How does anyone knit!

Once you get invited to Ravelry?

I finally received my invitation on Monday and I have used nearly every available minute to look at it. Absolutely wonderful.

But I find it hard to believe that anyone is knitting. I think everyone is searching, browsing and entering things into Ravelry to share with others.

So far I have only put in my October Finished Objects.

I am finding wonderful patterns to think about doing. sigh......

Stop and admire your work AND count!

I am just so excited about hand winding my own balls of yarn! I just had to show you. This is the second one I've done and it just looks so perfect. The first one I used went off without any problems. I hope this one will go as well.


Knit A Longs! Boy, am I going to be in trouble if I join too many. I had promised myself I would finish one small project before beginning the next...... that lasted about a month.

Here is the progress so far of my "Friday Harbor" sock, from Nancy Bush's book "Knitting on the Road." I had purchased the book, oh, probably in February and I joined the kotrkal on yahoogroups back then as well, but never got around to actually joining a kal sock they were knitting.

I say I want to learn everything and I want to knit it all. Well, to do that I have to keep learning, and believe me, this sock is "learning" me.

I have learned how to read a chart. Which really isn't that hard. I am glad the pattern is relatively simple and easy to memorize.

But COUNTING. Stopping and admiring your work and COUNTING are so important. If you loose your count and don't realize it, it is a bear to rip back to correct a mistake. Which this sock has a few as I got tired of ripping back. It's all about learning.

The yarn for this sock is Opal 6 ply in colorway 1452E, which I believe it Owl. I like the way it is coming along. Sorry the picture is a bit blurry. I hope the next one will be better.

Here is my Fingerless mitten. Which is another KAL I joined on Yahoo groups.... It is using the same lace pattern as the socks I made for the Easy Socks KAL, and these will match them. They will be a gift. I am happy with how they are coming along. It is a quick and easy knit.

Here is the progress on my top down raglan sleeve sweater. I have only been able to work on this in the evenings while I watch tv. It is coming along and I can't wait to have it finished as I have found several other sweaters that I want to knit.

I don't know how anyone gets any knitting done. With looking at blogs, WAITING for an invitation to Ravelry, and trying to blog and then to knit! That is why I have only been managing about 2 posts per week. I just can't squeeze it in if I want to knit.

Rachel's Socks

Well, here they are, finished in 7 days. I could only knit on them when she wasn't around. They are the Lacey Wool Ease Socks, from the Easy Socks KAL for the month. This is the correct pattern. They are made using Patons Classic Wool Merino in Rosewood colorway. I hope that she will like them.

I am now going to attempt a pair of fingerless mittens to match them. I have made mittens before, but never fingerless ones. I thought since they would be wool also she might like wearing them when she goes hunting.

I am still working on my "cape may" socks and on my top down - raglan sleeve ultra alpaca sweater. I am into the body now, I've put the sleeves on hold.

Learning every day

Well, yesterday I spent some time learning new things about knitting.

Have you ever checked out www.knittinghelp.com ? I have used it on several occasions but I really spent some time on the site looking at the videos. What a nice website. Be sure to check it out and to share it with friends.

I learned how to roll a center pull ball of yarn from a hank. Remember that beautiful Alpaca I had gotten while in Cape May? Well, the first hank, I put around the tops of two of the diningroom chairs and just wound it into a ball. But, this makes it difficult while knitting, as it takes off on you if you aren't careful. So, last night, I would my first center pull ball and it worked great! You just have to remember not to wind too tightly, you don't want to stretch the yarn out as you are balling it up.

I started to work on the Lacey Wool Ease socks as a gift for Rachael, so I am only doing them when she isn't here. I am hoping to make a matching hat, and perhaps a scarf as well for her using the same yarn.

I have decided to not try to modify the "I Love Garnsey Socks" pattern from the Six Sock KAL from last month. The yarn I chose just doesn't work with the pattern, but I like the way the top ribbing and the K, P rows look, so I am just going to make a plain vanilla sock and call them my "Cape May" socks, as the colorway reminds me of the colors in our suite while we were there.

I keep debating on placing my order for yarn from www.knitpicks.com I have heard alot of good things about their yarn, but I am a "touchy-feely" type of person and I like "seeing" it first. But I do need to order some things, so I might just as well do it and get it over with. sigh.....

I am going to make the Palindrom http://www.cometosilver.com/patterns/palindromehat.htm
hat and scarf for Jill for christmas in the Plymouth Galway that I bought. I thought the project looked good and would be an easy knit. Plus, I will probably also do a pair of socks for her and Edward. That was yarn I got at Fiber Arts Yarn Shop in Cape May as well.

What a lovely yarn shop. You can go the any day between 1 and 3 in the afternoon (I think that was the time) to knit and they will help you as they can. I can't wait to get back there to get more of the Alpaca.

While I was there I also bought some "Douceur et Soie" by Knit one Crochet too. It is a lace weight Mohair Silk blend. It will be my first Lace knitting project. I chose "In Love with Lace - Simply Sensational Scarf" by Eugen Beugler, sold by K1C2. They had one made up in the store and it just looked so yummy. I bought the colorways "camel" and "snow" and plan to make one for Aunt Bette, hopefully for Christmas.

I have all these projects in mind and it's October! Am I ever going to get them done? I try not to have too many going at once, but sometimes you just can't help it.

Well, I think I have talked enough about my knitting for today. Sorry no pictures.

October begins!

Well here is my second pair of Bell-Lace wool ease socks. These are done in Patons Classic Wool in Denim colorway. I like this yarn alot, and will probably use it again once I see how it washes.

I learned a few things. The Wool Ease sock done in wheat on size 5 needles, fits Rachael, who has a size 8 foot. I wanted to make these for her as well, as I had thought I figured out the pattern, and when I had the first sock done, it actually knit up at a smaller gauge, so it fits me with a size 7 foot, and five extra rows. Both yarns say they are worsted. So it does make a difference.

As I say, you learn something new everyday.

Then, I also learned why my pattern didn't look the same as the one on the Easy Socks site thats because it's not the same pattern! The one I was supposed to do is called "Lacy Woolease Socks". So I will be doing a pair of the correct ones for this month!


I have begun another sweater. I really enjoyed doing the top down one, so I am now using some of the alpaca that I bought while I was in Cape May. I must knit at a tighter gauge because it is knitting up at sport weight, not worsted. But, that's okay, I like a tighter fabric. I love the softness of this yarn.

It is by Berroco, called Ultra Alpaca. It is colorway 6205, which I think is chocolate. I am not doing the same cable pattern though. It is hard to see yet and it will be a less defined cable than my last sweater, but I like the way it is coming out.

I am also trying something a bit different with the collar. I had read somewhere that if you wanted to sew down a collar to put a row of purl at the half way point and that makes a neater fold and a neater edge in appearance. I hope it works, if it doesn't, I don't think it looks to bad as it is. But I am all about learning something new.