Yarn-y Goodness

Happy Leap Day!! I hope that you took the time today to celebrate and enjoy the extra day. I firmly believe that on leap day you should try to do something that makes you happy and you get bonus points if it is something that you have been putting off because you don't have time.

What makes knitters happy? Yarn! So, here are some photos of the yarn that has made it into my stash this year.



Fibernymph Dyeworks in the Elemental 3.0 base which is a non-superwash worsted. The colorway is a self-striping color called Poseidon's Love. There are 220 yards in the skein so I'm trying to think of patterns that will show it off...perhaps a cowl or a hat? If you have any suggestions, shout them out in the comments.



The Plucky Knitter in the Plucky Rustic base which is 165 yards of a superwash Aran weight wool in the Fly the Concord colorway. I also have a skein of Peep Toes which is a red with some rusty undertones. I will probably use these yarns for charity hats or perhaps some mittens.



Malabrigo Rasta in the Solis colorway that I picked up at my local knitting store, Klose Knit. It is 90 yards of a Super Bulky wool that will become a cowl. If you want to pick some Rasta up online, you can get it here at The Loopy Ewe.


There is more yarn, as you can see from the running total in the sidebar, but I will save those photos for later posts. Sadly, February is coming to a close without me finishing the Hitchhiker for TheKnitGirllls SAL/KAL. I think the project needs to take an official timeout so I don't resent having to knit it and then maybe I can get it finished.  What about you, fellow knitter, do you sometimes resent your knitting when a deadline is involved?

Dishcloth Explosion

In an effort to feel a sense of knitting accomplishment, I have been making dishcloths out of my stash of cotton yarn. Who cares that I mostly put my dirty dishes in the dishwasher so I don't need a bunch of dishcloths. Here is a little pile of dishcloths that I made and I'm not tired of making them so there may be more dishcloth knitting in my future. I used the Grandmother's Favorite traditional dishcloth pattern (Ravelry and non-Ravelry) which is super fast and super easy.

Family Expansion

Exciting times are afoot for the NerdGirl extended family! Today, my niece gave birth to a baby girl!! I was at the hospital most of the day yesterday while my niece was in labor but the wee one wasn't quite ready to make an appearance. She waited until 5:57am this morning (her actual due date) to make her entrance. I'm told that mom and baby are both healthy but right now I can't visit because I woke up with what feels like the start of a cold. I'm very sad for myself but I'm not about to spread my germs to a new mom and baby.

There has been knitting chez NerdGirl...but not on the project that needs to be finished by the end of the month. I am completely stalled on my Hitchhiker. The SAL/KAL finishes on February 29th but I doubt my project will be finished. The yarn is gorgeous but I'm just not enjoying knitting with it.

I have had some knitting success this month. I finished a hat! The hat is made from Lorna's Laces Shepard Worsted in the Amy's Vintage Office colorway. I learned a new technique for the cast-on: the knit and purl long-tail cast-on. I had never heard of the technique but that's what I love about knitting: there's always something new to learn. I used a really good video tutorial from ThePassionateMind that I'm going to embed so you can learn this nifty trick too!



The hat (Ravelry project page) will make its way to a charity so I used a pattern that will stretch nicely and fit a wide variety of heads. The hat is the 2x2 rib (triangle on top) and although I love the look of the triangle formed from the decreases, it makes for a somewhat pointy hat.



There is some more knitting but you will have to wait until next time to see it because I still need to weave in the ends and take pictures. Later, tater!