A Few Years Ago.....

A few years ago I decided to take up knitting. My grandpa was sick and my mom suggested it as it was something to occupy my hands and calm my mind because all you can really concentrate on is the pattern. I started and thought it was a lot of fun. But then I stopped because gaming and just life got in the way. Plus the yarn I was using I just did not like and I kept getting frustrated because things were not working the way I wanted them to.

I picked up the knitting ago again and started on another scarf (my third, plus the fingerless gloves which while a cool concept, I hate the pattern that I was given by the little book I bought at Michael's.) and a hat. It was my first time knitting in the round and it was taking me a while, plus the scarf got boring, so it turned into a cowel and while my knitting went everywhere with me, I rarely really did anything with it. Then last Thanksgiving came around. I went to my aunt and uncle's for Thanksgiving, and we went to a few knitting stores and I caught the bug again. After working hard on my hat and starting a really awesome chenille scarf, I decided that I was feeling confident again to try different, more difficult patterns.

Then I found Raverly.com. No more boring scarves for me, unless I'm playing with a new yarn and want to practice with it before going with anything more complicated. I have been finding new patterns I want to make every time I go on the site, and my stash is steadily growing with every trip to the yarn store with a specific pattern in mind and a ton of cool yarn on the shelves. This blog is going to be my tracking my progress and my mistakes....such as last night when I tried felting for the first time. Yeah, that didn't work out to well. I made a small envelope purse, put it into the washer on hot with a few towels, and waited. And waited. When I took it out of washer, this is what happened:
it sucks because the yarn(Schoeller Stahl, Limbo Mexiko in Country Color) was gorgeous and knitted up and I was hoping, felting, really cool but apparently, it didn't want to work. Yes it was 100% wool, but...it was also superwash. As I found out later, yeah that won't work.

So obviously my first foray into felting failed miserably. So today I went to find some 100% wool that would work. Ella Rae's Classic Heather in a red/pink/purple color. But not superwash! I'm going to MA this week for vacation and plan on finishing this bag and starting a purse that's a cabling project while there. (I like bags)

My other project at the moment is blocking for the first time. I made this:

  

so I just have to block it so it doesn't look lopsided. and sew on the button. 

I also got my friend to start knitting. So victory! 

So yes, I will hopefully remember to post updates of my work and my favorite yarns and patterns. Yay!

Until next time. 

 

Emily