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!

Knitters Mercantile

Today I took time to stop into Knitters Mercantile in Columbus Ohio. 

It was a nice shop with lots of yarn and big comfy leather couches to sit down and enjoy some knitting time.

The store was spacious, well lit and had a good selection of patterns and supplies. There seemed to be a little something for everyone.

Visit to The Yarn Shop

Today I had the pleasure of visiting The Yarn Shop in Pickerington Ohio, it is a lovely store with lots of beautiful yarn, books and supplies. They also have another store in Columbus Ohio. The store in Pickerington is about 1500 sq. ft., and the store in Columbus is about 3000 sq. ft.

There was a great selection of knitted items around the shop and I had a great time just browsing through the shop. What a way to relax and unwind after a hard day of work!

I was lucky and got to meet Joyce, who is also the owner of both stores. She was awesome! we talked and talked about knitting and she gave me all sorts of tips for my knitting journey! I could have stayed and talked for hours! However dinner was my next stop and my friend Jose was waiting outside in the van, so I had to get going.

If you find yourself in Pickering or Columbus Ohio definitely take sometime to stop in and visit The Yarn Shop!

Inside the Yarn Market

Today I visited the Yarn Market in Pickerington Ohio, just outside of Columbus.

Lisa and Stephanie welcomed me and gave me a tour of this amazing place. The entire staff was helpful and welcoming.

I had a great time browsing through the over 800 yarns they had in stock from over 80 different manufacturers!

The warehouse was huge with row after row of yarn neatly stored in sealed bins waiting for their new homes in your stash!

While I was there I made a quick video just so you all could get a quick glimpse of this place. Next time your in the area be sure to stop in.

Enjoy the video!

Just a few more inches!

Had a pretty relaxing day today. Just about finished up my first scarf! Only a couple more inches to go and i'll be ready to bind off, add some fringe and have my first project completed!!!

I'm not really in a big hurry since it was 84F outside today I've got about 5 or 6 months before I'll be able to actually wear it.

Tomorrow I'm heading out of town once again and will be working on my next two projects, My Super Scarf and Maxx's hat.

Until tomorrow, take care everyone!

Pancakes, Bats, Ribbing and Lots of Help!

My morning started off with breakfast with my friend Sue at The Original Pancake House. I had half a stack of blueberry Pancakes and enjoyed some great knitting conversation! Sue is an AWESOME knitter you can see some of her work on Ravelry: MrsZoom

Sue's knitting is amazing! She also does some fun little critters as well, I love Boo the Bat, isnt he the cutest!?!  She brought him along to breakfast because she knew I liked him and it was so awesome to see him in person!!! He can even fold his wings in tight when he needs a nap hahah!

We are planing on attending The Greencastle Fiber Fair next weekend! I'm really excited about that, Sue tells me there will be lots to see :) I'm going to try not to come home with an Alpaca!

Next I was off to Broad Ripple Knits and looking forward to it because today is the day I will start my first hat! I've been waiting all week for this and spent all night practicing my purl stitching, I was sure I was ready to knock this hat out!!!

Karin helped me get started and explained what I needed to do. It became clear, very fast, that I might be in over my head, haha, but I pushed on! It was a lot tougher than I had anticipated!!

The great thing about BRK is there are so many great people there ready to lend a hand and get you through what your doing its just a super fun experience!

This is the begining of my hat! I just finished casting on 98 stitches and I'm and off and running! I'm making this hat for my son Maxx, his favorite color is red!

I quickly found out that doing the ribbing was a little slow going and required a tremendous amount of focus and concentration, undaunted i pushed forward.

I was fortunate to have all the support at BRK to help because I sure needed it, Karin was great and keep me sorted out, Im looking forward to when this will become second nature, but for now every stitch is wonderfully challenging!

One of the great things about BRK is there are so many people willing to lend a hand when you get into trouble! Here I am with Suzie who kept a watchful eye on my progress! Thanks so much Suzie for all your help today! Also not pictured, I wanted to thank Karin, Jane and Rebecca!

Looking forward to working on this, watching it take shape and eventually turning into a real hat!

That's all my knitting news to report today, Im off for a run to relax my brain from counting stitches! This has been a wonderful Saturday! Thanks everybody!

I'm Purling!

Today was another exciting day for me! I went to my favorite LYS Broad Ripple Knits and Karin taught me how to purl!!!

Going to practice this for a while then we will start my first hat tomorrow! I cant wait!  We were going to begin the hat today but forgot I didnt know how to purl yet opps, lol :)

Anyway spent about three hours at BRK knitting this afternoon was great fun meeting new people and learning all kinds of great knitting stuff!!!

Off to practice my purl stitch so I will be ready to begin my first hat tomorrow!!!

Knitting with Balls!

Today I wanted to share a really awesome book with you all Knitting With Balls: A hands-on guide to knitting for the modern Man by Michael del Vecchio this is a wonderful book especially for us guys who are new to knitting.

It has a great introduction and chapters on tools, materials, basics, lots of beautiful photos for inspiration and great patterns that I can't wait to try once my skill level catches up :)

It is very well illustrated, with step-by-step instructions for every stitch that are very easy to follow.

This book isn't just for guys either, everyone will have a great time with this book getting an insight into mens knitting and knitting for men.

Tomorrow I am starting my first hat! I'm so excited I can hardly wait! I'll be sure to fill you all in.

Now I'm off to do some knitting!

Indy Pub Knitters Meetup

Had a super time this evening at the Indy Pub Knitters Meetup! It was a real treat to have some great food at Riviera Maya in Fishers and meet some really friendly knitters! I got to hear about some amazing knitting and had a real fun time hanging out and meeting a great bunch of knitters!

We all knitted away and talked about past, present and future projects while we waited for our delicious dinners. After dinner more talking, more knitting and I managed to grab a passer by to click a photo of our group!

Thanks Katrina, Karen, Cindy, Joan, Nancy and Susan for a wonderful evening! Looking forward to the next Meetup!

Yarn for Mom and a Hat for Maxx!

Today after work I headed straight to my favorite LYS Broad Ripple Knits and I couldn't get there fast enough! First thing I did was pick up a couple skeins of yarn to send my Mom who volunteered to make a scarf for Super Scarves.

If your not familiar with this community project just follow this link: Super Scarves: Cast on to Kick Off, Super Bowl XLVI.

Next, Karin (owner BRK) helped me get my second project My Super Scarf going. I'm very excited about this project as it is going to be my first one using two different colors as well as learning to purl stitch!

Then I picked out supplies for my third project, a hat for my son Maxx. This will be my first go at knitting a hat and Karin helped me get everything together I'll need. Friday or Saturday she is going to show me how to get that started! I can hardly wait!!! Maxx's favorite color is red so one red hat coming up!

I stayed about an hour and worked on my Super Scarf it was great fun as I learned how to cast on myself for the first time! I could have stayed there all night, lol, but had to head out to the Indy Pub Knitters MeetUp!

The Yarn Gourmet!

I was in South Bend, IN., today at Notre Dame for work. After work I headed off to visit the LYS!

I found myself at The Yarn Gourmet which is a fun little yarn shop about to celebrate its first year in business next month!

Upon entering the store I received a friendly greeting and was made to feel right at home. The staff was awesome and I look forward to dropping in again next time I'm in South Bend!

I had fun browsing around and picked up some point protectors and yes I spotted a skein of yarn I just had to have! It was a fun looking Cascade Quatro #1957

Now I'm going to just put this aside when I get home, but isn't it fun to think of what this might become?

Halfway there!

My first week of knitting has been awesome! Being new to knitting I'm enjoying all the awesome firsts of a new hobby.

Today I begin the second skein of yarn on my scarf. It was exciting to add in the second skien since this was my first time ever doing it! I was a little bit nervous but it worked out great! Now I'm at the halfway point of my scarf and I've got two little pieces of yarn hanging out the side to mark this milestone!!

I'm Knitting!

I started knitting on March 30th, 2011

Here it is my first pair of needles and ball of yarn!

I visited Broad Ripple Knits and Karin the owner introduced me to the wonderful world of knitting! She helped me get my very first scarf started. She was really great and made me feel right at home, it was a great welcome to the knitting community!

Check out my first project: My First Scarf