Finally Finished Friday

This past month, I have been into  finishing things.  A couple have been in various states of in progress and one started and restarted.

They have been in sort of time out, because two of them needed to be sewn together, and for me, at least, I have to work up to the whole sewing up thingy.  I really like a good top down or bottom up in the round sweater, with a minimum of sewing up.

But, I figured it was time, and to stop procrastinating with the mattress stitch thing.  Do I love it more now? Nope, but c'est la vie!

Ouzo by Thea Colman - I bought the yarn in 2018 at Stitches Midwest from the Magpie Fibers booth.  I knew from the get go, that I wanted to use the yarn called for in the pattern.  For the most part, I don't really do that, usually subbing the yarn.

For this knit, I chose Solstice DK, in the Bootcut color way.  I thought it would be perfect for blue jeans and it is.

The highlight of this knit is the back with the lace at the top.  It was a pretty simple knit lace pattern, and I quite enjoyed it.

The pockets were intended to be patch pockets, but Susan Rainey knit it and shared her technique for the pockets in both her blog and on Ravelry, and I jumped on her band wagon and did the same for my pockets.

I am love loving wearing this piece right now, even if casual Fridays means jammies. LOL.

Second on the finishing block, was the Claire Poncho.  I bought the yarn, a cotton yarn, Cozette 2, in Naples a couple years back when I was visiting our dear friend.  I planned on wearing it last year over sundresses, but, did not get very far on the needles, so I ripped it back and started again this year so I could use as it points for the ZK KAL we are doing.

Another pattern with lace, but the chart was easy enough to knit on while zooming, as after the beginning and until the end border of lace, it was all stockinette, with a simple lace edge.  I totally enjoyed this knit, and it was another that required a bit of mattress stitch, but I motored through it, and now, it is ready for this Summer and sundresses.

And finally, Dotted Rays by Stephen West

The yarn is La Bien Aimee that I bought for myself directly from the dyer in Paris for my birthday last year.  I love the yellow and the gray mixes and yes, if you look really close, the first color way, Drea, has my signature turquoise in it.

This is a big shawl, but I am going to get a lot of wear out of it and of course, bought a LOGO top to match it!

This is a big shawl, but I am going to get a lot of wear out of it, and of course, I bought a LOGO top to match it.

It feels good to have some finished projects, but now, what's next?  I am itching to keep the finishing going!  Knit On!

Episode 40 and 40.1

How ya doin?  Two episodes of PJKnits is up on You Tube -

You can find them here  I have some finished objects to show you in 40 and 40.1 along with some thoughts for getting through.

Knit On!

A New Week, Almost A New Month

I cannot believe that we are almost into May, can you?  Finally, we have some sunshine today and no wind in Central Illinois.  I am starting to make a plan for the next month, counting the days to retirement at the end of May and so much to be done at work before then, to try and make it easier for them when they are without me.

It's funny, when I look around at how chaotic my house seems to be while working from home.  So many things seem to get dumped.   I  am mentally making lists of things that I want to start on when I get a spare minute, and first up is to start putting somethings back in their places.

Years ago, I was an avid sewer and machine quilter and hoping to be able to get back to it.  When we moved into our new house five years ago, all the sewing and quilting supplies went immediately to the basement, as I knew it would be sometime before I could add sewing back into my crafting, with working and knitting everything in site.  Now, as I look to the future, and as soon as my current finished object, the Claire Poncho is off the table from blocking, I am going to put my sewing machine up on the table and make sure it is in good working order.  If I get a thumbs up from it, I am going to start ordering a sewing area from Ikea, so the Tall Guy can start putting it together, and then I can start pulling things out of boxes and really set the area up.

My nephew stopped by yesterday with a little present for me, which reminded me that he had asked for a quilt sometime back, so I would really like to get started on it for him after retirement.

I have been doing some knitting lately that includes a project that has been sitting around for a couple of months now, just waiting to be sewn together and the ribbing down the front and around the sleeves done.  I sat down last Saturday and sewed it together, finished the ribbings and a final blocking last week, and finally it is ready for wearing!  I will get some pictures later this week and post on Friday.

Claire is almost dry, so tomorrow, I am putting it on my agenda, after work, to sew it together, and then hopefully pictures for Friday again.

Both of those projects have been in the stash for a few years, and it certainly feels good to have them almost done, completely done!

The ongoing project that I blogged about recently, out of Shibui Pebble is slowing going, given the fineness of the yarn and needle and totally stockinette, but I am hopeful that it will be onto the collar with some t.v. time tonight.

It certainly feels good to be able to get some projects done for Spring and I am anxious to complete the current one and get to  another one planned for off the needles.

Hoping you are all having a good weekend, stay safe and well, and make it a good week.  Knit On!

Off The Bed

About a month ago, when I really thought Spring was coming  -

I pulled out a big tote back of Spring/Summer knits that I had put away last Summer when it became apparent that I wasn't going to get them knit for Summer.  I put them on our spare bed upstairs as a reminder that they needed to be knit on this year.  And also, to be a constant reminder, not to buy any more yarn, at least for the Spring knitting season.

I finished one of them which is awaiting blocking, and a quick seam, which I will get to this weekend.

I am proud to say, that when I finished it, I went right back up to the bed, and pulled another one down to knit on.  This yarn and a matching scarf have been in my stash since Stitches Midwest 2015, so after almost five years, I would say it is time to get moving on it, wouldn't you?

A plus, it will be perfect for Summer wearing, that is if Spring comes back to Illinois.

Have a great weekend!

Wednesday Website

It's time for another Indie Dyer website.  Although, I have always been puzzled by Indie Dyer terminology.  I know it means Independent Dyer, but I always equate  Indie Dyers with those hand dyed speckles and all over different colors.

But, really, I guess it means someone who dyes yarn by hand and that could be all solids or variegates or speckles like this week's Indie Dyer, Sun Valley Fibers.  http://www.sunvalleyfibers.com

I have known Jeanette and George for many years.  My first meet up with Jeanette was at Meg Swansen's Knitting Camp.  Jeanette was sitting in the back waiting for the Saturday market to start and she was knitting on this super cool cowl, in the round, with loads of different colors.  I came to find out that it was all different colors of minis that Sun Valley Fibers had dyed.  A year later at Knitting Pipeline, Jeanette brought scads of minis to their Saturday market and of course, I had to get some.  I still have my minis, and maybe next year, I will get around to knitting the cowl up, although, it would be a nice Summer porch project to knit on wouldn't it?!


One of my sweaters that I have knit and wear a lot lately is Hiro.  It was knit out of Sun Valley Fibers Worsted weight, which is so squishy.  It was a project that I bought yarn from at Sun Valley Fibers January Thaw retreat that I attended a few years back.  Several of the Peoria Knit Wits bought yarn for it, and I think a couple of us have knit either the Hiro Pullover or Cardigan.  I really need to get a picture of us all wearing our Hiros, not just me.

As it was, I purchased a bit too much of yarn for my Hiro, so I had plenty left to knit a Hospice blanket out of some of the leftovers.  This blanket was so soft and cuddly.

At one of the January Thaw Retreats, the guest teacher was Melanie Berg.  Knowing that she was going to be there, gave me the thought to knit one of her shawls to wear to class, Quicksilver, and of course, I had to knit it out of Sun Valley Fibers yarn, which I had purchased the Summer before at Stitches Midwest.

And last but not least of my Sun Valley Fibers knits, one of my fave shawls that I have ever knit.  It may be the colors, that reminds me so much of the colors of the oceans, but the fingering weight Merino Cashmere Nylon is pretty nice too.  Pattern is Laura Aylor's First Point of Libra.

The blues were from a gradient kit that I bought from Sun Valley Fibers and the dark is Onyx.  At the time the Onyx was dyed, it was more of a really deep charcoal which I really liked.   The new Onyx that Sun Valley Fibers is dyeing is really black, as the name would indicate.

 This particular knit was done back in 2016 when I was off with foot surgery, and it helped me keep my sanity.  There was one other blue that did not make it into the shawl.  Because they were so close in tone, I used the black and white photograph on my phone to decide which one was too close to the others and eliminated it.

Like designers you find and really like, yarn dyers for me are the same.  If you find one, you like you just keep going back to, even if it is only to try out every base they dye, right?

If you are in need of yarn, check  out http://www.sunvalleyfibers.com

Episode 39 Show Notes

Sorry for the rudimentary show notes for the last episode, but here they are:

PomPom Magazine -Spring 2020, Issue #32

By the Bay Bag

Joji Bag

Finished Objects:
Beach Pebbles Dotted Swiss Cowl, free pattern on Plymouth Yarn website

Mail Call:


Briar Rose Fiberarts
4th of July Kit for Andrea Mowry  Nightshift

Spring Sweater Knitting:
Margate by Jody Long's Summer Breeze Book, using Jody Long Coastline yarn

WIPS:
Ouzo by Thea Colman
Shot Reverse Shot by Shanalines Designs

So What's Next?

Dotted Rays is finished.  As in stick a fork in it, it's done.  LOL, I couldn't resist.

With more than 500 stitches to i-Cord bind off yesterday, I was pleased to have it off the needles.  It is sitting there waiting for me to give it a bath sometime this week, and then I will be able to wear it hopefully, this weekend, to our Zoom Knit Wit session.

But, what to concentrate on next?  My plan was to pull out something from last year's Spring/Summer projects that are currently sitting on the spare bed upstairs.

But, which one?  I am leaning towards NOT casting on a new project, but rather one that is on needles, because, well, wouldn't it be nice on the other side to free up some needles?

Ahh, the dilemma of it all, when you have so much to choose from.

Dotted Rays In Progress

I am not finished yet with my Dotted Rays Shawl.  I cannot believe I still have another section to go.  As much as I am going to love this when it is done, I am so ready to move onto something new.

But, until then, here is the progression so far.

Friday Finds

I wanted to share a book that I recently heard about on a podcast and then had to buy the hardcover version.   When I shared it on Instagram, Chris from Briar Rose Fibers commented that she has several samples from the book that had been knit out of her yarns.

The book put out by Quince and Co is all about triangle shawls, but not just your ordinary  shawl.  There are top down, bottom up,  and side ways triangle shawls.  The book has lots of useful information as well, the tab cast on, increases and decreases , and a stretch bind off.

The shawls are elegant and soft looking.  There is texture and lace patterns, and I may steal some the charts to add to hospice or Faroese shawl borders.

I ordered mine directly from Quince and Co, because I like a hard copy of books, but I also got the download version that I can save to my iBooks, if I want to print off the chart or pattern for just one.  The download comes right after purchase to your email so you can start knitting right away, if you choose, but I waited, because I wanted to savor the book itself.

I am totally looking forward to casting on some for Summer of Shawls.

I give this book two 👍 👍 up!

Hospice

Today would have been our Hospice Prayer Shawl meeting.  I really missed it.  It is two times a month to get together with friends at knit for our local Hospice.  It is so calming, and after a meeting, I walk away with such a sense of peace and ready to tackle the world, aka work right now.

But, with what is going on in the world today, we had to forgo this week.  I am ever hopeful by the next time, we will be able to get together, but, I am afraid that may not happen.

In the meantime, I wanted to share some Hospice Prayer Shawls I am working on.

I needed a simple cast on to work on, so a couple of weeks ago, I noticed that I had a pretty good skein of 4th of July from Briar Rose Fibers left from my Weekender.  I found a pattern in my folder of Hospice shawls, called the Raglan Shawl Recipe.  Straight stockinette with raglan increases that end with a bit of lace at the end.

I will knit on it til I run out of yarn, and will have used all of the leftovers of this yarn up.

An ongoing project for sometime for Hospice has been The Kimono Shawl from one of my favorite books, Folk Shawls by Cheryl Oberle.  This is going to be a wrap and is not a super quick pattern, but I am having some fun with it, this week.   The yarn is Rylie by Hikoo, and is a nice yarn to work with and well, I don't knit a whole lot of purple, but certainly is fun to switch it up every once in a while.

Knitting at home is not the same as knitting with the Hospice Ladies, but when we all get back, hopefully, in the next month or so, we will have so many nice donations for the Home as well as stories to tell about our knitting through shelter at home.

I hope and pray for all you dear knitters that you are well and knitting something fun during this time.

Knit on with confidence and hope!

Wednesday Website

During these times of knitting festivals being cancelled, shops having to close, I am taking this opportunity to share with you dear blog readers some of my favorite small knitting related businesses that I want to call your attention to.

Feel free to support them if you so desire and send them some love.

First up, is Briar Rose Fibers.   Click https://www.briarrosefibers.net  to see all of her fantastic yarns.

 I first met Chris, the dyer and owner at Meg Swansen's knitting camp many years back.  Right from the get go, I loved her yarns.  So many bases in so many lovely earthy colors.  And from that first meeting at camp, I found out just how generous and kind she was.

Recently, Chris donated yarns for our Peoria Hospice Prayer Shawl Group.  Everyone was so appreciative of her gift and I cannot wait to see what shawls and blankets become of them.

I have used several of her yarns in garments for myself and a cowl for our Girls' Holiday Bash last December.  I ❤️ them all, but I have to say my all time fave is Wistful, but 4th of July seems to be a close second.

Cusco by Cheryl Oberle out of Wistful

 Summer Solstice by Heidi Kirrmaier out of Wistful

The cowl for the Holiday Bash, which was also a big swatch out of 4th of July

for The Weekender by Andrea Mowry

And 4th of July is next up for Night Shift by Andrea Mowry

But, I cannot leave off Briar Rose Fibers Sea Pearl with a bit of shine to it that I knit my Pavement sweater out of on my trip to and from Florida a couple of years back.

Oh this isn't all of the things I have knit with Briar Rose Fibers yarn, and not all of my stash from Chris, but, stay tuned this Spring and Summer to see more.

In the mean time, I hope you will scoot on over to her website and check her yarns out!

Knit on with confidence and hope through all crisis - Elizabeth Zimmermann

Episode 39

In case you are bored to tears, and need something to watch, while we wait for sun to shine (at least here in Central Illinois), a new episode of PJKnits can be found on You Tube  here!

Show notes in a couple of days right here.

Finally Finished Friday

Not much to report, but a cowl out of some fun yarn.  Just around and around.

It is my one and only entry for ZK, I am on Team Unicorn, hence the fun Unicorn pics.

Hope you have a good weekend, getting back to the basics and doing lots of knitting.

Edit- I finished a dishcloth for one of my staff today.  She loves these things, and I thought it was the least I could do for her, since she is considered "essential" staff and has to keep working at least for now.

How Ya Doin?

So many lyrics to songs come to mind, while we weather this virus thingy, practicing social distancing, working remotely, drive thru only --

But, in the mean time, I have been doing some support of independent knitting businesses and will have lots to show you in the coming days.

I am, also, so excited to share with you my spare bed of Spring/Summer projects, which after looking at a blog post from last year, not much has changed, except that I have added some new projects to the queue during this time.

I hope you are all well, and stay tuned for future blog posts.

And direct from EZ - lets keep this in our minds.

Knit on with confidence and hope through all crises.

Happy St Patricks Day

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?