Yarn deals make me smile

I live very far away from yarn... like reaaaaaly far away from any yarn I like or would use in any project.  We have Wal-Mart, which only carries gigantic balls of crappy quality acrylic in questionable colors.  I've seen other Wal-Mart craft departments that have wonderful selections of many brands and fibers and colors, but our little half aisle of yarn is abysmal.  I obtain most of my yarns by mail order, which isn't really ideal either.

There is just no point in using inferior yarns or ugly colors in anything you have to look at or use for any length of time.  So yesterday, when I had to drive into Utah to catch some back to school sales for the boys, I talked them into stopping at a yarn shop.  I believe there was a bribery of a future steak dinner in there somewhere too.  It's amazing how easy it is to deal with boys/men when you offer them food of some kind.  Daughters are so much harder to bribe effectively.

I had a budget, and promised myself I would only pay in cash just to keep myself from going overboard, plus I gave myself a time limit, and it's a good thing too!  Oh, how I love the feel of yarn... and the colors!!  Mmmmmmm!!!  I could play there all day.

I made my choices and went on up to the checkout counter.  Of course the sales girl was asking about what I was making, and commented on the variety and quantity of yarn I was buying, so I explained to her that I was from out of state and this shop was my closest quality yarn outlet.  Then she tried to set me up on their email list, but I declined, owing to the fact that I rarely come down, and it just makes me sad to see the gatherings and the sales that I can't attend.

Well, right then and there she knocked 15% off my entire purchase.  Wow, really?

Having been in the LYS business previously I know what the markup is on yarn (which makes me crazy paying retail), so I do know this discount really didn't cut into her bottom line so very much, but it was a kind gesture on her part.

Then came the dilemma... this discount would allow me to buy another 3-4 skeins of yarn and still stay under my budget.  So.... do I take advantage of this and walk back and do a grabby hands on some more yarn, or do I smile sweetly and thank her for her generosity and leave.  (sigh)

I did the mature thing and walked away... Regretting every step toward the door, and imagining which colors I would get and what I would make.

The good news is that now I have some colors I truly love and I won't need to go yarn shopping again until after Christmas.... Right?

Playing with Lace

I tend to write out designs that never get made or see the light of day...

On a whim I decided to sign up for a one on one dishcloth swap on Ravelry.  I had planned on sending my partner one of my multitude of already finished cloths, but when she told me her family had allergies I knew I had to buy new yarn, make a new cloth and keep the kitties out of my lap while I made it.  This time I chose 'Creme de la Creme' by Coats.  I've never used it before, but I will use it again.  It's very tightly spun and has way better stitch definition than 'Peaches 'n Cream' or 'Sugar 'n Cream'.  The colors are very crisp and non-muddy.  It knits up a nice firm cloth.

I went hunting through all my notes and patterns in search of something different, when I discovered this doodle page... I had wanted to make an easy to memorize lace pattern (which is what this blog is all about after all!!) that could be made into a small scarf or cowl.  I decided to test knit my design onto a dishcloth for the swap.... On paper it reminded me of snow, made up, it looks more like trees.

So far, I'm liking the rhythm of the design and the look of it.  We'll see how it blocks out and it I take it to the next step and turn it into a real pattern.  So far it's a 'good knit in public' pattern, easy to memorize and keep track of.... Caveat is there is plenty of purling rows.  Even that top garter edge is purled (but it had to be for continuity of design).

This finished (unblocked) cloth looks very much like a watermelon to me.  Very summery and happy.  I like it!

I decided to actually wet block it with wires and pins instead of just laying it out on a towel and patting it a bit like I usually do for gift cloths.  It really defines the lace nicely.

Truth is that I rarely block dishcloths.  I normally just weave the ends in and that's good enough, but I really wanted to see how this pattern looked opened up.

Another test knit?

Just so you don't think I only make dishrags and garter stitch - LOL
Sometimes I do sit on my couch and do fiddly knitting too!

My first foray into test knitting for somebody besides a friend has turned out really great and I had fun doing it (even though it was a mindless car knit pattern).  Last weekend I was a little stressed so I decided to search out something else I might like on the Ravelry forum.  If I am knitting, people leave me alone and that's exactly what I wanted.

I chose another cowl and this one is really pretty... I'm very pleased.  It's called Rose Vines Cowl.  It's a 15x12 repeat that looks cabled, but it's just increases and decreases.

Of course I have to reign in my artsy-fartsy creative side and try not to make major changes to the designers vision.  This is difficult for me and I did make some decisions on this one.  I went with a tonal hand-paint that is the exact same color as my cat!!  Fabulous!!  This yarn is a beautiful "Sweet Georgia Toughlove Sock" in color-way Ginger.

I blocked this very aggressively to open up the lace.  I do wish I had made it narrower and longer.  I may make it again, but who knows.

This week I have to FINISH my Dunes de Sable cloths and get them sent off for the swap... deadline approaching fast.

Dunes de Sable revisited

I know plenty of people think dishcloths are for amateurs, but not me -- I think they are the best way ever to test drive new stitch and lace patterns before you commit to a huge scarf or afghan.  It's no secret that I love Danielle Cote's dishcloth designs because they are so full of possibilities for larger projects.  Unfortunately I have recently been unable to access her (disabled in 2012) site via the wayback machine as I usually do.  Their crawler robots seem to be having issues or something.  Thankfully I took screen shots of the patterns I wanted before they shut the whole thing down.

Anyway, I decided to make the pattern "Dunes de Sable" for a Ravelry swap I'm in.  I had previously blogged that this specific pattern was not public knitting friendly, but I have since changed my mind.  I took my cloths on the road this last week and found this pattern to be quite memorizable/intuitive and I was easily knitting along and chatting with relatives as I attended my daughter's college graduation.  My aunt sat with me and I taught her the pattern while we waited for the graduates to march.... 6 knit, 6 purl, 6 knit... and so it goes.  This yarn is called "Sweet Caroline" and I am in love with it.  100% cotton, but soft enough for a baby ensemble - lovely stuff!!  I'm sad Plymouth discontinued it.

Today, I had a Raveler ask me about my project page and as much as I tried to send her a link for the pattern I was unsuccessful, so I'm going to post it here even though this is NOT my pattern and I do not hold any rights to this.  No copyright violation is intended.  It was originally available for free on the website "Knit Dishcloth Corner" and it was designed by Danielle Cote (who has designed many beautiful cloths - I'm a huge fan!)... I take zero credit for this design even though I have modified it several times for my own uses -- it's really lovely - fully reversible too.

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Dunes de Sable or Sand Waves

copyright by Danielle Cote 2004

@ Knit Dishcloth Corner

(translated from French - but it just sounds so much prettier in French!)

(This is a 9in cloth, Sugar n'Cream, US8 needles)

(Click on pattern to see it full sized)

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(this cloth was modified by subtracting half of a repeat - I wanted a perfect 7in cloth for my swap and that's what I ended up with - this is on size 6US needles)

My "Dunes de Sable" project page on Ravelry - opens a new window

Happy knitting!!!

White Mountain Cowl - test

Silly me -- I was headed on a road trip and thought "Wouldn't it be fun to do a test knit for a designer on Ravelry?"  So off I went to the testing forums to find a pair of lace socks to knit up while I was on the road.... Wrong!  I ended up with this bulky yarn cowl to do instead.  Looking back, I'm so glad I didn't go with socks because I got a lot more talking done with the cowl than I ever would have if I had chosen socks to test.

I accidentally had this beautiful tweedy yarn in my stash, a wool & silk blend, so soft.  It's going to be lovely warm this coming winter... I finished it and uploaded the whole thing while I was on the road - imagine the looks I got taking iPhone selfies in a winter wool cowl in the heat of summer --- yeah, it was funny!

I'm hoping the designer makes this pattern a freebie download because I sure would like to teach it.  It looks like garter stitch, it's actually a row of k and a row of p... all done in the round on huge needles with simple increases and decreases.  I think it would be a great first circ project, and it definitely qualifies as a mindless project that can be easily done while in a distractible situation.

After she publishes it, I'll post the link to her pattern... 

White Mountain Cowl

(which may just be a working name - stay tuned)

My project page - Ravelry

Pattern over-confidence

I had company over last night to watch some movies and chat and have some laughs.  Of course I decided to pick up my knitting while the movie was going.  Normally this activity is fine and I knit along and all is well, but not last night.

I'm still working on Hitchhiker scarves for the girls, so I decided I would start #3.  The yarn is a beautiful handpainted wool and silk blend with rich amethyst jewel colors.  It's going to turn out fabulous when it's finished.

I got fairly far last night and was loving the look and drape of this yarn.... THEN I went to pick it up again this morning.... I found this....

What's up with that little half sized baby tooth?  How in the world did this get past me?

I feel so stupid this morning.  I started out ripping it out up to the next correct row, but in the end I just ripped out the whole thing and will start over.  I can't even think about caving in and putting lifelines in this project, but maybe I ought to.

I think my project today will be writing up a spreadsheet of stitch count for myself.

Wold Wide Knit in Public Day 2014

Well I DID TRY to get a WWKIP gathering here... We don't have a yarn shop within 90 miles of here, but I did stop at the quilt shop and ask around a bit, these ladies are about as close to finding local knitters and I'm going to get.  I posted on Ravelry and I posted an event on Facebook, but no interest at all.  I found one crocheter and one loom knitter who might like to join a guild if I start one, but nobody who wanted to sit and knit with me out in the park today... It's very disheartening.  So I decided to just go be a conspicuous knitter all on my own. (my son's are such good sports about their silly mommy!!)

The Freedom Rally (motorcycle club rally) is in town this weekend so I couldn't think of a more interesting place than that to park my housewife self down in the middle of it all and get out my needles.  I'm STILL working on the Hitchhiker scarf... I have not picked it up since last weekend so I am still on tooth 21.  I've got a Pi shawl KAL going on and that has eaten up quite a bit of my knitting time.

Anyway... Here we are at the drag races out at Airport six this afternoon.  Hitchhiker is turning out to be pretty much a perfect knit in public project.  I love it.  It's just as portable as a dishcloth, and just as mindless.  It was chilly and windy out today and my knitting was slow because my hands don't really like the chill, so I didn't get an entire tooth done, but I'm pretty close.

Go put something on your needles - anything at all.  Go forth and knit!