Baby Silk yarn ... yum!

I started my first project using Baby Silk yarn, it is such a soft delicate yarn. I like it! It does have a tendency to split, although that might have been due to the Addi Turbo circ I was using; they are know to have blunt tips. I have since switched to another circ and it is slightly better. I am making another Branching Out scarf. This one will be a belated thank you gift to my midwife. I had been meaning to give her something earlier but got so tied up with taking care of the baby that I still haven't gotten around to it. I'm using US6 (4mm) needles with this fingerling weight yarn. I haven't yet decided whether I want to try US7 or US8. The scarf doesn't look very wide on needles and I'm not sure how much wider it will be after blocking. Hmmm...

I just took a closer look at the scarf. I was off to a bad start, my tension was much tighter in the first two repeats, and then looser for the remaining repeats. I blame it on knitting in the car where my tension tends to be tighter. I also found a boo boo in my knitting! :O There's a "loose" strand of yarn hanging in the back in the 7th repeat, it will probably be noticeable after I block. I'm leaning towards frogging the whole thing and starting over with larger needles so the patterns shows through better. The downside is all my US7 needles are in use. I'd really like to try US7 before jumping up to US8.

Working on second hat

I had so much fun working on my first hat that I couldn't wait to start on another one. This one is a little different. It will be a roll brim instead of the K1P1 ribbing of the first hat. This second hat is taking a bit longer since it is a larger size. I finally made it to the crown decrease tonight while watching CSI Las Vegas. I'm sorry the picture isn't very exciting to look at. Right now it looks more like a tube top, lol. My husband thinks it looks like a giant wrist band.

Basketweave pattern

I'm currently working on a simple basketweave pattern using some sport weight yarn. The pattern is very easy to memorize, I just need to keep track of what row I'm on. At first I tried reading my knitting, but then I later added one of those row counters so I didn't have to use as much brain power to figure out which row I'm working. The cabling rows are cable intensive since it's cabling across the entire row. I have discovered that I can't keep an even tension if I do some of my knitting in the car. I tend to knit tighter in the car, perhaps it's to prevent losing stitches. I don't take this with me in the car anymore, I take a more "mindless" project instead. I feel as though cable patterns tend to use more yarn yet yield less "mileage" (because the work gets scrunched up more).

Dishcloth Family Afghan

I have a new WIM (work in mind) for a sort of Dishcloth Family Afghan. I think this would make a lovely gift. I was actually lying in bed at night thinking through this, believe it or not! It will be an afghan made up of a bunch of dish cloths. I have already picked out a few from Knitting Knonsense. For example, I'll use the "alphabet" dish cloths to spell out the family name. I'll use a couple of the "states" cloths to represent the US states that the family has lived in. I'll use the "paw print" and/or "doggy" cloth to represent the family dog, and the "cat" cloth to represent the two cats. I'll use the "pig" to represent the member of the family with that Chinese zodiac sign, same with the "rooster" and "horse". Well you get the idea.

What I need before starting this WIM is a few themed dish cloths that I don't yet have patterns to. I've searched but haven't found them yet. Here are the themes I'm looking for with examples of possible designs:

COMPUTER - mouse, monitor, etc
TENNIS - racquet, ball, etc
DRAGON - (Chinese zodiac sign)
BALLET - ballet slipper, etc
KNITTING - knitting needles, ball of yarn, etc
CROSS STITCH - (not sure what this would look like, but one member is an avid crossstitcher)
POST OFFICE - letter, stamp, etc
BOOK
VW BUG

I'm thinking of making this with two different colors, alternating colored squares.

Circular Needle Storage

I finally got fed up with keeping all my circular needles in one big pile. It was difficult to find specific needle sizes. So I picked up one of those expandable folders to keep like sizes together. I've only had this for a few days so can't say this will work out for me in the long run, but I have the feeling that it will. I like how it doesn't take up too much space.

I was trying to decide between red, blue, or purple. Eventually went with purple. I guess I like that color. I also seem to have a lot of purple yarn in my stash. Whenever I buy yarn I somehow tend to gravitate towards the purples.

I've discovered that I need more 4.5 mm (US7) needles. I was looking for one (to start yet another WIP) the other day and was disappointed to find that the two I have are already being used (one for the Flower Basket Shawl, the other for a basketweave scarf).

Peruvian Collection Baby Silk

I received my order of Elann's Peruvian Collection Baby Silk this week, 7 gorgeous colors! 12 balls each of the following colors: Seashell Pink; Raspberry; Lotus Blossom; Aubergine; Oxblood; Sapphire; Deepest Black. I also picked up a few balls of Highland Wool in Dark Indigo Heather.

Now what shall I knit with all these wonderful balls of yarn? And more importantly, when will I have the time? It's quite a challenge with an almost 6 month old baby. :( I definitely want to knit a little someting for my midwife, she is a wonderful woman who made childbirth much easier for me and who understood what kind of childbirthing experience I wanted (viz. a natural childbirth with minimal intervention). I'm glad she was there instead of one of the doctors.

My first photo was a bit out of focus, so I tried it again. It still doesn't come out as clearly as I would like. Perhaps it has something to do with the "glare" off the transparent plastic? My little girl was "helping" me with the photo by pulling the bag of the Lotus Blossom Baby Silk yarn. She has good taste, that is a beautiful color!

Branching Out Completed

Yay! I finally finished my first Branching Out scarf, after about 3 months of on and off knitting. I weaved in the ends and blocked it; just need to cut off the loose ends. I'm amazed at the difference blocking makes, the pattern definitely shows through after blocking. The scarf is about 6 ft long! This was good practice for me, the lace pattern became easier after several repeats and I can almost anticipate the next stitches by reading my knitting. Now I'm ready to knit this scarf again using nicer yarn. This was fun to knit, I think I might make several more. This scarf was knit with 2 balls of Schoeller Stahl Hobby "plum" color, although I don't think it looks very purpuraceous.

Yarn: Schoeller Stahl Hobby, Plum color. 2 balls
Needles: 5mm (US8)

Circular Knitting

I finally tried my hand at circular knitting without using double point needles. I used two circular needles instead. It was slow getting set up, but after several rounds I finally got the hang of it. Hey, this is the best thing since sliced bread! It's so simple!!! I don't think I'll ever try using DPNs.

I completed my first knitting in the round, a little pink hat, using Sarah Bradberry's Family Watch Cap pattern. It was fun! It went so much quicker than cable or lace knitting. It feels great to actually complete something, ya know? It wasn't perfect though, I got the "ladder" effect on the ribbing. Fortunately it is not very noticeable because of the K1P1 ribbing. I'll have to improve my joining technique next time.

Yarn: Cleckheaton Country 8 Ply DK superwash wool, Pale Iris color. Used a little more than 1 ball.
Needle: 3.25 mm (US3) & 4.00 mm (US6)