Wyoming Breezes

July 2022 Because I worked on the Noro scarf during the last two FaceTime calls, it inched closer and closer to completion. The last few inches were finished on Sunday evening, and the stitches were bound off Monday morning. Yesterday, I stopped at a neighborhood park and snapped a few photos.  Noro Scarf #2 is finished and ready for the gift bin. I’m happy that the knitting queue is moving.  Baby Surprise Jackets are next in line: a progress report will be released soon. 

July 2022 Five projects are currently in my knitting queue: the Noro scarf, a pair of scrap yarn socks, the Redcliffe City socks, and two Baby Surprise Jackets (BSJ). The scarf should be finished tomorrow, the scrap socks (one finished and the mate at the heel flap), and the first Redcliffe sock is at the heel flap.  While cleaning the sewing room, I found a BSJ that needs shoulder seams and a collar added. The jacket came off the needles in 2020 . I also need to sew buttons on this BSJ as well as a purple one that was finished in 2018 .  I don’t know why I didn’t finish these BSJ years ago!  Currently, I seem to be in a mindset to get clear out lingering/stalled knitting projects, and they are out of bins and in a queue. 

Noro scarf #2 June 2022 The first Noro scarf was finished in May, and once it was off the needles, I gathered the last four balls of Silk Garden from my stash and cast on another one. Currently, I am over half way and chugging along at a steady pace.  I have no plans for these scarves, so they’ll go into a gift/giveaway bin. Slowly my yarn stash is getting to a more manageable stage. 

While going through my yarn bins, an abandoned project caught my eye. Frankly, it’s caught my eye every time I’ve searched for a new project, but it hasn’t been worked on in years. Yesterday, it went in the frog pond! long neglected, improvised scarf You can tell by its rumpled appearance that it’s been stuffed in the bag far too long. It was an improvised pattern that didn’t spark my interest anymore. The yarn is pretty so it went back into the sock yarn bin. 

Noro Scarf  May 2022 I spent last week in Colorado visiting my niece and my sister and BIL. While there, I knit during the televised Avalance (Stanley Cup playoff) games and the Colorado Rockies games. Inch by inch the scarf grew until I ran out of yarn. reverse side of scarf The scarf is 72 inches long and was knit with four balls of Noro Silk Garden. Two balls were the same color (Color #221) and used throughout the scarf for the darker stripes. The other balls were different colors (Color # 341 and Color #258) and added the bright stripes.  The scarf was started in March , was stalled in my knitting bag for a few weeks, and finished in May.

April 24, 2022 The Noro Scarf is nearly 40 inches long; thus, it has grown nearly 15 inches in two weeks . I'll gladly take that kind of progress.  I've been knitting on the scarf during the Sunday FaceTime calls with my sister and nieces. I don't seem to mind knitting the ribbing when I'm talking with someone, but other times it is a slog.  Spring and warmer temperatures are taking their time arriving in Laramie this year. A few quick snow storms have blown through in recent days but haven't dropped much moisture as the winds have been strong and fierce. Jackets and wool socks are still essential, and flannel sheets are still on my bed. I'd gladly welcome some green grass, leafing trees and shrubs, and blooming flowers, but until then, I will be happy with the Noro Scarf growth spurt. 

Noro scarf April 2022 Progress has been made on the Noro Scarf in the last two weeks: the third and fourth skeins of Noro Silk Garden have been added to the two previous skeins. Since I’m basically at the halfway point, it appears the scarf will be approximately 50 inches long.  I love how the colors are playing together in the first section. To keep the sides straight, the pattern says to slips the first and last stitches on the second row as if to purl, and it makes a nice smooth  edge. 

beginning of Noro Scarf March 2022 My knitting has slowed to barely a crawl in the last few months. I have numerous projects started and none really progressing. This Noro scarf was started in January, and it's been sitting at the bottom of my knitting bag since then. The "pattern" is credited to Jared Flood, but even he says it was someone else's idea. It uses four skeins of Noro Silk Garden (it's not an inexpensive project to knit): two skeins are the same color way (to be used throughout the scarf) and two are completely different.  I've knit the scarf before as well as turned another scarf into a cowl . I purchased several skeins of Noro Silk Garden at a shop that was going out of business, so I got the yarn at a discount.  Don't look for this project to be finished soon: at the rate I'm knitting, it might be finished in a year or more. 

August 2021 All of these projects have been stuffed in my knitting bag for months, and the scarf on the left was started nearly two years ago. Two years! How does that happen?!  Complexity is not the reason for their abandonment because all are mindless knits. I’ve simply lost interest in knitting. Perhaps if the projects were more visible, I would pick one up and work on it. I’ll leave them out of the bag to see if that helps.  How have you dealt with stalled and abandoned projects? 

Garter stitch scarf July 2019 The ball of yarn is shrinking, so the garter stitch scarf will soon be finished. I plan to graft the two ends together to create an infinity scarf. It's been an enjoyable project for watching TV, for visiting with friends, and for sitting on the patio. I like the colors of the yarn. Even though it's technically sock yarn, I would never knit socks with it, as the yarn has very little twist, is inconsistent in thickness, and tends to split.

simply garter scarf June 2019 The simply garter scarf is growing, albeit slowly. It's a good thing this project doesn't have a deadline. It's a relaxing knit and a good project for knitting at meetings and in the car, when I'm not driving, of course.

Simply Garter Scarf April 2019 The Simply Garter Scarf reached the 12-inch mark last week during knitting group. I'm slipping the first stitch on each row to get a nice smooth edge. The yarn is striping different than I thought it would, but I still like the colors. I'm knitting scarf with 40 stitches on size 6 needles. The knit width is approximately 7 inches.

simply garter stitch scarf March 2019 Garter stitch is a relaxing stitch - nothing to think about - mindless knitting at its finest. I started this simple garter stitch scarf and keep it in my knitting bag for a grab and go project. It's a good project for knitting with friends, as I can gab while I knit. This skein of sock yarn is non-plied and in some places is more like thin roving than yarn. I determined it was not ideal yarn for socks which is why I decided to knit a simple garter stitch scarf with it.

scarf January 2019 The yarn that fooled me twice is getting yet another chance to become a finished object. Maybe, the third attempt is the charm. I decided to knit a simple garter stitch scarf with the lace weight yarn and randomly add some eyelet lace. I began with a provisional cast on, so the two ends can be grafted easily into an eternity scarf. Sky Scarf finished January 2013 Since the Sky Scarf, knit in 2013, is one of my favorite accessories, I thought a similar scarf would be worn a lot. So far, the yarn is behaving itself: it must be happy with my plan.

Amerie cowl July 2017 Amerie was a great project for evening TV viewing. The two-row pattern was very easy to memorize and to knit. The photo doesn't show it clearly, but the cowl is doubled (50 inches in circumference) and 5 inches wide.  It would not have required blocking, but I did it anyway to open the stitches a bit. Knit flat, a three-needle bind off (pattern uses a provisional cast on) grafted the two ends together. The Yak/wool blend is soft, but somewhat splitty. Yarn details can be found on this earlier post .

My Friend Jean cowl July 2017 My Friend Jean is off the needles and blocked. As predicted in an earlier post , I had enough yarn to knit 20 of the 32 lace pattern rows. The blocked cowl is 5 inches wide, and with the full pattern, it would probably be close to 7 or 8 inches. The single skein that I used was only 50 grams: a 100 gram skein would result in a wider cowl. The pattern has directions for a small, medium, and large cowl (length), and I knit the large because even with a narrower cowl, I wanted it to be long enough to loop around the neck two times. I think my first, chart knit project turned out pretty good. felted needle case July 2017 A squishy package arrived in Friday's mail - a felted zip bag from Kathyb. She drew my name from those who sent twiddle mitts in memory of her mother. Thanks, Kathyb

My Friend Jean - scarf July 2017 One of the projects that I prepared to work on during my recovery was a lacy scarf/cowl called My Friend Jean by Rose Williams. I picked the pattern because it had a simple chart, and one of my goals this year was to knit from a chart. I just finished row ten or a 32 row insert, and it is clear that I will not have enough yarn for the complete pattern. I started with a gifted 50 gram ball of Rowan "felted tweed" (50% merino wool, 25% alpaca, and 25% viscose). According to my calculations, I will be able to knit ten more rows of the lace and then begin the seed stitch border. My version will be narrow, but I'm sure I will still enjoy wearing it. For some reason, this pattern and all the other "my friend" patterns by Rose Williams are no longer available on Ravelry. When casting on the hundreds of stitches for this scarf, I discovered a great tip to join in the round without twisting. "Join without twisting. . ....

100% cashmere Hitchhiker in progress March 2017 Remember the cashmere yarn that was a gift from Julie and that Briana plied? I decided to knit it into a Hitchhiker scarf/shawl. My first plan was to knit a Hitchhiker Beyond shawl, but realized the yarn is so soft, the shawl would not have a lot of body. Pattern: Hitchhiker by Martina Behm (Ravelry link) Needles: US 6 Yarn: Art Yarns - Cashmere 2 (Color 143)           The two strand yarn was plied by Briana F.

Hitchhiker Beyond February 2017 I found these photos of  Hitchhiker Beyond  that came off of the needles in early February. Since I listened to Friction by Sandra Brown while knitting this shawl, a library photo shoot seemed an appropriate way to feature the finished shawl. blocking Hitchhiker Beyond While blocking, I pinned the center point (top and bottom) and worked out from those points, keeping the top edge straight and the bottom edge at the correct angle. center point on the top and bottom edge I loved this pattern!  If you decide to knit the Hitchhiker Beyond, it's important to follow the designer's recommendation to weigh the yarn before you begin so you can calculate when to begin the decreases. I had 2 grams remaining Pattern:   Hitchhiker Beyond  (Ravelry link) by Martina Behm Needles:  US size 6 Yarn:  Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Select (African Grey) 4 oz/114 grams The pattern is easy and fun to knit.

finished Hitchhiker Beyond January 2017 Last month, Julie gave Cheryl a gorgeous shawl/scarf - a Hitchhiker Beyond. Unlike the asymetrical  Hitchhiker, this pattern is triangular and the "teeth" are the straight, neck edge of the shawl. I was intrigued and purchased the pattern on Ravelry. Hitchhiker Beyond was an evening project, and I listened to audiobooks while knitting. After two weeks of knitting, it came off of the needles last week. I haven't blocked it yet, so I'll post another photo when that's done. Pattern: Hitchhiker Beyond (Ravelry link) by Martina Behm Needles: US size 6 Yarn: Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Select (African Grey) 4 oz/114 grams Notes: Trust the pattern: the designer knows what she is doing! The notes on the pattern advised weighing the yarn before beginning; when a 1/3 of the yarn has been used, the decreases begin. I weighed and calculated and began knitting. I had 2 grams remaining. Weighing the yarn is important - d...