Fibers on Friday: Cables

Hello! I've managed to get this post done before I head out to Puerto Rico for a week....woohoo! We're attending a wedding on Saturday in San Juan and then we're off to the other side of the island, Aguadilla, to visit friends for the rest of the time. I know we'll be doing tons of exploring and site seeing...I can't wait.

I really haven't done too much knitting. I just got finished with the sock monkey project and then I jumped into making EIGHT more for Christmas presents. And for some reason, each one seems to take wayyyy more time than the previous batch. Hmmm???

And besides that, I've settled in to reading on my Kindle. When I fist got it 2 weeks ago, I have to admit, I almost sent that sucker back. It was really hurting my eyes, giving me headaches in the middle of the night, and I just wasn't loving it in general. But, I pushed through the adjustment phase, I tweaked some of the brightness and color settings, and now I'm a happy reader. So happy, in fact, that I'm on my third book. I read Room; very intriguing albeit disturbing. Then I read the second book of the Hunger Games, Catching Fire, another page turner. And now I'm on Unbroken. I don't know how this device gets me turning through books so quickly, but I'm loving it!

Anyway, here is the progress on my first cable project. This is the sweater I'm knitting for Afghans for Afghans.


Oh yes, I am really enjoying the cables! Such a huge effect with very little effort! Everyone was right who said they were easier than one would imagine!

Fibers on Friday: Peas and Carrots

Hello wonderful people! Happy Fibers on Friday! I come to you today with knitting and crochet....side by side....happy as peas as carrots!


The vest that I'm knitting is for Afghans for Afghans. I'm knitting the Keep Me Warm Vest. And get this....I'm trying my hand at cables for the first time! You all assured me last week it was really easier than it seems. And I must say, it's pretty easy! In the picture you'll be able to see my first twist.


The afghan I'm crocheting is the Offset Shell Pattern by Oh My Good Knits.


My excitement this week came in the form of the Kindle Fire that I pre-ordered a couple weeks ago. I was on the fence for so long about using an e-reader, but I finally dived right in and went for the Fire. I just got it yesterday...there are definitely some kinks to work out, but so far it's fun! Have you read anything you'd recommend lately?

Fibers on Friday: Crocheted Apron Complete

Fibers on Friday comes to you on this fine Veteran's Day. I'll remember and honor all who have served today. And I'll be a little sad to miss my annual Veteran's Day dinner with my dad since we're now living so far away. Here we were two years ago on Veteran's Day:

I finished my apron earlier in the week. I LOVE it!!

The pattern comes from Oh My Good Knits. It's called Tessa. It's perfect!! In fact, I'm kind of on a roll with her patterns. I made her Mary Jane slippers, which I'll show you soon, and today I started her Off Set Shell Stitch afghan.

It's also that time of year again for my annual knit for Afghans for Afghans. This will be my third year! I've done two sweaters (seen here and here), so this year I'm going to make a vest. I'm excited to announce that I'll be taking this opportunity to learn cables, a feat that's been on my to-do list for way too long!

Fibers on Friday: A Horse of a Different Color

Hello friends! I am so excited about this Fibers on Friday! I'm glad you're here to join this party dedicated to knitting and crocheting (or anything else fiber related...sewing?).

Ever since I started hosting this party and looking through all of your wonderful projects I've had a little tiny itch to learn how to crochet. There are so many darling projects out there that you have shown me and I just feel a little limited by not being able to jump in and crochet a thing or two.

So, like I don't have enough to do right now (like us all); like finishing up my craft room....actually crafting in my craft room, knitting my mom's shawl, treating my kids to their very abbreviated summer by having as many fun days as possible before school, working on my list of furniture pieces I'd like to refinish.....I decided to learn how to crochet!! My kids say I'm "coo coo nuts"!! I'll go with that one!

Yesterday I sat down with the lap top, opened two pages on Lion Brand's website; Learn to Crochet and a washcloth pattern, and I got to learnin'!

This was the first washcloth pattern I picked. I ended up unraveling it at this point because it wasn't turning our great. I'm finding the stitch definition in crochet a little more ambiguous than in knitting. So, when it called for "slip a stitch in one half double crochet...then half double crochet in the next stitch" I wasn't really sure I was ever in the right stitch.



No problem. I chose another pattern. I'm liking this one much better. It's mostly double crochet and now I'm on to the edging which is single crochet and making corners. Lots of learning here! As you can see I started out with my chain kind of tight, so the cloth is not perfectly square. That's OK.


Also, my edges are kind of wonky. Like I'm not ending each row the same way each time. I don't know about that. Any advice? It's just not as cut and dry as knitting. Or maybe it's just me.


Anyway....I'm really enjoying this new endeavor! And in all actuality it's not an entirely new endeavor. When I was a teenager, I knew how to crochet. I made a couple afghans, but the only thing I knew was how to make a Granny Square Afghan...and I probably wasn't doing it entirely right. So, this has brought me back a little and it's given me the sweet opportunity to dig out my Grandmother's old crochet hooks and think about her while I crochet....imagine her hands on these hooks...and it makes me feel peaceful and in tune with her.

Look at this old stuff in her sewing chest. That old beat up wooded round thing was used for darning socks. It looks like that one was used a lot! The three pick-like things are needle holders (made from Ivory....yikes...no comment). Her needlepoint eye-glass case with her name and lots of other old tools.

Meanwhile, my girlies are really asking to sit down and knit more and more often. Paige does about 5 stitches and then asks me to finish the row. Madison, on the other hand, will sit and knit a few rows at a time. Look at her awesome progress:

Oh...and I almost forgot...I did finish last week's knitted washcloth!

Fibers on Friday: Heels!

Welcome to Fibers on Friday, a day that we can all come together and parade our crochet and knitting projects! And more specifically this month, to participate in a sock challenge, Turning Heels in the New Year!



How are the socks coming along? I've had much success and I'm still thrilled with the progress. I feel a sock addiction coming on, I must say! I really love the pattern I've suggested for this challenge, it's knitting up so nicely.

Here is our time line for the sock challenge:

Here's where we are in our time line to knit a pair of socks by the end of January:

• By Dec. 31st everyone needs to have gathered their supplies and checked their gauge.
• January 7th we'll show off our cuffs and leg of the sock.
• January 14th we'll show off our heels. Yes, Turning Heels in the New Year!
• January 21st we should be done our gussetts and foot and be ready to close the toe.
• January 28th we'll be well into our second sock and we'll display our works in progress.
• By Feb 4th we should be able to take a picture of our feet adorned in TWO fabulous socks!!

I did decide that I need to teach myself the Continental style of knitting in order to speed things up a bit. So, I watched some videos and started on a washcloth; a project that doesn't mean much, doesn't have to be pretty, but would give me practice. Here it is; the tension is not even, there are some mistakes, but overall I'm happy. I'm not ready to put the new method to the test with socks or a sweater, but I will move on to bigger projects using it.


And as if that wasn't enough knitting, I started a sweater. The Shalom. Ahhhh, I've been waiting and waiting to start this. I put it on the back burner in order to finish the sweater for Afghans for Afghans. Well, that has been mailed off, so onto Shalom!

My list of link parties is listed on my sidebar, but this has been a pretty big week of link-ups which has introduced me to a few more parties:

Fibers on Friday: Turning Heels Challenge Starts NOW

Are you ready for this? Have you gotten your supplies and checked your gauge? Are you ready to

TURN HEELS IN THE NEW YEAR?

I am! I spent the week finishing the sweater for Afghans for Afghans. I'm proud to report that this is my second sweater I've knit and donated to the cause. It feels good. Do what feels good! Take a look at my sweater, if you will, and also hop on over and read about the cause. Depending on how this sock challenge goes, we can do a charity challenge in the future!



I had to knit 3....count them THREE swatches in preparation for socks. My gauge was just too big, so I'm ending up with size 0 needles, something I was really hoping to avoid. Oh well. And want to hear what else? I'm using a yarn that I had in my stash....one skein...and I have no idea what it is! So, stay tuned for the debacle that's sure to ensue when I run out of yarn!

So, I cast on last night and took some pictures along the way just to sort of guide those of you who have never cast on the double pointed needles for knitting in the round. This is what we need to start now so that next week we can link our cuffs and the leg of our sock. If you'd like to read my proposed time line for this challenge, please read here.

Cast on 64 stitches on to one of the needles

Divide the stitches onto 3 needles as outlined in the pattern; 16....32....16

Now, join in the round. I do this by slipping one stitch from the left needle over to the right needle. Then, I slip the second stitch that's on that right needle over to the left needle. You're just criss crossing stitches and that secures the work and you're ready to start knitting the cuff.

Ines, over at Forward Tumble, wrote a detailed tutorial on casting on and knitting socks, complete with tons of pictures for those of us who need a visual.

Make sure your stitches are not twisted before you start knitting!
Make sure you're knitting in the direction you're suppose to be! I've been known to put down my knitting and when I pick it back up, I've gotten it backwards so I'll actually be purling where I should be knitting.

Knit the cuff in knit 2, purl 2 ribbing. Come back next week to show us what you've got! I can't wait to see who's participating. Got questions? Need help? Post a comment and I know you'll get help from me or someone else!

Fibers on Friday: a4A Progress

The only thing I've worked on this week (as knitting goes) is my Steppe Ahead Sweater for Afghans for Afghans.




I'm still enjoying it, but I have to say the pattern gets kinda hectic at times. Nothing unmanageable, but hectic! I should have taken pictures of some of the jumbled mess I had going on, but here's the run-down:

• 2 straight needles were acting as stitch holders for the live stitches for each front shoulder piece as I knitted the back.
• 1 set of circular needles as I was knitting the back.
• 1 length of cut yarn hanging off 1 straight needles to use for 3 needle bind off when ready
• 1 entire ball of yarn hanging off the other needle ready for picking up and finishing the collar.
• 1 entire ball of yarn as working yarn for the back.

Wow! Gobbly-goop! It all works out, it's just crazy. And I'm lucky to have accumulated all those needles and had them handy.

So, what was new? What have I learned? 'Cuz we all know, if we're not learnin' we're burnin':

The three needle bind off!

I was quite intimidated by this process, but I watched a video on youtube and then got to it. And it was easy! I mean aside from adding 2 more needles to the gobbly-goop! And it created the most astoundingly beautiful seam! Look

Fibers on Friday: As Ugly Sweaters Go.....

So, here's the super fun thing I have planned for this weekend: An Ugly Sweater Party!! Last month was our first annual Witch and Bitch. This month is Ugly Sweater Night! So, my friend is the one who had the idea for this. She has THE ULTIMATE ugly sweater. I kid you not....it is the REAL DEAL. The sad part (or maybe really really cute part depending on how you envision this.....and I love to envision the back story on thrift store finds) is that I'm pretty sure this sweater was hand knit. I see it being worn by THE CUTEST little old WHITE haired lady to BINGO night. Or maybe even to a Square Dance. Totally. I see her being just darling and adorable. And I see her having put a lot of time into knitting this sweater. But, nonetheless.....it's UGLY! I can't wait to show you pictures!

Anyway, I feel like I have BIG shoes to fill when it comes to matching this sweater. I had a fairly ugly sweater in my closet. Let it be known, I've actually worn this sweater despite its ugliness. So, I just wanted to embellish it to make it uglier. Here we go:

I added a pom pom ruffle to the collar and the sleeve cuffs. I added tassels to the shoulders and jingle bells all over the front. My husband thinks I should leave the strings attached to the bells.


When my girls got home from school, I asked if it was ugly enough. Paige said no, I needed to add a big bow to the front and center. Madison said I need to add a ruffle to the bottom. Both very good suggestions, I must say. I'll work on that tomorrow. But, as ugly sweaters go, does this suffice?

Now, onto Fibers on Friday:



Here is the Steppe Ahead Sweater I've been working on for Afghans for Afghans.


The front is almost finished. I like the garter stitch running down the center and forming a collar. The back is only half done. Then I'll pick up for sleeves. I plan on it being long sleeved, but I fear I'll run low on yarn, so it may have to be a vest. The campaign says that is fine, but I'd rather send a long sleeved sweater.

I'm enjoying knitting this. I love thinking about how important this campaign is. It's an easy pattern and I love the yarn. Win! Win! I am anxious, though, to start my Shalom sweater that's waiting to be cast on....for me.

If you'd like to read more about a4A, visit the link below.

Fibers on Friday: Two Projects!

Hold on to your hats! Bethy has two projects on needles for the first time ever! I'm diving deep into the realm of multiple projects and I'm loving it!

Here is the progress I've made on the sweater for Afghans for Afghans:






And here is my second little project; a washcloth! I hope you weren't expecting more! I desperately need new washcloths and I have a few I should really make as gifts, so I need to have one going as a second little project to pick up.

PS. Does anyone have any good advice or resources for making blog headers? Mine is way too big and I'm just not good at working with them. (ETA: I did it! How do you like it? I think it's a good size now.)