Friday, January 2, 2015

In the Mean Time

Whilst all the little kiddies were here for the Christmas holidays, all the spinning wheels and fiber goodness has been packed into the studio. So that, for lack of time and space no weaving has been going on.  I have however, done some knitting.

 I have had a skein of Tosh Merino light in my stash for a couple of years.  I have tried several patterns with this yarn, and with only one skein my choices were somewhat limited.  Each time I tried a pattern, I would rip it out and put it back in my stash.  Finally, I did a search on Ravelry for a single skein TML project, the list was impressive, and I finally found a free scarf pattern called "Up to You".  It is knit either top down or bottom up, you choose.  You can also choose to work from charts or from the paragraph form.
 I generally work on long straights when I knit.  I have tried circulars, but they hurt my hand if I am not careful.  This pattern is worked lengthwise, but the pattern has you finish with 270 stitches, and I thought that it I would be able to have that many stitches easily on the needles.  I knit the scarf bottom up cause I liked the idea of casting on only 15 stitches!

I came to the end of the pattern, but I had so much yarn left over that I decided to repeat the 2 pattern sections one more time, and then do a picot bind off.  I hoped the whole time that I had enough yarn and enough room on the needles to pull it off.


I hit a whopping 334 stitches, and while it was a little difficult at the end of the body of the scarf, I managed it,  I did not however, use stitch markers on the last lace pattern repeat.  I doubted that I had enough room on the needles.  I have now started the picot bind off, and only time will tell if I have enough yarn!
 Another thing I have been able to do while the Studio is out of bounds is search Ravelry for  destashes.  I found a braid of Polwarth that fits into my quest to spin new to me fibers, I have 2 braids of Polwarth in natural white, and I have been thinking of doing a 2 ply with one ply the natural and the other this lovely multicolored braid.  Nothing is decided yet. so this braid will join the other two in the stash.
This color work sock pattern kit that was also part of the same destash, however will be the next new thing on my needles!  I have been wanting to do some colorwork for awhile, and the destash price was right, I just couldn't resist.  (I think it is all the long white stockinette stockings I have been working!  It makes me crave color and texture!)
My eldest Daughter told me upon seeing the pictures I sent her, that she had been planning to do a color work project too!  Maybe we will do a Knit along!

My mind is full of New Years thoughts.  Planning weaving, spinning,knitting and sewing projects, cleaning out clothes closets, clearing out unused stuff.  You know all the usual stuff you think about during this time of year.  However, it is all still a little fuzzy with nothing really sparking me to take action.  Which is why I spent today, when I could have been making a dent in some list, sitting on the couch, sipping coffee in my pj's, knitting my scarf.

 Happy New Year everyone, Tina



2 comments:

LA said...

I think it's important to "mix it up" from time to time. So much fiber....so little time!

Bonnie said...

Sometimes one just needs to sit back and have a cup of coffee and knit, reflect or just do nothing.