Easter Weekend

So here it is once again Easter weekend. I do not know where the past year has gone!

Everyone will be enjoying a nice Easter Holiday with family, but unfortunately I have somewhere to be on Easter Sunday so I will not be having a nice dinner. But, that is ok. It's Thanksgiving dinner that would upset me if I were to miss it. 

So as promised, I want to show you what has been going on lately in my little knitting world.

Last weekend my sister and I drove 4 hours to Pittsburgh to attend the Knit & Crochet festival held at the Weston in downtown Pittsburgh. 

While there I got to look around and see lots and lots of yarn, buy lots and lots of yarn etc, and finally meet the wonderful ladies at Three Irish Girls. 

My very first design was published by them back in 2010, the Virginia shawl. While it is a simple design it seems to have taken off really well with the pattern purchasers and still to this day is being knit up in different ways. While at the Three Irish Girls booth I was able to see my shawl on display knit up two ways. Here is a picture of me (in gray) and Erin when I first entered their booth holding my design.

I also scored free yarn from them, much to my surprise! I saw a beautiful hat pattern in their booth from another designer and I wanted to make it. So, I picked up the yarn and was digging out my money when I was told I would not be paying for the yarn. Designer perks I guess!

These are the colors for my hat which is named High Fidelity Hat designed by Ellen T. Andresen. The yarn are mini skeins which will be just enough to make one striped hat! Aren't the colors amazing!? 

You should check out Three Irish Girls website and pick up this months club packet for Sock it to Me. It includes some beautiful yarns and a new design by yours truly.

My sister and I attended a Pj party hosted by StevenBe!

He is a character and is so warm and welcoming. I just loved him! My sister was also being filmed because he had his camera crew there and twice he picked her out. I am excited to see the end result.

That's all for now!

Happy Friday!

It's been a few days and I have some updates for you. I had an exciting time at Pittsburgh Knit & Crochet festival. I have photos and some funny stories and new yarn to share with you. 

Stay tuned for an update this weekend with lots of goodies to share.

Over halfway there!

It's Wednesday and that means two things.

#1 We are halfway through the week.

#2 I am over halfway through my pair of socks!

The weekend is going to be exciting for me as I am driving to Pittsburgh to the Knit & Crochet Festival. I am trying my best to finish a pair of crazy socks for StevenB's Pj Party that I am attending.

The second on is on the needles and I should be past the heel today. Hoping to be down the foot and finished by tomorrow!

What are you working on?

A few things on the way.

I wanted to share with you a few of the projects that I decided to keep and work on.

The first is a very lovely shawl/wrap. It is called Sonoma and is designed by Carol Sunday. You can find it on Ravelry. I found it to be so beautiful and felt that I just had to have it. The yarn I am using is  Brown Sheep Nature Spun Sport. It is 100% wool and so lovely to work with, it's soft and not scratchy.

The pattern is simply worked by increasing/decreasing and working a rib and at the same time changing the colors of your yarn. I decided to switch my yarn colors as I felt fit. I am very happy with the result and am very pleased with the colors I chose. What do you think?!

Next up, I found a lovely pattern at a yarn shop in central Philadelphia called Loop.

Jared Flood had his trunk show there and I instantly fell in love with a scarf and a sweater, and the best part was I got to meet Jared. 

I walked out with two of his patterns (one was signed by him) and enough yarn to complete both projects. This one is called Shackleton and is designed by Michele Wang.

I did not buy as much yarn as it called for because I wanted a thinner scarf. I love the design and I love the cables. It is not a difficult pattern to work and most of all I love the yarn, Shelter. The color I chose for this is not showing up in it's true form. Some colors are really hard to capture on camera!

Happy Wednesday

I have been working on a sock since the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival last year, May 2014.....

The design is quite interesting and easy to work.

The sock yarn is so soft and will be cozy on my feet when I'm finished.

I know...It's been almost a year since I started knitting them, but I am now working on closing up all projects that I have started. As I said in my last post, I was going to clean up my long list of WIP's and cut it down to only a few. I went from about 12 or 13 projects to about 6. 

A few months ago I picked up a cute Bento bag from a yarn store in Philly called Loop, sooooo.....I am going to keep two projects at a time in my Bento bag and work on those exclusively until they are done, then work on the next two. That's the plan!

Here's a peek at my sock and the heel that I am over halfway closing (as of last night). I chose the orange because I thought it would be fun to make them very colorful!

The stitch pattern is a very simple k2, yo, k2, slip yo over the last k2; repeat.

Simple, yes?

And it gives great texture.

It's been awhile...

Yes it has. It has been a long time since I made any updates here.
Life has a funny way of getting in the way. Changes have been made in my life and I think I should be able to start keeping everything up to date now.

I might even start adding more content other than knitting, just to keep it interesting.

For the first good news it seems as though winter has  disappeared and spring is finally here. This means I'll soon be able to get my garden tilled and ready for some veggies!

Second good news is that I have a new design published, but I cannot share it with you yet, not until April. Only a few weeks to go!

Sadly, I have taken a step back from a lot of my fiber interests such as weaving and spinning. I have sold my loom and my Ashford Traveller spinning wheel. I have a few more items to sell then it will be only me, my yarn, and needles. Trying to do so many things made me lose interest too quickly. I found that I was unable to finish one project and if I did it took me a very long time!

I am going to stick with knitting from now on. Also, I am going to go through my knitting projects because if I were to be honest, I have about 10 items on my needles. I am going to frog what I really have no interest in finishing and save the yarn for another project. I am in hopes to bring my WIP's down to two or three and push until they are done.

I have managed to start and finish a few items over the winter. I was really surprised with myself.

Here's to making headway on my goals!

I will soon be making a trip to the Pittsburgh Knit & Crochet Festival in 12 days! I am so excited to meet one of the yarn companies I have been working with over the years, and also, I will be attending the PJ party and none other than StevenBe will be there with his camera crew!

Happy knitting!

Hello again!

I haven't exactly been that great keeping up with my blog over the past year. I have been busy going to college, working full time and taking care of the home. I decided recently to avoid burnout that I must make an effort to make time to knit.

Recently my knitting sprees have been all about socks. Now I am the type of knitter who makes some/one sock(s) then gets bored. Not this time. I have made quite the socks lately. I have yet to finish an entire pair, but I am working on that. I discovered if I make one sock, then start a different style of sock I can then go back and finish the second sock from the first pair. Right now I have five pair of socks in the making. This helps me avoid boredom and get them done. I am almost finished with an entire pair so I will be down to four in the making any day now.

Going to school to learn medicine is tough on the brain. So much to learn and the human body is ridiculously amazing! Knitting is really helping me to relax a bit more and I find myself not so stressed about the stupid amount of papers that I must write.

Currently I am knitting a pair of Jaywalkers by Grumperina. I love them!,...or it as I am just on the first one. I knit them in my new favourite yarn, Crazy Zauberball on size us1 needles.

I tried adding a photo here, but it does not work very well on the ipad. You can view my Jaywalkers on this link.

To view my Jaywalkers, click here.

American Sock Knitting

I am so happy to announce that the book I have a design in is now up and ready for sale; American Sock Knitting by Beth Moriarty

The pattern I chose to design for the book is Appalachian Trail Socks.

I had a lot of fun dreaming up a design for this sock, sketching it, and then choosing which stitches will make the yarn do what I have sketched on paper.

It took quite some time, but well worth the wait. I have to say that all of the designs in this book are just magnificent! (meaning the other designers, not to hype myself up) The others are truly talented designers and have done a great job in helping to come up with an idea for their sock design. 

The book features recipes too! You should check out Beth's website and order yourself a copy of the book.

You can find it HERE

(Cover of book courtesy of Beth Moriarty)

I don't think I am allowed to show you what's inside, you'll have to check that out on your own, but I can show you my design that I used as a test before I knit up the pair for the book.

I really hope you take a look at the website and purchase a copy; you will be pleasantly pleased! 

Kimberly D.

I've been very quiet!

I haven't really had much to say lately as knitting has sort of taken a back seat. I am currently enrolled in college trying to make my future a bit more brighter.

The school work is overloading me which means I cannot knit.

However, I am on a 2 week break which is about to end in a matter of days. So what did I do? I picked up my needles and started a pair of socks that I have been dying to knit. 

Ivy Trellis socks by Alana Dakos

As you can see I did not get very far. I only had just picked these up 6 days ago, but I do work full time and I am in the process of moving house soooo...I think I did ok so far!

I am really enjoying these. I have noticed, along with others, that the instructions for the heel are a bit odd. BUT, I do think knitting with the magic loop was part of my problem. Maybe I wouldn't have been so confused by the P1 bit at the beginning of the heel flap. I did figure out where I will need to start knitting for the top of the foot. I am off by two stitches but I figured out how to fudge it and get the sock back on track :)

I began this sock by casting on with the Italian Tubular Cast-on. I was excited to try it and it was sooo simple! It made my cuff look store bought. Though, I was a bit short on the length of my cuff, but it still works ( I got too excited to start the leg!). I started the cuff on a size 1 needle then switched to a #2 for the body of the sock. Many complained it would be too small otherwise. I went back to a #1 for the heel and as soon as that is done, back to a #2 for the rest of the foot.

American Sock Knitting

I am very excited to announce that the book American Sock Knitting is up and available for Pre-order!

I am so happy with the way everything looks and very excited to have been lucky enough to be able to take part in such a great adventure.

(The original test sock)

Go on...Click Here and have a look for yourself. So many great patterns to choose from. All come from a different state representing the area in which we live.

Below is a picture of my design Appalachian Trail Socks that is in the book. I had so much fun coming up with this design. Originally It was named something else to represent the Susquehanna river that flows through our town, but I changed my mind in the end. The process of sketching, then actually coming up with what stitches would make up my design was crazy fun. I couldn't believe how easy it all came together.

   To be honest, I think a solid colored yarn would look much much nicer on these because it shows off the stitch definition, but yarn was not my choice here.

Photo courtesy of Beth Moriarty: American Sock Knitting

You can also find my newest design on Ravelry

Here are some of the details:

The Appalachian Trail is the holy grail for American hikers. As it winds its way along the Appalachian mountain range from Georgia to Maine, intrepid hikers are rewarded with mountain, pasture and forest views along its 2,184 miles. Started in 1921 and built completely by private citizens, the trail is managed by the U.S. Park Service but maintained by thousands of volunteers.

Kimberly de la Cruz designed these socks with a winding trail of leafy twists and a lush, fresh color to pay tribute to the Pennsylvania section of the AT. They are too pretty to hide in hiking boots, though.

Finished Size: Adult Medium: Foot circumference 7″ (18cm); leg length to ankle 5½” (14cm); foot length 8″ (20]cm) (unstretched)

Project Gauge: 36 stitches and 50 rounds = 4” (10cm) in stockinette stitch; 45 stitches and 46 rounds = 4″ (10cm) in Winding Trail Pattern

 Yarn: Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock (80% Superwash Merino; 20% Nylon, 435 yards/398m); 1 skein Catalpa #310

It's been a long time!

   I haven't really been posting much on here. In fact not a lot lately at all. I am currently enrolled in college and between that, work, and kids my free time is zero. I do have some really good news though; I received an email from the publisher of the book I have a design in.

   I am very excited! It will be back in the publishers hand the beginning of July and shortly after I will be able to share some details with you. This has been a long wait and I hope you like what's inside!

Kimberly D.
:)

Torsdag

Well the KAL is just about over and I have not succeeded in finishing 3 sweaters. I did get one done 100% Another one is 80% done and the third is about 20% done. Not too bad I suppose.

I could have been done had I not been weaving on my new loom!

I managed to finish a table runner. I ended up teaching myself how to weave as I had nobody here at the house nor any books. I did find some stuff online that I checked out about 3 weeks prior to owning the loom. I read it carefully and when I got the loom home I put the legs on and started measuring for the warp.

However, I do not have a warping board which made things tough, but in the end I managed to make this.

It started out as a scarf, but it was far too short and is now a table runner. I cut off all the fringe except 4 inches and it looks really nice actually!

My next project is another scarf, this time with a long enough warp, and I am going to do a tweed design.