Long time, no posty

I have been in and out of town for a while. A long while. Every 3 weeks. And I have been working on a shawl and making very little headway. Then my home health nurse decided to leave me, so I worked on 3 little projects for her. Then I decided things were just out of control. I mean seriously. I have at least 10 unfinished projects just laying around my yarn room begging to be worked on. Possibly more. And here you are, being neglected. So I made a list to prioritize. It doesn't mean that I am working any faster. It just means that I am working in order now. And I am going out of town again. For the second time in 2 weeks. And I will be out of town again next week. I am now officially living out of a suitcase. It is exhausting on my health. I am officially clinically exhausted. Not to mention that traveling is exhausting my wallet. At a time when my husband is changing careers, it is most inconvenient. If there was any way around this, I would find one. But there is not. So here we go.
Party wristlets

I just needed a quick project that took me less than a day for a going away present for my home health nurse, Alicia. I am not a big fan of buying yarn from large chain stores, but it had to do in a pinch. It turned out ok, and Alicia was happy with the results, which is all that really matters.



Sparkly Stockinette Scarf
I find that the best scarf in a rush is two novelty yarns held together and knit in a stockinette. It is quick, and it provides the desired effect. Especially if the gift receiver knows nothing about knitting, they are really impressed. This was made out of two sparkly yarns, burgundy and gun metal grey. I spent a lot of money initally on the yarns at a little yarn store in Mendocino, CA. They are Italian, but I lost the labels and can’t remember the name of the yarn. This scarf is definitely more about form than function.

 Sparkle flower wristlets

I just needed a quick project that took me less than a day for a going away present for my home health nurse, Alicia. I am not a big fan of buying yarn from large chain stores, but it had to do in a pinch. It turned out ok, and Alicia was happy with the results, which is all that really matters. Also, I used leftovers, not the sparkly yarn that the pattern called for. I also used some leftover beads that I had.

Finished Up Fridays

I have a new shawl to review that I have finished. It is called the landscape shawl. It is an alarmingly easy shawl. It has a variety of panels, seed stitch, stockinette, and lace in it. It is perfect for a first-timer looking to take on a shawl or a lace project. And it turns out very lovely. My only beef with it is that it says that it requires 430 yards of fingering weight yarn, and even though my guage was spot on, I ran out of yarn and had to leave out some repeats. Fortunately I blocked it out large and it is still more of a shawlette. I would have advertised it as needing more of 470 yards. You want pics?! As you wish:

Yes, I know it is not Wednesday, nor is it Friday

I thought that I would give a brief review to The Fibre Company's Road to China Light yarn. Typically this would be done in the Wednesday Review, but I have committed myself to an extraordinary amount of volunteer work this month, so everything else is going to seed. The Road to China Light is comprised of baby alpaca, camel, and cashmere, and is endurably soft. That being said, I thought that the stitch definition would be more clear for the pattern  I was working on according to pictures I had seen on other peoples' blogs. But I was not disappointed by the softness. The loft was very nice, and I have received several nice comments about the yarn. I would reccomend it again. 4 out of 5 stars.
I am also reviewing Patons lace and sequins. It is sturdy, comes in a variety of lovely colors, and I like the sequins. It is nice to see a sequin yarn that doesn't look like the sequins have been thrown up all over the place, vomited to inconsistency. I know it isn't the ideal fancy yarn that costs $50 per ball, but it still looks classy at an eighth the cost. Sometimes you gotta go on a budget, you know?! I would give it 3 out of 5 stars.

Also, I would like to post some finished projects. This is just a basic stockinette stitch scarf that I made out of the 2 yarns that I reviewed in my previous post. I am not a fan of fashion yarn, but if you have to get rid of it, and you need a fast scarf, I do reccomend a fast stockinette scarf. I do not, however, reccomend crocheting with fashion yarn, as you will lose your stitches should you need to rip it back. But my grandma liked the scarf, and that is all that matters.

Next up is the frukttgard hat, which I am sure that I am spelling incorrectly, which I made with The Fibre Company's Road to China Light in Grey Pearl. I enjoyed the finished project, and the process wasn't too tedious, however, the directions required 1 skein. I ended up with 12 rows to go and needing another skein. Yes, I checked my guage. And I would have made the smaller size. I perennially find that making the larger size, despite my very large noggin, makes it too large after fulling the yarn.

And here is a leaf and vine hat that I made many moons ago in a needle size larger and a yarn heavier than called for. Therefore, it turned out to be a beanie, and not a beret. But I still like it.

And last, but not least, is a potato chip scarf in Patons lace and sequins. It could not be a simpler project, and it achieves the desired result. And a little bit of sparkle is nice every once in a while.

Review

Yes, folks, I am back to knitting. So here is a brief review of 2 new yarns that I have tried. One is dragon fly by classic elite. It is a novelty yarn that has little paperesque pieces tied to the yarn string. I suppose that they are trying to replicate dragonfly wings, for lack of a better word. Novelty yarns aren't really my thing, but I did go through a period where I did snatch up a bunch of them, and now I have to use them. So as novelty yarns go, this one is pretty interesting. It gives visual appeal. I would reccomend knitting with it, because if you crochet with it, you lose all your stitches. You won't be able to figure out where they are. It would really stink. But it turns out really cute. I just reccoment pairing with another yarn as well to give it some heft. I give it 3 out of 5 stars.
The second yarn is La Gran Classic Elite Mohair. It is definitely mohair-y. It is strong and has an aura about it that has a resemblance to a cloud. It may be too much for some people, but it blended well with my other yarn for a scarf, and it was very warm. I would give it 3 out of 5 stars.

It's all ok

It's all ok. I know that I haven't been posting as much because I haven't been knitting as much. Truth is, I haven't been doing much of anything. I haven't been inspired. I have mostly been ignoring my projects, ignoring my stash, making lots of medical trips, and reading alot. And I mean alot. And getting alot of rest and laying down alot. But you know what? That is ok too. It's ok to veg. It's ok to take a break, recharge, and focus on more important things, like your family and your health. After all, if you can't make important decisions because you're distracted, then what is the point, huh?

I'm cheating on my knitting and crocheting

Ok. The reason why I haven't posted is #1: I haven't had anything to post about. And #2: I have been cheating on my knitting and crocheting. With what, you may ask? Needlework. Occasionally, I get the urge to sort colors of thread, get out the fray check, and do some work. Usually in winter time while watching Jane Austen movies. I haven't done it in a month of Sundays. And all this knitting was just getting to be an overwhelming pile of jumbly yarn to me. But don't worry. The siren song of yarn is still calling. But for now I am pleasantly cross stitching a quilt sampler.

Finished Fridays:Oak Grove Mitts

Sorry about the long time no finished. But I forgot that I had finished anything, until I realized that I had these. These are the Oak Grove Mitts by Alana Dakos, and this is what I gotta say about them:
I got this yarn in exchange for a test knit. The color saturation was really nice. Exactly what I wanted, as the sunlit amber demonstrated would be too orange for me, and I look beastly in anything with an orange hue. The pattern kept me on my toes. I must confess that I experienced a bit of second mitt syndrome. But I am glad I did it. I had a bit of a looser gauge with the second mitt and I had a better leaf due to it. I only regret that my pics aren’t nicer because my husband isn’t really down with taking pics of me in knitted items, and it is really hard to take pics facing down of yourself in mittens.