Found a New Love

Tunisian crochet has captured my heart.  The cowl I made for the class I took at my LYS was fun to make.  I got to try out a few of the Tunisian stitches.  The variegated yarn worked out nicely.  All that is left to do is block it and sew on the buttons.

I fell in love so hard with Tunisian crochet that I bought a book to explore further.  There are several projects in here that I want to make.  I recommend the book because it give clear, illustrated instructions on how to perform each stitch.

I am making progress on my Stranded Cowl.  The tension in the color block rows might have been a tad too tight.  It seems to be puckering a bit.  Hopefully a bit of blocking will take that out.  I have to say I really love how the colors are working together.  The gold and dark green is vibrant.

I still have a few more sections to go on this cowl.  The class covers each section at a time.  Since it is a cold, blustery day, I'm going to reheat my tea and settle myself on the couch and get back to class.

Honoring My Veteran

Today is Veteran's Day in the United States.  It is a day to honor and remember all who have served the country to preserve the freedoms we enjoy.  My dad served in the army right after the end of World War II.  He spent 18 months in the army helping to rebuild the war-torn country.

I thought about posting my thoughts on the current climate in the US, but decided against it.  All I'll say is that I pray for peace.

Now on to something that brings joy:  fiber!!!

I am slowly getting my craft room organized.  I have a corner of the basement where I store all of my fabric, yarn, fiber, books and other supplies.  The wall along the right side of the photo below stores my yarn.  I organized it by weight.  It was quite a shock to realize how much I have accumulated.  The corner of the room is filled with fabric.  That still needs sorting.  Along the back wall  will be my books and other supplies.  I am making slow progress, but it is progress.

I finished the homework for the Tunisian crochet class.  Tomorrow I will take the second class and finish this cowl.  I really like Tunisian crochet and will make more items with this technique.  I'm not sure if I'll keep this cowl or turn it into  a Christmas gift.

I decided to take a Craftsy class on stranded knitting.  The project in the class is a cowl made out of worsted weight yarn.  I decided to dig through my stash and follow along.  This will end up being a Christmas present for my daughter.  After I get the hang of stranded knitting, I'll get back to knitting the other cowl using Portuguese knitting technique.

Herdliament??

A group of cows is called a herd.  A group of owls is called a parliament.  Is a group of cowls called a herdliament?  Whatever it is called, I am creating one.

Yesterday I took a class on Tunisian crochet at Knitting Temptations.  It is a 2-part class with the second class in 2 weeks.  We are making a cowl using three of the Tunisian stitches:  Tunisian simple stitch, Tunisian purl stitch and Tunisian full stitch.  I am really loving how the piece is working up.  The bottom edge of the piece is a combination of simple stitch and purl stitch, creating a honeycomb pattern.  The center is solid full stitch.  The top edge will repeat the honeycomb pattern.

After this project is done, I'd like to make more projects with this technique, however the instructor mentioned that there really isn't much in the way of patterns for Tunisian crochet.  She wants to write some patterns to fill the void.  As I'm making the cowl I can imagine a jacket in Tunisian crochet.  The fabric is thick but has more stretch than regular crochet.  It would be something classic looking, like this Karl Lagerfeld jacket.  Maybe I should design my own.  Hmmm....

I'm making progress on the Fall Run cowl.  I passed the halfway point on the pattern.  I really love the way the colors are working up.  As much as I love it, though, I think this will be gifted at Christmas.

Another cowl is on the needles.  This is the Gift of Thistle 1 cowl from Knitty.  I plan to make two of these, one for each of my girls.  I am practicing the Portuguese knitting technique that I learned earlier this year.  The first couple rows were fiddly but I am getting the hang of it.

Got My Goetta

The batch of goetta was a success.  Blake came home for the weekend and has been eating it every morning for breakfast.  Trisha is eating hers after she exercises for a blast of protein.  Kristin is very disappointed that she can't have any yet.  There is a chance some of her friends will be going to visit her next week.  If so, I'll send some up to her along with some other things around the house that she needs.

Several months ago I signed up for Knit Purl Hunter's sock knit along.  I bought this lovely skein of Stone Washed Zauberball.  As you can see I haven't cast on yet.  To be honest, I totally forgot about the event until I a mention of it in a newsletter from my LYS.  I'll have to put this on the "On Deck Circle" until I finish the socks I have in progress.

The Bat****Crazy socks have arisen from hibernation.  Once these are done, I will cast on the Zauberball.

I want to make mention that I am using Knitter's Pride Cubics for these socks.  I wasn't sure I would like the square cross section, but I have to admit I love them.  It might be my imagination but I think they grab the yarn a wee bit better than round needles.  I haven't had an issue of the needles sliding out of the stitches when the project is set aside.

I bought myself a couple new books.  I love Amy Herzog so I had to get her latest book.  I'll admit the second book was added to get the free shipping from Amazon (I know, don't tell me how spending $20 more to save $8 isn't really a savings!) but I'm glad I got it.  It has some really cute projects that look quick to knit up.  There is a pair of mittens that I think are going to be part of Kristin's Christmas presents 

Speaking of Christmas presents, I've started on one.  This is the Fall Run cowl from Destination Yarn.  This isn't the advertised colorway.  I'm making it in Sea and Shark Infested Waters.  I bought the yarn and pattern back in the summer when Jeanne was doing a trunk show at a LYS.

I have a few more projects I want to cast on, but I'll have to practise some restraint.  Patience.