On the needles | Sweaters, hats and more...

September 1, 2015

So, I'm a wee bit under the weather. This last weekend was Mr. Yarnista's birthday and I was lucky enough to come down with a dreadful cold 2 days before his big party and then give it to him. Happy birthday, my love!

The September Simple Knits project will be coming your way later this week, along with a new podcast since the hubby thought it would be best for me to go to bed and sleep this last weekend instead of chatting with you. In the meantime, the August project will extend through Sunday, September 6th, so you can finish up any WIPs (or maybe even cast on a second hat).

Today, I thought I would share what I've been working on (between naps, that is)...

There's this beauty - Unicorn Stripes.

I've made a little more progress since this picture... I'm 4 colors further down the line (of the total 30) and I'm knitting my way through that bright Edison Bulb - it's totally crazy but a super fun color to knit with! I have the next 5 colors ready to wind into balls and I'm excited show off the next series of colors! Tomorrow morning over coffee, perhaps?

There's also a new sweater - Wolf River by Dandiliongirl Designs. This photo is from *gulp* February when I wound the yarn.

I decided to belatedly join Very Shannon's SSKAL15 with just a little over 2 weeks to go, so I better kick it into gear. LOL! I cast on last weekend (finally) and have about 1/3 of the back done. I'll share my progress with you soon on Instagram and Facebook.

I finished up my August Simple Knits project, Go! and it's drying now. Since this is technically an "on" the needles post, here it is as a WIP on my crazy weekend night with Sam Seaborn, a box of Puffs and cough drops.

This was my view all weekend and will be again as soon as my boss let's me go home for the day. Wait a second...

Cheers!

Simple Knits | Simply Knitting

May 15, 2015

I decided this month that I was going to get going on the May Simple Knits Knitalong project early in the month because, even though I've been finishing on time, it's been just barely on time and I really just want to simply knit and enjoy the process and the project.

For this month's project, Reminisce by Truly Myrtle, I was torn between 2 yarns and the Blue Sky Alpacas Suri Merino in the Dusk colorway was the winner for this version. Psst... I say "this version" because the second yarn is still queued up since I'm hopelessly optimistic that I can knit all of the things.

So... when my amazing hubby gave me a day off earlier this week - in the true spirit of our knitalong - I made time that day to cast on between errands and other "day off duties" and... to be completely honest, I can barely put this lovely hat down. Seriously, it's been a "just one more round" project since I cast on. Libby's design has a wonderful flow and combining that with the deliciously luxurious Blue Sky Alpacas Suri Merino, it's destined to be a gorgeous FO in the very near future!

So, I'm about halfway through the body of the hat and there's no telling how much more progress will be made before the day is up. Not only am I excited to try a second yarn for Reminisce, I also have my sights set on a Truly Myrtle shawl for a shop sample. Conveniently, I already have the perfect shawl yarn wound. It's meant to be, right?!

Are you knitting along this month? If you are, or plan to, and haven't picked up the Reminisce pattern yet, be sure to pop on over to Ravelry for Libby's special for our Knitalong'ers...

20% OFF the Reminisce pattern through Sunday, May 17th! Just pop on over to Ravelry to purchase the pattern here and enter the coupon code 'SIMPLEKNITSKAL'.

I'm off to do work things, you know... order yarn, knit a round on Reminisce, reply to emails, knit a round, pay bills, knit a round, plan classes, knit a round... oh, and finish building the new Firefly Fibers website. And between all of that, I've been getting a fair amount of knitting done. It's busy around here!

I can't wait to see your version of Reminisce!

Cheers!

On the Needles | Lofty Goals

October 4, 2014

The weekend is here and it's been super busy at Firefly Fibers. Life has been a little less than cooperative as of late and, although I'm mostly caught up, I'm still a wee bit behind on the knitting. So, I hope to take care of a good portion of the knitting backlog this weekend. Can you hear me squealing with joy?

Goal #1:

The new Fall Knitalong is on my needles and I plan to wrap that up this weekend.

Since casting on with this beautiful yarn at a baseball game...

I've been stealing blocks of time here and there, but now I'm on the last section of charts. It's quite scrunched up on the needles and I can't wait to bind off and see what it looks like in all its glory! Here's another WIP photo from early on:

I cannot sing enough praises about Julie & her yarn (I love every single one that I've knit with and she's a pleasure to work with) and the Campside pattern has such a lovely rhythm to it (Alicia, the designer, was just as wonderful and kind when I reached out to her to finalize the Knitalong details for the shop). Many thanks to both of you and to Pom Pom Quarterly for publishing the pattern!

All in all... This shawl has been a joy to knit, but it's time to wrap it up and get it off the needles so it can be on display at the shop - get ready to drool!

Goal #2:

Inland for the Journey-along.

Yup, this is still the last of the progress - I'm stuck on those blasted sleeves and as the leader of this knitalong, I'm hanging my head in shame.

I lost my motivation when the weather warmed and my practical side didn't see the purpose in plowing through a bulky sweater when summer was right around the corner and I had other things to knit. But now it's 45 outside and I wish I would have stuck with it. So, my goal is to get back at this this weekend and finish up the sleeves, at the very least - after finishing Campside, of course.

Goal #3:

I cast on a new CustomFit sweater this last July on our Colorado trip while watching episode after episode of Gilmore Girls. Sadly, the sweater lost momentum at... you guessed it, the sleeves.

It's a CustomFit version of Knitbot's Featherweight with 3/4 length sleeves and the rest of the body is done, so I hope to get those cast on and finish them up this weekend, too.

I have a couple other things that might find their way onto the needles because I desperately need a smaller project, but we'll see... I'll keep you posted.