Summer Toes and Progress on K1b Scarf

My neighbor came by to show off her first pedicure of the summer. Her toes are a beautiful red with some sparkly bits and a flower design on the big toe. Very sandalicious I think.

I have ripped out my Knit One Below Inside Out Scarf three times to get the look I want. In class we had started it on needles much smaller than the pattern called for. I believe that was because they expected we were all there to start the vest.


So I went back to the pattern and finally chose the needle size that the pattern called for, a size 10. Things are going much better now. My plan is to fringe one end of the scarf and leave the other end plain to show off the fancy double loop cast on. The scarf will be on display at Nuts and Bolts in Woodland Park as soon as I can get it done, as a sample of the Knit One Below class I will be teaching there in September.

It is a very fun stitch and, once I figured out how to read it in my knitting, has been very relaxing. A couple notes: do not get overconfident when you slide the stitches over to the end of the circular needle to finish that section on that side. I can attest that they can go shooting off the end of the needle and create quite a mess. :-)

For my next project using this stitch I will attempt the Reversible Vest. I have a skein of fun yarn that I bought for a vest two years ago at the Estes Park Wool Festival. I have not gotten around to the other vest pattern, however I think this yarn will go well combined with a solid color of worsted and make an interesting look for a casual vest.

I hope you are finding fun, new ways to spend your leisure time!

Taming the Homespun

Thanks to a friend, I have the pictorial of how to tame Homesppun yarn that has gone rogue. Let's begin:

I began with this.

Then I worked my way through the spaghetti-like mess.


Once it was de-tangled, I wound the wayward yarn into a ball.



And, Ta-Da! it is tamed and back on the needles to finish the project.

My experience with Homespun is: it does not like to pull from the center smoothly and, if wound with a ball-winder, it will deconstruct itself into a pile of knots. The only logical thing to do is wind it into a ball and contain it in either a plastic jar, like shown above, or in a baggie.

Hope your yarn is behaving well in your world!

Valentine's Day

I hope everyone celebrated the Big Day of Hearts with the ones you love. I had dinner and a movie with my folks after I had my private lesson and updated my future classes at Nuts and Bolts.

And, of course, my day started with whiskery kisses from my best boy, Pedro. He went out of his way to show his affection at 5 a.m. Although I believe it was just because he thought he needed his breakfast.

From Gussets to Glory!

It was a successful conclusion to my sock class in Woodland Park. I think everyone had a good time and did learn some basics of sock construction. I know we giggled a lot over the two afternoons we met. I blamed it on the high altitude, the shop owner referenced liquid refreshment. So if Diet Coke and high altitude are to blame, then we did good.

I returned to a beautiful sunset and an anxious pussycat who wanted to go out and watch the stars come out. Those days are coming to an end rapidly since it will soon be too cold and dark when I get home to go outside. He is enjoying these last mild days before it is time to build his kitty igloo.

Thanks to all the brave and wonderfully fun gals that joined me for the sock class. I have requests for more classes in the future and am working on those proposals this week. To all you fiber nuts out there -- Happy knitting!

Prepping for My Sock Class

While I was in Taos this weekend I received good news that I have seven students for my "Mastering the Art of Sock Construction" (no hard hat required). So I spent this day off at home making sock parts for class examples and gathering supplies. I think of it as packing for a trip without the need for the quart baggie, unless I need to go through security between my house and Woodland Park.

The new shop, Nuts and Bolts, in Woodland Park is coming along nicely. They are already bringing in yarn and complementary supplies due to vocal customer demand. I am excited about that. They have provided a large, airy and well-lit classroom space that is in the front of the store near the windows. I think that will be good advertisement as folks driving by will see there is something going on in there.

I can hardly wait to meet my students this Saturday, and utilize these new facilities to share my love of the craft and the secrets to socks. Hope you are planning more fun fall activities for this weekend!