March Madness

It's been a crazy month of madness here. No, I'm not talking about the basketball tournament that most of the country seems to obsess over.  Instead I'm talking about the amount of things I somehow managed to start and finish within the past 31 days.  Anyone else feel like March went longer than normal? I'm not really complaining, but... I sure am glad it's April!

My Lucky Stripes socks didn't get complete within the month of March like I hoped, but it was a close finish - April 3rd to be exact.  Somewhere along the line these socks just got boring.  Which is sad because they really are gorgeous.  As for the seam up the sides, well I don't mind it if it means not having to weave in a million ends.  Overall they're a good fit and I am praying that they don't shrink in the wash. 

There are several factors at play in the reason why my socks didn't get complete.  One of those was my spinning wheel, which has been pretty busy lately! I managed to finish my 2 ply merino, which comes in at just under 200 yards.  I'm actually surprised this spun up so well, as merino has never been an easy one for me. 

Painting seems to be taking a back seat lately also, yet I still got around to finishing this one that has been on the easel for longer than it should have.  Sticking with my current theme of knitted forms floating in water, this is probably the most elaborate of the series to date - including some ground plains and really pushing the space.  I like this one a lot and the photo doesn't do it justice. 

(PS if you haven't seen my art before, click the link at the top of the page, you will not be disappointed!)

Finally we have a new development in the discussion of dying from last week. I purchased some more bare yarn at my LYS and divided it up. I did one batch on Wednesday and had a fair amount of success, but not quite the way I wanted.  So I went back to the sketchpad and figured out what each one needed.  The end result is the above for skeins.  The first two are pretty much perfect.  The last two still need work. Hopefully I'll be making full skeins soon!

On the subject of dying and yarn and selling and knitting, if you are curious and want to follow all my knitty, bloggy, etsy things I created a new Instagram page specifically for my Etsy and Blog, so maybe you should go follow me? 

I hope that April is fairing everyone well so far, the weather here is so darn gorgeous it's hard to be this busy!

~Lisa 

On the Needles - March

We're midway through March already, and it's Spring Break for many schools down here in Texas, mine included.  As for my plans, well there will be lots of knitting, spinning and painting happening in my downtime.  After all why not use the extra time to the fullest?

I figured it was about time for an "On the Needles" update, so today I am sharing with you all the projects I am currently working on.

First up is my March socks - which I am calling "Lucky Stripes".  March is for St.Patrick's Day and St. Patrick's is known for green.  So I found the most green yarn I had and decided to make my socks with it.  The yarn is called Rico Design Superba Poems and came from the UK via a traveling relative a few years back.  The stripes are long, even longer than Zauberball, so I decided to stripe it within itself by dividing up the yarn and switching between two balls every ten rows.

The second project is one that has been on my list for awhile, Sev[en] Circle, with is a simple necklace type project that involves stockinette stitch rolling upon itself to create coils.  I loved this when I saw a friend wearing one last fall and knew that I wanted to make it many many time, although this will be the first one for me.  The yarn is some leftover Vinni's color, which was (ironically) given to me by the same relative as the sock yarn, this time from Africa.  I'm pretty sure I don't have enough for all seven circles, but the patterns is written to where I can stop when needed.

The lunch ladies at the school found out I know how to knit and have asked me to make them some converse booties for their children.  While most of the patterns are crochet, I was lucky to find one for knitting that I think is working.  Once I finished the first, the rest will be smooth sailing, as it's a pretty easy pattern.  The yarn? My standby - Caron Simply Soft.

The final thing on my needles won't be done for awhile, as our knitting guild is doing a year long Mystery Knit Along.  With one part of the pattern being released each month, it's a slow go.  The pattern is one that is already on Ravelry and I had the honor of picking it as and dividing it up.  So technically I know what it is, but I'm not going to tell.  And if you recognize it ever, don't tell either! ;) ;)

The yarn I chose was given to me in a swap - Merino Cashmere Fingering by Skein. It is so soft and scrumptious, that I knew it had to be something other than socks. 

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Any new projects on the needles for March? Any knit alongs happening? Any major projects you fear will never be complete? Share away my friends and have a great week!

~Lisa