A little Fidelity

Goes a long way...

Pattern: Arena from Knitters Fall 2009

Yarn Valley Farms Stockbridge

Size 5 & 7 needles

Happy Knitting!

Nana

Noisy Yarn

Do you ever feel like your stash is impatient with your current knitting projects? Do you ever just feel like you need to start another project RIGHT NOW? While waiting for the blocked pieces of the vest to dry (despite other projects already OTN to choose from) I obviously caved to some pressure from my stash and cast on a few more projects because suddenly my knitting basket is overflowing.

Exhibit A:

Cut Paste Socks
Cast on: November 12 / in progress
After I finished the Niagara Falls socks, I had already planned to start this pair, so I did. I had tried the pattern out with the yarn from the bubble wrap socks, but the combination didn’t do the pattern justice, so I hunted down a skein of Smooshy just to knit this pattern. It knew what it was destined for and was eager to get going.


Exhibit B:

Wiggles socks for Sylvia:
Cast On: November 13 / Finished November 17
This yarn was leftover from one of the pairs of socks I knit last summer. Leftover sock yarn practically begs to become baby socks. Besides, what little one doesn’t need a whole drawer full of socks from her Nana… this is pair one of many.

Exhibit C:

The Fidget
Cast On: November 15 / in progress
This black yarn had my number from the moment I first laid eyes on it, but I knew it would only be enough for a small project. It’s been jumping up and down saying “me next” since I brought it home in July, so I decided it would be the next project once I got the vest blocked. I put the Fidget pattern in my queue when I first came upon it and after sorting through one skein options, it seemed like the best match for a small project with this yarn. It’s not a perfect match, but I think it works.

Exhibit D:

Plain Socks:
Cast on: November 16 / in progress

This “orphan” skein of Mountain Colors Bearfoot has been in the sale bin at work for a couple of weeks and the whimpering and sobbing got the best of me at work the other night, so I had to buy it and start knitting with it just to get it to be quiet.

And that’s not the worst part… now there’s a sweet little skein of Brooks Farm Harmony that has been calling my name and hinting that it wants to be a stole… sigh

To it I say “be quiet for now”… as of tonight it will be all vest all the time until it’s finished.
I hope your yarn isn’t being so demanding of you.

Happy (prolific) Knitting!

Nana

A Day Well Spent

Today three knitting friends (Kelly, Karen Michelle) and I went on a little adventure north into the Wilds above Milwaukee… okay, maybe I’m embellishing a bit here.  We actually went to the towns of Grafton and Cedarburg, WI to do a little shopping and eating and sight-seeing.  The weather was excellent for a day spent going in and out of little shops and such. 

We started out by hitting the Grafton yarn store.  I found the Curlicue coverlet pattern I’ve been on the lookout for and some really cute buttons for a future project for little Miss Sylvia. I also picked up some Noro in a kicky colorway, a back issue of Debbie Bliss Magazine that I had seen last summer but never got around to buying, some Arauncunia Yarn to try and an original hat pattern from the store that will be good to use with the Noro. 

Then we went to Cedarburg.  What a pretty little town.  It is chock full of little specialty shops, antique shops and museums.  There was also a store for the Cedar Creek winery.  We were all hungry when we got there, so we stopped for lunch at the Cream and Crepe Cafe.  I had the best vegetable soup, paired with a ham and cheese crêpe. Everyone else had soup or crepes and we all enjoyed our meal.  Of course we all were careful to save room for the pumpkin crepes for dessert - totally yummy.  Then we meandered around town seeing what was there to see.  I picked up some cute little sheep charms at the bead store and some handmade caramels at the candy shop.  Adjacent to the bead shop was the Cedarburg Woolen Mill Textile Museum which unfortunately wasn’t operating while we were there but we did get a peek at the carding machine and some of the other historical equipment.  Mostly we just had fun poking around and seeing the different things to see.  I may have also picked up a couple of bottles of wine from the winery store which I’ll have to sample soon!

On the way home we felt the need to make one more stop, so we swung into Ruhamas Yarn store and checked it out.  I didn’t really find anything there to buy, even though the display of Kauni did keep trying to trip me and Kelly.  I managed to stay on my feet and avoid the temptation, although there is one colorway that I could see working up really nice… Kelly found a colorway she liked, but she was unable to buy any because they didn’t have that color in stock. (excuse for return trip in future!)

After that we were feeling a little need for refreshment so we visited Kopps Custard and had some treats for the road.  Pumpkin Shakes for Kelly and Michelle, a sandwich and tea for Karen and the flavor of the day chocolate chocolate chip custard for me.  MMMM

I didn’t take very many pictures, but here’s a shot of my loot:

Even though I was certain that nothing but wilderness existed north of Milwaukee, I discovered a couple of charming little towns.  It was all very civilized and nice.  We had a fun time visiting and exploring and I’ll definitely have to take DH there sometime after he comes home.

All in all, it was a day well spent.

Oh, and in case you were wondering if I’ve been knitting anything lately; on Friday, I finished these:

This was a fun and pretty pattern which I will probably make again someday.

 

Niagara Falls Socks by Janelle Laidman (The Eclectic Sole)

Yarn KPPPM in P416138

Size 2.25 needles (magic loop, 2-at-a-time)

Happy Knitting!

Nana

Access Denied

2:30 pm

6:30 pm

I think I just discovered why I get less knitting done some days than others...

What’s In Your Basket?

I figured it was time I shared a little of what’s happening here at Nana’s.  I’ve been doing more serial casting on and less knitting than I would like (again).   But I am seeing progress on a couple of projects…

But before I get to those, I thought I‘d share a few yarn acquisitions I made recently.  The first is some beautiful handspun that knitter friend Paula gifted some of the knitters in our little Thursday night group.  Sherri got two skeins of brown energized singles and I got this:

About 270grams of a nice grey and white twist yarn.  Paula wasn’t 100% on the fiber content, but I think there is enough here for a nice hat or pair of mittens or maybe a cowl.  Ah, the possibilities.

Next up, you know I can’t resist alpaca in any form, so I went to the Northern Illinois Alpaca Extravaganza at the new Lake County Fairgrounds a couple of weeks ago and after ogling all of the lovely alpaca on the hoof, I found these two skeins of  Sport weight from the Whisper Meadows Alpaca farm… The yarn is named after the alpaca it came from … how fun is that

Peruvian penny (cream) and Patent Leather (black)

I’m thinking maybe a tam?

Then last weekend on Halloween I went on an excursion with Kelly and Carol out to the Fold in Marengo, followed by a lunch where we decided to go visit yet another shop that none of us had ever been to (Gene Anne’s Yarn in Barrington).  All in all it was a lovely day and a few things followed me home:

From the Fold, Cascade Heritage Hand Painted Sock Yarn in the glamorous color 9926

And from Gene Ann (who practically thrust it upon me) Dream in Color Knitosophy in Strength

So you see, with all this yarn shopping, who has had much time left to knit?  No seriously, I have still been seeing too many patterns that I want to knit right away and have been totally unrealistic with myself about the amount of time needed to actually knit the pattern…

So, here’s what’s patiently waiting turns in my knitting basket

Niagara Falls Socks by Janelle Laidman

Yarn KPPPM

Big V Vest by Melissa Mathay

Yarn SWTC Terra

I might have showed this one already… the It Ain’t a Pair of Socks Shawl (pattern Simply Effective Shawl by Cosmicpluto Knits

Yarn Down Home Art by Knitivity colorway Ain’t Gail

And the newest and most exciting project:

Arena from Knitters Fall 2009

Yarn: Valley Yarns Stockbridge from Webs

Whew! What’s in your basket?

Happy Knitting

Nana