Camp Loopy

The Loopy Ewe has created a virtual Summer Camp. A fun and brilliant idea. There will be a total of three projects, one per each month of camp. Camp starts June 15th and ends Sept. 15th. Campers who finish each project and post a picture in the Loopy Ewe Gallery will receive a camp kit. There are various cabins and a Loopy Hotel for the campers to stay in and share their camp experiences. I checked into the Loopy Hotel.

Camp assignments so far:

Project #1 Campfire Nights
specifics for your first project:
- knit between June 15 and July 15
- a two-color project in either a cape, a shawl, or a scarf. (Things that would keep you warm, when sitting around the campfire in the cool of the night. See ideas and links below.)

Project #2 Hiking in the Mountains
– will run from July 15 – August 15
- for this project, the challenge is to knit or crochet either a pair of socks or a pair of mittens or a pair of gloves, in an adult size. (No fingerless mitts this time around.) The other part of the challenge is that the pattern you use needs to contain cables, which are always fun to do!

Project #1 I knit the Morlynn Shawl in Fiber Optics Footnotes yarn. Colorways are Garnet and Espresso. This is a very quick knit and I love the details. I used all of the Espresso but there was a few yards of Garnet left.



I have chosen the Owlie Sock pattern for Project #2. I ordered Skinny Bugga in Bog Fritillary for these socks.

The KnitGirllls Stash Dash

I am nearly halfway to the 5k mark for the KnitGirllls Stash Dash 2011. I have 12 stripes left to knit on Daybreak. I have about 30 rows left to knit on the Eiffel Tower Shawl. Lots of fiber will be spun in July for Tour de France.


Project number:1
Roving used: Fiber Optic Pencil Roving in Garnet
Method of spinning: Woollen
Finished yardage: 196 yards
Total yardage used in Stash Dash thus far: 196 yards
______________________________________________________________________


Pattern Used: My Plain Stockinette Sock
Yarn Used:Fibernymph Dye Works Teddy Bear Bellies
Needle Size: US 1.5 /2.50 mm
Yardage Used in this project: 230
Total yardage used in Stash Dash thus far: 426 yards / .390k
_____________________________________________________________________________

Project Number: 3

Pattern Used: Summer Mystery Shawlette
Yarn Used: Wollmeise 100% in Ruby Thursday
Needle Size: US 5 / 3.7 5mm
Yardage Used in this project: 307 yards
Total yardage used in Stash Dash thus far: 733 yards
_______________________________________________________________________________

PROJECT #4

Spinning - Project Number: #4
Roving used: Red Barn Farm Hand Dyed Corriedale Wool
Method of spinning: Woollen
Finished yardage: 518
Total yardage used in Stash Dash thus far: 1251 yards/1.144 mm
____________________________________________________________________________

PROJECT #5



Pattern Used:Morlynn Shawl
Yarn Used: Fiber Optic Footnotes in Garnet and Espresso
Needle Size: US4/3.50 mm
Yardage Used in this project: 840 yards
Total yardage used in Stash Dash thus far: 2090 yards

Wendyknits Summer Mystery Shawl

Wendy Johnson had a short little mystery shawl knit along on her blog. The shawl was knit from the top to the point. Very nice simple pattern. I finished it a day or two after the last clue came out.

The yarn is Wollmeise 100% Wool in the colorway Ruby Thursday.

Let the Games Begin

sdravatar, a photo by lalaknits on Flickr.

The KnitGirllls Stash Dash 2011 has officially began.

Long Update

Well so much for keeping up with the blog.  I have not even blogged this month.  I do have lots to show for how my time was spent this month. 

The Age of Brass and Steam.  This is handspun yarn from the Tempted fiber specifically dyed for The KnitGirllls Spinalong Knitalong.  I only managed to get 214 yards out of 8 ounces because I removed all of the pink sections of the braids.  HATE HATE HATE pink.

The Cobblestone Pullover - finally finished. I used Malabrigo Worsted in Emerald Blue which is just beautiful. It came out perfect.

The WendyKnits Japanese Garden Shawl was a knitalong for both the Mommyneedsyarn and the Dramatic Knits podcasts. The proceeds from the sale of the pattern through the end of April went to the Red Cross. Wendy Johnson raised nearly $7,000 on the sale of this pattern.   I used two different Socks That Rock colorways, Melusine and Jensu.  They are part of the Spirits Collection, where Blue Moon Fiber Arts lightly shades white yarn.  One is bluish the other a blueish green.  They blended very well, it's hard to tell where I transitioned to the second color.

The Lost in Light Shawlette was a test knit for Laura Linneman of the KnitGirllls. The pattern was for the Perfect Day Yarns Dead Poets Club package. I love the pattern and probably will knit it again.

The Malka Shawlette was the other pattern I had chosen for the Small Shawl Swap. But once I saw the Shaelyn I knew it was perfect for Melissa, so I made that one for her instead. I was more than half way through the Malka shawlette so I went ahead and finished it. I am donating it to a fundraiser that will happen later this year.

I am currently test knitting a pair of socks for Blueruin. I cast on the Evenstar but have not worked on it since because of the two test knits and some spinning deadlines. I am on the second set of arches on The Eiffel Tower Shawl, it is so pretty.

This is the merino tencel I spun for KarenGMT. It came out very silky and bright. I don't seem to have any photos of the skeined yarn in my flickr photostream. Too bad, it came out wonderful.

I have lots more singles on the bobbins, and some stripey socks on the needles as well. I have knit 7 shawls so far this year, I am sure I will have no trouble completing 11 Shawls in 2011 Challenge. Next up is the KnitGirllls 5K Stash Dash. Followed closely by the 2011 Tour de Fleece. I have joined 5 or 6 Tour de Fleece teams. More on that in a bit.

Spinning Out of Control

I have been spinning a lot recently.  I started the Merino Tencel KarenGMT purchased due to my enabling.  She does not spin but the fiber was so pretty she bought it anyway.  I promised to spin it for her.

I finally bought some pencil roving from FiberOptics. This is the garnet colorway, I love it. It spins up super fast and the colors are to dye for 8-}

Lastly I found this unbelievably good deal on Etsy. Less the $8.00 for 4 ozs of fiber in a bunch of beautiful colors. I have 12 ozs of this blue. I have spun about 6 ozs.  The fiber is from Red Barn Farms.

I have also been knitting and gaming. I am on Chapter 3 of DSi XL Professor Layton and The Curious Village. I completed a test knit shawl for LaLa of the KnitGirllls. I finished the KnitGirllls Spin Along and knit the Age of Brass and Steam.

Cobblestone Complete

Update

I have chosen 11 of my works in progress that I want to finish in 2011. Details in my Ravelry Projects.

I have frogged the Shaken But Not Stirred Project.  It was originally intended to be a Christmas present for a co-worker.  Family came first and it did not get done.  The yarn is beautiful and I recently purchased a shawl pattern I want to use the yarn for instead. 

The big news though, is that I finished the Cobbelstone Pullover.  It fits perfectly, I am so excited.  I need to get one of the shawls finished for the April submission for the 11 in 2011 Shawl group, then on to the Glenesk Cardigan.  My plan was to have the craft room situated where I could have my various yarns for the stranded knitting laid out for easy swithching as I work up the chart.  But I lost steam on that.  There are still cassettes, movies and books that need to be sorted out.  I have not replaced the shredder I killed either.  I have documents that need to be destroyed and thrown away.  Then the craft room will be complete.

I plan on finishing the Eiffel Tower Shawl for April.  It will be a fond reminder of the week I spent in Paris a few years ago.  My hotel was on the Rue Cler within walking distance of the Eiffel Tower.  I did not go all the way to the top, primarily because I did not want to wait in line in the sun for over an hour.  I went to Louis Vuitton instead, what can I say?!? 

1. Ardeo Socks ** DONE **

2. Chocolate Mint Socks ** DONE **

3. Cobblestone Sweater   ** DONE **

4. Drop & Cross Scarf

5. Eiffel Tower Shawl

6. Glenesk Cardigan

7. Lazy Katy Shawl

8. Martini Scarf - Shaken Not Stirred  # Frogged #

9. Rudolph Socks ** DONE **

10. Sockolatte Mousse Socks ** DONE **

11. Tweedy Clogs - Felted Clogs

Technical Difficulties

I am finally going get to participate in Lets Knit2gether Live show this week on Stickam. I had not been able to join previous shows because they were held while I was working or commuting home from work.

The KnitGirllls and His and Hers videocasters also have virtual knit nights on Tinychat. They have become very popular with the Ravelers and Plurkers. Virtual knit alongs are a great way to show off your projects and discuss patterns, yarn and fiber. Look for announcements on Ravelry and/or Plurk for chat room information.

My technical difficulties were due to equipment incompatibilites. I have an integrated webcam in my laptop - check. I have a headset microphone from my Rosetta Stone language set - check. So what was the problem? The webcam worked but the microphone on the headset was weak and cut in and out. I purchased a new Logitech headset with microphone. The new headset with microphone works perfect, and has great sound quality, but the webcam won't broadcast with it. So I have been either typing or talking without video in the virtual knit nights due to technical difficulties. Last night I decided to troubleshoot in an empty Tinychat room. I tried all of the video and audio settings I could find until I made it work. Fingers crossed, the next virtual knit night or the Lets Knit2gether live show, I will be able to broadcast with no technical issues.

Oh Dear

I am just not getting it done.  I meant to blog at least once per week, I have failed.  What do I blame my tardiness on?  A gazillion new video podcasts, forum posts, new books, new patterns and the Cobblestone Sweater.  I cannot keep up with the video podcasts or forums any longer.  Which makes me sad, because I really enjoy most of them.  However, the vidcasts take a lot of time to download if you fall behind a couple of days, and they take up a lot of disk space as well.  So I will be culling my list of to-be-viewed.  I joined the Ravelry groups for all of the vidcasts I watch and they are very active, so I cannot keep up with those either. 
The Cobblestone Sweater on the other hand is just plain tedious.  I am knitting on it every day.  I am working on the yoke, so the end is in sight.  But because the rounds are more than 200 stitches of plain purl or knit - it is boring.  I try to stay motivated because I am so close to the end but - ugh, I am afraid it is going to be put away for awhile.  At least until April.

Today I purchased a couple of shawl patterns and  I want to cast on one of them tonight.  I have gotten two Malabrigo pattern books, and purchased several pdf patterns through Ravelry.  I want to start all of the new patterns.  I still have both of my sock club packages, which I want to start too.  Then April 1st is the beginning of the KnitGirllls spin along.  So unless I can get my collectible Harry Potter Timeturner to work something is going to suffer.  Unfortunately it has been my blog.  I cannot give it up yet.  I have to do better, and get back on a weekly posting schedule.

Update

I have chosen 11 of my works in progress that I want to finish in 2011. Details in my Ravelry Projects.

1. Ardeo Socks ** DONE **
2. Chocolate Mint Socks  ** DONE **
3. Cobblestone Sweater
4. Drop & Cross Scarf
5. Eiffel Tower Shawl
6. Glenesk Cardigan
7. Lazy Katy Shawl
8. Martini Scarf - Shaken Not Stirred
9. Rudolph Socks ** DONE **
10. Sockolatte Mousse Socks ** DONE **
11. Tweedy Clogs - Felted Clogs

Acts of Kindness

I have been knitting a lot of shawls.  Last year I knit a dozen and I have knit four this year.  Unfortunately I have not fully recovered from my surgery.  The area where my scar is prevents me from being able to block lace work properly.  I cannot stretch to do pinning the way I need to.  To the rescue came Lynn.  LynnZimm mentioned on plurk that she enjoys blocking and likes to see lace go from it's original knitted state to something open and beautiful.  I jokingly said I had some shawls I would love for her to block.  I had shawls from last year that I never got to block, the two Charlotte Web shawls, the Faro Easy Shawl, etc.  Well Lynn said send them to me.  Is that not the most generous and kind offer ever?  I could not think of a way to thank her enough, I threw some goodies in with the shawls.  But how do you really thank someone for such a helpful kind act?  I just really appreciate everything Lynn is doing for me and I will share the blocked beauties on the blog when they get home. 

Small Shawl Swap Package

DSC07471
Originally uploaded by paletpc

My swap pal Lemonhalf sent me a wonderful package. Beck handspun the yarn, and knit me this beautiful Argus Shawl. Also, she was the very first person to send out a swap pal package - AWESOME. My goodies included a bath bomb that smells wonderful, a dark chocolate palette from Naked Chocolates that was delicious, two cute hearts which now hang above my desk, and a braid of fiber. I happen to have a braid of the same fiber in my stash. I was very happy with everything, Beck is a great swap pal!!!

#3 of 11 in 2011 Shaelyn Shawl for Meliabella

Shaelyn Shawl for Meliabella
Originally uploaded by paletpc

The Shaelyn Shawl I knit for my swap pal Meliabella came out really pretty. I did knit my first choice, the Malka Shawl in STR Incredible Shrinking Violet and it is pretty too. But, as I suspected, once completed this shawl was more Meliabella than the Malka. It is also Socks That Rock, in medium weight colorway Rose Quartz. She likes it and has blogged and Raveled about it - yay. I used almost the whole skein, I had about 10 yards left.

#2 of 11 Shawls in 2011

I completed my Feb. shawl for the 11 Shawls in 2011 KAL. It was a test knit of the Make It Work! shawl pattern designed by Leslie of The KnitGirllls. I love the way it came out. The yarn is Yarn Chef Mulligatawny in the colorway Chalcedony




I completed two test knits in fact. The other one was a cowl pattern called Twisting and Twining Cowl, the designer is Lisa Beamer. Available soon on Ravelry. It is a pretty little cabled cowl. I knit it in Bugga Bog Fritillary.



I finally finished the Ardeo socks. They are so lovely, though impossible to get pictures of. The Navy blue does not allow the pretty lace to show in photos. I have also finished knitting swap shawlette number one. I am getting into number two now. I know this is excessive, but I really don't think I will be able to choose until they are both knit and blocked. I received my swap package from my pal Lemonhalf. I will make a separate post for that.

I have been in a spinning mood. I am currently spinning some gorgeous Corriedale from Red Barn Farm. I have 12 ozs of this fiber. I will be trying my first 3-ply yarn. I should be able to get decent yardage with this amount of fiber. Fingers crossed.

Update

I have chosen 11 of my works in progress that I want to finish in 2011. Details in my Ravelry Projects.

1. Ardeo Socks ** DONE **
2. Chocolate Mint Socks
3. Cobblestone Sweater
4. Drop & Cross Scarf
5. Eiffel Tower Shawl
6. Glenesk Cardigan
7. Lazy Katy Shawl
8. Martini Scarf - Shaken Not Stirred
9. Rudolph Socks ** DONE **
10. Sockolatte Mousse Socks ** DONE **
11. Tweedy Clogs - Felted Clogs

#1 of 11 in 2011

I have completed the first shawl for the 11 Shawls in 2011 KAL. I knit the Stacy shawl designed by Wendy Johnson (wendyknits). I used Tempted Yarn's Lovely Grrl yarn in the colorway Renewal. I used all but 1.5 yards of the 375 yard skein. I loved working with this yarn.






This was my first blocking attempt since surgery. I managed not to poke myself, but I could not snap the blocking board pieces together properly. I could have blocked it much larger if the pieces had not kept coming apart. I could not bend forward to the center of the bed, hopefully I will be able to again soon.

Secret Knitting

I am working on my Small Shawlette or Kerchief swap item. I am trying to keep everything a secret for now. I will say that the pattern has some key information missing, like how many times you knit the four row pattern repeat before starting the next chart. But with a little math I figured it out. I am also knitting the Stacy Shawl by Wendy Johnson in Tempted Lovely Grrl colorway renewal. None of my pictures came out very good so I will post on that later. I still have two pairs of socks on the needles. I only have 11 rows and the edging left to knit on the Stacy shawl so I should be able to get back to my socks soon.

I have been spinning quite a bit. I finally finished spinning The Scarlet Letter, and I finished spinning Bloodlust. I am glad I finished them both at the same time, because they are both black and red. The Scarlet Letter is Merino Tencel and the Bloodlust is Merino SW. It will be interesting to see how they look plyed. Maybe I can get that done tonight - if I can drag myself away from the Stacy Shawl. I will prep the rest of the North by Northwest too, I only have 2 ounces left to spin. I am really looking forward to starting the braid of South African top I received as the Jan. shipment of the Crown Mountain Farms fiber club. It is gorgeous. I just joined another Spin Along, more on that later.

In other news - I am going to do my first test knitting ever. Leslie of the KnitGirllls has written a shawl pattern in various yarn weights. I will be test knitting the fingering weight version. I am planning to use Yarn Chef in the colorway Chalcedonny. This picture does not reflect it well, but it is a semi solid.

Two of Eleven

Saturday was the first Sister's day of 2011. My Sister and I went out for the day and had lunch and shopped. We got all caught up on work woes and family gossip. It was a great day.

I have finished spinning the singles of the Cloudlover Polworth fiber in the colorway The Tempest. I am now 2-plying it.
I finished sock 1 of the Twisted Limone Chocolate Mint socks. I love this BFL Sock Yarn so much.

Yay - I have completed two of the eleven projects for 2011. The Jack Stripe socks and the Rudolph socks are done. They came out wonderful.




I spun the first two ounces of the KnittyandColor bump in the colorway Bloodlust. This is a for a spin along I am doing with Phobbs1.

I would have made even more knitting and spinning progress if I did not have so much to do this weekend. I have swapped boxes for cabinets and drawers in the guest room closet. I put all of the movies, audiobooks and books into place. I have two boxes of DVDs that need to be brought into the bedroom to be placed in the new bookcase, and then that task will be complete. I framed the two Patternworks yarn catalog cover posters - but I still need to hang them. I set up my wireless router so I now have high speed internet access in the Craft/Guest room. I got up in the dark on Sunday morning to snag a Phat Fiber Fluffy Sampler box. I am extremely tired. But I am very pleased with my progress in all areas.

First 11 in 2011

I have chosen 11 of my works in progress that I want to finish in 2011. Details in my Ravelry Projects.

1. Ardeo Socks ** DONE **
2. Chocolate Mint Socks
3. Cobblestone Sweater
4. Drop & Cross Scarf
5. Eiffel Tower Shawl
6. Glenesk Cardigan
7. Lazy Katy Shawl
8. Martini Scarf - Shaken Not Stirred
9. Rudolph Socks ** DONE **
10. Sockolatte Mousse Socks ** DONE **
11. Tweedy Clogs - Felted Clogs

Some of these projects were in hibernation, I have moved them back into the In Progress area of my projects list in Ravelry. The socks are all almost finished except the Chocolate Mint pair, I am still on sock 1. So this list will shrink quickly. The sweaters are mostly 50 % complete and just need some uninterrupted knitting time. The scarves have just been cast on. The shawls are a mixed bag, one barely started and the other progressing quickly.

I have some KALs coming up so there will be other knitting going on, intermittently. Spinning will also be a constant throughout 2011. But come hell or high water, the 11 items listed above will be completed this year. You heard it here first.

Busy Busy Me

I have been spinning up a storm. I have 3 full bobbins. I need to spin the other half of each bump, Scarlet Letter, North by Northwest and The Tempest.

I am also socktastic, I am about to turn the heels on the second socks in Rudolph and Sockolate Mousse. I am ready to turn the heel on sock 1 in Chocolate Mint. I found the second ball of Navy Essentials yarn so I can now finish the second Ardeo sock.

I managed to squeeze in some shawl time as well. I added 20 rows to the Lazy Katy and I am on row 52 of the Eiffel Tower Shawl.

Weirder than weird - I want to work on the Cobblestone. Yep I am in the mood for endless rows of garter stitch.

No pictures of the wips but some random stash enhancement shots.