Time Flies When You're Having Fun and Making More Socks

Has it really been three months since I last checked in?? It sure has been a busy summer!

My daughter graduated high school a few days after my last post. Here we are on her big day - and the necklace I crocheted survived the trip (whew!):


She's since started college, while my son's started Kindergarten and lost two teeth, almost all in the same week:


My husband also hit the big four-oh last month. We first saw a Dotsero concert:

I then took him to Beau Jo's, where I had friends and family gather for a surprise party to get back at him for whining all summer about "getting old." He had no idea what hit him:

I baked him a gluten and dairy free cake for the occasion:


Somehow I've managed to find time to knit in between all this, daily life, work, etc. I finished the striped socks I started a while back. They became a "just because" gift for a friend:


I also finished some baby socks this morning, my first attempt. I used the Basic Baby Socks pattern from KnitList.com and the Magic Loop technique:


My son's godfather and his wife had another girl almost two weeks ago but didn't know what they were having when I started, so I used a ball of Berocco Comfort Sock in Stewart Island that I had in my stash. It doesn't have any wool, so it won't irritate baby's delicate skin, and the colors were neutral enough to work either way.

I'm planning to make yoga socks for Mommy in the same yarn so they match. Let's just hope I can get little one her pair before she has a growth spurt!

Statement Necklace

Stitch Diva recently posted a free crochet pattern by Jennifer Hansen called the Statement Necklace. I'd been looking for something to go with the dress I'm wearing to my daughter's high school graduation and this was perfect.

In the pattern Jennifer suggested trying seashells instead of the flat marbles. So I picked up some Patons Silk Bamboo yarn in Sapphire and found a bag of shells at Big Lots that had some pretties in it.

Here's how the necklace came out:


I found the pattern really easy to do. It took me about half a day to assemble all told. The shells were a little tricky to work around, but still fun.

Because of the shell's irregular shapes, I had to use some glue on the backs of each piece. I chose Aleene's Jewel-It, which I had also used to put the googly-eyes on my friends' kids' fish hats a while back. So far it's holding well. I'll put a little more on tomorrow to make sure it holds together while traveling.

Cross your fingers and let's hope it makes the trip... if not I have another crochet necklace I made from a Berroco pattern last year I think I can use as a backup.

Another Sweater for My Boy!

I put together another sweater for my son on the USM. He picked out the color, it's Caron's One Pound in Sunflower. I added a stripe of Red Heart Kids in Crayon Multi:


I'm happier with how this one came out. I had a better idea in regard to the size, especially as I wanted to make it a little larger so it will fit him in the fall and winter. Next time I should be able to get the ribbing down better too - the woman who sold me my USM was able to find the instruction/pattern booklet and get that to me so now I'm able to go over the techniques at my own pace rather than having to skip back and forth through the DVD.

A handsome sweater for my handsome boy!

Drop-Stitch Lace Shawl

I finished my black shawl - this is the one I initially started on needles and then decided to do it instead on the USM:




I'm really happy with the outcome... I used the size 4 keyplate, and a lace technique. Then when I was done I dropped stitches at various intervals. The end result is a more open, lacy pattern.

I wanted something nice and light to go with the dress I'm wearing to my daughter's high school graduation next month. I think this will work well, and it will be easy to pack.

Also, while it was still a bit slower to do on the USM than regular stockinette because I had to stop at each row and prep it for the lace work, it went faster overall than using the needles. I was able to finish this within a couple of weeks, compared to it taking several weeks to finish it maybe a third of the way, so it really saved me some time.

If anyone wants, I'm posting the pattern here - feel free to print up as you wish:

Drop-Stitch Lace Shawl

Skill Level: Easy-Intermediate

Measures approximately 45"x80"

Materials:

• Lace or fine weight mohair or similar blend yarn. I used 3-1.75 oz. skeins Patons Lacette in Touch of Black. However, Patons has since discontinued this yarn and does not have a replacement. Possible substitutions are:
• Rowan Kidsilk Haze
• Crystal Palace Kid Merino
• Karabella Lace Mohair
• Colinette Parisienne
• Size US11 (8.0mm) knitting needles OR
• Bond Ultimate Sweater Machine using size 4 keyplate
• Tapestry or yarn needle
  

Gauge: 13 sts = 4", 15 rows = 4". Gauge is not important for this project.

Notes:

• The knitting needle instructions use the garter stitch as this allows for a simpler pattern that is reversible. This is not possible to do on the USM, but it still works well reversed. You can adjust the knitting needle instructions to use stockinette instead if you like - just purl the knit stitches on the even rows instead of using knit stitches for each row.
  
• Patons Lacette tends to catch onto itself, both when unwinding it from the skein and when working the dropped stitches after binding off. For this reason I recommend winding the yarn into a ball before using it to detangle the yarn and make it easier to use.
• Additionally, when doing the dropped stitches, the yarn may again catch on itself. If this happens just carefully and gently pull it loose from itself, using a crochet hook if necessary. It will require a little patience but is worth the end result.
  

Instructions using knitting needles:

CO 88 sts.

Row 1: K10, *(YO, K2 tog) 4 times, K12*, repeat between *s four times, (YO, K2 tog) 4 times, K10.

Repeat Row 1 until piece measures 80" or desired length. If you wish to go longer you may need an extra ball of yarn.

Binding off:

*BO 4 sts, YO, drop next st, pass previous BO st over YO.
Next, BO 3 sts, YO, drop next st, pass previous BO st over YO.
Next, BO next 10 sts, YO, drop next st, pass previous BO st over YO.*

Repeat between *s until you bind off the last YO/K2 tog group. BO 4 sts, drop next st, pass previous BO st over YO, BO last 4 sts. Pull on work to make dropped sts go all the way down to the bottom row.

Instructions using the USM:

1. Bring forward 88 needles to holding position.
2. Use the closed-edge cast-on (e-wrap) technique to cast on 88 sts from left to right.
3. Thread carriage and K 2 R, ending COR.
4. Going forward, prep all ODD rows as follows:
• Working R to L, leave the first 10 sts on their needles.
• Transfer every other st from RIGHT to LEFT to the next needle for the next 8 needles, meaning you will transfer 4 sts total. After establishing the eyelet rows, you will basically transfer a normal stitch to an eyelet stitch.
  
• Leave the next 12 sts on their needles.
• Repeat second bulleted step for the next 8 needles.
• Repeat third bulleted step.
• Repeat fourth and fifth bulleted step twice more.
• Repeat fourth bulleted step once more.
• Leave the last 10 sts on their needles.
5. Move carriage from right to left.
6. Going forward, prep all EVEN rows as follows:
• Working L to R, leave the first 10 sts on their needles.
• Repeat second bulleted step above, except transfer the sts from LEFT to RIGHT.
• Repeat bulleted steps 3-8, except again, this time going left to right.
7. Move carriage from left to right.
8. Repeat Steps 4-7 until you have K 216 R, ending COR. As the work hits the floor, roll it up around the hem and clip it on either side.
9. Bind off using the backstitch technique, working right to left. To achieve dropped stitches, thread the yarn behind the stitch you want to drop - do NOT thread it through the stitch. Then, simply thread it through the next stitch over in the same way as if it were the adjacent one.
10. Remove knitting from the machine and pull on the dropped stitches until they run all the way down to the bottom row.
    

Ta Daaa!

I finished the shawl I started last weekend on my new Bond USM, thanks to hubby letting me be a knitting fiend on Mother's Day:



Even if I hadn't had that much time on that day to work with this project I still get the feeling I would have had it done in less than a week. I just love how fast the machine works. Again I am not completely done with knitting by needle, far from it, but knowing I can do something this nice on the machine and quickly really tickles me pink.

I've packed up the shawl along with a few other things to send to my daughter as a late Easter/care package. I hope she really likes it!

In the meantime this got me thinking a little outside the box with my black shawl I'd been working on to bring with me to my daughter's graduation. I've started to realize I may not have time to finish it before I fly out next month, so I bit the bullet, unraveled the work, and restarted it on the USM. No pictures yet but will have that soon.

It's definitely going nice and fast for sure, but not without its challenges. Because I'm working with a single strand of Lacette, a fine weight yarn, and I'm using a larger gauge plate (4) to get roughly the same effect I had with the size 11 needles, the USM seems to try and drop stitches a lot more easily. But as long as I take it nice and slow it seems to be doing okay.

I'll try and update this post with pictures later on showing my work in progress. If not then I will definitely show the finished product, and again I will share the pattern... this time I'll be able to provide instructions for both by hand and by USM.

Confession Time...

I've joined the ranks of cheater: I got myself a used Ultimate Sweater Machine Deluxe kit off eBay. It arrived in the mail a few days ago:


For those who are curious, here are my impressions so far:

• It has a steep learning curve.
• For best results (or results at all), you MUST watch the DVD/video that came with the kit and follow all instructions EXACTLY as they show. If you don't you'll have a lot of dropped stitches or work that falls off the needles entirely.
• Prepare to have this happen in the beginning anyway even if you do follow the directions to the letter. It takes some practice to get used to how to run the carriage across the needle bed, get around when the carriage jams, etc.
  
• When the nice lady on the DVD says take an evening to yourself without the kids or pets around to distract you to learn the USM, DO IT. Otherwise your dog won't come out from under the bed for a week and your kids' teachers are going to be calling you asking where they learned such creative combinations of swear words. Like I said, steep learning curve.
  
• If you try to get the USM off eBay, ask the seller about the condition of the machine. Does it have parts that are cracked or broken? How long have you had it? Are there any missing accessories? I didn't out of my excitement in finding one for half the retail cost and discovered upon opening it that a tab on the carriage was broken, a part on one of the needle beds had cracked and broken off, and the pattern booklet was missing. If I had known any of this I would have negotiated a lower price or asked for free shipping - thankfully the broken parts were repairable and minor flaws so it wasn't that big of a deal, but it would have been nice if I'd had the pattern book as it apparently goes into much better detail about using the USM than the DVD does, and I don't think I should have to spend $10 for one online. Not enough to rate the seller as bad, but very possibly neutral.

That said, I'm having fun learning to use the USM and have already done my first project - a long-awaited and promised sweater for my son:

Bear in mind this is before I washed and blocked it, so it looks a little short here. Now that I did, it's a nice length in the torso so he'll be able to wear it nicely. The only part I did not do on the machine is the neckline and that's because it's not possible to do stuff in the round on it. The yarn is Patons Classic Wool Merino in Denim Marl.

I've also started on my second project with the USM - it's going to be a lace shawl using Patons Lacette in Lilac Lace and Cream Caress, double stranded:

There are some people who have claimed on Amazon reviews that you can't do anything intricate with the USM like lace and ribbing. This isn't true - no it doesn't do it just straightforward, you have to remove stitches off the needles and rework them by hand, and it does slow down your work. But it still goes much faster than knitting the work by hand on needles.

It isn't to say I'm giving up making things by hand for good. Far from it! I still have my pride, LOL. I also still love doing socks, making crochet projects, and more. But I love that I can crank something out quickly as a gift or to incorporate with other techniques.

Projects du Jour

I've been a huge knitting fiend the past few weeks. Life has been pretty stressful, and knitting and spinning are my favorite escapes. I like to keep several projects going at once as although these pastimes center me, I'm still pretty fidgety and like to jump back and forth.

First, I've been spinning some alpaca fiber I bought last summer while my daughter was visiting. It's Alpaca with a Twist's Handspinner's Dream in Brindle - I got it from The Recycled Lamb:


I also knit a baby dress/jumper for a friend - she's 35 weeks along with her first girl. I borrowed my inspiration from Berocco's pattern Alexa Bernadette, adjusting the stitches/measurements slightly to accommodate the yarn I used and make it newborn size. I made it sleeveless with a crocheted neckline and armholes. The yarn is Sugar n' Cream in Maple Sugar from their Confectionary Colors:


I decided to use the Sugar n' Cream yarn to make myself Knitty's W tank too. I used the Maple Sugar and Marshmallow Confectionary Colors. I really do like making garments using Sugar n' Cream - it's light, soft, comfortable, easy to find, it interchanges easily with most patterns using worsted weight yarn, and you can't complain about the price:


I'm also working on a shawl where I'm incorporating lace and will add drop stitches after I'm done. I'm using Patons Lacette in A Touch of Black to make it. If it turns out I'll share the pattern here, as well as a list of yarns that you can use instead of Lacette, which Patons has discontinued:

Finally, I'm trying my hand at Knitty's Plaited Points sock pattern. I'm using the Magic Loop technique and using Berocco Comfort Sock yarn in Southland. I think the colors are so pretty and yet subtle enough to still let the cable pattern pop:

Happy Easter!

Hope all of you are having a blessed Easter and are spending it with family - be they blood or choice - and that you are experiencing the miracle of God's unconditional love as shown through the Cross and the Resurrection.

Hubby and I are making it a quiet day at home. He's outside BBQ'ing chicken and sweet potatoes glazed with honey, Earth Balance, cinnamon and nutmeg on the grill. I can't wait! Meanwhile I'm enjoying my first cup of coffee in 40 days :-)

I finally finished a project I'd started for my husband too long ago, a pair of fingerless gloves I knit with my first ball of handspun yarn off the drop spindle. I dyed them with coffee and black tea - because it's been, ahem, over a year since I finished the last one, there's a little color variation between the two. Hubby loves them nonetheless:


Don't ask me why the picture is vertical - it wasn't when I took it. Oh well...

Gone Fishin'!

My son's godfather has two kids, both of whom had their birthdays recently. So, I gave them fish - hats, that is... Knitty published a just-too-cute pattern for a one-size-fits-all Fish Hat [Dead or Alive?] in their Winter 08 issue and I couldn't resist. I decided for fun on both to glue big googly eyes on the fish instead of going with sewing/embroidering felt circles per the pattern and I really like how they turned out.

Here's the one I made for the little guy - I used Red Heart Super Saver yarn for the solid colors, and for the variegated stripes I used Red Heart Kids in Crayon:

For my friend's daughter I used Lion Brand's Vanna's Choice in Eggplant, Olive, Pink and Espresso:

Latest Happenings, and My Last Minute Vanna White Contest Entry

Once again, I've been pulled away by way too many things going on and find myself having gone without updating here. Life has been a whirlwind the past month and a half while I've been catching up with work, getting through the holidays, and most recently going through a family emergency.

It's all been so much everything in me is screaming for a mental health day, and yet, where will I find the time? Maybe I can knit myself up a strait jacket that will keep me warm and comfortable while they drag me off in it.

A month ago, I started work on a shrug for the Lion Brand Vanna White yarn contest. Potential prizes include Michaels gift cards, cash and a trip to L.A. to meet Vanna. I put together a design of my own and finally finished it tonight.

The contest ends tonight at 11:59PM CST. I thought I'd gotten my submission in late but realized I likely got it in on time since I'm an hour behind Central and I sent it in just after 9:00PM. The judges will probably think I'm some babbling idiot explaining why I was "late" getting my entry in. Proper sleep for a change, anyone?

Here are photos of my shrug. I'll be honest, it didn't turn out like I wanted and I'm not sure I like it. I'm convinced it's going to end up on What Not to Knit. My husband thinks it's great so maybe I'm just being my own worst critic.

Oh well - it's not like I have anything to lose. Hopefully my acne, fugly hair, pot belly and dark circles under my glowing red eyes don't scare the judges or scream I'M OLD AND DOWDY too loud:







Wish me luck either way, perhaps they'll like what I did better than I do. At the least maybe now I can pick up the sweater I'd intended to knit for my son again.

Update/Daughter's Christmas Socks

I've realized it's been almost three months since I posted... it's been so busy. So I thought I'd sneak on here, post an update and a picture of my most recent completed project.

A little over a week after my last post, a specialist confirmed what my regular doctor hinted, and what I had long realized: I needed surgery to fix ongoing health problems. Two weeks later I went under the knife.

The whole thing went very well. I only had pain enough to require a morphine pump the day of the surgery, was able to go home the next day, and after only needed Percocet and Motrin for a few days before I was able to wean off onto Motrin only.

I spent six weeks in recovery and returned to work at the beginning of this month. I'm still processing, adjusting and healing - it takes up to a year to be completely "normal" again after the procedures I had, and the process has its ups and downs. I just hope during the "down" days I test everyone else's patience a lot less than I manage to drive myself nuts.

In the meantime, of course, I have relied on my knitting for sanity. I was able to finish my daughter's socks that I started a couple months ago in time to send them off to her for Christmas:


I hope she likes them and that they fit her feet. I had a lot of fun working with the On Line Supersocke.

In the meantime, I'm taking a break from sock knitting to work on a sweater for my son. I've been wanting to make him a pullover with cables for some time and I found some Patons Classic Wool yarn in Denim at my local JoAnn's on sale a few weeks ago that will look nice on him. Because I'm horrid at guessing how much the cables will pull the yarn in I've had to start the project over three times, so it's not going to be ready in time for Christmas, but he'll still have something nice to wear on really cold days this winter soon enough.

Son's Socks are Done!

I finished my little boy's socks last week - they're the very first pair I've knit start to finish:


I did a better job grafting the toe on the other one this time. I guess it's one of those practice make perfect type of things.

Here's the little man checking them out - I couldn't get him to model the finished product but he did like the way they felt against his skin:

In the meantime I've continued work on the sock I was making in On-Line Supersocke yarn, and I've started a pair for my husband using JoAnn's Soles & More in Grey Shades. I take turns working on each - as you can see I've gotten to where I'm constructing the heel with the first pair:

I'm using the same pattern as for mine with the first pair, except I'm making the top part a couple of inches shorter so I can make the foot a little larger. I love how the self-striping is turning out - my husband couldn't believe that the yarn does all that fun and colorful work all by itself, all I have to do is knit and enjoy :-)

With my husband's I'm using Patons' Spiral Socks free pattern. I picked up a leaflet for it while I was at Shuttles, Spindles and Skeins a few weeks ago. You can click the link above to access the pattern online - it requires membership but it's free and they don't spam you unless you let them so they're cool.

Pitter-Patter of Little Feet

No, I'm not expecting... just focusing on the little feet already in my home and those of a friend's.

I've started work on some socks for my son. He got so excited watching me make mine that I decided to put that project down for the interim and do some for him instead.

I'm using JoAnn Crafts' own brand of sock yarn called Soles and More. My son picked out a ball that self-stripes in shades of blue, red and grey. I'm using the Magic Loop technique with a size 3 29" circular and sort of doing my own thing based on ideas I picked up from free patterns at Lion Brand and Red Heart.

I've already got the first one done - my son modeled it for the camera:


I'm hoping I can improve my Kitchener/grafting stitch for the second one. I don't like how it turned out on the toe here at all.

I also knit up a pair of booties for a friend's baby. I used the Snuggle Booties pattern from Bev's Country Cottage. They went really quick and easy. Since the little guy is almost two months old already, I used the instructions for making the 3-month size along with size 5 needles to make them just a little bit bigger - I'm hoping that will do it:


The yarn is Sirdar Snuggly Domino DK baby yarn in Deep Blue. I've had it in my stash for some time. It's been discontinued since '05. I may or may not make a matching hat as I have a couple more balls.

I'm planning to finish my son's socks now that I got the booties done. From there I'll probably finish the pair I'm doing with the On-Line yarn. I also got a couple balls of Soles and More in black and grey shades that I plan to use to make socks for my husband, and then I might finally get around to finishing mine.

The Joy of Socks

Oh all right, so my post title is dumb :-)

This is my first attempt at knitting socks. I'm using Red Heart's Heart & Sole sock yarn in Spring Stripe and using the accompanying free pattern Red Heart has on its site:


I figured I'd make a pair for myself first, that way if I mess them up then I'm the one who has to live with the mistake :-D

If these turn out well then I'll be digging into the ball of On-Line sock yarn I got from The Recycled Lamb and knitting up another pair. The color variations in that yarn look like they'll be a lot of fun.

Update, 8/18 - First one down:

I think my son approves:
I've also started a pair of socks using the On-Line sock yarn and a technique called Magic Loop:



Basically Magic Loop is where you use a longer circular needle to knit a smaller garment in the round. This site and this video are good tutorials if you want to learn more.

The advantage of Magic Loop, aside from not having to deal with DPNs, is that your work will supposedly come out more seamless. Given this is my first effort I suspect that won't be the case for these socks, but in the meantime I'm enjoying the striping coming out of this yarn and learning something new.

Mother-Daughter Time

My daughter came out to visit this past week from California - I can't believe it's come and gone already. She came out with her father, grandmother and aunt.

We belatedly celebrated her 17th birthday when she got here. I gave her my Little Meggie kick spindle and emailed her Jan's demo of it from YouTube at her request so she can see how to set it up and get it going at her pace.

I finished her W tank just in time. It looks really great on her:


It did turn out a little on the large side for her so she is opting to wear it as a vest, and it's working out pretty good. She got a lot of compliments while she wore it here.

We got her a really gorgeous lemon poppy cake from Rheinlander Bakery:


We spent most of our time the rest of the week doing what we do best - raiding all the fiber, yarn and craft places we could hit. We first went to Shuttles, Spindles and Skeins out in Boulder, where my daughter got herself a few ounces of a beautiful merino roving and some gold Angelina fibers that she has already started combining on her drop spindle:

My son loves to watch his sister on this video over and over :-)

I also got myself some "Summertime" roving by Alpine Meadow Artisan Fibers that I began spinning on my wheel right away:



We also visited The Recycled Lamb in Lakewood for the first time. While my daughter grabbed a few balls of bright colored wool yarn from there, I got myself a ball of sock yarn and half a pound of alpaca fiber. We descended upon Hobby Lobby a couple of times too so my daughter could spend the gift card my MIL gave her and got even more yarn.

My daughter went home with several pounds of yarn from my stash - I felt it was time to go through what I had and pass it along. She is planning to keep some and then give away the rest to her great-grandmother and possibly to charity.

When we weren't busy going to the craft stores we were busy using what we got, sitting around like a couple of old ladies and making our projects :-)

My daughter's grandmother also visited SS&S and Hobby Lobby while here. She said she had to shut her eyes at one point or she would end up buying everything in both stores.

We managed to get away on an overnight trip up to Idaho Springs and also visit the Buffalo Bill museum and grave on Lookout Mountain. My daughter did an Old West portrait at Margie's while in Idaho Springs that turned out fantastic - I loved watching her dress up in costume and have fun posing for the camera:


My husband and I had one done for our anniversary last month, so now we have a matching picture to put up with ours... one day we'll get one done of our son when he's older and can sit still and then we'll have the whole family!

My daughter also made a painted stained glass project for her aunt, who has a birthday the day after hers:


Finally, we caught a couple of movies - Iron Man and Wall-E. I have already seen Iron Man and love it, my daughter thought the electromagnetic thing in Tony Stark's chest was "creepy." Wall-E was a hit for us as well as my husband, it really bowled us all over.

8/11: I just got an update on my daughter's trip back home. Her Dad had decided to attempt the I-70 route back to Cali and it was a challenge between massive rain, a sandstorm, and just having a hard time getting the RV over the passes in the mountains. Thankfully they had family in Vegas who treated them to some hospitality and relaxation before they made it back home last night. As long as everyone is safe and sound, that's what counts.

Navajo Plying and Tank Tops

Hot enough for you all out there yet now that it's officially summer?

"Oh God - air conditioning, please!!!"

We're supposed to flirt with 100 degrees tomorrow and Thursday here. Still, it's nothing to complain about compared to where my daughter is - she told me it hit 110 over the weekend in her area. From what I've seen it looks like she'll be getting a reprieve soon though if not already.

But enough about the weather - this Kneedle Junkie wants to talk about her addiction!

I recently decided to learn how to Navajo ply, in which you triple-ply from a single strand of spun yarn. The Joy of Handspinning site has a mini-video and a page dedicated to this technique but I needed more, and frankly I needed a "Navajo Plying for Dummies" type of lesson if I was going to get it.

Enter rexenne's most excellent YouTube video, How to Navajo Ply: Demystified and Unraveled. To say that she is a genius in being able to teach something that otherwise looks incredibly complicated is an understatement. She not only explains how to do it but adds a couple of tips for making it easier, AND - bless her heart - slows parts of the video way, way down so you can actually see how it works. Throw in her upbeat personality and some fun background music, and you've got yourself an awesome tutorial.

After watching the video I tried my hand at Navajo plying on some old baby yarn... and did better than I thought for a first try. So, I took the yarn I finished spinning from the roving I got at Stick and Stone back in April and did it "for reals."

Here's my end result:


I have to say for only my second effort I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. Still haven't decided what I will do with it yet, especially as it's only about 8 ounces of yarn. I may wait until I've spun or bought something that coordinates with the color and then see what it inspires me to do.

In the meantime, I've been making tank tops. Maran Illustrated has its knitting and crocheting book for free online, which contains a pattern for a summer tank top. I used Lion's now-discontinued Magic Stripes yarn in Denim Stripe to make one for myself - I made it to wear out to dinner for my anniversary this weekend, and it'll be a fun top for the 4th of July:


I found the Magic Stripes yarn at Big Lots a few months ago. Like the Fettuccini yarn they had it at an insane discount, $1.50 per ball. They no longer have it that I can tell, I suspect they were just helping get rid of the last of it (it looks like Lion Brand's replaced it with something else since). I have, however, seen some people selling it on eBay here and there. I plan to use what I have left to make my son a sweater.

I am also making a tank for my daughter as one of her birthday gifts. I found a really nice pattern on Knitty called the W tank and I've already finished one side - I'm using some of what I have left of my Lion Brand Homespun in Adirondack and it's coming out nicely:


I am running into one snag though. I'm so low in my stash of this yarn that I've got mismatched dye lots - they don't even look like the same yarn when you put two skeins side by side. That's what I get for not listening to my ex-mother-in-law about how a project can get ruined if you don't get enough of the same dye lot. I may have to fudge it a bit to get the other side to at least look halfway the same.

Aside from that, I'm finding that knitting this pattern is just a lot of fun. It's quick and it's actually pretty easy once you get the hang of it. I may end up making one for me and there's at least one other person I can think of who would look good in this. Probably will use another yarn though so I can make sure everything matches!