Hayfield Yarn Info, Take Two

I'm putting this information on my blog for anyone searching for it.

DISCLAIMER: I am in no way, shape, or form responsible for the correctness of this information. It was given to me by someone who was helping me out and I'm in turn sharing it with whoever needs it. Please do not come back sending me nasty emails or blog comments if the yarn information does not work for you.

These are the only yarns I have information for.

Hayfield Pure Wool Classic DK/50g
* 115 yds
* 11 sts = 2 inches
* #5 needle
* 50 gram ball

100% wool Hayfield Pure Wool Classics 4 ply
* 191 yds
* 7 sts = 1 inch
* #3 needle
* 50 gram ball

100% wool Hayfield Silky Cotton DK
* 108 yds
* 11 sts = 2 inches
* #5 needle
* 50 gram ball

100% cotton Hayfield Brig Aran
* 160 yds
* 5 sts = 1 inch
* #6 needle
* 100 gram ball

100% wool Hayfield Grampian Aran
* 218 yds
* 5 sts = 1 inch
* #6 needle
* 100 gram ball
* 45% acrylic, 40% nylon, 15% wool

Hayfield Raw Cotton
* 121 yds
* 50 grams (1.76 ounces)
* 5 = 1 inch
* US 5 / 3.75 mm Needles

Hayfield Grampian DK
* 318 yds
* 100g ball (??? Not 100% sure that it is)
* 5 = 1 inch
* Nylon, Wool, Acrylic

Resolutions & FOs

I've been thinking about New Years Resolutions. Most of the time I write them down but never stick to the list. This year I'm going to try my hardest to accomplish everything on my list. Some of them will be easier then other.

My 2008 Fiberly Resolutions are:

1. Use up some of the multitude of sock yarn that I have. I'm not saying I won't buy sock yarn along the way but I'm going to try to make more socks.

2. Learn how to spin. I have spindles. I have fiber. I even have lots of resources. Nuff, no more excuses....must learn!

3. Fair Isle knitting. I keep seeing these sweaters, mittens, hats and such on other peoples blogs. I want to learn and I will.

4. Make more things for myself. It's OK for me to knit for the kiddos but I need to make more things for myself besides socks.

Non-Fiberly 2008 Resolutions:

1. Exercise more!!!  It's time to get off my butt a little more and use the exercise equipment we have set up here in the house.

2. Lose 60 pounds. Don't know if I'll lose it all in one year but I'm going to try (safely) to lose as much of it as I can.

3. Eat more healthy foods. Thanks to the move back in Sept I managed to put on 20 pounds. This was due to eating out because we were too busy or weren't able to make dinner.

Now that the Resolutions are out of the way I can move on to the stuff that I finished.

Kaity's mittens were finished up New Years day.



I think these are my most favorite mittens so far. The pattern is Elegant and Easy Cable Mittens for the Family  from 101 Designer One-Skein Wonders and was extremely easy to follow.

I finished Kaity's sweater last night.



Sweater Stats:
Pattern: Knitting Pure and Simple, Children's Hooded Tunic # 232
Size knit: 2-4 years
Yarn: Lorna's Lace Shepherd Worsted Multi and Solid. I used 2 skeins of the color Purple Club for the the body and arms. 1 skein of the color Violet for the hood and pouch.
Needles: US 6/4mm and US 8/5mm Knit Picks Options and bamboo double point needles.
Mods: The only mod I made to this pattern was to knit a pouch for the front of the sweater.

The pouch is a little off centered but crazy as it sounds it looks perfectly centered when Kaity has the sweater on. Maybe Kaity is off center too! She is my kid so anythings possible.  :~)

I made up the pouch as I knit. I cast on 25 stitches, knit for a few rows and then started increasing 1 stitch on each end of the pouch every knit row until I had about 47 or so stitches. I then stopped increasing and knit a little more until I thought the pouch looked right. I used the same method to attach the pouch as was given for attaching Sheldon the Turtle's legs (explanation at bottom of pattern). I have no idea what it's called but it makes for a almost invisible seam.

This was an easy knit. I love the way this pattern was knit in the round. I'd highly recommend this pattern to a beginner knitter who wants to make a sweater but doesn't want to do a bunch of seaming.

I'll leave you with this pic.



Aren't these the cutest things you ever saw? Shawn and Kaity brought them home for me yesterday. They saw the sock monkeys and thought I'd love them....which I do! If I remember correctly they got these at Target.

Which of course reminded me that I need to take the girls to the LYS to pick out some yarn so I can make them each a sock monkey of their own. Here's the Etsy link & the Ravelry link to the pattern I bought it awhile back. The move and everything got in the way and I forgot about it until yesterday when they brought home these slippers for me.

Stroll Through 2007

My Knitting FO's for 2007:

13 pair of full size socks, some were for my mom and sis
9 pair of socks for the kiddos
24 Dishcloths....that's a lot of dishcloths
1 Hand Towel, admittedly I'm not a fan of making them
2 skirts for Kaity, Hip in Hemp and the Tulip Skirt
2 Bunny Blankies
1 Janet Lace Shawl for my mom
4 Baby Washcloths for my nephew
1 Girls Sundress for Kaity
1 Toddler Sundress for Bree
1 Baby Halter Top (Katja from Knitty) for Bree
2 Baby Hats for charity using my own pattern
3 Pair of Fingerless Mitts
1 Ribs and Lace Tank for my sis (Interweave Knits)
2 Forest Canopy Shawl, one for me and one for Kaity
1 Pair of Mittens for Kaity
1 Toddler Sweater for Bree
1 Child's Toy (Sheldon from Knitty) for Bree
2 Potholders using my own pattern

I think that's a good amount of finished projects. Feel free to take a stroll down my 2007 FO Memory Lane (slideshow).

2007 was a busy year for the luvs2knit household. We fought with doctors over Bree's small size and low weight which as most of you know turned out to be caused by her acid reflux. She's now a happy 21lbs at 17 months.

We PCS'd (Permanent Change of Station) to Montana. This caused a bit of heartache because we were forced to give up our cat Skitz to a shelter. We also moved farther away from family.

The stress of the move was compounded when we found out it was going to be over a month before our house would be available and lodging wanting us to stay for said month in a one bedroom TLF unit....like we'd ever do that. Lets just say that the lodging office here did not impress me one bit.

After we took the keys to our new place things started looking better and the stress started to leave. Until we started opening the boxes from our move and reliving the nightmare that was called "The Packing Company from Hell".

Here's hoping to a quieter year in 2008.

I leave you with the first FO of 2008.

I finished my knee socks 20 minutes after midnight. This would have been a 2007 FO if I wouldn't have taken a Tostido's break. Darn them tortilla chips and salsa!

Last Post of 2007

As most of you may have noticed, I'm in the process of changing the blog around a little bit. I've cut out a lot of stuff I had out here and added new WIP bars. These bars link back to Ravelry so if you don't have an account with them you wouldn't be able to view my notebook. I'm still in the process of working on the bars but they are presentable.

Let me know what you think of the blog. Is there anything that is bothersome? All suggestions will be welcomed.

I finished my moms fingerless mitts yesterday.



I used the Irish Wrist Warmers pattern and Knit Picks Andean Silk yarn. It took about 60g. I knit them on size US7 needles. The only mod was leaving off the ribbing at the top. I think it made the wrist warmer to snug at the top of the hand. I still need to wash and block them before sending them to my mom.

I also worked on my knee high socks but didn't bother with a pic since it's just a few extra inches on the leg. I have 10 or so more rows before starting the heel flap. I could probably finish these before Midnight to make them my final project of 2007.

Shoot, I almost forgot....I started Kaity's mittens the other day while we were heading down to Helena.



Mitten number 1 was started and finished on 29 Dec. I'm using the smallest size which is for 6" hand circumference. It fits Kaity's hand perfectly.

Mittens are a wonderful instant gratification knit. I'm using the Elegant and Easy Cable Mittens for the Family from the book 101 Designer One-Skein Wonders. I'm using Lambs Pride Worsted, color: Amethyst (M-62) and US4/3.5mm bamboo dpns. The only mod I've made was to use a left twist cable instead of a right twist cable for no other reason then personal preference. I like working right twist cables over left twists.

Have a safe and Happy New Year! See you all on in 2008!

Spin Me Right Round....

Did you all hear me squeal with joy this afternoon? No, well I'm surprised. Shawn brought home my new ball winder.



There are absolutely no regrets on this purchase. Shawn put the ball winder on layaway for me when he took Kaity Christmas shopping for me at our LYS. It's made by Nancy's Knit Knacks.

I actually had to force myself not to play with the ball winder all day and get some housework completed. Now that's willpower.

I finished the first Garter Rib Sock.



I'm going to dub these my "Can't Get Lost in Fog" Socks, though I think Garter Rib socks is probably easier to say. They are super bright but I love them.

Tomorrow we're heading down to Helena to do a little Costco shopping. Shoot, who am I kidding, we'll be doing more then just a little shopping at Costco. I'm betting it will be between $200-250. If it's less then that I'll be surprised. Since that's a decent drive I'll be able to get some knitting done. Not sure what I'll take. I may start Kaity's mittens or a hat for Shawn.

I've decided to pick a New Years Resolution I can probably keep. I'm going with learning how to spin. Colleen sent me the stuff to get me started for my birthday and I think it's about time that I use it and get this whole spinning thing figured out. I found out there is a spinning guild hear and they are suppose to be offering a free drop spindle class in Feb. If I can't figure it out on my own I'm going to head over to this class. I'm determined so I'll figure it out....I'm stubborn like that.

Now I'll leave you with this pic.



Mess, what mess mama....there's no mess here.

Busy Days!

It's been a busy time in the Luvs2Knit home. Between getting ready for Christmas, Christmas day itself, and knitting, we've all been busy. I'm sure most, if not all of you have probably been busy too.

We had a great Christmas here. Everyone loved their gifts and the girls had a lot of fun.

Here's one of their favorites.



This one was from my parents. There is still one more little house to connect but the tree is in the way. The tree is coming down today so the girls will have more room.

Bree loves crawling through all the tunnels.



Both girls played in it for almost two hours before dinner and neither really wanted to stop to eat dinner.

The girls got me sock yarn.



I got a skein of TOFUtsies and two skeins of Laines Du Nord Baby Star. The Baby Star is really soft. I may get some more later for the girls.

Shawn got me a pair of shearling boots!



Well, actually Shawn got me a gift card and I used part of it to buy my boots on sale at Overstock...I love Overstock.com. These boots are super warm and fuzzy....love them! When the boots came in I gave them to Shawn to wrap and put under the tree.

Now on to the knitting I've been doing.



Kaity's sweater is not far from being done. Just as I suspected, I ran out of variegated yarn so I had to start the hood in a solid purple. I think it's going to turn out fine. I'm planning on attaching a little pouch to the front of the sweater to bring it all together. I should have this done before the end of the weekend so this will probably be my last FO of 2007.

I started a pair of socks last night with some of the yarn the girls got me for Christmas.



There isn't much to the sock right now, just the completion of a 2x2 ribbed cuff. I'm going to use the Garter Rib pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks.

All Goodies Are In!

The rest of my goodies came in.

First is some sock yarn I bought from ThankEwe.



The colorway is called Candy Cane. She has some great prices and is fast on shipping.

I recieved my boot club shipment. I don't want to spoil someones surprise so if you want to see it click "here". I do believe this is the yummiest yet and it's destined to become a scarf.

I also started Kaity's sweater again on Friday.



A few weeks ago I had all the increases done and was ready to knit the body but I had to frog it because of my stupidity so the yarn was thrown into a time out. I'm finally finished being mad at it so I've made great progress.

Kaity stayed up tonight so we could have family movie night, thus the reason why the sweater has made a lot progress. We watched Ratatouille. Very cute movie, we all loved it. We'll be buying this one in the next few weeks.

This will probably be my last post until after Christmas. So Happy Holidays! Hope everyone has a great holiday and a wonderful new year!