Project Update

All right now! It’s been a productive week. I finished this paneled top made with 8 balls of Noro Silk Garden yarn. I love it. I want to make another one! Like I said in an earlier entry, I love the simplicity of this pattern. I feel like a painting when I’m wearing it!

In addition, I finished a scarf made out of the super bulky wool Cascade Magnum yarn that was leftover from my Sidecar jacket. This is an original design (if you want to call it that) and it’s available for free on Ravelry.com, called “The Big Easy.”

I’m trying to finish a lace stole, a bog jacket and a cabled scarf. All of these, plus the Big Easy will be sold next November at the Fine Arts Invitational held at Irving Park Lutheran Church. This actually fulfills one of the items on my life’s to-do list: Sell knitted work at an art & craft fair. 100% of the sales from this fair will be donated to the Carlson Community Services, which does so many wonderful things for the area.

I’ve also started a new pair of Selbu Mittens. Now, I know these are going to be warm and beautiful—but I’m slightly disappointed in the lady who sold me this yarn. It’s Frog Tree sportweight Alpaca and yes, I know, Alpaca is soft, warm, beautiful, amazing…but I don’t think it’s optimal for stranded knitting. It’s so stretchy, delicate, and these little strands of Alpaca fibers keep fluffing off while I work, and it’s hard to hold and I’m already annoyed and have barely even begun! So…note to self: No alpaca for stranded knitting! I like the hard stuff…the 100% regular wool, durable, tightly wound, tough, rugged (like a lumberjack)! The Nature Wool by Araucania worked well. I’m also going to look into some of those Shetland woolmakers like Harrisville and Jamieson’s.

My hope is to make a whole bunch of mittens for the sale, as well as hats, scarves, shawls, and maybe even a quilted baby blanket or two. Hands don’t fail me now...