Resolutions….what are those? January 24, 2010

I have a vague memory of making a new years resolution to not buy any new yarn until I had significantly decreased my current yarn stash. It’s a nice thought. It would have been a great achievement if it weren’t for two things that went horribly wrong. First, I had some gift cards and money left over from Christmas. Second, I walked into a yarn shop with my eyes open. It all went down hill from there. Now I know I should have known better. I did know better, but I’ll let you in on a little secret. I didn’t care! We were in town visiting family, and I was on a shopping trip with my mom. We like yarn shops. It’s our thing.

I was completely taken over by all the bright and bold colors. I came out with the following:

Mini Mochi from Crystal Palace Yarn in the Intense Rainbow colorway. I have plans to pick up two more skeins to knit up a Midwest Moonlight scarf with this yarn. I can’t wait!

I got two skeins of this beautiful Noro Taiyo yarn. Noro yarn is made in Japan. I was already knitting a hat with one of the skeins when I took these pictures. I have another one coming with my extra mini mochi. The second skein is going to become a hat as well and the third a scarf.

I also picked up some sock yarn:

This yarn was made in Italy.

I also bought some Pattons Classic Wool to make two more pair of the French Press Slippers.

Black with these buttons:

and

with these buttons:

Now I have not totally abandoned my knitting from the stash endeavor. I have plans to knit up several ribbed hats (my favorite hat pattern) and send them with my parents to sell on the missions table at our Church General Assembly this year. I will also knit up some headbands and little knitted bags. I have already gotten a good start on this.

I am also working on a lace sampler knit along that I found on Ravelry. I have finished the January panel and am waiting for the February panel. This is also being knitted from my lace stash. The yarn is Jagger Spun and the color is Daffodil.

I think it is going to turn out to be more of a scarf than a shawl though.

I am determined to knit up most of my current yarn stash. I’m also trying to not have so many projects going at the same time. Another battle in which I find myself on the loosing side. I figure I will eventually run out of knitting needles and will be forced to finish some projects before I can cast on new ones. In the mean time I will continue to try to fight the good fight. So long as that fight includes yarn and bright colors all will be well.

Oh and that Noro hat I was knitting. I did finish it, and am in love with it!

A close up of the hat

I love how the color change just blends as the yarn is knitted. The Noro knits up beautifully! And the hat is very warm!

French Press Slippers January 11, 2010

I’ve always entertained the idea of knitting up some felted slippers to wear around the house, but never could find a cute slipper pattern that I really liked………until now. Enter Melynda Bernardi and her beautiful French Press Slippers pattern. These are by far the cutest slipper pattern that I have seen, and so easy to knit! Since discovering the French Press Slippers I have also become a fan of Melynda’s blog…..French Press Knits. You can buy the French Press Slippers pattern from Melynda’s blog or on Ravelry. I highly recommend this pattern to everyone! It’s a very addictive pattern! I just finished my second pair and am already planning my next pair!

That said, on to the slippers!

These slippers knit up so fast on the size 15 needles. This pair is my most successful pair. I used Bernat Felting Wool in the English Rose colorway.

You knit all the pieces separately and then sew them together. Here is a shot of the soles.

Once you get them all seamed together they look HUGE! I’m talking clown shoes big. I neglected to get a picture of the English Rose slippers before felting. So here is a picture of the first pair I did before felting.

Now the Bernat Felting Wool took a little longer than I was expecting to start felting in the washing machine. However, once the felting began it went pretty quickly. I probably could have felted the straps a little bit more, but they still look good.

Oh the difference hot water and agitation makes.

After felting and drying all that is left is to sew on the straps and add a cute button and you have some super cute felted slippers.

Tadaaaa……….

French Press Slippers!!!!

Happy New Years January 1, 2010

Out with 2009 and in with 2010. A new year, another new beginning. It is the time of the year when people reflect on the past year and make plans and resolutions for the new year. I’ve come up with a few resolutions of my own. I’d like to decrease my yarn stash this year. I collected a lot of yarn in 2009. In 2010 I’m going to try to not buy yarn unless I have a specific project for it, like sock yarn. I have a lot of knitting to do. Also I want to beat the number of books I read for 2010. I read 27 books in 2009, I am aiming for 30 in 2010. Those are just a couple of resolutions I have set for myself for 2010.

In knitting news. I have completed the gussets on my Angee sock. So now I am knitting up the foot part of the sock.

As part of my de-stashing effort for 2010, I’m knitting a doggie sweater for Taffy. I’m using some left over Swish Bulky yarn from Knitpicks. The color is Brindle heather. I’m still working on the back part of the sweater.

I also picked up some Bernat Felting yarn to try the French Press Slippers again. Once I finish these slippers I’ll create a post about the process.

The French Press Slippers pattern is a very easy to knit pattern. I’m really enjoying the knitting process. The instructions were written by an up and coming knitting designer. You can find the link to her blog (French Press Knits) in my links section. I finished knitting the soles of the slippers the other day.

I’m planning on going through my yarn stash within the next week or so to create a list of what yarn I have and what projects each yarn would be good for. I’m thinking that I am going to be making a lot of hats and scarves this year.

Christmas gifts, in no particular order

I had a pretty good Christmas. I appreciate all the gifts that I was given. I received very nice things from my family.

As you can see, all great gifts! I also received a beautiful gray sweater from my parents that I don’t have a picture of. The best part of Christmas was getting to see my family.