Off the Needles | Sweater In A Day

Last Sunday... I woke up and decided that I was going to knit a sweater. In a day.

And I did...

Pattern: Oatmeal Pullover by Jane Richmond

Yarn: Brown Sheep Nature Spun Chunky in Charcoal

Raveled: Oatmeal in Charcoal

I get crazy knitting ideas on a regular basis, sometimes they turn out, sometimes they don't. I know about the risks as I go into it, but optimism usually wins and the yarn finds its way onto my needles.

This last weekend, I knew we were going to spend time with family to watch a football game and travel was required, so I gathered supplies for sweater (in a day) before the car ride.

The yarn looks a wee bit purple here, but it is in fact a nice charcoal grey and that Milk and Honey lotion bar is a necessity for all knitters - we stock them at Firefly Fibers and everyone loves them!

Anywho... I cast on in the car about 12:30PM on the way to our destination and made some pretty great progress during our visit...

I've been knitting a lot of pieced sweaters lately and I finally got to try Bristol Ivy's Provisional Bind Off that was featured here on Very Shannon's blog - it worked great and I highly recommend giving it a whirl if you've only used waste yarn.

So... I started the ribbed bottom edging in the car on the way home, finished it up at home and started sleeve #1 before heading off to bed that evening.

The next morning, I was back at it and finished up the first sleeve in the car on the way to an eye appointment (hubby was driving), then got the second sleeve going and wrapped up my sweater a little before noon for a sweater-in-a-day success!

Truth be told, this isn't my first Oatmeal Pullover. I knit the first about 2 years ago over a weekend, so I knew I could do it in a day... even with frivolous things like eating, sleeping, showering. Jane's patterns are so wonderful and well-written that if someone wanted to knit this on more than a 24-hour timeline, it could be a easily completed in a couple long weekends because of the large needles and chunky yarn.

Here are my freshly washed and blocked Oatmeal Twins:

I have some pretty lofty sweater knitting goals for 2015 and this was the perfect start to the year. I still have yet to organize my sweater plan -- it's currently just bouncing around in my head and being added to on an hourly basis -- so I'm hoping to sort that all out this weekend and I'll share some of the dirty details of my upcoming year of sweaters then.

Until then... I'm almost ready to bind off our first Simple Knits Knitalong project - Lansbury by Very Shannon.

With a little more than a week left in the month, there's still time to knit up the January project and join our KAL fun - several of the ladies at the shop are casting on this weekend.  Unless, of course, a sock WIP has somehow taken up residence in the same project bag as you see above. *wink*

Cheers & happy weekend knitting!

Off the Needles | Goal Recap

Time went much too fast this last weekend, but it always does. It was a good weekend and we had a nice drive to Northern Wisconsin where there are lots of beautiful leaves to visit with hubby's family for his grandma's 92nd birthday - it's just dawning on me now that I didn't snap a single photo. Drats! Oh well, trust me, it was beautiful. Surprisingly, I spent a good portion of the drive up just taking in the scenery without thinking much about the looming deadlines. But, on the way home and on Monday, I spent a fair amount of time knitting. I managed to complete Goal #1 from my last post and bind off the new Campside Knitalong for the shop. It got a bath this morning *squee* and it's drying on the blocking boards now.

I can't wait to share finished photos and the project details for this one! It was a really great knit and I'm resisting casting on another so I have one to wear, but the knitters at the shop come first, so I'm holding off until after the next shipment of yarn arrives.

As for Goals #2 & #3... unfortunately, I didn't get to my sweaters this weekend, but I did get the Inland project bag out so I can get back at it before the end of the Journey-along.

I do have another FO to share... Remember these socks?

Well... now they look like this:

I had them finished up a few weeks back for hubby's birthday and I'm happy to report that they fit him perfectly! I looked back and found my original post on these socks and it was from January (oops) and that means that my intention was for these socks to be worn by hubby last winter. Sorry, dear.  

Pattern: Basic Sock by Churchmouse Yarns & Teas

Yarn: Regia Zima 8-Ply Color by Regia

Raveled: Basic Sock - Worsted

Well... It's knit night at the shop, so I'm off to pull my Inland out of the knitting bag and hang with the knitters - and maybe knit a wee bit, too. I'll be back with more on the finished Knitalong and there *could* be a guest blogger stopping in soon, too!

Cheers!

On the Needles | Lofty Goals

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.

Cheers and Happy Weekend!