Cotton T

I've decided that I'm going to nix the cotton t project and rip the whole thing up, but first I must decide what project to make with the yarn.

V-neck Cotton T

I finally finished the V-neck cotton T over the weekend. I must say that I am not pleased with it at all. The pattern is from Bernat and I ended up using Garn - Goa yarn which is 50% cotton and 50% acrylic. The darn thing is just too boxy; there are no curves to it what-so-ever. Currently it hangs in my closet waiting for me to think of something to do with it. I feel like sewing darts in it or something to get rid of the fact that it's too boxy. I don't know, but it will have to wait until Christmas break where I will have the time to think about what to do with it.

Christmas Treasures

I must apologize for the shadow, but it wouldn't go away no matter how I angeled the camera. This is the only glimpse that ya'll are going to get of the Christmas Treasures that I'm making for my beloved friends until they are all finished. I still won't post them until each friend receives their gift. Isn't this just beautiful, marvelous, gorgeous, insert any beautiful adjective? I'm half done with this one and I can't wait to see the entire finished project. After this project, I only have six more to finish. Away I go.

Christmas Yarn

The yarn that I ordered to make Christmas gifts came in today. Aren't those colors beautiful? I think so. The yarn purchased is Vally Yarn - Berkshire. I am sorry, but I cannot tell you what I'm going to make out of it because some of the recipients of the gifts are readers of this post. I cannot spoil the fun. I am not done Christmas shopping yet for yarn; I have to find some yarn for a different kind of project than what this yarn is going to be used for. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.

Beautiful Treasures

This afternoon, I went to la bella vita, which is a yarn shop in Mineral Point to see if they still had the yarn that I had adored and to get some dpn for a pair of socks. Sure enough the beautiful yarn was still there. I purchased five hanks of Unikat textile Handwerkskunst (made in Germany) and am following a pattern called Tweedy Vest from KnitScene Magazine. Just look at this lovely yarn:

Here are some more beautiful treasures for other projects:
For my First pair of socks - Hand spun wool from Sandy's Pallette


Silk/Cotton yarn for a sleeveless top and I'm not sure what pattern that I'm going to follow yet.

Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival

This past weekend I had went to the Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival in Jefferson, WI (held at the Jefferson County Fair Grounds) and I'm really glad that I went. It was great to be around a lot of yarn lovers. To my surprise, there were two large barns full of vendors and I certainly did not walk out empty handed. At the festival, a lot of people brought their spinning wheels and I'm surprised by how much roving people were selling mainly because I haven't really seen it around in shops. To be honest, the first knitting store that I have ever seen roving was in Mineral Point and that was about two weeks ago. It was great to see what everyone had - there was so much to soak in too. A lady from Michigan taught me how to drop spin, which was fun and I ended up getting a drop spindle from her. I probably won't be able to start spinning until fall break or so due to classes. Until then I will have to stick to what I know, if I even get a chance to do that - knit. I had also got roving and yarn that is absolutely gorgeous.

The yarn that I ended up purchasing is from Briar Rose Fibers and they have hand painted yarns. I ended up getting six hanks of their "Collette." I originally saw a knitted vest that I liked on display and was going to find yarn for the vest, but then I saw the Collette on sale, so I purchased it instead. It was a real toss up because at the time if I had purchased the Collette, I had no idea what I was going to make and if I got the yarn for the vest, then obviously it was a done deal. I chanced it and ended up purchasing Collette and found a pattern right away once I got back to school and was able to look through my patterns. With the Collette, I am going to make a Wheat Ear Cable Yolk sweater that is from Interweave Knits (picture shown below). I think that the cables will look absolutely wonderful in the variegated yarn. Unfortunately next year I will be in Poland when the yarn festival is taking place. Instead, maybe I'll find lots of wonderful European yarns.

Damask

Some people have a passion for shoes and have a bazillion of them. I on the other hand really like purses, jackets/coats, and sweaters. I'm not saying that I have a bazillion of each, but I do like them. Of course, my collection doesn't consist of a $400+ Coach, or whatever other brand that would cost the same amount. As you may have noticed, I have posted a few purses/bags and I have another one to add to the list and the Damsak is one of them. I got the pattern from my weekly Berroco Newsletter. Awhile back, when I got my Fair Isle (post to come later) sweater yarn, I had also purchased yarn to make the purse. It's taking me awhile to collect all of the items for the bag, like what I'm going to use for the handles, and such, but that's all right because I want to find the right items. Tonight, before my 5 o'clock meeting, I had went to JoAnn Fabrics and walked passed the beaded section. Some of the larger wooden items caught my attention and I had purchased the items that are in the picture. I think that they are neat and will look good with the bag. I'm thinking of doing two of the smaller beads between each of the larger ones. My next step is to find something sturdy enough to thread through each of them and to decide if i want to add anything else to it. I know that my yarn color choice is very similar to the one in the picture, but I thought that the colors were very attractive. This project will probably take me awhile to finish, like all of the others, but I believe that I will be pleased with it once I've figured out my handle situation out.