Tag Archives: Knitting

Snow Day

Like many folks across the midwest today, I am sitting inside my house, watching the snow pile on the ground fast and furious, and enjoying a quiet day off work. The longer it snows, the harder it seems to snow. It seemed like a good time to take stock of all of my works in progress.

Brocks Aran
Brock’s sweater has continued apace, but I set it aside about a week ago because I was jonesing for something with a little bit more color and a little bit less mental involvement.

garter stitch baby kimono
Insert the Garter Stitch Baby Kimono. I’ve been working on this sweater a stitch here and a stitch there for the last couple of months, but this past week I decided it was time to finish it. (This has nothing to do with feeling like my due date is suddenly much closer than it was two weeks ago.) This is my kind of dye job. Bold. Bright. A little garish, perhaps, but completely adorable at the same time. (Yarn is Vice Yarns Paradigm in Plain Jane.)

baby hat
The sweater used most of the skein of yarn, but I wanted to make matching accessories anyway, and I just happened to have an undyed skein of yarn that is, if not the same base, a very similar one. I cast on a little hat and am planning on making a pair of Stephanie Pearl McPhee’s Cutest Booties in the undyed yarn with the bright yarn as the ties and the pom poms…I should have just enough yarn left for that.

latest handspun
Last time, I showed you some singles on the bobbin of the yarn I was currently spinning. The photo above shows what those singles became. It’s a squishy worsted weight two-ply yarn that I think needs to become a great big, warm, squishy shawl.

shawl ingredients
Pairing it with this undyed skein of merino yarn should help stretch to make the handspun into a great big shawl. This will be my snow day project–seeing how much of it I can get done before the snow clears up.

wensleydale
And if I need a break from knitting, I’ve got this lovely little ball of Wensleydale that needs to be spun up as well.

Stripey Baby Blanket
Or I could try my hand and decorating some more fabrics.

Stay safe and warm everyone!

There are some things you just can’t say no to.

It's a long time since I've shared any finished knitting...amazingly enough, I kind of have a backlog now! Back in the fall when we went to Ugly Duckling Yarn, almost as soon as we walked into the store Ian beelined...

Amber’s Shepherd Hoodie — Moving Along

Well, trying to move along, anyway…

Shepherd again

Between a million house projects (full disclosure: I am dreaming up some shoe shelves for our coat closet as I type this) and a vigorous jump start on “spring cleaning,” I’m afraid my knitting time has been somewhat cut into as of late.

Shepherd

I had hoped to be done with the entire body by this post, but I’m afraid it was not to be. In fact, it was just yesterday that I added in my fifth ball of yarn and finished my fifth chart repeat.

The Shepherd

Oh! And because I apparently like some degree of public humiliation, I will share a close-up of my crappy buttonholes.

The Shepherd

Not only do I totally stink at making these Tulip buttonholes (my edge is really pulled in at each one, despite trying very hard not to over-tighten), I also messed up the spacing between TWO holes now, by like two rows each time, and it is super noticeable. You’ll forgive me for not sharing that this time — a little shame goes a long way…

On a brighter note though, I gave my fabric a little tug sideways to see how it will block out eventually and I am quite pleased! The texture of these cables is so dynamic, you’d never suspect that it is such an easy knit.

The Shepherd

Late yesterday evening, I finally made it to the dividing row,

The Shepherd

and got a tiny start on the right front.

The Shepherd

Next time I certainly hope to have a finished body to share, and maybe even some sleeve progress. How are your Shepherds going? I’ve seen a lot of gorgeous projects in various stages of completion in the project gallery on Ravelry and the finished ones are making me want to pick up the pace here!

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meAmber resides in sporadically idyllic Berks County, PA with her husband and three children.

This time of year, she can most often be found knitting, baking, sewing, or DIYing her house to heck and back. She definitely should leave that house more often.

Nice Shootin’, Tex

There’s a whole lotta shooting going on!  Photo shooting!

(And Susan’s from Texas, so it’s funny, see?  No? Sigh…..)

Today was day one of the Juniper Moon Farm Yarns spring/summer photo shoot.  It was also 18 degrees when we left the house this morning for it.  In years past we’ve always always shot the pictures outside, no matter what.  There is one photo of Emily wearing a light blue springy wrap that we shot while it was sleeting.  Let no one say we haven’t suffered for this art.

This year Susan was very, very nice to us and rented some studio space indoors.  I know, she’s a saint.

Actually I am pretty sure it’s because we don’t have the big farm anymore and here it is just all muddy and icy and gross.  But we’ll take it either way!

01.08.14e

As usual, we put Emily to work.  She’s getting better and better at taking direction and she and Susan found their rhythm pretty early today.

01.08.14a

Maddie also came along to pose, as did her friend Gabi.  Neve and Oona brought up the rear and kept everyone annoyed entertained.

01.08.14b

Lauria is seriously photogenic.

01.08.14c

I can’t wait for everyone to see the stunning pictures Susan took of Emily.

01.08.14d

This is the reality behind any fashion shoot.  Clothes are pinned to fit each model perfectly.  All of the samples are one size, and since people aren’t one size, we have to make each garment fit as though it was made for that person.  Emily happened to be a bit too small for this sweater.

Yes, they absolutely do this in your favorite catalogs/magazines.   Your clothes don’t fit you the same way because they aren’t pinned on you just so.

That’s the beauty of knitwear like this, though.  You can pick your pattern and your size, and adjust it while you knit so that it fits you properly.

We’ll be doing this the rest of this week, and I hear tell that we may be doing some sock yarn dyeing as well.

Should be fun!

 


Tagged: Knitting

The 2014 Blanket Block-A-Long

When I saw Cris’ fantastic first blanket square, I implored her to share her progress on the blog. Despite that she’s already sharing the progress of her Moonshine sweater, she agreed. I think that you’ll like what you see. And if you check out the thread on Ravelry specifically for knitting blankets, I think you’ll be just as impressed! We’ve got some great blankets being made! I would love to see someone knit blocks out of the sock club yarn. Wouldn’t that be amazing?- Lauria

I am not so much for New Years resolutions.  In most cases, I find that my enthusiasm for whatever resolution I have set for myself peters out some time around Valentine’s Day (hello chocolate, my old friend).  Instead, this year I set myself some goals.  The goals should be a challenge, things I have to put effort into, but at the same time tangible and attainable.

One of my goals for 2014 is to design and knit an afghan block each month, which I will then stitch together at the end of the year into one snuggly blanket.  The design aspect of this is the real challenge for me. I have improvised a few small knit and crochet items, but I have never officially designed anything.  Especially not anything as large as a blanket.

After perusing my stash (another one of my goals is to knit from stash as much as possible), I decided to knit my blocks in Yearling.  It is super soft and squishy, and the bulky weight yarn knits up quickly.  Primarily, I’ll be using the Hot Chocolate, Chili Pepper, Mermaid, and Butternut colorways, with a few other colors sprinkled in  as accents here and there.

I am aiming for a patchwork sort of look. Some of my blocks will be solid color blocks with stitch patterns.  Others will be colorwork designs of some sort. The only hard and fast rules are that the blocks should be 12 inches square (for easy seaming), and no two blocks will be exactly alike.  For my January block, I used the Chili Pepper colorway to knit a block that I consider to be a scaled up version of the cabled owl motif featured in Kate Daviesowls sweater.  I have always loved the little owls and the way they are created by an ingenious use of simple cables.  My block also uses cables, but on a much larger scale, to create the owl design.  Later, I’ll add eyes and a beak using duplicate stitch.

Each month, I’ll be sharing my progress and pictures of the new block here on the blog and in the JMF group on Ravelry.  There are several of us in the JMF group knitting blankets of assorted designs this year, and we would love to have you join us in the blanket block-a-long.  (If you are interested in knitting up one of my block designs, I’ll be sharing the designs on Ravelry.)  If you have your own blanket in progress or would like to start a blanket for the new year, please stop by the group and share your blanket ambitions with us.  Hope to see you there!

Wrapping Up 2013

Click to view slideshow.

Happy New Year, everyone!


Tagged: Farm, food, Garden, Homeschooling, Knitting, Pets, Seasons, Sewing

Free Pattern Friday: Norgay Scarf

Way back in April, Susan asked me to whip up a scarf using all the colors of Tenzing. I started with one idea, but it thrown about that a knitted version of Berzelius would be really cool. But it had to be a simple knit. That was a tall order! What makes Berzelius special are the color changes. Berzelius is crocheted in ribbons to make it easy. But with knitting, knitting separate strips and then sewing them together or picking up stitches is a pain in the butt! So I worked up a scarf pattern worked the long way.

NORGAY info

There are a lot of stitches in each row, but only one color change, so it’s easy to deal with the yarn without getting all tangled up.

NORGAY hero

It’s completely reversible. The “right side” on the first stripe is the “wrong side” on the second stripe so you don’t have to futz with getting yoru scarf to lay perfectly only showing the right side. (Who has time for that, anyway?)

NORGAY extra

And with only using half a ball of each color of Tenzing, it’ll work up quickly and is mindless. Of course, you could make it in two colors, or four colors, or even one color. I bet that it would look great in a number of combinations!

Download it on our free pattern page!

You can add Norgay to your Ravelry queue here.

Holidays

sun coming up

12-10

bright sunny day out there

muppet tree silhouette

peeking out the front door

ooh, vintage-y

good morning!

Shepherd

neighbor's yard

Shepherd again

This month has been a whirlwind of Christmas decorating, housecleaning/organizing (and subsequent donating of many unwanted items -- yay for less stuff in the house!), and knitting when I can squeeze it in.

This weekend is cookie baking time, so if anybody in this house isn't yet in the holiday spirit, the sugar overload ought to get them there...

But now I hear another closet calling to be emptied and sorted through, so I'll wish you Happy Holidays and be on my way for now!

boys' school fundraiser wreath

Iced In

Right now I should be drinking wine, eating delicious homemade pumpkin ravioli, and enjoying a lot of warmth and laughter with some of my best friends.

Instead, I am sitting in my pajamas drinking coffee and looking forward to next week, when our annual holiday book club meeting will take place due to today’s ice storm.

We are well and truly iced in here.  And by “here” I mean our property, not necessarily the house, because we have to go outside and care for the flock, ice or no.

12.08.13b

It’s miserable out there.  The gates were iced over and stuck shut.  The slope down to the pasture was all iced over.  The outer pen where Lucy and Orzo currently live is all slushed mud and poo. The pig pen is nearly solid ice.  So is the back deck, though Cini has been hanging out there anyway.

So yeah, feeding was tons of fun, with all that cold, wet wool pressed up against my legs, and jerk-face Jerry trying to knock the bucket out of my hands.

The good news is that the tank de-icer is working beautifully! The water tanks are nice and full and liquid.

In between feedings we all huddled around the fireplace for a bit and I got some actual sewing done.

12.08.13c

New pajama pants for me in a lovely flannel I bought last year. I also reconfigured the serger so I could put a rolled edge on some holiday fabric squares to make napkins.

There’s a zillion other things I’d really like to get done.  Like my Shepherd sweater, or some new Christmas pillows for the couch.

I also wouldn’t mind getting started on some cookie baking.  Or knitting some socks with some of the yarn I’ve been dyeing.

12.08.13a

These are the holiday colorways I came up with. It’s been fun messing around with color and learning how the chemicals work, but alas, the whole caboodle of supplies has been boxed up and is on its way to Lauria so she can finish up the JMF Sock Club yarn.  However, I’ll be playing with it some more in the near future and helping Susan and Lauria with it next year once I’m a little more confident.

BUT rather than all of those super fun and creative things, I am going to make dinner for everyone.

No rest for the weary, as they say.

 

 


Tagged: Farm, Knitting, Pets, Sewing

Baby Knitting and Webcam Photos

The problem with trying to blog near the winter solstice and working an 8 to 5 is that there isn’t much time to take pictures. And these days, blogs need pictures, but since I don’t have currently have a personal life during daylight hours, tonight we’re having fun with webcam photos!

heatingpad
Yes, I’m even wearing a heating pad, because my neck has a couple of giant knots in it hurts like the dickens.

highshot
Here’s a shot with with better light, where I just look tired. Growing a person is hard work. Did I mention I’m pregnant? I can’t remember, but if not, I’m almost 21 weeks! To celebrate, let’s talk about knitting baby things.

garterstitchvice
This is a Garter Stitch Baby Kimono in progress, knit in Vice Yarns Plain Jane. Click the link, because my webcam is not doing the colors justice. This sweater is going to be bright. I’ll never lose my baby when he or she is wearing this sweater. We’ll all be so distracted by this sweater, we won’t be able to divert our eyes.

Not everything I’m knitting for the baby is quite so loud. I’m working on a blanket, which I feel is an obligatory project for a baby, even though I’m not really the biggest blanket-knitting fan. It’ll be cute and totally worth it once it’s finished, but I am certainly not going to be the kind of knitting mother than knits her child many or large blankets.

The only other thing I’ve knit for the baby is a cabled Sunnyside Cardigan out of cormo yarn that I spun. The roving was my Juniper Moon Farm Spinner’s Share that I spun way before there was any thought of a baby. (This picture is also form October, hence the absence of webcam-ness.)

sunnyside
The sweater is still in this state, ends not woven in, buttons in a ziplock back next to it in a drawer. I still have 4+ months to finish it, right?

I’m trying to add to my list of baby things to make. Since this little one is due midspring, I am thinking I’ll need some hats and booties for cold mornings and evenings, but nothing too heavy. Is there anything else I should plan on making? I have to confess I love making sweaters, especially wee ones, but I realize that an April baby only needs so many sweaters. What are your favorite baby knits?