Fibers on Friday: Afghans for Afghans Sweater

It might not be the best week for a linky party, but I'm gonna post anyway. I hope you all had a wonderful thanksgiving surrounded by loved ones. I hope you were able to take a breather amongst the chaos and give thanks for the messy kitchen, the loud kids, the not-so easy-to handle family member, and the gravy that just wouldn't thicken.

I have been busy all week with cooking and working on a special furniture refinishing project! No pics yet, but come next week, you'll be inundated with pictures of what I've been up to! I've got a couple Meatless Monday posts lined up to get us ready for Christmas! Oh yes, Cranberry Chutney and Sweet Potato Casserole.

Last weekend a few girlfriends and I rented a beach house to get away and scrapbook and craft all weekend. It was so wonderful! It was full of creativity, wine, great food, laughter, music, and a couple of great one-liners!

I found myself sighing....out loud.... a lot! It came to the attention of my friends, who laughed at me every time I did it. I concluded that I have "Craft Apnea" a condition whereby I stop breathing while engaged in heavy crafting. One witty friend diagnosed it as "Crapnea". We got a kick outta that one all weekend. Despite lack of oxygen, I managed to pound out at least 12 layouts....maybe I'll post them next week, too.

In knitting news, I frogged the hat I showed you last week. Thanks for your support and insight as to what may have occurred with the bulky parts of the yarn. As I was reading through ravelry yesterday I saw someone mention using a variegated yarn and using two skeins and alternating rows to avoid "pooling". Ahhhhh! What a good idea! Another learning moment and another one-liner from the weekend:

If I'm not learning', I'm burnin'

Oh yes, clever.

The sweater I'm knitting for Afghans for Afghans is called The Steppe Ahead sweater. I'm using yarn from my stash that was given to me by my aunt who currently lives in Hawaii and finds no need to knit sweaters in her climate. Bonus for me! It's Ram's Wool Superwash in a teal color. I'm really loving it so far. I'm linking this up to a new party called Work in Progress Wednesday. Come check it out!

To read more about the cause and the current campaign please visit their site:

Fibers on Friday

Starting a new one; Fibers on Friday! Don't you love how compartmentalized my life is? Can you imagine being married to me? It's Meatless Monday, dear. Wait! It's Wordless Wednesday, honey. Hold on! It's Fibers on Friday time!

So, it's that time of year again that I'm ready to pick up my knitting needles and tackle a project that's been neglected over the warmer months. My mom just gave me a book called Knitting for Good, so I'm inspired to do just that! The book refers to a project called Afghans for Afghans in which handmade projects such as knitted or crocheted sweaters, blankets, mittens, and hats are sent to Afghanistan. Well, I'm diving in! And I'm trying to get my knitting circle to do the same.

My first project for the cause will be a sweater! GULP! I've yet to make a sweater, so here goes!

This is what I'm attempting:


And here's the wool I've chosen:


I'll be keeping you posted on the progress on my newly created Fibers on Friday! Join me if you'd like!

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: Progress Report

This is the back of the sweater. I got about 11 inches completed this week. And I've learned a new technique; how to carry the yarn! I've always avoided striped patterns because I didn't like switching colors, cutting, and weaving in ends. It makes it too bulky. So, I've learned to carry the color that I'm not working on up the side of the garment, thereby eliminating the need to cut and weave in! Yay!

Tonight is the first knitting night of the season. I've got at least 5 people coming over, so it will be a nice evening of conversation and eating knitting. Not to mention a little wine or homemade Pumpkin Spice Latte....yum!

If you didn't know already, this sweater is being made for a child in Afghanistan. To read more about the project, visit Afghans for Afghans.

Fibers on Friday: A Flop For Me

This week was a flop for me. I started the little hat for one of my girls and there are several things wrong with it:

• The yarn is cool. It's the type that goes back and forth from thin to thick. It lends itself to cool visual interest. That, coupled with the cool colors, should make for an awesome hat. But, the chunky parts of the yarn came around at the SAME point in the rounds every.single.time! So, you can see in the ribbing, it's chunky every 2 inches! Am I missing something obvious here, friends? Is there some algebraic equation that makes perfect sense as to why this happened? Or is it purely coincidence? Either way, I don't like how it looks. It's very uneven and not in a nice random kind of way.
• It's too big! The little one says she likes it just fine, "It's perfect!" But it seriously fits me.
• I ran out of yarn! I can't finish it until I get back to the yarn store.

So, that's all I have for you this week.

On a positive and more exciting note, I've decided my next project will be another sweater for Afghans for Afghans! Last year I made my very first sweater for the cause and I figure it's about time to do another. The campaign right now is asking for sweaters, vests, hats, socks, and mittens for youth. I have fours skeins of superwash wool. I will try to make a sweater, but if I look low on yarn, it will be a vest. Visit their site to read all about it.



I'm going away this weekend! It's a girl's scrapbooking weekend at a beach house! It's fall and it's chilly, but I'm looking forward to being "down the shore" for a nice productive weekend! I know it will be a busy week with Thanksgiving festivities. I'm thankful for you all who take the time to look at my projects and comment and even join in on the fun!

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.)

Fibers on Friday

Here is my sweater that I'm knitting for Afghans for Afghans. Over the course of the week, I finished the back of the sweater and last night started the front. Really, it's going much more quickly than I ever imagined a sweater would. I only work on it about an hour a night, so in a couple weeks it should be complete. I always imagined a sweater would take the entire winter to complete....granted, this is a child's sweater, but still! I'm happy and now confident I can knit one for myself and my kids!

Fibers on Friday on Saturday (night)!

I was reluctant to post my progress on this sweater last night because little progress had been made this week. But, on this snowy afternoon, I was able to squeeze in a couple hours of knitting and now I feel it's worthy of a progress report.

You'll remember last week I had completed the front, back, and one sleeve of the sweater.

Well, here's the progress on the second sleeve as of right now:

I think it's important to stress maybe not how much I've been able to finish, but instead what I've learned along the way. When we set out for our long drive to MA two weekends ago I found myself having four uninterrupted hours to work on the sleeves. To do this, I needed to know how to increase stitches. Well, the only increase I could remember at the time was *knit into the front and back* of the stitch. Fine. Good. Except this method leaves evidence that a you've increased a stitch...it's not very pretty or inconspicuous. But, at the time it's all I knew and I didn't have books or the internet to consult, so I rolled with it.

When I was finally able to look up other methods of increasing stitches I discovered a VERY easy way, which is virtually invisible. Take a look at my little tutorial, click to enlarge if needed, and ignore that I wrote "Viola" instead of "Voila'" in step 3. :

PS: Aforementioned tutorial....yes, just learned how to put that little beauty together...so, chalk up another learning experience.

PPS: My four year old took those pictures. Natural, I say it!

So, there you have my Fibers on Friday progress report for this first attempt at a sweater which is intended to go to Afghans for Afghans once it's finished.

Did you get to play in snow today? We did!

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: We have a sweater!

Wow! Who knew this would take so long? It's ok, though, I'm enjoying knitting this sweater. The front, back, and sleeves are all complete. The sleeves are attached and the front and back is now connected by the collar. The only things left to do is complete the collar and seam up the sides! Wooo Hooo!

I think I'll work on a nice, easy hat for my next project!

PS. This sweater was knit with love for an Afghan Child. To read more about the project, Afghans for Afghans, click here.

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: 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: 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: