On the Needles - 7/5/13

I hope everyone had a safe and joyous 4th of July!!!  We are enjoying spending lots of quality time with our children and grandchildren this week.  And in the spirit of the season, I finished up my bright RED socks!!!  With a white t-shirt and blue jeans, I was well prepared for celebrating the 4th!  Well, at least I would have been if it had been cold enough to wear socks LOL!!!

These are  my second finished pair of socks.  They were done with Hibiscus Serenity Sock yarn, and I used the Toe-up, Two at a Time, Magic Loop method.  My only complaint is that they are a tad large on me.  I'm hoping they draw up a little when I wash them.  But they are really soft and comfortable - I'm going to enjoy wearing them this winter :*D
More pictures of my new socks ... (you can see how they are a little baggy around the heel on this picture)

Isn't it funny how they look like three different colors in each of these pictures?   The true colors are closer to the bottom picture.  I learned quite a few new techniques doing this project - stitch wrapping and the special magic cast on, for instance.
Now that this pair of socks is done, I'm thinking I'll take a little break from socks and work on a couple of other yarn projects.  I'm really excited about doing Dreambird, and today I went with a friend to visit the Knaughty Knitter in Murfreesboro - my very first visit to a knit shop ever!  It was amazing!  So many wonderful yarns and in every possible color!  Reminded me very much of my first trip to a quilt shop LOL!!!
Here is a picture of a Dreambird shawl - not mine of course!!! But you can get the idea of what it looks like...




And here are the yarns I chose for my Dreambird....

The yarn on the left is solid black Heritage fingering yarn and there is a lot of it there, perhaps about twice as much as the fancy Noro skein on the right.  The Noro is a rougher texture yarn, also a fingering weight.  It has the nice long color changes that are needed for this pattern.  As you can see from the picture below, there are lots of these color variations - I'm hoping to get some lovely feather colors for my Dreambird with this!

The Knaughty Knitter is hosting a Knit Along (KAL) on the 16th for anyone working on Dreambird, so I plan to go with some friends and take part in that.  I had planned to make this shawl during the KAL with Justquiltin and Patchwork Times, but I've decided it will be a good idea for me to go ahead and start it with this local knit shop and have the opportunity to get assistance face-to-face if needed.  Perhaps I'll get good enough that I could start a second one with Judy & Denise!
In the meantime, while I'm waiting for the KAL, I'm going to start my Cream and Sugar Cowl.  Mine will be all black, which will mean I can wear it with anything...

Picture taken from Ravelry website - Cowl made by nevernotknitting

If you have something taking shape on your needles, be sure to share it with us at Judy's Patchwork Times!

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

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Cleaning up the Stash!

I have had a lot going on this past week, plus dealing with recovering from a sinus infection, so you haven't seen much of me here. I've been very busy though!

Here are my final blocks for the YELLOW Rainbow Scrap Challenge in June...

Hatchett blocks and resulting HST's

On the Needles, my Hibiscus Serenity socks have taken flight!  We traveled to Kentucky yesterday for a family gathering to honor my husband's father on his birthday.  Three hours there, and three hours back, so I took my knitting with me since I can knit in the car without getting carsick - Oh happy day!!!  The socks started out like this at the beginning of the trip....

All the increases were done in preparation for the heels and I had worked one heel.  On the trip, I finished up the second heel and got quite a bit done on the stockinette stitch for the leg on both socks - whoohoo!!!

I'm liking this method of Two-at-a-time, Toe-up, Magic Loop.  I would have made a stupid mistake and shorted the second heel if I had not had the first one on the needles to compare to.  And of course both socks will be the same length without worrying about counting rows or careful measuring.  You can click HERE to see the post where I show the pattern I'm using.

I really like this heel treatment called "Eye of the Partridge"!

I will be traveling all this week too - visiting with my sweet baby girl and granddaughter in Savannah TN for a few days and then in Murfreesboro for the TVQA Spring Seminar, where I am scheduled to take 4 classes in 3 days - I'm tired already just typing that!!!  But I figure I should be finished with these socks by the end of that trip and hopefully will be able to share a finish on next week's On the Needles!

In preparation for my classes, I have had to do quite a bit of unexpected work.  Pre-washing all the fabrics for the classes!!!  Why would I do that, you might ask?  I have been seeing a natural medicine practitioner to figure out some of my health issues, and we have determined that chemicals in my system are playing a huge part in my health woes.  That's really not surprising, is it?  Not in today's world.  But unfortunately, we have pinpointed the most likely culprit as overexposure to the chemicals in fabric.  Yikes!!!!  Since giving up quilting is not an option, I am now faced with having to rid my considerable stash of all those chemicals before I get to play with them :(  This is a lot of work my friends!!!!

I have to admit, I had been kinda wondering if this could be the problem for a while now, but I kept ignoring that warming voice because, well, for one thing, I am lazy!!!  Okay, that's probably the biggest reason :*D  But, the other reason is that I really don't like working with washed fabric that much.  I love the bright colors and sharp look of a crisp new piece of fabric!  I can't ever seem to get it as "sharp" and wrinkle free after washing.

See the wrinkles on the blue fabric on the right?  That's been ironed twice!!!

I'm using Best Press to put some starchiness back into it because it is supposedly chemical free.....

I'm not sure of that because I couldn't find the exact ingredients online, but that's what I'm told.  Not that I believe everything I'm told, but .... anyway.... you get the idea :*)  It helps, but I miss my crisp new fabrics!!!

I've decided on a plan of action.  All new fabrics will be washed before they go into the stash - period.  I plan to wash and dry them, then simply fold and put them on the stash shelves - I'll iron when I'm ready to use it.  Because I HATE ironing!  For my existing stash, I'll take a color at a time and wash them as I have time.  However, with FOUR classes coming up this week, I have a lot of fabric to get chemical free, fast!  One class project uses 30 different fabrics, and another uses mostly scraps - a ton of scraps!

I tried using a mesh lingerie bag to wash the smaller pieces, hoping to eliminate some of those dreaded strings....

..... but as you can see, that didn't work out so well...

These scraps....

Became this mess to untangle!!!

Here are some more pictures of my Washing the Stash Adventure for your viewing pleasure.... =^..^=

Stacks lined up by color family and waiting their turn to be washed....

Stacks of fabric for next week's classes to be ironed - YUK!!!

A huge basket of black scraps to be ironed for one class...

I'm using my Sizzix cutter to cut the strips for the class that calls for 30 fabrics, so all those have to be done before I leave on my trip.  The fabrics for the other classes are washed and will get ironed and cut while I'm at my daughter's house.  

So, I still have a lot of work to do today before I can get on the road.  I will probably not have a chance to blog between now and my return, so I will wish you all a wonderful week, filled with all that you love most!!!

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

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On the Needles & Etc - 6/7/13

I'm really excited to share the start of my next sock project with you all.  But first, I just HAVE to share with you the cutest gift EVER .........

Am I right?  You know I'm right!  These tiny pineapple ornaments are just the cutest things ever!!!  OMG!!!  I just love them!!!  They are a gift from my friend, Janet O, who blogs over at Rogue Quilter.  I'm sure most of you know Janet - she's such a sweetheart, isn't she!!!  She says my Rainbow Pineapples helped inspire her to start making these cute little pineapple ornaments that are only about 2-1/2" square - why are tiny things always so much cuter?  So she wanted to share a couple of them with me.  How sweet and thoughtful is that?  And of course she used batiks and bright colors - does this girl know me, or what?  I just cannot express how much I really love them Janet!!!  You know I will treasure them always!  =^..^=

So, now that we've taken care of the important, really cute stuff, let's get back to the mundane but fun world of socks, shall we?

I'm going to use this wonderful variegated red yarn which I was thinking would read more as a solid than a stripe when the socks are finished.  It is a Serenity Garden microfiber yarn, and the color is Hibiscus.  No one I follow uses microfiber yarn, so I have no idea how it will work up or if it will be comfortable to wear.  I just liked the color so I got it :*)  So far I have been purchasing my yarn at Joann's & Hobby Lobby rather than buying the expensive, nicer yarns online.  I figure these early socks are more experimental than anything anyway, right?

I used a gift certificate I received for Mother's Day along with a 40% coupon at Hobby Lobby to purchase a ball winder, and it made very short work of making these really cute, uniform balls of yarn.  There's something about having perfectly wound balls of yarn that makes me feel like a "real" knitter LOL!!!  But, man, those things are expensive!!!  No way I was buying one until I could cut that cost a good bit :*)

I thoroughly enjoyed the process of knitting my first pair of socks (you can see them HERE if you like), which were constructed using double-pointed needles (DPNs).  Once I finally got a handle on how to hold them and work with them comfortably, I was hooked!  But with this pair, I wanted to try using a circular needle and the Magic Loop method.  I also wanted to learn how to do two socks at the same time, since my first pair ended up with one of them just a smidge shorter than the other - imagine that!!!

This is the pattern I chose to use for these red socks.  It took quite a bit of practice and tearing out and restitching before I finally managed some success with the recommended cast on method - Judy's Magic Cast-On.  Then I had to tear it all out and figure out how to do it for two socks instead of one.  But I finally got this far along the first night .....

From small beginnings come great things..... right?  I'm sure hoping so!

My only issue right now is that I'm having a real problem with loose stitches on the ends that won't tighten up - can you see how loose they are on the inner end of the sock on the right?  I was nervous that was going to make holes in the toes, but since I've worked a little further it seems to be getting better....and no holes!

The two socks look like different colors but that is just because I started with a different part of the color strata on each one.  I think I'm really going to love the red :*)  However, it does look as though they are going to be striped rather than have a solid look, just bigger, wider stripes than the usual striping yarn.

It's been fun learning a new skill and playing with new tools while starting my second pair of socks, and I'm looking forward to another finished pair in my sock drawer :*)  My mom and my daughter are currently fighting over who gets the first pair; it will be very interesting to see who wins =^..^=  I'm linking this post up with On the Needles at Patchwork Times.

In other news, we had our first Hummingbird visitation yesterday morning!!!

The feeder was empty after sitting out for over a week - we hadn't refilled it because there were no hummingbirds. But there must have been some food still in the bottom because this little fellow stayed and sipped for quite some time.  It is good to have them back!

Our little bird house, which was a gift from my friend Corinne last year, finally has a little family in it!!!  

I tried to get a picture while the momma was around but she is terribly shy :*)  They are chickadees and, although I had hoped for some bluebirds, we are very pleased to have a family using it and enjoying it!

I managed to get some marigolds planted in the flower beds around the back of the house last week....

....... and my Oriental Lillys are in full bloom and GORGEOUS!!!  Every year I wait impatiently for them to bloom, and every year they take my breath away!  These are a deep rich blood red.....

And these are purply-pink with a sunshine yellow burst in the center....

Today, I'll be playing with more red - making Talkin' Turkey blocks with  my sewing buddies....

So what's going on in your world?

Happy Friday my friends!!!

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

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