I was pleased to note that the Hiya Hiya Sharp large set is now available. The needles in that set range from size 9 all the way to 15.

And while I mainly knit with small needles; 000 – 4. I do (occasionally) knit items with much larger needles and bulky yarn. The majority of the projects I make using large hooks/needles/bulky yarn are created for my daughter. If it wasn’t for her, I most likely wouldn’t purchase the set.

Of course, I could purchase them now but since I put limits on my wants I’ll hold off until early 2013. I guess you could say that my Knit Picks needles are a distant memory. The truth is, I haven’t touched them once I received my first Hiya Hiya needles in the mail. My Knit Picks interchangeables might work perfectly for my daughter. She has expressed an interest in knitting so this might make a great starter set for her.

I’m really impressed with the needles. Some Hiya Hiya reps have set up a few forums on Ravelry. One of the Hiya Hiya Reps, Qianer Huang, is also a designer. I must say that it’s nice to see that Hiya Hiya reps have an active presence within those groups. Last week, I posted a comment on the Hiya Hiya wish list. My question was answered within hours by someone from the company. I like good customer service.

I still plan on writing a review about the Hiya Hiyas (eventually) but I’m giving myself plenty of time to test drive them before that happens.

 

Once I purchase the large Hiya Hiya set, I’ll be sure to buy bulky yarn. I rarely keep a large supply of that in my stash. I’ll then pick up the size 11 circular needles and cast on the above Sylvi project. I adored this cloak the moment I set eyes upon it this spring. I mentioned it’s a cloak right? I love cloaks/shawls.

I honestly think that it has an Elvish vibe to it, don’t you? I could easily see Arwen wearing something such as the Sylvi cloak.

 

In Lord of the Rings many of her outfits were long/flowing and so I imagine her version would be much longer. Since I love the same type of outerwear, I’ll make mine longer and do believe I’ll change the sleeves to be wider, and perhaps have an added feminine touch… we’ll see. Naturally, I’ll hand sew a gorgeous lining into the cloak. This way, I can wear it when the weather gets cold. Of course, this means my modified version will take much longer to knit and sew. It also means that I might be frogging the parts that I modify until I get them ‘just right’ but I’m in no rush. This will be a truly enjoyable knitting journey.

 

In other news…

I have plenty of works in progress both crocheted and knitting. I was able to experiment with crochet colorwork thanks to Sarah’s lovely pattern test. It’s been a extremely busy weekend for my daughter with piano recitals, singing at our Lutheran church, so I’m not sure if I’ll get to post my crochet or knitted projects today… hopefully I’ll be able to do that tomorrow.

A few weeks ago, I ordered my daughter Elfquest, volume III via Amazon. It’s in hardcover, and the storeline/artwork is simply amazing.

Elfquest, is an amazing comic book series that I discovered when I was about twelve years old. I cherished those comics, and kept them in pristine condition. I’d have them to this day (like all my other books/comics), if my mother hadn’t decided they were ‘evil’ because the elves performed magic, and promptly burned them. I was beyond upset when that happened. And while I still don’t understand the logic behind that, I’ve let it go…

The good news is, in my early twenties, I did replace those original comics via ebay, since they were the first comics and in mint condition, they didn’t come cheap… but I now have them back in my collection. Since the volume I purchased for my daughter is just a reproduction, I didn’t spend hundreds of dollars for it (like I did the original comics) I spent a little under $23.

 

 

A few weeks ago, I stumbled upon Fairy Castles by Tiny Owl Knits. It’s knitted and then felted. I love it! My 9yo daughter is a talented artist, and most of her drawings are fantasy inspired.  I know she’d love this, and since she is an active crocheter, this case makes a lovely way for her to store her crochet hooks. I’m still hunting for the perfect crochet hook set for her.

I must say that Tiny Owl Knits is one of my favorite knitting designers. Her work, is whimsical, and many of the items looks like it sprung out of a fairy tale. Did I ever tell you that I love fairy tales? I’ve even written my own, although I’ve never shared them here… but my daughter seems to like them. I have the yarn, all I need is to find the time, once the crocheted hat is completed.

You know, I thought I was finished creating  all my crafting presents for Christmas! But perhaps I’ll cast on another project for my daughter, one more time…

Photo Source: Tiny Owl Knits

Besides my small business, I recently started working (part-time) outside the home. I don’t have to do this, but I do since it gives me a chance to interact with people in person.

I’m one of those folks that enjoy chatting with others, and my correspondence with clients via the computer  isn’t enough. At the place I work we  swap Christmas gifts. Admittedly I was a bit surprised when I learned about this process… I think it’s a bit of a stretch to think that everyone wants to participate, don’t you? I don’t mind giving gifts, but my issue has always been finding out what the person likes, and giving them something they enjoy. It’d be selfish of me to give them something that I like, and hope they like it too, you know?

Fortunately, for this Christmas swap, you also fill out a simple gift questionnaire about yourself… which definitely made the gift process a lot easier. The person’s name I drew was concise. He likes the colors grey, black, and silver. He loves video games, chocolate, and he listed a few other things also. I love games! First person shooters are my favorite, but I can totally get lost in a RPG (role playing game) too. Admittedly I haven’t done any gaming in about a month or so; Christmas time is busy time for myself with my business, and now I’ve added part-time work outside the home.

 

Since I wasn’t sure of the types of games he liked, I settled for some nice chocolate, a lovely stainless steel cup to carry around his preferred beverage, and an American Express gift card. This way, he can purchase whatever he wants.

Of course I wanted to knit him something! He’s a nice young man. But I never see him wearing a hat, scarf, or gloves and I didn’t want to invest a lot of time into something he might not wear. Yesterday, I settled on a ‘little something’ and knitted him a gift card-igan. I had some grey Paton’s Classic wool, so I used that, and I used a simple cable stitch design for the gift card holder. It took about an hour to knit. Since it was knit flat, the sides had to be sewed. I love sewing; aka seaming in crochet or knitting.  Once complete, I made a simple loop, sewed on a button, and tucked the gift card inside.

 

I believe it’s ‘masculine’ enough for him not to think that it’s ‘too feminine’.  When he opens his gift, I’ll mention that I wanted to make something else but I had no clue if he wears scarves, hats, or gloves. If he says he wears them, I’ll make him something bigger.

During  Cyber Monday (at Knit Picks) I ordered a large quantity of yarn. Prices on select items were marked off 40%, and I took advantage of some amazing deals…

Of course, other fiber lovers did also, and so many of the items I’d ordered weren’t available. Even though it appeared that they were available once I submitted my order. To make up for this, Knit Picks sent me a coupon for $10, there was no minimum to the amount I had to purchase, but I did have to make my order by Dec. 24. And while I was pleased when I received the email, I didn’t act upon it until today.

Towards the end of December I’m planning on making the Chevron Scarf by Joelle Hoverson. The pattern can be found in  the book, Last Minute Knitted Gifts. Since I didn’t have yarn I’d want to use for this project, I took advantage of the $10 off coupon and ordered the following yarns…

 

Knit Picks: Stroll Hand Painted Yarn; Juice Box is bright, and actually features colors that I wear so well.

 

And I also choose Stroll multi sock yarn; sunset multi.  Both yarns are 75% wool, and 25% nylon. Since the wool is superwash it can be tossed into the washer/dryer.

I think these choices will work well together, and more importantly the scarf will be a nice addition to my colorful wardrobe… hopefully my skin will be happy with the yarn choices also. If my skin starts itching when the lovely scarf comes in contact with my neck, I’ll just have to put it into my gifting stash. Sighs… Well, at least I’ll get a jump start to gifting for 2013, right.

In all seriousness, I’ve already started making presents for Christmas 2013. At this rate, I’ll be finished making all my hand crafted Christmas items before spring 2013. Perfect for someone like myself, I dislike rushing at the last minute. This year, all my hand crafted items were finished in October, and while I’ve made additional items since that time… those have been extras. 😉

 

The cold nipped Almanzo’s eyelids and numbed his nose, but inside his good woolen clothes he was warm. They were all made from the wool of his father’s sheep. His underwear was creamy white, but Mother had dyed the wool for his outside clothes.

Butternut hulls had dyed the thread for his coat and his long trousers. Then Mother had woven it, and she had soaked and shrunk the cloth into heavy, thick fullcloth. Not wind nor cold nor even a drenching rain could go through the good fullcloth that Mother made.

Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder

This passage is on the second page in Farmer Boy, and it’s a book I’ve read many times. I’ve always marveled at the resourcefulness of Almanzo’s mother; Angelina Day Wilder. She knitted, sewed, tatted, crocheted, and did all the household tasks common to a farmers wife during that period.  Truth be told, I was more fascinated by her than Laura Ingalls own mom; Caroline. Interesting, since besides Farmer Boy, Almanzo’s mom is only mentioned in one other book in the Little House series… Laura’s mom is mentioned in every single book in that series. With the exception of The First Four Years, where she’s not mentioned much at all… but that’s understandable since in the First Four Years Laura is a newlywed who’s starting a new life with her husband,  Almanzo in their own home.

Yesterday, I experimented with making my own ‘fullcoth’, I don’t see too much reference for fullcloth online… I’m guessing, fullcloth was discovered by accident and what a delightful accident that was! Washing wool items in hot water naturally made it shrink, which produced a dense fabric.  However the process that Laura Ingalls Wilder describes in the above passage, is what’s done when felting wool also.

In order to felt wool, you need to use wool that will shrink, since I have plenty of wool yarn that isn’t superwash yarn (wool fiber that’s been treated so it won’t shrink) I was ready for my first felting project.

 

Above you see a before and after felting picture. I was impressed with how much the wool had shrunk, and how dense the fabric became. It’s extremely thick, soft, and most importantly warm. I can see why Almanzo’s mom and numerous others made fullcloth. It would do an excellent job of keeping out the cold.

 

For my felting experiment, I knitted slippers, and I used Patons Classic Wool. I’ve been looking for an excellent slipper pattern for months now, and Thursday, I stumbled upon a pair that I absolutely adore; Hopsalot! Hopsalot is one of many designs created by Tiny Owl Knits/Stephanie Dosen. Aren’t those bunny slippers sweet? In the first picture, you can tell that my felted slipper doesn’t look anything like a bunny, since I didn’t knit the ears, or add the eyes or mouth, but I’ll do that some time this weekend.

I didn’t follow the pattern religiously, I used worsted weight yarn, instead of DK. Also, I used my size 8/5.0mm Hiya Hiya sharp needles instead of the recommended size 11/8.0mm needle. And, I didn’t hand felt the wool. The slipper was tossed into the washer (hot water) and dryer.

This knitting goes by fairly quickly, I was completed one slipper in about two hours. I must say I’m pleased with this pattern. If you’re a new knitter the only techniques you need to know are knit, purl, slip 1(S1), and make 1(M1). A simple pattern, that produces some lovely slippers.

Photo Source: Tiny Owl Kits