Maryland Sheep and Wool 2015

 Here is a recap of my Sheep and Wool experience.

The last time I went was about three years ago, because it always is the same weekend as the TD Bank 5 Boro Bike tour. I volunteered for 1 year, and then rode the two consecutive years after.  It was a lot of fun, but I felt that it was time to get back to Maryland.  

My focus for this trip was all about connecting with other knitters and really getting to meet some really awesome people.  In the past it has been a mad dash for yarn, and all of the encounters I had with other knitters  became a blur.  I decided to take things a little slow this time around.

Firstly, I finished my sweater mid-week, instead of my usual stay up all night knitting the night before.  I decided to wear Japan sleeves, because I figured that there was a chill in the air in the early morning, and its a lightweight sweater, so I wouldn't melt wearing it.  Of course, I was running from the sun during those high noon hours, but I enjoyed every minute of wearing it. 

The sweater fits perfect, and I couldn't be any happier. The yarn is Madeline Tosh's Tosh Merino Lite, in Pop Rocks and Dirty Panther.  To my surprise, a lot of people came up to me to talk about the colors, the yarn, and the clever construction.  Joji Locatelli is a designer with such an eye for detail and out of the box construction.  I was happy to make conversation.  

In fact, I was prepared this time.  Earlier in the week, I ordered cards from overnightprints.com, so that I can have something to give to my new knitter friends. 

They were relatively inexpensive, compared to other online printing resources, and the quality is great. 

At 1:00, there was the Podcaster Meetup, and I was honored to meet some of the people that I listen to on a weekly basis, who make me happy when the world is crazy.

First, I met Shannon of the Minerva Turkey Podcast.  She gave me a big hug.  She is super sweet.  We talked about how the podcast makes me so happy.  We also chatted about hair color, hair products, how her podcast has enabled me to start shawls, and how knitters are such geniuses when they design  things with clever construction.  It's awesome how our brains are wired once the fiber fumes get to our head.   I felt like I could have talked to her for hours and I am so happy to have a new knitting friend,  even if she is all the way in Florida.  Friendship travels miles and miles through space and time.  It was an honor to meet her face to face after getting to know her through the podcast. 

The next podcaster I met was Janis from the Carolina Fiber Girls.  She came with FlatAnn, who represented Ann, the other half of her podcast team, who couldn't make the festival.  We chatted about my sweater, which was a featured "FOR REAL????" on their podcast.  I had joined it incorrectly, and it turned into moebius midriff madness.  They had a ton of laughs on the podcast, and I was laughing so hard when I heard them talking about it, that I cried.  It really was a spectacle.

In her podcast, Janis always talks about Maria from Elegant Economy Knits. She usually has an Instaknitnight going on Instagram.  I mentioned the Sockagram idea to her and she wants to include it. Woohoo.  I love the idea because its a great way to connect and see what everone is working on.  She laughed when I was like "OMG I hear about you on the podcast all the time".  

I totally had a fan girl moment with each of these ladies.  I love and appreciate all that they do to mix social media with knitting.  Timing could not have been any more perfect.  

Of course, there cant be all of this yarn around without a haul. This year, my haul was small but effective.  

I was well within my budget and made sure to only purchase things that I totally fell in love with. 

My designer friend RosiG has a mystery shawl currently going on with the Neighborhood Fiber Company.  I totally missed out on the beginning of the KAL, because I have been preoccupied with a bunch of socks. (More on that in the next post). However, I had the privilege of seeing the shawl on the drive to Maryland, and I totally fell in love.  I bought the same exact color that the sample is knit up in, and all I have to get now is beads. I am not at liberty to really talk about the finished product.  But, what I can say......is that the construction is pure genius, and the shear beauty of the shawl is breathtaking.  It is made with DK weight yarn, so you don't have to squint your eyes on a lace weight project.  It is sure to keep your neck and shoulders nice and cozy when worn.  

The rest of my haul is knitting essentials. Needles for a hat and a pair of socks, and a Fleegle Beader for that lace shawl project.  

I also had to get some fabulous fair food.  During the course of the day, I had a Lamb Burger, Chili Cheese Fries, Funnel Cake, and Lime Fizz.  Can someone say fried food overload???  I need a green juice fast. Lol. 

I had a fabulous time at Maryland Sheep and Wool. I cannot wait for the next festival. Here are some more pics from the trip. 

Hanging with ZENZIBELL and CARMELNAP on the ride from the parking lot to the fair.

Welcome, welcome!

The best mode of transportation. 

Socks on a Plane in Maryland

Sockagram April sock still in progress. 

A stitch counter given to me by Terrie, who is the founder of the Knatural Purls group. I Love Pink. 

ROADTRIP SELFIE!!!!

Refreshing Lime Fizz at the end of the day. 

  

NaKniSweMo Day 30

Thanksgiving has come and gone.  I spent the whole day cooking a feast for family and friends. My hands were so busy with desserts, that I didn't get the opportunity to knit all day.  

On Friday night, after a day of sleeping and dreaming of knitting, I was able to seam the sleeves, and start knitting the body in the round. 

The 3 needle bindoff made for a great seam. 

The first few rows of the body are here. 

Today, I completed about 2.5 inches of the stockinette body portion. 

There is no way that I will be able to complete this whole sweater by midnight.  So, I will gracefully bow out of this Nakniswemo challenge.  It's been fun.  

NaKniSweMo Day 23 - Sleeve Island

I am still stuck on sleeve island with my Japan Sleeves sweater.  I just completed knitting the width of the sleeve.  All that is left to do is to complete the shaping and seam the sleeve. Just a few more short rows. 

Hopefully, I can get to the body part of the sweater tomorrow.  

NaKniSweMo Day 22 - Sweater progress

I made some progress on the sleeves.  I completed the short rows, and have been knitting from end to end.  Once the sleeves are done, I can seam that and start the body. 

Here is a close up of the sleeve cuff.  

I have this much yarn left.  I also have a second skein of pink. 

Baby, its Cold Outside

It's 28 degrees outside, and I'm torn between knitting my sweater and making a hat.  

I wound up the yarn, and casted on for the hat anyway. 

The name of the hat is Sand Bank  by Justyna Lorkowska. It's a slouchy cabled hat, and I intend to add a huge Pom-Pom to it.  

I used a stretchy German Twisted Cast-On, but I'm wondering if I should go up another needle size. The hair on my head is quite curly and fluffy, and I need to make sure the hat will be able to fit around it properly.  Hmmmmmmmmm

Also, to get the cable needle needed for the hat, I had to remove one of the needles from my sweater. The good thing is, I was finally able to fix the twisted back.  Now it hangs just right.  

NaKniSweMo Day 17 - All I can do is Laugh

There is no such thing as perfection in knitting.  No matter how hard we try to follow a pattern correctly, something will always go wrong.  

As I separated the sleeve stitches from the body, I found that I lost 1 stitch.  I decided that when I seam the sleeve, I will fix it somehow.  

As I started this serious stockinette portion, I increased a stitch and kept on knitting it for 5 rows.  I ended up catching it, and ripping that stitch, then redistributing the tension of the yarn to make up for it.  It's still kind of loose, but I can live with it.  

So, this morning, I started on the right front of the sweater.  I completed the section, and got to the point where I had to join the left and right fronts of the sweater.  At the same time, I noticed that I had to start getting dressed for work.  But of course, as a knitter, we say "just one more row".  So, with the yarn curled up in my lap, I casted on the neck stitches, then continued to knit and connect both sides. 

I decided to hang up my sweater, then I found out why my mommy and granny always say "haste makes waste". 

Look at the back of my sweater.

The whole thing is twisted.  I have a posterior möbius midriff.  Lol!  All I can do is laugh.  

Happy knitting everyone.  I'm going to fix it, and have a better progress report tomorrow.  I promise.  Haha!

Nakniswemo Day 16 Progress

Today, I completed the back upper sleeve portion. 

I also picked up stitches on the opposite side of the left sleeve.

This will become the left side of the front of the sweater.  

Does it look like a sweater yet?

One lesson that I have learned with this sweater is that having 2 sets of interchangeable needles comes in very handy.  I had to put stitches on hold.  The  back portion uses a pair of Knitpicks Interchangeables, while the front uses Chiaogoo's.  

NaKniSweMo Day 15 Progress

I spent my day knitting at the Cheerleading Competition.  

I made great progress today.  I am working on the back sleeve portion.

Once this is complete, I have to pick up stitches on the other side of the sleeve, knit it and seam the pieces together.  

NaKniSweMo Day 14 - Japan Sleeves Progress

I am so happy, I am starting to see this sweater look like something other than lace panels.

I completed the lace today.  

The pattern said to lightly block it, so I opted for the steam technique.  Here is a picture of one sleeve blocked vs. unblocked.

Here are both pieces blocked.

I had to pick up stitches along the edge and add "neck" stitches in between. 

After picking up stitches, I started knitting stripes with the Dirty Panther colorway. 

This is the back of the sweater.  I'm happy with my progress today. I am in stockinette city, so this should be moving along pretty fast, even though the yarn is in fingering weight. 

NaKniSweMo Day 13 - Japan Sleeve Progress

I finally have more progress on my NaKniSweMo sweater.  I finished 1 lace panel for the sleeves, and completed 4 pattern repeats on the second sleeve.  The end is near.  2 repeats and 12 rows to go.

I am so in love with this Pop Rocks color.  

Birthdays on Sleeve Island

Today is my mom's birthday.  We celebrated with breakfast at IHOP, a stroll through the mall, purchasing a few things, and an Italian dinner.  After our shopping trip, we were pooped.  We came home to finally relax with some wine and cupcakes.

She loves Tiramisu, and a few of these cupcakes just happen to be Tiramisu flavored.  So, she was very excited about it.

After winding down, I finally got time to start on my Japan Sleeves again.  I need to finish this, and get off of sleeve island ASAP.  This is just taking too long.  The good part is, once the sleeves are done, the rest of the sweater should be a breeze.  Right???

I hope so.

Happy knitting from fingering weight sleeve island, where the only inhabitants are crazy people who take on too many projects at one time.  

Nakniswemo Sweater and Westknits Mystery Shawl Update - Day 6

I checked the NaKniSweMo group on Ravelry, and felt that I should really get a move on my sweater. I saw so many beautiful sweaters that have so much progress already.  So, here is where I am today.  I knitted a total of 4 pattern repeats.  I have about 2.5 more to go to complete this panel. Then, I have to start the second panel. 

Today is also the day that I should complete clue #1 of the WestKnits Mystery Shawl if I want to keep up.  I started wedge 6 today.  I completed about 2 more rows on the train.  The good thing is, the amount of stitches in each row become less and less as you progress.  

I am still loving my projects.  I am really eager to see what the next section looks like.  

NaKniSweMo Progress - WIP Wednesdays

Here is the sleeve of my Japan Sleeve sweater.  I only completed about 16 rows of the pattern repeat since the last time I posted.  I will say that as I am reading the written instructions, it is going much faster than reading the chart.  I thought about doing these two at a time, but I actually like how it feels on the DPNs, and I think that the circular needle cord might get tangled with 2 different working yarns coming from the same skein.  

More updates soon, I promise. I can't wait to see how this looks blocked. 

Knitting and Cheerleading.

Today, I went to Queens College to attend a Cheerleading Competition.  Of course, I thought about what project to bring with me.  

I had already started my Revolte socks, and completed the afterthought heel zip line (light grey yarn).  

So, I decided to rip out my ill-fitting sock that was made with a size 1.5 needle. I casted on again with size 1 Lantern Moon bamboo needles that I bought from Purl Soho last week.  I like these needles.  They are 6 inches, and very smooth.  

After a few hours of knitting, cheering, video-taping, and clapping, I made some great progress on my sock.

My little cousin's team also won great prizes.  They were so good.  Both of them were lifted in the stunts.  

I'm so proud of them.  They were full of energy, confident, and had full control during their routine. 

And, of course they were happy to hold the trophies. 

So, after all of the excitement, I decided to wind down by trying my hand at some Japanese lace.  Truthfully, it's not so relaxing. I am used to lace where the pattern is on the right side, and the wrong side is just a purl row.  NOT HERE!!!!  There are yarn overs and p2togs on the wrong side too!  OMG

This is the lace on the sleeve of the Japan Sleeves pattern.  

This is 1 lace repeat, which measures 3.75" tall.  I have to work each sleeve to 23 inches, so I am calculating that I will need to do 6 pattern repeats for each sleeve.  1 down 11 more to go!  Woohoooo!!!

Lastly, I made use of the extra hour that we had from resetting the clock,  by knitting on the Ombre scarf.  I have 2 more skeins to add, and it is currently at 56 inches.

I sent a picture to the recipient, and he is happy with it.  I'm trying to hurry, because NYC has gotten really cold.