Inexpensive Yarn - Merry Christmas!!

If you know me, you know I love a good bargain, and I just discovered two fantastic bargain-priced yarn websites today that I was never aware of before, but wish I had known about YEARS ago.

The first one is just like WOOT(one day, one deal), only for yarn!! It's called Dizzy Sheep. Today's deal is pretty decent, it's Plymouth Chunky Merino Superwash for $9.75 each - a couple bucks cheaper than retail. I can't wait to see what other bargains pop up every day! I got a referral code to share with friends, too - it's good for 10% off - just enter REFQTBYG93JY if you make an order there. You're welcome!

The other site I found today features discontinued name-brand yarns at discounted prices. I love that you can buy by the skein or by the bag for even better deals. They also have cones, roving, undyed yarns, dyes, and needles/hooks. This is definitely a site worth browsing for some good deals on great yarns. Discontinued Name Brand Yarn

Knitting Pattern Ethics

I brought home a huge stack of library books recently, most of them books of knitting patterns. I don't like to buy a lot of knitting books because I don't think it's worth buying a whole book just to get one or two patterns that I actually like or would want to make. But does that mean I should never make those patterns? It takes (me) a long time to knit a sweater and I have to return library books within a couple weeks, so of course this is when I'd go ahead and copy/scan the pattern I liked before returning the book... but this week I sat down with my whole stack of library books to page through each one and find the patterns that appealed to me. Then I started copying them. And then I started to feel guilty.

I know it's not legal to distribute copies of someone else's knitting patterns, even if they are free patterns to begin with, and you are just giving them away. And it's also not legal to make copies of a pattern you paid for to give away to your friends. So does that mean what I'm doing is not right? I would not sell these copies, and I would not give them to anyone else - they are for my own use only, because I would not be able to keep the library books checked out long enough to complete the patterns.

I was copying no more than one or maybe two patterns out of each book, which felt pretty reasonable for such an ethical grey area, but then I got to the last book, Classic Knits by Erika Knight, and I realized that I had marked 7 of the 15 patterns in the book - WHOA. I couldn't bring myself to copy them. It felt like I would be crossing a line if I did. One pattern from a whole book seems to feel OK, but half the book?! I might as well just buy it!

Or, maybe Santa reads this blog... ;)

February Lady Sweater - DONE!

I sewed the buttons onto my FLS yesterday afternoon, and am wearing it today. I LOVE THIS CARDIGAN!


/very very happy
:)

February Lady Sweater - the latest

I finished the right sleeve of my cardigan this weekend, but now I'm re-thinking the sleeve length. I had originally wanted to do 3/4 sleeves, and then I decided to make it elbow-length, and now when I try it on I am thinking I really do want it longer, either 3/4 or even full-length. I'm going to do the left sleeve first, and see which length I like better, and then I'll go back and re-do the right one.

Then blocking and buttons and I'm done! That was easy!

FLS: One week down... ??? to go

Well, I started the February Lady Sweater one week ago today. I have used up 2 skeins of yarn now, and I estimate the entire project will take just under 4 skeins if my yardage matches the yardage recommended for this size, so I guess that puts me at about the halfway point. Overall it's not too bad, I'm pretty pleased with it so far, and for a half-acrylic yarn, Cara Mia really isn't too gross. I'm really eager to get the body finished up so I can start the sleeves, so hopefully I will make as much progress this week as I did last week. Also, I need to find some buttons... I'm thinking three medium-to-large wooden ones in a darker color should work.

It's really happening!

I'm really finally 100% back as a knitter. I can say this for sure now, because this month I finished Jon's sweater, started and finished my hot-water-bottle cozy, and have started knitting myself the February Lady Sweater (made to fit a grown-ass woman). Because awww, it's just so adorable, and I've been wanting to knit it for about a year now. Plus, I realized I have 8 skeins of a sort-of-OK yarn called TLC Cara Mia which I stocked up on when it was discontinued a couple years ago (and was therefore super cheap, even for a "cheap yarn"!), and I didn't have any other plans for it. I figured this might be a good way to use up at least 4+ of those skeins.

Let me make this clear, just for the sake of my own conscience -- I am generally against bringing yarns into my stash without a specific project in mind, so I always felt kind of guilty about having this stuff around. I'll admint, I have a bunch of Cascade 220 in my stash, but it was specifically bought so I could knit Rogue, and I have a bunch of Main Line in like 4 different colors (another discontinued yarn, a nice wool/cotton blend), but I got it so I could knit Essential Stripe. I even bought the patterns for both of them, so my intentions are true! And now that I'm back on the bandwagon, maybe I will actually get around to making them. Wouldn't that be a trip!

Oh, and I just remembered, I have a whole heap of hanks of yarn from a recycled thrift store sweater. Honestly, I only wanted to unravel it to see how my niddy-noddy worked, and to see if I could dye it since it was a wool/acrylic blend and only the wool would hold an acid dye. I dyed one hank, balled it, and was pleased. So I mean, that WAS the project, but I guess now I have a lot of yarn that I haven't got a use for. So maybe using that stuff up should also be made a top priority...

OK, that's all I've got for now. Maybe I should take/post some pictures to prove it's all true.

So Close!

I knit the neck on Jon's sweater yesterday! He decided at the last minute that he wants a turtleneck instead of a crew neck so it took a little longer than I had originally expected, but necks go fast either way. So now the body is finished, the neck is finished, and the sleeves are "technically" finished but I'm re-doing them today so they have a different finish. I've woven in all the ends besides the sleeves (obviously can't do that until I'm done re-doing them) but he tried it on last night just to double check all the sizing and it looks HAWT on him. He agrees, LOL. Jon is a tall, lanky guy so he always has to buy XXL sweaters to get the length he needs for his arms and torso, but that means he ends up in a sweater that's loose and baggier than he needs. This one is a lot more form-fitting and it shows off his super-fine physique. Rawr!

I'll give it a good washing and blocking this evening, hopefully it won't take too long to dry. Then I get get some FINISHED OBJECT pictures and get on with my dang life!

I just realized I cast on for this sweater in December 2009, just 3 months after we got married. Three years ago, uff da. I made the most progress right at the beginning, but then I got plagued with knitter's ADD and had too many projects going on at once, and then getting pregnant and all the following events meant I put all knitting on the back burner for a long time. But now, I'm back for real. And it feels good. Yay.