Congratulations to Anne!

Many of you have probably seen this already, but if not, take a peek at the preview of the Spring 08 edition of Interweave Knits. Scroll down and you'll find a design there by our beloved Anne Hanson (the Bleeding Hearts Stole).

I just wanted to step back today and offer up a "hearty" congratulations to Anne! I doubt anyone who visits my blog or my Etsy shop is unaware of the deep respect I have for Anne's work. It's been so wonderful to see her popularity grow and grow. This latest pattern in such a reputable and widespread publication is just the latest in a series of well-deserved milestones in her design career.

As I perused the photos of Anne's design on the IK site, I got to thinking about the internet and the knitting world. Before my Fearless Fibers days, I worked for many years for Intel. I remember the work the marketing folks there did on finding ways to show the human side of computing, how it touches our lives everyday in more subtle ways than just the obvious tasks we do at work or paying bills, etc. The knitting world seems such a good example of this.

The online knitting community is just that: a community. The popularity of knit-alongs is just one example of how knitters connect online and interact in a way that is not so very different than they would at a LYS. Online knitting and crochet forums provide inspiration, assistance, ideas, and motivation for many of us. There is always someone out there to provide guidance, share a laugh, or lend a sympathetic ear about a project gone awry. I think most of us who engage in this global online community recognize and appreciate this.

My interaction with Anne is another example of this "human" side of the internet. I first encountered Anne in Spring 06. I can't quite recall exactly how we got in touch, but I think it was one of her students who was a customer of mine in my old eBay shop and brought some of my yarn to a class to work one of Anne's projects. This led Anne to check my shop and ask me a few questions. In turn, that led me to her blog, which was quite new at the time. I remember sending her a note to let her know how much I enjoyed her blog. It stood out from the rest, both because of her amazing design work and also because of the quality of her writing and the fascinating insights into the mind of a designer, knitter, spinner, and overall fiber guru.

Thus began our relationship. I loved her designs. She loved my yarn. And we were also two women in a similar boat, both working on new ventures to translate our fiber passions into our livelihoods, and doing so primarily online.

Fearless Fibers has been an amazing journey for me. I sold my first skein of yarn in January 06, so I guess I've been at it for two years now (my "anniversary" passed without my even noticing it!). It's been equally amazing for me to watch Anne's journey. Anne had, of course, been teaching and designing long before I encountered her in Spring 06, but she was at that time just beginning to seriously branch out and focus strongly on her design work and the online world.

Although Anne and I have never met, she is still a friend and a constant source of inspiration. I feel extremely fortunate to have found her. Her work continues to amaze and delight me, and just knowing someone else out there who is successfully pursuing her dream in the vast cyber world is a steady reminder that the dream can be fulfilled.

A big Thank You again to, Anne ... and a hearty congratulations on the Bleeding Hearts Stole in IK!

Something Wonderfully Different

For this morning's customer project feature, I have something wonderfully different to share with you. Before you look, I must warn you that if you're anything like me, you may find yourself overcome with a yearning to take up weaving! Of course, this also happens to me when I see a great crochet project and am then overwhelmed with the urge to learn to crochet. And then there are the machine knit projects that get my fingers itching to dust off my knitting machine, despite the fact that the thing brings me close to tears every time I touch it. But enough of that. On to the project . . .

Elisa brings us this delightful woven scarf:



She used FF Superwash Merino Wool Sock Yarn in the Deepest Forest colorway, with two strands used for the warp (long-wise threads) and one strand for the weft (side-to-side threads). Don't be too impressed that I know this terminology. I don't. I read it on Elisa's blog.

Elisa reports that the finished piece is very soft with a lovely drape. It certainly looks that way:



Here's one more shot where you can see the fringe and detail nicely:



Oh my. Weaving. Hmmmmm. Weaving. Oh Yeah! Ahem. No. Must resist the temptation! It is projects such as these that set me to thinking of how grand it would be to win the lottery. As much as I love my little business and would never stop dyeing yarn altogether, I have to admit that if I were to suddenly have some lottery-esque windfall, I would immediately set about finding the perfect home with ample studio space for me to set myself up to spend the remainder of my days not only knitting, but also learning to crochet, spin, weave, and machine knit. Until and unless that day comes, I'll have to be satisfied living vicariously through those of you who pursue these arts.

Everyone have a great start to the week! Please pardon my blogging silence last week. I actually did have a post up for a brief period, but I pulled it down pretty quickly. I'll explain that story soon when the time is right (teaser).

Monkey Monday

For this morning's project feature, I have a pair of the ever-popular Monkey Socks to share with you. These beauties were knit by Kristen.



Kristen used FF Superwash Merino Wool Sock Yarn in the Chocolate Pink Cherry colorway.

Everytime I see a pair of the Monkey Socks, I think that I really must get with the program already and knit a pair. Kristen's socks are just so cute and look like such fun to knit that I'm thinking that once again! One of these days ...

A big Thank You to Kristen for sharing her work! Check out Kristen's blog to see more of her wonderful work.

If you have a finished project with FF yarn that you would like to share, just pop me an e-mail with your photos and any relevant details and I'll be happy to put your project in the queue for posting.

Everyone have a wonderful start to the week!

BRRRRRRRRRRRR

As my husband and I settle more and more into our new home, we are for the most part very happy with it, despite a huge amount of work looming in front of us for a long time to come. The one exception is that the house is just plain cold. Really cold. Apparently, the windows were installed by brain-damaged monkeys. At some point, something major will need to be done about that, but not now in the middle of winter. The house also has crawl space underneath, which makes for very cold floors. Then there's the hole in the wall in the kitchen that brings the cold air rushing in from the garage. Oh and did I mention that the kitchen and dining room are lacking any heat source at all? There's a vent between the kitchen and dining room, but it's just a vent that goes nowhere. What it's doing there, I just don't know. The house doesn't even have a central heating system, so why there is a vent there will remain a mystery.

Living with this constant chill has put me in the habit of wearing a hat indoors much of the time. I now have permanent hat-head. It's quite sad really. I decided to let my short hair grow out again several months ago and I've been trying to hold off on getting a haircut as long as I can, so that at least there will be a bit to work with when I finally go in for a haircut. It really looks quite awful. Add to that the constant hat-wearing and my oh my, I'm quite a sight!

Rather than lamenting my hat-head woes, I decided to focus instead on making myself a new hat to match the fingerless mitts that I made a couple of months ago. I used the same yarn - my FF Sportweight Superwash Merino in the Butterscotch colorway. Only the yarn and color match. The stitch pattern is entirely different.



Now before you go thinking that this hat looks pretty small, keep in mind that my head is the size of a peanut.

This was rather fun to knit. I've used this stitch pattern a few times before and I really like it. It's very easy to memorize and track, and has a nice flow of undulating waves. The fun part was figuring out how to handle the shaping at the crown while keeping the pattern flowing as long as possible rather than simply switching over to stockinet.



Here's another shot where I tried to capture the stitch pattern a bit better by stretching it a little so you can see the yarnovers. It's not a great photo, but the best I could do while using one hand to stretch the hat over a bowl that's even smaller than my peanuthead and using the other hand to take the photo.



Now that I look at the photo above again, it really makes the hat look quite funny! Imagine if my head were that small?! Obviously, that's just an illusion. I'm stretching a small portion of the hat around a small bowl, to try to show more of the stitch detail.

All in all, this was a fun little quick-knit project that yielded a hat that will get plenty of use.

Hope everyone is having a great week and staying warm!

A Touch of Spring for a Cold Winter's Day

For today's Monday project, I have a lovely lace shawl knit by Judi. Just looking at this lace piece on this cold winter morning brings a bit of the warmth of Spring to me!



This is Judi's version of Eunny Jang's Print 'O the Waves Stole. Judi used FF Laceweight Merino in the Hush colorway. (If this looks vaguely familiar to you, it may be more than just the lovely pattern that so many have knit. Last spring, I made this stole in the same yarn and same color for my niece :)

Here's a work in progress shot that shows a closer view of the lovely stitchwork.



You can see more of Judi's wonderful knitting in her Ravelry projects (she's Tootsiemama) and on her blog. You really need to pop over to her blog just for the fun of scanning through pictures of the darling knit pants she's apparently been cranking out by the gross for her daughter and other wee ones in her circle. They're so cute and funky it makes me want to run right out and make a pair, despite the fact that I have no little girls in my circle to wear them!

Everyone have a wonderful start to yet another week!

The Thrill of the New

In spare moments here and there for the last couple of weeks I've been playing around with stitches and swatching and plotting and measuring and swatching and planning for my next larger project.

Before I dive into the new, I suppose I should give you an update on the two other projects that I tried to focus on finishing in December. Unfortunately, I don't have much news. The knitting is done on the zipper-front sweater and the sleeves are now seamed in. I need to do a crochet edge before having the zipper put in, but for the life of me I can't locate my crochet hooks. I don't crochet, but I know that I bought a whole set of a range of sizes of hooks about a year ago when a local Joann's Fabrics was closing up and had a big sale. Where I put them, I have no idea. The funny thing is, I'm not all that concerned about finishing it. I think I'm going to like it very much, but I guess in the end this proves that perhaps I am not much of a "product" knitter. Now that the end is right there before me, all of my motivation for the project is gone.

As to the ripple stitch afghan, I did get a good bit done in the first part of December, but I've barely touched it lately. My excuse is that I've been too busy, with my time split between Fearless Fibers and working on getting my former home ready to go on the market. (We are finally ready to do that and are sitting down with our realtor tomorrow.) If I'm entirely truthful with myself though, I must admit that being busy is really just an excuse for not working on the afghan, because somehow I have found the time to plan and swatch and begin my next new project. It's the thrill of the new enticing me again!

The new project is a cashmere sweater. Yep. Cashmere. Sweater. For me! I've wanted to make myself one for some time and finally decided to do it. I'm using my sportweight cashmere in the Promise colorway. (Don't go searching my shop for it, because I have none in stock. In fact, all of my cashmere stock is pitifully low right now, but I'll find time to do something about that soon, I promise!)

Here's a rather terrible photo of the work in progress. Please pardon the streaks of light interfering with your ability to see the pattern.



Now before you go looking all confused and concerned, let me explain. You're correct if you think that the bottom portion of this looks way to small to be a sweater. It's very narrow when left unstretched, but the pattern intersperses the cables with ribbing from the bottom right up through the torso. When I stretch it out gently, it grows tremendously. It looks odd and the whole thing may not work, but for now I'm just trusting in the process and that all of my planning and swatching and calculations will work out in the end.

I'm thinking of this as my "Be My Valentine" sweater. Take the red tones of the yarn, the "embrace me" call of cashmere, the colorway named Promise, the X & O cable pattern, and the timing with Valentine's Day looming ahead, and it seems to me that this sweater is destined to be my Be My Valentine Sweater.

Only time will tell if it all works out. I want the cabled section to gently hug and skim the torso before the sweater fills out in stockinet for the bodice. It will likely have short sleeves (I love a sweater that works in the springtime). I'm still vascillating on whether to do a little mock turtleneck, perhaps with the X & O cables repeated and the mock turtleneck knit the shortway and attached to live neck stitches, or whether to stick with a crew neck but with some added stitch detail to liven things up.

That's most everything I've done on the knitting front lately, except to add a bit to the simple scarf that I'm making for one of my friends. In fact, I think I'll go try to finish that up right now so that I can bring it to him tomorrow when he'll be having dinner with me and my husband. Time to sign off and knit now . . .

Mmmmm ... Warm Shawl

For this morning's customer project feature, I have a lovely shawl to share with you. This was made by "Samtosha" (aka MFS on Ravelry).



The shawl is a Catharina Shawl with garter stitch for the yolk and a stockinette ground for the lace. The yarn is FF Worsted Weight Merino Wool in Hendrix. At first glance, the shawl may appear to be made with a lighter weight yarn, but as I looked at the specs on Ravelry I saw that it's labeled as made with the Worsted Weight. When you click on the closeup photos, you can see that it is indeed the heavier weight yarn. I really love this! So nice to have a warm, cozy shawl for cooler weather.



For more of her great projects, check out MFS on Ravelry. She's also just getting started with a new blog.

What a lovely project to start the week! Thank you for sharing the photos!

Sin, Virtue, and Lace

Those of you who are on my mailing list are probably aware from my last update that rather than offering another sock club with the "Seven Holy Virtues" theme as originally planned (a follow up to my last club with the Seven Deadly Sins theme), I have instead decided to introduce one new "virtue" yarn each month for the first seven months of 2008. At the same time, I will release the corresponding Sin yarn from last year's sock club.

I am happy to report that the first of the Virtues yarns is now available in my shop. It's Chastity:



(Notice the new "ice cream bowl" photos? I haven't converted all of my shop photos yet, but I am in the process of doing that. It's a new look for the new year! You'll still find a closeup photo within the listing. You can also click on third photo in each listing to expand to a full view of the skein.)

The Sock Sin of Lust is also now listed and available:



As if all this weren't exciting enough (hee, hee!), I also have five new colorways of Merino Laceweight now available. You'll find those in my shop section labeled Laceweight Merino. Here's one to whet your appetite. This is Infinity:

As always, initial quantities are somewhat limited, but never fear! I do have a fair amount of each of the new items and, of course, if they're a hit there will always be more available in the future.

Now I'm off to send a note about these new additions to my mailing list. If you are not on that list and would like to be added for future updates, just send me an e-mail and ask to be added to the list.

Happy New Year to all of you!

Is it Monday Already?!

I was happily beginning my morning of dyeing when it suddenly dawned on me that it's Monday already and I hadn't yet posted my Monday project features. Monday again -- How did that happen?!

I scurried back to my office to rectify that and now have these two great sock projects ready to share with you.

First up I have a pair of gorgeous socks by Kelly made with FF Superwash Merino Wool Sock Yarn in Sublime. The pattern is Interweave Web Socks, with a mock cable seed rib.

Aren't these great?! I love the photo also. You can really see the stitch detail and the color variations. "Sublime" is probably the single most popular sock colorway I carry and I don't know that I've seen such a good photo of a finished project before that really shows the color variation.

Although Kelly doesn't have a blog, you can see more of her work in her Ravelry projects. She's "beanstealer."

Next up are these cuties by Jinann:



These are made with FF Classic Merino Wool Sock Yarn. The colorway is an older one that I no longer carry in the sock yarn.

You can see the lovely stitch detail in this closeup:



For a look at more of Jinann's wonderful work, pop on over to her blog.

Now that the projects are posted, it feels like Monday again! Great week to all!

Zipper Anyone?

With so many people busy with family and holidays it's been a quiet week for me. I've given myself a bit of a break and taken a slower pace of dyeing this week and am feeling well-rested and ready for the new year.

I had hoped to take advantage of the quiet and get lots of knitting done this week, but a migraine put me out of commission for a while, so I didn't get nearly the knitting time I would have liked. I did get a good start on the scarf requested by one of my bowling friends though.

The yarn I chose is a 4-ply merino with 3 plies in dark evergreen and the fourth in an almost-white shade of light gray green.

The pattern is super-simple, from the Yarn Harlot. It's just the same row repeated over and over again, but it creates a nice texture and a little bit of a ribbed look, although not actually ribbed. I thought it was a nice choice for a man's scarf, as the texture roughs it up a bit and the fabric is a bit sturdy and has a little structure to it, so it doesn't have too much drape and flow. Overall, with the tweedy look of the yarn combined with the textured stitch, I think it has a reasonably masculine appeal. I'm about two thirds done with it now, so it will be off the sticks soon.

In the meantime, I finally sewed in the second sleeve of the zipper-front sweater that I've been working on for 65,382 years now. Next is a bit of crochet edging and then the sweater is ready for a zipper. (I've hunted everywhere and for the life of me can't find my little bag of crochet hooks. Must keep hunting!)

Now for the zipper dilemma. I got a recommendation for someone to put the zipper in for me, but it's a good half hour drive from where I live. I may need to nose around a bit more or it might just be that this sweater sits stagnant for yet another month or two before I get around to making the drive to get the zipper done. What I do still need, however, is the zipper itself. Does anyone have any websites to recommend for a really good quality zipper? Perhaps with various options of zipper pulls? I have no idea where to turn for this, so any guidance would be most appreciated. The only fabric store near where I live is Joann's and the zippers I found there were very cheap and flimsy. After spending so much time on this project, I really want a good quality zipper.

That's about to report here. Stay tuned for news soon on the release of the first of the "Virtues" sock yarns. I also have several new Laceweight Merino colorways to introduce at the same time, so there will be lots of new things to see soon.

Everyone have a great weekend!

Parting Ways

For today's customer project feature, I have a lovely pair of socks to share with you. These socks were knit by Lynne using the Parting Ways pattern from Heartstrings. She used FF Superwash Merino Wool Sock Yarn in the Cantaloupe colorway.



Aren't they great?! If anyone decides to knit this sock pattern, Lynne advises to be sure to be sure to cast on very loosely. Lynne used size 1 needles and her usual long tail cast on and found that the socks were tight at the cast on row. She corrected this by ripping out all but three rows of the ribbing and then reknitting the cuff with a larger needle and using a decrease cast off with still larger needles.

Take a look at the lovely detail:


Fabulous work, Lynne! Thank you for sharing your photos.

Everyone keep those project photos coming! If you'd like to share a project, just send me an e-mail with photos attached or a link to your blog photos, along with any relevant project details you'd like to share.

Happy Holidays to all, and to all a good knit!

Last Minute Knitting

I'm sure many of you are spending your free moments this week furiously knitting to finish up last minute holiday gifts. I spared myself that down-to-the-wire frenzy this year by simply not knitting gifts. I've never done a ton of holiday knitting anyway, as my gift list is pretty short, but this year I kept it down to zero. Until the last minute anyway, when the number suddenly changed to One.

Last week, I showed you a hat that I started for my husband, not as a gift but rather a necessity. I finished that up the day after I started it and was able to give him his new hat and take back the one he had swiped from me.



The hat is Anne Hanson's new Waffle Stitch Hat pattern. The pattern comes in a set together with a pattern for matching fingerless mitts. The pattern is available at KnitSpot and also in my Etsy store. I made this version of the hat for my husband using my FF Superwash Merino Wool Sportweight Yarn combined with a strand of Superwash Merino Wool Sock Yarn. He's been wearing it pretty much every moment since it came off the needles.

Here's an angle shot lightened up a bit so you can see a bit more of the stitch detail:



I enjoyed this simple, quick knit pattern so much that I decided at the last minute to whip up a quick gift for my mother. I was feeling a bit guilty that I hadn't knit a thing for her this year (although I knew she would entirely understand, given how busy I've been with the recent move).

For my mother, I made a pair of the matching Waffle Stitch Mitts from the same pattern, except that I made them full mittens rather than fingerless. I used the same yarn for my mother's gift as I did for my husband's hat. The mitts knit up in no time and I had them ready to go earlier this week. I proudly packaged them up and zapped them off by mail before even thinking to take a blog photo, so you'll just have to do without this time. My apologies!

In the meantime, I still haven't sewn in the second sleeve of my zipper-front sweater, but I have made a bit more slow progress on the ripple stitch afghan. I was feeling really good about getting so much done on these two projects that my mind began to wander to what I would begin next. Then I suddenly remembered another project in-progress that I seem to have blocked out of my mind.

Remember this?



This is a simple rectangular wrap with my FF Worsted Weight Mohair/Wool in the Morocco colorway that I started some months ago. I got about 75% or so done with it and then set it aside for one reason or another and forgot all about it! I'll need to get back on that and finish it up, although I still have no idea what I'm going to do with it.

In the meantime, ideas are brewing in my mind for a little cashmere sweater. I've been swatching a bit in spare moments and have almost settled on the pattern in my mind. I'm thinking of something short-sleeved, more for cool spring or warm fall days than for winter, with a cable stitch incorporated into ribbing around the midsection and simple stockinet in the bodice. I always gravitate to construction of this sort, with some structure and shape around the midsection to give a bit of extra definition at the waist. My preference is for simple pullovers, so I'll probably stick to that, perhaps with a short mock turtleneck. I have to think and perhaps swatch a bit more and then I'll get started on that.

I also need to do a scarf here soon. One of the men on my bowling team asked last night if I would knit him one. I'd been thinking of knitting something for him for some time now (he's not only a friend, but he's also really sweet about inquiring from time to time about what I'm knitting and so I thought he might appreciate something). I'd never seen him wear any type of scarf, hat, or even sweater, so I wasn't sure what he might want. When he brought it up and mentioned a scarf, I was all too happy to have the answer provided to me.

I can't remember ever knitting a scarf for a man before, so I'm a bit unsure as to what's appropriate in terms of size. Anyone have any input on that? The recipient is of small stature (perhaps 5'6" or so?). How wide and long would you suggest? I know he wouldn't want anything "fancy" in terms of stitch patterns, so I was thinking perhaps using a very lightweight yarn (maybe even my Superwash Sock Yarn) in a woven stitch. Does that sound like a reasonable plan? Any input would be most appreciated.

That's all the news for today. I'm just taking a quick break here in the midst of today's dyeing activities, so it's time for me to get back to work. Everyone have a wonderful weekend!

SALE Today!

Just a quick note to let you all know that I'm having a sale today and tomorrow only in my Etsy shop! Sale items are marked as such and I've also created a shop section for sale items so that you can find them easily.

Stop on by and have a peek around for some great bargains on limited edition colorways, as well as a few orphan skeins and other miscellaneous yarn.

Thanks for looking! Have a great day!

Two More Great Projects

This Monday morning, I have two more great projects to share with you. First up is this scarf by Sandy. This is machine knit using FF Superwash Merino Wool Sock Yarn in Sky & Clouds together with natural undyed superwash merino.



Isn't that just gorgeous! Everytime I see Sandy's work, I have an overwhelming urge to brush off my knitting machine and try to transform it from its current use as some sort of sculpture that sits in the background of my inventory room into the actual purpose for which it was designed! But alas, reality then creeps back in and I know that I just don't have the time to learn to use it well (nor the natural talent with the *&#*#$**! machine). Kudos to Sandy for mastering the beast!

Sandy's scarf features a snowflake and maze pattern in fair isle. The body of the scarf is a tuck stitch that creates a puffed-pillow dimensional texture that has a cloud-like feel. What a perfect marriage of stitch and yarn! Here's a closeup of the fair isle detail:



This scarf, along with a host of Sandy's other lovely pieces, is listed in her Etsy shop, Sandrikas Fiber Art. If you're a fan of glass bead lampwork, you also absolutely *must* visit Sandy's other Etsy shop to see her amazing work!

Next up is this pair of fabulous fingerless mitts by Keri:



Keri used the Orchid Lace Mitts pattern by Anne Hanson of KnitSpot with FF Laceweight Merino in Golden Olive. The pattern can be purchased at KnitSpot and is also available in my Etsy shop.

Keri did such a lovely job with this project! And look at the perfect fit:



To learn more about Keri's knitting endeavors, pop on over to her blog and have a look around.

Thank you to Sandy and Keri for sharing their inspiring work!

Waffles Anyone?

A few weeks ago, I decided that I would not cast on anything new for the remainder of the year so that I could force myself to finish the long-delayed Zipper Front Sweater that I'm working on and also make substantial progress on the ripple-stitch throw. Well, of course, my resolve has now weakened and last night I gave in and cast on a new project.

Now before you decide that I'm weak of will, keep in mind that I have succeeded in accomplishing my goal of making some real headway on those two larger projects. As I reported last week, the knitting is finished on the sweater and I have only construction remaining. I seamed in the first sleeve a few days ago and when I can muster up the required "umph" I'll do the other one. (I despise finishing!)

I've also made lots of progress on the throw blanket. I'm trying to put an inch on it each evening and that all adds up. Here it is as it currently stands:



It's going to grow a fair amount with blocking as well. I'm not looking forward to blocking it though. I had a thought that perhaps I could take it to a dry cleaner and just have them steam it out flat. Is that possible or just a wacky thought from a lazy finisher?

The project that broke down my willpower and caused me to instantly cast on is a new one that Anne Hanson just came out with yesterday. It's a pattern for a hat and mitts set in a waffle stitch. Here's the photo from her site:



You can buy the pattern at the KnitSpot site and it's also available in my Etsy shop.

As soon as I saw this, I knew I had to knit the hat right away. The timing is perfect. A few days ago, I threw away my husband's "go to" hat. I made the hat for him three years ago and he's worn in to death. The wear was really beginning to show, mostly in the form of stretching. It had seen its day and it was time to put it to rest.

Unfortunately, when he turned to his alternate hat, he soon found that it was really too small for him. The alternate hat is not a handknit and it's not particularly attractive. Since it was too small for him and since my favorite hat is really too large for me, we did a swap. That left me with an ugly little gray number with no shape and no style and left him with this!



Isn't that hat great?! Sandy made it (machine knit) using various shades of FF Superwash Merino Wool Sock Yarn. She sells a few of her knits in her Etsy shop and when I saw this last year, I had to have it. Sounds crazy for someone who knits to buy a knit hat, particularly one made from my own yarn, but I loved it so much that I had to have it. I didn't give much thought to the fact that my head is the size of peanut though. The hat really is too big for me, but I wear it anyway and I want it back from my thievin' husband!

I've been noodling on the right pattern to use for his new hat. I've flipped through stitch dictionaries and patterns to no avail. Every one that I've shown him has elicited the same response, "It's nice, but I'd rather just have stockinet." (Before you get too impressed that my husband knows what stockinet is, let me point out that he pronounces it "stocking net." I've given up on correcting him.)
When I saw Anne's waffle stitch hat, I knew that was the perfect answer. It's a very straightforward pattern and will be a very quick knit, yet so attractive that it screams, "KNIT ME NOW!" I'm not kidding about a quick knit either. I spent a couple of hours getting started on it last night while watching a bit of TV and I already have this to show for my efforts:



The pattern calls for a DK weight yarn and my FF Mohair/Wool DK is one of the recommended yarns. My husband, however, hates mohair or anything else that has the tiniest amount of fuzz to it. I also knew that he would be wearing this in his workshop, which means lots of flying sawdust and dirt. Machine washability is important for this one.

I thought I'd use my FF Superwash Merino Sportweight, but it's a bit lighter weight than the pattern calls for. I could have easily modified the pattern to accommodate the yarn, but I didn't have the right needle size on hand and I wanted to start immediately. My solution was to combine the sportweight together with a strand of Superwash Merino Wool Sock Yarn.



I'm using the Deepest Forest colorway on the Sportweight and a handpainted colorway on the sock yarn (colorway no longer carried in my shop). As you can see in the photo above the result is predominantly green with flecks of light gray popping up throughout. When you get closer up, you can see the variations of color more, with bits of mocha, charcoal and varied shades of green showing up. You can't really see the waffle stitch very well in the photos and it's not all that pronounced in person either. The pattern would have shown up better with just the Deepest Forest colorway alone, but I do like the flecked look so I'm happy enough with how it's progressing.



I'd love to sit down right now and finish this baby off, but I have lots of work to get to today. In fact, I better get my butt in gear right now and get back to it!

Great day to all!

When Knitting Magic Happens

As much as I love to knit, it seems rare that every element comes together perfectly to create knitting magic. There are so many variables with any project that there's bound to be something in a finished project that the knitter wishes were a bit different. Is the yarn the right choice? Was the pattern clear and an enjoyable knit? Did the yarn and pattern marry in the way you hoped? Does the finished item fit the way you imagined? Is the drape or firmness of the fabric just as you hoped? Do you still love the color after spending many hours looking at it as you worked the pattern?

I don't know about you, but I find myself so often just a tiny bit dissatisfied with my end products. I also find myself pointing out the flaws. This is a pet peeve of my friend Tess, the knitting instructor at my favorite LYS and the talent behind Polar Bear Patterns. Why, she asks, can't knitters accept a compliment on a project with a simple Thank You rather than immediately responding with something like, "Thank you, but if you look here at the seam of the sleeve you'll see where it's a little crooked and the stitch pattern doesn't match up just perfectly." Tess is right, I suppose, but it seems in our knitters' nature to always strive for perfection and always feel a small twinge of disappointment when we don't reach it.

For today's Monday project features, I am very pleased to share two projects that seem to have fully satisfied the knitters' visions and hopes. And well they should, because they are both just lovely!

First up are a pair of fingerless gloves by Cindy. The pattern is Little Gems from Interweave Knits 2007 Holiday Edition. Cindy used two colors of FF Superwash Merino Wool Sock Yarn: Sloth (from the Seven Deadly Sins Sock Club) and Midnight Blue.



Cindy reports that she is "110% satisfied" with this project. And I can see why! What a great little pair of fingerless gloves. Lovely work by Cindy! You can pop on over to Cindy's blog to see more of her fabulous knitting.

The next project I have to show you is Dharma's rendition of the Storm Shawl by Handmaiden. Dharma reviewed scores of patterns looking for just the right shawl to make as a gift. She found the Storm Shawl and knew it was the one, but also had a particular color in mind. Finding just the right color that she had in mind turned out to be a bit of a challenge, but she eventually found it in my FF Superwash Merino Wool Sock Yarn in Shades of Teal.



It's easy to see why Dharma was happy with this project! As she reports on her blog, this is one of her favorite projects so far, because the pattern, the yarn and the person that she knit it for all matched her vision perfectly. Who can ask for more than that?!

Here's a closeup of the detail:



You can visit Dharma's blog for a look at more of her gorgeous work.

That's all for today. Everyone have a wonderful start to the week!

Yarn Overload

As promised, I have an update to share with you on one of my projects. It's the zipper-front sweater from the Vogue Knitting 2004/05 Winter Edition.

I frogged the back and one side down to the armholes to correct an error and reknit those portions over the course of the past week. With the end suddenly in sight (sleeves are already finished and waiting) my enthusiasm for the project resurfaced and I motored right through and finished the collar as well. In the photo, it looks as though it still has a line across the armhole stretch (that's where the mistake was previously). That's just an illusion though. Every little stitch is in its place now. I'm not sure why the line shows up in the photo. It might just be where I folded the piece to set aside. Or perhaps my tension switched up a bit there when I reknit. Either way, all is well with the stitchwork now and any last vestiges of a funky line should disappear once blocking is done.

Next step will be to add a crocheted edge along the front sides and collar, and then to sew in the sleeves. From there, it's just a matter of weaving in a few ends, blocking, and finding someone to put a zipper in for me and it will be done. (I can't be trusted to put a zipper in! My sewing skills are non-existent.)

The ripple stitch throw is also growing. It's now over three feet long. The finished, unblocked piece will measure somewhere around 3.5 X 5 feet (and will grow a bit with blocking), so I'm well past the halfway point now. I can't say with any certainty that I'll finish it before the end of the year, but I'm going to do my best to get close.

For the moment, I'm still sticking by my plan to focus on these two projects (that have taken me way too long!) before I start anything new, but I don't think that plan will last much longer. Not only is the itch to cast on something new very strong and difficult to resist, but I'd also really like to make a few small things for some of my new neighbors for Christmas. They are all just so unbelievably nice!

The couple across the street invited us for Thanksgiving. We weren't able to join them, as we were knee deep in preparing for the big move, so the wife baked us a loaf of pumpkin bread and brought it to us - still warm from the oven - while we were busy working on the new house. Another neighbor up the street brought us dinner our first night here. Enough Swedish meatballs, homemade mashed potatoes and biscuits to feed us all the way through the weekend! Then there are our neighbors across the way, who stop by from time to time to check on our progress and who have been so welcoming and happy to have us join the neighborhood that one wonders who on earth they expected to have move in here? Actually, I know the answer to that question: The big fear in the neighborhood was that three or four families would all move in here together, with a half a dozen cars and perhaps an old sofa and refridgerator in the front yard! Although the house isn't huge, it does have four bedrooms and the garage is quite large and could easily be converted to living space. There's also the huge shop building out back that could easily house a small family. The entire neighborhood seems to have let out a collective sigh of relief when just my husband and I moved in!

We still have tons and tons of work to do on the house, but I am now at least settled in my new, temporary workspace. I'm using the upstairs of the house for my workshop until the time comes that we're ready for my husband to build me my own building. (He has taken possession of the workshop building for his woodworking.)

Ready for yarn overload? OK. Here goes:

That's the laceweight to worsted yarn, except for sock yarn.

The one above is the wall of sock yarn. You can also see some of the undyed yarn in that photo. There are various shelves scattered about housing undyed yarn.

Of course, that's not all. There is so much undyed yarn that it's rather overwhelming to think that I'll be dyeing it all and cycling it through the inventory in fairly short order.

This still remains to be unpacked and housed away:

And this also:



(Yes, that's roving. And no, I don't sell roving. And no, I don't spin. But hey ... that doesn't mean I can't have 80 pounds or so of roving hanging around, does it?)

Since I took these photos a couple of days ago, another 200 pounds of yarn has also arrived. All in all, I'd estimate that I have around 700 pounds of yarn at the moment. Wow. Wow. That is *a lot* of yarn!

Now it's time for me to get back to work. Today was my first day actually dyeing in my new space. I'll have to take some photos of that workspace soon. It's quite funny actually. We did nothing to remodel the upstairs yet, since it's just workspace for now. The only things we did were to remove the old carpeting and replace it with the rather ugly workshop floor you can see in the photos above and also to remove the sink in the bathroom and replace it with a large double-basin work sink.

When we made these changes, I didn't think much about how the workspace would look. I was focused on functionality. It wasn't until I moved in that I realized that the room where I actually dye is painted a very bright pink. Add that to the mottled brown floor and you have the ugliest workspace on the face of the earth.

And so now I'm off to create beautiful yarn in the most uninspiring space imaginable! Great day to all!

A Queen and A Mystery

It wouldn't be a Monday without a project or two to share and this Monday is no different, despite the piles of boxes and mess surrounding me as my husband and I slowly settle into our new home after an exhausting weekend of moving.

This week, I have two fabulous projects by Suzy. First up are these Queen of Cups socks that Suzy knit with FF Superwash Merino Wool Sock Yarn in the Prosperity colorway. The pattern is by Nathania Apple and is available on Knitty. Suzy reports that the pattern was neither too difficult nor to easy and was overall a great knit.



Next up, we have Suzy's Swan Lake (Mystery Stole 3) in FF Laceweight Merino in the Spring Breeze colorway. Here is a shot of her daughter modeling:



Here's a picture of the back, where you can see Suzy's lovely handiwork along with the interesting detail of the assymetrical shawl design.



Great work by Suzy! You can see lots more of her wonderful work on Suzy's blog.

That's all for this Monday. Everyone have a wonderful start to another week!