Looking at all of the projects I have on the needles, it definitely looks like I'm getting ready for the long Chicagoland winter. All I need to cast on is a pair of mittens or fingerless gloves, and I will have a full wardrobe of woolen-wear in progress. Which may happen soon. I'm currently browsing patterns and investigating my newly trimmed down yarn stash.
I went on an epic yarn cleanout this week. It started as a quick trip through my closet to grab a couple clothing items to go to Goodwill, and ended two hours later with me sitting on the floor in the middle of mountains of unwanted yarn trying to organize the Keep Yarns back into bins on the shelves. And of course I had feline supervision for the entire process. In total, it was six grocery bags full of unwanteds. It was mostly cheap acrylics that had either been used once and not touched again or ones that had been gifted to me that hadn't really been used. I know there's all sorts of projects out there to use up cheap or less desirable yarns, but there was just so much of it that it was getting hard to find the yarns I really wanted to use. Now, everything is neatly organized again, and looks much more manageable. The husband was thrilled to see some of it go, too. And I expect I've made a few Goodwill shoppers very happy.
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| Helper Cat Linus is clinging on to my sweater yarn for dear life. Luckily he doesn't try to eat/chew/swallow yarn. He just gets his claws tangled in it, and carries it under the bed to his secret stash of stolen goods. Which is mostly socks. Some households have a dryer gremlin that steals socks, but we have a Linus. |
During the Great Yarn Shoveling, I came across some yarn that I've been contemplating using for ages now. So I matched it to a pattern and got started on a new hat. I actually got the idea for the hat at Cracker Barrel, where I spotted an awesome University of Illinois hat in their gift shop. But it was $20 for a 100% acrylic hat that I could totally improve upon. So I'm doing exactly that. I'm using the Yarnster Hat pattern to make a navy blue hat in Knit Picks Capra with Cashmere yarn. Then, I'll be using some beautifully coordinating orange yarn to make a flower decoration of some kind. All that's left is to find a scrap piece of fabric with the Illini symbols or lettering to glue into the center of the flower. A trip to the Joann Fabrics bargain bin is imminent. I've only done a few rows so far, but ohmygoodness. The yarn is so incredibly soft and lovely to work with! It's an 85/15 merino wool and cashmere blend. And it is 100% amazing.
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| The Hat of Inspiration, and the work in progress. The actual color is much closer to the dark navy of the original hat. It was just excessively bright in the living room at the time of photography. |
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| It's always good to color coordinate your cats and your knitted projects. |
The Hitchhiker Shawl has some slow but steady progress. I've mainly been working on it in the car (while Matt drives), while drinking, and other times when I simply can't concentrate on a more complicated project. I love how simple this shawl is. It can be worked on anywhere. And it's of course interesting to see what the self-striping yarn is going to do next.
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| Stripes and stripes. I'm a master at outfit coordination. |
The Husband Socks are also slowly coming along. It is looking more like a sock, with the foot starting to take shape. I also got some nifty needle keepers to keep the DPN's from poking through my project bag while it rides around in my purse.
Now. Onto the exciting stuff. My Harry Potter Owls Cardigan is coming along awesomely! I have the body done up to the underarms, and I'm working on both sleeves simultaneously, thanks to the awesome Magic Loop two at a time method. The sleeves have been a bit slow going, but that's typical for me. I just find sleeves quite boring to work on. Once the sleeves have been powered through, I think the yoke and finishing will go much quicker. I actually can't wait for the finishing touches. I absolutely love contemplating button options, and for this sweater I'm going to try the grosgrain ribbon buttonband method, as demonstrated by the Knitmore Girls Podcast ladies.
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| Top two pictures are true to actual yarn color. I can't get enough of these lacy owls! |
