Odds and Ends

What can I say?  I love the scarf now that it is off the needles.  I am very happy to have used up a considerable amount of leftover sock yarn.  Using eight different colors of sock yarn creates a beautiful woven stitch design.  Even though I grumbled about the project about how long it was taking to complete it, I will definitely make this scarf again.  I have tons of sock yarn scraps!  I think I might use size 5 needles next time instead of size 4 needles.  I hope it will feel like I am knitting faster than the speed of light. No matter how fast the knitting goes, I am quite sure I will grumble about the second scarf in between the beginning and the end.

Red Roses

My husband surprised me with a bouquet of red roses for our anniversary. That was more than a week ago.  I now have four left that are still looking beautiful.  I moved them into a bright red vase and placed them in the family room.  Because I cut the stems again, they might just last another week.

My tweed cardigan is coming along nicely.  I just finished the 2x2 ribbing of the body of the sweater.  I did not change needle sizes because I do not like tight ribbing.  I also started one sleeve.  I have really been liking the yarn and the project.

                                    
The linen stitch scarf is just taking to long for me.  It does not help that I have not worked on it much in the past week.  I decided yesterday to dedicate more time to this project so I can be done with it!  I do like how I am using up all of my odd ends of sock yarn.

  

                                      

It does look pretty though!  That will definitely make me create another one of different colors.

Acorns and lists.....

I just had to post a picture of these little acorns I bought at the fiber festival.  Aren't they cute?  I will keep one for myself and the other will be for my sister.  She gets to pick which color she wants because I am the best sister ever!

I cannot believe that I have actually started to write out a Christmas List.  I always have great expectations of what I would like to knit for family members.  But then, sometimes I end up not liking the project, or the yarn or just the pressure of getting it done.  There is nothing like getting a notebook out to make the list full of promising ideas.

I did start a scarf for a gift yesterday but I do not know who it is for yet.  I just decided a simple double moss stitch would do.  I did not want the scarf to curl on the edges and I wanted both sides to look the same. I am enjoying this scarf project so far because the pattern is quite simple.

I have been working on the Tweed cardigan and have just started the ribbing of the body.  I also have made some progress on the Linen scarf but the progress is quite slow.....I am on size four needles and it just seems to take forever to do 401 stitches to get across! Maybe just working on it once in a while will make finish faster......or maybe not.

Endless Possibilities

On Saturday, my daughter and I went to the PA Endless Mountain Fiber Festival.  It was a day filled with lots of beautiful yarns and fibers.  Here are some photos of the day:

The weather was absolutely perfect.  I even wore a wool scarf as evidence that I am a fellow knitter without being overly hot.  Many of the people there were wearing their handmade knitted garments.  This year's festival was definitely bigger than last year and hopefully it will just continue to grow with more vendors participating. One can only hope!

Cooler days......

Fall is here or nearly here. I have noticed that the leaves have started to change and are dropping from the trees.  I have a fair amount of acorns on the driveway. The nights are cooler and it is getting dark a little earlier every night.  Today it is very cool outside and overcast.  I have a wool sweater on and I am not hot. I would be totally agreeable to keeping the cool temperatures with maybe a frost.  I look forward to wearing scarves and mittens. I think in the next week I will be baking a Pumpkin Spice Cake.  That always reminds me of fall.

I have started another project this week.  I am making the Cerus Scarf with eight different left over sock yarns.  The linen stitch does a wonderful job showcasing the many colors.  I am using greens, browns, blues, grays and a bit of purple.

Here is an updated picture of my tweed cardigan.  I finished the body shaping decreasing and have just started the increasing.  This is I think my third or fourth top down construction of a sweater.  I do like that I can try on the sweater as I go along.  Another bonus is the minimal finishing that needs to be done.  I do not like to set in sleeves very much.

This weekend is the PA Endless Mountain Fiber Festival.  I am so looking forward to spending the day exploring all the different wools.  I always buy something and so far have not been disappointed. The weather looks like it will be cooperative.  It seems they keep getting more vendors so maybe I will see something new.

Gifts from Far Away

My husband just returned from a trip to Shanghai.  He brought back some fabulous yarn and some souvenirs. It appears that the wool is fingering weight and it is extremely soft.  I am thinking, of course, it will be a cardigan.

I have been working on my Tweed Cardigan, the pattern is Gooseberry  from Interweave Knits, Weekend 2009 issue.  So far the pattern has been easy to follow.  I really like how the alpaca yarn is showcased by the simplicity of the sweater design.

The alpaca yarn I bought at PA Endless Mountain Fiber Festival, the vendor's name is Times Remembered.  She has such beautiful natural alpaca hanks in sport weight and in worsted weight.  Next weekend will be my third year attending and I will be buying more alpaca if they are still there.