Experienced knitters don't make fewer mistakes than new knitters. They make bigger ones faster.



- Yarn Harlot -


Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Startitis Has Struck


Today was my last day as Miss Reilly at work! There were so many things i needed to get done today, packing, finalizing the music for the wedding (ceremony, not reception), gathering my gifts for the wedding party...oh i'm exhausted now. While waiting for iTunes to sync my ipod for the 3 hour drive north i will be making tomorrow, i started the Shalom cardigan using Cascade Yarns Eco +, a bulky weight wool, in a deep red/maroon color. The skeins are huge. My gauge using the suggested needle size was way off, but to get gauge I would have had to use something like a US 13. That fabric was not dense enough, so i backed down to a 10.5 and cast on 80 stitches to account for the gauge change. i'm about 15 rows into the yoke and it looks pretty good so far.

Then i realized i needed something to take with me for the weekend. i didn't want to lug around this huge ball of bulky yarn for a cardigan, so i started the Gabriel shawl using Knit One, Crochet Too Ty-dy socks. i bought this yarn quite a while ago, but never found a pattern for it. the stripes are too wide for socks for me (i wear a size 6, so a stripe is about half my foot) so i wanted to make a shawl that would show the color changes well. i figured this would be a simple enough pattern for me to work on during down time (if i have any). however, this yarn splits like crazy! the p2tog on the eyelet rows are probably going to kill me. i'll have to find another way. 

these are both in addition to my second pair of vanilla socks, c/o the knitmore girls. the first pair i made with zitron trekking xxl turned out great, but just a touch too small. so, i'm working on another pair in Schoeller+Stahl Fortissima Colori Socka Color in colorway 15. its a blend of browns and creams with gray bits mixed in. in the ball i thought it could be cool. but when i started knitting it, it's turning out a little ugly. i'm not sure, maybe i need to knit more of it and get a feel for the color changes. for these socks, i cast on 60 (instead of 56 like the pattern) but am going to work the rest of them as the pattern says.

Now that I've added 2 more projects to my WIP box, i feel relaxed enough to try to sleep. wake up is coming just as early as a normal work day. the morning means picking up the bouquets, turning up the ipod, and listening to podcasts all the way to lake michigan.

wish me luck!

Sunday, September 26, 2010

I have to start somewhere.

Hi everyone, and thanks for giving my blog a look.

This all started from a challenge I gave myself for this Christmas season. Since I got back into crocheting and knitting, I've been making most gifts for close family and friends. But since my fiance and I just moved to Indianapolis, money has been a little tight. I decided that this year I would knit from my stash only. I also decided that the first things I would make for myself would also be from stash yarn. If I've paid for it, why not start using it. But I wanted to take it a step further. With the amount of money I spend on yarn, what's a couple more dollars for a pattern? But if I'm going to keep up this "free" theme, I'm going to use only free patterns found online or in books from the Indianapolis library.

But I don't want this to end with yarn. What other inexpensive things are there to do around the Circle City? To what extent can I utilize the FANTASTIC library in this county (even if they are cutting hours and things)? What will this new life hold for me? For my fiance?

That's right, I'm also getting married in 5 days. SO many new things are happening, all in a matter of a few months.

So, first thing's first. Time to get hitched. Then afterwards, Holiday Stash-down 2010 will begin.