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Knitting update

I know it’s been a while since I’ve had a knitting/spinning update, in the midst of the One Local Summer fiesta I’ve been having. I’ve still been knitting and spinning, honest! Now that it’s been half the year, I suppose we should go back and look at the knitting resolutions for this year and see how things are progressing.

1. The American Aran Afghan. This is the beast that I will tackle and finish this year.
Yeahhh.. I have four squares done. I’m finding the charting and the way the book is set up to be VERY frustrating and it’s putting me off from knitting the squares. Each square goes rather quickly if I sit down and work at it, but it’s an absolute pain to copy, cut, and arrange the charts so that it makes sense to knit row-by-row.  Plus, there was this random odd injury that made knitting painful for a few months.  So, I was spinning A LOT but barely knitting a stitch.  Then there was the Tour de Fleece which took up almost a whole month of just spinning.. Not sure if I’m going to finish this afghan this year.

2. Knit /spin any club yarn/fiber in the month it is received.
Doing REALLY well with this one. I’ve had three club shipments for yarn this year that resulted in three pairs of socks so far. There was also a fiber club with three braids of roving that ended up as three skeins of yarn.

3. Knit two sweaters.
One down, one to go. I knitted the Leaf Pattern Gilet which knitted up rather quickly and will be a fall favorite when weather comes back around to actually knit. Here are the details!

DSC_0922 Leafy Cardigan
Pattern: Leaf Pattern Gilet
Needles: US 6 (4mm)
Yarn:  Balmoral by Sirdar
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Ravelry Project Link-
So incredibly pleased with this project from the color to the yarn to the pattern. It’s a really lovely and simple knit and I’m so glad I was able to grab the magazine that contained this pattern while it was available.

4. Knit one double-knitted item.
Uhhhh… Maybe this winter? I’m still feeling a little overwhelmed by the idea and it probably sounds more complicated than it really is.

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September Knitting Wrap-up

YES!  September is already over – can you even believe it?  The weather got cool so quickly, I feel like fall just came around and slapped me in the face with a wet trout.  Or assaulted me with acorns.  No wait, that was the squirrels.  Anyway, on to the knitting!

Just going back, again, to the Knitting Resolutions.

3. Knit one pair of socks per month

DSC_5265 Twisted Flower Socks
Pattern: Twisted Flower Sock
Designer: Cookie A.
Needles: US 1.5 (2.5mm)
Yarn: Madelinetosh Tosh Sock
-Ravelry Project Link-

Still going strong on the one pair per month goal. These were rather challenging in that there were a lot of twisted stitches, cables, and I had to pay attention on every row, but the result is a gorgeous pair of socks that I’m proud to have conquered. These came together in a trip to Loop in Philadelphia, on a whim, and just ended up being the pair-of-the-month. Dear friend Abbie graciously modelled them for me.


4. Spin four ounces of roving per month.

I got this one too! That is some lovely alpaca from dkKnits in the colorway, “Wheat Fields” and I’m just dying over how soft it is. This is the first time I’ve spun alpaca and it was like butter through the fingers – a very enjoyable spin! We came out to 400 yards from the 4oz of fiber which makes it fingering weight. Not sure what this will become just yet, but I’m sure it’ll let me know someday. DSC_5401


2. Knit two sweaters this year.

DSC_5444 Wicked Sweater
Pattern: Wicked!
Designer: Sarah & Rachel
Needles: US 6 (4mm)
Yarn: dkKnits extrafine superwash merino squish
-Ravelry Project Link-

IT’S DONE! One sweater down and one to go. This blocked out perfectly and the color is just spectacular – it looks much more incredible in person. The yarn is soft and squishy and really easy to work with, not to mention, again, the incredible custom dye job that Becky put together for me. I’ll probably be wearing this to Rhinebeck, so if you see me, come say hello!

To wrap this all up, Socktoberfest begins today and I’m all prepared to cast on for a mystery sock.  There are four total socks that I’ll be doing this socktoberfest, so wish me luck!

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