Gator Update...

I now have 2 "gators" done and started a third. Soon I'll be making a trip back to Yorkshire Yarns for more yarn. What a great cause, I'm happy to be a part of it. Please see the entry right after this one for more information on making a gator yourelf :)

Knitting for our soldiers...

Thanks to a weekly email update from Yorkshire Yarns I started making neck "gators" for our soldiers in the middle east. What a great reason to knit... if only we could all do more for the wonderful men and women who sacrifice everything to protect and keep our country safe. These neck warmers will help keep them warm this winter and I plan to make as many as I can. You can find all the information and details at http://www.yorkshireyarns.com/ or at http://web.mac.com/kerlina/TheVinyards/Blog.html. Come on, join the fun, I dare you to knit just one.

Mountain Colors

Saturday I ventured out to Allyn for their Mountain Colors trunk show. It was fun, I even won a door prize, but I wasn't blown away by the yarn. It all seemed nice, and pretty colors, but I wasn't "wow'd". Despite that I still had to buy something so I went with a sock yarn, their Barefoot yarn in some really pretty deep fall colors. The yarn is wool, mohair and nylon and felt pretty nice. Late last night I got out the needles and started a sock and now... well... I was wrong and I can officially say I am "wow'd" by this yarn. The colors are beautiful when knit up and the yarn is so soft, I just love it. I found a fun sock pattern on Ravelry called Nutkin Sock and I'm really digging the pattern on this one. Although, I'm not found of the short row heel that the pattern calls for. This is my first experience with it and it's not looking good. I may have to rip out and do a different heel, I've made two attempts so far and I'm just not getting it right. The pattern can be found on Ravelry or at http://www.knitzi.com/.

Sock Class update...

I'm so excited... my very first sock class went really well and I made some great new friends. It's been fun chatting with them and looking at all their great projects on Ravelry. I can't wait to see how far they have all gotten on their socks tomorrow at the second part of our class. I actually started a new pair of socks myself. They are from my Little Box of Socks booklet, I just LOVE that box. It has 20 wonderful patterns, I think I'm on my 4th or 5th one now. One day I'll get through every single pattern. It may take me 10 years but I'll do it (lol). I'm trying to teach myself to do 2 socks at a time, maybe it will go a little quicker if I can wrap my brain around it.

I finished a couple of projects this week, the red wrap and my sugar cane scarf. Don't have pictures yet but watch for those soon. I also started another sweater for my daughter and am contemplating what to start next for myself. Must go dust off my pattern binder and see what I can dig up next. However, a friend just told me that Allyn Knit Shop is having a trunk show by Mountain Colors this weekend so I might just check that out, maybe I'll find my next project. Have a great weekend!!

Jumping in...

My socks are done and my notes are ready... watch out knitting world here I come. With butterflies in my stomach I'll be getting my feet wet in the teaching community tomorrow with my first knitting class. The class is beginning socks (from 1-3) and I'm really excited about it. I'll be there ready to go, nerves and all. Wish me luck...

Taking on fair isle...

The other day I finally decided to open my mind to knitting with more than one color. I always dreaded working with more than one strand of yarn so I'm taking baby steps and working with just two now. I jumped into fair isle knitting after watching my friend (and designer) Lisa (http://www.lisaellisdesigns.com/) knit one thing after another with multiple colors, she made it look so easy. I honestly didn't think my left and right hands could handle working together at the same time. Ok... I'll admit, I really didn't think my mind and my short attention span could handle it. But, after watching a late night video on fair isle I made it work for me and I have to say, it looks pretty darn good so far and I'm really enjoying myself. Knock on wood... I'm stressing the words "so far", we will see if I feel the same way once the headband is finished. I wanted to make this headband with my left over yarn to match the leg warmers. It will make a great gift.

Pattern: Dalegarn booklet Nr 148

Yarn: Dalegarn Falk (green) and Hauck (black)

Note: The patterns tend to run a little small so, following Lisa's projects and advice, I c/o extra stitches and went up in needle size. So far... so good.

The 80's are back...

Do you remember the 80's and leg warmers? I remember cold winter days when I had to wear a cheerleading uniform on game days and I wore those lovely full length leg warmers to keep my legs, well, warm of course. Can you believe they are back? I first started making a pair in neon green for my niece and my daughter piped up that she also wanted a pair. I hesitated because I wasn't sure if she would wear them, or my niece for that matter. But, I heard that kids are getting into them this year so I went ahead with the project. These are much cuter than the one's I used to wear.

They are from a pattern booklet by Dalegarn, the booklet is #148 and it has some fun projects in it. I don't have a link for you because it is not on Ravelry. I used Dalegarn Falk yarn (from the same shop), it only took about 1.25-1.50 yards on a size 5 needle. The pattern runs small so I increased the size of the needle and c/o 60 as per instructions from Lisa (http://www.lisaellisdesigns.com/) who had already knitted a pair.

My daughter was anxious for me to finish and put them on the instant they were complete. She has been wearing them ever since so that makes me happy. Now we will see if my niece likes her pair. I'm now onto the matching headband which I will post later. That one might take me longer to finish since it calls for using two different colors and I haven't done that in a very long time. I'll be excited when it is finished.

Butterfly Hat

Came home from work last night and decided I needed to make a hat to go with the black fingerless gloves I made for Katelyn. It will be a belated birthday present (VERY belated). This was another free pattern off Ravelry and I LOVE it. It was quick, fun and very easy to make. The finished project is just wonderful. I wish I could wear hats so I could make one for myself. But, if you ever saw me in a hat you would get a good laugh. I just don't have the face or the hair for it. I scare myself every time I try one on (lol) and that's no joke. My daughter on the other hand wears them beautifully, thank goodness.

This one is called Butterfly Hat and can be found at http://aliceindilbertland.blogspot.com/2007/11/butterfly-hat.html. I made mine with Cascade 220 Superwash, since it is for a teenager I figured it needed to be washable. Her favorite color is black so next time I think I will make one in a fun, bright, wool, maybe some Malabrigo. This hat can easily be made in a day if you need a quick gift.