock Candy to knit a pair of socks. I'm close to finishing the first sock and hoping to finish the pair before I head out for SAFF next week.

Fiber Friday - Souvenirs

It all started with patches my mom would buy when we visited a new place. She'd take the patch and sew it on a hooded sweatshirt for me. I remember that thing covered with patches. I think that started me thinking that I had to have a little trinket from every place I visited.


I moved on from patches to t-shirts and fridge magnets and then on to Christmas tree ornaments. I think that the time we visited Disney World we ended up with one of everything. But now, I've finally settled on yarn as the souvenir I seek when we travel. In fact, the first thing I do when I know I'm headed out of town is to map out the local yarn shops and see if I'll be able to work one into my trip.

I have put a few self imposed limitation on these out of town buys though. I try and keep the purchase small. Sock yarn is usually what I end up getting. It only takes one skein for a nice little project and it seems like there is always room for one more skein in the stash.

This trip to Florida I got to visit two shops, Knit 'n Knibble in Tampa and Needles and Knobs in St. Petersburg. This yarn is from the Tampa shop. It was a very friendly shop that seemed to draw a good crowd. My husband napped on the sofa while I shopped. It certainly was a comfortable place. I'd definitely go back if we are in the area again and I don't think he'd mind too much either.


Yarn Details
Brand: Colinette
Yarn Name: Jitterbug
Color: #77 Dusk
Fiber Content: 100% easy care merino wool
Skein Weight: 110 grams
Yardage: 291 meters
Online: http://www.colinette.com/

Five Days and Four Nights

We just got back from a short trip to Florida. It is the first time in 4 years my husband and I have been on any trip kind of resembling a vacation. This trip was for my brother-in-law's wedding. We had a good time and the wedding was nice, but I was glad to get home too.

The photos are some that I took one afternoon at the hotel. The hotel was more like a resort. It is on the ocean and had 3-4 pools. There were all types of beach activities and bars and restaurants on the property. We spent a lot more money on a hotel than we usually do. We usually pick a simple (cheap) hotel and spend out money on other parts of the vacation. This time we splurged on the room. It was nice - but I don't think I'd want to do it again.

One of my favorite things at the hotel was the pair of swans that strolled around. They seemed to camp outside near our room all the time and they left a trail of feathers where ever they went. We saw the swans, an egret, a few ducks, and some very large koi fish. The wildlife was probably my favorite part of this hotel.

I did actually get in visits to two local yarn shops during my time there. I did end up bringing home some souvenir sock yarn. I'll get some pictures together for this Friday. I haven't been knitting much. I've been carry around some sock yarn and needles for a couple weeks, but somehow I haven't even been able to get complete a simple cast on. I haven't blogged much either; I've had a writing block too. I'm hoping the cool weather we are expecting this weekend will spur on a desire to pull out some wool and knit.