Something's in the Air

This week has been a slow one for my knitting....there was lots of time for me to work on my current projects but I just haven't been in the mood. Last night I did exactly one row on my fiesta socks....I started a hat only to frog it after the brim was completed. I knit on feeling....if it doesn't feel right, the pattern doesn't stir my creative juices, if the yarn doesn't scream knit me; I wouldn't be able to produce anything worthwhile. But today I got the perfect pick me up! A few weeks ago, I sent my friend a picture of a cardigan I thought would look absolutely adorable on her daughter. Turns out she loves the cardigan just as much as I do and offered to buy the yarn for me to make it for Mia. Order was placed on the 17th March.... Guess what was in my mailbox today?

Jimmybeanswool.com now has a fan in me. I've never received a package that quickly sent through standard shipping. LOVE ITTTTTTTTTTT! This will be my first time knitting with Berroco Remix. According to the label the yarn is 30% nylon, 27% cotton, 24% acrylic, 10% silk and 9% linen. Wool would normally be my go to choice but I wanted Something for Mia that would be easy to care for after a day of playing outdoors (we have a play date :)). Her mom selected pepper for the main colour and burnt orange for the trim. I love the texture...it's beautiful and TWEED!

I am excited to cast on...even the dreaded gauge swatch can't dampen my excitement

Pattern:- Sawtelle by Amanda Keep-Williams

WORK IN PROGRESS:- FIESTA SOCKS

Last week, fresh off the heels of making my first adult cardigan I stumbled upon a lovely group on ravelry called friends of Sarah. Sarah, the moderator came up with a pretty cool idea that is perfect for me. She is running a kal that is focused solely on socks. Everyday for the entire year you are to knit socks. My first reaction was WHATTTTT knit a pair of socks a day for a year? Hell no!!! Good thing I didn't dismiss the KAL without reading it through. Instead of what I initially thought, there is a more feasible challenge....everyday you work on the sock that is on your needles at your own pace. If you want to knit a row a day then that's what you do. If you want to knit half a sock a day, guess what? You can do it. This is perfect for me. I've never used sock yarn to knit socks before... This has been on purpose. I am a quick knit type of knitter....I love instant gratification projects....sock yarn doesn't allow for that to happen at the turtle speed at which I knit. Butttt 2014 is a year of trying new things, of not imposing limitations on myself...armed with luxury sock yarn by loops& thread, my karbonz knitter's pride US1.5mm ciruclar needles, YouTube videos and a simple enough pattern; I accepted the sock challenge. So far it's not as bad as I had expected it to be. I even learned how to do magic loop. Pretty nifty little trick to now have in my bag of tricks. I am completely smitten with my karbonz needles....they are incredibly light and flexible. They made me feel like I was knitting much faster than I usually do. I wish I had them in every size and length. I was a bit bummed having to switch to my bamboo dpns after the gusset decreases were complete.....is there a way to avoid the switch? Probably .... Have to do some research

- Cee

For Me

I have always wondered if the day would come when I would have a sweater/cardigan knitted by me for me....well ladies and gentleman, I'm happy to say the day has arrived!!!!!! "I'm so excited and I just can't hide it". I have never attempted to make a sweater a before. In my mind it was a feat of enormous proportions that I was incapable of accomplishing. But the desire to wear something on my body was greater than the imagined limitations I had placed on myself. I would be lying if I said I am a converted sweater knitter. I am not. I am still deeply fond and committed to the process of making hats. Last week I finally finished lady kina.

Is it wrong to adore clothing?

It's mine...all mine and I made it!!! The excitement is still bubbling over. The last time I felt this way was the first time i crocheted a bag. It wasn't until the last stitch fell off my needles and the button was sewed on that I realized just how much I had invested in this project.

The button looks more gold than silver in person.

The only modification I made to the pattern was turning it into a cropped cardigan and not a full length as the pattern called for. 90% of what I had knitted so far was done during my slanted knit stitch (twisted knit) phase. As much as I tried knitting the remainder portion of the cardigan in an untwisted knit stitch, the difference in texture and appearance was glaringly noticeable in an annoying sort of way. I was opposed to returning to my old habits just for the sake of uniformity. My solution:- stop where I did. It worked out. The yarn bloomed beautifully after it was washed. It is the softest thing I've ever worn.

I've already found the next pattern I plan on making. Harvest is beautiful and my style preference. I don't have the colour I want in my yarn stash. Sounds like a perfect excuse to buy yarn right? Sighs, it's so hard to ignore the urge

Info for cardigan:-

Pattern: Lady Kina by Muriela
Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted
Started: 6th January 2014
Finished: 5th March 2014
Ravelry link: here

Now that lady kina is finished I'm working on my first pair of sock yarn socks :). I'll tell you more about it next time.

Wednesday's Treats

"What day is it"? "hump dayyyyyyy yeah There are two reasons why I am excited today:- (1) it's my day off and

(2) I got the yarn I ordered from craftsy!!!. It came yesterday but I didn't check my mailbox....thank goodness I had tracked my package by email. I love starting my days with new yarn. I know I had promised myself to not buy anymore yarn for awhile. I can't remember if while is should be the rest of the year or a few months.....I have no idea. I just couldn't help myself. The sale prices were too good to pass up. It took a great deal of control for me to remove the other ten skeins of yarn from my cart. I am happy with my choices, though I must admit I am still thinking of the other yarns. Maybe I will find another reason to treat myself next month but for now I am going to go on another self imposed ban. The yarn I plan on buying next week god willing does not count!!!!!! I know my logic doesn't sound very logical but in my defense, since last month I had plan to go to smiley's march sale. My craftsy purchase wasn't planned...it just happened. Logic makes sense now doesn't it? Seeeeee I knew you would understand.

From left to right:- cascade heritage 150 in mango. 492 yards of heavenly goodness. It's 75% superwash merino wool and 25% nylon. The middle and right yarns are cascade alpaca Lana d'oro in olive heather and ivy green. I've never worked with a wool and alpaca blend. I'm ecstatic. I wish it were possible to capture the feel of them through the pictures. Squishy and wonderful comes to mind. Now that I no longer twist my stitches I am feeling the itch to do more colour work. I have spent hours admiring the Duotone cowl on ravelry. I am going to pair the cascade heritage 150 in mango with the yarn I won in the fallintofall kal hosted by Andi over at mysistersknitter. In case you have forgotten what my prize was

I usually avoid bright colours but after the winter I've had I want to celebrate the spring....what better way than to incorporate bright bold colours in my wardrobe. How has your week been so far? Any welcomed surprises or treats?