Chapter 16: All of the Yarn!

Worsted wool goodness from Cascade.

Yarn Haul!

Hello everyone, welcome to the 16th installment of my online crafting journal!

I'm happy to report that I've finished some knitting projects. I also have several on the needles, but I want more! You'll see why when you check out my latest yarn acquisitions.

But first, let's start with...

FINISHED OBJECTS

Self-striping Spiral Lace Socks.

SPIRAL LACE PATTERN BY SOCKS A LA CARTE 

I knitted these using Susan B. Anderson's How I Make My Socks recipe.

It's good to have these finished. It took me forever, and it wasn't even Second Sock Syndrome. I was stalled at the halfway point on the first sock. 

Once I got going on these again, they went super fast. I used a self-striping yarn that I bought in the sale bin at Knit and Stitch Boutique in Cocoa Village, and I was such a noob that I didn't save the ball band. Don't you love the colors though? 

The stripes on each sock almost match exactly!

And what's incredible about that is, I had already used the yarn to knit a beanie:

Mystery yarn made a pretty beanie.

After finishing the beanie I had just enough yarn left for two socks, and they self-striped perfectly!

♕ ♕ ♕

Thistle Tam (top).

THISTLE TAM BY ELISABETH SLINEY MARINO

Made for the Wee Sew n Sew Ravelry group's "Scottish Flair Make-Along"

Even after blocking it, I was unhappy with this yarn. When I bought it I thought I was buying brushed mohair, because that's what the yarn was called.

Turns out it was only 10% brushed mohair. The rest of the yarn was made of acrylic. It knitted up terribly, twisting and pulling without springing back into nice, neat stitches. 

It also hated the needles, refusing to slide off even my steel ChiaoGoos.

But the pattern is worthy and I will knit it again using premium yarn.

Thistle Tam (bottom).

Thistle detail. The yarn just wouldn't cooperate with the shape of the stitchwork.

If you go to my project page on Ravelry (link is in the sidebar of this blog) you can see exactly what yarn I used. 

♕ ♕ ♕

WORKS IN PROGRESS

Christmas knitting begins!

This will eventually resemble Ryder's jacket.

I started work on a cardigan for my nearly-four-year-old grandson, who adores the Paw Patrol cartoons. When he comes over to my house, he puts on a spare headset we have and pretends to be Ryder, directing the "Pups" how to save the day.

Heeeeeere's Ryder!

ALISTERUS BY HANNE PJEDSTED

The pattern is a lovely striped child's cardigan, but I'm going to try and recreate Ryder's outfit by mimicking the blue, red, yellow and white color blocks in his jacket.

Progress marker.

I'm using some really great sock yarn that I found at Michael's, called Loops & Threads Woolike. It's a synthetic that has been designed to resemble wool in feel, look and warmth, but is machine washable and easy care. This is great for children's garments. 

It's also good for those of you out there who can't, or don't want to, wear wool.

You can see the progress marker in the shot above. It shows how much of the red I knit in two hours, from the blue stripe upward. Looks like only about 10 rows. 

I'm using a size 3 US needle, but maybe should have gone up a size, since the weight of the yarn is "light fingering" instead of "sock" or "fingering." It is definitely on the fine side. Hmmm... Now would be the time to rip back the red and start over from the blue hem with size 4's.

You'll see what I end up doing in the next chapter.

♕ ♕ ♕

Progress on the Virus Shawl.

THE VIRUS SHAWL BY JULIA MARQUARDT

Using up yarn fast, this addictive shawl is growing and growing!

Huge ball of soft, squishy yarn.

I love the James C. Brett Northern Lights yarn. It's full of soft white fluffs that are spun into the yarn, sort of like whole pieces of cotton. 

I was surprised at how quickly I've nearly depleted the 492 yard ball! Crochet does tend to eat yarn though. With only just a bit left, I went back online (to Deramore's) and ordered two more skeins. 

Virus Shawl detail with beautiful pinks and greens.

This will be a gift for my 83 year old mother. Although she lives here in Florida (with my Dad in a senior assisted community) she's not very mobile, and she always keeps her legs covered with a blanket while she sits in her recliner. I'm hoping she'll think this is pretty.

♕ ♕ ♕

Bark Lines shawl, soft as a feather.

BARK LINES SHAWL BY JOJI LOCATELLI

On to the second color!

This one's for one of my daughters-in-law. (I haven't started the other daughter-in-law's shawl yet, but it's queued.)

I'm learning how NOT to do a blend. I thought it was a simple thing, sort of, knit one row in the new color, knit one row in the old color, repeat... I should have read a tutorial. 

Apparently blending looks kind of funky in garter stitch.

Also, I think I tried to blend too dark a color with too light a color. 

BUT WHATEVER! The yarns are gorgeoius! 

I'm especially completely in love with Manos del Uruguay's Fino in the mesmerizing Inkwell colorway. 

I want tons more of it! I want to put it in a special place and worship it, make it my preciousssssss. 

It's a single-ply deep, dark blue that appears almost black in the skein, but knitting opens up the tonals and it just glows.

The yarn I'm knitting with now, Mariquita by The Alpaca Yarn Company, is pretty but it isn't making as perfect a stitch as the Manos. The colorway for this yarn is called Carnival and I love it. If I had named it, I'd call it Abalone or Oil Slick or Fish Scale.

Top to bottom: Miss Babs Yummy, The Alpaca Company Mariquita, and Manos del Uruguay Fino.

Shawls seem to go fast, especially when you're looking forward to a new color or yarn.

After the Mariquita I'll fade into the final lace section of the shawl, using the lighter Miss Babs Yummy in the Frozen colorway. The beads you see in the picture above will be incorporated into that section. I think it'll give the shawl some weight, and I like how the greens and blues tie in with the Mariquita Carnival colorway.

♕ ♕ ♕

YARN HAUL TIME!

Cascade 220 in Lavender Heather.

IT ALL STARTED WITH ROWAN'S PINK WORSTED

Rowan Pure Wool Superwash Worsted, which arrived damp and squashed.

This was a freebie, a gift for buying a subscription to Rowan publications. 

What to do with all that pink though?

After searching Ravelry I found a pattern for a shawl called the Coffee House Wrap which uses up to five colors of worsted weight yarn, and I definitely wanted to incorporate other colors to break up the absolute un-tonal bubblegum shade pink I was dealing with.

First, back in July, I found some Primrose Yarn Company Dutchess at A Good Yarn in Sarasota, FL.

Primrose Yarn Company Dutchess in Sonic Youth.

I tried to match another skein via an online order but it didn't work out. So today I drove up to Cocoa Village with the Primrose in hand and found a third yarn to complete a nice trio for the shawl, which is now in my queue. (This one probably won't be a Christmas gift... unless it's for me.)

Cascade 220 in Lavender Heather.

SO THIS IS WHAT'S GOING INTO THE COFFEE SHOP WRAP:

I'm going to use the Rowan (top) in small stripes and focus more on the other two yarns.

The Coffee Shop Wrap will be a fun project. I'm excited to be knitting something in worsted (besides a hat). This wrap is really cute, very bohemian. If you'd like a to see it, here's the Ravelry pattern page. Did I mention it's free? 

COFFEE SHOP WRAP ON RAVELRY

♕ ♕ ♕

AND NOW, TO SAVE TIME, HERE ARE PHOTOS OF THE REST OF THE YARN. 

I'll go into lots of detail about each yarn when they get assigned to a project!

Emma's Yarn Super Silky in Zuni.

Emma's Yarn Super Silky in Zuni. 

This is hand-dyed right here in Florida! It'll go great with so many of my stash yarns.

♕ ♕ ♕

Anzula Luster in Jawbreaker.

Anzula Luster in Jawbreaker.

This is hand-dyed too! I love the speckles. Bought at my local yarn store today.

♕ ♕ ♕

Lichen and Lace Superwash Merino Worsted in I See Seashells.

Lichen and Lace Superwash Merino Worsted in I See Seashells.

I bought this from Lichen and Lace online, hoping that it would blend in with the Rowan and Primrose worsteds. I was totally prepared for it to not match though, and when it arrived and I saw it in all its gorgeousness, I realized it would have to be the starting point of another project down the line. This probably gives me leave to go back online and find a coordinating skein or two from L and L!

♕ ♕ ♕

Lichen and Lace 80/20 Sock in Shroom.

Lichen and Lace 80/20 Sock in Shroom.

I bought this because I thought these colors would be handsome in a guy's sock, maybe with a golden brown heel and toe.

♕ ♕ ♕

Lichen and Lace 1-Ply Superwash Merino Fingering in Shroom.

Lichen and Lace 1-Ply Superwash Merino Fingering in Shroom

This looks great with it's mate (below). 

♕ ♕ ♕

Lichen and Lace 1-Ply Superwash Merino Fingering in Pressed Flowers.

Lichen and Lace 1-Ply Superwash Merino Fingering in Pressed Flowers.

This skein of yarn is the whole reason I visited the Lichen and Lace website in the first place. I saw this Pressed Flowers yarn somewhere recently, not sure where. Probably a podcast or Instagram.

It was love at first sight! I yearned for this yarn. I had to have it.

I think I said on an Instagram post, I almost don't want to wind this skein into a ball. I just love the way it looks right now, as is. It's like a painting. 

It will be the start of a very special project, as soon as I get Christmas knitting out of the way.

♕ ♕ ♕

AND THAT'S IT...SO IN CLOSING I'D JUST LIKE TO SAY...

Storyteller figurine with crocheted sombrero.

This Storyteller figurine from New Mexico is one of my grandson's favorite things to look at when he comes over. 

He examines each of the children and makes up stories about them. I thought the storyteller needed a sombrero. How do you like it?

♕ ♕ ♕

Thanks so much for reading my blog. Please feel free to ask a question or make a suggestion in the comments below. I'd love to hear from you and get to know my readers!

If you'd like to keep up with all the details about my projects and stash, please check out my Ravelry page. And please feel free to friend me if you'd like!

BONNIE ON RAVELRY

TTFN!