My purse is finished

Yarn: Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Worsted (2) M115 Oatmeal & (1) M185 Aubergine
Pattern: Damask by Berroco
Needles: US 10 Circulars 29"

I finally finished my purse. I managed to finish the knitting bit two weekends ago and went to the laundry mat to felt it last Tuesday. At JoAnn's there were lots of purse handles, but I liked the wooden ones the best. I thought that the dark color would complement the burgundy color in the purse nicely. At first I wasn't sure how to attach the handles but decided that the burgundy color would work well. I knitted a long thin strip for the attachment of purse handles and chained a long chain for the tie go go along the perimeter of the purse. They ended up going with a load of whites in the laundry at home, but didn't really felt nicely. Since there wasn't anything else to felt, going to the laundry mat wasn't an option, so I felted it in the shower - weird, yeah, but it worked. Lining was added and a magnetic snap to ensure it stays closed (thanks to mom).

Before felting: 17"x54" - not sewn together
After felting: 10"x15.5"

Well, here it is:

Madison's Knitting Shop Review

I've been to all of Madison's and the area's (west side) knitting shops within the last two months and I've decided to write a review. I don't really travel to the east side of Madison, so the knitting shops in Stoughton and Sun Prairie have not been reviewed.

Just to let you know what we are working with - my map is from Knitmap.

The order of appearance is from the best shop to the, well, you can get the hint.

The Sow's Ear - S Main St, Verona WI
Excellent knitting selection and has tons of yarn (natural fibers). I was surprised to see yarn from School House Press there in addition to roving. They have enough yarn in one color so you could make a large project if you wanted to, which is always great. In addition, the coffee shop is really nice, there is enough room to sit and knit. The Sow's Ear has a lot of bamboo knitting needles and the workers are good natured and pleased to help you out. When I walk inside and look around, I feel all warm inside and can drool over tons of yarn, which in my book makes this a good yarn shop.

The Knitting Tree - Monroe St, Madison WI
The shop has tons of yarn, a great selection, and a variety. The staff is willing to help out with any problems or whatnot and they have a ton of drooling yarn. Unfortunately, this shop is one where you wouldn't go to sit and knit.

Stitcher's Crossing - Mineral Point Rd, Madison WI
This store is also a quilt shop, and that is the main emphasis of the store. They have lots of bamboo needles and a good yarn selection. It's not as big as the Sow's Ear or The Knitting Tree, but it is the closest shop in reference to where I live and they tend to have what I need of am looking for, which is always a good thing.

Lakeside Fibers - W Lakeside St, Madison WI
This used to be my favorite store, but it is no more. I do love the building, the old displays and the coffee shop, where there is lots of room to sit and knit, in addition it being next to the lake. The store used to have loads of yarn (they had a large baby and hat portion in the coffee area in addition to lots of Brown Sheep yarn), but in October I went, it downsized a ton. I also went a week ago and the yarn selection is horrible. There is a lot of Cascade and they probably have a larger Cascade selection than the other yarn stores, but the other yarn selection lacks severely. The sock yarn is horrible. Some say that the store is closing, but others say it isn't - which is it? If it's not closing, then they the horrible yarn selection? What happened to all of the drooling yarn? They have lots of bamboo needles and the staff is helpful, but the store just isn't the same.

Tis The Season - Hubbard Ave, Middleton WI
This shop is not really a yarn shop at all, more of a seasonal shop, but they do have a small selection of natural fibers and have bamboo needles.

Cat and Crow - E Main St, Mt Horeb WI
This store emphasizes on local yarns from farms, which is great. The thing is they don't have enough yarn for a project larger than 1 or 2 skeins - not good. With that said, I probably won't go again.

Off the Beaten Path - Williamson St, Madison WI
This store emphasizes on green, which again is great, but I got a weird vibe about the staff. I don't think that they were the most pleasant, in addition one of the workers followed me around the store like a hound and was a little too stern on trying to sell me something. I didn't find any drooling yarns either. I will not return.

I know my review probably isn't the best on a technical standpoint, but oh well, it is what it is.

Stress + School = Knitted Purse

So, 2nd tri finals are finally here. Add a little stress to the mix of things and this is what you get:

Yarn: Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Worsted (2) M115 Oatmeal & (1) M185 Aubergine
Pattern: Damask by Berroco
Needles: US 10 Circulars 29"

After 2 finals last Friday and being pretty stressed, I needed to something, so I decided to knit. My current cast-ons, however, require too much thinking. I scrounged around in my stash and decided upon Damask. I bought the yarn a long time ago (I don't even remember exactly - looking back, it seems like 2007, wow) at Lakeside Fibers in Madison, WI. I casted on and am nearly half way done with the knitting portion. It is working out pretty well. I am a little worried though because I don't think that I will have enough yarn. On ravelry, people have used Lamb's Pride Worsted and one person used 3 skeins of the main color and another person got by with 2. Currently I'm a little over eight inches with a mini size bouncy ball's worth of yarn of the first skein. I'm hoping that my next skein will last until the project is finished, all 18" of it. Unfortunately, I don't think that getting another Oatmeal color would be a good option because the dye lot would be a few years different. I guess if I run out early with the oatmeal I could potentially do a border with the burgundy color - that could work. I'll have to see though where I end up with the chart.

I often wondered why the name Damask, and now I know.




I've started to pack for home already and my knitting bin is ready to go:

Bib for Emma

Cheryl, from school is having a baby girl (Emma) and I felt like making something for her. Originally my mom was going to just make something, but I wanted to contribute too. I found some cotton yarn in my stash last week and a pattern that worked out nicely. What was nice about this project was that I was able to finish it while watching TV. I hope she likes it.

Yarn: 1 (2 oz) ball Peaches n' Cream from Pisgah Yarn & Dying Co., Inc (Pink Lilacs 159 & Winter Berry 170)
Pattern: Baby Bib o' Love from MasonDixon Knitting
Needles: US 6
Buttons: 7/8 in.

Happy End of 2nd Tri Yarn

Yes, yes... more yarn. I've decided to treat myself at the end of each tri for the accomplishments that I've completed during the past four treacherous months with yarn - hey, better than food. Remember now, one can never have enough yarn, even though most of it is considered "stash/hibernating" - at least I have a purpose for all of the yarn that I have. Here you have it:

Yarn: Crystal Palace Yarns Mini Mochi 107 Autumn Harvest
Pattern: Mini Mochi Fair Isle Hat & Mittens

Tortellini Soup

I have today off, which is really nice and I got a chance to make something so I have lunches this week. I found this recipe awhile back and have been meaning to make it, but never got the chance until now. I made Tortellini Soup; it is really good and super easy. Really though, there isn't much to the recipe, so I wouldn't even call it a recipe.

Here is is:

Low-fat Cheese tortellini
30 oz chicken broth
4 oz chopped frozen spinach, thawed
garlic, browned
stewed tomatoes

I'm one of those people who boils any type of pasta/potato and drains it before adding it to anything, because I like to remove the starch. This recipe called for cooking the tortellini in the chicken broth, which I didn't do - I resorted to my starch removal method. It really isn't worth while writing the instructions because it's a soup, and soups really just consist of adding your ingredients and enjoying your creation. I suppose though I should write something however: cook tortellini, brown garlic in same saucepan, add ingredients, cook, eat. There. Enjoy!

I knitted this weekend to releave some stress

Last week was a bit stressful (Tuesdays Spinal exam) and worry-some in regards to Thursday's events, so I ended up staying in on Friday, instead of going out. I watched movies and I knitted. In the eyes of the non-knitter, that may be a bit sad, but to me it's not. I would rather knit than go out in any stressful situation. I must admit, I'm a bit of a homebody, so that sort of adds to the wanting to stay home and knit sort of thing. Obviously, I'm beyond the gusset. I've continued on with the size 2 needles and tried to loosen up my tension, but unfortunately it wasn't working very well. As Elizabeth Zimmermann said in "The Knitting Workshop," your tension depends on what kind of mood you are in - or something along those lines if I recall correctly. I think that being a little stressed affected my knitting, just a bit. Hopefully after blocking, it will get better.