Not Really Spring Yet

Ok, so I was optimistic about Spring.  We are getting a bit of snow here today on this Saturday in Central Illinois, but its a wet snow, and not sticking to the roads, but to the grass.  I can deal with that because it will be gone soon.

I have been doing some Spring sweater knitting though.  Originally, I bought the coral yarn for this sweater and did a swatch.

Once I swatched for it, I felt like it was going to be one boring knit all in one color.  So, I took the yarn back to my local yarn shop and decided to do a multi colored one like this.

Unfortunately, when my LYS bought the yarn she didn't buy all the same colors as in the pattern.  Now, I could have bought what she had colors in and ordered the rest, as my friend did, and it would made a stunning Spring sweater.  But, two things occurred to me.  I really didn't want a sweater exactly like my good friend was going to knit, and I thought, how about if I went with the colors my LYS actually had.

I am pleased with my selection, with the exception of those two colors in the middle, but at this point I am not ripping back, just motoring ahead.  This has been a fast knit, and I just love seeing how it comes together adding each next section.

It is going to be a great Spring/Summer sweater and has me psyched to knit some more sweaters when the season finally appears.

Have a great weekend!

Spring Optimist

I am an optimist when it comes to Spring.  Give me a couple of days of sunshine and some warm temps and I am always sure that Spring is coming early.  But, then a late snow and it becomes quite clear Spring is not coming early.

I remember one year, when we had so much warm weather early on, that I went out bought flowers, planted them and sat back to enjoy them.  Then, in April, it got cold, we had snow and well there you have it.

But, I can still be hopeful, just not planting any flowers until later in April.

In the meantime, we had another beautiful weekend in Central Illinois, and I had my one Shamrock Shake from McDonalds that I allow myself to have every year.

Sunday was a bit breezy, but we still sat out for an hour enjoying the clear skies and sunshine, while doing some mindless knitting.

And, I pulled out my folder of Spring Sweater patterns to start planning my Spring knitting.

If I start now knitting for Spring and Summer, I should be ready when it really, officially is here.  Are you planning your Spring knits yet?  In the next episode of PJKnits on you tube we will talk about Spring knits.

Catch you on the purl side.

Playing With Some Unspuns

I have a little project I am kicking around on doing that involves Unspun Icelandic.

This one all by itself..

Or these two together.  

Unspun Icelandic is such a different yarn than a lot of people are not used to knitting with.  For some, it just doesn't hit the soft and cuddly factor.  It really is pencil roving, so you can't just pull and tug on it while you are knitting on it.  It requires a bit of patience but the result is a nice warm garment or shawl that can hold up to Icelandic temperatures, hence its name.

Stay tuned for the final decision!  What are you knitting on this weekend?

This Garter Thing

It seems like I am knitting a lot of garter stitch this week.

My friend Debbie, gave me some Unicorn colored yarn at January Thaw, and I have pulled some bright colors to go with it.  The pattern Shadows in The Rain is pretty simple knitting right now and fun to see how the variegated knits up.

A couple of years ago, I knit a Prayer Shawl in these same colors only in a Pima Cotton.  I didn't realize it until I was well into the knit that I pulled these same colors for my Shot Reverse Shot Poncho below.

This an interesting knit and right now, it is sitting in time out for the joining of the two pieces together.  I am working myself up to finishing it.

While I was off, I bought these beauties from La Bien Aimee.

I'm knitting Stephen West's Dotted Rays, a bit of a slow going right now, but that is only because of some sweater knitting that is going on.

And of course, it is garter as well.  Long live Garter!

Is It Spring Yet?

When blue skies come out on the first of March, and there is a bit of warmth in the air, there is hope that the real Winter weather is behind us.  Or at least major snows and ice right?!

Which turns at least for this Knitter, the thoughts and planning for Spring/Summer knitting.

I couldn't resist picking up a couple of new books at my local yarn shop this weekend to start some planning of future sweaters.

Have you started your Spring knitting planning yet?

Finally Finished Friday

These are not all mine, only one of the 49 in this pile, but I just had to share what a great bunch of shawls and blankets came in this week at Hospice.

I am so proud to be a part of this amazing group that meets twice a month at our local Hospice Home.

Wednesday Website

Let's talk stash.  We all have one, right?  Well, what if you are like me and actively wanting to use your stash or as I like to call it now My Personal Yarn Shop?  What if you don't have the yarn called for in your current want to cast on right away project or your local yarn shop doesn't carry the particular yarn called for?

Try searching for a yarn substitution at https://yarnsub.com

Enter a yarn and see all the possibles!

Happy Hump Day!

Episode 38 - The Weekender

Episode 38 is up on You Tube.  You can find it here

In this episode, I show you my Knitmas gifts and all about The Weekender sweater I finally finished.

Show notes can be found in the pjknits group on Ravelry.

Morning Has Broken

I love Cat Stevens, and so his song this morning, 🎼 Morning has broken 🎼 is a perfect backdrop to the scene that greeted us this morning when we woke up.

Since then, the sun is shining and it is a blue sky, and a bit of the snow is starting to melt.  With temps tomorrow in the 40's and rain forecasted, we should have a bit less of the snow around.

And if it is Sunday, I am taking it easy with a cuppa, my knitting and some planning.  Since I finished The Weekender, I have been all over the place with my knitting, with probably a half a dozen different things that I want to be knitting.  I won't bore you with all of them, but I do want to share a couple that I am really excited about.

First up, I really want to finish some projects that have been hanging around for awhile, and first up is Ouzo by Baby Cocktails.  I bought the yarn specifically for it from Stitches Midwest at least three years ago and knit the back right away.  The front has been cast on for some time, and recently, I was looking at my friend, Susan Rainey's finished object on Ravelry, and her notes made me think about the pocket.

The pattern has you knit the pocket separately and then sew it down, but Susan knit a pocket lining, and knit the lace and rib as part of the front.  Genius move, so I copied hers and now I can motor along to the top.

Two new cast ons have happened this weekend...what can I say I could not resist.

Regular readers will remember that when Debbie and I were at January Thaw, she gifted me two skeins of yarn.  A little plotting and planning occurred while we were together that we would knit a wrap together.  We chose Shadows in the Rain, by Nomadic Knits.  We picked out some yarns and she went off to Florida with hers and I cast on mine.

I wasn't too sure when I cast on yesterday that I was going to like the blue to start with and maybe I should recast on with gray, but the more I knit with it the more I like it.

Stay tuned to see the other colors as the shawl continues.   It's going to be a bright one and perfect for Team Unicorn at ZK.

For a couple of weeks now, I have been searching my stash for just the right yarn in DK or Sport weight to knit Shot Reverse Shot as part of the ZK contest for February/March.  The pattern is one of the Designers in the Designer Showcase and gives bonus points for using one of their patterns.  And additional bonus points for using Vendor Market yarns and even more bonus points for February/March if you knit a wrap/shawl/poncho.

What a win, if only.  I do pretty good about adding my stash to Ravelry, and so was pretty bummed that I did not have something in DK.  I just don't tend to buy DK, but it seems like every designer is using DK.  So, I gave up.

I had a couple of other options, maybe holding two finger weights together so I headed up to my personal yarn shop this morning to look.  Et, Voila, why was only one of these listed in my stash and where did the others come from?  I don't care, all I know is I am loving them so far and cannot wait to see this all evolve.

My head is swimming with all the knitting I want to do.  Now, I just have to decide what project to work on first or the most.

Hope your are having a great weekend!  Catch you on the purl side!

It’s The Weekender!

The perfect sweater to wear for the weekend - The Weekender by Andrea Mowry.

I am totally going to get a lot of wear out of this.  The yarn has been in my stash for several years, purchased from Chris at Briar Rose Fibers sometime ago.

It is a departure from my normal colors, but still has my signature blue in it, and it totally goes with the green turtle neck.

I have made a few mods on the pattern to fit me, I'm just not the positive ease kind of person along with I like my necklines close.  The mods are on my Ravelry project page, so you can check them out there.

Have a great weekend!

Happy Valentines Day

Sure You Can

celebrate Christmas in February!

We just got home from Iowa where we finally got to celebrate Christmas with my kids and grandkids.  I'll share pics of them later next week.

But, when I arrived home my Knitmas present came from Becky out in Virginia.  I was hoping for a box and Santa Mail delivered while we were gone.

It was so much fun digging into the box for all the reveals!

The knit was dead on, and I will get so much wear out of it.  I have been wanting to knit this cowl from Curious Handmade and now I don't have to.  Becky sent along the leftovers and they are being saved for a mitered square blanket for me that I want to do out of all the colors of the ocean...you know Caribbean Blue/Turquoise!

Becky added so many goodies including a cross stitch for my knitting room, a tuft soap, a snoopy ornament for my snoopy Christmas tree, some wonderful chocolates from Finland, sock yarn for socks just for me

And this Calma Llama that if it doesn't cure stress and make you laugh, well there is just no hope for you or me!

Finally Finished Friday

I had to wait until my Knitmas partner received her box, before I could share this finished object with you all on the blog.

The pattern is Foolproof.

The red yarn is Poison Apple in the Callback base by Leading Men Fiber Arts and the gray is London Fog in the MCS base by Sun Valley Fibers.

It is a fantastic construction as there is no joining or sewing and all garter.

I loved knitting it and finally having it on its way!

Episode 37 January Thaw

Hi All!  I have been away all weekend in Madison for the annual Sun Valley Fibers January Thaw retreat with my roomie, Debbie.  While we were there, we did a podcast together and you can find it here

We scooted out a day early to get there and a day early to get home, since there was a forecast of snow on Thursday and wanting to get home on Saturday to have a nice day at home before work again on Monday.

It snowed every day we were there, but we were prepared with sweaters to wear.  We had a wonderful view of the roof out our window, but could still see the freeway to see how the cars were moving.

It was a great weekend, where we met up with lots of friends and met new friends.  I am so excited for my knitting right now, retreats can do that!

Have a great weekend!

Episode 36 -20.20.20

Click here to watch

the latest episode of PJKnits.  It is January 20, 2020 and 20 degrees outside at upload.  This is what behind the scenes looks like today.

Here is some of what I am podcasting about today.

Corralling your saves on Instagrams.

My Turtle Dove II and a finished project I cannot talk about yet, but it involves an empty bag.

Some projects to take to knit with at next weekend's January Thaw in Madison.

A possible 2020 Christmas present or two, or a 2019 Christmas present.

Winter has finally returned to Central Illinois, hope you are warm and toasty and knitting something fun this week!

Finally Finished Friday - Turtle Dove II

This Sweater!!

I love it!  I love the yarn, Drops Air which is so squishy and soft.  It is the second version of the same sweater from Espace Tricot.  I knit the first version a year ago out of Woolfolk, which is heavier yarn than the Drops Air.  This one is just a tad bit lighter weight but, still substantial enough for the return of Winter to Central Illinois this weekend.

As always, I made some modifications on my sweater dealing with heavier arms and needing to add extra stitches there, then modifying the decreases on the arm to get to my tiny wrists (oh why could my body not match my wrist size?)

Lately, I seem to be drawn to the split hems,  What is about the split hem that I love so?

And an inch longer on the back hem than in the front is just perfect to come over the bum a bit.  It is a winner for sure for me, and I am going to love wearing it!

Throwback Thursday - Yarn Stash

Last night, I was a bit bored and decided to look way back at the beginning of the blog and see if there wasn't a Thursday post that I could do a blog post on.

Oy, it was really sporadic in the beginning, but I came across this picture of what was my stash.

We had such a tiny house then, and with two growing boys in one bedroom and us in the second bedroom, the stash/computer had to go along a wall in the dining room and into the living room.

 Oh how the years have changed!  The stash size has definitely changed and now I have a whole room on the second floor for my personal yarn shop.

What hasn't changed since that time, is the need to knit from my stash!  So far for 2020, I have done pretty good, only buying two balls of yarn at my local yarn shop yesterday to make a lamb scarf for my oldest granddaughter!  It was a specialty yarn, so I could buy it!

Wednesday Website

Sorry I have been MIA from the Blog, I am not sure what happened or where all my time has been spent since the first of the year, but all of a sudden, I turned around and it is mid January!

Wednesdays this year I am hoping to continue something I started a few years back on the blog, Wednesday Websites or Wednesday WIPS.

This Wednesday I want to share with you Helene Magnusson's website
Icelandic Knitter

I am a fan of Icelandic sweaters. I know a lot  of my knitting friends would find Icelandic wools scratchy and itchy, preferring soft and cuddly yarns to those used in Helene's sweaters, but for those of us who worship at the knee of Elizabeth Zimmermann and Meg Swansen, you will get our fandom of Icelandic yarns and sweaters.

Helene's website has some gorgeous knits on it and if you scroll back her periodic posts you will know what I mean.

The tabs on her website intrigues me as she sells yarn and kits, has some great pictures, along with a tab for Knitting Tours that sound like a Knitter's dream trip, that is if you are a fan of Iceland and would love to put that on a bucket list of trips should I ever win the lotto.

Be sure and check out her bio Here  I think you will enjoy reading all about her.

New Year New Knitting

It is January 1st and cast on day for all kinds of new knits.

First up the Testing Menu Mystery KAL with Tellybean Knits.

 A clue a week and I chose this kit from lolodidit yarns in the Sour colors.  This ought to be one bright wrap/shawl for the bleak mid-Winter.

Dotted Rays by Stephen West and the yarns are from La Bien Aimee.

My Knitmas project that is an absolute secret, so you will just have to imagine what is in the bag.

There are so many more knits on my list, perhaps knitting will keep me from eating so much junk, LOL!

What are your New Year Knitting Plans?  I would love to know!