What's On and Off the Needles + The Law of Unintended Consequences

A Frenzy of Hot Knitting in the Summertime

I may not have been recording my podcast, but I've certainly been busy! In fact, I have been completely absorbed in knitting my Kingston Tunic. I started it on May 18th, and I finished it on June 27th! Five weeks and four days...to knit an entire sweater! I think...no, I know it's a personal best! It just went flying off the needles, and at times it was uncomfortably hot to have on my lap. I am absolutely thrilled with the result!

At the end of May, I was inspired by Dani from Little Bobbins Knits to do a Birthday Cast On! So, I started a pair of socks in The Wool Barn Luscious Sock yarn that I had been setting aside for a special project, a special occasion. I found a lovely pattern for this yarn in Jane Burns' Lazy Sunday sock booklet - the No Mind to Worry socks. I didn't realize that the pattern called for beads, and I almost procrastinated (again), but I decided to embellish these socks with tiny, iridescent pink beads that are a perfect color match. This will give me a small project that involves beading as a chance to learn if I like the process (it's a bit slow), and if I like it enough to attempt an Evenstar shawl and it's 3,000 beads. (Three thousand!)

When a Problem Stares You in the Face!

As far as my garment sewing is going, I can feel my mojo coming back. I've got a pile of clothes cut out and ready to sew, so there should be nothing holding me back from diving in...except knitting. Or quilting...😏

On the first really warm spring day, I put on my Doris Dress, a Sew Over It pattern in Atelier Brunette Lime Dash fabric, and.... ahem...do you see the problem?!? It see you...it's staring right at you... 😳

Oh, my. SO not the look I was trying for... Doris NEEDED to be transformed into a v-neck Betty! Thankfully, I was able to find some more of the same fabric, since I didn't have enough in my stash. And, I am so pleased that I hacked together the Betty bodice with the Doris skirt - the new dress is much more comfortable and flattering. I ended up lining the entire dress with a white Italian stretch charmeuse - and it really makes the dress flow and drape very prettily. On it's own, the Lime Dash fabric is pretty thin, and somewhat revealing, so a lining was definitely necessary.

Other Finished Objects

• Valentine Owls Placemats and Napkins

• Flying North Socks: pattern by Maria Montzka of Stitched in Sweden | knit in Just a Girl and Her Dog Yarns in Spanish Moss.

• Awesome Ocean Quilt : Salty the Seahorse is the final finished creature! Pattern by Elizabeth Hartman.

Upcoming Yarn Crawl

It's June, so that means that the East Tennessee Yarn Crawl is happening! I've been knitting since I was 8 years old, and I never knew that there was such a thing as a yarn crawl until last year! I feel so behind the times! I didn't buy much yarn last year, as we were trying to conserve money - neither of us was employed at the time - so I only visited 4 shops and kept my purchases minimal. I haven't bought any yarn so far this year, so I am looking forward to stocking up...not that I've made any appreciable dent in my stash...

I am also trying to plan my purchases more wisely. I searched my Ravelry favorites and items in my queue that needed yarn, and came up with a list of projects that I would like to knit, the amount of yarn needed, and new yarns to try at the various shops. Here's what my list looks like:

Yarn Wish List

• Three Irish girls
• Noro Silk Garden Sock
• Hedgehog Fibres Sock
• Frabjous Fibers : Cheshire mini skeins
• Dream in Color
• Just a Girl and Her Dog yarns

Project Ideas

• Herbarium sweater : 1310 yards of fingering
• Flax light sweater : 750 yards fingering (5-year-old size)
• Zweig sweater : 2 colors in fingering : 1600 yards (C1) + 400 yards (C2)
• So Faded : 5 colors x 100g of fingering ~ 1623 yards
• Campside Shawl : 700-780 yards of DK
• Pebble Beach Shawl : 437- 800 yards of fingering
• Maytham Shawl : (Helen Stewart's Secret Shawl Society) : 2 colors : 755g/620 yards (C1) + 65g/260 yards (C2)
• Socks : fingering (this is open-ended - if I see a pretty fingering weight yarn, I know I can at least make a pair of socks, if I don't have any other ideas!)

At this time, I have only visited the Clinch River Yarn Company and Atomic Fibers, as they are the closest, and I have some lovely new yarns as inspiration for some of my chosen projects! Really thrilled!

Just a Girl and Her Dog Yarns

Sweet Sorbet

Winter Night minis

Apple Fibers Studios

Mossy Rock

Morning Fog

That's all for now! Happy knitting!
Elizabeth