More Knitting, Less Sewing

Usually when the summer is in full bloom, I turn to sewing and quilting. Knitting yarn seems like such a winter-time activity for me. I've enjoyed changing crafts with the changing seasons.

But this year, I didn't seem to change gears with the longer days and higher temperature.

I've started three more knitting/crochet projects.

Linen Tank that's perfect for summer. I'm following the Liesl Pattern from cocoknits.



Crocheting a big granny square baby blanket for one of the many girls that my friends are expecting this late summer.



And I'm doing a sock exchange for the first time with my closest friend and fellow crafter. We're trying out the Lindsay Sock Pattern from Cookie A.'s book Sock Innovation. The book seems to have an abundance of erratas, but we're going to knit through it together! She picked out this great Claudia Handpainted Yarn I had in my stash - colorway Summer Rose. I love the colors!



I do hope the sewing bug bites me again and I'm able to finish up the zig zag quilt. But for now, I'm not fighting it.

My First Pattern

I finally got hooked up as a "designer" on Ravelry and was able to offer my very first free pattern download.




Exciting! It's for the Seedy Scarf, which is super-easy and a great project for a beginner, or anyone looking for some mindless knitting.

(If you're on Ravelry, link to the pattern by clicking on pattern pic.)

No Capes

As soon as I finished this shawl, I heard Edna Mode's voice in my head exclaiming, "No capes!"

This is the first true lace project I've knit, and honestly I'm just not a lace-shawl-wearing kinda gal. But I needed something interesting to knit. So, I chose this project.

Late last year, Shirley Paden had hired me to knit up a sample of the lace shawl that appeared in Vogue Knitting's Spring 2009 issue. I swore, to no one in particular, that that would be the last time I ever knit lace or used that crazy-a** mohair string they call yarn.

I started off using Yarn Place's Graceful yarn, which is very thin, yes, but not very fuzzy which is what I convinced myself was the issue with that mohair. After about 5 starts getting through maybe the first repeat, I changed my strategy. I dug into my Habu jar, and found that I had bought some of their Wool/Linen yarn on sale a few years back. I took a quick visual inventory of the jar and saw that I had five balls.

Well, I only had four. After a lot of cursing and more swearing of the different kind, I decided to throw some of that mohair in at the end for a different effect.

My naughty naughty Pug attacked my ball of mohair, which we know is unsalvageable once dog drool and lots of clawing happens upon it. Insert more cursing and more swearing, and thankfully I had another ball of mohair and finally finished this !@#$% lace project.

I held it up, and instantly thought: Great. I knit myself a frilly cape. Edna would be angry.



I figure I'll wear it more like this... does that make it seem less grandma superhero?