Decreasing the yarn stash

I finished Buttony!

It seems like everytime I'm taking a picture, I'm in those pajama pants!

The yarn: Debbie Bliss Merino Chunky.
Well...it's superwash which is why it didn't feel quite like wool and I couldn't spit splice. Definitely a bulky knit and it went fast. Not sure if I would use this yarn again, I didn't feel anything positive or negative about it and it definitely didn't turn me on.
I originally had 15 balls of yarn but used 3 of them to make Esme. I bought those 15 balls for about $24 at MD S&W one year. I ended up having to buy another 3 balls of yarn for another $24 to finish this sweater, otherwise it would've been sleeveless. I have a slight dyelot issue here. It's noticeable if you know what to look for and where. If anyone asks, I will just tell you that it's the lighting and a trick of your eyes.

The pattern: Buttony
Not the best written pattern. It's more like an outline of what she did. After hearing the general background of how she doesn't really want to be a designer from Amber, it makes some sense. There was definitely a gauge swatch involved and I did have to start over after a couple of rows because the initial neckline that I cast on was too small. I added some waist shaping here and made it much more form fitting than what may have been originally intended. The instructions also say to knit to 12 buttonholes. I only made 11 buttonholes since 12 would have been way too long.

National Pancake Day at IHOP!

http://www.ihoppancakeday.com/

Free shortstack from 7am to 10pm. Of course, they would like you to donate the cost of the shortstack to Children's Miracle Network.

Buttony progress

The lighting was dark, but whatever. I just wanted to try it on, and take a picture and see how it looked. And now you all can see how it looks as well. I'm now working off of two different dye lots of the yarn.

Spinning a garden

I borrowed Lorenzo (a Majacraft Suzie) from Helena to reacquaint myself with the wheel. This is going to be a purchase with my tax refund. The wheel spins like a dream. The fiber I'm using is some Blue Faced Leicester from Frabjous Fibers that I bought at Rhinebeck from Susan's Fiber Shop. The colorway is called Cottage Garden.



I've been very much inspired by javajem's spinning adventures. It's really amazing to see what the fiber looks like in roving form and what it looks like after it's been spun and plied.

Around the time of Rhinebeck, I had also seen some scarf patterns, My So Called Scarf being an example, that really made use of varigated yarns with very different colors. At Rhinebeck, I was on a budget and a quest. I wanted to find a roving painted in different enough colors that the end result may not necessarily be what I expect it to be. And then, it would be knit up into something like My So Called Scarf. I came home with this.

I've just begun spinning but upon beginning, I realized that the color segments were long enough that I could spin up a large section of each color and navajo ply for long stretches of color. Of course, there will be some mixing since I haven't quite got down how to separate each color in the plying but it should be interesting.

The fiber itself is easy enough to spin. It's soft and quite yummy.

Ivel sleeves

Worsted weight cashmere on size 4 needles. I have to stop every couple of rows to rest my hands but the fabric this creates is stiff and firm. I'm enjoying knitting this so far, and it's not just because this is cashmere. The finished product is going to look amazing.

I bought the first iteration of this pattern and am waiting impatiently for the errata. She should be releasing a second version with the various corrections by the end of the month. The pattern begins with the sleeves and there's a length to be knit on the sleeves before I hit the increase/decrease section so I figure that I'm good until I receive the next iteration of the pattern.

Hat and Scarf Set

Before I took this picture, I had to apologize to the bear. See, he's a he. And I'm putting a girly hat and scarf on his head. But he's my best model!

The hat is Gretal and the scarf is My So Called Scarf.

The yarn for both is Madeline Tosh Worsted in the Ox Blood colorway. I absolutely LOVE (LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE!) the yarn. When I picked it up, I was unable to put it back down. It was soft and squishy. It is definitely something I would knit with again.

I'm doing...

- A sunflower. It's part of my summer wreath series. I have an autumn berry wreath that I hang on my door in the autumn. I'd really like to have a wreath for each season. I'm starting with a summer wreath with lavender and sunflowers. The sunflower will be there soon.
- Ivel - I cast on for the sleeves but it is on hold. Apparently, I have version 1 of the pattern and there are MANY mistakes in it. I'll be receiving a copy of version 2 when she has it ready. It's supposed to be soon...like this week or next.
- Buttony - knitting, knitting along! 55 yards per ball, it is definitely possible to knit a ball a day.
- Hydrangea - I need to get back to it.

Buttony - the beginning

I started on Buttony. It's a good exercise in making your own top down raglan. There is no gauge in the pattern and the directions are really general. So, um, yeah...there's some improvisation going on here. I'm also not sure if I have enough yarn. I'm hoping I have enough to make 3/4 length sleeves. I did find someone on ravelry who has the color I'm using but a slightly different dye lot.

THANK YOU, CAPITALS! *clap*clap*clapclapclap*

Those of us in ravelry's Washington Capitals group have been talking about doing a Sticks n' Stitches event for a couple of years now. The difficult part has been getting any sort of feedback from either the sales office or TNNA to make it an official event like Stitch n' Pitch has been. Others in other cities have been more successful. So I took it upon myself to just get a group together and get tickets. So, this past Sunday afternoon, we met up, we watched a game, we cheered and some knitting was done. I think others may have gotten more knitting done than me. I forgot my camera but lolly did take some pictures. I'm unsure of what my plans are the second half of the year but I think it would be fun to organize a more wide reaching hockey/knitting event early next season. With the Capitals so hot, it's so damn hard to get a large set of group tickets at the end of the season! Good think I already have tickets to the last regular season game!

Why the subject line "THANK YOU, CAPTIALS! *clap*clap*clapclapclap*"? Well, on Sunday, Papa John's began a new promotion with the Caps. It's similar to the Redskins promo. Applying only to Sunday games, on Monday, you can buy a large pizza for $9.99 and for every goal the Caps score, you get one free topping. Double if they win. Well, the final score of the day was 7-4 Caps.

tomato x 2
grilled chicken x 2
banana peppers x 2
mushrooms x 2
onions x 2
sausage x 2
green peppers x 2