Classes, Classes & more Classes

I have been taking every knitting class I can at several of the local yarn shops.  In Oct I took a seamless sweater class at Oh Yarn It in McPherson and since then I have taken or am taking five knitting classes at Twist in Wichita. The first one I took was a steeking class in which we knitted a cowl in the round with a two color pattern and then steeked it (cut it.).  Mine turned out a little too big as I am a loose knitter and I should have gone a size smaller on my needles.  One of the gals in my class suggested I felt it.  I did so and I think it turned out just awesome.  This is it pictured above.

The next class I took was basic cables.   I have wanted to learn to make cables for the longest time.  I love the look of them.  They were not nearly as difficult as I expected them to be.  I so enjoyed making the coffee cup cozy for class that I then used the same pattern but used larger needles and heavier yarn and made a cute little cowl for my dogs.

The next class, basic socks, was probably the most difficult for me but I want to get busy and try some more until I really get the hang of it.  We used DPNs for the class which I am not fond of using so I am anxious to try a short circular needle to make a pair.

I am now in the process of taking two classes the first being a class on knitting gloves.  They are knitted flat which makes them a little easier but I am anxious to learn how to do the fingers.  I am using a sock yarn with angora in it.  It is orange and magenta and ivory and has a self patterning to it that is striped with a fair isle type design.  I am having so much fun with these.  I think I will definitely be knitting more of these.

The other class that I am taking at the moment is knitting a lace cowl.  I love crocheting lace patterns especially from a chart and that is how we are knitting this cowl.  I have seen so many beautiful knitted lace shawl patterns and I want to someday soon knit one for myself.

That's all the classes I have scheduled so far but I still want to take some more socks classes as well as mittens and entrelac.

Enjoying the Holidays

My Etsy inventory wasn't nearly as large as I would have liked it to be for the Christmas shoppers as I wasted my summer on a foolish endeavor and didn't spend any time making things for the shop.  But that being said, I did have a fantastic black Friday with quite a few sales and they continue to trickle in so I am very happy about that.

I made sure that I didn't repeat last year's mistake and take on more orders than I can handle.  I took one big one but she placed the order in September and I finished it up a few weeks ago.  So instead of finishing up orders I can work on gifts.  I am also limiting the number of crocheted or knitted gifts this year.  I am learning to accept the fact that it is ok if I don't make something for each person in my family every year.  I decided I would start rotating. That will make it all the more special when someone gets something handmade right?

 This year my son will be getting a hat and scarf because I came across some alpaca yarn pretty much straight from the alpaca.  I met a lady with alpacas who sold me the yarn and it has not been dyed.  It is the natural color of two different alpacas.  One is brown and one is black and the yarn is so gorgeous.  Since my son is allergic to wool he is getting this gift.

My daughter who goes to school in Rochester NY asked me a few months ago to make her a "chulo" hat.  She never bothered with hats here in KS.  She just wore a hood.  But it is way to cold in Rochester to not wear a hat.  She wears hearing aids and most stocking hats make her ears ring so she thought a hat with ear flaps might work well for her.  So I made her the hat pictured here.  She already has it as it is already getting cold in upstate NY.  What she is getting for Christmas is a very warm cowl to match.  I am using the same yarn and basically just knitting a tube that I will sew together end to end for a double fabric cowl.

The last handmade gift will go to my son's girlfriend.  It is a lace cowl I am knitting for a class.  I am using a silk merino in sage green and I bought a gorgeous vintage button to make a brooch which will go on the cowl.  It just seemed like her.  If I get time I want to knit her a vintage style hat in the same yarn.

My Latest Original Design - Ruffled Ascot

This is a new pattern I designed.  You can download a free copy of the crochet pattern at http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/ruffled-ascot-4 .  I hope to have this for sale on etsy soon and I will take orders for other colors.

Vintage crochet

I love vintage crochet instruction booklets as well as vintage crocheted pieces especially the lacy ones.  My Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Phoebe has one piece that she is obsessed with.  No matter where I move it, she gets a hold of it.  Here she is trying to hang on to it..

I Love Freeform Crochet!

Here is a freeform crocheted scarf that I designed.  Can't wait to make some more.  Thanks to Jenny Dowde, Reante Kirkpatrick and Prudence Mapstone for all of the inspiration.

Forgiveness

"Forgiveness is giving up the hope that what happened in past could have been different." Author unknown

Faith

"Faith is taking that first step even when you can't see the whole staircase." Martin Luther King Jr.

Collecting Quotes

I love collecting profound things people have said so instead of putting them on fb I thought I would put them here.  So here are a few of my most recent discoveries.

"You can kill a man  but you can't kill an idea." Myrlie Evers

"Preach the Gospel constantly, use words only when neccessary." St. Francis (paraphrased)

My only New Years Resolution--Organize my Craftroom

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Before Pictures of My Craftroom

BTW the clothes are not laundry.  I use old sweaters and other used clothing in my projects.

A few of my very first knitting projects

No Pattern just garter stitch and button holes.

No patterns.  Just a lot of garter stitches and a few button holes.

My New Obsession

After many years of crocheti

ng

After many years of crocheting, I have finally taken a knitting class and I am obsessed with it. This is my first project in which I followed a pattern. I saw the pattern in a magazine ad. I found the pattern by Tahki Yarns online as well as the Presto yarn, also by Tahki Yarns, in the same color as shown in the ad. I know the model in the ad is much prettier than Viola but I was pretty happy with the outcome of the beret. This is a birthday gift for my son's girlfriend, Erin. I am now working on the collar in a different but similar yarn that is nice but a little less pricey.