knit notes

I am suddenly in the process of knitting 3 things at once, after a dry spell with yarn.  This is partly due to the fact that I am looking forward to some vacation and holiday time over the next few weeks, and it is so easy to take along some easy knitting.  For the most part, these projects are mobile and do not demand constant attention, so I can even talk and knit at the same time!

First, a winter scarf (one can never have too many in MN!) much like some I have made before but with a different yarn.  So far, this yarn is working.  I really do prefer to buy my yarn at an actual yarn shop when I can, because the selection is great and the service is helpful.  But it's not always so convenient to do that, so sometimes I find myself wandering the yarn aisles at someplace like JoAnn's, and wondering if one of their yarns will serve the purpose I have in mind.  This pattern calls for 2 colors of variegated yarn to get the effect, and I am trying this yarn from Red Heart.  I have had a couple bad experiences with yarn that I thought was a good deal, but turned out to be a nasty texture to work on.  So let's hope this time I have it right!

I made a sweater for Ian last spring, and liked the result enough that I decided to do it again in a bigger size.  It's the letter sweater in this Debbie Bliss book--

The first sweater has a big "I" on the front.  With another little grandson coming along, Brita had the bright idea to just but a "B" on this sweater (B for Burke) and then both boys will one day wear it.  I changed to a different yarn this time, since I wasn't too happy with the amount of pilling that has sprung up all over Ian's sweater.  This time I am using Paton's Classic Wool in the DK weight.  It is washable and seems durable, both good qualities for little dude clothes!

This one will be a dark red body with gray trim on the edges and for the letter.

 And then last night over a delicious dinner with Debbie at Ingredients, our favorite spot in White Bear Lake, she showed me a cute little baby hat that she had made for her granddaughter.  As luck would have it, I happened to have the exact yarn needed here at home.  Plus the right size of needles!  So I did a test knit this morning, and have started the ribbing for this little project.  Now that I know that I have what is needed, I can zip this project into a travel bag and have it ready for a trip!  The yarn is Knitcol Trends by Adriafil.

A sure sign of winter at our house--

Bob keeps a bowl of walnuts ready to crack during a movie or tv show.  We have been working our way through the Friday Night Lights series, free on our Amazon channel via Roku.  We are now on season 5, the final season, so wondering how they are going to wrap it up with these interesting characters.  I just want to see Tim end successfully, and that McCoy kid and his dad get a comeuppance!