Continental Purls and G+ BB KAL

I knit Continental.
If you knit Continental then you know that tension with purl stitches tends to be looser than your knit stitches.  Recently, on G+, there was a discussion of different knitting styles and several versions of the purl stitch came up in connection to the Continental style of knitting.  Norwegian purl (my favorite - can't wait to practice this one!), allows the knitter to keep their yarn in the back of their work for both knit and purl stitches!  Another version of the purl stitch that is quick, but has the working yarn brought to the front.  This version causes the knit stitches on the other side to be twisted, so the return row should be knitted through the back loops to untwist those stitches.

Now on to the KAL!  I'm working on the G+ Bashful Butterflies KAL and my little shawl is coming along nicely!

Ready to Cast On!

I bought Madelinetosh Pashmina in the Rosewood colorway...



Then started knitting it up with  US7/4.5mm needles which is producing a very nice fabric!

Chart A Completed

I will keep you posted as I continue with this KAL, but I've been rather slow with this one since I have such a demanding 3 year old at home...

Google + and Knitters!

I am falling in love with Google all over again!  I started off with Gmail and won't use anything else, then learned about Chrome and have decided that it's more "user friendly" than what comes with my computers, now..... Google has outdone themselves with so many ways to really connect with people over the internet.  I started up with Google + and immediately saw my "Knitties" circle growing.  I've been a Ravelry member and LOVE it, but don't really like the newsgroup format for keeping in touch with everyone.  Google + has a nice format that is similar to Facebook, but integrates better with all my favorite Google services.  I do believe I may just stop using Facebook and stick with Google + since it caters to all my needs....even my Fiber ones!

Nups are EVIL..... but they don't have to be!

I started on my Annis and let me tell you... make sure you don't have a ton of distractions when you do the cast on!  363 stitches!  Wow, anyway once I was all cast on I started up the chart (this shawl is worked from the lacework edge up) and was pleasantly surprised how easy it was to follow and memorize.  Then I got to row 9 (the one where you start the nups) and had decided that I don't want to use beads on this yarn so I'll do the nups.  I was intimidated to work the nups as I had read so many frustrated posts from others who have done them.  So I took a deep breath and plunged in..so EASY I couldn't believe it!  Just (K1, YO) 3 times then a K1 all in the same stitch. Then I got to row 10! Purl 7 together!  Did I read that right?!?  Okay, how hard can it be?  OMG!  Needless to say, I threw out a few choice expletives and shoved the whole project in it's bag swearing off ever touching it again!  I couldn't do a single one!  Stomped off to bed to get some sleep and deal with it tomorrow.  Well, I had a dream where I was laughing at myself cause I gave up too soon and that it was really simple to make nups, I was just over-thinking everything.  Just use the tiny crochet hook that I use for beading!


Well, with trepidation I decided to give it a shot this morning and wow!  Big difference!  That tiny hook slid right into the loops of all seven stitches, grabbed the working yarn and pulled it through without any heartache!  So yes, nups are EVIL.....  but they don't have to be!


ETA:  Nope, they are EVIL!

Liz Abinante (Awesome Designer)

Liz Abinante, the designer of the wildly popular Traveling Woman shawl on Ravelry, has done it again!  She made a Traveling Woman Collection!  The Traveling Woman shawl was my first experience with lace and shawl knitting.  I had done it with Aslan Trends Ecolana worsted weight for warmth, I named it "Frostbite" and gave it to my Mother as a gift.  She uses that shawl daily!  Now I'm itching to make the Traveling Socks, Scarf, Stole, Cowl, and yes another Shawl!!

The Socks were the first pattern released so I cast on as fast as my chubby little fingers could!  Once I got past the heel I got confused with the pattern and put it down.  Then the Scarf/Stole pattern came out and of course I cast that on.  Learned Provisional cast on just so I could do it!  I used Berroco Vintage and it feels great!  I knit that up quickly!  Now I just need to block it.  Since I enjoyed the Stole so much I decided to cast on the Cowl as soon as the pattern was released, using that same Berroco Vintage (Black Cherry color).  Great knit and very easy to follow pattern, took almost no time to make it.  Probably would have only been a few hours if I sat still and knit it from start to finish, but alas... I have demanding children!

I highly recommend that anyone who likes the original free pattern of Traveling Woman, to spend the money for her collection... totally worth it!

Nelli's Garden Shawl

Last year I started knitting a coat for my daughter, Nelli, using James C. Brett Marble Chunky (Jeweltone).  That was before I realized that the yarn has very distinctive striping... there was just no way to match up the seams right with it.  So I frogged it, but promised that I would make her something else with that yarn that was picked out specifically for her!

Since I need to knit 11 Shawls this year, I figured I would make her a shawl with it.  So she and I sat down and looked through shawls on Ravelry until we found a shawl that she liked and looked really good with striped yarn!  It was the Garden Of Alla shawl!  I knit it up and did the ruffle with Jo-Ann Sensations Angel Hair yarn that I had sitting in my stash.  Turned out to be a very simple pattern and a pretty shawl.  She loves it and it counts as Shawl #1 for this year!!!  That's two birds with one stone!

11 Shawls in 2011

I love my LYS.  Really, even though the devious women there (as well as awesome and super nice) enable me in my knitting and yarn obsessions! Well, this time they convinced me to join the Ravelry group 11Shawls2011 and commit to knitting those 11 shawls.  We will have to see how this works out!

Yarn Snob?!?

For many years now, I have always shopped for my yarn at craft stores like JoAnn's or Michael's.  Now don't get me wrong, I still feel that they are excellent sources for many, many crafting needs and yes including the occasional yarn.  My biggest yarn revelations have been that there are so many really yummy and nice yarns to be purchased at a Local Yarn Store (LYS) and it doesn't have to be very pricey!  I lived under the assumption that the yarns you could purchase at the craft stores was all there was to buy... so wrong!  Then, when I finally did see that there were yarns beyond the big stores I thought they were way too expensive.  This is only because I didn't talk to anyone in the LYS and I didn't take the time to feel the difference, and boy is there a difference!