Stash Enhancement

I should have mentioned in the entry following our vacation that I went to a yarn shop at Pawley's Island while we were in South Carolina. It is called Island Knits and is located in the Island Shops, right along Route 17. Take a look at the photos of their shop on the web page. The setting is just beautiful. It is set among several other small shops, surrounding a creek with a pond. They have ducks and swans; my husband and sons even saw either heron or an egret while we were there -- right in front of them, hoping up on the railing before flying away.

The shop itself is very nice. It has a front porch with rocking chairs. Sample knits on the porch and all through the shop. The lady who was working when I was there was very friendly and helpful. I had a great time shopping. She invited me back the next evening for there Wednesday evening class.

I bought the yarn and needles that you see above. One of them is Ritratto by Tahki Stacy Charles. It is a mohair (28%), Viscose (53%), polyester (9%) and Polyamide (10%) blend. It is color #64. The other one is the Trendsetter yarn, Spruce in the Blue Calvin colorway. I bought these two yarns to make a "Spider Shaw" -- a free pattern that they gave me at the store. I also bought a pair of Brittany needles, size US 8. I just loved the ends of the needles; aren't they pretty? I would recommend this store!

Buttons in the Sidebar

Thanks to JK and this post in the Knitter's Review forum, I was able to add buttons to my sidebar that are links. I am so happy! I now have lots of buttons.

Branching progress

No new picture to post of the Branching Out scarf, but it is coming along. I've finished almost 16 repeats, which means that I am over half-way done. I've never knit with anything like this silky wool -- it feels different that other yarns I've used. I'm anxious to block this baby and see how she does. I've joined the Branching Out knit along (link on the sidebar). It is fun to see all the different versions people are doing. I don't know how to do it, but I think one done in fall colors would be nice, especially if it could be done like this one that Alison from Digital Yarn has done. Very subtle color changes.

Wendy at Wendy Knits has started a Summer of Lace. There is a yahoo group going hosted by Wendy -- post on sidebar -- as a knit along. I never thought of myself as a lace knitter, but I guess Branching Out is lace, and so is my Koigu scarf. I learned alot of increasing and decreasing stitches with the clapotis, so maybe it is time to learn something about lace. I joined the KAL.

What I did on my vacation

We just got back from vacation, and I thought I would share what I knit while we were there. I started a clutch from the book Weekend Knitting by Melanie Falick. I knit it from these yarns (except the Mountain Colors) that I mentioned before -- the blue, teal, dark green and remainder of Shaeffer Yarn. I felted it this morning. I has turned out larger than I anticipated, so I'm turning it into a purse -- I just need to find out what handle to use. I also need to figure out how to sew in a zipper. I've never done that before.

I started Branching Out from Knitty. This is a lace scarf that I'm doing in Elizabeth Lavold's silky wool. I saw the pattern on Knitter's Review and realized that I already had the yarn for it. Amazing. I like it so far. I'm about 10 repeats into it. I'm trying to teach myself to use the chart -- so far, so good.

I've also included a view from our window on vacation. Nice to sit here on the terrace, admire the view and knit.

Oh, and I read the Yarn Harlot's book book book, and loved it -- A Knit's End: Meditations for Women who Knit too Much by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee.

The view from our window on vacation 

Image -- Branching Out

Branching Out lace scarf

Purse following felting. Still needs closure and handle

New purse prior to felting 

Lexington Trip

We went on a surprise trip to Lexington, Kentucky last Saturday, which, of course, included a trip to the Stitch Niche. I have been wanting to try some Koigu yarn (made in Canada -- I didn't know that), so I bought two skiens of a blue colorway, number 818. I really like it, and have started a scarf from a Koigu book called "a rib lace scarf." It's done on US size 3 needles. I bought a circular set from Susan Bates -- Quicksilver. I don't like them for this project. They are too dull, and the cord is too short -- 16 inches. So I switched to my sock needles from Knit-n-Hook in Huntington. They are Inox needles -- only six inches long, but I keep a point protector on one end, and they are doing great.

Recent Koigu purchase and beginning of scarf 

Le châle est fini.

In other words, La Clapotis is finished.

I liked the shimmer yarn (Knitpicks; Stained Glass Colorway) The finished product is SO VERY SOFT. Huggable. Not much pooling of color at all -- only one area of pink that is visible in the top picture. Doubling the yarn must prevent a lot of the pooling.

I should mention that I used about 1340 yards of shimmer -- this is, of course, about 20 yards more than three skeins. I might have made it in three, except for the dreaded knotting incident, which was solved by removing the knots with scissors. I actually didn't sacrifice too much yarn, so I don't know (???). Three skeins or four? I used US size 8 needles.

Finished clapotis. Note one area of pink pooling. 

Finished Clapotis 

Almost done

I am on the decrease section of the clapotis. She is almost done. Each row that I knit is one stitch shorter than the last, because each row now has a decrease at the end. AND when I drop stitches, I get to drop two rows of stitches at a time. ALMOST DONE.

I've included two photos. One is clapotis in my husband's desk chair -- not that great, but I wanted a dark background on which to spread her out. The second is a stitch detail photo.

I'll take another photo when she is done -- maybe outside in nice light, although the color is pretty true in these photos.

Clapotis stitch detail 

Work so far on clapotis 

Fun at Knit-n-Hook

I went to Knit-n-Hook today -- our local yarn shop -- and had some fun. I bought a skein of Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in columbine blossom -- a nice blue (which isn't listed on their site -- discontinued?), to match this yarn that I had in my stash -- also a Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece. I'm going to be brave and try to make socks out of this yarn. Wonder if it will work.

I ordered two books from Amazon a week or so ago -- Weekend Knitting and At Knit's End: Meditations for Women Who Knit Too Much. This second book is written by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, who is the Yarn Harlot. I'm saving both of them for vacation. I did peak in the Weekend Knitting book and found a pattern for a knitted bag. I had leftover yarn from the felted purse that I made with Miss Priss yarn, so I bought some Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride wool to match -- in Emerald Fantasy and Blue Flannel -- stripes for the bag.

Both of these projects will be for vacation travel (Yippee!).

I also bought a skien of Mountain Colors Wool quarters in Missouri River Blue. I have no idea what to do with this. A very fun shopping trip!

Molly and my yarn from my shopping spree.

Squiggle Possibilities

Thought I might try using the squiggle for a scarf to wear to church on Pentecost. I’ve tried carrying it with a thin, plain red yarn (I don’t want to dilute the “redness” of the squiggle), and I’ve tried knitting with it alone. Nothing has pleased me. Back in the stash it goes – I’ll try again later.

Finished Object -- Yippee

While Shimmer awaits winding (I did finally get the tangles out of the yarn), I have been working on two other WIPs. I finished (yippee) the diamond block scarf from the Vogue Knitting Scarves book. It turned out nice. It took three skeins of alpaca -- I used a blue American alpaca yarn; 110 yards (1.75 oz). I’m thinking that it would make a nice table runner, so once I block it, I may try it out on the dining room table (who knows?). I’ve also made some progress on the socks that are pictured earlier in this blog. I may actually finish the second one of the pair.