Tag knitting

Below ZERO Temps… What do YOU do?

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This past week has been cold, below zero temps the other day. It’s not possible to walk, so I had to find “something” to do.

Joann Fabric had a huge yarn sale. I decided, time to knit a blanket. It’s coming along. I feel a bit like a granny. Since it will be big, it might take until Fall to complete, depends on how much time I commit to it.

While knitting, I’ve been watching Top Chef on Netflix. I didn’t know that show was still on. As they race against the clock competing, it keeps me going. Keep knitting – one more row, one more row!

Right now, I have dark grey and this light blue color. I’m trying to decide, stay with those two colors only or add this purple violet color. I’m always drawn to bright colors versus earth tones.

I’m amused when I go on a train or bus and see people knitting/crocheting. It does take time, we have to use every minute to get the project done!

Do you have a winter project?

Winter has arrived… Time for knitting!

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What do you do when your weather hits -1 degrees? The weatherman says if we are out for more than 10 minutes, we can get frost bitten. We don’t believe him/her. So, we bundle up (just in case, they’re right) and head outside. We don’t last more than five minutes and we are back in the house.

As I was house bound, I wondered what to do. Ok, read a book, watch TV, call a friend, clean the house, writer extra blog posts (LOL)… you get the idea. I needed something different. The light bulb went off.

Where was all my extra yarn? 

I found it after a good search. I decided I’d make a lap blanket. So, I’ve been happily knitting in the evenings. Inside a knitter’s mind.

Knit, knit, knit…REPEAT.                                         Next row.                                                  Knit, knit, knit… REPEAT. 

It’s like we are in a trance. I’m using an Alpaca yarn, it’s very lush and warm. Perfect for cold weather.

While I’ve been knitting, I started listening to The Boys in the Boat, by Daniel James Brown. The movie is out now, but usually the book is better. Isn’t the recommendation to always read the book first? 

Has anyone seen the movie yet? Would love to hear your review.

Start here…

A Sheep & Wool Festival

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Since we can’t travel very far, suddenly we are exploring our area. Someone told me about a Sheep & Wool Festival in Wisconsin. I went, it was FUN. They had a lot of sheep and some goats too.

Here is one of the sheep, I caught him while he was eating. He was kind enough to pose, so perfectly for me. They sold yarn and wool for felting. I’ve never heard of felting. I do knit, but haven’t for a while, so it was fun to see what shawls, hats, socks and scarf patterns were out there. Also, I was amazed at how many sheep farms there are in the U.S.

I found this lovely sheep painting. As soon as I saw it, I smiled. Isn’t that a good determining factor for making a purchase?!

So, I leave you with thoughts of sheep. If you are having trouble sleeping at night, we are told to count sheep. Here you have two, just keep it going… and SOON you will be FAST ASLEEP!

I’m looking forward to exploring a pumpkin patch next!

Seattle Yarn Shop Tour…

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This week started The 2016 LYS (yarn) Tour. Great idea, see the map. In five days you have a chance to visit 28 different yarn shops. At each shop you have them stamp your passport and then your completed passport is entered into a drawing to win prizes.

As I moved to Seattle, maybe because of a lot of rainy days, I suddenly had the urge to knit again. It was my Italian grandmother who taught me how to knit and crochet. Imagine that – she spoke no English. I considered it “on the job training.” I didn’t speak Italian and I didn’t know how to knit, so with a lot of hand movements and facial expressions she taught me basic knitting/crocheting. She kept saying, “Hai capito (you understand)?” I did a lot of head nodding for YES and NO at that time.

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Stitches from my first cowl neck project.

Starting up again, I was getting tired of the basic knit / purl stitches, I was ready to challenge myself.  I was at one of the yarn shops looking at different scarf samples and settled on a cowl neck pattern. I found knitting instructions on YouTube.com for different stitches (good thing for rewind, pause and fast forward). Before I knew it, I had completed an intermediate project, which was a proud moment…  EXCEPT that now it is Spring/Summer, so I have to wait for Fall to wear it. Well, knitting is like that, you don’t always finish your project in the “right season.”

imageYesterday, I ventured to Bainbridge Island to visit the Churchmouse Yarns and Teas store. What a lovely store, I felt like I was in New England. The Ferry Boat ride was fun.

If you are doing the tour, there is still one day left!

Try not to go broke (grin)!

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