My Latest Projects

These are my three latest finished projects.  The cowl is crocheted and is for me or my shop.  I will probably keep it as I wear a lot of red and I like it with a brooch and I have quite a collection of brooches, both new and vintage.  The yarn I used is Mirasol Tupa which is wool and silk.  It is very luxurious with a little sheen to it.

The socks are the first socks I have ever knitted.  I took a class from a great teacher at Twist (Susan).  We used heavier yarn than sock yarn (Regia Highland Tweed) so these are more like slipper socks.  They felt wonderful on my feet but they went to my mom for her birthday.  If and when I ever get time I will need to knit myself a pair.

The same goes for the gloves.  I want a pair for myself but these are going to my son Micah's girlfriend Erin for her birthday along with a matching hat that I am still working on.  These gloves were also made for a class at Twist of which Susan taught as well.  The yarn (Online Supersocke with Angora) for the gloves is wool with some angora and it is so soft.  The colorway knitted up so pretty for the gloves and is looking very nice on the hat (slouchy beanie) which has lace stitches.  I was reluctant to buy this yarn at first because it was a little pricey but one skein was enough for the gloves and the hat so I am now a big fan of this yarn and can't wait to try it for socks, a shawl and hairpin lace.

Besides finishing up Erin's hat I am also finishing up Noel's heavy scarf.  Her birthday is next Monday so this will be one of her gifts.  It is a knitted tube using bulky yarn (Charisma from Michaels) so it is extremely heavy and hopefully it will keep her plenty warm in Rochester this Winter.

After that I need to get busy on Micah's birthday present.  His birthday was almost a month ago.  I got some alpaca yarn almost straight off the alpaca (shorn & spun).  No dyes.  Just their natural color.  One skein is brown and one is black and they are so so soft. He will be getting a scarf and maybe some gloves. Alpaca is great for people who can't wear wool as Alpacas have no dander or lanolin like sheep.

My biggest and most important project this winter is to get my book room turned in to my yarn room.  I love to read but I love to knit and crochet a little bit more.  I have more books than I can ever read so I am going through them so see which ones I want to keep and read, which ones I think my mom will want, which ones are worth putting on paperbackswap.com or taking to bookaholic and which ones to donate to Goodwill.  It is  daunting task that is taking way longer than I had hoped.  But once I make room for all my yarn I will be very happy.  It will all be on shelves and organized so I don't have to dig through stacked bins every time I start a project.

I also have a few sewing projects in the works.  I have an idea for a large organizer that hangs on a door and holds circular knitting needles.  I also have some ideas for some yarn totes and project bags and I have a crocheted pillow top that needs a backing and a pillow.

I am so blessed to have the time to play so much with fabric, beads and yarn!

Original Designs

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/search#query=lisa%20mertes&page=1&view=captioned_thumbs&sort=bestI have four original designs on ravelry.com.  All are crocheted and there are patterns that can be downloaded for three of them.  Two of the patterns are free.  I am hoping to get some more designs on the site soon.

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.