It's a Love Fest

A little housekeeping to do before my post:

Don't forget to enter to win some yummy yarn! A skein of Brooklyn Tweed's Shelter Yarn in the colorway Woodsmoke could be yours if you do one or more of the following...

1. Leave a comment here on Monday's blog entry
2. Become a follower of this blog
3. Join our Mighty Distractible group on Facebook
4. Follow us on Twitter

Winner is announced Friday! Good luck!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 
Last night I realized something as I was pouring over my project list on Ravelry. I never did follow up with you on my little boy cabled sweaters I knitted for the winter holidays. There was a promise of a follow-up here and I totally spaced it. Oops!

The perfect sweaters for spring...who knew?

But, it's actually okay. In Wisconsin May is chilly, so my littles have been wearing these sweaters nearly every time they go outside these days. Way more than they did over the winter months. I'm so glad I chose bright green and blue cotton yarn because it is so appropriate for spring. I think I might make this sort of choice again next fall when I plan their next sweaters.

The yarn, Classic Elite Provence, was spendy, but worth every penny. What a dream to knit. I have used cotton many times and this was by far the least "splitty". The colors were so vibrant and fun that I never actually tired of them after all those hours of cabling. And speaking of the cables, wow did they pop with this yarn. This was the recommended yarn for the pattern and I'm so glad I didn't try to substitute it with anything else.

This blue is amazing.

The pattern itself was just spot-on. All directions were clear and perfect. A FREE pattern (aptly named Provence Child's Pullover) published by Classic Elite. How awesome is that? The cables were simple and I think anyone experienced in sweater construction who wants to try their hand at cables should consider this pattern. It took some time to follow that chart, but the results are well worth it.

Loved the yarn and loved the pattern.... love the little sweaters!

–Cassandra

Reporting From the Couch!

Happy Friday everyone!

Guess what? I haven't touched the needle case project since we last spoke on Monday. I did, however, purchase the remaining elements that I was missing so I am all prepared when I do take a moment to sew this up. I just needed some "couch time" this week after the kids went to bed. With that said, I have made some progress on my new knitting project!

Knitting in Progress

There were many projects in the running for my stash of Blackwater Abbey worsted in Autumn. I will give you a peek at those...

I have always wanted to make the Hemlock Ring blanket by Jared Flood:

Hemlock Ring Blanket by Jared Flood

But then I thought that this stiff wool wasn't soft enough for a lap blanket. So I considered the Perth Wrap:

Perth Wrap by Cari Clement

It is beautiful, and ideally suited for this yarn...but...it is cables. I'm a bit cabled-out after 2 fully cabled sweaters. I shifted gears and went to a little sweater I have had my eye on for a while. The Goodale by Cecily Glowik MacDonald would possibly look really cute in a more rustic yarn like my Blackwater Abbey:

Goodale Sweater by Cecily Glowick MacDonald

 The pattern actually calls for supersoft madelinetosh pashmina. Maybe it wouldn't hang right in something stiff like wool. I second-guessed my renegade yarn notions and decided to abandon that pattern idea. I went back to the idea of a wrap and logged some serious search time in on ravelry.

The winner is the Vineyard Wrap by J.L. Fleckenstein:

Vineyard Wrap by J.L. Fleckenstein

It suits my yarn perfectly and is something I could really use. I am embarrassed to say that I have a nasty fleece throw given to me by a vendor that I use at my desk during the day. It will be replaced by the Vineyard Wrap as soon as I can bind it off!

So far, this project is going well. At first, I had a bit of trouble with the K1B (knit one back) stitch. This was a stitch I hadn't done before and so of course I turned to youtube for some help. There seems to be quite a few variations on this stitch and I had gone down a few incorrect paths before finding the right one. Luckily, the one I needed was the simplest. Once I got my stitches down, I started to cruise. Well, as much as I can cruise on what is essentially a lace pattern. Let's just take a moment to thank the universe for the progress you can make with size 10 needles.

I have also been giving a lot of thought to my 2011 crafty resolutions. I keep coming back to the same thing. Cooking, cooking, and cooking. This is the area that I want to work on. I love to cook, am a decent cook...but I want to be an even better cook. I don't want to be fearful of things that seem complicated. And, I want to expand my vegetarian repertoire. So there you go...we'll see what happens this year!

Have a great weekend!

–Cassandra