Tag Archives: Stash Sunday

Stash Sunday

Knoontime Knitting

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Rachel and I wander around a lot, and as part of that, we search out local yarn shops, or what knitters like to call LYS’s.  During Rachel’s last trip here, we visited The Knitting Pot in Elmhurst, Illinois.  Rachel fell in love with some lovely overdye purple yarn, but there was only one skein of it.  It’s been sitting on my idea board for the last two months while I try and figure out what to make with it.

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I like Cascade yarns.  This is a nice, chunky yarn that’s soft and has a nice hand.  This colorway is interesting because it’s so understated, all plums and grey.  It’s a lot darker than it seems in these pictures.

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Here’s a shot of the back of the yarn band.  The colorway on the left tells you what the manufacturer’s color it is.  The lot number on the right tells you which batch it was dyed with, so that if you’re using more than one skein, you can make sure all the pieces are the same lot number.

Here’s the tough part:

I don’t know what to make with it.

So, here are my ideas:

  1. A stuffed elephant/truffle.  (A truffle is an imaginary creature that Rachel and I invented for our Persis series; it’s a cross between a cocker spaniel and an aardvark.)
  2. A lace table runner.
  3. This is currently my favorite:  an Amazeball.  Here’s my idea:  make a large ball, stuffed and cushie.  Send it to a friend when they’ve done something amazing.  They get to hang onto it, kind of like a trophy, until they feel like it’s time to pass the award on to the next person.  Ooh!  As I’m typing this, maybe include a pocket, and each person giving the award can write a note to put in the Amazeball to pass it along to the next person.
  4. A set of tree ornaments.
  5. Use it in a woven piece where I wind on a continuous warp, and use this as one of the weft pieces.

What about you, Dear Reader?  What would you make with it?

Stash Sunday

Knoontime Knitting

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Now that I’ve finished the Jewel Scarf, I’m at a loss for what to make next.  I want to do a top-down sweater, but I don’t feel up to something new and complicated.  I have a bunch of yarn left over from the Bryce Canyon Shawl, and I don’t like the hat I made with the leftovers.  I decided to take another shot and make another hat.

Top-down hats are easier than they seem.  The nice thing about making them is that you can try it on halfway through and make sure it works how you want it to:

  • Cast on 8 stitches; join to work in the round.
  • Increase in each stitch; 16 total.
  • Work 1 round even.
  • Increase 8 stitches in next round.
  • Work 1 round even.
  • Repeat last two rows until it’s round enough to cover the crown of your head.
  • Work straight for as long as you want it, down to the ears or longer, if you want a foldable brim.
  • Then bind off and you’re done.

I like Elizabeth Zimmerman’s sewing needle bind off best, because it’s a nice edge, and isn’t tight or rigid.

  • Leave a long end of yarn and thread it in a blunt sewing needle.
  • Insert the needle into the next 2 stitches as if to purl and pull through, leaving the stitches on your knitting needle.
  • Insert the needle into the first stitch as if to knit and pull the stitch off the knitting needle.
  • Repeat these steps across the end of the row.

What about you, Dear Reader?  What’s in your stash?

Stash Sunday – Becoming

Knoontime Knitting

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It’s coming together.  Slowly.

2015 has been a difficult year as regards output.  Most of the work has been internal; journaling and the like.  When Rachel was in town in October, we bought this yarn and I started farting around with some lace patterns, and realized I needed to drawn it out in a chart because the swatch was decidedly not cooperating.  As in, sticking out its tongue at me and going “Nya-nya-nya.”

I finally finished the first of the two skeins yesterday.  If this were a scarf for myself, it would be way too short – one, I’m five-eight; two, I like loooong scarves.

But it’s not for me; it’s for Rachel.

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She’s a similar height to Leticia (my dressmaker’s form).  This length comes right about to her hips, which is actually where Rachel prefers her scarves because she is using them more for an accessory, given that she lives in the desert; whereas I, living in Chicago, am looking for warmth and the ability to wrap it around my head and my neck several times.  So yay, it fits!

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Here’s a view around back, and there’s plenty of room for the second skein to make it a full length scarf for her.  I’d like it if it could be longer, but the third skein is a different color (and only one skein of that color, so it’s probably going to be made into an Amazeball or a truffle; I haven’t decided yet.)

An Amazeball: I came up with this a couple days ago when my bud and I were sharing hard-won kudos with working out.  I thought, we need some kind of trophy or something that we can mail around in our group of friends, and whoever gets it gets to take a picture of themselves with it, and gets to decide to wins it next.  But we need something, and I figured a ball of yarn (not a ball of unmade yarn, but a knitted ball) would be a cool trophy.  A truffle, if you recall, is a creature from our Persis Chronicles that’s a cross between an aardvark and a cocker spaniel.  I think I’ll modify an elephant pattern and make a small one; only problem is, I think I need more yarn than I have for this project, which is why the Amazeball.

Glad you asked?

What about you, Dear Reader?  How long do you like your scarves?

 

 

Stash Sunday

Knoontime Knitting

I am working on the Emerald Keep scarf for the Keepsake Tour, which of course means that I instantly want to play with something from my stash. Doesn’t that always happen?

So here’s what’s on my desk right now, that’s not the Keepsake scarf:

Top left is my character binder for the novels currently in progress, (Sealed by Duty and Sapphire Dream, in case you’re curious).  Under that is my Franklin Planner.  On its side is some pretty Caron Simply Soft Paints yarn, which I bought when I bought the yarn for the Emerald Keep scarf but am not using in it.

Which begs the question, what shall I make with it?  ~rubs hands together~

Next is my keys.  This is important.  Hard to get into the house without them.

Don’t ask me how I know that.  I don’t want to talk about it.

Moving right along, we come to the Caron ball band for the light green yarn in the Emerald Keep scarf.  The glue failed and it fell off, so I brought it in here to make sure I have it up on Ravelry before I discard it.

The grey is for a possible pair of Quill’s Socks, which were featured in Emerald Fire and remarked upon by every editor who worked on it as well as several fans.  Yes, Teeka finished the socks, yes, Quill liked them, and yes, I’ll feature a pattern for them when the website redesign goes live – and I might even make a pair of them to give away at some point.  Though, in all honesty, I probably won’t have time to make them for this Keepsake Tour.

Next is the yarn I bought to make Rachel a pair of fingerless mitts she can use in the hot climate of the Nevada desert.  I’ll use some kind of lace pattern on them, probably but right now I’m just sketching with it.

I realized I caught the edge of my little post-it note with Rule #11 from NCIS:  “When the job is done, walk away.”

On the right of my desk, I have two needlework kits that I’m looking forward to starting.  One is a ladybug which is in honor of the fictiious Ladybug Bed and Breakfast.  The other is a lovely peacock I bought while visiting Rachel last month – I adore peacocks.

What’s in your stash?

Stash Sunday: Introducing Aubergine

Knoontime Knitting
She has a name now!

I’m so excited – I settled on a name, and I’m nearly done with the scarf!  This picture is a little too heavily slanted toward blue, but you get the idea.  I’ve decided the name is Aubergine.  I should be done in another day or two.

This is a fun project because the stitch is much simpler than it looks.  It’s just a four row repeat, and two of those rows is to Purl across.  What could be easier?  This would be suitable for a beginner, as long as they know how to cast on and bind off, knit, purl, and do yarn overs.

Pro-tip – keep your yarn untangled by moving the working skein around the waiting yarn on each color change.  Otherwise you’ll have a wadded up mess before you go five or ten repeats.  No fun.