Once knitted, twice shy

I’m sorry I had to cancel Knitting this week, because of so much going on.

One) I had lithotripsy last week and I’ve been in a lot of pain. Two) Then the gators lost to LSU; more pain. Three) I’m taking off for a few days. You will find out why whenever I get back!

two hats

I haven’t been a complete sluggard this week however; I finished these two gator hats. The beret is of course in the Hogtown superwash merino worsted by Haldecraft, the most wonderful-feeling yarn I’ve worked with yet. And the pattern is from Simply Knitting July issue – yes, this is the THIRD (and best-loved) version of the Slouchy Beret I’ve done. The other is a combination Lion brand blue Fun Fur (thanks Tina!) along with an orange Araucania Toconau, which is 100% merino wool. And the best thing is that I did it on the Knifty Knitter loom. Yes, I finally took the plunge and loom-knit! then, I knitted and crocheted the scuffs on page 74 of Ethel’s Creative Knitting Techniques Tips & Tricks, Fall 2011. That magazine is a definite winner, even if the scuffs turned out a bit less than perfect. I did use 100% wool felt from JoAnn’s for the interfacing between the two soles, and an acrylic Red Heart Soft Yarn in Paprika (thanks Ethel!) If they are a bit ugly and seem to slip around when I walk, they are WARM on the feet!

mitered toe scuffs

Cannot wait to see what everyone else has been up to! If possible, post on facebook!

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We Knit Hats & Scarves Mostly

Lois' dickey from Iceland

Lois brought some beautiful treasures to share. She found a knit/crochet dickey she got in Iceland in shades of white and gray, something warm and nice to wear on cold days. She showed us a couple of hats she’d been working on.

hat by Lois

hats from same yarn, different results!

The hats made from the same yarn (I’m sorry, it’s not such a great photo) turned out very different. One looks to be striped, while the other has more of a “shifting sands” color pattern. Gorgeous pastel colors in these. Lois also brought along a fascinating knitting book she got at the BYU bookstore about 20 years ago. We were in awe of the beautiful sweaters and vests shown on page after delicious page.

Teresa's cabled scarf

Teresa was working on a turquoise cabled scarf, which will progress to having two narrow brown sections on either side. Lovely intricate cable pattern!

Ethel and ruffle scarf

Ethel worked on her sparkly midnight-blue ruffle scarf. She also brought some patterns she found on a NEW free web site, DROPS, a Norwegian site produced by Garn Studio. She played around with some possible Tunisian Crochet, but we won’t call it that yet…more research needed into Tunisian!

a swatch of mystery stitch

Drops pattern

Tiffany came and spent some time working on the afghan. This new block is in a basketweave stitch.

basketweave block

We talked about our adventures in Pinterest, a whole new art form that is taking up residence in our creative virtual workspaces.

Tiffany and masterpeice-in-the-making

Did you realize it’s National Spinning and Weaving Week? Check out the Handweavers Guild of America, Inc. Website! Yarnworks is having a “spin-in” Saturday in their courtyard from 10:30 AM to whenever it’s over; so you can bring your wheel and fleece to spin, and maybe a chair, and maybe lunch.

I finished another version of the Simply Knitting slouchy beret, in orange and blue. This yarn is also from Iceland, 100% wool called Lopi; I think I bought it at Yarnworks.

Gator slouchy beret

back view of beret

Too bad the gators got trounced big-time by Alabama. I’m in the middle of another gator slouchy beret, using the Hogtown colorway I bought from Haldecraft’s etsy store, in worsted weight. Some of my rabid fan friends do not advocate wearing anything new, even if it is orange and blue, if the gators are losing. Just go with the tried and true fan get-up you’ve worn before, when the gators won, like your old t-shirt and ball cap you wore in 2006 and 2008; don’t try to jinx it with a new, unknown talisman that is untested.

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Alpaca, cotton, ribbon and woolly stuff

Traveling in Polk County, FL, I barely made it home for Wednesday Night Knitting. We had all been busy this week! Here are some of our stories…

Ethel's purchases from Knit!

Ethel visited Knit! in Longwood last week and got some great new fibers to play with, including a soft gray alpaca with a bit of pink in it.

Ethel and Bunty

Ethel has already started on Bunty Bunny by Debbie Birkin. Meanwhile, she finished the ruffled scarf with 2 3/4 skeins
Ethel finished the dead fish hat,too–

Fishy!

Tatting too

She found some tatting paraphernalia AND a great online tutorial, so that I, too, can learn to tat like my friends already do! Some day–I’m not ready yet. I’m not worthy yet! Next on Ethel’s lengthy project list came another face cloth, which she almost finished on site.

A finished cloth, with one in progress

Tina also worked on a Sugar and Cream cotton face cloth, and almost finished it as the evening progressed. Ethel discovered that Tina can really knit without a loom, and she does so in the Continental Style. Who knew?

Tina and wash cloth

Lois modeled some of the many chapeaux she has been creating for some lucky girls she knows.

Lois and mohair beret

Elderberry beret

Ethel modeling another of Lois's hats

Lois's hat for herself

This is what Jenn finished during the week

I finally finished the Yarn Bee Fire Orange monstrosity, which was supposed to be a mindless romp into busy-ness to keep me in practice. I have plans for the orange mess–which is an orange yarn with flecks of blue, does that strike a chord with the local gator fans? I will be updating it next week. As I made my way around Polk County, I dropped in on a wonderful shop called the Yarn Basket in Winter Haven and met Elsa, the proprietor. She warmed up to me as if we’d been friends for years, and I filed away many mental notes, since I go down that way rather often to visit. Check out one of Yarn Basket’s many Youtube videos by Caysea and get an idea of the camaraderie of that place! I was intrigued by the Rozetti Tundra ribbon-like yarn and how it knits up into a ruffly confection. Elsa gave me a lesson on the spot and started me out on a scarf (which of course included another set of bamboo needles in size 8 so now I have 3 or 4 sets of size 8). The Tundra came in a skein that she said must be re-wound into a ball. “Rolled” was her term, not wound. She had this contraption that aids in winding and rolling, called a SWIFT.

Swift at Yarn Basket

She got me started, then as she breezed by to observe, called out, “Roll it! you’re winding it!” “Ooops!” It was so easy to go from rolling to winding, I didn’t even realize I had crossed a line there…

Progress on the Tundra scarf

See that little white length of yarn in the scarf? That is Elsa’s recommendation, a “lifeline” that you re-thread every 9 or so rows, so that if you have to undo, you can go back to the line that you know is correct; if you drop a stitch in the Tundra, it will unravel the whole thing.

Yarn I found in my travels

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