Evaluating My Yarn Stash

Hey Everyone!

I am definitely addicted to Sock Yarn, and ordering way more than I need. I have come the conclusion that the order I put in this morning, really needs to be the last order I put in for a very long time. I have so much sock yarn (and yarn in general) sitting around that I need to be doing some major stash busting, and knit up what I have so that I can actually put it to use!

I picked up a set of two more containers for storing my finished socks today while I was out, as the one container I was using was overflowing with socks, and I still have so much yarn to knit up.

I have seriously been considering and praying about moving, and where to move, since the economy where I am is still tough and finding a job where I can make ends meet isn’t happening here, while the cost of living is continuing to sky rocket.

I would also like to live somewhere where there is actually snow each winter, and gets cold each winter. I am wanting to put the cold weather accessories I have knit up, and am planning on knitting up to good use, on a regular basis. It doesn’t get cold enough often enough here for me to use a lot of what I have made.

This morning, before I decided to enforce a moratorium on sock yarn ordering, I put in what will be my last order of sock yarn for a very long time. I ordered two more Hanks of sock yarn from Forbidden Fiber Company. I order two more of the Steampunk Collection Yarns, that have more pink in them, even though they are more subtle than straight up pink.

I must say that Forbidden Fiber Company has become my favorite smaller / independent yarn company. Their website is really well designed and set up. I also love following the company’s Instagram account. The owner has great customer service and goes the extra mile in the presentation and packing of the yarn when shipped. All the yarn I have ordered from her has been very nicely wrapped with a branded sticker to keep it closed. Each of the packing slips that have come with my ordered, have had a handwritten personalized note thanking me for my order. I usually try to put in my online orders before 9:00 am Pacific time (Noon Eastern). That being said, all my orders from Forbidden Fiber Company have been shipped within two business days. All of this has left a positive and favorable impression of this yarn company. Not to mention I also just love their yarn. I have definitely had less than favorable experiences dealing with other yarn companies, which is why when I have a good experience with a company that also has some pretty and soft yarn that knits up really well (I will post more once I have washed and worn the socks I have knit up), I have to share my experience with y’all.

If you have been following me for any length of time, you will know that I give honest reviews of the yarn and yarn companies that I have purchased yarn from and have used. If I am not a fan of a particular yarn, I will say so, if I have crappy customer service, I will share my less than stellar customer experience, While try to be constructive about it.

Ironing Out the Kinks

Hey Everyone!

Over the course of the past couple of days I have finished up two projects.

The first project I finished up, I was up into the wee small hours of the morning finishing up this shawl.

This shawl is about 38 inches from the tip to the cast off edge. I used four balls of KnitPicks Simply Wool Bulky yarn in the color “Wilbur”. I used a pair of 10.5 (6.5mm) straight knitting needles.

Last night (Thursday night) I finished up the second sock of the pair of socks I knit up out of KnitPicks Palette Yarn in Ash.

I used my set of size 1 (2.50mm) KnitPicks sunstruck double pointed needles.

I have come to love using the 2.50mm size 1 needles versus the 2.25mm size 1 needles for both the Palette yarn and the various Stroll yarns I have been using. The socks come out a little looser which is fine, the gauge is still tight enough that there are no real issues with the tension or being too loose. I also haven’t had the issue of my needles breaking either. Which makes me think that the 2.25mm needles were just too small for what I was doing, and I have also gotten better at knitting socks.

I definitely wanted to get the shawl done, as far as getting it knit up anyway, this week. I have some more bulky yarn coming in, in the next few days. I only have the one set of size 10.5 needles and I wanted to get the big project off them before the new yarn comes in, so I can get it cast on pretty soon. I do still have one ball of the bulky Simply Wool left, which I am using to make another pair of fingerless gloves.

Falling in Love with Color

Hey Everyone!

A few months ago I went a bit crazy shopping for sock yarn, and bought a whole bunch of the KnitPicks Palette yarn in many different colors. Most of which have either been in the earthy – natural range that remind you of being outdoors, and remind me of hiking in the woods. Most of the rest of the yarn are jewel tones, which are some of my favorites.

I am currently working on a pair of socks, for myself, using the KnitPicks Palette Yarn in Larch Heather, and I am loving the color. To me this green reminds me of being out hiking in the woods, and the color of the moss and other plants that I have seen growing in the woods.

While I am not usually one to pick out the earth tones to wear, especially since they are not the colors that look the best on me, I am having fun with colors. I am picking out ones I like that I wouldn’t normally wear, for socks. Beings that I intend for most of these to be Boot Socks to wear with hiking boots, and in the cooler weather, they will be covered up anyone. I figure, who cares if they don’t go with what I am wearing, they are just socks, and if no-one likes them, that is their problem. Though I do own a tank top that is a similar color to the Larch Heather, that I typically wear under cranberry colored tops.

I may have mentioned this in other posts, but I used to like to wear a lot of pink when I was younger, before I really was able to embrace the outdoorsy girl thing. Now that I have gotten older, and have been buying most of my clothes myself, as well as the yarn to knit up items for myself. There are still some pink things here and there, but they aren’t pastel pink, or hot pink, they are more of a darker pink, tending more toward cranberry or raspberry. I also like to wear a lot of blue, dark teal, and turquoise. I also prefer the natural colors (off white, tan, and brown), in addition to the greens and blues for accessories, beings that they go with pretty much anything. They are also a bit of color without being all like “look at me, look at me”.

I also like using the Palette yarn for socks, it knits up so well, and quickly. Beings that it is what I have gotten onto for Socks, I can buy any color I want, and use the pattern I came up with for any of the colors and I get consistent results. I like that I know I will get consistent results with this yarn. When I had been working at the knitting studio, we had some yarns, that were the same brand and same line, but different colors would knit up differently. I like knowing that I can go into my stash of Palette yarn, grab any color I want, and it will knit up the same way as the first pair I knit up. I can combine colors and one won’t be thicker than the other, or looser than the other when using the same needles, and that the stitches and gauge will be even across all the colors, no matter which one I use.

Lion Brand Yarn Alpine Wool

Hey Everyone!

Welcome to my yarn review series. I know I have done at least one in the past. Let’s just jump right in.

I recently purchased a skein of Lion Brand Yarn Alpine Wool in Chili, at my local Joann fabric and craft super store to try. I decided to make a hat out of it. I am maybe 1/3 of the way done with my hat and at least 1/2 way through the skein. Needless to say, I will be making a trip to Joann’s to get another skein. 

Pros: 

It’s a bulky yarn, most skeins (that are simply dyed) are 100% wool. It is soft for wool. 

Cons:

It’s more loosely spun, so I had pulled apart the strand in knitting off the first row all three times I cast on the project. Fortunately the last time I was close enough to the end of the row and had enough left as a tail to cast on  and work the yarn to get the remaining stitches I needed. You only get about 93 yards in a skein so you need at least 2 skeins to make an adult size hat. 

I am glad I tried this yarn and am looking forward to being able to wear it for winters to come when it does get cold enough outside to wear it. 

Once I complete this project I will not be purchasing any more of this yarn for my own use. Between the issues I had with casting on and knitting off the first row as well as the cost to make just one hat is not worth it for future projects in my mind. 

Season For Wool

Hey Everyone!

This past week I have been working on more Wool Winter Wear for myself, I have been using on the fishermen’s wool in Oatmeal that I have had for a bit. I have so far completed a pair of fingerless gloves, as well as a slouchy beanie, which I am kind of excited about. I will talk about why in a bit. I still have a fair amount left, which I am planning on using for a scarf and another pair of fingerless gloves.

I am super excited about the hat, because I figured out how to do the knit in the round crown decrease while knitting the hat flat, on straight needles. Yes I realize I rhymed in the last sentence….I like the way the decreasing looks on this this hat. Once I get my projects with this yarn completed, I will take a picture and post it to share with you all.

While I was at the mall with my mom, we were walking though JCPenney, and we were looking at the sweaters, I was more specifically looking at the patterns used in the different sweaters. I know that I only spent 5.5 months working at the studio, but between that and what I know how to do by hand, looking at other knit garments, hand knit or machine knit, to see how they are made. Knitwear, and to an extent fashion in general are definitely things I am interested in. I know I definitely have more of a casual/country style. Until recently I wasn’t really into fashion, but it has been growing on me.

Working on Christmas Gifts

I have begun working on Christmas gifts. I figure if I start now, I will have a better chance of getting the gifts done before Christmas than being right up until the last minute and even then maybe not even having them done. I would be super happy to have all my knit gifts done by Thanksgiving, which is in November here in the States.

I have one part of my friend’s Christmas gift done, and I got started on my mom’s last night after making another trip to Joann’s since they are having a coupon event going on. They have 50% off 1 regular priced item coupons out. I was able to get the two skeins of yarn I needed to make my mom’s gift for the regular price of 1 skein, which was pretty awesome. I got two skeins of Patons Lace yarn in Mystic Teal, it is a really pretty color. I am using this pattern for the wrap that I am knitting up with the lace yarn I bought.

For the time being, since I still have a personal project that I am working on, as well as Christmas Gifts, my charity knitting projects are taking a back burner until I get these projects finished.

Upcoming Projects

Hey Everyone!

This week, instead of a “What’s On My Needles Wednesday”, beings that I have covered what I am working on in my last two posts, I am going to talk a bit about what I am thinking for upcoming personal projects.

I have four skeins of fishermen’s wool, in two different colors, that I want to make a couple cute garments out of for winters to come. I also have a skein of yarn that I want to use to make myself some socks as I want to learn to make socks.

With some of the fishermen’s wool I had thought about attempting a Katniss Cowl (the kind of Cowl that Jennifer Lawrence had worn in Catching Fire), but then I got thinking about how the cowl was in fashion like last fall and winter, but how long until it goes out of fashion. I should rather use the yarn to make a cowl/poncho/wrap that can be worn for several seasons and years. If I am going to invest that kind of time into making something, I want to be able to wear it for a while.

I have the hardest time coming up with project ideas for myself, and there is a ton of cute stuff out there that I could make, and wear, but I don’t, and have not yet created it for myself. It is time that changed.

Preparing for Next Winter

Hey Everyone!

I have had a scarf in the works since about christmas when I was given the first skein of yarn by a friend of mine. It took me a little time to figure out what pattern I wanted to use with the yarn. I wanted a simple pattern beings that it is a chunky yarn so any intricate pattern would not show up very well. I decided to do a knit 3, purl 1 pattern. I wound up needing more yarn so I was able to find more of the same at the local craft store. Beings that it is a Lion Brand Yarn, I had a feeling that I would probably find some more easily enough. I was given a skein of the Lion Brand Yarn Natures Choice Organic Cotton in Strawberry. In knitting this scarf I used my bamboo size 9 needles so would be a bit looser beings that it is a thicker yarn, but not so loose you could get a finger through the middle of a stitch. I tend to use my size 9 needles the most for the thicker yarns that I use.

This project was one of those that I could pick up and work on and not have to think about a whole lot.

I like getting projects done,  I always feel accomplished and a sense of relief once it is done. Getting a project done also means that I can move on to another project and spend time getting something else done. I am one of those who will start personal projects and then have several projects going at one time. Right now I am down to one project on the needles, and I am trying to get that project done before I start something else. Having multiple projects in the works has become a bad habit of sorts.

Even though Spring is here, I have still been working on Winter projects because I want to get some more warm winter wear done before next fall and winter comes around. I want an even better assortment of hats, scarves, shawls and such for the next time it gets cold. I handle the cold better than I do the heat, but when I have the option I like having warm options for when I am going to be out in the cold.

Working on Gifts for Friends

Hi Everyone! 

I am back with another project of the week post, for this week is going to be a bit vague, beings as I have been working on finishing up a baby gift for a friend. 

I have also been working on an infinity scarf that I mentioned a post or two ago. Over the weekend, I restarted it several times, the first time being because I didn’t like how wide it was, and I had messed up on the pattern, so that was start over number one. I started it over several more times because I was trying different patterns, but eventually came back to the moss stitch pattern, and just making it narrower. 

I have also been going through ideas, for what I am going to be making a friend of mine for Christmas. I have the yarn, and the basic idea of what I am going to make, I am just debating on the patterns to use for her gift.