Another update! The blanket is coming along well. So far I have started all 10 colours, and now it’s time to repeat them all once. I think decreases will happen once that’s done, we’ll just have to see. Hopefully I have enough yarn for it all. It also will need some blocking since my stitches are not super even, but for just picking up crochet, I’m quite happy.
My daughter has a yellow knit blanket that she carries around with her that I made for her when she was born, but she’s starting to outgrow it, so I decided that I would make her another one. The problem is, knitting blankets takes FOREVER. They’re beautiful, but a TON of work, especially using sport weight yarn like I was going to.
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I love yarn. Over the years that I’ve been knitting (I make it sound like a long time but I’m really just approaching my 3 year anniversary) I’ve figured out what types I enjoy knitting with and which ones I would rather avoid. I’ve tried to use up or gift away my unwanted yarns, and I’ve become a little bit of a (gasp) yarn snob.
When Sakaane asked me if I’d be willing to beta test some yarn for her, I was incredibly excited. Taking a look at her Ravelry page you’ll see why. Just look at those colours!
I’ve been using this amazing merino / bamboo blend to knit up my fingerless gloves, and even though I’ve fallen behind on the knitting (hey, I just had a newborn) this post is one that I’ve been meaning to make for some time.
Packaging was great, minimalistic without ruining the yarn or tangling it up (has happened in the past and it’s not fun). The stitch definition is fantastic, the colours hold fast and true, and honestly there’s not a lot of bad I could say about the product. Trust me, I tried looking for issues. This is an incredibly knit-worthy yarn and I can’t wait to see what other colours get added to the collection over time. Be sure to follow her Ravelry page, Instagram, and Twitter for updates and thank you again Sakaane for asking me to beta test.
I like to think I’ve come a long way in the two years since I’ve taught myself to knit. When I first started I didn’t know anything about yarn, I didn’t know there was a difference in the type of yarn used, and I didn’t have a preference. My “collection” (if it could be called that) was mostly harsh acrylic stuff sold at Michaels or Wal-Mart because that’s what I could afford. As time went on and as I began knitting more, I discovered other sites. One I’ve used for a very long time has been Knit Picks. I love some of their yarns, but they also cater to the low budget crowd. Unfortunately I’ve found that over the years the quality has started to lack, or maybe it’s just that I become more and more in love with smaller dye companies.
In any case, once a year Knit Picks has an amazing sale, around the time of Black Friday in the US. I have only bought a small amount of yarn this year, so I saved up for it eagerly.
Turns out, I didn’t actually want that much. I did pick up a set of size 1 metal knitting needles so I can keep making my Christmas ornaments, and I picked up a size 1 set of wooden knitting needles to replace the two that I’ve snapped. I also picked up two skeins of hawthorne that were marked down to $5.50 because I absolutely love that yarn for socks, I’ve already knit a pair in the past, and I picked up two skeins of felici in a colour that I can’t remember. Neutral tones I think. I already have quite a bit of felici in my stash, but why not.
I love yarn. It brings me to a very happy place. I also participated in a yarn exchange on Instagram where you got to grant wishes for people and have one (or many, depending) of your own granted. I found a woman looking for some fiber so I sent her a few ounces of that, and for my wish I requested indie dyed yarn, which another kind soul offered to fulfill. Some companies even offered free shipping if you purchased yarn from them and specified that it was for the gifting which I thought was fantastic and a great way to promote your business. Sometimes, social media can be pretty neat.
I found a cute little sweater with whales I want to make for llama bean this winter before we move to the prairies, and of course I myself could use some mittens, and socks. A never ending supply of knit socks. Right now I haven’t had the time because llama bean has been going through a bit of a stage (I say as I type this one handed) but that won’t always be the case.
All in all I’m happy with my purchase and can’t wait for it to get here!
Hey, it happens. Sometimes things bug us or rub us the wrong way. Today while I was working on my scarf I came across a pretty big pet peeve. In the screenshot above you’ll see one skein of yarn that transitions between pink /purple / blue and various shades of those. It’s ‘chroma’ by knitpicks, and it also varies in thickness from thick almost bulky, to thin, almost lace. The problem is smack dab in the middle of that picture where it abruptly shifts colours with no transition even though the rest of the scarf has transitions.
Turns out the yarn was split in two places, and it threw everything off.
This is a huge pet peeve of mine. I don’t mind the thick / thin consistency as it’s advertised when you purchase the yarn, but I don’t like splits in yarn, and I don’t like the issues caused by those splits. In this case that bright pink should have slowly transitioned to a light purple and then to a blue but instead a huge chunk was missing (all of the blue, and two purple transitions). I didn’t have enough yarn to fix the problem manually so because I was already near the end of the scarf I decided to just try to ignore it and cary on.
I’ve been working on this scarf since August 19th. Scarves are a LOT of work – and this is probably the first and only time I’ll make a scarf in fingering weight (she says unconvincingly). It is much quicker to knit something in bulky weight yarn, or at least worsted. I tend to like fingering weight yarn because it’s lovely sock yarn which is my favourite thing to knit. My yarn stash has a LOT of fingering weight (you can find me over on Ravelry as Stargrace, of course). Thankfully, the scarf is now done, and it looks great on me. We don’t get a lot of really cold weather here, so I wanted to finish it in time for fall to get the most use out of it. It’s one of the only pieces I’ve actually knit for myself.
Do you have any knitting or crochet pet peeves? What do you do to combat them (if anything can be done) and how do you avoid them from happening in the first place? Let me know in comments!
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