A Trip To Scotland

As I’ve been watching Outlander a lot lately, my love for Scotland only keeps growing. So I have decided that for my 30th birthday in 2020 I will take a trip to Scotland. Being the knitter I am, the first thing I did, of course, was to plan out the handknits I will be making for this trip. Once I checked to see what a typical summer in Scotland was like of course, as I will be going late June. I ended up with 7 things to make:

Tartan Mitts – in Valley Yarns Huntington, blue/white
Dragon Hide Mitts – in an orange variegated
Snapdragon Tam – in Madelinetosh Pashmina Worsted, Briar
Thicket – in Valley Yarns DK, Forest
Color Affection – in medium blue, light blue and white
Poza – in Malabrigo Sock, Velvet Grapes
Twisted Cable Sweater – in Forbidden Fiber Co, Mist from the Neutrals Collection

I was pleased to discover, with the help of a friend, that I had almost all the patterns needed as well as the yarns. I only needed to buy the yarn for one had and the sweater yarn. And surprising no one is the presence of Ysolda Teague in this list. She is a Scottish knitting designer who has been one of my favorites for a very long time

There are so many places I want to visit when I go to Scotland that it’s a bit hard sometimes to settle on a list. Due to Outlander there are some that I definitely need to go to. Such as the Callanish Stones which form a circle similar to Stonehenge and were used as a model for the stones of Craigh na Dun in Outlander. I also very much wish to visit Midhope Castle which was used as the filming location for Lallybroch. The Isle of Skye is very high on my list of places to go as well, especially the fairy pools that can be found there.

I have so much to do to get ready but I’m excited for this new adventure that is so out of my comfort zone I’m also a little terrified. And I know the trip will be worth every moment of stress and worry I have now.

FO: Autumn Hitchhiker

I haven’t had much energy to work on or finish just about anything this summer. I did manage to finish my very first Hitchhiker shawl that I was doing for a KAL earlier this month. I finished it in just under a month, the fastest I’ve ever made a shawl before.

Pattern: Hitchhiker 
Project Page
Yarn: Cauldron’s Path Yarns Shmerino in Changes in the Air (600 yards)
Needles: US 7/4.5mm
Mods: To be able to finish on one skein of yarn, I modified the last tooth so that it was a 6 row repeat instead of an 8 row repeat.

For anyone wanting an easy project or a quick shawl to make, I would definitely recommend this shawl. The pattern repeat is really easy to remember, making it a great on the go project. I’ll probably keep one of these shawls on the needles pretty often. There’s a set of 4 shawls by this designer and Hitchhiker was my second of the four.

Current WIPs: 9

It’s been a long time since I’ve used this blog but as I have made two new blogs on WordPress, decided to bring this one back to life as well. One blog is for my Etsy shop where I will talk about some knitting but I won’t be talking about everything on there. Since it has been so long since I’ve used this blog, I’ll post a list of WIPs I’m currently working on. This will not be all of my WIPs.

Shawls
Hitchhiker | Project Page
Seraphim | Project Page

Currently, I am working on two of the four shawls on my needles. Seraphim is a shawl I’ve made before but because of how much I wore it and it is made from lace weight yarn, it has since formed holes in it. I will be sending the original off to a friend to try and repair it since I’m too emotional about it to try. The second one I am making from fingering weight and it a much larger shawl. Hitchhiker is a KAL that Nerd Girl Yarns is hosting in their Ravelry group here. At first, I wasn’t going to do it but Hitchhiker is a shawl I’ve been meaning to knit for a very long time. Since it is such a relaxing and easy knit, I gave in and cast on.

Socks
Plan A | Project Page
Foxes Face Socks | Project Page
Secret Socks | Project Page

I love knitting socks. Socks are an easy project to have on the go. I used to have twice as many sock projects but I recently went through and frogged the ones I hadn’t worked on in a really long time. When I did this, the only socks left on my needles were the Secret Socks. I knit these socks to test a pattern for a really good friend of mine. When she releases the pattern, I will reveal them and I can’t wait!

Recently I’ve been feeling a lot of moon energy and one of the groups I participate in, HPKCHC, does class prompts and one of them for last month was to knit something inspired by the moon. I didn’t finish them but I’m really excited to have them when done. Foxes are my favorite animal so I pulled that energy into the socks as well.

This time of year is one of my favorite times of year because it is Tour de Sock! Tour de Sock is a knitting competition with six rounds of sock patterns to knit in the given time. This year I’m only playing along as a cheerleader so I won’t be getting points and can modify the socks if I want but it’s all great fun. All information for TdS is listed in their Ravelry group which I have linked above.

Blankets
Vivid | Project Page
CPY Scrap Yarn Blanket | Project Page
Song of Stars Blanket | Project Page

It is summer so I must be crazy to be working on 2-3 blankets but I am. I haven’t started the third (Vivid) yet because I’m using it as my reward for finishing a blanket for a friend. Song of Stars is a blanket I’m designing while I’m making it for my best friend. It is a blanket I am weaving fertility magick into for her to help her hopefully have the baby she’s been wanting.

CPY Scrap Yarn Blanket is a scrap blanket I am making entirely of scraps leftover from Cauldron’s Path Yarns. The dyer behind the yarn is one of my very good friends and I absolutely love all of her yarns. It will be a project I am going to be working on for a very long time. Both she and another one of my friends have already donated some scraps for it as well.

Sweaters
House Sweater | Project Page

I don’t knit sweaters much but I do love them so I should make more. My only sweater right now is a Harry Potter house sweater that is mostly grey with some blue and silver for Ravenclaw. The second movie for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them comes out this November so it would be really nice to finish the sweater in time to wear it to the movie this winter.

It’s been awhile

Wow, it seems like it’s been forever since I last posted about anything. I got a new job in the middle of February and it’s kept me pretty busy. I started out as temp at my job and have recently been hired on permanently. It’s super exciting. I also bought myself a car for some much needed freedom in May. It’s now late June and my birthday is right around the corner. I’ve still been knitting of course, just a lot less then I would like to be.

I recently finished a pair of Ravens in the Snow for my best friend Rachel as a late Christmas present. She absolutely loved them. Her reaction was worth keeping them a secret for so long.

I also finished a pair of socks for me recently too! They are Basket Case Socks by Wendy Johnson in the Knit Picks Stroll colorway Everglade Heather. I absolutely love them! They took some time to make because I don’t think there was a single row without one stitch or another being crossed somewhere.

Every summer I take part in a knitting competition called Tour de Sock. There are 6 sock patterns that come out and a certain amount of time to knit them in to get points. I don’t care about the points as I do how much fun it is. There are always some really pretty patterns. So far we have Wye, Kam Chu and Roll the Bones just was released last night. I have only finished Wye so far.

Kam Chu is being worked on in a very pretty pinkish purple yarn. Roll the Bones will be a caramel brown and dark forest green. Pictures of them will come soon. In addition to socks, I’ve been working on finishing a few WIPs and I also started a new shawl. I’ve had this yarn in stash for awhile, wanting to find the perfect thing to use it for. It is a blue and brown variegated yarn, perfect for anything Ravenclaw. I finally settled on making an Elise Shawl with it. I keep the shawl with me in my purse so I can work on during my breaks at work and not have something that is overly complicated for work knitting.

Until next time, keep knitting!

Gearing up for Ravellenics 2014!

As I’m sure everyone is aware of, the Olympics start very soon. For years knitters that means that the Ravellenics will also be starting very soon. I am only planning on entering three, maybe four events this year: Sock Hockey, Toy Tobogganing, WIP Dancing and maybe Mitten Moguls. My main goals are three WIPs I want to finish and designing Espeon for Toy Tobogganing. I have gathered the yarn needed and set it in my yarn basket that lives near my computer. I have also started the project pages so all I need to do is pick up my needles and go.

The socks on my needles are Basket Case Socks and a pair of socks I’m designing myself. Basket Case is taking so long because I’m crossing stitches every row and eventually get tired of it so put them down for awhile. If I get to start any new socks, it’ll probably be easy patterns that are known for looking okay with variegated yarns. I have so much variegated yarn and really want to work on using it up.

The last WIP is a pair of stranded mitts that were supposed to be a present two months ago. The friend I’m making them for has no idea and I know she’ll absolutely love them. The pair of mitts I would be making for Mitten Moguls is more pairs of the Oncoming Storm mitts I made a few days ago.

FO Friday: Sylveon

I didn’t think I was going to have a FO to show off this week but then last night I got inspired to work on one of my hibernating projects. There are far less pokemon patterns on Raverly then I would expect there to be, especially of popular pokemon. I’m not asking for someone to sit down and design each and every pokemon – there are over 700 now! I’m mostly thinking of the popular ones, like the Eevevolutions and all the starter pokemon. There isn’t even a design for Bulbasaur. Okay, that’s wrong. There are some but none of them are as good as one plushie designer I’ve found.

That’s why I’ve started making my own designs. I have made Miltank on commission but the ones I truly want to make are all the Eevevolutions. Right now there are two listed that meet my standards. Maybe I’m a pokemon snob but I have high standards for plushies. The only ones out are Umbreon and Eevee. So I’ve started working on designing the rest, starting with the most current, Sylveon. I’m going to make the ones I have yarn for first and then buy yarn for the ones I can’t.

The only thing Sylveon needs now is the ribbons. My brother is going to help me figure out the best way to make them. We’ve pretty much agreed that making them out of yarn would make the head too heavy.  So as far as yarn goes, Sylveon is done. Once I get the ribbons made I’ll write up the pages of pattern I have written down and publish it on Rav.

WIP Wednesday: Foxxy Lady

Remember how last week I was talking a fox shawl? Well, I gave in and started it. I want to try and finish it in time to wear it to a friend’s wedding in April. I don’t have many sprint colored shawls and I certainly don’t have any wraps. Currently, all my shawls are triangle shawls except for Celestarium which isn’t a spring colored shawl. I could try and finish Celestarium but I also really want the fox shawl.

Can you see the fox faces? The colorway I’m using is called Foxtrot and I don’t think it could be any more perfect. I play around with the idea of a light blue but I think I like the purple more.

FO Friday: Fox Amigurumi

Ask anyone who knows me well: I love foxes. Sometime in December I noticed that I hadn’t knit or crocheted a single fox thing. There aren’t as many fox patterns as there are, say, owl patterns but there are some. There is a fox shawl pattern, FoxxyLady that I plan on making sometime in the future when I decide on what yarn to use. Until then, I decided to go with what was the easiest thing to make: a fox amigurumi! I have fox statues, paintings and stuffed animals, but no handmade plushies. There’s just something about having one that I’ve made myself.

I don’t really have a fox type I prefer as it is hard enough to find fox things that I can’t be picky but I do really love the arctic fox. My next fox project will probably be the shawl or one of the two sock patterns. There’s also a hat but it is made in a weight of yarn I don’t have a lot of.

WIP Wednesday: Basket Case Socks

I’ve been working on a lot of things for my etsy store this month and not a lot for me. About a week ago I started a pair of socks with a shade of green yarn I’ve been wanting to use. I have several yarns that have been sitting around for awhile, waiting for the perfect pattern and this green was one of them. The pattern that ended up fitting with them is Basket Case Socks by Wendy Johnson. She’s one of my favorite sock designers and I have both of her toe up sock books.

The first repeat took the longest because I haven’t done 2-at-a-time socks in quite some time and the cabling took some getting used to. They should go much faster now. It’ll be nice to have new socks. One of the socks from the last pair I made ended up vanishing so its taken me months to want to knit socks again.

WIP Wednesday: Celestarium Shawl

I’m not sure how many of my friends realize just how deep my love of the night sky, stars and the constellations runs. It runs as deep as my love for mythology and ancient civilizations, especially the Greeks. If I felt I could make a living studying them, I would. But its so hard to make a living doing what you love these days. The point is, I love them very much but its hard to show it. And then I ran across this shawl.

The shawl I’m making is Celestarium, for the Northern Sky. It has a sister shawl, Southern Skies which is obviously for the Southern Sky. After I finish Celestarium and a few other shawls on my to do list that I already have yarn for, I want to get the yarn for Southern Skies. I’m pretty sure I bought enough beads for both shawls. I just need to decide if I want Southern Skies to be black as well, or another dark color like navy.

This picture is up to date through the fourth chart. I am now about 10 rows into the 5th. Most of the shawl is knit in the 5th and 6th charts. The pattern has yarn overs and beads but I decided I just wanted to bead without the yarn overs. I’m very happy with making that choice. For my first circular shawl, it’s very easy.