Knitting – Page 2 – Purl Kitty

Posted on December 26, 2013

Lollipop Socks

This year I made Mike a pair of socks out of the elusive Lollipop Yarn. I stalked the website only once and managed to get both skeins I was after. This one called Moondance was intended for him as soon as I saw the preview.

I used the stitch pattern from Harris Tweed and knit them toe-up with an afterthought heel (instructions from Loop). I really like how they turned out and Mike says they’re comfortable to wear. I started them back in October and was hoping to have them done by Halloween but they fell of my radar when I messed up the first few inches of the second sock in a bar a few nights before Halloween, so they got put in time out for awhile. I finished them up in time for Christmas and gave them to Mike that day. I’ve still got another ball stashed away for myself for later. As for the yarn itself, it knit up lovely and the colors are so vibrant. I don’t know if I’ll be stalking the site again for it but we’ll see.

Posted on September 3, 2013

Finished

I managed to finish all three months of Camp Loopy this year. Wow. It was tight at the end with classes starting but I got it done and bound off just under the wire. Next year, I’m going with smaller projects! This picture is a rough look at my unblocked February Lady Sweater. A couple of long ends are showing that will be trimmed once it gets blocked.

Now for classes and fall excitement. I’ve got a couple of things I’m working on in between school and work (which is going to be insanely busy in the next few months). I took a yarn dyeing class last weekend at A Tangled Yarn in Nicholasville. It was so much fun and I want to reskein the yarn before I take photos of it. I did quite a bit of fiber and five skeins of yarn and probably would have done more fiber if it wasn’t for the 90 degree weather. Next time!

I’m finally off on Saturdays and Mike and I have been trying to enjoy them as much as possible, since we haven’t had a day off together in months. We saw The Butler on Saturday. I think it’s the first non-action movie we’ve seen in a long long time. It was a wonderful movie and invoked a lot of emotions. It’s well worth it if you’re looking for something to see.

Have a great short week!

Posted on August 1, 2013

Camp Loopy Project Three

Happy August! The summer has just flown by. My summer semester final was this morning and now I have nearly a month until the fall semester starts. I’m going to cram as much knitting and spinning in as I can between work. I’m going to need to with the project I decided to do for August.

The requirement is at least 800 yards and since I didn’t want to do another lace project for this month, I chose the February Lady Sweater. I’m using Cascade 220 in Lilac Heather. I was all set to do Girl Friday, however the idea of a one piece sweater instead of seaming pieces really appealed to me since time is going to be a factor. I cast on this morning after my final and I haven’t gotten too far yet but I’m really liking it so far. I haven’t gotten a picture of it yet so above is my Candy shawl from earlier this week. Happy Knitting!

Posted on July 31, 2013

Camp Loopy Project Two Update

Well, I finished this project on Friday and blocked it over the weekend. I could not resist wearing it to work on Monday. I love it so much. I whined throughout the whole process of knitting the edging but wow, it really was well worth it. I carried it around for a few days before I found the perfect place to take pictures of it in downtown Frankfort earlier this afternoon. I’m so in love with this shawl and got so many compliments on it at work Monday.

Details:

Yarn: Madtosh Prairie
Pattern: Rock Island by Jared Flood
Cast On: July 1, 2013
Bind Off: July 27, 2013

I’ll talk about my next project for the final month of Camp Loopy tomorrow. I’ve got my yarn and needles ready but I’ve now changed my mind on the pattern.

Posted on July 8, 2013

Camp Loopy July and Tour De Freaking Fleece

Hello! I ended up finishing up my Camp Loopy June project right on time, however I’m not thrilled with how it came out. I ran out of yarn to do the edging so I bound off early. What my plan is, is to take the leftover from my Camp Loopy July project since it’s out of the same yarn and use it as a contrasting border. I’m going to start work on that once my July project is over which is…. Rock Island! I’ve said for awhile I’ve wanted to do this pattern and I cast on July 1st and I’m still on the edging. Now that I have the hang of it, it’s progressing better but my attention has been focused on school of course and my first Tour De Fleece!

I started by plying up some lace weight (most likely) shetland that I’ve had in my stash forever and moved quickly along to my Fiber Optics gradient. It’s wool and silk which is one of my favorite combinations and I’ve got both bobbins spun up, it’s time to ply them! I’ve already got my eye on my next goal – some beautiful Skein Queen BFL and then my Sock to Shoe kit from Blue Moon Fiber Arts. So much to spin, so little time.

Lastly, we welcomed a new family member this past Independence day. My sister in law had a little girl named Bailey so I’m hard at work at an adorable sock yarn bunny and a pair of booties to send her. They didn’t find out she was going to be a girl until she was born, so I held off on any handknits and if they didn’t live in Canada, we would bring the gifts to girl ourselves. Hopefully we’ll get to meet her in the near future!

Of course where I’d like to be right now is in France instead of spinning with the Tour De Fleece. Hopefully we’ll go again sometime soon!

Posted on June 17, 2013

Summer Travels and Camp Loopy Update

I’m sailing right along on my Camp Loopy project. I have the first half done and the second part is coming along nicely. I’m expecting to graft the halves together tomorrow so I can get started on the edging. I would be further along if not for some gift knitting and a few commission projects that needed to be finished up. More on one of those gifts a bit further down. I’m looking ahead to Camp Loopy July already and my yarn and project have been chosen and I’m thrilled with what I’ve picked out.

I spent this past week in Delaware visiting my Dad. It was a solo trip and it was really nice to see my Dad and Myra even if only for a few days. My last day there, there were a couple of gigantic storms that drove us inside and made me a bit nervous since his house is surrounded by huge trees. It ended up being a lot of rain and thunder but other parts of Delaware weren’t so lucky. I wish I had gotten to spend more than three days with them but maybe later in the year I’ll be able to go back up.

I finished a pair of socks for my Dad while I was there. He has been a bit difficult to make socks for over the years and I think this was his fourth pair and they were a winner! I got a lot done on these socks while in waiting rooms the past few weeks with Mike who got hurt on his job. He’s in pain but getting better. He starts physical therapy this week so I’m going to guess it’ll be more waiting room knitting! You can see one of the first pair of socks I made for him in the background there.

Yarn: Knit Picks Gloss Fingering in black. I liked knitting with the yarn but I don’t know if it was the color or yarn but every single piece of cat hair seemed to get attached to this. I’m not sure I would use it for a gift again. Of course I know I already have some set aside for more socks in my stash.
Needles: US 1.5 done with magic loop.
Pattern: Harris Tweed adapted for toe-up with a short row heel. This has become my go-to men’s sock pattern for the past couple of years. Always a crowd pleaser!

We had lost most of the light by the afternoon on my last day and my camera battery and iPhone had both died so these pictures aren’t that great but I had to photograph the occasion of how much my Dad enjoyed these socks. Before I left we also picked out the next project I’m going to make for him and picked out the yarn which should be arriving this afternoon. I asked him because I had seen the pattern and thought of him but I wanted to make sure it was something he was going to like. If all goes as planned I should be swatching this evening!

Posted on June 5, 2013

Camp Loopy: June

This year I decided to join Camp Loopy. I’m not sure why I didn’t participate the past two years but this year when Sheri announced it, the wheels in my head started turning. The first challenge is to knit a one skein project using at least 375 yards of fingering or lace weight in a base you’ve never used before. I spent a good hour going back and forth between shawl projects and drove poor Mike crazy in the process.

I finally settled on this yarn – Madelinetosh Prairie in Corsage and I’m going to turn it into…

The Print o’ the Wave shawl!

I got my yarn about two weeks ago and cast on early June 1st and with only two really straight of knitting I’ve finished 10 repeats which is a good ways into the body.
I have a couple of other knitting commitments to work on this week before I go out of town on Tuesday and since they’ll (hopefully) be done by then, I’ll be able to take my shawl and another pair of socks I’ve been working on for Mike with me. It’s only for a few days but of course with travel time, car time there and evenings I’m going to have a lot of time to knit.

Posted on May 25, 2013

Two Pairs of Purple Socks

I’ve been on a huge sock knitting kick lately which stemmed from the past few weeks that I’ve been organizing my stash and UFOs. I have a lot of socks on the needles. An embarrassingly large amount of socks.

For this pair – I had cast on a few months ago using Susan Anderson’s How I Make My Socks. I stumbled across this tutorial from Rock Granola on Zite and realized I had a pair of mini-circs that I had tried to use years ago and quickly gave up on. Inspired, I pulled them back out and cast on with some Knitpicks yarn that had been in my stash awhile (see the trend?). I made it to the gusset, got confused and then abandoned them in my WIPs pile. I’m a toe-up sock knitter and the only top down socks I’ve done have been anklets. I picked these back up two weeks ago and was determined to finish them. I sat down and carefully reread everything. Within a day I got the first one done and moved on to the second. For this one I had to switch back to magic loop. I don’t mind the mini-circs but it was a bit too much while I was trying to get the hang of top down construction. The second sock breezed through and now I have a finished and very badly pooled pair.

Now I did say two pairs. After finishing the first pair, I stumbled across a pattern for baby socks. No, I’m not pregnant but I wanted some to have around for gift knitting. They worked up quickly and they’re adorable!

And as all cats must, Pumpkin had to get in on the photo shoot.

Posted on January 29, 2013

Knitting Up a Storm

I have been knitting and spinning up a storm in 2013. Also school, yes lots of school – but I am trying to get as much knitting and spinning in as humanely possible.

This is one bobbin of a merino/silk blend by Tempted Yarns that I bought from The Loopy Ewe years ago. I’m determined to spin down a lot of my fiber stash before the Kentucky Sheep and Wool fest so I can buy more guilt free.

I’ve also been working on getting my stash down. This is part of the January Stashdown Challenge sock on Ravelry. It’s Bloomin’ by Jeannie Cartmel. I’m knitting it out of some Trekking XXL I picked up driving through Maryland a few years ago. (ignore Mad Men in the background, I was too lazy to get up and take another photo of it.)

A couple of years ago, my mom visited me and lost her beautiful Swiss Cheese scarf so I’m making her a new one out of Classic Elite Silk Alpaca lace. So.much.knitting.

And finally… it’s been awhile but I guess I should officially go through with getting my married name huh? My wormhead hat in the foreground out of Cherry Tree Hill Possum Sock.

This week I’m pondering putting together a pom-pom garland to brighten up our computer room. We’ll see… Also Happy Birthday to my awesome Dad!

Posted on November 26, 2012