Wishful Knitting

To say our little knit group was "close knit" is the perfect cliche! When we moved to Italy, I desperately missed having a knitting circle and the weekly meet-ups. I tried for a long time to find other knitters- then I decided to create a few of my own. I started offering knitting classes. It went well, I am proud to say everyone who signed up WAS able to learn to knit. There was a teen-age girl, however, who was very resistant. At some point during this time, I remembered that a woman from my Italian language class had mentioned that she liked to knit. Then I met my dear friend Stacy who had the bug to learn how to knit. So there! I created my own little group! We were intermittent and not very focused, but boy did we have fun! I really looked forward to our meet ups. Then, like all good things, our friend Janny had to move. We decided to knit blankets- one for each of us. We each chose a color- Janny did all the research and ordering. Then we chose patterns- one horizontal...

When I received this yarn, I wasn't so thrilled with it....I am not sure why. But THEN, I started knitting it up and I love it! This pattern was great for mindless knitting and I really love how it turned out. So, maybe it wasn't really love/hate, but rather less love then more love : ) I-cord bind off was a nice touch. I was worried it would be too tight, but it's not, it might even be a little loose...but not enough to bother me! Picture courtesy of my 6-year old- she's come a long way. Vitatl Stats: Yarn: Socks that Rock Lightwieght Color: Pink Granite Pattern: Anake Mods: none Size: 51” wingspan and 12 1/2” depth more info here: ravelry link

This story on this shawl is long and likely not all that interesting. It all started when I saw the pattern on Ravelry. I had already planned a quick trip to Paris with my Mom and Joceylne, so I was overwhelmed by the magical draw of that city. I decided that not only would I make the shawl, but I would buy the yarn for it in Paris- perfect! Despite the debacle of the 2010 Ravelympics, I joined the KAL. I didn't finish on time, or win any prizes, but I DID meet another, very nice knitter online- my first "virtual" friend : ) She and I shared the ups and downs, okay, mostly downs, of this project. It was awesome to e-mail back and forth about this project. Of course, the pattern was not published in time for our trip...but I purchased what I thought would be the correct yardage in Paris. As it turns out, it was not the correct yardage! I decided to continue this project with yarn from our not-so-local yarn shop here in Italy. I cast on during our cruise and knitted...

This is one of those skeins- the Socks That Rock lightweight. The colors are sweet and very gentle. Here it is modeled by my elder daughter, but the little one has laid claim to it. For whatever reason, she calls it her own. I am almost starting to relax enough about my paranoia of them having things around their neck, that I just might be able to let her wear it once in a while. She can have it, but I prefer her stuffed cat wear it. I love working with this yarn- it's got a great texture! As you can see in this pic, it's too bulky to wear as a neck wrap, but it seems too small to use as a shawl. I wish I would have gotten two skeins for this one. Who knew? And it's all just part of the great experiment to find a little neck wrap that is NOT a dickie! Specs: Yarn: Socks that Rock Lightweight- colorway Goody Goody Pattern: Multnomah Needles: size 6 knitpicks circs P.S. For you there, family member who would like a shawl of some kind- here's what you have to do. Go to th...

This was a quick little knit. It was great to watch the colors ebb and flow. I don't mind the pooling a bit. I think this colorway is called Sophie, but I would have called it "think spring!" My handy helper is always ready to help with the drying and blocking process- she loves it. It's probably time to buy some blocking wires and maybe a board- but the bed works for now. I just have to ensure it's dry by bedtime! (Oh, and I have to keep my furry friend off the bed as well during these drying times.) This photo shows my only modification of the pattern, I added more rows of garter stitch at the end to use up the yarn. I didn't have enough left for another repeat of the eyelet section, but I wanted to finish the skein. Plus, I thought the extra rows would be additional anti-roll protection : ) The fabric has a nice drape- it seems like I will get use out of this when the weather gets chilly. I suppose time will tell, but The Truth Is.....I just like seeing it...

Well, as I said before, my favorite little scarf is starting to show it's age : ( There are pinpoint holes, and the ends are beginning to fray. I started searching around Italy to see if I could find a similar scarf at one of the markets. What I learned about myself is that I really had no idea what actual specific colors were in the scarf- so I started taking it everywhere I went to try and find something similar. I didn't have any luck- and then I had an idea. I had heard of custom-dyed yarns, so I could send it off and see if someone could re-create the colorway with yarn. Then I had another idea....surely this colorway already exists....somewhere. So, I headed to the Blue Moon Fiber Arts website to have a look. Their colors are amazing and wonderful! I decided to give myself a little Mother's Day present and I splurged on 4 skeins! After I made Azzu's Shawl with merino, it was a little itchy. I had an "OH NO!" moment, when I imagined the Socks that Rock Li...

From what I can tell, my current shawlette/scarf passion started for two reasons: 1.) a giant "leftover" ball of fairly expensive yarn 2.) my current favorite scarf is showing some serious signs of wear These 2 factors have converged and my knitting craze has aggrandized. I never paid much attention to shawls because I have never worn one draped over my shoulders in the traditional sense. I do, however, wear little scarves around my neck frequently when I have a little chill. So a small shawlette would be perfect. The leftover yarn was a ball of Dream in Color Smooshy. I made fingerless mitts out of this yarn and still had a ginormous amount leftover. I should check the yardage on the skein- it must be like 1,000 yards : ) Anyway, this extra ball of yarn was hanging out downstairs on the table daring me to use it in some way. I'll save the discussion about my ancient scarf and it's signs of wear for another time perhaps. So, off to Ravelry I went to find a pattern- a...

This tank top was seriously languishing in my project bin forever. I started it when I was knitting just about every project from Last Minute Knitted Gifts . I heavily modified it to make it more wearable- I made the straps wider and added a little waist shaping. Then, when I had but a mere 20 minutes more work to do, I ignored it for a year or so : ) It turned out quite nicely. I am eager to wear it to see how the hemp behaves. This is the first time I knit with hemp- it was a bit rough on my hands. When I washed it, there was not any color bleed, but the smell was very strange. I happen to have a very good sense of smell- most of the time, I wish I didn't! Nonetheless, when I was washing this tank top, it smelled kind of "chalky." There are some bugs that smell like that when they are smushed. It's a strange smell. The garment did not smell when it dried- thankfully! I know it looks lumpy here, and I was in a hurry to get the picture, but it fits well. It's reve...

This is my favorite picture for the moment. Since there are 2 little gals in my life, there are frequently 2 very similar knitted items : ) I am so happy that she wound up choosing her own colors. Originally my little Z-bomb wanted the same color scheme as her sister. I was not intrigued by the idea of knitting 2 nearly identical sweaters, but I would have done so if needed, of course. I think the swinging point came when I told her the name of the purplish colorway- yep, it's called Fairy Tale. She loves it and so do I. Specs: Pattern: Drive-Thru by Wendy Bernard Yarn: Knitpicks: Wool of the Andes Size: 6 Mods: Made the sleeve circumference larger

This project was in the boot of the car for a long time. I had it stashed back there so I always had some knitting with me. As it turns out, it's an excellent idea for me- I was able to work on it quite a bit. I had ordered this yarn a while back from Knitpicks. I got 2 different colors and I was going to make the chevron scarf from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. But, once I started knitting, I didn't like how it looked, so this yarn has been hanging out in my stash for a while. Even though I like these colors, I don't wear these colors and I don't think they look great on me. Since I realized this mid-knit, I only used one skein of the 2 I had. So, it's very short, which is fine since I don't wear shawls, but I do frequently wear little scarves. It's the perfect size for a 4-year-old! But would look ridiculous on me draped out like that. This photo brings me to the second thing that I don't love about this shawlette- it's too "holey." I suppo...

Well, I was cold! It seemed like a good idea- I mean I frequently wear a scarf inside! It makes sense. It's practical. Cowls are IN . It's a good use of small amounts of yarn. It keeps me warm........no matter what the excuse, my friend Stacy put it best when she SHOUTED (in public), "IT'S A DICKEY!" followed by peals of laughter! The good news is that my daughter H loves it...so she'll happily wear it around the house. Fashion is so much more forgiving for a kid : ) Drat. Specs: I don't think they matter much : P Also, H thinks this also makes a perfect hat!!!