Thursday, January 12, 2017

So, it seems I'll do ....

anything to make knitting this cowl interesting. Last night I found myself agreeing to go to Lowes to 'browse' with my partner. Not only do I detest going to Lowes, browsing there is like being tortured. Yet, I went willingly, even pawed through the clearance holiday racks for lights, bulbs and new snow. yikes!!
This morning I resolved to turn it around, find the fun!
This lovely shaker knitting box was a gift several years ago. I've never used it (too nice) and decided that drastic times call for drastic measures.
loaded it up with the remaining small skeins - that I've put into balls - added scissors
threaded the next color through....
joined it to my current color. I really steamed through that ball in anticipation of making this work!
can't say I'm getting any farther any faster, but I'm determined : )

Wednesday, January 11, 2017

catching up and knitting on...

I loved the idea behind the manic panic cowl... using up lots of little skeins and having a wearable item at the end. the problem is that I want to do almost anything but knit on that cowl. Even though I'm at the half way point, it don't feel like I'm getting any where at all!!!!

not hard or tooooo monotonous, I just find that if there is a bit of distraction there is a fair amount of fixing. so what have I been doing instead?
this came off the loom and made my heart happy
I've resorted to using the yard decorations for models. After asking for all sorts of opinions on how and what to warp the loom with, I used two different colors that seemed very close. one is striped (warp) the other was a muted solid in a close color.
this is a more accurate expression of the colors. totally dig that vibrant green nestled in the dark purple. The yarn is a discontinued line from Blue Moon. BFL fingering that is surprisingly soft. I am so tempted to warp the remainder, but... still got that cowl to knit. I even resorted to spinning....
this a ITW rimfisher that needs to be off this wheel. Been working on it way to long and it needs to be a shawl before May.
this is all I have left to finish. Which leaves me lots of time to knit. on the cowl. Before I start any other projects. I swear!

Sunday, January 1, 2017

into the new year

Christmas was just right. snow on the ground, family and friends gathered, and time to finish up lots of fiber projects. believe me, I was thrilled that those naughty elves (and my addiction to them) had run it's course. Well, that's not really true, I just ran out of bells, yarn and fiberfill. there may be more of them in my future, but not for gift giving!
This finally came off the loom. it was taking forever to do because it's over 7 feet long. I must have wanted it to be long enough to wrap many, many times around my neck. My fringe was easy to complete with my handy fringe winder. What a great addition to the fiber tools. if you are ever thinking of getting one, do it! the fiber is: stone edge fibers in shades of grey. Did I mention that it's her cashmere blend?
With an empty loom, I had to get another warped.
the picture is terrible, but it is Blue moon fiber, BFL fingering in dark shades. I would love to tell you what the colorway is, but someone (with four paws and red fur) ate the tags. never hurts the fiber, just loves the tags. so, I'm going with dark shades! I made this quite wide so it can function as a wrap or a scarf. the best part was using the new technique my friend Jaye taught me. It worked like a charm and the warp tension is just perfect!
I've got a new knitting project on the needles. The manic panic cowl. I have thirteen small skeins of varying yarns so I know it will match every coat I own. I'm on skein 5, so just need to keep slogging along.
I do have one project left from last year, the sheep pillow kit that I purchased in Maryland. I dug it out during the holiday cleaning frenzy and made it through the tough part while I was trapped waiting at Ontario Honda for a service. Solid 90 minutes of knitting with zero distractions. Now to keep up the momentum.
I'm looking forward to see what fabulous fiber stuff awaits me in 2017. I promise to keep the blog up to date : )