FO Friday: Gentians Handspun

For FO Friday today I have a completed spinning project! I ordered this braid from EdgeWood Garden Studios and it came quickly with some added surprises. I appreciated these two teas, although I haven't had a chance to try them yet. I didn't get the mail until after the sun went down, so I waited to take a picture of this braid in the sunlight before I put it on my wheel.

This gorgeous braid is 100% BFL wool in the Gentians colorway. My favorite bit of this braid was the little touches of pink, but the other colors are so beautiful and saturated!

I spun this 4oz braid on my Kromski Fantasia wheel by separating the braid in half using a scale, then spinning each half and plying it together. I'm not usually a fan of knitting with barber pole plied yarn, but it's absurdly fun to ply, and turns out so beautiful!

After being washed and thwacked, this braid ended up as 226 yards of a DK weight yarn. I'm really happy with how even it its. Usually it evens out a lot after a bath, maybe because of the blooming? Anyway, it's going to join its friends in my stash for now, but someday it may end up being a nice cosy cowl.

Best of Knitty

Recently I received an email from Knitty Magazine asking for donations on Patreon to keep the site running. I have been a huge fan of Knitty for a long time and being a fledgling designer myself, I have a massive appreciation for what they do. To work so hard on such beautiful, complex patterns, then publish them for free absolutely boggles my mind. Pattern designing, for those who haven't tried it, is a long, arduous process, which is why I have no problem paying money for well-written patterns and why I had no problem pledging a donation to Knitty after years and years of free patterns.

Being a college student, I don't usually have much money to donate to worthy causes, but if you have the means to donate more, they are offering some pretty good incentives! Special webchats with other knitters, stickers and patches, and an exclusive bag are all up for grabs for those especially generous patrons. Many of the more expensive spots are filled, but any donation will help this amazing knitting resource continue for many years to come.

To celebrate Knitty reaching 2 of its milestones so far, I've put together a list of my favorite Knitty patterns.

Skew Socks

I attempted these socks once years ago in a gorgeous colorway of Knitpicks Felici self-striping yarn, but I had to frog it because my first attempt at Kitchener turned out horrible. But I definitely want to attempt a pair again soon, hopefully in another nice self-striping.

Urban Tribe Shawl

This is a new release from the newest issue, and I've fallen in love with it! I am a sucker for colorwork done with gradient yarns, and this one is no exception. If I were any good with stranded colorwork, this sucker would be on my needles already.

Opus the Octopus

I think this little guy is a beautifully designed pattern! The detail, from to two-tone tentacles to his little eye bulge, is absolutely perfect. He is knit with yarn held double, but if I ever knit him, I'd use a single strand.

Fetching Mitts

My freshman year of college I knit three pairs of these for Christmas presents out of Knitpicks City Tweed, and neglected to take pictures of any of them. But I do remember them being a very fun, quick knit! I will definitely make more pairs in the future.

Krydda Cardigan

I LOVE this cardigan. Living in South Louisiana, we only have very cold temperatures for maybe a week or two out of the year, so I get the most use out of lacy, open, or light cardigans and I think this one would be perfect! 

Do you have any favorite Knitty patterns? Are you considering becoming a Patron? Let me know in the comments below?

Disclaimer: I am not sponsored by Knitty, I just really love them. All photos are (c) of Knitty Magazine

Revival

I've had a lot on my mind lately knitting-wise, and I have decided to revive my knitting blog! This blog is several years old now, but it was always a casual thing, with me just posting if and when I felt like it. Now that I've spent about a year working on a makeup and beauty blog a little more in-depth, I think I would like to revisit this blog and make it a regular thing. 

I have dreams of starting a knitting podcast in order to get more involved in the community and make some more knitting friends, but my computer skills are minimal, and I'm not sure how comfortable I am in front of the camera yet, so for now blogging it is!

I love how many podcasts are formatted with different sections for finished objects, WIP's, stash acquisitions, and future projects, so I think I will format my blog in a similar way.

Finished Objects:

These cute little hats are destined to keep a kiddos head warm in a few weeks! I decided to participate in the Caffeinated Knitting Podcast's Hats for Kiddos drive this year, so I whipped up a few of these babies. They are requiring 5 hats for one entry into the prize drawing, and although I am not in it for the prizes (but lets be honest, they do sweeten the deal), I like the idea of spending the postage money to send more hats, rather than less. I had an old spiral hat I had made years ago, and a Barley hat I made earlier this year, but the little hats above were made just for this. 

I didn't use a pattern, which resulted in the pink one at the bottom being minuscule, but the other two turned out fine and I'm really happy with them. The yarn is Daylily by Nashua Handknits, and although it is very beautiful, it was a pain to knit with, splitty as hell, and - unsurprisingly- now discontinued. 

Works in Progress:

None of my knitting projects have been inspiring me much this week (there's only so much you can knit on a plain, grey sleeve) so I've mostly been spinning up this gorgeous braid of BFL from Edgewood Garden Studio in her Gentians color way. My singles are resting right now, but after I post this, I think it will be time to ply.

I've also been working on my Mosaic Sock out of Knitpicks Felici, and my Mama Vertebrae out of Quince and Co Chickadee, but not much interesting progress has been made.

Stash Acquisitions:

While I didn't get to go to Rhinebeck this year (*cue weeping*), I did score a skein of Verdant Gryphon Bugga Sportweight in their Purple Island of Morocco during their "Virtual Rhinebeck" sale! This skein has 20% Mongolian Cashmere and more than 400 yards, so it's destined to be a gorgeous, buttery-soft cowl or shawl. For now I have too much to knit so it will be marinating in the Stash until its time comes.

Next Up:

I purchased these two skeins of Regia Arne and Carlos Design Line in the Summer Nights color way a few months ago when I saw Susan B Anderson knitting a gorgeous pair on Instagram and I was determined to knit a pair too. I haven't done a contrasting heel and toe in a long time, so I found this older skein of Valley Yarns sock yarn in a creamy white, and now I'm itching to cast on! But I've got a sweater, a pair of socks, a scarf (that's destined to be a Christmas present so it gets priority), and a hat actively on my needles, so I shouldn't cast these on just yet. Waiting will make it even sweeter when I do!