I'm still here

Hi everyone!

So it's been like 9 months since I posted the first of what was to be a weekly blog. Oops! I didn't time things very well. Soon after I first posted, I flew to the States and was there for 6 weeks. After coming back, life just got busy. That being said, I'm planning to blog more regularly. For real, this time. :) The next month is going to be a bit dicey as we are in the process of moving. We're moving from an apartment to a house. We pick up the keys next week so hopefully I'll have some pics of the new place next time.

Last time, I mentioned 3 projects that I was working on. One, a Barn Raising Quilt blanket, is an ongoing project. I currently have 13 squares. It was put on a back burner for quite a while so it's just recently that I started making more squares.

I was also working on a sweater, the Miranda. I finished it. It ended up being a bit too big. I had done extra bust increases to make room for the girls. And that I put it away for a while. When I went back to it, I had forgotten that I'd done extra increases and didn't decrease enough back down. In the long run, not a big deal. It's a cozy sweater that I can layer over t-shirts.

The last project I mentioned last time was my Vanilla Latte socks with a double gusset heel. These are one of my favorite pairs of socks. I now always use the double gusset heel for any top-down socks I do. It's so easy and cups the heel. Definitely the best fit I've found. And my husband even notices the difference and prefers that heel as well.

I was also working on some spinning. I did finally finish it and wasn't super impressed with it. Just not too consistent. I've come to realize that I'm messing up when plying. I've started chain plying and the next 3 braids turned out much better.

So I've been keeping busy with knitting. I joined the multi-year KAL the Stockinette Zombies are hosting. We're doing the Persian Dreams blanket. One block per month. There are 24 so it will take about 2 years. This is my first foray into colorwork. It's slow going for me but I'm pleased with the results so far. I have 2 completed hexagons.

I finished a pair of socks in my first ever Hedgehog Fibres yarn and I'm hooked. In fact, I just found some more on destash that I'm excited for it to show up. 

I'm also into contrasting heels, toes and cuffs lately, particularly for self-striping. The colorway is Monarch and is so pretty. The sock pattern is one I came up with and I'm toying with the idea of writing it up and offering it up on Ravelry. I'll have to get some test knitters, if so.

The last project that I recently finished was a Quaintly sweater for my friend, who is about to have a baby girl. I'd originally planned to do it the remaining skein of Little Bunny Foo Foo, but realized I would be cutting it close on yardage. So I looked in my stash and decided to go with some Knit Picks Stroll Tonal in Seashell. Since it was a full skein, I decided to make the 3-6 month size instead of the newborn so that she could hopefully get more wear out of it.

I've just got one project on the needles write now that I'm currently working on. It's a new pair of socks for my hubby. He wanted a plain yarn this time so I found some red and navy yarn in my stash. I'm doing red cuffs, heels and toes and navy legs and feet. Next time, I'll use the same and flip the colors. The yarn is ONline Linie 2 Supersocke Silk in the Midnight and Rust colorways. I just started it yesterday afternoon.

I've also got some fiber on the wheel. It's Into the Whirled merino/silk blend in the Martini & Rossi colorway. It's taking some time. It's not my favorite to spin. Not sure if it's because of the silk. It's the first time I've spun anything with silk. Looking forward to finishing so I can get to other fiber in my stash. This picture shows pretty much all of the color variations in the fiber. I'm spinning it for a friend so I'll be chain plying this as well.

I'm a huge fan of knitting podcasts and I recently found 2 new ones that I'm really enjoying: The Grocery Girls and LegacyKnitz. I was recently enabled by Jodie of The Grocery Girls. She introduced me to a new-to-me indie dyer, The Cozy Knitter and I purchased 2 balls of self-striping.

I also picked up some Clara Love from Sunshine Yarns. I couldn't resist all the gorgeous colors. It will be my first skein from this dyer as well.

I also snagged a skein of Circus Extreme from Knit Circus. I love all the colors and I'm excited to check out their booth at Zombie Knitpocalypse this summer.

So that's it for me this week. Sorry it's so long. I wanted to catch up as much as possible. I'm planning to knit on hubby's socks exclusively this week as I won't have as much knitting time as I start packing tomorrow.

Have a great week!

Knit Happens

Hi everyone!

I’m a fairly recent knitter. I’ve been knitting almost 2 years now. Since then, I’ve found the vibrant knitting community and have wanted to participate more fully. That’s a little difficult with me living in Germany right now, so this is my contribution. I’m on Ravelry as EweknittedSkeins, so feel free to friend me.

I’m planning to blog once a week. I’ll talk about things going on here with me in Europe, my WIPs and FOs, spinning as well as other crafting I might be doing, my ever-growing stash and monthly knitting goals. I hope you join me each week.

So this past weekend, my husband and I, along with some friends, went to Pilsen, Czech Republic for their yearly Liberation Festival. Each year, they celebrate the ending of World War II and this year was the 70^th anniversary. They have a military convoy parade, re-enactments and a military camp set up as it was back then.

This year, Lynyrd Skynyrd played there. It was an awesome show and cool coincidence, the band stayed at the same hotel that we did. The bass player was down in the lobby, signing autographs and taking pictures.

The other fun thing in my life this week was my puppy’s birthday. My Havanese, Lola, turned 1 year old on Tuesday. She’s been such a joy and I’m looking forward to many more years with her.

So this is a knitting blog so where’s the knitting? Never fear. We’ll start with my Works In Progress (WIPs).

I have 3 current projects. I’ve had my Miranda Sweater on the needles the longest. I started it in October, but it got pushed to the side with Christmas knitting and other projects. I’m back working on it and while it will be a few months before I can wear it, I can’t wait to finish it. This is my first full adult sweater and it’s going well. I’m using KnitPicks Wool of the Andes Worsted in Winter Night.

I love knitting socks and like to have a pair on the needles at all time. Currently, I’m working on the Vanilla Latte socks, a free pattern. I’m using Biscotte & Cie Felix Self-Striping yarn in the Conte de fee B colorway. I like to work my socks two-at-a-time and I’m about halfway through the heel flap. I’m doing something a little different with the heel flap. Instead of doing sl1, k1, I’m knitting the RS and doing sl1, p1 on the return. I’m also using the Double Gusset heel.

The final project on the needles is my Barn Raising Quilt. Shannon of the Minerva Turkey podcast got me started on this. I have lots of sock yarn scraps from making socks so I decided I would do something productive with them. I currently have 4 squares done. I’m not sure how many I’ll do, but I plan to use a neutral color to border the individual squares and the blanket.

One of my most recent Finished Objects (FOs) was a test knit for Maria of the Stitched in Sweden podcast. The pattern, Lattice, is now available. It was a great pattern, easy to read and understand and the FO is one of my favorite shawls.

I haven’t done much spinning lately, but I plan to get back to it. I’m currently working on merino by Godiva Yarns in the Underwater Daughter Light colorway.

I’m trying to limit adding to my stash right now as I’m heading to the Stockinette Zombies Zombie Knitpocalypse knitting retreat next month. I did get a few goodies in the mail, though. Sarah of the Love Sock Wool podcast showed some Zauberball Crazy yarn in the Wolke (means cloud) colorway. I loved it and it’s easy for me to get German yarn here so I picked up two balls, 1 for a pair of socks and 1 for a shawl.

I was able to grab a skein of Pi Day from FibernymphDyeworks and it showed up this week, along with a skein of Total Eclipse lace yarn.

Lastly, Spun Right Round enabled me with Instagram last week. I picked up two fiber braids. They are both Falkland in Colorplay 252 and Colorplay 250.

Each month, I make a list of projects that I’d like to complete that month. The Vanilla Latte socks are left over from April. I plan to have those finished this week and then head right into May’s projects. I’ll be working on Miranda, as well as the following projects:

•           Geek Socks with String Theory Colorworks Continuum Self-Striping in the Enterprise colorway.
•           Tortuga Twist Socks with MustStash Yarn & Fiber Perfect Sock in the Maleficent colorway.
•           Pebble Beach Shawl with 100% Australian Merino in yarn that I dyed myself. This pattern was recently updated to include two larger sizes.

Finally, I wanted to share a few patterns I found on Ravelry that are currently free.

•          The Mediterranea Shawl is free until May 12, 2015.
•          The Bohemian Shawl is free until August 31, 2015.
•          The Chevalier Shawl.

That’s it for this week. I hope you enjoyed the post and I hope you come back to visit with me. If you have any questions or comments, please free to contact me or post in the comments section.

Until next week, keep crafting!