Welcome to my blog. This blog is simply talking about my knitting and spinning adventures. I will talk about different yarns and fibers I have used and review patterns. Please don't forget to subscribe to my blog, it's greatly appreciated.

Sunday, December 16, 2012

Episode 8 - One Week Till Christmas

Hello Everyone,



Shout Outs
Shawl KAL from Dec 1st till Jan 31st. Please tag your projects with tfkdecjankal
 
FO’s (Fearless Success)
None

WIP’s (Being Fearless)
Color Affection by Veera Valimaki in madelinetosh tosh merino light in the seawash, graphite, and oceana colorways, US 6 4.0 mm needles
Rotation Rib Socks by Lisa Beamer (Fibernymph hostess of the 90% Knitting Podcast) in Fibernymph Dyeworks Bounce in Home for Christmas color way, US 1 2.25 mm needles
Wedding Bouquet by Linda Cyr (Crafty Ever After, magazine) in Red Heart Soft on size US 7 4.5 mm needles

Spinning
None

Enabling
none

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Episode 7 - It's all about Me

Welcome Everyone,

I hope you will enjoy this weeks episode.



Shout Outs
Art Science Nature Knit Podcast, host coolwaterhotsun Natalie
Shawl KAL from Dec 1st till Jan 31st. Please tag your projects with tfkdecjankal

FO’s
Crosswords at the Coffee Shop by Karrie Steinmetz in fibranatura Aspen in the Sunrise colorway, US 8 5.0 mm needles

WIP’s
Color Affection by Veera Valimaki in madelinetosh tosh merino light in the seawash, graphite, and oceana colorways, US 6 4.0 mm needles
Rotation Rib Socks by Lisa Beamer (Fibernymph hostess of the 90% Knitting Podcast) in Fibernymph Dyeworks Bounce in Home for Christmas color way, US 1 2.25 mm needles

Spinning
None

Enabling
Knitpicks Shawl Stick
Hiya Hiya needles

Sunday, December 2, 2012

Episode 6 - Life is too Short

Welcome Everyone,


Rest in Peace: Karrie Steinmetz (KnitPurlGurl) you will be greatly missed.

Finished Objects
Chelsea the Chatterbox Monster by Jenna Krupar, host of Retro Lemon Studios podcast, in Dancing Dog Dyeworks Waltz Worsted in the Maisy & Bella Colorway on size 3.5 mm needles.

Works in Progress
  • Basic Ribbed Socks by Kate Atherley in Plymouth Stiletto (no colorway) on size 2.25mm needles.
  • Wedding Bouquet by Linda Cyr (Crafty Ever After, magazine) in Red Heart Soft on size 4.5 mm needles
  • Crosswords at the Coffee Shop by Karrie Steinmetz in Fibranatura Aspen, Sunrise colorway on size 5.0 mm needles
  • Color Affection by Veera Valimaki in Madelinetosh Tosh Merino Light, in the Seawash, Oceana, and Graphite colorways on size 4.0 mm needles. (KAL from December 1st till January 31st on the Fearless Knitter group on ravelry)
Spinning
Into the whirled superwash merino in the Bird Girl colorway

Enabling


Sunday, November 25, 2012

Episode 5 - It's Not A Secret

Welcome Everyone,



Dec/Jan KAL
Color Affection by Veera Valimaki, I will knit mine out of MadelineTosh tosh merino light in the Graphite, Oceana, and Seawash colorways.

Finished Objects
  • Triangle Wrap by Vickie Howell in Patons Classic Wool in Aran Colorway on size 5.5mm needles.
  • Three Willows Cowl by Lesley Reynolds in Cascade Pacific Chunky in Dusty Turqouise #23 colorway on size 8mm needles.
Works in Progress
  • Hitchhiker by Martina Behm in mystery yarn from Germany on size 3.5 mm needles.
  • Chelsea the Chatterbox Monster by Jenna Krupar, host of Retro Lemon Studios podcast, in Dancing Dog Dyeworks Waltz Worsted in the Maisy & Bella Colorway on size 3.5 mm needles.
Spinning
into the whirled BFL in the Vegetable Medley colorway - 216 yards of a fingering to sport weight

Enabling
  • Tangerine Designs - Sheep Needle gauge plus Pins
  • Knitpicks - Biggo in Calypso Heather x2
  • Knitpicks - Comfy Sport in Black x2
  • Knitpicks - Comfy Sport in Pomegranate x2
  • Cascade - 220 Sport in Mystic Purple #2450 x4
  • Cascade - 220 in Silver Grey # 8401 x5
  • Berrocco - Vintage in Pool Party #51107 x4
  • Katia - Gatsby #88503
  • Fibernymph Dye Works - Bounce in Home for Christmas

Sunday, November 18, 2012

Episode 4 - Still Improving

Welcome Everyone,

I forgot to mention two things:
First and foremost thank you so much Leslie aka Pixie Knits for gifting me the Stripe Study shawl, it really cheered me up and made my day.
Second I always forget to say: If you are a returning viewer thank you for coming back and if you are a new viewer thank you for giving me a shot. I even wrote this on my show notes and still forgot to say this. I really mean it and love my viewers.

FO's
it's a secret

WIP's
  • Triangle Wrap by Vickie Howell in Patons Classic Wool in Aran Colorway on size 5.5mm needles.
  • Basic Ribbed Socks by Kate Atherley in Plymouth Stiletto (no colorway) on size 2.25mm needles.
  • Three Willows Cowl by Lesley Reynolds in Cascade Pacific Chunky in Dusty Turqouise #23 colorway on size 8mm needles.
 Enabling
  • Eucalan Wool wash
  • Cascade Pacific Chunky in Dusty Turqouise #23 colorway x2
Magazine Review
  • KnitScene Winter 2012

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Episode 3 - Happy Veteran's Day

Welcome Everyone,

Finished Objects:

It's a secret

Works in Progress:
  • Triangle Wrap by Vickie Howell in Patons Classic Wool in Aran Colorway on size 5.5mm needles.
  • Basic Ribbed Socks by Kate Atherley in Plymouth Stiletto (no colorway) on size 2.25mm needles.
Spinning:
into the whirled BFL in the Vegetable Medley colorway.

Enabling:
Cascade 220 Superwash in 821 and 893 colorway
into the whirled November club, Corriedale in the Irohamiji colorway.

The Sock club sign up can be found here

Don't forget to join the Ravelry group here

Thanks for watching!

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Episode 2 - Election Day


Finished Object
  • Toshette Mitts by Rebecca Hill knit out of handspun (Three Waters Farm, Santa Fe colorway) on size 4.5mm needles.
Works in Progress
  • Triangle Wrap by Vickie Howell in Patons Classic Wool in Aran Colorway on size 5.5mm needles.
  • Hitchhiker by Martina Behm in mystery yarn from Germany on size 3.5 mm needles.
  • Basic Ribbed Socks by Kate Atherley in Plymouth Stiletto (no colorway) on size 2.25mm needles. 
Spinning
into the whirled BFL in the Vegetable Medley colorway.

Enabling
Berrocco Vintage 5105 colorway. 

Friday, November 2, 2012

Podcast Update

Hi Everyone,
I just wanted to give a quick update. My fiance messed with my settings and downloaded multiple programs. He finally came to the conclusion that I need a new camera. I just placed my order and the camera should arrive on Tuesday. I won't be able to record this weekend, but am planning on recording when I receive the camera. In the meantime feel free to stop by the Ravelry group. I will keep you all posted.

Saturday, October 27, 2012

Episode 1: The one where I say anyways 1000000 times

Welcome Everyone,
so I decided to make a podcast/videocast called "The Fearless Knitter." My dad is working on a logo for me. A couple things I want to apologize for, my camera and sound suck and I need a new camera, I talk a lot with my hands and move around a lot do to anxiety (once I get comfortable recording that should stop), I said anyways a lot. I forgot to mention that I made a ravelry group (the banner will change once my dad finishes my logo), please feel free to join and start conversations as well. I did start an introduction thread, please introduce yourself I would like to see who's watching.



Show Notes:


Finished Objects
none that I can show :(

Works in Progress
  • Triangle Wrap by Vickie Howell in Patons Classic Wool in Aran Colorway on size 5.5mm needles.
  • Evenstar Shawl by Susan Pandorf in Unique Sheep Ling base custom dyed colorway on size 3.25 needles.
  • Hitchhiker by Martina Behm in mystery yarn from Germany on size 3.5 mm needles. Hanging out in my Bird Leg monster bag.
  • Toshette by Rebecca Hill in handspun Three Waters Farm BFL in Santa Fe colorway on size 4.5 mm needles.
Spinning
Finished spinning Spun Right Round Merino in the Playtime colorway.
Next on the wheel into the whirled BFL in the Vegetable Medley colorway.

Sunday, October 21, 2012

To Podcast or not to Podcast

Welcome Everyone,
this week went by pretty slow, just working. Remember last week I talked about the charity event? Well, Tuesday I got a phone call that I won a door prize, I won a free class at the local yarn shop that I go to every week. I can't believe the luck I been having with knitting related prizes. I am very excited about my free class and immediately called the owner on her cell phone. She said I can either take a class or have a private lesson, if there is something I wanted to learn. I have a pattern in mind that I will need help to get started on, since the pattern confuses me. Yesterday, I went downtown to drop of my charity hat and pick up my prize, after that I hung out at the local yarn shop. So, this past couple weeks I been thinking about turning the blog into a podcast. I watch a lot of them and am friends with a podcaster and the podcasting community seems to be very nice. However, I don't know anything about the technical aspects, for instant what software to use or how to edit. My fiance is a computer buff and I have a laptop that has a camera and microphone build in, so I am sure I could do it. I think now my question is would any one even watch me babble about my knitting and spinning, I really can't think of anything that would make me unique from all the other podcasts. Well, let me know what you think in the comments below.

Finished Objects
Like I  said, I dropped off the charity hat. I just knitted a plain stockinette hat with a rolled brim and I added a pom pom. I think I used size 7 (4.5 mm) needles and some red heart that I donated as well.

I finished my Under Cover of Midgnight Hooded Cowl by Julie Turjoman out of the Vampire Knits book. I knit it out of Cascade 220 Heather Tweed on size 10.5 (6.5 mm) needles. I really like it and hope it gets cold enough this winter so I can wear it.
 

Works in Progress
I have absolutely no progress on the wedding shawl and all the other projects are secret knitting.

Spinning
Yay, I actually spun a significant amount. I finished the first 2 ounces of my Spun Right Round in the Playtime colorway and I am almost finished with the second half.

Last week I met up with my friend Pam, who let me borrow her spinning wheel. She asked me if I could spin one of her fibers and I get to pick. She bought a beautiful into the whirled in May, when we were at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. It's into the whirled BFL in the Vegetable Medley colorway.
Enabling
I received my October fiber shipment. It is from no other than into the whirled  Merino in the Bodhi colorway. I love it, once again it has my favorite color aqua and teal in it. Also, they included the QR code on their label again, this time after I scanned it I emailed myself the link so that I can share it with you guys. The link includes a lot of information, which is very helpful in any fiber related craft.
Here is the link regarding info about Merino. The first picture is her inspiration picture, also this is the last nature inspired club installment.

I also purchased a few skeins at my local yarn store, but they are for secret knitting projects and I don't want to spoil anyone.

That's it for this week, next week again no plans. Please let me know what you think of the podcasting idea, you can leave a comment or private message me on Ravelry, I am StitchesPlease.

Happy Knitting,
Courtney

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Happy Dance

Welcome back Everyone,
you might have noticed that I skipped a week. At my work two sicknesses were making the rounds, either you got a head/chest cold or a bad and I mean BAD stomach bug. If my stomach hears the words stomach bug, I am guaranteed to catch it and I sure did. However, now I am all better and since I missed a week I will have a lot to talk about.
I started getting sick past Friday, but was a trooper and dragged myself and my Fiance to the Montpelier Fall Fiber Fest. I met up with my friend Lesley and we ended up doing a little bit of shopping together. At some point she had to go and demonstrate spinning with our local Spinning and Weavers guild, I went and did some more shopping. We didn't stay too long, since I didn't feel too great. Honestly I wasn't too impressed and decided that next year in spring I will once again go to Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival and then in fall I will do a spinning/knitting retreat with a semi-local yarn shop. This year I had to pick between the fall fiber fest or the retreat.
So, then Sunday I didn't leave my bed all day and I ended up calling in sick at work on Monday and also stayed in bed that day. Yesterday, the local Spinning and Weavers Guild held a charity event called "Let's Stitch." That's where I donated that pile of yarn I showed a couple weeks ago. Also, me and Lesley hung out together and knitted hats for the charity.
Today, was a pretty big day for my family. My sister and her husband are expecting their first child and today we had a reveal the gender party. My sister, mom, dad, her husband and all of his family live in Arizona, however I live in Virginia. So, what we did is I was on Skype via one Ipad, my birth-father from Germany was on another Ipad and that way we were able to experience the whole thing. When my sister had her last ultrasound they informed the doctor that they didn't want to know the sex of the baby, the doctor gave them an envelop, which they gave to a bakery. Today, they cut the cake and whatever color was the filling is the sex of the baby. We are happy to announce that I will have a nephew, named Micah Ryan. I took some pictures via Skype, that I will add underneath this.




Finished Objects - FO's
Nothing :(

Works in Progress - WIP's
First up is the Evenstar by Susan Pandorf out of Unique Sheep on the Ling base in the custom dyed colorway on size 3 (3.25 mm) Hiya Hiya sharp needles. I finished the 2nd chart and am currently doing the set up for chart #3. Taking pictures is really difficult, because right now I increased to 560 stitches and my cable isn't long enough to spread the shawl out.
New on the Needles is my 4th quarter Loopy Ewe challenge, which is to knit with 2 strands held double. I chose to knit the Under Cover of Midnight Hooded Cowl by Julie Turjoman, it was published in Vampire Knits book. I am knitting it out of Cascade 220 on the heather base on size 10.5 (6.5 mm) needles. While knitting this I taught myself how to knit cables without a cable needle, just to know it.
Next project is also new, it is the Charity hat. I am knitting just a plain knit hat with a rolled brim out of yarn I am donating as well.
Spinning
None, I didn't touch the wheel in two weeks.

Enabling
I won something else. Last week I won fiber of my choice from The First Draft, I chose Rambouillet in the "Quiet Contrary" colorway. I will attempt to navajo aka chain ply this.
Next, all the things I bought at the Fall Fiber Fest. Here is a picture of everything, including my Tshirt.
First thing I bought is from Wild Hare Fiber Studios I bought Faux Cashmere, it is just as soft as the real deal and is 100% Microfiber Nylon, in the "Friend or Faux" colorway.
Next up I bought to skeins from a Lady who is from Germany and the yarn she was selling is like the yarn my aunt sent to me from Germany, except the way it is dyed. I bought two, since I couldn't decide. Anyway, her store is called Wolle's Yarn Creations (wolle means yarn in German). It's 100% cotton, very soft for cotton and both are gradiants. The first colorway is called "New Vintage."
The second colorway is called "Capri 2."
The whole time I was looking for a heavy variegated sock yarn at least 500 yards for the My Hope by Laura Linneman. I just couldn't find one, well when we were just about to leave I saw one I really liked, but again not enough yards. The last skein I touched at that booth was the same colorway, but the skeins were bigger to be exact they were 510 yards and it was the last one in the colorway. It's from Creatively Dyed Yarns on the Calypso base in the "Queen" colorway.
Next week I have nothing planned and hopefully I get lots of knitting done.

Happy Knitting,
Courtney


Sunday, September 30, 2012

Oh WoW...

Welcome Everyone to my blog,
Oh WoW indeed, for anyone who doesn't know me, I used to be a gamer. Well, one video game in particular, World of Warcraft aka WoW. I played from December 2007 till about February 2011, this past Tuesday the new expansion Mist of Pandaria was released, one word Pandas. I pretty much played only WoW this past week and had to make an extreme effort to knit. I missed knit night and didn't go to my usual Saturday hang out at the yarn shop.This weekend I did pretty good switching from playing WoW to crafting. I honestly have too many hobbies, but they all make me happy and life is just too short to be miserable and bored all the time, you will never ever hear me say I am bored. Talking about getting bored, that's the reason I have so many hobbies, I tend to get bored very quick and need a lot of variety in my life. Anyway, besides only playing on the computer, Sedona is much better and we got the hang with her medicine.

Finished Objects - FO's
Believe it or not, but I actually do have a FO. However, I can't tell you anything about it, since it's the secret knitting I been working on. I will post about it in 90 days, yes folks Christmas is that close.

Works in Progress - WIP's
First up is the Evenstar by Susan Pandorf, knit out of custom dyed Unique Sheep on their Ling base on size US 3 (3.25mm) Hiya Hiya needles. I have about 11 more rounds of the "easy" part to go and then the 2nd chart gets a little crazy. The 2nd chart was fairly easy to this point, which makes knitting on it much less frustrating. Haha I just noticed the folds make it look like a grouchy face.
Next, I been knitting on my The Total German Hitchhiker by Martina Behm out of mystery yarn I received as a present from my aunt, Heike who lives in Germany, on size US 4 (3.5 mm) needles. I have 22 points and will knit as many as I can get out of that one ball. The first picture is to show the size of it and the second is to show the colors.

Spinning 
I started spinning a Spun Right Round braid, it's Merino wool top in the Playtime colorway. I will spin one half from one end and the other from the opposite end for maximum barber pooling. I absolutely love the colors and it is sooooo soft, I love it. If you are a spinner go check out their store, they have amazing braids and very reasonable prices. The first picture is the braid before I took it apart and the second is what I have spun so far.


Enabling
Boy do I have enabling all right. I won some, earned some, bought some, and was gifted some. Where to start? Two weeks ago I mentioned the Make-a-Wish Fundraiser that I donated to and was entered in a drawing. I received my prize a pair of my choice Signature Needles I chose circulars, size US 6 (4.0 mm), stiletto points, 5 inch needle lenght, and 32 inch cable lenght. I have been able to resist to cast on with them, but as what I can see I will love these. They swivel at the join (only needle I know that do that), the cable has no memory, very smooth join, nice finish on the needle, very light, and sharp points.
Last week I mentioned that I was able to pick my prize yarn from The Loopy Ewe for Camp Loopy that I had earned for completing all three challenges to their specifications. I received my Dream in Color in the Smooshy with cashmere base in the Watering Hole colorway. This is the softest yarn I have ever touched and I just want to keep petting it. I absolutely love everything about it.
Also, I had mentioned that I ordered more yarn. First I ordered enough for the 4th quarter challenge, to knit 400+ yards with the yarn held double, so a total of 800 yards. I thought I knew what I will knit, but changed my mind, so now I am hunting for a pattern. I ordered Cascade 220 in the Heather Tweed base. So happy I received 20% discount for ordering during the discount week for the 4th challenge, also I received $25.00 off my ordered since I ordered all my yarn from them for Camp Loopy I had earned enough bonus points for my credit.
And last but not least I ordered a skein of madelinetosh in the tosh merino light base in the Seawash colorway.
I bought that skein with a specific project in mind. I already own two tosh merino light skeins, one in the graphite colorway and one in the oceana colorway. I will use all three to knit the Color Affection, I get to use my new signatures for that project.Yes, I am finally jumping on the bandwagon. Here are all three colors together, I haven't decided in which order I will start, if you have a suggestion please post a comment, thank you.
My aunt from Germany was once again so gracious too sent me more yarn on her own account. She sent me more of the yarn that is the kind I am using for the hitchhiker and actually when I went to take pictures I noticed a small tag in one of the balls and now know a little bit about the yarn, I haven't had the chance to look into it though. Danke Tante Heike, ich habe mich sehr gefreut.
Last week in enabling I showed the September club fiber from into the whirled. This week on many podcasts they mentioned that the label had a scan able QR code, but no one really knew what information it gave you. It didn't even dawn on me to scan mine, till I watched the podcasts. It took me to their website where it had information regarding the breed of sheep, what to know about spinning the fiber, what to know about knitting with that kind of yarn, and what to know about dyeing that fiber. I thought that all that information was amazing and it makes me love into the whirled even more, if that's possible. 

Next week will be same old working during the day and juggling too many hobbies at night. However, something very exciting is coming up on Saturday. Me and my fiance are going to the Fall and Fiber Festival at Mountpelier, Virginia. I am very excited and can't wait, I have been told by many people it's smaller than Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival, but still a very good size. My fiance will look at all the animals, while I go shopping hopefully with my friend Leslie, who will be demonstrating spinning there.

Happy Knitting,
Courtney

Sunday, September 23, 2012

I am crazy Knitting Machine, or am I?

Welcome Everyone,
this has been such a stressful week and I am happy it's over and things start to look better. Monday my lovely Sedona (my torti cat) squad down right in front of me and peed on her bed a couple drops. We knew right then and there something was wrong. We were unable to take her to the vet till Friday, for many reasons. However, as the week progressed things got worst, meaning she peed on both her beds, our bed, and the closet. Also towards the end of the week she pretty much only peed blood. The vet confirmed she has a Urinary Tract Infection and crystals in her urine. She now is on (liquid) medication for 3 weeks. The worst part is it totally is our fault, we were trying to safe money and changed their cat food. Well we learned with the vet bill and switched back to their good food. Since the first day of medication she has been much better, which makes me very happy. On a happy note The Loopy Ewe revealed 3 different colorways for the Camp Loopy prize yarn. Of course I didn't just pick my prize yarn and went along my way, but I will show those goodies hopefully next week.

Works in Progress - WIP's
First up is my Evenstar, knit out of custom dyed Unique Sheep on the Ling base, with size US 3 (3.25mm) Hiya Hiya Sharp needles. I am half way done with the 2nd chart, woohoo, still a ways a very long ways to go. I tried getting a good picture, but yea that's not happening. It will look like I have no progress, since the shawl actually only increases after each chart.
I been working a lot on a secret holiday knitting project.

Finished Objects - FO's
None :(

Next On the Needles
This is were the title is coming from. The Loopy 4th quarter challenge is to knit something with the yarn held double, I will knit The Cinch.
Then, I have a couple holiday knitting projects coming up. 
Also my sister is 3 months pregnant, as soon as we find out the sex of the baby, baby knitting is getting started. 
Meanwhile I have to finish my wedding shawl and knit my bouquet.

Spinning
I finished the August 2012 into the whirled Fiber club. It's Polwarth, I got about 264 yards (my most yardage yet) a heavy fingering to a light sport weight. The picture is before I soaked it and thwacked it. Actually today I washed that one and my last handspun from into the whirled that I completely forgot to wash. The first picture is the yarn and the second is the itty bitty I had left over on my bobbin, I navo plyed it into a mini skein, I had 2 yards.
Enabling
I received the September into the whirled club shipment. It's Superwash BFL (Bluefaced Leicester) in the Aurora Borealis colorway. It's very pretty, green, aqua, dark purple, and black. First I will show the inspiration picture and second the fiber. 

That's it for this week. I hope Sedona will get better this week. Also I should get my Loopy package this week, with lots of goodies. 
Happy Knitting,
Courtney

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

Hello and Welcome Everyone,
this past week I just had my usual work week, with my usual Knit Night on Thursday at the LYS (local yarn store). Saturday I hung out with my friend Lesley at the LYS again and once again we had a blast. We both brought our spinning wheels for Spin in Public Day, those wheels sure are conversation starters. Last week, I forgot to mention two things in my blog. First thing, me and my fiance went for the first time to Longhorn Steak House and the food was great. It's a little on the pricey side, but for the amount of food you get it actually is reasonable. The second thing, I have no idea how that slipped my mind. I won a skein of yarn from the Dramatic Knits podcast, thank you Steve and Callie. I will show the yarn in the enabling section. A little while ago a fellow knitter and triathlete, Lynn Zimm, was holding a fundraiser for the Make a Wish foundation. I donated to receive the My Hope shawl pattern by Laura Linneman, also know as Lala from the Knit Girllls and because I believe the Make a Wish is a very important organization. Lynn raised $16k, which is a total of 4 wishes, that's amazing. Yesterday, she released the list of winners for extra prices. I couldn't believe my eyes, I won a pair of my choice signature needles. Yes, signature needles and they are my 1st pair. I was lucky enough to try them out at the Maryland Sheep and Wool festival, so I know what length needle tip I want (yes you get to pick the lenght of the needle tips and the cable, crazy) now I just need to decide which size needles to pick out.

Works in Progress - WIP's
I won't have any pictures to show this week.
I made a deal with myself to knit at least 2 rows on my Evenstar and with my math it should be done in a little over 4 months, I have 9 months to finish it. The reason there won't be a picture is there is such minimal difference it really doesn't look much different from last time I showed it.
The next 2 projects I worked on are secret holiday knitting. This is my first Christmas as a full blown knitter and I love gifting knitting, so I can guarantee that there will be a lot of secret knitting coming up. I am sorry, but to my surprise my family does read the blog.

FO's
None :(

Spinning
I did get some spinning done. I finished the first half of my ...into the whirled August club fiber. Big thanks to Leslie, since she told me how to spin Polwarth it's been a dream to spin and so far it's my favorite fiber. I am spinning both halves from separate ends to get the most barber pooling I can get. It looks pretty consistent to me, with a couple thick spots. I am about halfway done with the 2nd half. The first picture is the finished 1st half and the second is the 2nd half that I am still working on.

Enabling
As mentioned at the beginning I won yarn a little bit over a week ago and it arrived last week. I won Dancing Dog Dyeworks Jive sock base in the Blue Planet Colorway. It's so soft and squishy and I absolutely love it.
I have a question to all you knitters out there. What do you knit with single skeins like this one when you don't want to knit socks with it? I tend to knit shawls or cowls with it, but am curious of what other people do.

Charity
This week I want to talk about charity. My local spinning guild is having their second annual Let's Stitch event. They team up with the From the Heart organization and there are a couple different ways you can help (the link will have all the information). One way is to donate yarn, so I went through my stash and I am donating almost 30 balls of yarn, around 20 of them are brand new. I think of myself as a more advanced knitter and thanks to watching podcasts and doing most of my yarn shopping online and at local yarn stores, I kind of became a yarn snob. Here is a picture of my mountain of yarn that will be donated to a home where it will be used.
Next week will just be same old, working and more working. I hope you all have a great week.
Happy Knitting,
Courtney

Sunday, September 9, 2012

A Surprise FO

Hi and Welcome to my blog,
luckily this week flew by thanks to being a 4 day week, however unfortunately the weekend is flying by just as fast. During the week I didn't do much except for work and on Thursday I went to my usual weekly knit night at the local yarn shop, Knit2Unwind. Usually on Saturdays I also hang out at the yarn store and this Saturday was no exception. My friend Lesley, who's also the host of the videocast The Knitting Game and other Stuff, stopped by the store. We hung out, knitted, and spun together. This was the first time that I took the spinning wheel to the store and that I spun with someone. It was interesting to watch someone more experienced than me spin, I picked up some hints and tricks and had a lot of fun. Also, I want to wish Lesley a Happy Birthday, which is tomorrow. I hope you have a great day.

Finished Objects - FO's
It "only" took me 3 months, but finally I finished Meine Deutsche Socken (translates to my German socks), also known as the Harvest Dew socks. I used Uschi Universal yarn that was gifted to me by my aunt who lives in Germany. Also, the socks used the German Twisted cast on method, so I thought the yarn was perfect for them and hence the German title for the socks. I loved the pattern it was very easy, it is charted, but I prefer charts over written. The yarn is very soft and I had no problems with it at all. They have not been blocked yet.

Works in Progress - WIP's
I barely worked on my wedding shawl and won't show that this week.
However I casted on something new. I casted on the Total German Hitchhiker, the pattern is called the Hitchhiker. The reason I changed mine is that the yarn I am using was once again gifted to me by my aunt from Germany and this time the designer is German. I don't know what the name of the yarn is or if it even has a name. It came to me already caked up and without a label. To my understanding it's put together by an independent person, who picks different strands to compile the yarn. It is a multi stranded yarn, which makes splitting the yarn very easy and knitting with it a little more difficult, I definitely have to pay attention, usually I can knit without looking down, but with this yarn I have to look down the whole time. Anyway, first picture is the whole thing so you can see the size (sorry lightining sucks) and the 2nd picture is a close up so you can see the color.


I casted on one more project yesterday, but it's a secret.

Spinning
Yes I got  some spinning done. I am almost done spinning the first half (2 ounces) from my August club shipment from ...into the whirled. At first I had a really hard time spinning this, but on Saturday Lesley gave me some hints on how to spin it and it's been fun ever since. I absolutely love into the whirled's fiber. The colors are amazing and the fiber prep is outstanding.

While I was spinning this Sedona was supervising me and making sure I did this right. Please excuse the mess.
Next week will once again consist of working, Thursday and Saturday I will hang out the yarn shop.
Please if you could follow my blog, there is an option on the top left side, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you. 
Happy Knitting,
Courtney







Sunday, September 2, 2012

Another short one...

Welcome to my blog everyone,
this week flew by and once again all I did was work. Friday, we had friends come over after work for a little while, but that's about it.

Finished Objects - FO's
I finished my Social Climber Cowl out of 2 skeins of Noro Silk Garden that I had in my stash. I made it much longer, since I wanted to use as much of the yarn as possible. I liked the way it came out and would recommend knitting it with handspun if you have it and don't know what to knit with it.

 
Works in Progress - WIP's
I only worked on my Evenstar this week, besides finishing the cowl. I complete Chart #1 out of 4 and no longer have to knit it using the magic loop method. I definitely liked knitting it using magic loop better than using DPNs (double pointed needles), but I have heard others saying they can't do it using magic loop, so I guess it is a personal preference. Since it is lace it won't look very good and you won't be able to see the pattern until it is blocked.
Spinning
I spun a little bit today using my ...into the whirled August 2012 fiber club, but not enough to even show.

Like I said it would be a short one again. I been trying to mainly focus on the shawl knitting wise. I really want to cast on something new, but I am limited to only using yarn out of my stash. My stash is actually very limited, since I really only have one skein yarns. Well I am off to enjoy my labor day and knit maybe on my socks or triangle shawl.
See you next week and Happy Knitting. 

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Knitting Blues

Hello and Welcome Everyone,
Let's see week in review, on Tuesday I went and met my friend at the local yarn shop to hang out for a little bit, she moved further away so I don't see her often. The rest of the week I just worked and moved to a different desk. It is official that I will be flying to Arizona on December 22nd and return December 30th and I am very excited about that. Also, last night me and my fiance watched 21st Jumpstreet and I give that movie 5 stars. If you enjoy action comedies or movies like Superbad, you should check it out.

Finished Objects - FO's
Nothing :(

Works in Progress - Wip's
I didn't really feel like knitting on my Harvest Dew Socks much this week. I did finish the heel flap, heel turn, and picked up the gusset. I still have a lot of gusset decreasing to do.
Next up is the reason I didn't really feel like knitting at all this past week. I frogged the Evenstar and re-started. Why? Because it didn't look right, when it was right. I switched from my DPN's to magic loop and enjoy knitting it a little bit better. However, I tried to tell myself to only knit on this at home and nothing else, so what did I do? I avoided knitting all together.
 
Since I lost my knitting mojo this week and in order to get it back I just had to cast on something new. I casted on the Social Climber Cowl on size US 10 (6.0 mm) needles using Noro Silk Garden from my stash. A lot of people have complained about this yarn, I like it. I think it looks like handspun and now I am inspired to use my handspun for Noro intended patterns.

This is all I have for this week. I didn't get any spinning done at all, I haven't even started a new project. I did receive something in the mail, but I can't show that. Hopefully next week I will have more to show and my knitting mojo returns.

Happy Knitting,
Courtney