On the Needles - Chloe

Like many of you, my "To Knit / Sew" list is unrealistically long given the number of days until Christmas.  How is it that December 1st is just a few days away?  How?!?!?  I would venture to say that even if I did nothing but knit / sew for the next 25+ days, I still wouldn't finish all of the gifts I would like to make.  Despite this realization, I continue to plug away at a handful of gifts that I really do hope to finish in time.  I debated sharing them here, but am confident that the recipients aren't the blog reading types.  So, I think we're safe.

Hudson, my seven year old son, has a dear friend whom he's known since they were babies.  Her name is Reya Sol (cool name, right?).  During a visit to my dye studio last week, I asked her if she was tired of receiving hand knit gifts from me (her birthday is just a few days before Christmas).  She insisted that my hand knits were among her all time favorite gifts (Really.  She said that.  Awe...).  I asked if she would like to pick out a few colors of dye to be applied to the softest of merino wool yarn and knit up into something girly and fun.  She was thrilled and wasted no time selecting a vivid turquoise, emerald green and bright purple.  Here is what we came up with...

       

My Ravelry Notes 

Not only did she get to custom dye her yarn.  We also sat down and browsed through oodles of patterns on Ravelry.  She selected the adorable Chloe bolero sweater.  I have not knit the pattern before, but liked that it was short sleeved and cropped (read: quick to knit!).  As you can see, I am only a few rows into the project.  Keeping my fingers crossed that some free time magically manifests itself between now and her birthday : )

Happy Knitting, Friends!

On The Needles - Drop Stitch Cowl

A dear friend of mine, Kelly, is a talented graphic designer.  In fact, she designed the Luna Grey logo, banner for my Etsy shop, etc.  She really does beautiful work and we have a very similar aesthetic.  Our current collaboration is drawing up some new labels for my yarn.  I have been in contact with a great, local printing company and am excited about having labels that will be more durable and professional looking.  If all goes as planned, Luna Grey yarn will be showing up at Fiber Festivals around Colorado next summer.  My simple, print-at-home labels certainly weren't tough enough to withstand unpredictable weather and repeated handling by festival goers.  

Kelly and I have worked out an arrangement where in I knit her something in exchange for her graphic design services.  It's perfect!  She loves my hand knits and I adore her work.  (shameless plug...Kelly has a great little Etsy shop where she sells her wonderful custom party invitations.)

Here's the latest project knit for Kelly.  It's Abi Gregorio's Drop Stitch Cowl.  I LOVE this pattern.  It's super duper fast to knit and so easy!  It took me around 2 hours tops to complete!  It would make an awesome last minute gift project.  I knit Kelly's cowl in the recommended yarn, Lion Brand Wool Ease Thick and Quick.  While I am not generally a fan of acrylic blend yarn, I wanted the cowl to turn out as close to Abi's sample as possible.  And, I really am happy with the results.  The cowl is soft and lofty and chunky.  Just perfect!

Oh yes, and I finished the Give a Hoot mittens....Flawed cable feet and all.  I chose pale turquoise buttons for the eyes. As much as I love these mittens, I am happy to be done with them.  There are three new babies to knit for.  And, like many of you, my holiday knitting list continues to grow.  Someone just told me there are only 40 days until Christmas.  Forty days!  How did that happen?     

My Ravelry notes for the mittens and the cowl.

 

First Snow

The boys were so excited to wake this morning to a dusting of snow on everything.

There was not quite enough to build a snowman. 

But, it was certainly enough for a snowball fight! 

Knitting Season is officially here! 

Static Electricity

Bet you can't see this photo of my sweet boy and not smile!  

Love that crazy, statically charged, trampoline hair!     

Tangled!

Sorry for my absence here over the past week or so.  Things got a bit crazy.  Lots of last minute costume sewing, party planning, school volunteering, leaf raking, chicken coop cleaning, etc. We've been blessed with unseasonably warm weather here in Western Colorado.  But, that's forecast to change tomorrow.  I am guessing that raking leaves when it's 70 degrees and sunny is much more fun than doing so when it's 40 degrees and sleeting.  What do you think?

Let's see...what else is new?  Oh, yes.  Lots of failed knitting projects to report.  I hesitated to share these, as I figured a yarn shop owner should really have her knitting act together.  But, the reality is...I have been a little unfocused lately.  That Unoriginal Hat I reported on a few weeks back will have to be frogged.  The yarn was just too thick for the pattern.  I went down in needle size several times.  But, I ran out of yarn 20 rows before the decrease rows even started!  Too bad, as I love the Malabrigo Rasta yarn.  Oh well.  I will knit it again with something a little less bulky.  I must admit, I never knit a gauge swatch for a hat pattern.  However, I learned my lesson on this one!

Oh yes...And then there were the adorable owl mittens.  Despite being an easy pattern, I apparently wasn't paying attention when I was doing the cables on the owl's feet.  Unfortunately, I did not notice my mistake until the first mitten was totally finished, cast off, ends sewn in, etc.  This wouldn't matter much if the mittens weren't being knit as a sample for a class I am teaching in January.  I guess I could always tell the students that I wanted to give them an example of what not to do.  Oh well.

And then there's the gorgeous, Polwarth Wool & Silk DK yarn that I dyed up yesterday to make a cowl for my mom for Christmas.  The color turned out exactly as I wanted it....a rich plum, her favorite color.  I laid the yarn out on my drying rack in the sun just before leaving to pick up my son from school.  Luna, our greyhound, decided the yarn looked like a fun chew toy and plucked it off the rack.  She drug it around the yard, through the bark mulch, over the rocks and laid it to rest just outside her doggie door.  I think she must have tried to bring it inside to really finish it off.  But, decided it wasn't worth the effort.  I returned home from school to find the wadded up, rats nest of yarn and just about cried.  Untangling 400 yds of yarn was not how I wanted to spend my evening.  So, the yarn sits.  Tangled.  In a pile.  On my dining room table.  So sad.

I hope your knitting is going better than mine this week.  

Despite being in big trouble, 

Luna still couldn't keep her nose out of the yarn 

The correct cable orientation on the second mitten.  

Who needs mittens that match, anyway?