Progress is being made!

A couple weeks ago I posted the Ocean Spray shawl I was working on.  I had just finished row 58 on it.  Today, I finished row 101 so I thought I would post another progress report.  I didn't post a progress report between rows 58 and 101 because all of the work between those two points is exactly the same, knitting with 4 yarn overs and then purling on the backside.

So here is what I have so far.

It doesn't look a lot different, just bigger.  You might have noticed that it looks like I don't have any life lines in the shawl.  I do have a life line, you just can't see it well because it is right in the row that is on the cable of my needle.  I had several life lines as I was working on this section.  Now that I have completed section one and have all of the stitches I am suppose to have I decided to get rid of the extra life lines because the ends were tangling with each other and my working yarn.  I also took out the stitch marker I had been using to mark the right and wrong sides of the work.  At this point it is now obvious which is which and I didn't want to risk snagging the marker and tearing the shawl.

Now I move on to section 2 of the pattern.  I am looking forward to this section, I hope it will be more interesting than the previous section.

Stay tuned for more!

I'm a Hooker!!!

Three words my father hoped never to hear me say "I'm a Hooker!"  However, I get to say them because now it's true!  It is official, after many years of trying, I have learned to crochet.

I took a beginning crochet class at Yarn Soup this past couple of thursdays with Diane and it was great fun.

I had problems at first because I'm a thrower when it comes to knitting so I didn't really have a good way of holding my yarn to keep proper tension on it and the method Diane was using just didn't work for me.  However, between my first class and the class tonight I had time to watch various you tube videos on crochet and saw how different people held their yarn and found a way that works for me.  I think it will be terribly funny if I finally figure out how to knit Continental by taking a crochet class.  :)

Here is a picture of my crochet to date.  The little gray square was what I managed to get done in the first class.  I was throwing the yarn when I made this swatch so I didn't get very far.  The green piece next to it I made at home while trying out various methods of holding the yarn and practicing the stitches Diane taught us.  The bit on top is what we did in tonights class.  Diane showed us how to read a pattern and how to make granny squares.  I goofed on mine and it is turning into a granny star but that is ok.  I know what I did wrong and I don't care for granny square afghans anyway so I don't have to worry about fitting it in with other squares.  This one will probably end up as a trivet.

None of my attempts to date are perfect, but that's ok.  I've only been at this a week and I have years ahead of me to practice.  

Rolling out some new colors

Things have been pretty busy around here, between filling orders, teaching, and working on getting my dye shop renovated I've been a bit behind in getting the new color ways I've been working on added to my site.  However, I am pleased to announce that I am adding FOUR new colors to my website today.

So, in no particular order, here they are.

Purple, purple and more purple - Here is Jazmin!

Not to be outdone, here is Eowyn strutting her stuff in purple and pink!

Next, what could be more perfect for summer than a big piece of Rhubarb Pie!

And last, but not least, in one of the new hot colors for the season, Tiger Lily!

Come see them all at T&H Fiber Works today!

Not so Full of Scarf

I showed my husband this knitting video Knitting 101 (this is also where I got my name for my blog) so now whenever I am working on a project and I show it to him he says, "Hmmm, that is not so full of scarf." or "That area is full of scarf." depending on how much progress I have made.

I am currently working on Oceanspray which is a lace shawl and will be very pretty.  However, I'm in the early stages so this area is not so full of scarf :)  I have been working on this since April 26th.  It will be a display sample for Yarn Soup in Dubuque, Iowa for a while, and then I get to keep it for myself :)

I am using Trendsetter Yarns Cash-Woole which is a 100% Merino lace yarn.  I am also using size 2 bamboo Addi's.  Currently I have completed 29 repeats of section 1, there will be 50 repeats total.  The shawl is still in the ugly duckling/boring to work phase but soon I'll get into more of the lace work and it will be more fun to work on.

You can see my lifelines in the picture.  I add them whenever I change either a technique or a section of the pattern, or when I have gotten a lot done and don't want to risk loosing several days worth of work.  This yarn is very fine so while I haven't done a huge amount on it, what I have done has taken quite a while because I can only work on it for a while before my eyes bug out.  It is a very nice yarn to work with though. 

I have learned however, that it does not like provisional cast ons.  The first part of the pattern you are supposed to do a provisional cast on of 3 stitches, work 7 rows of 3 stitches, rotate the work 90 degrees and pick up 3 more, and undo the PCO and pick up the three live stitches.  I tried 3 or 4 times to do it with different cast ons each time and kept snapping the working yarn when undoing the PCO.  After that I just gave up and picked up three stitches instead of getting live ones.  It's a very tiny spot on the shawl and no one will ever be able to find where I made the change unless they know this pattern very well.

Stay tuned for more updates on my shawl!

Greetings!

Hello,
I'm Heather and I'm a fiberholic.  If there is a twelve step program for this condition, keep it far away from me.  I'm happy the way I am. :)  I named this blog for one of my favorite youtube videos.  I think this is one of the funniest videos I have ever seen.  It never fails to crack me up.  Check it out - Knitting 101.

I own T&H Fiber Works where I hand dye yarn and roving and sell it to yarn stores across the country and retail via my website thfiberworks.com.  I also teach knitting classes at my local store Yarn Soup in Dubuque, IA.

Please check back frequently.  I will announce new color ways and special blog only sales here.  I will ramble on about my forays into learning various fiber arts such as weaving, tatting, and crochet.  I will also ramble on about various projects I am working on and give my opinions on the various yarns I use.

Thanks for stopping by!