Wednesday Review

Well, I would like to  have something of vital importance to review today, but I don't. I only have a miscellaneous rambling. I recently went on a really long car trip. I mean really long. 6 hrs each way. I brought 2 knitting projects with me, and had high hopes of making a serious dent in either one of them. Imagine my surprise when, attacking them with real focus, I discover the patterns to be so complex that I can't even make a nubble, let alone a dent in any of them for the entire trip?! For every time I try, I get my nickers in a twist, a migraine, and serious car sickness. And I am never car sick. Never. I couldn't even do them in the hotel. I had to keep frogging them out. It was maddening!
Then I had a close friend who ordered a hat, scarf, and glove set from me. For some strange reason, this set has been doomed from the beginning. The hat had to be frogged, but was finally finished. The complex lace scarf got coffee spilt all over it, yarn had to be reordered, it took forever, but it is finally finished. And now the glove pattern was driving me insane. The time crunch was just getting to me. So I scrapped 2 of the original patterns I had, scrapped the yarn, and I am going to the old gift standby, my lettuce arm warmers. I know that y'all are tired of seeing them, but for the price of the yarn, it is a good value and warm. Also, it is done in a jiffy and produce impressive results. And they are always a crowd pleaser. I already have one arm done. Results to follow on Friday.

Finished Fridays:Stripe Study Shawl

I had my eye out on this shawl since I started following Julie Crawford’s blog, knittedbliss. I was just looking for the right color contrast. I wanted stark simplicity. Think IKEA meets cold winter day. So imagine my glee when I came upon some yarn at a roadside stand. It appeared to be a heavy fingering/light worsted. In a loverly cream and flannel grey. They yarn is nubbly and wonderful. The pattern is great and easy to follow. I would definitely reccomend wet blocking if you have enough room. I didn’t have enough yarn to make a full-size shawl, so it turned out to be more of a shawlette, but I still love it!
I also did this in 2-3 days, but I stayed up 'till 2 in the morning. I don't know if I would reccomend that.

Wednesday Review:thelivingfarm.org sustainable yarn

This week's review is for a yarn that I picked up on my holiday to Aspen, CO. I found it at a surprising place. A roadside produce stand. We came to a screeching halt when I noticed that it had a huge painted sign that read,"Yarn Store." Store might be an overstatement, but it did have a nice little selection of handspun, locally farmed, sustainable yarn. Since I had never worked with organic, sustainable yarn, I was dying (haha, dying, get it?!) to try it out. I even had a pattern in mind. Pics to follow on Finished Friday. So I picked up 2 hanks of undyed, handspun yarn. They came in luscious cream and flannel grey color. If I had to guess I would say that they were a fingering or light worsted weight. Nice and nubbly, just what you would expect and what I was hoping for out of homespun yarn.
I used them on a really simplistic, stark shawl pattern. One that would show off the contrast in color. I did not find them difficult to work with. I found the difference in widths from hand spinning to be refreshing and inspiring. It almost made me think about learning how to spin. And then I slapped myself awake and woke up.
I love the lusciousness of stark undyed color. It is great. There wasn't too much lanolin present. I even had a little left over. I could probably make a small child's stuffed animal. I liked this yarn. A lot. I would totally reccomend this roadside stand, and the yarn. I wish that I could go to where it was made and see the process. Gorgeous yarn, excellent, warm end product, great for you and the environment. What more could you ask for? 4 stars.

I'd like to supersize it

Today, my friends, you will be getting a 2 for 1 blog. A product review and a finished up project blog. I will be out of town for Finished up Friday. Off to the Denver area I go from Thursday to return on Sunday. Hopefully to work on some fingerless mitts in the meantime. But I have been furiously knitting and have finished one shawl. It started out as the Weekend Shawl, knit in the color black in Knit Picks Gloss. I frogged it out because I just could not make the increase and decrease the designer requested work. So I was winging it. Then I got halfway done and decided I didn't like the way I was winging it either. So I tried it her way and finally got it right. I worked on it tediously. I followed it down to the letter. So I got down to the lace portion, followed it down to the letter. And you know what?! It didn't turn out looking anything like the picture. Not one gosh darn bit. The straight lines were not straight. I even placed markers, redid my counts, recounted my lines. Everything was perfect. So I must assume there is an error in the pattern. But since I was under a time crunch (I had to have it done in a week), I decided to do only 1 repeat of the Sunday lace border, and called it a day. So, personally, the only beefs with the pattern I have is that I think it is wonky, the picture is deceiving (if you really want a shawl that reaches to the bottom of your fingertips, you should have 140 sts in between markers, not 70),  and there is NO WAY you could finish this in a weekend. Unless you are a mindless zombie insomniac who gets fed through a tube. I also wet blocked it, which I thought was helpful. And it turned out to be a pleasant surprise, because I changed the form to make it look like a black butterfly instead of a horribly awry wonky peacock. So I have renamed it the black swallowtail. Not bad for my first lace shawl.
Now for the product review. Knit picks' Gloss. It is a lace weight yarn, made of 70% merino wool, 30% silk. You have 440 yards to the hank. It is hand wash /dry flat. It is currently available at: http://www.knitpicks.com/ at the price of $4.29 a hank. Which made this shawl roughly $8.58. Not half bad. The loft is nice and the stitch definition isn't too bad either. If you are looking for a lacy, ethereal, cobweby (is that a word?), traditional look, this is probably not for you. But it does make a lovely, squishy shawl. Good for average warmth on a lightly breezy evening. I would give it 3.75 out of 5 stars.

Wednesday Review

Tecnically, it is Thursday, but let's just pretend it's Wednesday, and we won't tell anyone,right?! Right. I will be reviewing the artesano 4 ply alpaca put out by One Planet Fiber & Yarn. http://www.oneplanetyarnandfiber.com/4_Ply_sport_weight_alpaca_s/3371.htm
I really like this company. This is my first encounter with them. Their website is easy to navigate, they give you points for every dollar spent, and shipping was speedy.  Here is a little about them and their motto:

Welcome to One Planet Yarn and Fiber, a unique global marketplace. We search the world for quality yarns, fibers and related products. One of our goals is to represent small independent artisans and companies from every corner of the globe. We have luxurious cashmere yarns from Asia, gorgeous and colorful hand painted yarns and related items from artisans in South America, Chile and Argentina, the USA, England, India, Asia, Canada, Australia and many other locations. We also have unique, hip and fun accessories, spinning items, patterns and design ideas for you.

We have our own design team developing an entire pattern portfolio for our own two lines of yarn Black Pearl Yarns and Lanas Puras Yarns. One Planet Yarn and Fiber is an independent company located in Scottsdale, Arizona. If you live in the state of Arizona and purchase from us, you will be charged sales tax.

We are also environmentally conscious! Our packing materials are made from 75% recycled materials and we recycle all of our suppliers boxes and shipping materials.

We hope to do our small part for world peace by bringing together the most unique and luxurious yarn and fiber we can find worldwide, supporting independent businesses and donating a portion of our profits to a world peace and Indigenous community organizations. Our love of yarn and fiber, knitting and spinning, brings us together regardless of our individual backgrounds or culture.

My first encounter with them was, as I have mentioned using the artesano 4-ply alapaca. I was very impressed. Lots of glide and not the slightedst bit itchy. This is a boon, considering that I was using it in  a hat. I would definitely reccomend it again. I would give it 5 out of 3 stars. Here is a picture of a sample:

I used the violet and the biscuit colorway to make the adult version of Alana Dakos' Molly hat pattern. To find the link to purchase said hat, you may go to Ravelry, or to: http://nevernotknitting.blogspot.com/2009/09/molly.html

The yarn, at $6.95 a pop, is a real steal! Check it out!

Makeup Monday

I have decided to call Mondays Makeup Mondays to compensate for all of the planned blogs that I was supposed to do the previous week but didn't get around to. This is becoming more and more frequent, but not due to laziness or design. Ok. Maybe a little bit of laziness. But I wasn't able to do Finished Friday because I have been entertaining my uncle and cousin from California, and we were out of town all day showing them the sights. So that is my valid excuse.
But I did finish the lace-tipped striped scarf by Hannah Fettig. The pattern was easy to follow and did turn out well. That is, if there weren't some massive problems and more than a few hiccups along the way. Most of which were my fault, but some of which were adjustments to be made due to yarn substitutions. I am just copying what I noted on my Ravelry page of my misadventures. This is what follows:
Ok. I copied the listed materials from Alana Dakos in Never Not Knitting, but I didn’t find it exactly true to size. I was a little frustrated, but I admit I was partly to blame. She reccomended 2 balls of the cashmerino for the 2 halves. I would reccomend 3 for equal sized halves true to the size scarf listed in the book. And she reccomended only 1 ball of the kidsilk haze. I do agree that 1 ball goes a long way, but I would still get 2. That being said, I admit that my frustration was partly my fault. This was a gift. And halfway through, coffee got spilt all over it and I tried to clean it according to directions. Massive failure. I had to start it all over again. Making it the longest project ever, totally late, and the most insanely frustrating project known to mankind. Combining the fact that the needle reccomended was very small, the stripes are incredibly skinny, it requires blocking, and the kitchener stitch nearly drove me to drink, and I would say with confidence that I would never make this scarf again. Not for me or anyone else. But I must say that it did turn out pretty well. And it started out in November. I was hoping it was going to finish in January, but it is now May. Nuff said.
So here is a pic of the final product:

Wednesday Review: Rowan Kidsilk Haze

Welcome, folks. Today I am reviewing Rowan Kidsilk Haze, popular in lace knitting. I had an opportunity to use it in the Lace-Tipped striped scarf pattern by Hannah Fettig, which I will be showing pics of on Friday. I can see the value of its popularity due to its lightness and, obviously, the light aura, or "haze" that it provides in the finished product. Also, it has quite a bit of yardage , running at 229 yards per ball. I paid $14.95 a ball at Jimmy Beans Wool, my preferred online yarn store of choice. Also, they come in a wide range of colors.
I have read 20 reviews on the yarn, most commenting on the softness of the fabric provided. The downside being the tediousness of the thin thread. I must concur. I have to say that I would probably use it for only 1 pattern I have. I made a really beautiful long lace scarf early in my knitting career. It was my first lace endeavor ever. It called for a ball of le fibre nobili. Similar effect. But if you make any mistakes with this yarn, you are proverbially screwed. To try to undo it is to make a massive tangle of yarn. So you almost have to buy a "safety ball" to cover your butt. I am not sure it is worth the risk.
So, my conclusion is: Nice effect, but you might want to think twice. 2.5 out of 5 stars.

Rowan Kidsilk Haze in Dewberry, a lavender color