Family Jewels

Clue 2 for Family Jewels, The Knitters Brewing Company Mystery Sock.

Three Irish Girls

Saturday the yarn shop in Stillwater had a class with the "Irish Girl" and a trunk show. Since I had classes I was unable to go, but my friend Christine called and found out the trunk show was still at the shop, so we had a fun day trip. All these beautiful yarns!

And this is all I bought! I had 2 other colors I liked, but one they didn't have in the sock weight and the other one didn't match. This color is Bellini and is the Glenhaven Cashmerino.

After shopping, we had a nice lunch at Brine's. It has been in Stillwater for years but it had been a long time since I'd been there. I also brought my friend in to see my yarn closet when we got home and she found the yarn she had been looking at but hadn't bought in the corner of my closet. It was left over from a sweater I had made for my grandson which I wanted to give her, but she insisted on giving me a gift certificate at Three Irish Girls. I want so badly to spend it, but am waiting for a few weeks.

Happy Birthday Culver's Knit Wits

Last week the Culver's of Coon Rapids Knit Wits celebrated their 8th birthday. It was started as a group to make new friends, knit for charity and learn to knit. Every Tuesday 40-50 people gather at Culver's and knitting needles, crochet hooks and voices work overtime. To date we have donated 15, 186 items to local charities! (Sorry for the turned picture. Don't know why Blogger does that nor do I know how to correct it.)

Becky and I are in the front and are the organizers. Betty, in the back, was at the first meeting, along with one other lady. This was our humble start and look what has developed! It's amazing!

Saturday Sky 01-22-11

The snow pile is higher and the temperature has been lower. The weekend temp has varied between 15 below to 8 above with worse wind chills. Oh, how we love MN!

Knitters Brewing Company Mystery Sock

I love mystery socks and shawls. Wish I had time to do more of them, but I did decide to do this one. This is Clue 1-now I have to wait until Friday to get Clue 2. Pattern is called Family Jewels and if you ordered the yarn from www.knittersbrewingcompany.com you got the yarn, clue 1, a fancy stitch marker and 2 beads to fit in some where. I'll try to remember to put the stitch marker in the picture for Clue 2. I was anxiously waiting for January 14 for the first clue to be released when the day before I saw on Ravelry that it had come with the yarn I ordered a couple months ago, so had it all along. Oh well, I would have had longer to wait for Clue 2.

December Wool Girl Sock Club

This kit is So-so. Goodies are much less than we used to get. I like the patterns and the yarn is pretty with tints of pink.

Wham Ban Thank You Lamb Neckwarmer

Excuse the goofy picture of me-I was taking the picture myself, holding the camera out in front of me. This neckwarmer is just what it says! I love the way it can come up and cover the nose and mouth when it is really cold. Easy, easy to make and fast-I made it in one evening.

Pattern: Wham Bam Thank You Lamb Neckwarmer by Susan Chang

Yarn: Malabrigo Rasta
Needles: US # 13

Saturday Sky 01-08-11

Another clear blue sky, but cold. Don't think it got above 10 degrees, but it wasn't as windy as Friday.

les Abeilles (Little Bees)

Shawlettes made from sock yarn are fun, fast knits. I received this yarn and pattern as a Christmas gift exchange. Pattern is called les Abeilles from www.knitspot.com and yarn is Hazel Knits artisan sock 90% superwash merino and 10% nylon. It is very soft and has a nice sheen. Needles I used were US #5.

Love this edging!

And the center panel!

I added one repeat of lace pattern to make 5 repeats instead of 4-something about odd numbers being more symetrical or something. Plus, I'd rather have more patterning than garter stitch. The necklace is a Christmas gift from my husband.

Christmas Exchange

Christine (Mapleweave of Too Much Yarn) and I were discussing Sock Clubs and somehow that led to the idea of a Christmas Sock Club exchange, but with shawls of sock yarn. The week of Christmas we met at Caribou and exchanged our packages.

Christine opening hers.

This is mine. Love the box-perfect for carrying a shawl project. Also the cookies have become my favorite of the season. The results of the yarn and pattern will be posted in the next post.

Saturday Sky 01-01-11

Don't be fooled by the sun and blue sky. The temperature never got above 9 degrees and was windy and cold. You can see I took the picture through the window as I didn't go out all day.

7 Small Shawls

I have fallen in love with the shawlettes by Romi (Rosemary Hill of www.DesignsbyRomi.com). She makes beautiful jewelry, especially shawl pins, also.The shawls are small and made of sock yarn, so knit up fast, are fun, beautiful designs, warm, and practical, and beautiful. She set herself a goal to design 7 shawls before the end of the year and she made it. Four are published in the e-book, 7 Small Shawls already and the last 3 are going out to the test knitters any time now. I am thrilled to be a test knitter and watch my e-mail several times a day to see if the first one is out yet.

Maia. I loved every stitch of this shawl and hated to see it end.

Needles US #5

Yarn: Three Irish Girls Westerly Sea Sock. (Another favorite of mine.)

Elektra. This was a fun knit, too. I placed the beads with a crochet hook.

Needles: US # 6

Yarn: Zen Garden Serenity Silk. Wonderful, soft yarn. I did run out with just over the bind off row left, so rather than rip back and shorten the shawl, I ordered another skein of the yarn. In the book, 7 Small Shawls are patterns for little extras, so maybe I can find something in there to use the yarn-or add it to my stash.

Celaeno. I did one less repeat of the plain knitting, afraid I'd run out of yarn as my yardage was less than the pattern recommended.

Needles US #6.

Yarn: Silk Road North Woods Godiva. I found this yarn at Shepherd's Harvest in May from someone in St. Paul-local. It was wonderful to work with, too-70% alpaca, 20% silk, and 10% cashmere, much too nice for socks.
Beads were from Joann's-a big mistake. I found them to have inconsistent holes, so had to use fine wire to put most of them on which was doable, but a pain. (Romi has excellent tutorials on her blog for putting in beads.)