What's on the knitting needles . . . . Pattern Testing & Dh socks

what's on the knitting needles?

I started socks for dh 2 days before Valentine's. I've not had much time to work on them though. However, I'm super excited about knitting this pair for him. The last pair was out of Dream In Color Classy worsted weight yarn using the
Knitty Thuja pattern. This pair is out of Zen String Lotus Toes BFL. I'm knitting the "Esquire" toe up (first time I've knit toe-up as the Thuja's and the other sock I've knit were top down).

When I first emailed Angelina of Zenstring - I asked her if she'd consider a colorway of navy, maroon, black or dark brown and silver/gray in sock yarn for my dh. She replied that she thought she had just the colorway that she had just created and was going to release soon. After seeing some of the other "Esquire" skeins knit up on Ravelry mine seems to have deeper colors and I'm so very glad! Some of the other skeins seem to have brighter colors and some pink to them and while dh does look very nice in pink I don't think he'd want pink in these socks LOL.

Here is a pair of socks knit out of a skein of Esquire by Angelina. The skein I'm knitting with is definitely deeper in color. Here is another skein of "Esquire" from Kingdom Knits on flickr. That skein definitely has lighter colors. I really do like the richness of the colors in the skein I received from ZS! I can't wait to see how they turn out. It's such a beautiful yarn!




Also test knitting a Cowl pattern for Melanie of Adorabubble Knits

Hand-spun Longies Action Photos

"V" was kind enough to send me these action photos of her little man modeling the Amber Beck Fiber Arts "Cameron" handspun longies.

Birthday Poncho

One of my dd's has wanted a poncho. She picked the yarn. While this is an easy project - it does get rather boring by the time you get to the end of this poncho!


I think baby sized ponchos are surely much more fun to knit than bigger kid sized ones.

"Eden" Braided shorties

The "Eden" colorway is one of my all time favorites! It's such a nice girly color! And with spring coming it was the perfect time to knit this! The mama asked for flared legs for her little girl. "Eden" is dyed by Lamar at "A Time To Dye" who stocks on the "Tiny Lady Cooperative" on Hyena cart. You can find her yarns here: http://hyenacart.com/tinyladycooperative/ This skein was dyed on Cestari Superfine Merino. I really enjoy knitting with this yarn. It is a cottony soft type yarn. Many knitters seem to not care for the Cestari so much as they say it drags on their knitting needles but I've not found this to be the case with using Addi knitting needles. Cast-on and bound-off in the main colorway.




H19.5;R17;I4 - 4 3/8oz

Amber Beck Fiber Arts Hand-spun Longies

This is the most stunning yarn! It is hand-spun by Amber Beck Fiber Arts in the "Cameron" colorway! This was such an honor to knit for this mama. I hope that she likes them and the little surprise I included (keyring longies made from this yarn - she said it was custom spun/dyed for her little boy and named after him so I thought she might like to have a mini-keepsake of her special yarn). These photos are not the best - it had been snowing the day before and we just did not have good lighting until sunset so the light was at a funny angle. The pictures of the yarn are far more accurate. Hopefully I can get a decent pic in the morning before these get mailed off.



This is the yarn when I received it in the mail! Stunning!



It was amazing to see this yarn transform - the pictures above of the completed item simply do not do the yarn justice - here is a close-up picture so that the true beauty can be seen.


7.25oz H20,R19,I11,T11; 3.5spi

Gracecody Longies with action pictures

Knit with Cestari Fine Merino in the "Dusty Orchid" colorway. One of my alltime favorite colors! This yarn is so cottony to knit with! And such a pleasure to knit with such a beautiful color! This was the first time I had done the plaited cable. I was quite thrilled with how they turned out! I think my own daughter will need a sweater/pant set like this for next winter!



This mama was so sweet to knit for - she was kind enough to allow me to save off the pictures to post here and in my album. Isn't her little girl a cutie pie! She requested an extra long inseam with a longer cuff so that her little one could wear the longies next year and this year with the cuff rolled up.




Cestari Fine Merino "Dusty Orchid" colorway
used 5 7/8oz at 4spi
H22, R18, I11, T12