Friday Finishes

     Last weekend, I took so time to knit something for the Cozy Stash-Busting Knits KAL. I used the chunky yarn I had bought when we visited North Bay earlier this month. I was able to make a hat and a cowl with the 3 skeins.

     I made a Vinifera hat and then altered the pattern to make a matching cowl. Here they are after blocking. It felt really weird to be modeling winter stuff in a tank top but it was too hot to model with a winter coat on. I will be gifting the set to be best friend for her birthday in September as they match her coat more than mine.

Here they are before blocking.

     And here they are after blocking worked it's magic. I didn't put these in the dryer so I don't know how the yarn will react to that kind of heat. The pattern was great. It was a fun, enjoyable knit. I put the mods for the cowl on my ravelry page.

Here is just the hat... obviously. And the only good picture we took outside. It's just too damn hot.

     And I finally ironed my finished heart blocks for Orlando. I'm hoping to get to the post office next week. 

Did you have any finishes this week? Linking up at Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish It Up Friday!

WIP Wednesday and Crafting with my kids

     I'm still working away at my Filament scarf. I've knit over 20 inches since last week and I'm about 15 inches away from finishing. So if I knit 5 inches each day for the next three days, I could be done by Friday! I don't know if that will happen but I am now confident that I will get it done by Sunday (reminder that the scarf is my Camp Loopy project for July and needs to be finished by the end of the month).

Hope it looks longer than it did last week.

Little easier to see the pattern close-up.

     This week, the kids and I have had a Christmas in July craft week. On Monday I crocheted this bell garland for our tree. We've had a little tree (between 3 and 4 feet tall) for several years. We finally bought a big tree on clearance this January and we'll need some decorations to go on it. 

     Yesterday was also no TV Tuesday so the kids spent time painting some wooden decorations in the morning. Some of these will go on our tree, others will be gifted. I found the ornaments at Target last December, but you might be able to find them elsewhere. 

     Almost finished ornaments. My daughter's 3 are at the top and are done. She did all the stitching. The two in the second row are by my 10 year old son. He did all the stitching on them as well. Floyd did the bottom 7. He used glitter paint and they look great in real life. I'll add a little embroidery to his soon. I also have some bells leftover that might get added to a few.

     And winding yarn for Christmas projects is a Christmas craft, right? My daughter picked the yarn for her Christmas cardigan and then helped wind them. Her cardigan will be my Camp Loopy project for August.

We also caked some yarn for socks to be knit for Christmas presents. Floyd helped, too.

Do you see a problem with this yarn? I thought there should only be 2 ends?

     This hank had 24! Um, this was a 215 yard hank. I had bought a pair to make socks for my sister but now I'm thinking that's not going to happen. Personally, I hate having a ton of woven ends in my socks. Maybe I'll make her shorter socks or I was thinking mittens. I'll have to ask her opinion.

     Yarn ready to be made into Christmas presents. Thanks Calliope and Floyd for all your help winding.

Friday Finishes - Fogliame Cardigan

      Today I get to share pictures of my finished Fogliame cardigan. I love it and the yarn didn't pill during blocking, which helps me love it even more. I've worn it a few times since I finished it but not much since it has been really hot here. Enjoy the pictures.

     Front view. I didn't make any changes to the pattern, and don't really have any complaints, other than I wish it covered my bust a bit. 

      Back view. This was my biggest concern while knitting. I was afraid it wouldn't be long enough in the back and I was relieved when I tried it on that it landed exactly where I wanted it too.

Wings stretched out.

     Forcing it to cross over. I have a couple shawl pins but I can't use them with a 3 year old around. - too sharp. I think I'll look into one that can close like a safety pin. Any recommendations?

Front wingspan view.

Someone wanted to get into all the picture taking fun.

Detailed shot. Love it.

WIP Wednesday

     I've been able to keep my focus this past week and knit about 4 inches of my Filament scarf everyday. Hopefully you can tell the difference from last week.

      It is now over 30 inches long and feels soft when I wrap it around my neck. I think the scarf will definitely be a gift, just need to decide who will get it.

And I finished the first neon sock. Keeping these.

      And a keeping it real picture. This is what it looked like behind my chair once I finished writing blog posts yesterday (one for this blog and one for our family blog). That's two different decks of cards mixed together, thanks to Floyd. There were several other games out and mixed together on the other side of the couch. I thought his siblings were suppose to help entertain him this summer?

Finished Knit - Any Way You Want It shawl

     When we were away visiting family a couple weeks ago, I was able to finish my Any Way You Want It shawl. When I started, I thought the yarn was mainly purple with hints of yellow. There ended up being more yellow than I would have liked but I continued on. I did several extra rows at the end as I didn't want any yarn leftover. I might have knit an extra 10 or more rows. Only added another inch or two to the shawl width, which was fine with me.  Yarn is Stitch Please, Sapphire Label in the Rule the Night Colorway. Bought at Stix and Stones.

     Here are the few pictures we took after I blocked it once we returned home. It's a little hot to wear it now but I'm looking forward to wearing it in a few months.

I didn't measure but it ended up being very long. 

But I like that it's long and can wrap around my neck several times.

The lace is a little lost but still a nice detail.

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WIP Wednesday - Vacation Knitting

     After spending the last week visiting family back in Canada, we are back home and trying to get back into our routine. Part of that routine is blogging my WIP's on Wednesday.

     First up though are my vacation finishes. I finished my Any Way You Want It shawl and my Fogliame cardigan. Today I am blocking and hope to have some finished pictures ready to post on Friday. I also read one book which was a great vacation read.

     And I had to get some yarn from the local yarn store. I already have plenty of yarn from it since my mother often gets me a couple skeins for Christmas. This time I picked up a pack of 3 chunky weight skeins. My plan was to buy yarn to make something from Jen's latest book, Cozy Stash-Busting Knits. There is currently a KAL happening for the book. I think these will become a Vinifera hat. Although the Remy cowl is really tempting me as well. I have about 210 yards in total so whatever project I pick it should knit up quickly.

      I felt like doing a little sock knitting on the way home on Monday. I cast on once I was done drinking my tea and just kept knitting for most of the 9 hour trip. I was able to finish the leg and was 4 rows away from finishing the heel when we pulled into the driveway. I was pretty impressed with myself. Yarn is Plymouth Yarns, Neon Now from Webs (which I can't seem to find on their website. I think I bought it on clearance). 64 stitches on 2.75mm needles.

     My Filament scarf obviously got ignored on my trip. I think I worked on it once. I do like it but I really wanted to get the shawl and Fogliame finished. I did some quick math once I got home and I need to knit 4 to 5 inches a day to have the scarf finished on time.

     So every day I put in a removeable stitch marker and just knit away. I got over 2 inches done yesterday which isn't bad considering we were still unpacking, had to buy groceries and then had an afternoon full of family games. Lots of fun but it cuts into the knitting time. The 2 inches I knit above were done while watching a Gilmore Girls episode with my daughter. We figure I need to watch 2 episodes a day to keep on track. The sacrifices I make for knitting. 

What have you been knitting this summer?

I want to get the scarf done because I'm itching to start a Hogmanay shawl and a Salita cardigan.

Knitting WIP's

     First day of July means 2 things. First, Happy Canada Day to all my fellow Canucks. Wish I was there to celebrate with family today, but I'll have a beer tonight in celebration. And second, it's the beginning of the second month of Camp Loopy. My plan had been to make a Tempest cardigan for my daughter and I knit 8 rows of it this morning before I decided I just didn't have the energy/time to knit and seam a whole cardigan this month. Went through ravelry and knitting books and decided to cast on Filament instead. Another Jen Lucas pattern of course.

     Pattern is simple to memorize and seems to knit up quickly. I'm a little afraid that I will get bored with it but I have enough other projects to challenge me that this will be a nice break.

     I need to use at least 600 yards and together these 2 skeins are over 800. Going to knit until I'm out of yarn or until it is ridiculously long. Think this might end up a gift for a niece. Or I might keep it. We'll see how I feel about it at the end of the month.

      And the reason I switched to something a little more simple for Camp Loopy, is that I am on the homestretch of my Fogliame cardigan. Less than 20 rows left to knit in the body and then the sleeves. I'd love to get this off the needles and wear it.

     And my Any Way You Want It shawl is coming along, too. Finished the lace and have started the short row body. I put removable stitch markers in to mark where I turn so I can just knit and knit and knit until I run into the marker. This yarn has a lot more yellow than I thought so the lace doesn't show as much as I wanted it to. Maybe it will be different after blocking. 

      And yesterday was the last day of swimming lessons which means I can now spend my mornings watching Wimbledon and knitting. 

     I have a few other WIP's I'd like to finish this month since there are numerous new things I would like to start knitting. Like the R & R Hoodie. I think I need one. And my best friend needs one. And my daughter needs one.  Any one else?