Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Knitting overload

There was lots of show and tell today at our knitting at the Wild Ramp.  Both Mitzi and Betsy had on wonderful sweaters that they had knitted....Wonderful ideas!  Wonderful yarn!  too many things that I want to do....too little time!

But the one that I actually remembered to take photos of is the cowl that Dar made to give to Sally.  It was an expression of her appreciation for the fact that Sally has made us into a cohesive group that gives each of us so much pleasure every week.  I wish that you could see this cowl in person.....it is sooooooo much prettier than the photo makes it look!













one more thing that I want to record for future ideas.....Betsy brought a book that Sally is going to borrow.  Here is the cover and the inside photo of the sweater that I liked the most that was featured in the book.

Wednesday, December 14, 2016

Knitting for others

I loved the article that Interweave posted this holiday.  Some of us have been knitters for many years.  I have personally knitted for almost 60 years.  And I will be the first to tell you that I have knitted many things that the recipient NEVER wore nor used.  And those occasional items that I knitted for myself that never was used as well.  On the other hand I remember years in which each hat that came off my needles disappeared into one of my children's closets and they are not lying around my house now....so I can guess that they were worn for many years....or at least a season.  My notes say that I was "making hats that looked like one that I had bought for Katie at Abercrombie and Fitch."  "Jason took the first one and one of the other girls took the second one"....

Here is the URL to read the article for yourself:

http://www.interweave.com/article/knitting/5-things-to-remember-about-non-knitters/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=kd-lma-nl-161212&utm_content=905851_KE161212&utm_medium=email

Monday, December 12, 2016

Purl Soho Gentle Giant hat

Purl Soho sent a pattern for a hat that is VERY quick to knit using their yarn called Gentle Giant



The hat calls for exactly one skein for an adult hat.  Here is the pattern:

Red Indiecita yarn that I bought in Peru

I ended up using a pattern from Berroco for my Christmas project.  The pattern is Berroco #363 Ceonothus.  It is a shawl that I liked in Sarah's store in Kanawha City.  Thank goodness I blog.  I am almost finished with the first ball of yarn and I couldn't for the life of me remember which yarn I was using.  I had noted several weeks ago that I might use a pattern that Dar had just finished to make a Christmas shawl out of the Indiecita yarn that I bought in Cusco on our Peru trip.....with that clue

I knew just where the next ball of yarn could be found.  So before I forget what I am doing here is a new post about my Christmas project.

The yarn is Indiecita which is 100% baby alpaca.  I bought it in a small store in Cusco.  The pattern is Berroco #363 Ceonothus.  I hope to wear it Christmas 2016!


Saturday, December 10, 2016

Dyed in the Wool

Not sure how I found this tonight.  Probably an e-mail from Pinterest.  By the time I got to the site the yarn that I longed for was not available:







This last one is Mississippi Marsala

Bummer!

The site can be found at:

http://imagiknit.com

Wednesday, December 7, 2016

Mitzi's sweater

Mitzi wore a wonderful sweater to knitting at the Wild Ramp yesterday!  I asked for the pattern.  She texted me this morning that she thinks from doing a bit of googling that it was in an interweave magazine Fall 2000.  I will look for it after the holiday.

Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Malabrigo yarn bought in Kanawha City Yarn shop

I went with Mitzi to pick up her lovely grey yarn for the sweater that she planned to make for her daughter for Christmas.  And was taken with a cowl that was on display. The yarn is Malbrigo Rasta.  The pattern that Sarah had used to make the cowl on Display was Herringbone Neckwarmer by Breean Elyse Miller.  It is free on Ravelry.  Sarah used #19 needles and cast on 20 stitches.  There are 90 yards in the skein of yarn.  Below are some photos that the designer shows on Ravelry:





Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Mitzi's sweater

Mitzi knit a sweater for her daughter for Christmas.  It is lovely with a shawl collar.  But the really huge plus on this pattern is that there is no putting it together at the end....it is knit in one piece and there is very little finishing work to it.  The pattern is Buckley on Ravelry.  Mitzi bought her yarn at the Kanawha yarn store from Sarah.

Saturday, November 26, 2016

Quaker Yarn Stretcher Boomerang in Cascade Luna Paints yarn

I am looking at yarns Thanksgiving weekend while Mary jogs.  Because of Black Friday, there are great sales.  One is Cascade Luna Paints yarn a 100% cotton yarn from Peru that has been reduced from $12.50 to $2.87.  It is in a very pretty colorway featuring red/pink/grey/black.  My favorite pattern using this yarn has been the Quaker Yarn Stretcher Boomerang.  It is a pattern that I have already purchased and can probably be found both on Ravelry and also in Dropbox.  But one of the things that I most wanted to save is a photo of a VERY pretty way to wear this shawl:


You can see other photos of other shawls made with this same pattern on Ravelry at:

Quaker Yarn Stretcher Boomerang




Second yarn I looked at on Love knitting is Schulana Islanda.  It is a Super Bulky yarn in merino and Alpaca.  109 yards in a skein.  The pattern that I found for it is called cywo's crispin snood:



and leaf mould:



I have not bought the leaf mould pattern yet.

Monday, November 21, 2016

Yea! Yarn I didn't buy! Noro Silk Garden

One of the companies had Noro Silk Garden on sale last night.  It is so pretty!  It was tempting.  I found the below shawl that is on Ravelry.  The site is jennyrib September.  The directions are not totally clear, but I think that she used two different Noro Silk colorways:  341 Multi and 282 Pink, Green, Burgundy, Copper.  She doesn't say just how she used them, but looking at the shawl, I am guessing that she finished one then added the other to make it the size that she wanted.  Because it seems that the bottom is quite unrelated to the top part.  So I am pretty sure that she was just using up yarn and ran out.  I think she even says that someone gave her yarn.....The pattern is Simple but Effective Bulky shawl ....filed in dropbox.  She says she uses size 8 needles (which would be sensible needle size for Noro Silk Garden) but doesn't say how many yards she used.  I didn't buy the Noro Silk Garden that was on sale.



Sunday, November 20, 2016

Shawl with some cables seen on Ravelry

Love knitting has a sale on Lang yarn.  I was browsing on Ravelry when I found the following shawl:



There is no pattern available via Ravelry.  The lady who made it says that she bought a kit ....I think perhaps in Europe as she said the directions were in French.  The project is on Ravelry at:

ssgirl > notebook > projects > Chale Été

She says that she used sport yarn and needed 574 yards

Oh here is where she bought the kit:

Chale Été 

Points En Croix, Vienne, France


Monday, November 14, 2016

Knit Picks City Tweed Drop Stitch Shawl



This shawl is stored in dropbox.  I ordered City tweed from Knit Picks in Chipmunk:

Diadem Solid Fingering in Copper

I have longed for some of this yarn.  I can not resist tonight when it is on sale.  

For this yarn I chose the pattern Interlude which is on dropbox in shawl file.

Aloft Super Kid Mohair yarn in Tarragon and Cranberry



I plan to use La La's simple shawl for both of these.

Debbie Bliss Rialto Lace Edged Shawl in Luminance Lace Yarn color powerful



The pattern that I chose for this yarn is Debby Bliss Rialto Lace Edged shawl.  I have stored the pattern in dropbox in shawls.

.

Reyna shawl in green Capretta yarn

And then I had to buy one more Marshall project.  It is a Reyna Shawl in Green Capretta yarn from Knit picks.

The Reyna shawl looks like the below:



I have stored the pattern in both drop box and on my Ravelry page.  I think that this is the perfect pattern as I always have trouble coming up with something to wear at the very early games when the weather is warm.

Mathilda shawl in green Andean Treasure Yarn

Oh, phooey.....I am shopping again.  Knit Picks has a yarn value tonight.  It is a sport yarn weight that gets amazing reviews as being soft and non-scratcher.  The yarn is 100% baby alpaca.  I have been looking for something to wear to occasional Marshall games...I guess this is it.  

You can see that it is an amazing value.  The other colors were either full price or very slightly discounted.  The pattern that I chose is called Mathilda Shawl.  I bought it from Ravelry and it is stored in dropbox.  Below is what the pattern looks like:

Sunday, November 13, 2016

Poncho using Cascade Rabat from my stash

In the middle of having not finished other projects, I decided to start a poncho for the fall.  Someone in the Wild Ramp group brought a Noro magazine that had a pattern that I liked.  And I found some Cascade Rabat upstairs in my stash.  And it just seemed like a good idea.  Here is a of the poncho in the pattern:

Hmmmm....can not find the pattern....need to ask Peg Williams on Tuesday to help me fill this blank in.  It is turning out very pretty.  This weekend I finished the front or back....you knit them the same....just a slightly different length.  So I will be starting the other side on Tuesday.  Here is the yarn specs:




















The main reason I wanted to add this today is that I ended the first side ready to start row 21 of the pattern.  I will be reusing the index cards and may need to know where I am on the pattern.

Saturday, November 12, 2016

Stashbuster shawl

I get pins from pinterest quite regularly.  They know I like yarn and organizational ideas.  This mornings pins included a shawl.  The lady who knit this is a spinner and she had used up odds and ends that she had on hand.  The pattern is Far Away, So close.  I have the pattern in my collection and it is very pretty just the way originally pictured.  The pattern is filed in Drop Box.  It calls for size 10 needles and 270 yards of yarn for the small size and 500 yards for the size shown here.

Tuesday, November 1, 2016

Wild Ramp on the first day of November.

We had a large and enthusiastic group at the Wild Ramp today.  I had asked Peg Wolfe to come and share her Qiviut yarn that she had bought on an Alaskan Cruise that she and Ken had taken.  It is absolutely amazing stuff....it is so light that it hardly seems to be there....and she said that the knitters in Alaska say to never double it because it would be too hot to wear.  Gorgeous yarn and amazingly soft!

I have to stop for a minute to watch the sunset!  Amazing!

Betsy shared a lovely shawl and fingerless mittens made from a Noro yarn.  She has just started a new grey sweater from a mohair blend.  She is using broken ribbing at the beginning of the sweater and it is WONDERFUL!  It is much prettier in person.  But the thing that is exceptionally nice about it is that it does not do the clingy thing that ribs were invented to do....that is to hug the body.  This rib is loose.  It is simple.  Knit two, purl two on the odd rows.  Then purl all the way across on the even rows.  I forgot to ask her about the cast on.  It would need to be something that is not tight as well.











Dar shared a new shawl that she had finished.



She made this out of sock yarn on size 6 needles.  The pattern is Wild Heart that she bought on Ravelry.  After everyone was almost gone and we were down to a very small group we talked about the possibility that I might use this pattern with the Indiecita DK that I bought in Peru for my Christmas project.  I may start this this weekend.

Mitzi was working on hats for her new grandchild....Peg showed me the amount that she had knitted with her Noro yarn that is similar to the project I am knitting.....Several of our members were working on socks or scarfs....we were a large group....I was quite far from several....but I did get a laugh ......Mary Jane was "hiding" her project.....not sure that she liked it....and I LOVED the look of the yarn when I saw it peaking out.....again the project is much prettier in person!  Very natural looking.  Mary Jane said that she had bought it from Joyce, so it is not a new yarn.




So it was not until Friday night that I found time to look for the yarn that Mary Jane was using.  I knew that it was an old yarn that she had bought from Joyce before Joyce closed the store.  It turned out that it was distributed from a very small company that worked from Wales.  Oh, my gosh, I was hooked!  Somehow I was lucky enough to read that the company was closing on a blogsite early in my googling:

http://www.scifiville.com/?p=932

I now have a wonderful stock of absolutely GORGEOUS yarn from Colinette that should be arriving at my home in the next week.  Did I need it?  NO!.....do I love it YES!

Saturday, October 22, 2016

Baby hats

While looking for patterns for size 13 needles because Rowan Thick N Thin yarn in GORGEOUS colors is on sale, I saw a wonderful children's hat....when I followed the links looking for that pattern, I found an article on how to figure out what size hat to knit for a baby gift....it is a great article and can be found on the craftsey sight at:

https://www.craftsy.com/blog/2015/08/baby-hat-knitting-sizes/

Now I will try to find the hat that I loved to add here.

I ended up on an Etsy sight called KnotEnufKnitting.  I bought four of this lady's patterns....two cowl patterns, one adult dress pattern, and the hat pattern pictured above.  I will file them in dropbox knitting file with file name KnotEnufKnitting.

Tuesday, October 11, 2016

amygraceknits blog

I had a great day today!  I am tempted to tell all of the fun things that happened.  However, I will stick to only those that are knitting events.  Tuesday is the day that I knit at Yarn Therapy at the Wild Ramp.  My favorite day is Tuesday because of the knitting.  However, I have to admit that the group gathered today admitted to each other that we enable....maybe even encourage our addiction:  YARN!

I was late.

So after I bought a muffin I shared the yarns that I had bought at the fiber event in Athens, Ohio.  Then I had fun seeing everyone's new knitting projects.  ...Hmmmm...Oh Wow.....I am getting so off the subject.  I will go back and start again.  This is not simple.

Kelly sat beside me.  She had started a lovely sweater in Berroco Blackstone Heather.  I REALLY liked the yarn and the sweater.  Then tonight Love Knitting sent me an e-mail that advertises the very same yarn at a reduced price.  So I went on-line to see what others had done with the yarn and found the blog site:

http://amygraceknits.blogspot.com

I think that her site is worth visiting....but the post of interest is at:

http://amygraceknits.blogspot.com/2013/06/a-few-things-off-of-needles.html

It is a darling child's sweater from this yarn that I didn't want to loose.

OK.  I quit for tonight.  I will add/edit this blog post tomorrow.

Sunday, September 18, 2016

Mermaid Tail







































Kya is pictured abovet modeling the finished project.  You can not really see that there are "scales" all over the body of the garment....but how cute the tail turned out was a very pleasant surprise.

Mia said she didn't care about having a mermaid tail.  She is just as happy having a blanket made out of her part of the yarn.  So I spent the trip to yellow springs making Mia a blanket from the old fashioned dishcloth pattern.  I just continued to yarn over and make the "dishcloth" bigger until I had a child's sized blanket and then did the knit two together and yarn over until finished.

I have to admit that I was very excited when Mia did not want to have a mermaid tail of her own.  It was fun making the first one, but I prefer something a bit faster to make next.  I'll add the blanket to the blog post when I finish it this week.

Fiber Festival in Yellow Springs, Ohio

I told my buddies that I wasn't going to blog about our trip to Yellow Springs, Ohio because of my being embarrassed by my having purchased MORE yarn on this jaunt!  However, we had so much fun that I can NOT totally ignore the event as I journal my knitting life!

Sally drove us to Yellow Springs in her WONDERFUL motor home on Friday.  Friday evening found us sharing cheese and crackers, a bit of wine, Mitzi's wonderful chili that made a great taco salad with the added ingredients that Dar had brought.  It was topped off with Sally's cobbler that "was to die for"!  And, of course, the featured event of the evening was our knitting!  And discussing the plan for the next morning's shopping event.

We agreed that we would leave the motor coach in time to "hit" the tents that housed the vendors when they opened their doors at 9.  And we had agreed that we would go to the vendors that were the most popular last year first.  So our first purchases were at Wolle's and at Fiber Optics.

I will add to this post as I find time.  But I have to add that Sally is a wonderful driver and that I would ride with her ANYWHERE!  Great trip!

Tuesday, September 6, 2016

Betsy's Poncho

Betsy shared the recently finished poncho in beautiful shades of purple today at the Wild Ramp.  Betsy graciously allowed me to put information on my blogsite so that I could recreate something similar from my stash.



It is knit as a large rectangle and then sewn together to create a poncho.  Betsy made her rectangle 28 inches by 56 inches.  She cast on 85 stitches and knit with a size 10 and1/2 needle.  It requires 1000 yards of yarn.  Below is a close up of the stitches:



This week Betsy brought two more ponchos that she had knitted.  One is black and the other has three colors of mohair knitted in stripes.









She shared the pattern that she used with us.  I have filed it as Betsy's Poncho in Using Stash in the kitchen knitting file.  This pattern calls for 700 yards and size 15 needles