The End Is Near

I started knitting a sweater right around the first of the year. I set it aside to knit a sample for a dyer in our area. That was a tunic style sweater with short sleeves and an attached collar. The collar was knitted separately and sewed on after all knitting was complete. I finished and mailed it off to the dyer for her upcoming trunk show. I then picked up my first project of 2011 and continued on with the cabled sweater. A co-worker was having a baby shower so I had to knit a baby sweater. I decided to use a pattern on Ravelry which was free and very cute. It would have been fine had I not chosen super fine fingering weight sock yarn from Yarn Pirate. It turned out very cute but took 10 days due to the gauge being 11 rows to the inch in stockinette. I then picked up my sweater and have since been knitting continually. I am an inch and a half from completion, it is slow going as there are close to 400 stitches on my circular needle. I should be finished today and I am very happy to be moving on to a new project. Unlike many knitters I like to have one project on the needles at a time. This does not include my sock yarn blanket that is made up of small squares. That is ongoing and I knit on that when I think of it.

I have completed most of my lingering 2010 projects. I blocked two sweaters, sewed the buttons on my Tangled Yoke Cardigan, finished Delaney's socks, and named my wheel. I decided I wanted an Irish name as I am of Irish descent as was the original wheel owner. I went

with the name "Fiona". Fiona is a form of Jane and my grandmother was named Mary Jane and the love of my life as a child. I have fond memories of her and will definitely reflect while spinning. The kids will of course think she is named from the movie Shrek! This might spark an interest in spinning for the kids.

I am off to finish my remaining 1 1/2 inches of button band and watch The Good Wife while doing it. Pictures to follow completion.

Knitting What Else?

I tried to finish a few loose projects that I had laying around in 2010. One project was a pair of socks that I had knitted for Delaney and for whatever reason they had holes in them before I gifted them to her. We went on vacation and upon return there were holes, she would like to think there were moths... I believe there was a cat involved but who knows? Needless to say they are now a pair again and they had laid around for a year. I finished spinning some fiber I had on my wheel for months. I also tried my Louet S90 that I took delivery of in August. It had sat there waiting to be spun on for five months. I spun up a corriedale batt from Grafton Fibers and it was in a rich jewel amethyst color. Delaney of course loved it & I loved the wheel. It was fun to spin on and I need to come up with an appropriate name for her. I received the wheel from a lady in Illinois and it was her mothers wheel before she passed away. Her mother was of Irish descent so I need a good Irish name other than the one I already possess. I still have to sew some buttons on my Tangled Yoke Cardigan and wash and block 4 others but then I am totally finished. Oh there is that blanket on my loom I started, but I decided to dedicate 60 minutes every afternoon to spinning or weaving. So I have worked on it this year and it really doesn't count as unfinished as it is a continual work in progress.

I am going to be test knitting a sweater for The Plucky Knitter. She is a dyer from Delton Michigan. The yarn is merino & silk and the colorway is Dark & Stormy which is in the charcoal family. I am excited to help out a fellow Michigander, she will be displaying the knitted goods at an upcoming trade show. I was in the Plucky Knitter Classics Yarn Club for a while and enjoyed her yarn and color choices. Off to grab a cup of coffee and knit on my sweater for a few minutes before the not so wee ones return from errands.

Knitting Sweaters

I have been bitten by the sweater bug. I have finished 6 sweaters in 4 months. It started in August with the Garter Yoke Cardigan, then the Tangled Yoke Cardigan, on vacation in September I knitted the Neck Down Shaped Cardigan, then the Lightweight Pullover, Folded and finally the Effortless Cardigan. I knit the final cardi for Delaney as a Christmas Gift. You better love the recipient of the gifted sweater as there is some serious knitting involved with a sweater. The sweater pattern Folded was knit out of sock yarn and it seemed like I was never going to get finished. I am now getting ready to knit the Featherweight Cardigan out of Tosh Merino Light a single ply yarn. I am anxious to use this and see how it knits up. I have the colorway Molly Ringwald in PINK of course!

School Has Begun....

Where did the summer go? I failed miserably during the Tour de Fleece, and my wheel remains nameless. I was working on a sweater and managed to finish that one & begin another during the time I should have been spinning. I have been on a sweater knitting kick, and it is a blast. I have knitted three sweaters in the past couple of months. I managed to knit a complete sweater in 9 days during vacation. I am trying to find the perfect sweater fit and this requires experience. So with each sweater I learn a bit more. I am a tight knitter so I usually have to go up a sweater size due to the fact that once I get in my groove my gauge gets tighter. I also can go up a needle size as well and a good piece of advice is "swatches lie". I swatch, I get gauge, I knit and finish a big project and then said project doesn't fit. It makes me sad, really sad. I have knit three sweaters and they all fit but the first one is smaller than I would like. I ended up only putting 4 buttons on the yoke and that solved the problem. I am now planning which pattern shall become the 4th sweater.

Who knew my life would be simpler if I got up earlier. I am not gonna lie I do not like morning. I usually go to bed after midnight and sleep until the last possible minute. Which results in being sleep deprived all week long and getting less sleep on the weekends due to my work schedule. This begins the neverending cycle of trying to catch up on sleep which doesn't ever happen. All summer long I slept until probably 10 a.m. when I wasn't working, but I also stayed up until 1 or 2 a.m. My plan for this school year is I am going to try and go upstairs around 9:30 p.m. and read and get up @ 6:30 a.m. I did this last night and our morning was way smoother than previous first days of school. We will see if this continues. This year I have from noon until the boys come home @ 4 p.m. almost to myself. I have Delaney coming home around 3 p.m. but she is self managing and I wouldn't necessarily have to be here. So I am excited about all of the possibilities! Cleaning, cooking, laundry, shower, errands the possibilities are endless.

Tour de Fleece

P6160002
Originally uploaded by kelly.pratt42

The tour starts Saturday so I will be spinning everyday for a long time. I need to come up with a name for my wheel. It has been a year and I've got nothing. I will be spinning 2 lbs of superwash merino for a sweater during the Tour. That is my personal goal, I need to prep the fiber so I will just have to grab it on Saturday and start spinning. I am hoping to spin a sport/worsted weight yarn. I will need about 1100 yards of finished yarn. No pressure here....the color of the fiber is Dragonskin it is a teal and it is gorgeous. I purchased the fiber from Funky Carolina. I will try to take a picture & post here so we can see the before and the after. Wish me luck!

More Socks

P4200017
Originally uploaded by kelly.pratt42

I knit these right before I started the ten stitch twist blanket. I loved this pattern with the twisty stitches and no cabling. The yarn is Madeline Tosh and the colorway is Gracious. They are for me and fit great. The sock pattern is from Cookie A and it is called Angee. I would encourage anyone who is new to sock knitting to try this pattern, piece of cake.

Preschool Teacher Gift

P5310057
Originally uploaded by kelly.pratt42

This is a blanket I knit during May. I decided since it was our last year for preschool, Easton's teacher deserved a special gift. She has taught all five of my children preschool from the year 2001-2010. The span of years is nine so I made sure the blanket represented this and knit nine rings around. The pattern is called 10 stitch twist as the entire time you knit only on 10 stitches picking up a stitch as you go to attach it to the previous row. It was fun and addictive knitting. I used 12 skeins of Noro Kureyon and it was a bit tough on my hands. The blanket softened up nicely when it had a warm bath in wool wash. Mrs. Swainston loved her gift as much as I enjoyed giving it to her.