Stitch Nation Yarns

A month ago I received a sample of 3 new yarns from Debbie Stoller of Stitch and Bitch fame and Red Heart yarns. These yarns are all affordable at less than $5 a skein. The bright colors are definitely right up my alley.

There are three lines - Full of Sheep (single ply), Alpaca Love (an alpaca wool blend) and my overwheming favorite Bamboo Ewe - 55% bamboo and 45% wool. Bamboo Ewe has a lovely shine and is quite soft (the softest of all three) although I'd probably use it for something other than colorwork because it isn't as elastic as the others. For more information on these yarns, go to Stitch Nation Yarn.

I'm working on a simple spontaneous scarf with a skein of each  type. To make a spontaneous scarf, cast on enough stitches on a long circular needle for the length of the scarf and knit in seed stitch. Each row is a different yarn with about an 8" tail to knot for fringe. I'll donate the resulting scarf to our local House Rabbit Society group to sell at a yard sale.

TODAY'S COLOR KNITTING LINKS

Drops and Garnstudio have a really cute free colorwork sock knitting pattern for Valentine's Day HERE.

Schoolhouse Press is the first to offer Ron Schweitzer's beautiful Fair Isle sweater patterns in standalone booklets. (You can also order them in kit form from Yarns International.) I own Appalachian Portraits and his designs are even more spectacular considering he only uses naturally-colored wools.

The Smithsonian is teaching color knitting through their Resident Associate program. Go HERE to sign up.

Karen's Variety is a web site selling some fun vintage knitting patterns.

This beautiful free mitten pattern combines Nordic and Islamic motifs - Andalus Mittens.

If you buy a lot of digital knitting books, here's a good article called The Archaic Art of Printing E-Books from Home.

HERE are some upcoming colorwork books to look forward to: Estonian Mittens All Around the World, Norwegian Patterns for Knitting by Mette Handberg, and Poetry in Stitches is being re-released (for a whopping $45).

I hope to have a free pattern for a colorwork scarf to offer you soon; I just need DH to model it for the photo shoot. Happy Valentine's Day!

Relaxing Crochet

I am making real progress on the American Girl Doll Sweater pattern . The pattern is written and is being tested before a final editing. I expect the pattern will be ready sometime over the coming weekend. I am going to pick buttons tomorrow, and I am going to spend some time brushing the hair of the dolls, and playing with different outfits...of course the only reason I am "playing" with the doll is for the pictures! ;)

My knitting has been so focused lately that I needed a relaxed easy project. Crochet granny squares are exactly what I need when the knitting gets intense. I can just crochet a couple a day, and eventually I will have enough for a blanket!

I found the cutest pattern for floral granny squares on the beautiful blog Rosehip.

I had some Cornucopia yarn by Kollage in my stash, in bright cheerful colors. So there we go, here are the first 3 squares...



These little flowery squares make me smile. I think they could cheer up anybody's day, don't you?

Natural Inspirations

For today a little natural inspiration...



This makes me feel like embroidering...

Lots of photos, snow

It has been a really good year for snow so far here. Here's the view outside my front door yesterday.

I have come to the conclusion that I am seriously over-extended. So far I've deleted my Twitter account and I am going to stop answering every blog comment individually. I will try to answer all questions though. The beginner glove knitting book will probably not be available until March at the earliest. Right now I have about 300 photos to go through and I'm not finished taking photos.  

I started another spontaneous scarf so I should have that to show you next week. I'm using 3 different kinds of the new Stitch and Bitch yarn line I was sent.

Progress on the American Girl Doll Sweater

Progress on the American Girl Doll Sweater? Need I say more?

Progress on the American Girl Doll Sweater

I started reknitting the American Girl Doll Sweater today using Jamieson's Spindrift in the Moorgrass colorway.

So far, everything is progressing beautifully. The colors are scrumptious, and the pattern looks so beautiful in this yarn.



I have reworked the pattern for the main body of the sweater so that it is knit in one piece (except for the sleeves.) No seams at the sides means a little less bulk under the arms, and of course a little less finishing. I am also going to replace the shoulder seams with a 3 needle bind off for a nice clean look.

The work on the Pam Allen's Indian Floral Vest was halted for the day. I always feel odd working on 2 projects at once. I feel guilty half the time and even find myself worrying that one project will become jealous of the other! Do you ever feel that way?

Knitting Pam Allen's Indian Floral Vest

Yes, I am finally knitting Pam Allen's Indian Floral Vest! I started yesterday afternoon. I actually started with the left front. (I know you should start with the back, but I just felt like knitting the fronts!)

The left front is finished and I have marked the location of the buttons in order to place the buttonholes properly on the right front. (I am looking forward to making the buttons, they are crochet buttons!)



The detail on the vest is beautiful. I love how Pam Allen worked the bottom edge. It is so feminine, and the waist shaping will be so flattering. And the way my red handspun Shetland is knitting up is making me so happy!



Before I go, I wanted to tell you Mr. SockPixie loved his Moth Mittens, and wore them for the first time today!