I currently have three projects on the needles right this moment.
Project #!:
A wedding gift for my cousin MW who got married this summer. She and her new hubby WE are the the cutest awesomest amazingest couple ever!!! So I wanted to make them something appropriately awesome. It's a blanket using Lion Brand's Autumn Leaves Afghan pattern, which is just GORGEOUS! It's got a 8-row lace pattern that just repeats along the afghan, making a bunch of vertical panels of what look like falling leaves. It's suuuch a gorgeous pattern! I'm using LB's wool-ease Chunky yarn (thinner than the super-bulky called for in the pattern, cuz I wanted it to be a little lighter, since MW and WE are moving to South Carolina) in a gorgeous blue-green color. As with all blankets in thick yarn, its working up faster than I expected, but it's soooo big! I can hardly travel with it.
Project #2:
I've been working on some socks from Melissa Morgan-Oakes book called "2-at-a-time Socks." The pattern is called Athena, and it's a gorgeous pattern with twisting cables along the front and top of the leg/foot and the back of the leg. It's SO PRETTY!! But I've had some serious trouble with tension. Every time I knit up the cables, I get so tight that I can't fit the socks over my heels anymore. D: So I've frogged and retried them multiple times. As of right now, they've just been re-frogged, and I haven't re-started them again yet because I've yoinked the needles I was using for this new project!!!
Project #3:
I've officially started knitting for Socks for Soldiers! The lady in charge (henceforth referred to as "Sarge") has promised me some regulation yarn for some regulation socks as soon as she gets the new shipment, but until then I'm starting on some great leisure socks! I'm using a gorgeous pattern called Kalajoki by Tiina Seppälä, a finnish designer, and LOVING IT! so far! It's mostly just stockinette, but with a thin section of twisted rib that winds gently down the front of the sock. SO PRETTY! Here's my progress so far:
I'm using a great superwash wool called Dalegarn Falk in a really pretty green. I figure the yarn is of a color that's bright but not unmanly, and the pattern is pretty and interesting, but still manly, too. At the moment, I'm more excited about this project than the others, so its the one I spend the most time on. ^^ Hopefully some great pictures, soon!!!
In other news!
Today is Open Farm Day in Maine, so I spent a couple good hours driving around some beautiful country and visiting some of Maine's finest Alpaca farms! I visited Longwoods Alpaca Farm in Cumberland, and Upper Farm Alpacas in Pownal. I got to get up close and personal with the alpacas at Longwoods! This beauty's name is Betsy:
They also had some gorgeous yarns to choose from, but I am unfortunately out of money, so i didn't buy anything.
Upper Farm also had some great animals, but I was really excited I got to see REAL SPINNERS IN ACTION!!! They were really nice, and explained everything and answered all of my inane questions. They make it look so easy! I reeeally want to learn how to spin, but I won't have the space for all the fiber, yarn, AND spinning wheel I'd need at school. D: (also, no money) So that project might have to wait. We got started chatting about yarn and knitting in general, and I learned all sorts of great stuff about fiber-animal farming. So I've decided that when I'm old and crotchety I'm gonna start an alpaca/llama/sheep farm somewhere with my bazillion cats and spend my time playing with fun fiber ^^
Unfortunately, I seem to have misplaced my camera-to-computer chord, so I can't post the great pics I took of my spoils from my most recent trip to my local yarn store (The Stitching Mantis), so I'll try to take some with my computer's webcam and post them tomorrow. :-)
Until then, happy knitting!
p.s. Edited this post to point out my blog's Lovely New Look! Check out the features on the right-hand side:
- A list of my current projects, which I'll keep updated
- Some links to some really groovy websites you might find helpful
- A search tool, which searches only my blog. Say, for example, you want to see any blog posts about cabling, you search "cable" and it'll show a list of all the blog posts that talk about cabling :D
WAY COOL!!! :D
You are a very talented knitter. You are a great addition to our monday night knitting group. I hope you can break away and visit us as often as you can while attending Vande. You can find me on ravelry under Rav I.D. Wisdom1961. I will see next week I hope. Keep the blog posts coming. A great window on your world. Your knitting buddy, Deborah
ReplyDelete