Nuclear Knits: Where knitting is the bomb!

Mystery 220 for March was a hat. I thought maybe it was an elephant sock - but nope! It still needs to be blocked but this is what it looks like. Project Details I started it on March first and finished it up on March 30. I only got clues once a week. I didn't do the icord around the bottom and just did a rib instead. I used size 1 needles and fingering weight yarn. It came out to be 330 yards (not 220) but that is okay. I used Almost Holly yarn from Impulse of Delight. I can't wait to start April's mystery.

I realize that it has been a while since I blogged. Life has been taken over this past week and I'm test knitting something that is vexing me. I'm not sure if I'm just off my knitting game or there are slight issues - but whatever the reason I'm struggling to make progress on this mystery knit. Hopefully this next week will be much more productive!

Sorry the photos are so dark. That is what I get for working at night. Here is a UFO that I've been wanting to finish up. I was playing with jelly rolls and just started connecting them for the center panel. I was going to make a foot cover or a small quilt. But, then with the retro colors I thought I'd like to use all the fabric that I bought when our local quilt store closed down. This is 2/3 of the quilt. There is another panel I have to finish for the other side. But, I love fat squares that just show off the fabric for no good reason. And I was really working hard on corners in this quilt. Making sure that things were cut and line up perfect. Fingers crossed this weekend I finish the other 1/3 (which is already cut out) and then off to the quilters (I can't quilt this big mother ... larger than the last Montana King).

This past RV weekend gave me a lot of time to get some good knitting done. Care to see some progress? March 220 mystery knit. I finished clue 2 and am guessing now it is a hat. We'll have to see. The next clue doesn't come out until sometime this week. The stupidly simple scarf/shawl. I just finished my first skeins of yarn on this (which is telling me that this mother is going to be massive - which I'm sort of excited about). These socks are called Nutkin and are for my Sole Sister. I think the yarn will work out really nicely with this pattern and I'm doing them two at the same time (so that I don't get second sock syndrome). My goal for this week is to get some sock kits out the door and finish working on my darn quilt.

It is that time of the year again. RV time. You can see all the projects I've brought along for this trip.

I always wonder what people's crafting space looks like - so I decided to post an image of mine today. You can see all of the essentials; books, coffee, knitting, sewing, spinning, music ...... What does your crafting space look like?

A few years ago I bought this alpaca silk yarn that I just love. The feeling of it is amazing. The problem is that I have nearly 2000 yards of fingering weight yarn. Now for a shawl that might be fine (but we all know how long it takes me to knit up a shawl). I've had the pattern for the Stupidly Simple Triangle Scarf printed out for the past few months and I've been trying to decide what yarn to use. Either I have too little of a yarn or it isn't the right gauge. Then it hit me. Take the yarn I love and double it up. It would be thick enough for the pattern, I'd get to use all 2000 yards of it, and I get to make a pattern I've been dieing to try out. In the end, this is what you have. I'm just a short way into it, but I'm just loving every minute of knitting it up. It is silly easy, which makes it perfect for TV watching!

I'm not sure if I showed you this, but I got this 2011 tea towel a while ago. It came from a company that does print on demand (which I think is so amazing). I've been torn as to what to do with it (but hanging it on a wooden dowel and putting it in the kitchen like my Grandma used to do was not one of them). I loved the yellow feather look of this complimentary fabric so I cut it for the baking and binding. Here is how they look next to each other. I quilted around each of the bird houses and made it into a little center piece for my dinning room table. I'm in love with it and Mike give me one of the greatest compliments he ever has with respect to quilting. He told me that this is some of my precisest work. I think I might make one every year.

I decided to jump in and start a sweater. I've been on a bit of a sweater break. I did a gauge swatch and had all the supplies for Wendy's Somewhat Cowl. I cast on for it and love how simple the construction is so far. Great TV knitting. Remember my UFO push and these blocks. Well I created my first full scrappy block from the pre-cut out ones I already had. I decided to create a whole red block just for it. I'm going to slowly progress making whole color blocks. More photos to come.