Finally Conquered!

Sometime during the year 2016 which was the first year of my knitting odyssey, I started being obsessed at looking for knitting patterns on-line.  So many were free but there was just as many that had a cost.

The Thinking of You Scarf kept popping up in my search results.  It described the pattern as being suitable for an advanced beginner.  By the time I saw this pattern, I had progressed through knitting, purling and cabling.  I might have even tried my hand at yarn overs and K2tog at that point.  So I considered myself an advanced beginner.  My 2 knitting gurus certainly thought I had picked up this knitting thing like a fish takes to water.

But I hemmed and hawed at actually paying for a pattern.  Now I had paid for many patterns in my life.  I have purchased patterns for sewing clothes, magazines for counted cross stitch patterns, and all kinds of craft kits for beaded ornaments over my lifetime.  I couldn't understand why I was having trouble paying for this one.

Seems I was having a hard time giving in to the fact that knitting had become an obsession and considering I really thought I would never had taken up knitting after failing miserably under my grandmother's tutelage nearly 50 years ago.

After weeks, of looking at this beautiful pattern I bit the bullet and purchased The Thinking of You pattern by Jackie Erickson-Schweitzer and distributed through www.heartstringsfiberarts.com.  I then looked for the perfect red yarn.  I settled on 2, Ella Rae Cozy Soft and the Silky Wool by Elsebeth Lavold.  I then just read the pattern and I was so confused!  Packed the yarn and the pattern up and decided that Knit Camp with my 2 knitting gurus would be the place to begin this project.

Ah, Knit Camp.  Tucked away in a rural area north of Pittsburgh about 50 women gather for a weekend every year over the President's Day Weekend.  It takes a special invitation to get in and turns out I knew someone, who knew someone and knew I would love the experience.

Imagine, visiting an alpaca farm, shopping at a local knit shop, and knitting, eating and drinking your favorite beverage of choice for 3 days!  Heaven on earth for a knitting addict.  I first went to knit camp in 2017 and I still considered myself a beginner.  Turns out when it was time for show and tell, I was not considered a beginner at all!!  So on the first evening I took out this lovely pattern and decided to use the silky wool.  Under the guidance of 49 other knitters I cast on and began and had help figuring out how to read this pattern. 

Cast on 29 stitches, a 4 row repeating pattern for 36 inches till the fun part of creating the hearts began.  Sounds simple enough.  However, I knitted a row or 2 and I never had 29 stitches!  Ripped out and started again. Same thing happened again!  Somehow 29 stitches would never be the magic number I would count in successive rows.  I just had to put this advanced beginner pattern and project in time-out!

Fast forward to the fall of 2019 and I find myself back at a fall knitting weekend north of Pittsburgh again.  Turns out we could not get enough knitting in during the winter knit weekend, we started a fall knitting weekend in 2018!  Weather was warmer and the colors of the trees were golden.  By now 3 years later I have actually taught some knitting classes and sing the praises of stitch markers!

Also 3 years later my yarn stash is out of control and the list of projects I want to knit is a mile long, and I spent a month cataloging my stash and queuing my patterns on Ravelry and I feel so much peace now.  I also have a determination to knit the projects and use the stash.  Out comes the Thinking of You Scarf again.  Perfect!  I have all the yarn and more than I need too!  I am heading back to knit camp and I am ready to start again.  Finished a sweater which was the first item in my newly organized queue while at camp and I cast on the Thinking of You Scarf again.

I was fairly confident. 29 stitches per row!  This is a piece of cake.  I stopped and counted stitches after a few rows and the magic number of 29 was still eluding me!  A light bulb when off:  USE MARKERS!  So I placed a marker after the 1st stitch, then every 5 stitches till the end of the row where the last 3 stitches were supposed to be.  Now I could move on and catch those tricky YO's and K2tog's in the right place.  Finally, I found my rhythm and used my own advice!!!  2 days later the scarf with its beautiful interlocking hearts was finished!  Blocked for a day of drying and I have a beautiful scarf and enough of the silky wool to make 2 more with confidence.  (I have made a promise not to return yarn to my stash.  Future gifts or knit camp auction items will be the destination for the additional Thinking of You scarves.  It's been a 3 year odyssey  that has brought me much joy as I finally conquered this Advanced Beginner pattern. 

It's Yarn Crawl Eve!

Good morning to all my yarn enthusiasts!  I am so excited today as it is the day before the Long Island Yarn Crawl of 2019 begins.  10 local shops that span 87 miles across Long Island.  This will be the 3rd year that I will attempt to visit 10 shops over 4 days, and still work at church and still put in my hours at Sew What's New and Yarn Too! and attend a Board Meeting for Camp Ma-He-Tu in Westchester and worship on Sunday.  My husband has joined in the fun as he will drive with me out to East Hampton, Mattituck and Port Jefferson tomorrow afternoon, not because I need the company but he is the best husband a yarnie can have.

I even have a plan.  Yes, a list with a magazine to find, a pattern to locate and yarn to fit some patterns I really want to create, even though my knitting project list contains to many to complete in this lifetime.  There is something magical about traveling and meeting up with others who share the same passion - that is to create something out of yarn, How is it that a simple ball of string can be knit into absolutely beautiful objects? The secret: one stitch at a time. So methodical, so soothing, so rhythmical. 

Recently, I had the pleasure to knit for my godson and his wife's baby shower.  Nothing like knitting for a sweet addition to the family.  That simple string turned into a Slip Stitch Henley and an oh so cute Duck Comfy. 

Of course I have had to knit with a 16 year old cat that has to just be right up next to me at all times whenever I knit.  It is even more fun when the younger felines of the house want to take part in the fun.  I am lucky though as they so not seem to get to tangled up in the balls of yarn. One has a tried and true of method of getting me to put down my needles when he crawls through the ring of the circular needles.  Yes, I have lost stitches this way, and the purr monster received his loving facial rub down.

So over the next few days, I have a plan.  3 shops on Thursday afternoon/evening, 2 shops in the morning on Friday, 1 where I work, 1 on the way to the Throgs Neck Bridge, 2 on my way home from the meeting on Saturday, and the 1 remaining on Sunday after worship or any I might not have gotten to in the grand plan that I created.  So that's how I fit it all in, the purchases along the way may require a stop to purchase another bin or two to add to the dozen in the basement.  Yes, I have a plan and I pray that I will find the time to knit all that yarn into masterpieces. 

I am sure I am not alone in that challenge. 

Happy 3rd Anniversary To Me!

Sew What's New & Yarn Too!

3 years ago on this date I made my first purchase of yarn at Sew What's New & Yarn Too! in Islip, NY and with the Long Island Yarn Crawl coming up, I thought it was a good day to celebrate.  After all, it seems that FaceBook, Instagram and all the other social media sites give us something to celebrate each and every day.  So what was the first Local Yarn Shop (LYS) you ever made a purchase in?

On February 25, 2016, I had only been knitting for a 6 months!!  I had been to Michaels, A.C. Moore and JoAnne's for yarn to feed what was a new obsession in my life.  But I had found a project that I wanted to work on that on the surface looked complicated but according to the pattern was SO EASY!  I was also bored with the selection in the local big box craft stores and I went exploring.

I had no idea what I walked in to!  As I entered SEW WHAT'S NEW & YARN TOO!, I was immersed in so many choices of fabric.  Then I spotted the big yarn wrapped letters toward the back of the shop that said AND YARN TOO! Walking through the glass French door was like a kid walking into a candy shop.  I was greeted by a staff member and I was asked if I was looking for something in particular.  Why, yes! I needed bulky yarn!  I was shown a few bins and areas that had bulky or chunky yarn selections.  I purchased 11 balls of a beautiful Noro Silk Garden, a silk wool blend for Dropped and Found Wrap by Jessie Rayot.

I headed home and started knitting my new project with yarn that was silky soft and I knew I would be heading back to Sew What's New & Yarn Too! in the future!

Dropped and Found Wrap in Noro Silk Garden

Here is a view of the completed project, that I eventually gave to a friend of my son, who had been in a wicked car accident and was bruised and battered.  Her mother wanted her wrapped in bubble wrap, but this was the next best thing!

I returned a to Sew What's New & Yarn Too! a few months later to purchase some Ella Rae Seasons to make a second wrap for myself.

Dropped and Found  Wrap in Ella Rae Seasons

I did not know it 3 years ago, but Sew What's New & Yarn Too! became a chapter in my life and we are still writing the story and creating beautiful knitted projects.

All credits to:
sewwhats.new.biz
https://jessieathome.com/dropped-and-found/

Make sure you check out the Long Island Yarn Crawl from April 4th to April 7th.  10 Local Yarn shops across Long Island have joined in the fun!
https://longislandyarncrawl.com/