I'm Baaack!

O.K. so, I've been away from this blog for a long long time but, I'm back to knitting everyday and suddenly my interest in bragging about my knitting successes and whining about my knitting struggles, has re-surfaced.

So, for all who are interested, I will begin posting pics of my projects.

Happy Knitting!

Happy Birthday to me!

Im Into Scarves

I’m Into Scarves

I am the first to admit when I am wrong.  For years, I have been telling every new knitter that I meet.  Start with a sweater!  Scarves are too easy and they are boring.  Well, I take it all back.  

I have knit four scarf patterns this year and let me tell you, they were not easy.  I made an off-white cashmere scarf from a pattern with very intricate details that I still don’t understand.  Then I made Ruffles from the book Scarf Styles, which involved short rows and turning, whew!  Next was a triangle scarf made of mohair. Oh my God, the yarn tangled, constantly slipped off the needles and then the hair was flying.  Up my nose and into my eyes, thank goodness there was a little silk in the yarn or I would not have been able to stand it.  By the way, I donated that one to an auction for the American Heart Association only to find out that after spending $60 on the yarn and enduring one month of knitters stress and allergy like symptoms, my hard work would sell for the cost of a $1 Chinese Raffle ticket.

After cleaning out my yarn closet I discovered that I had far too many left over skeins and balls of yarn from previous projects.  I vowed, that very day, to not purchase any more yarn until I used up most or all of these yarns. That brings us to the scarf I am making now. It’s just a basket weave scarf knit in 5 by 5 squares made of some left over linen/wool/mohair yarn that my husband purchased as a Christmas present for me two years ago.  I made myself a beautiful sweater and now he will get an equally beautiful scarf out of the same yarn.  I am still trying to decide if I should sew a matching silk fabric onto the back so that it doesn’t feel scratchy on his neck.  What do you guys think?  Please offer your feedback here.

Picking Up Stitches

I am still trying to pick up all the stitches on that mohair/silk shawl.  I just received an e-mail that said all donations for the auction have to be turned in by September 20th and the way it is going I might still be picking up stitches on the 20th.  

I usually knit on my lunch hour because it is relaxing and takes me out of the work mode for a short time, but picking up these stitches stresses me out!

I am a bad blogger. I haven't posted since I registered this blog. I look at other blogs in wonder and amazement thinking, "How in hell do they have time to write all that stuff, knit all those things and work enough to make the money to buy yarn and pay bills?" Apparently some are way more organized than others. Anyway, knitting, what am I working on now? So many things I am almost ashamed to say. I made a triangle shawl out of the most beautiful blood red mohair silk that I purchased in the French Quarter in New Orleans, but I didn't make it big enough.(I got tired of knitting across 260 stitches so I bound it off and called it finished.) Now I am back to picking up 260 stitches to make this bigger because at 260 it barely fits around my shoulders and looks slightly similiar to a bandana kercheif. I promised to donate it to a craft fair/auction/raffle at work for the benefit of the American Heart Association so I must finish it now.I am also trying slowly to finish a pair of cashmere/cotton yoga pants. However once finished they will never see the light of day because of a comment my friend Amy made when I told her I was making them. She said, "I have a new rule. No knits below the waist." At first I thought, "Screw that. I'm wearing my pants." Then common sense and the look I imagined on Amy's face kept looming in the back of my mind, so I have decided to finish them and wear them to bed. I cleaned out my yarn closet the other day and realized to my dismay that I have three or four other unfinished projects hanging around as well and since I some obsession with completion I have compelled myself to finish all of them before I begin anything new. So the order of completion is as follows:1. Red mohair/silk shawl2. Green cashmere/cotton pants3. Purple dragonflie sweater4. Cream lingerie set5. Red/White top (on second thought I think I will unravel this)I will post pictures later.

Yarn, Yarn Yarn

I cleaned my yarn closet this past weekend and boy have I overbought. I have enough yarn and knitting books to start my own store. However, after taking the time to organize every ball and skein I realized that I have some yarn that I would never ever use.

You know the yarn that people give you because they don't want it anymore or they found it when cleaning out their grandmothers attic? Then there is also the single balls of acrylic purchased at the random craft store. These were purchased when I was new to knitting and didn't know any better. It didn't take long for me to realize that the better the quality of the yarn the more beautiful the finished product.

Scarf Style Ruffles

I have been working on Ruffles for two weeks now and have 52 inches worth of scarf finished. I was stressing about my ruffles not curling in spots, but now they look fine. However, I did just discover that I am not actually doing the wrap and turn correctly. I read the instructions on the Interweave knits website. I am doing the hide the wrap stitch all wrong. Oh, well, I will do it right the next time.