Eggs, 7.0

It's early March and right on cue: Ta - DA! Heinrich has laid the first egg for the SEVENTH year in a row! We'll see how productive the chickens will be at this advanced age, but for now I am so excited to eat fresh omelets and sandwiches.

Yum!

Yarn Along: Finishing Up!

I’ve been looking at my Ravelry account and noting a few long-time projects that really should be finished by now. After pulling out this sample knit that I am calling “Neck Toaster,” I realized that I only needed a few more rows until completion. It was finished less than an hour later... Since my blogger account is refusing to upload photos today, here is the Ravelry link: https://www.ravelry.com/projects/elisabethsknits/necktoaster
The yarn is from our farm, Shady Grove Alpacas, and is Lopi spun with 10% tencil added in. It took 5.7 ounces of yarn from a skein that weighed just over 6 ounces. Our lovely first cria, Dark Star, was kept in full fleece for 21 months, yielding 12 POUNDS of 11 inch long locks that had to be spun Lopi-style. It is a ridiculously rich and heavy fabric! Here is a link to Dark Star’s first shearing day: http://greedyforwool.blogspot.com/2013/05/fuzzy-oh-was-he.html?m=0
Yarn Along day at Ginny’s was yesterday, and I definitely recommend viewing some additional fun craftiness on other blogger’s pages here: https://www.gsheller.com/2019/02/yarn-along-february-2.html
Till next time!

Awesome Socks!

Or maybe the expression is “Awsome Sauce?” I’ll have to ask my students when we return to school on Tuesday.

Anyway, I am a bit embarrassed to admit that I may have begged my mom for a pair of new socks. Perhaps persuade is a better term... possibly extort... She was knitting another family member these same socks in February. So when she showed up at Thanksgiving knitting the same socks AGAIN for the same person, there may have been protesting and wrangling. 

These socks are all sorts of perfect: orange, green, maroon and full of that “oh so soft new sock” softness. I’m so happy I got a pair, and that my SIL also has fabulous footwear! My mom is the BEST!

Happy Hat & Yarn Along

Happy New Year, friends! Yesterday I had to drop my nephew off at the airport and took just one piece of entertainment: a fresh ball of yarn and knitting needles. He was flying as an unaccompanied minor, which requires the responsible party to wait until the plane is in the air before leaving the airport. Sure enough, the plane was delayed by several hours, allowing me to get most of the hat finished!

• Pattern: Wurm, with some modifications (due to winging the pattern!)
  
• Yarn: A Wing and a Prayer Farm “Thelma and Louise” DK
• Needles: Size 4 & 6
• Start date: January 1
• Finish date: January 2
• Ravelry notes here: https://www.ravelry.com/projects/elisabethsknits/wurm

I love how springy the hat is, making it super warm and insulated. It was my first time knitting with a mohair blend, and I really liked the feel! I hope it doesn’t pill to much because the yarn was already pilling coming off the skein... We’ll see how it holds up.

I got a few biographies and the novel “Dictator” for Christmas. I had to laugh, as my mom had written the tag from both her and my dad (who passed away in 2017 and loved talking about politics). Looking forward to reading a good thriller of Ancient Rome before passing it back to my youngest brother, who originally gifted it to my dad!  The circle of stories...

Please join all the lovely folks at Ginny’s Yarn Along to get your next pattern and book ideas: https://www.gsheller.com/2019/01/yarn-along-january.html

Little Oak Sweater

One gift I was very excited about was for my niece #7. Her mom gifted me the Coastal Knits pattern book a few years back, indicating that the Gnarled Oak sweater made her think of me. I found a small version of the pattern and thought it might be a fun gift for her daughter.

• Pattern: Little Oak by Alana Dakos
  
• Yarn: Lion Brand Wool-Ease Solids, Heathers, and Twists in colorway forest green 
• Needles: size 5 & 6
• Start date: October 28
• End date: December 25

I did not have long stretches of knitting time, so it took me a little longer than I planned. I also dragged my feet for a few weeks when I had to knit the leaf tips. The directions were not very clear/accurate. I knit the neck of the sweater in a rib pattern instead of as stated to make it a little longer and close the neckline more. Since the yarn was so much thicker than recommended, I knit the smallest size which gave me a 4T size according to the pattern dimensions. This child is two, and it happens to fit just right, so that’s pretty lucky! Finally, I forgot to buy buttons, but luckily my stash still had a few decent choices. Apparently my niece likes the big buttons best - haha! I would definitely knit this sweater again sometime!

Mitts!

Chanukah and Christmas have come and gone, (with exception of the 7 remaining Christmas days), but of course the knitting is just now getting completed. At the very last minute I decided to knit my sister-in-law some mitts. I had one finished for our gift exchange on December 26, and managed to knit the second one by last night.

• Pattern: Wheaten Fingerless Mitts by Anne Hanson
  
• Start date: December 24 at 6:00 am
• End date: December 28 at 6:00 pm
• Yarn: 2016 Shady Grove Alpacas Sport in colorway Dark Star with 10% tencil, 1.7 oz or just under one skein 
• Needles: size 2 and 3
• For: Kate

This was another wonderful pattern, very easy and so pretty and rewarding. The Dark Star sport yarn is 90% alpaca and 10% tencil, a combination that I seem to be less allergic to than regular 100% alpaca. I might try this yarn in a project that is for me, just to test the theory... 🥰 

Winter Accessory Challenge

The other day, I was organizing my winter accessory storage. Seeing every item laid out on my bar made me realize that I put so little effort into truly wearing them regularly. So I decided to challenge myself to wear something, preferably several coordinated knits, daily. I’ve only had a few days of non-compliance so far. But I also see a deficit in mittens and might need a warmer white hat to match all those fun shawls and cowls.

Hey, that sounds like an excuse to knit! See you all in a while...