All organized!

I finally had some time this afternoon to sort out a giant box of yarn I've been wanting to go through!

It felt awesome to get it all put safely into ziplock bags and into their final spots on my yarn shelves :)

Now if I can budget my time and get some projects wrapped up so I can buckle down on some Christmas knitting!!!!

I'm Alive!

Really everyone I am still alive and knitting away!

I have been soooo busy with work this past month I just have not had time to blog, mostly out of town mon-fri with races on the weekend.

I have not even had time to drop in to my LYS for any knitting fun, I hope to stop in fri or sat this week and catch up as my out of town madness finally seems to be about finished for a while.

Vacation Knitting!

I'm on vacation this week with a wonderful ToDo list in my pocket!

I have managed to complete Said's Hat today!! I really hope he likes it. I've been working on it a little bit here and there and has taken a little longer than expected.

The original pattern called for it to be more of a beanie style but I've already made a few of those so I made this one a few inches longer to give it a little bit of a floppy style :)

Hey maybe I'll be a designer hahahhha

I am off to Kings Island tomorrow and have my GoKnit bag ready to attach to my belt and get some knitting done while waiting in those hour or more long roller coaster lines for a 2 minute ride!! KIP FTW!! I'm still deciding what project to take. One good thing about this trip is I wont be driving and will have a few hours of knitting time there as well!

All in all it looks like this vacation will be spent relaxing and knitting something I can sure use.

Waiting in line, no problem

Getting a few rounds in while waiting in line for a table at brunch today!

I just love the GoKnit bags! They are just perfect for a small project, like My Sockhead Hat I'm working on. Standing in line doesn't bother me anymore, I just use the time to get a few rounds in!

I know what Im going to be doing in line at Kings Island while waiting for the roller coasters this summer!! I really used to hate standing in line for an hour for a two minute ride but now I'm just thinking about all the knitting time I'm going to have woohoo!!

These bags come in three sizes small, medium and large so you can find the right bag for almost any project. I really like them as I got tired of working out of ziplock bags, lol!

Squeeze in..

When I got to the LYS today the table was full! Luckily my friend Susie let me squeeze in beside her and pull out my knitting!

After being out of town all week it was just wonderful to walk into my favorite LYS Broad Ripple Knits and be greeted with all things fiber and beyond, in fact the first thing I got hit with was a few theories about the season finale of The Killing! Arggg what a crazy show that was, Im feeling very unfulfilled with that one but strangely cant wait for season two!!!

I was able to get started on the decreasing phase of Said's Hat! I might just finish that this weekend if I can settle down a bit. They were also right in the middle of a super summer sale 30-50% off summer yarns!! I only picked up one item but its a small notion case I've been waiting for and was very happy to get.

Lots to do before I head out of town again next week so I'm going to scram for now, but I am looking forward to about 5 hours uninterrupted knitting time each way to detroit and back!!

Out of Town LYS Fun

Today I stopped by The Yarn Shoppe in Herrin, Il., and had a great time with Greg and Susan knitting, searching old magazines, buying yarn, "researching" patterns on Raverlry and just having a fun time in general.

If your ever in the area be sure to stop in, you will have a fantastic time at this place!

I also picked up a couple books while I was there. I got a fun Cascade book and a great Rowan book for men. Looking forward to exploring both these books!

I am a sucker for books, they are a terrific source for inspiration.

I also bought all the yarn for a sweater vest I'm going to do, more on that soon...

Almost done

I'm just about done with Said's Hat! I really like the way this hat is knitting up. The color changes look very nice and I think next I may make another one and just reverse the colors.

Yesterday I finally cast on the Woodbridge! It was very exciting, it's my very first wrap and a bit of a challenge. It's the summer knit-a-long at my LYS. I had a fun afternoon at my LYS Broad Ripple Knits working on a few projects and catching up with everyone!

Lots of things on my needles that I'm looking forward to turing into FOs as well.

I'm also looking forward to visiting The Yarn Shoppe in Herrin Il., this while I'm in Carbondale on business this week.

Cotton hrmm...

I came across a fun pattern on Ravelry and thought I'd give it a go. My first time knitting with cotton and I seem to be having a tough time keeping it loose. It's knitting up really tight and I'm fighting to keep it loose so this is slow going. But I'm hanging in there, I imagine it is just going to take a little bit to get used to it, but dang!

It's going to have a neat "I (Heart) Mom" raised on the front when I'm done. I think watching my  Mothers Day Cloth take shape is lots of fun even if its a bit of a pain lol.

Stayed tuned and we'll see how this one goes. I know I'm looking forward to seeing how it turns out!

RCS cast on!

Today I cast on the Reversible Cable Scarf I'm making for my cousin Kim for Christmas. I decided to get started early on my Christmas knitting so I'll be sure to have everything finished in time!

I'm very excited about this project because it is my first time doing cables. Thanks very much to Greg and Suzan Thomas of The Yarn Shoppe for working out the pattern for me!

I also had a nice afternoon at my LYS Broad Ripple Knits working on Said's Hat and catching up on everything that's been going on all week while I've been out of town.

I also picked up a copy of Power Cables by Lily Chin that I've been wanting to get. I'm enjoying learning all about cables!

Made it Home!

On the drive home from SIU I got a good bit done on Said's Hat today. I'm glad to be working on this one I imagine I might even finish this one up this weekend if i don't get distracted lol!

I have a bunch of other things to talk about but im just so tired I'm having a hard time keeping the eyes open. I'll fill you all in on everything fun tomorrow :)

I also brought back a great load of yarn from The Yarn Shoppe in Herrin, Il. and some other great stuff to get started on soon! More on that tomorrow.
Until then sweet dreams everyone!

It's on!

That's right it's on! Finally! I got Said's hat cast on today and underway, yay! I was glad to get going on this one, it's been on my to do list for a while now and it's going to be a good one!

I'm in Carbondale, Il. again this week and after work I headed over to The Yarn Shoppe in Herrin Il. and had a great time knitting and chatting and enjoying the great hospitality there.

Once again if you find yourself in the area be sure to take the time and stop in for a visit, this is a truly awesome place!

Good to be home!

After being out of town all week it was so great to get back to my favorite LYS Broad Ripple Knits today and do some knitting and socializing!

It was nice and busy, lots of people there and I got to catch up on everyones progress. I saw some incredibly inspiring projects going on and as always lots of great chatting!

I also bought the yarn for my Woodbridge, our summer knit-a-long. I'm going to make this one for my Mom! Her birthday is in November so this should give me plenty of time :)

Jose's Scarf FO!!

Yay I finally finished Jose's Scarf!!

It had an interesting shape we called it the bone scarf! LOL

I was glad to finish it up because it really didn't care for the yarn, and will not be planning on using it again, it felt like I was knitting with straw. Oh well now I know better :)

I'm planning to cast on Said's Hat tomorrow! I'm interested to see how the colors are going to knit up on this one, I think it will look great!

I'm also looking forward to turning my first heel tomorrow on My First Sock!

Until tomorrow, Keep on Knitting!

River Knits

This afternoon I had the absolute pleasure of visiting River Knits in West Lafayette, In.

This is an amazing store, from the moment you walk in you know your in a special place!

The selection of yarn and knitting supplies is fantastic! I found some awesome alpaca yarn I just had to have and few other little supplies that I couldn't do without!

They also offer all kinds of classes and special events, what lucky customers they must have! I had so much fun looking around the shop, I look forward to a return visit next time I'm in West Lafayette!

Also I got super lucky because they were nice enough to take time to help me with a quick dropped stitch fix it lesson! You see I was knitting around My First Sock and noticed I'd dropped a stitch so I brought it in with me and they were happy to help me get it back on track and now Im ready for my next dropped stitch!!! Thanks so much!

Like I said, if your ever in the area be sure to stop in and enjoy a visit at River Knits it's a terrific place!

IPK at Broad Ripple Brew Pub

Went to the Indy Pub Knitters Meet-Up at the Broad Ripple Brew Pub this afternoon. Had a great time got some knitting done while chatting, eating and drinking, just doesn't get any better!

If you live in the Indy area be sure to make your way to an Indy Pub Knitters event they are always a lot of fun and the people are great!

The Broad Ripple Brew Pub is a super place to eat as well, they have lots of vegetarian and vegan choices! I had an amazing Baked Falafel, yum yum!!!

Also in other news today I managed to get My First Sock onto some shorter needles making it SO much easier to work with! Im really enjoying it now!!!

Thanks again to Katrina for talking me off the ledge when it came to this sock hahaha! I'm real excited about it and am looking forward to getting down to turn the heel!

I'm out of town most all next week, will have some good travel time for a bit of knitting. I should finish Jose's Scarf and get going on Said's Hat. At least thats my plan :)

Sock Tips!

My First Sock is coming along nicely! Especially after meeting up with my friend Katrina today who just happens to be a sock knitting expert and shared some tips with me!

After Katrina's wonderful advice I feel ready to tackle this sock!

Thanks so much to her for taking time to meet me today at an incredibly freezing Starbucks! I love KIP and it was fun getting the guy at the next table to snap our picture lol.

My first order of business is to get this sock off these long needles and onto some short ones.  I think going from 7.5 inch to 5 inch needles is going to make this process a little more manageable.

After I left Starbucks I made a quick dash to the closest LYS and was able to get some 5 inch #3's so the next photo you see of this sock will be on its new needles :)

Looking forward to tomorrows Indy Pub Knitters Meetup so be sure to check back tomorrow!

My First Sock!

Wooohooo I did it, I cast on My First Sock today!!!

I've been waiting for a while for the perfect moment and when that never came aong I decided to cast on this project on the way home from Southern Illinois University today. I thought to myself, well heck I've got five hours drive time and I'm getting tired of knitting on Jose's Scarf, so lets do it!

Well several hours later after a few rip-outs and start overs, I think I'm on my way to knitting my first sock!

It was very windy and Jose had the van all over the road hitting every bump, pothole and such he came across and finally I just was so jumbled I had to call it a day for knitting! Its really tough tryin to knit something new in a van swerving all over the road hahaha

Anyway once I made it back to Indy, I stopped into my LYS and had a relaxing hour or so working on my Sockhead Hat, now all is right with the world and Im going to give this darn sock another go, after a nice long warm shower and a Monster Zero, Friday night here I come !!!

The Yarn Shoppe

This week I'm at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale Il, and after work today I was able to visit The Yarn Shoppe in Herrin IL.

From the moment I hit the door this visit was awesome! First I ran into Greg the owner and his wife Susan "The Mastermind" who greeted me and made me feel right at home.

There were several others knitting around a cozy big table and were super friendly!

The selection of yarn was fantastic! I also found a skein of Noro I was after, there were so many choices  it was hard to control myself!

If I lived in the area this would definitely be my favorite LYS!!! So if you ever find yourself in Carbondale or the surrounding area do yourself a big favor and drop in at The Yarn Shoppe!!!

Nutmeg

I had a terrific afternoon at my LYS knitting on my Sockhead Hat.

I picked up two skeins of Madelintosh, Nutmeg, Tosh Merino Light, which I had waiting there for me. I absolutely love this yarn, it called out to me the moment I walked past it! So of course I just had to have it! Or atleast I just assumed I had to have it, right?

I'm trying to decide if I should make some fingerless gloves or a pair of socks, either of which will be a first :)

Looking forward to making something wonderful with this new yarn!!!

Yarn Stash Unboxing!

What better way to come home than to a box full of yarn!

My friend Rhonda bought a storage locker full of yarn and things and decided to send me a yarn care package!!!! Yay Rhonda, thanks so much !!!

As you can see There is a lot of yarn here, I can hardly wait to find projects for all of it.

I hope you enjoy the video of me unboxing all of it!!!

Ivelise's Yarn Shop

Today I had the absolute pleasure of visiting Ivelise's Yarn Shop in Benton Harbor, Michigan.

I was greeted warmly and invited to sit down to knit after I walked in!

If I hadn't had a co-worker waiting for me outside I would have certainly stayed and enjoyed the shop and the wonderful people for the rest of the evening :)

They have an amazing selection of yarn and offer all sorts of classes!

This shop has been there for over 46 years! I talked with the owner Ivelise Boynton and she was a wealth of knitting knowledge and quite  treat to meet.

If you ever find yourself in Benton Harbor you really must take time to to visit this awesome yarn shop!

IPK at Moe & Johnny's

Went to the Indy Pub Knitters Meet-Up at Moe & Johnny's this afternoon. Had a wonderful time knitting and talking to all the terrific knitters!

I must say if you ever go to Moe & Johnny's and they seat you in Maria's section ask the manager for another server because she was awful! Perhaps the worst server ever, she had a horrible attitude and was just a flat out Bi*ch.

Besides the awful waitress and some cold fries, we had a wonderful time!!!

The knitters who attended the Meet-Up were absolutely awesome and welcoming. If you've never been to an Indy Pub Knitters get together put it on your list!

I am organizing a MeetUp at the Broad Ripple Brew Pub on May 22nd please RSVP if you can make it! We just need one more person to make it official!

Sockhead

I stopped by the LYS this afternoon for a couple hours and found some lovely Cascade Heritage 150 Paint Sock Yarn and am looking forward to making a Kelly McClure Sockhead hat!

I'm pretty sure this will be for Maxx as he likes the slouchy style hat and red is his favorite color.

This yarn is really cool with several different shades of red and I'm hoping it knits up beautifully.

I cast on 144 stitches and started making my way around in a fun K2 P2 before I had to head into work. Be sure to keep up with My Sockhead Hat!

Lazy Sunday

Had a lazy Sunday, spent sometime working on my Super Scarf, switched up the stitch pattern to a basket weave, that is a little more fun :) I seem to have not been giving this project much attention so I really want to just go ahead and wrap it up this week :)

I also would up some yarn for my friend Said's Hat which I will start tomorrow. Im heading out of town for a few days and its a five hour drive one way so thats ten hours knitting time woohoo! Since Said is doing the driving the least I can do is make him a hat :)

Going to also use some of that time to finish off Jose's Scarf, I'll be glad to finish that because I hate the yarn. Never ever want to use cheap acrylic yarn again! Not being a woolie snob just saying...

Umm NO that's not a hole! It's a umm... nothing to see here move along please :)

Second Hat FO!

I had a great afternoon at my LYS today. It was a fun day, very busy in the shop and lots of great people to enjoy an afternoon of knitting and conversation with!

I also think I'm going to start on a wrap for my Mom, maybe I can have it done in time for Mothers day! There is going to be a knit-a-long for it so that might be just perfect :)

I finished off my Second Hat today and am very happy with it! I think I like this pattern so much I plan on making a few more of them in different color combinations. 

If your on Ravelry you can download the pattern for this hat for free! It is a very popular Jared Flood pattern. He has many great designs available, so be sure to check him out! You can download this one here: Turn a Square

While I was there I also wound up my yarn for my next awesome project but more on that tomorrow :)

Almost done!

After work I headed over to my LYS and spent some time working on my Second Hat, having some great conversation and enjoying the remainder of a wonderful day!

This afternoon I got my hat off the circular needles and onto some DPNs and if I hadn't gotten lost in some great conversation I'd have wrapped it up before I had to go, but I'll finish it off tomorrow :)

I picked up four skeins of yarn for my next project to begin tomorrow! I'm excited about it but more details and photos on that one tomorrow :)

Until then I think I'm going to try and put in a little time this evening on My Super Scarf and try and untangle some stubborn Malabrigo that didn't want to cooperate on the swift!

Hats or Scarves?

 Guess where I went after work today? If you guessed BRK your right!!!

It was an awesome wind down to a tough day, I was really excited to get working again on my Second Hat and get into the swing of carrying colors and getting the hang of the Jogless Jog!

I am really enjoying this hat, its simple and fun to watch form in front of my eyes! Thinking about all the colors this could be made in is just limitless.

I'm still going to have to figure out the SSK when I get ready to start my decreases but Im confident it will  go well!!!

Im starting to think that my original intention of making scarves for all my relatives this next holiday season  might be changed to making hats! What do you guys think hats or scarves?!?

Second Hat!

I got off work a couple hours early today so I high tailed it straight for BRK where I picked out a couple skeins of Cascade 220, wound it up, cast on and took off on my first multi colored hat!  My Second Hat!

This is a free pattern I found on Ravelry by Jared Flood. I like the style and the subtle color changes look like a good first go at a bit of color work!

After I finished the ribbing I started an increase row and rather than make a new stitch every 12 stitches I messed up and KFB the 13th stitch. Well this gave me some practice ripping out this row and starting over making a brand new stitch after every 12th one :) Thanks a bunch to Karin and Susie for helping me get it all sorted out!

After the increases I transferred from 5 to 7 needles and off I went with my first color change. I was still a little unclear as to how to "carry" the second color, but I think I got it right so far.

Looking forward to seeing if this one comes out looking like the pattern lol!

Maxx's Hat is a FO!!!

Today was a very exciting afternoon. I finished off Maxx's Hat!

I'm looking forward to him getting home so I can see if he likes it :)

I was a little nervous transferring to DPN from the Circular needles to finish it off, but once I got the feel of it, it was great!

I was cruising along pretty well but once I transferred it off to the DPNs that slowed me down a lot!

I already have yarn for my next hat but more on that later :) For now I'm going to enjoy this one until Maxx gets home and I hand over my first gifted piece!

Almost finished!

I had another great afternoon at BRK sitting and knitting with a bunch of awesome people today!

What fun it was to see everyone's progress on their different projects and hear all the great ideas for projects to come.

I also finished of the body of Maxx's Hat, and then began decreasing after I got home this evening. It's lookin like a hat!!!

I'm not sure if the decreasing is going exactly as the pattern calls for but since this is my first time doing a hat I'll see how it turns out and chalk it up to "design improvements" :) Hey I'm a designer now hahahahha!

Got some yarn for a few projects I'm looking forward to starting. I'm going to work on the Sampler Sweater in The Sweater Workshop book by Jacqueline Fee and also start a new basic hat from Hat Heads. More on these projects once I cast em on !

An Afternoon at BRK

Had a very relaxing afternoon working on Maxx's Hat today, at my favorite LYS, BRK!

I'm really excited about this hat because it's my first one! Tomorrow I will begin the decreases and finish it off!! It is such a wonderful thing to sit down and create something from a ball of yarn!

I can't even begin to describe what a great time I'm having with this! I suggest anyone who has ever had a desire to try knitting find a Local Yarn Shop near you and go in, have a look around and get going!

I also picked up a fun book, imagine that! I'll tell you all about it later this weekend :)

Sip-N-Knit

Had a great time at the Sip-N-Knit this evening! The Sip-N-Knit is held on the third Wednesday of each month at the Creation Cafe.

Everyone was so welcoming and friendly!!!

The food is delicious there, I had a Black Bean Burger it was amazing!!!

The selection of food was very nice not to mention delicious, did I mention it was DELICIOUS !?!

I was somehow able to resist the temptation of these lovely looking Easter Basket Cup Cakes! But you know I could have gobbled up the whole plate hahah

I had never been to the Creation Cafe and was really glad I finally made it, the staff was on top of everything! I look forward to my next visit, I also recommend if you find yourself downtown Indy you make time to stop in!!!

Beside the great dinner and treats, I got to spend some time working on my My Super Scarf I'm having so much fun with this project.  If your not familiar with this community project just follow this link: Super Scarves: Cast on to Kick Off, Super Bowl XLVI

River Wools

Today I found myself in Terre Haute on business so after work I headed to the nearest yarn store of course!

I just love exploring local yarn shops and today I found myself at River Wools: A Knitting Place, it was a fun place to check out. The lady inside was really friendly and helpful!

I would suggest if your passing through Terre Haute, In., definitely take a moment to stop in for a browse.

They also had a great selection of books and as a lot of you know I'm a sucker for the books!

I also found these great skeins of yarn that seemed to have my name on them, so I picked them up and took them home, well back to the hotel for now :) I think they are going to become a hat for my friend and co-worker Said, he liked them.

I seem to be drawn to the Cascade!

Hats and Bats

 Today I enjoyed reading through Hat Heads a book I've been waiting for that arrived yesterday!

This book is really fun and if your interested in knitting hats I highly recommend it!

The story is great and the photos are very well done. Its a pleasure to read about KnitKids love of hats! If you like hats and your curious about knitting this is the book for you!

Im also looking forward to making several of the hats in the book. The patterns seem easy to follow as is the rest of the instruction in the book.

Be sure to stop by Trond Anfinnsen, aka Knitkid website and learn more about him and his book!

I also worked on Alpha Boo, it was fun, it was the first time I've followed a pattern and had to do increases and decreases. The most frustrating thing at first was I had switched from gray to black for the wings since my LYS was out of gray. Working with the black yarn was tough at first because it was so hard to see what i was doing! Eventually after ripping it all out and starting over after getting hopelessly lost, my second go of it worked out just fine. Now I got a left wing done!  :)

Nomad Yarns, Greencastle and my Alpha Boo!

What a great day of knitting fun I have had!

First my friend Sue came and picked me up in her awesome little Mini! We headed to The Fiber Event at Greencastle and wow was that fun! I was so overwhelmed by it all I completely forgot to take any video or photos like I had planned!

There were sheep and angora rabbits all over the place there was yarn  fiber and BOOKS and more things than I could ever imagine, a lady MADE me eat some homemade fudge! Oh it was delicious!

It was great fun seeing how the yarn made its way from Sheep to Skein!

Then on our way back to Indy we spotted Nomad Yarns, in Plainfield, In., let me tell you this place was amazing! The interior was simply beautiful! The selection was amazing! It was all I could do to get out of there with my wallet!

So next time you happen to be passing through Plainfield I would highly suggest stopping in and having a look around this shop is a pleasure to visit!

After We got back from our outing Sue helped me get started on my Alpha Boo, I learned how to actually read the pattern and got a quick lesson in increasing and decreasing and upon parting she left me with instructions that she wanted to see some bat wings!

I'm really excited about this little guy so stay tuned !

The Power of Knitting!

Today after work I stopped by BRK and had a great time talking knitting and working on Maxx's hat.

I'm really starting to get comfortable with the circular needles and feeling like the hat is starting to take shape! Its's really very exciting!!!

What a great ending to a tough week of work! Sitting in the yarn shop knitting away chatting about knitting and other things was a surprisingly relaxing way to wind down the week and clear my mind to prepare myself to enjoy the weekend!

Who would have ever thought knitting would have such a powerful effect on a person! If you have ever thought you might like to try it I suggest you go out and try it right away you will have a blast!

Believe me if you had told me I would be having this much fun I would never have believed it, now I can't seem to get enough!!!

Speaking of the weekend, tomorrow Im heading to The Greencastle Fiber Festival! I think this is going to be really fun and I should have some video to share with you all when I get back tomorrow, so until then, have a great weekend!!!

My First FO!!!

Thats right everyone today I wrapped up My First Project a Scarf! I've got my first Finished Object!!!

So yep today was another awesome first for me and it was very exciting wrapping it up off the needles and weaving in the ends. Thanks a bunch to Alison at BRK for helping with that!

I learned a lot while working on this first scarf and am looking forward to many, many more to come!

And speaking of more, today I also started a scarf for a co-worker who got me some yarn and asked if I would make him a scarf, well of course I said YES! Now Jose's Scarf is in the works! Yep that's right one three colored scarf coming up :)

Jose does all the driving for me at work and that gives me lots of time to focus on knitting on long out of town trips, also when we are out of town and finished for the day he is kind enough to drop me off at LYS's and wait for me while I go inside and explore. I'm very glad I can have this on my list of things to knit!

I finished out my day working on Maxx's hat I finally finished the ribbing and now I'm off and running, err.. knitting rather lol! I was sure glad to get that ribbing done, but Im comfortable with it now and it wasn't as tough as when I started it for the first time last Saturday lol :)

I am super excited about the hat, I love hats and am really looking forward to spending a lot of time learning all I can about them!