Finally! Summer Knitting!

It’s finally showing signs of spring around here!  The other day I couldn’t take it any more and went digging for bright yarn.  I may have gotten carried away!

Oh well, I’m a process knitter.  I’m enjoying knitting it even if I don’t wear it!  The pattern is Shattered Sun by Felicia Lo. The pattern is  so beautiful in colors that normal people pick!!!  The yarn is my drug of choice,  Handmaiden Sea Silk.  I purchased a bunch of Handmaiden on ebay years ago (before ravelry!!!) and it had tags on it but no color names.

The other project I started is just as bright, but at least it’s a solid color.

The yarn I’m using for this project is Claudia’s Handpaint Silk Lace.  I bought it last year at Yarnover because it was the Pantone color of the year.  And I love orange.  The pattern is a freebie called Vernal Equinox.  I ordered beads for it, but they may match too well!

I did discover something while I’ve been working on these projects.  I really like knitting with wool and wool blends.  Yesterday, in a fit of startitis, all of this was dug out and played with.  The one on the top left is cotton, but the rest are wool, silk, and other  “winter” yarns.

I may have a plan for most of them.  Now I’ debating winding yarn, or finishing a quilt top today.

In other news, it seems to have gotten more chaotic around here.  Superblonde is home from college for the summer.  She may be height challenged, but she’s loud!  And opinionated!  And she makes everyone else around here louder!  And more opinionated!  And this family has no lack of opinions.

It’s a good thing I have yarn around here, because by the end of the summer, I may be hanging on to my sanity by a string!!!

Blue Hydrangea In My Garden

First of all, thanks to all of you for your encouraging comments on my last post!!! Sometimes I wonder if I’m just being self-indulgent with blogging, but if I can encourage and inspire you, I’ll keep at it.  Besides, it’s accountability for me.

It’s finished!!!  I just went outside and photographed Hydrangea, and now it’s raining.  Talk about timing!

I’m in love.  (I’d better be after all those beads!)

How many beads, you ask?  Um, I don’t know.  I didn’t keep track.  What kind of a test knitter am I?

Details:

Hydrangea by Susan Pandorf.  You can purchase the pattern on her site.  She’s amazing!!!

Great Adirondack Soxie Yarn 2 skeins, 720 yards.  I used almost all of two skeins.

Colorway Hydrangea!

I used 6/0 beads instead of 8/0.  It is heavy, but it feels elegant and luxurious to me!

Size 5 needles

Blocked size 76 x 18.

I only did one additional repeat of rows 15-50 on the last chart.  I’m almost wishing I’d done one more on each side, but I would have had to travel 100 miles for more beads.  I have another skein of yarn, but that may be socks.

Oh, and what’s the big deal on kitchener stitch?  I’ve put it off forever because everyone makes it sound like a big mystery.  It’s no big deal.  I watched this video on youtube.  I sort of followed the instructions!  She told me to put the kids, husband, and pets outside.  I just ignored them instead.  It also told me to have a glass of wine beside me.  I did that.  It told me to practice on a swatch first.  Of course I didn’t do that!!!  I just practiced on a project that I had a gazillion hours into.  So if you don’t know how to kitchener stitch, don’t listen to the people that think its hard.  It’s not!!!

And now for the final shot!

Now, back to Ravelympics.  I’m still in medal contention.  More info soon.

Todays big girl projects:

1.  Finish laundry.  (Yes, I did get a lot of it done.)

2.  Work on homeschool stuff.

3.  Make dinner.  Why do these people have to eat every day???

The Secret Life of a Test Knitter

It sounds like there’s espionage or James Bond involved or something. Actually, it worked like this.

I read Susan’s blog

I loved her Garden Variety patterns

She asked for test knitters.

I volunteered.

She sent me the pattern for Hydrangea the middle of June. After a few false starts, mostly on my part, I was off. I’m using Great Adirondack Soxie yarn in the Hydrangea colorway. I didn’t even realize that was the name of the yarn when I ordered it.

I knit happily along. Most mistakes are very tiny and I could keep going, but a couple of times I emailed Susan for the best way to make a change. The biggest mistake I found was mine. I didn’t look at the pattern closely enough to realize that there were triple decreases. Once I figured that out, it was smooth sailing.

There are a ton of beads in this project, but I personally think it’s well worth the effort. This week, I’ve been going outside in the early evenings to knit. Here’s my setup.

I make a copy of the pattern and just cross the row off with a pen when I finish it. For me, that’s the easiest way to keep track of where I am, especially when I’m working off of multiple charts. I have my crochet hook and this cute little dish for beads. The one thing that’s missing from the photo is the Diet Coke that’s never far away. And here’s the view.

Don’t hate me! I live in Minnesota and it’s covered with snow for the majority of the year! I could also show you the thistle that I pulled out of one of the flower beds. It was larger than my smallest kid. Or I could play you an audio of Kid 4 and Kid 5 fighting in the pool. Or I could show you the landscaping in the back that desperately needs weeding right now. Or I could show you more photos of Hydrangea!

This is probably my favorite shot.

I’m well into the second half right now. I’m going away with Honey for a few days in August, and I’d like to wear it, so I need to keep at it.

I didn’t get a photo of the completed half that I love, so this will have to do.

The release date for Hydrangea is on Monday, July 28. For more info, go to Susan’s post. You’re going to want to keep an eye on her because she’s got some gorgeous designs in the works.

Oh, and I have to give credit to my assistant. What would I do without my staff?