Mustard Scarf is going to Chicago

My best friend is taking a trip from Daytona Beach FL to Chicago IL and she’s afraid she’s going to be cold.  She had this crazy idea that she’d buy an acrylic scarf for her trip and  I wouldn’t hear of it!  So, I began knitting.  I pulled out a couple of skeins of  Dream in Color superwash sock yarn and started knitting an infinity scarf.  I held two strands of yarn together and finished the scarf in record time, but hated it! 

So, I started knitting the “Mustard Scarf” pattern by Jane Richmond (it’s a free Ravelry download!) and  frogged that one after a couple of rows.  It deserved a heavier weight yarn.  So, I pulled out my spinning wheel and plied 4 strands together (same yarn) and started over. It didn’t take long at all to knit this pattern.  The button is great, once you wrap it around your neck, just button it up and there’s no chance of losing the scarf.  I love this scarf and hope she does too! 

Another Frogged Project

I started this scarf last year and for some reason I couldn’t bring myself to finish it.  The color wasn’t quite what I was looking for and for some reason I couldn’t get the hang of knitting into the back of the stitch.  I’ll try it again, but for now “La Novia” will be frogged.  I am imaging this yarn in a cabled hat, not a scarf. 

By the way, I saw this pattern (La Novia by Anne Hanson) done in a fingering weight yarn and I might try that the next time around. 

 

Frogged Twice

 

 

This is one of my first attempts at spinning yarn.  It’s thick and thin, I probably couldn’t do it again if I tried.  Not that I want to try any time soon.  I knitted this hat and frogged it twice.  It’s a bit big, okay, it’s HUGE and I don’t love it.  One day I’ll find the perfect pattern for this yarn.  Meanwhile, it sits patiently in my stash.

 

John C. Campbell Folk School

I spent a week in September in Brasstown NC at John C. Campbell Folk School taking a natural dyeing class. 

We dyed yarn , fleece and silk using goldenrod, pokeberries, tansy, sedum flowers and stems, indigo, osage orange, logwood, brazilwood, among other things.  We prepared the yarn in skeins, tied, mordanted, then dyed it.  Here’s a picture of our finished products.

JCCFS is a great experience.  You learn a craft and get to meet a lot of great people.

 

Costa Rica for starters

Wow, it’s been a very long time since I’ve updated this blog. So much has happened since then.

I went to Costa Rica at the end of August for a week. It was a great trip, Costa Rica is beautiful.   I stayed a couple of nights at the Arenal Observatory Lodge with a view of the volcano.  You hear the volcano rumbling all the time.   The grounds are beautiful and they have a lot of hiking trails.  The breakfast is included in the price of the room and it is wonderful!  Oh, and the  Tres Leche Cake is the best we found in Costa Rica.  

Volcan Arenal

Then went to the Pacific Coast to Brasilito.  The sunset there was beautiful!

Brasilito Sunset

Went to Rincon de la Vieja National Park and hiked a trail.  There was a waterfall, lots of mud, strangling fig trees, bubbling hot water, bubbling hot mud and beautiful flowers.

Flower at Rincon de la Vieja

Stayed a night in Punterenas and walked along the beach in the morning.  It’s not the cleanest beach I’ve seen, but there are some nice things to see.  Take a look at the butterfly.

 

Can you imagine picking up your appliance purchase riding a bike?

On the way to Jaco we stopped at Parque Nacional Carara and saw gecko’s, scarlet macaws and white-faced monkeys.  On the way back to the car, the monkeys started hollering and we heard what we thought to be a strong wind, it was a torrential downpour.  It was the only time I didn’t bring my raincoat, but it was warm enough that I dried pretty quickly.

My favorite place to stay was a rustic lodge not too far from Volcan Poas called Lagunillas Lodge.  There are beautiful views, the food is good, and the owner is very nice.  It’s a challenge getting there and back since you must have a four-wheel drive vehicle, but it’s worth it.  If you plan to stay there, keep in mind it is very (very,very) rustic.

There are so many things I could write about this trip, but there just isn’t enough time.

Cee’s Shawl

A couple of months ago I visited North Woods Farm Fiber & Yarn Shop http://northwoodsfarmyarnshop.com/ in Campobello SC.  I ran across a skein of 100% cotton boucle yarn in shades of pale purple and just had to have it.  I’m not a big fan of cotton yarn, but that yarn was calling out to me.  I thought it would be a great yarn for a knitted gift for my Dad’s wife  Cee.  Plus they live in Florida and cotton is perfect for Florida since it’s typically pretty toasty down there.

After I finished Feather Duster, I thought I’d whip up that skein of yarn into something nice for Cee.  I didn’t have a pattern to go by, but I knew I wanted a triangular shawl.  Here’s what it looks like.

That’s Mattie in the corner.  She loved the shawl, she’s in most of the pictures.  Here’s a couple without her in them.

 

This knitted up fast and looks so much nicer after it was blocked.  The yarn was hand dyed by Stony Hill Fiber Arts http://www.stonyhillfiberart.com and called Queen Anne’s Lace 100% Cotton 113 grams/412 yards 5-6 Stitches per inche on 3-6 needles.

Shipwreck On Deck

I know that “Shipwreck On Deck” sounds odd, but it really isn’t.  I took a few photos of Shipwreck the other day and Shipwreck posed for the picture out on the deck.  The photo doesn’t quite give you the true color, it is a deeper blue than the photo. 

This shawl was so much fun to make.  Once I got past the first few stiches I knitted this up in no time.  I’ll probably knit another shawl in the round, but after I finish a few lace projects I have in my queue.

I also spun up all of the alpaca I purchased back in May.  I still have a lot of work to do to get my technique down.  I know it is something that takes time to learn and get the hang of it, but kntting is my focus right now.  I do enjoy spinning, but it is something to fill in the time when I’m taking a break from a knitting project. 

Final Product

I have just the project for it…

I’ve lost track of the projects I’ve started, finished or frogged since I last wrote.  Let me think…I finished the Feather Duster.  I’ll have to post a photo soon.  I started and frogged Stonewall by Anne Hanson.  I wasn’t feeling it right now.  I plan to do this one soon, but not right now.  I started and finshed a shawl for my Dad’s wife and put it in the mail yesterday. 

That’s all for today.  More to come soon.

Knitting, Spinning. Blocking, Booking and Dreaming

The weekend is about over and I really don’t have too much to show you as far as pictures.

Knitting

I’ve been knitting the Feather Duster shawl and I  have two more pattern repeats to do (about 32 rows) and I’ll be done with that one.

Spinning

I spun for about an hour today.

Blocking

I blocked Shipwreck yesterday and took care of all of the loose ends.  It turned out beautiful!

Booking

I booked a trip to Costa Rica for the end of August.

Dreaming

Several weeks ago I made an Italian Cream Cake for a dinner party.  It was one of the best cakes I’ve had in a while!  I can stop thinking about that darn cake.  Here’s a picture.

New Project – Feather Duster

I started a new project the other day, it’s called Feather Duster by Susan Pierce Lawerence.  Check out her blog and patterns at http://knittingasfastasican.com/  

I’m using The Woolen Rabbit Tranquilo Alpaca Lace yarn and I love it.  Check out The Woolen Rabbit at http://www.thewoolenrabbit.com/

Norwegian Woods Colorway

I was trying to knit the 2nd repeat of chart B and was having issues.  I posted a note on Ravelry and low and behold, I was trying to work the entire chart and should have only been working the section shaded in blue.  I didn’t print the pattern in color (and to be quite honest, I never do), but should have noticed the note about the blue section and shaded it accordingly.  Oh well, that’s the way it goes.  Rather than fix my error, I cut my losses so to speak (snipped the yarn where I was) and started over.  I’m back to where I was when I maded my big mistake, but still appear to be a couple of stiches off.  It’s 9pm so I’m putting it down for the night and will begin again tomorrow.   Here’s a pictures from my first pass at trying to knit the pattern.

I’m sure the pattern instructions are fine and it’s user error.  I’ll keep you posted of my progress (wish me luck).

Shipwreck Completed!

I finished knitting Shipwreck Shawl last Wednesday night.  I realized I was going to run out of yarn and started weighing the yarn after each row, it was quite scary.  I was afraid I’d have to dye another batch of yarn just for the small amount of yarn I needed.  It ended up being 7 rows shorter than the pattern, but I had a whole 12 inches of yarn to spare after the BO!  Boy, did I get lucky!  I’ll start purchasing an extra skein of yarn for each project from  or now on.

Here’s a photo of the pre-blocked Shipwreck.  I”ll post another one once I’ve blocked it.