Jenny Knits

Started a new Sweater the other day.  I’ve had this beautiful wool, Paton’s Classic Wool, Moss Heather color,  sitting in my stash and finally found a good project for it.  I only have 6 skeins of this yarn.  For a typical sweater, I’d use at least 9-10 skeins.  I saw this sweater in Interweave Knits, Summer 2010 it’s called Marigold and knew this yarn would be perfect.  It’s short sleeve so I won’t need as much yarn, and the cool lace pattern also lends itself to not much yardage needed.

I’ve never made such a “fitted” sweater.  Usually I go for loose, sometimes baggy, easy-to-get-into sweaters.  I plan on making this sweater for my sister whose figure is much more suited to a fitted sweater than mine.

It’s knitting up quick and after a day of knitting I’m half way up the back on the way to the armhole cast offs.  I plan on working both front panels at the same time, while taking a tad longer to knit, this will ensure both front panels to be exactly the same length.

My goal is to have this done by mid-June.

Update:  Finished Sweater July 19, 2010.  Finished a few other projects while knitting this sweater.

I have several….but the addition I want to talk about is my addition to playing World of Warcraft.  There I said it.  I understand that is half the battle….admitting you have a problem.  Well, not really a problem, but it does cut into my knitting time!  Oh noes!

I love to play World of Warcraft.  Better known as WoW.  I love it.  I never thought I’d get that excited about playing a video game.  Looking at me, you wouldn’t immediately think nerd, at least I don’t think so.  But I am.  I got started one long holiday weekend.  My hubby had been playing for a while and kept telling me that he thought I’d like this game.  I would say…sure honey, look at his computer screen and then head back to the couch to knit.

So one weekend, I figured what the heck.  Let’s try it.  The learning curve for me was a little steep since I had never played video games and had no concept about the world I was entering.  I created my first character…which we call toons…and began my adventure in Elwynn Forest.  I soon learned how to navigate  my character through the world, learned how to quest and level up and started to learn about stats on my gear and weapons.

I kept playing and really started to understand the game and my role in it.  I was also, surprisingly, making friends inside the game!  Now before you think I’m really going off the deep-end, I made friends with other real life people who are also playing WoW.  You can play the game totally alone and only interact with computer generated characters, or you can group up with other real-life players who are doing the same quests as you.  You help each other meet the objectives and you work side-by-side to conquer the challenging monsters you encounter.   I met people from all over the world.  I met stay-at-home-moms playing a few hours before their kids got home from school.  I met college students getting in an hour before a class started, and I met men just like my husband who had gotten their wives to play and we would all go out on quests together on a Friday night “date” night.

So now, 3 years later, I’m still playing.  I raid 4 nights a week.  Meaning I’m in a raiding guild that is doing end-game content and slowly but surely defeating the most challenging monsters.  I’ve met so many wonderful people playing this game.  I’ve also met wonderful people right here in Orlando who play WoW.  I started a WoW meetup group 3 years ago and it’s been A LOT of fun.  We meet once a month and just talk about playing WoW.  We have new players and old-timers.  Everyone is welcome and we talk about our characters and how to play the game better.  If you are interested in joining us, please feel free to join the group HERE.

Ok, back to that sweater I’m working on….

Making a new scarf project and using a new yarn that I am loving!  Saw the yarn for the first time at Joann’s the other day.  It’s called Stitch Nation by Debbie Stoller Bamboo Ewe.  It’s made by Red Heart.  There are several different blends of this brand and I was drawn to the Bamboo.   It is 55% Bamboo and 45% Wool.   It looks like it is “felt-able” since it calls for hand-washing in cold water.  I’ll probably try to felt with it on my next project.

I purchased 2 skeins at $4.99 each and started looking for a quick 2 skein project.  Found this pattern on Ravelry and even better, IT’S FREE!  It’s called 198 yards of Heaven.   Working this pattern with this beautiful yarn has really been Heavenly!  The yarn itself feels very light weight and not as heavy as a worsted weight yarn, although it is listed as  a “4″ Medium yarn.  The color is listed as Geranium.  Sort of a red-slightly- peachy-orange flavor.

Of course, being a lacy pattern, it does require paying some attention to the pattern each row.  It is knitting up very quick and I think will look great with a suit or under a winter jacket.  It looks great too with a jeans shirt too.  I’ll post the finished project on the photo gallery page.

Have you tried Loom knitting yet?  It’s a whole lot of fun.

Sure it looks a little spooky and doesn’t resemble your pointy sticks at all.  How do you begin?  What will you make?

I found patterns by Googling loom knitting or circle looms.  There are quite a few patterns on Lion Brand’s website as well.

The different color rings are for different size projects.  Using the Lion Brand Knitfy Knitters the blue ring is for baby size heads, the Red ring fits kids, The Green ring for adult heads.  The Yellow ring is for even bigger projects, and I used mine to knit flat projects back-and-forth rather than in the round.

Here’s the basics….you begin by looping the yarn around each peg  going in a counter clockwise pattern wrapping the pegs one at a time.  Once you’ve wrapped each peg with a loop one time, then repeat and put a second loop around each peg.  After this, use the hook that comes with loom and pull the loop on the bottom of each peg and pull it up and over and off the peg.  It’s the same principle you learned when you learned how to bind off stitches.  This will leave one loop on each peg.  Stop and re-loop each peg with a second loop.  Then repeat using the hook and taking the bottom loop up and over and off the peg.  As you do this, you’ll grow your project into a connected tube of knitting.

It’s very easy to create hats, scarves and other fun projects.  I used the knifty knitter to make this little guy a few years ago.  Here’s the Free Pattern.

Wanted to make a quick scarf for when the cooler weather hits. I bought a ton of this yarn and have just started making some different projects with it. The yarn is Caron Simply Soft Shadows, color 0005 Soft Merino, medium weight “4″, 100% Acrylic. Needles are size 10.

I saw this pattern in a magazine for a sweater and it’s an easy 1 row repeat. Thought it would make a nice texture and show off the colors in this yarn.

The pattern is: Cast on a multiple of 4 stitches +3. That means make sure you cast on enough stitches that are a multiple of 4 stitches first….i.e. 12, 16, 24, 28, etc). Then add 3 more stitches. For scarf shown, I cast on 35 stitches. (32+3).

Row 1 (RS) *K2, p2; rep from * to last 3 sts, end k2, p1.
Repeat row 1 for pattern

I’m thinking I will add a “slit” midways through that will allow for one end of the scarf to be pulled through the hole to secure around the

neck rather than needing to wrap the scarf around the neck several times. I will add a photo of the completed project in this post when it is finished. Give me a couple more days!

Finished Scarf, Thanksgiving, 2009