WIPs Galore

Well, well, well. Apparently I have a problem with casting on for more projects before finishing any of them! I have a sweater, sock, and cowl on the needles right now and finally took some pictures today.

First up, the sweater:

Pattern: Blair by Thayer Preece from Twist Collective

Yarn: Madelinetosh DK in Lapis

The sweater will have a 2 inch button band and larger collar that folds over (so while it looks a little small, it should be perfect once the button band is on). 

Now, I was planning on following the pattern exactly.  However, I somehow skipped over the increases that were supposed to happen on just the front and ended up with the same number of stitches as one size smaller than I was knitting. But...it ended up working out just fine. The neckline is a deeper V than is written in the pattern, and I actually think I like it better...so it's all good. 

Next up...handspun cowl:

Pattern: Simple Seed Stitch Cowl by Pongue Ette

Yarn: My handspun!

The ribbing on the cowl will be more flat after it's not all scrunched up on the needles! It makes a good mindless knitting project.

And last, but not least....the sock:

Pattern: Clandestine by Cookie A. from Knit.Sock.Love

Yarn: Wollmeise 80/20 Twin

This is my first time knitting with Wollmesie, and I'm really enjoying it so far. It isn't as soft as other yarn I've knit with, but it feels very sturdy and will make great socks. I've also heard that it softens up quite a bit after washing. 

I think these socks are going to look awesome when they're done. Cookie's sock patterns are gorgeous, but are certainly going to take me longer to knit than the plain-ish socks I've done so far this year!

I also have a couple more skeins of handspun (are you sick of seeing handspun yarn yet?!)...

BFL/Silk dyed by Two if by Hand in colorway Secret Dawn 

Spun for a custom order for a lovely customer in Alaska!

Organic Merino dyed by Two if by Hand in colorway Antique Ram

Spun up for the etsy shop

In other news, we got quite a bit of snow last week. Okay, we only got about 4 inches, but that was quite a bit for around here! The local trails are at a higher elevation, and there were about 8 inches up there when I walked with Valerie and the dogs.

Gorgeous view of town from the top of Dimple Hill

Sailor waiting patiently for a liver treat. Yes. Liver. Homemade liver treats.

Sailor and Diamond running up the trail.

And then there were the blackberry bushes that I had to drag Sailor away from. We've been picking blackberry thorns out of his fur all week!

Well, I think that's it for now! 

Love,

Liz :)

A White Thanksgiving. Sort of.

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you had a wonderful day with family and ate lots of wonderful food!

We've had quite the week here in Corvallis. On Monday night it started snowing and by Tuesday morning we had a whopping 1/2 an inch of snow. Yup. You read that right, 1/2 an inch. Schools were cancelled, people called into work, and people didn't dare go outside. Okay, that's a bit of an exaggeration. Sort of. All the schools in the valley were closed and the wait at the tire place was about 7 hours to get snow tires. Sailor thought it was awesome that there was snow covering the back yard. As soon as he went out he started flying around the yard acting crazy.

Sailor attempting to fly away using his ears. 

Attaching the ball 

Sailor stole my glove and then proceeded to run around the yard whipping it about.

The snow actually stayed on the ground until late Wednesday, which is pretty unusual for around here. We took a hike on the trails yesterday with V and Diamond, and the dogs had a great time running through the snow chasing each other. 

I've been spinning a ton for the shop, and just added these beauties:

Merino Silk Singles 

 Blue Faced Leicester spun from roving dyed by Gales Art

Rambouillet, roving dyed by Two if By Hand 

Shetland Singles, roving dyed by Two if by Hand

And of course, there has been knitting. More secret Christmas knitting. :)

Love,

liz :)