Finished a Couple Things

(Image by Alexas_Fotos from Pixabay)

I finished my Knit Camp cardigan, aka Sweater #4, and I love everything about it!

This was knit in sportweight washable wool from Swan's Island in the color Cayenne, which is a bit darker and redder than the picture shows. The pattern is exclusively for Knit Camp participants, and was designed by Marie Greene.

The real color is closer to this:

(Before blocking and buttons. I got the buttons at Maker's Mercantile; they are Ornate Corozo Buttons, 15mm, burgundy.)

I finished my Scrap Yarn Pi Shawl made out of fingering scraps. It's a nice weight that will be good to wear in the summer evenings and mornings. You can find out how to knit it in Elizabeth Zimmerman's books Knitters Almanac and Knitting Workshop. Next time though, I might try to knit a Half Pi Shawl, because  a whole pi shawl is realllly boring to knit ... hmmm, but it is all knitting and no purling. What to do, what to do ...

And there you have it.

I'm just finishing the last 33% of my Crest o' the Wave stole, and then I will have a sample to knit for somebody, but I will get busy on Sweater #5 as soon as I can!

Knit Camp

I love Knit Camp. Marie Greene has made a great place online to meet other knitters, chat, share, and have fun. I'm enjoying myself quite a bit there. Best part? No mosquitoes!

I bought a bag, a nice roomy bag that holds a sweaters worth of yarn, or a family and a half of socks or a dozen mittens.

If you would like to join Knit Camp, just just ask me and I'll get you a deal on it. Registration for the fall and winter closes in 8 days, and the next time registration opens for new campers is sometime in the spring, so get a wiggle on if you want a chance to get in. You can email me at beth@yarndemon.com, or give me a shout on Facebook.

In other news, I'm doing some palate cleansing after working on sweaters. I knit some hats:

That is the Muckle Toque, one of Mary Jane Mucklestone's designs. I used some scraps and it came out really nice. It's very warm!

This simple little hat was quick to knit and feels wonderful. I used two yarns held together to make it, a fine mohair and silk with a heavy fingering to sport weight handspun.

I didn't really use a pattern. I used size 5 needles, cast on 100 stitches, knit until it was seven inches, and decreased quickly for the top. Like k2, k2tog. then k1, k2tog, then k2tog until only a handful of stitches were left. I'm thinking about getting a bunch of those faux fur pompoms for the tops of my hats.

Last night I started a plain pair of socks with this yarn:

It's Universal Yarn Bamboo Pop Sock, 55% Bamboo/37% Cotton/8% PBT, color 408 Cherry Pie, 100 g = 492 yards. I have no idea what PBT is, but don't smoke it. I got it at Webs on sale this summer. It feels really good, silky ... but kind of flimsy. Although, I have only gotten the cuff done so far. I'll let you know how it turns out. It knits up in stripes!! It has been a long time since I used a self-striping yarn, and it's fun. Self Striping Silky yarn, say that three times fast  while clicking your heels together, and you will be transported to Knit Camp where yarn is everywhere, people are friendly, the S'mores cocktails are abundant, and there are no mosquitoes!  See you around the campfire!

 

Too Many UFOs

Unfinished Objects, that is.

Since my stroke, I have had between one and three UFOs (also known as WIPs -- Works In Progress) at a time, and that was fine. Just fine. Before the stroke, 43 WIPs were common, and I hardly ever finished any of them; but since my stroke, I have had more time, and I was able to finish all my WIPs, unless I fell out of love with them and unraveled them.

But lately, I have gotten back into my bad habit ways. I have eight UFOs, yikes!

I have a brown sweater:

And a blue sweater:

And a green sweater:

And a shawl:

Two rows a day til next February! Woohoo! This is the only project that I have that I can't work on, because it is an Estonian Lace KAL hosted by Pattern Duchess, and I am all caught up on clues.

And I have a scarf project and a sock project that I have already put away and didn't get a picture of them.

Actually, I also have a spinning project that I put aside because I needed to find more bobbins, and I never got back to it. It's been about two years. I really should ply some stuff off the bobbins I have and finish it.

Really, all the UFO's will just have to wait, because I just got a super secret assignment to knit which I love, but can't tell you about right now (sorry). I'll share pictures when I can. But I really, really love it!

Also, I signed up for Knit Camp hosted by Marie Green, best decision I have ever made. So much fun! So many knitters! It's great! Registration is closed right now, but it will reopen in October -- I will remind you. It costs $9.95 a month, but the cost is more than worth it. Just the monthly pattern alone is worth $9.95. And Marie's patterns are awesome. I got four patterns right away just for joining Knit Camp!

I already started one of them:

This is the Ellery hat pattern from Marie. Marie assured me that single skein projects don't count toward the pile of UFOs or WIPs, which I was grateful for; according to that rule, I only have 5 UFOs! Woohoo! I am using Swans Island Sterling Collection Fingering in the color Citrine. I love it.

My days will consist of two rows (five days a week) of the shawl, about an hour of the Ellery hat, and the rest of my knitting time on the super secret knitting. I'll do the shawl in the morning and the Knit Camp knitting in the evening, because s'mores. Lovely drinkable s'mores around the virtual campfire:

Recipe Diaries S'Mores Cocktail -- yummmm!!

Have fun knitting!