Craving something lacey & sweet

Well this is the second day in a row of 80° temps and its making me want to stash away anything that has even the slightest hint of fuzzy (save it for a rainy day!) and work on something light. I am at work right now, patiently awaiting my lunchbreak so that I can dash home and dig out this gorgeous merino lace yarn that i know is stashed away someplace. I've been peeking at some lace scarf patterns in ravelry and I *think* I've found the one - here's to hoping it's not too *cozy*

My Cozy New England Autumn Scarf

and that's what it is - took me a while to figure out a name for it. But it's cozy, and I knit it for my cousin who resides in New England, it's currently Autumn, and it's a pretty scarf. My mom passed along this delightfully chunky Malibrigo in "Red Java" a while ago and a few weeks ago, I decided to pick it up and do something with it. I started it as a scarf for myself, but after seeing how quickly I was able to knit it up, I knew I could have it done by the time I went to Rhode Island. (See, this is the only way I can actually get anything done - knitting for someone else and having a timeline!) My cousin has always wanted me to knit her something, so I knew this was going to be perfect for her!! :) I diligently knitted stitch by stitch, row by row, cable twist by cable twist, right up until the night before I was going to see her. I was in Manhattan at my grandparent's apartment when I finished and was grateful for the little bit of counter-space in the back of their apartment that was just the perfect size to block it! It was dry by morning! Tucked it into my little suitcase for the 3 1/2 hour trek up to Providence, RI and after a little Thai food, a chill folk concert, and settling into her guest room, a.k.a. her living room/computer room, I presented the scarf to her with a smile; she was delighted and wore it for the rest of the weekend. This made my heart very happy.

Now, here's to remembering how I made it!

I believe I started out casting on 20 stitches of chunky weight yarn onto size 13 needles
knit across one row then started the cable pattern:
(panel of 14 stitches + 6 stitches for selvage.)
Row 1 and all other WS rows: k1, p2, k1, p12, k1, p2, slip last stitch
Row 2: k3, p1, 2/2 LC, k4, 2/2 RC, p1, k2, slip last stitch
Row 4: k3, p1, k2, 2/2 LC, 2/2 RC, k2, p1, k2, slip last stitch
Row 6: k3, p1, k4, 2/2 LC, k4, p1, k2, slip last stitch
Repeat rows 1-6 until you've reached desired length, knit across one row, then bind off one row
Tuck in ends and block

and in case you don't know what any of this means:
WS = wrong side

k = knit
p = purl

2/2 LC = 2/2 Left Cross
slip 2 stitches onto a cable needle and hold in front of work, knit next two stitches from left hand needle, knit the two stitches from the cable needle.

2/2 RC = 2/2 Right Cross
slip 2 stitches onto a cable needle and hold in back of work, knit next two stitches from left hand needle, knit the two stitches from the cable needle.

This scarf is best enjoyed on a blustery Fall day with a cup of tea. :)

So. about that lovely yellow malibrigo

I made it into a scarf. I finished the knitting part about 6 months ago. It's been wallowing in the chaos that is my room ever since then. Just got it out today to block and finish. Since it was only about half a skein, it's a pretty short scarf, so I attached a button to make it come together and I love it! Going to wear it tomorrow with a grey t-shirt :) perfect for my favorite time of year - Autumn!













I used the scrunchable scarf pattern I found on Ravelry - the hyperlink to the orginal pattern doesn't seem to be working though, so here's what you do:

Cast on a multiple of 3 sts (plus one on each edge for a selvage. I slipped the selvage stitch at the end of my rows to make it smoother)
The pattern repeat is just K2, P1 - on both sides. Because you are working with an odd number of sts, you get a column of knit sts, a column of purls, and a column of moss st. It pleats itself and its reversible, but its very flexible.




This got me thinking of how much I really love the color yellow and a certain poem by Emily Dickinson and a certain sunset from one of the best sunset spots in my geographical area, Spade's Mountain watchtower ~ Enjoy <3

I did it! I bought pretty yarn :)

ok, I caved. I bought more yarn. It's very pretty yarn :) Yes, I'm going to start knitting with it right away and no, I do not have a pattern
I bought 2 25g balls of Schulana Mosco in kiwi and I plan to knit a little keepsake sachet bag for an adorable bride-to-be who I work with. I'm planning to start with the magic cast-on method for the bottom and maybe a little lace pattern for up the side of it.





Other than that, I decided to take some quick snapshots of my works in progress:

This is my Fit to be Tied cowl from Cowl Girls: The Neck's Big Thing to Knit. I am knitting it with temptation by Alpaca with a Twist - 80% alpaca, 20% silk. I love the luxurious feel of this yarn and can't wait till I finish this pattern! Unfortunately, I'm not too thrilled about this stitch, it's called the beaded rib and is just a little awkward to knit. I shall get it done one of these days!

This is my Scrunchable Scarf. I am using leftover malibrigo yarn that my friend pawned off on me ... :) ... the stitch is actually very similar to the beaded rib, but I like it more. It's not quite as awkward. So, it will be interesting to see which one gets done first!

Knit wishlist :: two thousand & eleven

So, as I have been pouring over other knitting blogs, I find myself not feeling so bad that I currently have three projects that I'm lugging around in my knitting bag and probably quite a few more stashed away somewhere that I started and lost interest in (probably because I had way too many projects going at once!) One thing I hope to accomplish with this blog is to gain more intentionality with the way I pursue certain knitting projects. Learning to avoid the random weekend trips to the yarn shop where I buy a couple skeins of some beautifully whimsical yarn, not know what I'm going to do with it, but loving it so much that I just have to start knitting with it right away ... I'm sure many are familiar with the way that story ends :) Anyway, I have projects in my head that I really want to do, but may take a little more planning than I'm used to, so to help ... here's my list!

a Simple Sweater
Hard to believe, I've been knitting for almost 7 years and I have never successfully knit a sweater. I did attempt a couple in my early years of knitting, but probably due to immaturity/short attn span/whatever, I'd loose focus, get overwhelmed by schoolwork and they just got stashed (to be quite honest, I have no idea where they are now!!) In the last couple years, I've had the urge to try one again, but last year after I topped 200 pounds, I really had no desire to buy the enormous amount of yarn that it would take to knit an XL sweater, spend all that time to knit it and have it not fit in the end. After loosing 60 lbs this last year, knitting a medium sweater for myself seems to be the perfect reward! A PDF of this pattern is sitting on my desktop and I think it will be a great pattern to start out: http://www.mariegracedesigns.com/marie_grace/everyday-tweed-knitting-p.html .. I will resist the urge to place a cable down the side of it :) :)

Scarves & Cowls
* Autumnus Scarf : I love love love this scarf. My friend and fellow knitter in crime, Stephanie, shared this pattern with me and I can hardly wait to knit it!! I think I am going to use some chunky purple merino wool yarn I bought at Loopy's in Missoula paired with some purple kid seta mohair with beads placed randomly throughout
* Imagination Cowl : My mom is currently knitting this and I think it's amazing. "It's ruched!" has suddenly become my favorite phrase
* Infinity Scarf: Don't have a pattern for this, but I really want to knit some sort of really long loopy thing to wrap around myself. I have a size 8 40" circular and I would like to use leftover yarn in my stash in a moss stitch to create a woven look much like a scarf my mom knit for my dad last Fall.
* Entrelac Scarf or Cowl: I also don't have a pattern for this, but I taught myself how to entrelac knit last Fall. The yarn I was using just didn't showcase it well. If I come across some yarn this year that is worthy of entrelac-greatness, I will snatch it up!

Felted Projects
I love felted projects - especially bags. It kind of reminds me of when I did ceramics and after spending a lot of effort and time forming and glazing a pot/plate/mug/bowl/whatever, throwing it in the kiln and seeing what comes out! Since I recently purchased a fancy dancy camera, I really need a bag for it ... and why buy one when you can make one?! I don't have a pattern quite yet, but *hoping* that I might just find one on Ravelry!

Baby Hats
I've been working on baby hats for my friend's photography business, ShmilyFace Photography - http://shmilyfacephoto.wordpress.com/. It has been an amazingly uplifting project for me because not only has it inspired me to start this blog, but also the desire to knit baby hats for a local charity like a crisis pregnancy center. It will take some time away from my own "selfish knitting" and would probably involve the help of a few other fellow knitters, but it is definitely on my heart to pray about!