A Homecoming Dress

In the midst of all the scarves, I have started another project. I got busy on the dress for our daughter. I figure if I start early it will be finished by September. The pattern had me a little confused at first. It doesn't specify which is the right side (RS) or wrong side (WS). The way it is written would have had it switching back and forth. I think there are some errors in the row numbers, however, the errata link no longer works. So, I decided which is RS and WS and worked it accordingly and based on the instructions, I adjusted row numbers for some of the changes because I think they are just miscalculated. This is what I ended up with for the top half of the dress (the bodice). Now I just have to pick up the stitches and start the skirt. I have another scarf to finish in the meantime. I do think the yarn I got looks very nice!

Bodice (front)

Bodice (back)

The Traveling Scarf: How Does Your Garden Grow?

The "How Does Your Garden Grow" scarf is the next scarf in the chain. I love this theme! Of course I looked for a flower knit stitch. I wanted to be different, so I also looked for a butterfly stitch. My original thought was to alternate flowers and butterflies, knitting pink flowers and purple butterflies. As it turned out, however, the butterfly stitch pattern required too many stitches and wouldn't work with the scarf width or the flower pattern. I started knitting the Flowers in a Row stitch that I found doing a Google search for "flower knit stitch patterns."

The yarn I chose to use is Plymouth Encore Colorspun worsted color #7733. It is pink with grey spun into it.  The first row of flowers looked great! It looks like little daisies in a row. So, I continued the pattern...

However, to my dismay, the subsequent rows didn't come out as flowery. They look a bit blobby. I love this yarn, though, so I don't really want to rip it all out. I think it is the texture of the grey yarn intertwined with the pink making the flowers look sloppy in the pink yarn. The purple yarn, which is also Plymouth Encore Colorspun, is a little bit softer than the pink/grey yarn. I've decided to add on three more rows of flowers in the purple and see if that helps the look of the pink flowers. One row of purple flowers already improved the look  of the pink flowers. There is hope!

I also noticed that the purple yarn is striping on its own. This is a nice look for the "flowers in a row" stitch. I decided to keep going and see how it turns out. If I go ahead and make it half pink and half purple, I think it will look alright and I will have the best of both worlds in this scarf!

Here is how it turned out with three rows each of pink and purple. I didn't get a very good picture, but it is late at night and I am finally feeling sleepy. These scarves have been great for my insomnia!
My section is a little bit longer than the 6" length preferred for these scarves, but I am okay with that. I love both of these yarn colors and really wanted to use both for this theme. It's only an inch too long. Overall, I am happy with the end result and it looks good with the rest of the scarf!

Featured Project!

Yesterday when I got home from work, I logged on to Facebook and saw that Craftsy featured my Fisherman's Sweater on their Facebook page! How flattered I am to have my work showcased like this! What's very cool to me is that I ordered the kit one year ago today! I intended it to be sort of a birthday/Father's Day/Christmas gift all rolled into one since I knew it would take quite a bit of time to complete. It was done in time for Valentine's Day, and I can live with that, given the curve balls we were thrown last fall. I am grateful to Craftsy!

The Traveling Scarf: Double Duty

Today the mail came very late (after 4:00!) and it was a little like Christmas! I received not one, but two traveling scarves! I think both a pretty. One has a flower garden theme and the other has a textured theme. I'm already looking for flowery knit stitch patterns!

World Wide Knit in Public Day

Today is World Wide Knit in Public Day. I don't know much about it, other than it became a thing in 2005. On this day, knitters around the world unite and knit in public. I did my part by visiting a LYS I hadn't been to before. How I missed that this shop existed, is beyond me. I can only figure it opened while we were living in central Ohio. It is called RaeMarie Yarns and it is in Vermilion, OH. It's a quaint little shop with a decent yarn selection. What is really cool is that the ladies I learned to knit from both work at this new shop! It was nice to see them again and they remembered me! (I took classes at their shop 15 years ago or so!)


So, I got up early on a Saturday, packed up my son and dropped him off at my parents' house for a few hours so I could knit in solitude in public! Of course I did a little shopping beforehand. I need baby yarn for a dress I want to make to bring our daughter home from the hospital in. I wasn't even sure what exactly I was looking for, but I was leaning toward either light purple (lilac or lavender color) or peach. I saw both colors in Debbie Bliss Cashmerino and was torn. Then it was suggested I try using a sock yarn because it is more washable and dryable (I tend hand wash everything I make anyway, but if it's sturdier, that is good, too). The other plus was that this yarn was a little less expensive and a lot of yardage came in one skein. So, I went with Cascade Yarns Heritage Multis. As you might guess, it's multicolored and includes both light purple shades and some peachy pink colors as well as some lovely shades of green! One of the ladies was working on a pair of socks in this yarn and it looked very pretty. I'm optimistic!

Yarn wasn't all I decided to purchase while I was there. I swear I was like a kid in a candy shop! How I controlled myself is beyond me! Of course I couldn't pass up some notions! You can never have too many needle stoppers (point protectors?). My son lives to take mine and toss them into oblivion, so I bought a 3 pack of those. I also have been wanting locking stitch markers and they had some Knit Picks in purple so I couldn't pass those up either. Finally, it was suggested that I try bent tip tapestry needles. I have never used them. I don't know if I'll love them or hate them, but they weren't expensive so I figured, why not!



So, now for the knitting in public part! I took the scarf I'm currently working on. I told the ladies about the Traveling Scarf project I'm a part of and they were intrigued. I don't think any of them had heard of such a concept before. They thought it was a neat idea! They thought the current scarf was beautiful. I decided to give the Gina Scarf a try. I think it's very pretty! It's not difficult to do, either. I did spend a bit of my time starting it over, though. I missed knitting the first and last stitches on one of the rows and it caused a tangle. So I spent some of my time untangling and unraveling. I managed to get it under control and finished it up tonight! This scarf can be shipped off Monday!

The Traveling Scarf: ANGEL Scarf

  The specifications for the lost scarf were simple: make it blue! So, with these simple instructions, I quickly got to work on the new scarf. I have Caron Simply Soft in Country Blue that I love. In photographs it looks a little purple sometimes, but I assure you, it is blue! This is the yarn I used for the second chemo cap I made over the winter.

Since this is an "Angel" scarf, I decided to try to incorporate that theme into my seed section for this scarf. I did a Google search for "Angel knitting patterns," and "Angel lace knitting patterns." My hope was to find something that resembled angels or, at the very least, wings. Most of the results were angel dolls. One pattern caught my eye. It's called Angel Lace Cardigan. The cardigan itself isn't my style, but I was intrigued by the lace portion. It turns out it is called Trellis Lace. The shape of the lace made me think of angels. Maybe I'm being abstract, but I think it looks like little angels holding hands.

To get this scarf off to its next destination, I needed to shop

for a little notebook like the rest of us have with ours for notes and introductions. I found a pretty floral one to accompany this scarf. In hindsight, I might call this the Phoenix scarf because it's being resurrected from oblivion. However, I didn't think of that sooner so Angel scarf it is! It has been shipped out, Priority Mail! Yes, ever since I learned that filing a claim with the post office is a moot point if the package isn't insured, I am now mailing all the future scarves Priority because it automatically comes with $50 worth of insurance. At least with this provision, should the worst happen again, a file can be claimed.

The Traveling Scarf: Moving Along

In the midst of the post office drama and the lost scarf, I had received the next scarf in line on time. I had started one stitch pattern that wasn't turning out so well so I decided to scrap it and find something different. I opted for this Slip Stitch Lace pattern. This is a fun pattern!

Insomnia has been hitting me hard lately, so I've been doing a lot of knitting in the middle of the night. I think it is due to this, that I actually knitted this pattern incorrectly. I have an extra purl stitch in there in between each repeat. It doesn't look bad and it didn't compromise the appearance of the pattern so I left it as is.

While working on this pattern, I decided to create my own little "stitchionary" book. What's a "stitchionary?" It's quite simple. It's just a book where notes and stitch patterns are kept in one place. Mine is simply a notebook for now, but I am thinking of getting something a little sturdier like a journal to keep them all written in. This way, I won't have to keep doing internet searches to find these patterns again and again. I'll have them written down in my little book.

Here is how my finished section looks with the rest of the scarf. It appears to me that not everyone took heed of the "DK weight" instruction. The section I attached mine to is definitely worsted weight. I can see other fluctuations in yarn weights, so hopefully, the finished project will balance itself out.

The Traveling Scarf: Lost Scarf

After multiple conversations with the post office and dealing with their rudeness, I have reached the sad conclusion that one of the scarves in the chain has been lost. I called at 8:30 Monday morning when it opened like they told me to on Saturday and was told it's highly unlikely the carrier will remember what he/she did with it 10 days ago. Then I was told to file a claim. So, I went online to do that and it said my tracking # isn't eligible for a claim because it's not an insured package. My optimism left me at that point.

After being told I would get a callback, and hearing nothing after more than 2 hours, I went in person and got more runaround. The guy I talked to on the phone copped an attitude so I asked for the postmaster and he didn't get them for me. And the story changed to now the carrier doesn't remember delivering a package. I'd be surprised if he even talked to the right carrier. They have subs all the time in my neighborhood. I hope it still arrives. They told me the sender has to look into it. I told him the sender already had and that they told him that I had to contact my post office...No response to that. The guy was rude and obtuse so I left unhappy.

Once I reported this information to our group, the woman who started this whole traveling scarf chain let me know that in her past experiences, whenever a scarf was lost due to postal error, a new "ANGEL" scarf was created to replace the lost scarf. Of course I am happy to start a new scarf for that person! So, once she lets me know what her original preferences were, I will be starting it right away! I can only hope that the other one turns up and she can maybe graft them together.