Another one?

Yes, another hat.  I'm currently working on the Molly hat by Erin Ruth - a free pattern over on Ravelry.  I love the combination of texture and the cables so far.

Giving it another go

I'm giving the sock machine another go today. 

<insert deep breath here>

<practice patience too>

From the deep stash, I found The Plucky Knitter 80/10/10 MCN blend sock yarn in the colorway Pallisades.  The base has been discontinued, but considering this skein has been residing with me since July 2010, it is time to put it to good use.

Indian Summer Beret

 

I wore this little beauty out and about town this weekend.  The beret made its knitting group debut on Saturday morning to applause.  I agree with the rest of the group.  The pattern is the Frick Frick Beret by Pamela Wynne and it had been in my queue for quite a long time.  I used The Plucky Knitter's Primo Fingering in the colorway Indian Summer and used close to 225 yards on US 3.

 

Although it appears, quite red in this photo, it has an orange tint to it in real life - much like the leaves at that time of year.  The hat is actually quite light (weight wise) and I think it will make a very good transitional piece for the spring and the fall.  

It is also the first of the 13plucky2013 objects - only 12 more to go!  Not bad for the last week of February?

Back to basics

Worked on an 'ole standby today....

 

Snow Day

We received several inches of snow overnight, and I don't have to work today.  It's officially a snow day!  My to do plan includes this:

 

and a hot cup of tea.  Possibly homemade cookies too.

Waiting on the trees

While we're waiting for the trees to bud here in central IL, I am working on the Frick Frick Beret.

I had time over the weekend to make progress.  Only half a repeat to go before I can start the crown decreases.  We've had some warm weather, so I hope I get to wear it before spring comes around the corner.

First Attempt

May I present the Summer Moss socks:

 

...my first pair of socks made with the Auto Knitter circular sock machine!  I may finally have the perfect excuse to buy self striping yarn.  I loved working on them, but they are not the prettiest pair of socks that I have ever knit.  See what I mean:

 

I was warned that there is a learning curve, and there most definitely is.  I struggled a bit with the ribber.  Once it is attached, you can't view the sock down the center or anywhere except the stitches that are currently being knit.  I dropped a few stitches (see photographic evidence above) and had a difficult time getting the sock back in shape.  I'm going to call this a learning experience, so it doesn't bother me too much and you can't really view the goofs from a little farther away. 

 

Moral of the story?  I think I'll need more practice but I don't think I did too badly for my first attempt.

Tube Scarves

 

First projects with the Auto Knitter Sock Machine: tube scarves!  It was a great learning experience to get to know the machine, it's settings, and it's quirks.  I think I'm in for a large learning curve, but it will be a good time.  Hopefully I'll have a pair of socks to show soon.

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day

 

 

When the deep purple falls, over sleepy garden walls
And the stars begin to twinkle in the sky
In the mist of a memory, you wander back to me
Breathing my name with a sigh

A hole in the head

I need another crafting hobby like a hole in the head, but here I am.  Facing this in the craft room:

 

 

And loving it!!!  It's an antique circular sock machine - an AutoKnitter from Canada.  It's not officially mine, but it is on loan from friend to see if I like it.  If the auto knitter and I get along, it will hopefully come to live with me permanently. 

 

 

I'm waiting on a few supplies I have ordered, so I haven't made anything with it yet but hope to be cranking away very soon!

 

Beret's anyone?

The Mayrose hat came off the needles on Saturday night.  The pattern by Woolly Wormhead was well written and easy to memorize.  I ended up changing the brim from the original garter stitch one to a standard ribbed one because those tend to stay on my head better.  All in all, a success.

My knitting mojo was absent for most of the month of January (I blame the weather), so I was surprised to find myself itching to start something new as soon as I blocked the Mayrose.  I took at look at the queue, dug through the stash, and cast on the Frick Frick Beret by Pamela Wynne. 

 

I'm using The Plucky Knitter's Primo Fingering in the Plucky Classics colorway Indian Summer from August.  It'll be my first project out of Plucky this year - a good thing because I need to get going on my 13 finished Plucky objects in 2013 since we're two weeks into February already!

Winter Dish Cloth Swap Roundup

We had a blast on Saturday!  Everyone swapped packages and added a few new dish cloths to their collection.  We instantly decided that we'll be doing this again - probably later this spring.

 

My package from D: frog and beehive dishcloths and plenty of goodies to get me through the next few weeks.  Thank you!

Valentines in the Mail

Valentine's Day cards went in the mail!  The paper is an older piece from Stampin Up and the embossed paper was an older embossing folder purchase from Hobby Lobby.  They turned out simple and graphic, which is not my normal style, but I like the way it turned out.  I should try this more often!

Winter Dish Cloth Swap

The knitting and crochet group at my public library is having our Winter Dish Cloth Swap today.  Each participant was tasked with knitting or crocheting two dish cloths for our partner and surprising them with a little goodie to accompany the dish cloths.

I chose two free patterns from Ravelry.  I knew my partner M's color preferences were green, white, and purple, and I wanted to include as many colors as possible.  Do you know how hard it is to find a solid purple dish cloth cotton yarn in a small, rural area?  Very hard I learned and I ended up going with the greens.

First, I crocheted the Flower Power Dishcloth by Doni Speigle.  Since it was mostly double crochet, it worked up quickly and easily.

 

My second dish cloth was the Ripple Scrap Dishcloth pattern from Anastacia Zittel.  I loved the way the chevrons/ripples worked up and it kept my interest as I was crocheting.  I think I'll have to make a few of these for myself and play a bit more with the color combinations.

 

Off to the library to see what my package contains...

More feather and fan

I've moved on to the crown decreases on the Mayrose Hat.  I think my next project might involve some Plucky Knitter yarn.

Taking RSVPs

The wedding shower invitations are complete and all in the mail!

I can't wait to continue the mason jar theme at the shower.  To compliment the black and white theme, I added some green and pink for pops of color.  I tried in with a white polka dot background, but it was too blah and un-cheerful for the invite.  In the end, I used Whisper White, Basic Black, Wild Wasabi, and Pink Pirouette as the colors.

Now, to organize all of the RSVPs...