by Sarah

God's Eye Blanket...

The last blanket I've been working on is this one:

I actually cast it on in August 2009 (thanks Ravelry), but only knit a few squares and set it aside.
I picked it back up after the inspiration of finishing the two handspun blankets this winter.
When I used up the rest of my scrap yarn, my sister and a couple of friends donated some of their scraps, and when I wanted it a little larger, I ordered a few skeins of Boku from the Web's anniversary sale to round it out.

Just a few more squares, and I'll be able to finish grafting it all together.

Yarn - noro silk garden and kueryon, and plymouth boku scraps.
Pattern - Mystery Blanket: Weaving (April) - from Knitters Almanac by Elizabeth Zimmerman.

I like grafting, so I am finding this blanket fun, but a little bit time consuming to sew up.
I can't wait until I finish it up and get to show it to you, hopefully by August...making it only a 4 year project.

I made a quick pattern...

My sister had some pretty crazy Art Yarn in her stash when we went through it this weekend.
I snached a ball up, determined to make it into something she could wear instead of just something that sat in the middle of a basket of yarn hidden deep in a chest.

I came up with this Lucky Number Thirteen pattern to show it off.
Lucky Number Thirteen Scarf Pattern
Please feel free to use my recipe if you want to show off some crazy handspun of your own!

Coming soon...I actually show you that last blanket I've been teasing (hint, its still not finished.)

Blanket #3...

Blanket #3 is actually crocheted.
It was inspired by my friend Karen, who so far as crocheted at least 6 of them.

The pattern is Vintage Vertical Stripes, and it used up pretty much ALL my leftover worsted weight wool yarn scraps. It actually took up a lot more yarn then I originally planned on, and is still definitely just "Lap Blanket" sized. I love the way it came out, but will love it even more if i ever finish twisting the fringe. (Then I will revist it to the blog with a new picture.)

I have no plans to give this blanket away, since it is all wool, making it hand wash or dry clean only. A tall order for such a retro-acrylic-y looking thing.

Coming soon, an easy little pattern designed by me to use up some of that crazy think and thin, core-spun, or other weird handspuns you have laying around called "Lucky Number Thirteen." And the details on the last blanket I've been working on.

Second Blanket...

The second blanket I finished this winter was the Norma blanket pattern, also from Knitty.com.
And also knit from my handspun. Knitting this cozy blanket was the perfect way for me to recycle some WAY TOO THICK handspun I thought I might make into a Cobblestone Sweater for myself. Too bad that sweater ended up feeling like it weighted 100 lbs when i put it on, and as a bonus, looked completely unflattering on me.

Luckily, its BEAUTIFUL as a blanket. I enjoyed knitting this one, it was a little bit of a lace pattern, but not so difficult I couldn't bring it along to knit night with me. And since its knit from the inside out, the first part knits up really quickly.

This one wrapped around one of the edges of my queen-sized bed when blocking as well. I love big cozy blankets!!

The Second Day Was Just As Good As the First...

Admittedly, with less shopping.

And more friends:

Sorry I didnt get a pic of E&J, I had a great time hanging out with them and REALLY need to catch up on my Dr. Who viewing. Both so J & I can discuss, and so that he doesnt accidently give me too many spoilers.

LOOK AT THIS SUNDAY AFTERNOON CROWD!!!

It was really fun running into lots of old friends, seeing new stuff, and of course, viewing some sheep dog trials. These guys are all boarder collies, but they still remind me of my lovely Aussie. Seeing how hard they work inspires me to be a little more patient with my probably-quite-bored Murph.

See you in Maryland next year. If we're both lucky!
Tomorrow, more blanket knitting...

Maryland Sheep & Wool 2013

Going to Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival on a perfect spring day is a total feeling of coming home.
Here are some of my highlights from today...

Some cute sheep:

Freshly shorn Alpaca:

Coleen's lovely angora sweater made from her last year's yarn purchase:

A cool license plate in the parking lot:

A whole bunch of nostepinnes for Cindy:

And a link to my favorite new booth. Check out this lady's shadow cuts. They are SO BEAUTIFUL.
Wish I had a bigger artwork budget. I had to settle for picking up some lovely prints this time around.
You can also find her on Facebook at Clare Margaret Artwork.

Winter Blanket Knitting Frenzy!!

This winter I finished 3 blankets and I'm still working on a 4th. My favorite by far is this Lizard Ridge knit *entirely out of my handspun. I was so obsessed with it, I knit the whole thing in just over a month - including the 3 stitch i-cord edging and blocking it on my queen sized bed (causing me to have to sleep on the couch while it blocked...WORTH IT!!)

It pretty much used up all the small and medium sized balls of handspun in my formerly large stash of 2-6 oz balls, plus a couple of larger skeins. It is all wool and wool blends.

Again, the pattern is Lizard Ridge from Knitty. The yarn is all my handspun.
My main modification was to cast on 85 stitch panels, and knit and sew 4 of them together.
Originally I thought it would be 3 panels, and be facing in one direction, but it ended up being 4, in the other directions. My ravelry project page for this blanket can be found here, and is probably missing a couple of yarn details.

Here it is soakine before blocking, in my basement, just because it looked so cool in the bucket.

And here it is again, showing off that i-cord edging.

This blanket is a good example of how one COULD use up a WHOLE BUNCH of tiny skeins of handspun, while simultaneously reminding ME not to buy such small lots of fiber to spin. (Reminder to myself before I head to the wool-binge that IS Maryland Sheep and Wool tomorrow.

 

*Entirely except for one skein of handspun gifted to me by the lovely and talented Jody.

Longest Blogbreak Ever...

Sorry for the super-long break.
It seems like the longer I let the posts go, the more difficult it is to get back into the habit of posting, even though its a great record of what I've been making.

So HELLO! I'M BACK!
I've made a LOT of stuff, but no pictures today.

I'll do a review of my winter projects next week...in the meantime, this weekend is MARYLAND SHEEP AND WOOL! I dont need any supplies, but I am looking forward to some someshine, some sheep, some browsing, and running into some friends.

See you there!

 

A dress, and a knitting update...

I made myself this dress to wear to a wedding. In two days.
LOVE IT!

Pattern
Fabric
My modifications to this pattern included added three inches to the top of the bustline for modesty (and it still wasnt particularly modest), and adding a two color plain hem detail to the bottom, which I think really added a lot to the dress. Since its fall, and the dress is sleeveless, I wore it with a little sweater over the top.

My main knitting update is that I finally finished and delivered  ALL 6 of my mini CPH sweaters for the newphews and nieces this fall:

I finished another shawl that had been languishing in my WIPS pile for a while. This one is Trevi, by Ann Hansen. I started in September 2010, and just let it hang around in a project bag for a long time. Overall, it took me about 3 weeks of some evening to knit. The yarn is a lovely pale silvery green silk wool blend. It will be a great christmas present.

Now I am working on the other UFO shawl that has been in a project bag since May 2010. It is Brandywine by Rosemary Hill. I love this yarn - weatherfield sock yarn handdyed by my friend Judy at Ball and Skein. This is going to be my favorite red shawl (FOR ME) when I finish knitting it. Again, this pattern is fairly easy for lace, I have just put it aside while i work on stuff for other people.

This is a closeup of the lace pre-blocking.

I'm also working on more sewing and more yardwork/actual construction around here. I will try and put up an update of each soon.