A Favorite Thing

I think a lot of you know how it goes: the longer you have been knitting, the pickier you get. :)

When I first started knitting, I used straight needles for just about everything. Now? Not so much. Even if I am knitting a scarf, it's circulars all the way. I think I knit way faster than having to maneuver those long, rigid sticks. My KnitPicks Interchangeable Needles have been a staple in my knitting for a couple years now. Those and my few fixed Addi circulars are all I use for anything that isn't a sock.

My KP Interchangeables were in desperate need of some new organization. I have ordered some extra tips and another cord or two as time has gone on. And, the original zipped pouch they came in has definitely seen better days. Recently the zipper completely broke on it. I knew it was time to find a new solution for the needles.

Enter my sweet find on Etsy:I spent a couple days looking around on Etsy trying to find the perfect interchangeable organizer. There are lots of cute ones out there, but I was kind of picky about what I was looking for:

It had to have the flap inside to keep things from sliding out.
It had to be big enough for everything to fit in there.
The closure could not be a tie (this is where it got tough....there were lots of awesome ones, but you had to tie it closed with a ribbon or something).

This one that I found at http://www.etsy.com/shop/sarahkincheloe has everything I was looking for.

It even came with a little extra pouch for the "extras" that come with the KP Interchangeable Needles.
I have put all the stuff that is currently not in use for a project in there, and it fits great! If you are looking for a new organizer for your interchangeable needles, I highly recommend this one. I am loving it!

Get anything cute on Etsy lately?

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a blowout sale!

So, I have been thinking a lot lately about my yarn dyeing gig I have over on Etsy. I am still totally in love with it, but it seems my time lately has been extremely limited to keep up with it. So, where does this leave me?


I think it's time I face the reality that I need to take a step back from it. Does this mean I am going to stop dyeing yarn and stop selling it on Etsy? Uh, no way. It just means that my time in the yarn dyeing studio is going to be cut back while I focus on things like getting this wedding thing planned and working on some of the new knitting designs I have in my brain.

I'll probably dye once every two months, when I have sock club yarn to dye, and will still take custom requests as time allows.

And, of course everything that is still in stock is available on Etsy. . . .at a very good price.

I have reduced all of my yarns by 20%!!!

So, head on over to my etsy site and enjoy my blowout sale!

Happy shopping and have a great knitastic weekend! :)

A Baby Sweater

Last Friday, my whole family attended a wedding for a family friend. My sister had requested a pink sweater for my niece, Caitlyn, to wear. How could I say no!?

The pattern is one of my own design. It's a top down raglan with a little feather and fan action on the bottom.

I didn't get a very good picture of Caitlyn wearing it. I may have to make her model it for me again in the very near future. Here's the one pic I managed to get:She sure looks thrilled to be wearing it, doesn't she? :)

I knit the sweater out of one skein (with some leftover) of Knitting Fever's King Tut Cotton Yarn. I really like this yarn. Very good for baby items, I think.

Happy knitting!

WiP Wednesday

Tonight is my last class teaching my Carefree Shawl at Fuzzy Wuzzy in Arlington Heights. I've been having a great time hanging out with my buddy Lynette, showing her how to knit something that isn't a rectangle! :)

I decided to knit another Carefree shawl alongside Lynette. Here is the progress on mine so far:Due to some ripping issues, we probably won't be finishing our shawls tonight. Fortunately, Lynette and I are in the same knitting group, so it will be easy to see to it that she gets that shawl done! :)

I will definitely be posting some pics with our finished shawls when they are done!

Want your own Carefree shawl? You can get the pattern here. Live in the NW suburbs of Chicago and want to have me teach you to knit one? Contact Fuzzy Wuzzy Yarns (847.
253.9276) and you can sign up for the class! I am teaching it again in October!

What have you been knitting?

Yarn Review: Sockalicious

I know I have been talking about my Bellingrath shawl a lot on the blog lately, but I have just have a few final things to say about it.

Um, I loved this yarn. Love, love, love. This yarn is some of the squishiest I have felt. It is so very soft, and I think has exceptionally good stitch definition. I am totally a sucker for any yarn with a tight twist on it. I think it makes your stitches look so much better. This yarn definitely has that.
The content of the yarn is 70% Fine Superwash Merino Wool, 10% Silk, 20% Nylon. It's a good combo. You get the durability you want but the silk makes it just a little bit softer than a lot of the other sock yarn that is out there.
The only drawback for this yarn is the yardage is on the low end. It's 350 yards. Even with my size 11 feet, I can get some socks out of it, but for a lot of shawls (even the smaller ones) I think you would need a second skein.
I know this yarn must be good because I have been thinking about it a lot since finishing my shawl. And, even though I am on kind of a strict yarn budget, another skein may be on it's way to me from Webs. :)

Checking out the Kollage website, I see that there are some patterns out there for this yarn. It's a new yarn for them, so I imagine that more will be coming out as time goes on.

So, head on over to Webs and get yourself some. I think you will really like it.

Happy knitting (and yarn buying)! :)

Note: I was not compensated for the yarn or for the review. To see my full disclosure policy, please click here.

Bellingrath

As I have mentioned a couple times on the blog in recent weeks, my one planned purchase at Stitches Midwest this year was the pattern and yarn for the Bellingrath shawlette.

I wanted to knit this thing so bad, that I pretty much cast on within just a day or two of purchasing the supplies. And last week I finished it up:
It is mega cute! This little shawl is not for me though. Who it is for specifically, I will not say. Let's just say that I plan on knitting the seven bridesmaids in my wedding next year a little something as part of their gift (not to wear to the wedding, though. This yarn is super pretty, but would totally clash!). My goal is to knit one thing a month for my bridesmaids. This will hopefully give me lots of time to spare/give me buffer when I get finishitis. :)

Want your own Bellingrath Shawl? Here is the Rav link which will give you all the info.

Happy knitting!

Introducing Geometry

I am super excited to share with everyone my latest shawlette design! It's Geometry:It's one of my fav kind to shawls to knit. Plain up top, fancy on the bottom.
And, I think the lace looks tricky, but really, it's a pretty easy chart to follow (there are written directions too, for those anti-chart people). After a couple of repeats I pretty much had it memorized.
I am calling this one Geometry because I see triangles when I look at it one way, and circles when I look at it another. Plus, I am not that good of thinking of names. :)
It's available now on Ravelry for $6.00. You can search for it in the pattern section on Ravelry, or just click the "Buy Now" button below. Even if you aren't on Ravelry, you can purchase it by clicking on the Buy Now Button.

Geometry $6.00

It's knit out of three skeins of Mirasol Yarn Hacho. 1 skein of Knitting Like Crazy Crazy Cash Sock would also do the trick. A US Size 5 needle and you are good to go.

Happy knitting! :)

One more week!

I am leaving the signups open for one more week for my sock club. It's going to be a good round, I can feel it. :)
Here are the details from my Etsy listing:

Knitting Like Crazy
3 Month Just Yarn Sock Yarn Club

This listing is for a three month yarn club. Payment is all at once, up front for all three shipments.

Shipments are as follows:

Shipment 1: Ships the week of September 20, 2010
Shipment 2: Ships the week of November 22, 2010
Shipment 3: Ships the week of January 17, 2011

Please Note: This means you will be getting yarn EVERY OTHER month.

The shipment will include a different base yarn each time. Two shipments will contain Insanity Sock, which is a 100% superwash merino yarn, 420 yards, per 4oz skein. One shipment will contain my new Crazy Cash Sock, which is 80% Superwash Merino/10% Cashmere/10% Nylon, 420 yards per 100g skein.

The first shipment will contain a variegated colorway. The second shipment will contain a semi-solid colorway. The final shipment is knitter’s choice. Please let me know in the note to buyer section when purchasing if you would prefer a variegated or a semi-solid yarn. If there is no preference listed, then it will be a surprise for you (which could be fun too!) All colorways will be new ones!

I am not sure which yarn bases will be for which shipments. That will depend on availability of the yarn.

Basically, this club is for those that just love yarn. The kit will contain yarn only. No pattern, no extras.

The cost of the club is $86, including shipping. For people within the US, your yarn will ship via USPS Priority Mail. For those in Canada, the UK, and everywhere else, your yarn will ship via USPS First Class International.

Check out my etsy site for details. Or you can email me at jen AT knittinglikecrazy DOT com with any questions (and, if you are one of my local buddies that I regularly see at knitting group, just shoot me an email. I will send you an invoice minus the shipping!)

WiP Wednesday

I think I have moved from sock knitter to small shawl out of sock yarn knitter (at least for the time being). After finishing up one project last week (more on that beautiful Bellingrath shawl later), I immediately cast on for something new. This time, it's Saroyan:It's a dark crappy pic. Sorry. I am knitting it out of a skein of Socks That Rock Mediumweight in the Quilla colorway. It is the faintest color of pink. I love it.

I saw lots of good ones on Ravelry (like this one). And as you all know, I get knit envy real easy so I needed one too! :)

Are you working on anything good this week? :)

Yet Another Office Swap Package!

I can't stop myself from signing up for The Office Swap on Ravelry. It's a great group and I have not been disappointed yet. And this time it was more of the same. Wonderful, great, Office related swappy goodness. :)

I am super excited about my Dwight bag! And, the funny thing is, Jess and I swapped with each other this time, and we both got each other very similar bags! (I got her this one).

I am also excited about that Madelinetosh yarn. I have never used it before but I have heard lots of good things. I can't wait to knit it up.

And hand knit socks? Are you kidding me!?

What a great swap package! I can't wait for Round 5!

(Want to see what I got in the other rounds of The Office Swap? You can see Round 1 here, Round 2 here, and Round 3 here).