lisa’s place

What is this thing?

An Easter treat?  A rather large pack of birth control pills?

Oh, silly me, it’s a knit kit.  The all-in-one tool for knitters.

Check this thing out, it has all the emergency knitting tools you could ever need.  (If you think the idea of an emergency knitting tool is silly, this may not be an appropriate purchase for you to make).

A counter and a thread/yarn cutter:

A crochet hook on the side for any number of tasks:

A 60″ tape measure (two sided, with metric on the back):

Here’s the back with a little storage area for stitch markers, point protectors, and a pair of folding scissors:

These little scissors are actually pretty comfy to use and are apparently TSA-approved so you should be able to take them along on your next flight.

I’m thinking I’ll keep this in my purse and then it will be handy whenever I need it (theoretically, at least).  I have a feeling I’ll use it for lots of non-knitting things.  How great to always have a pair of scissors and tape measure in your purse.

The little counter could be a great aid to those of us who tend to be a little OCD with numbers and counting (or maybe just a big problem, only time will tell).  Maybe you should take up knitting after all, Laurie?

For the low price of about $20, I think this will be a purchase I’ll use almost every day!

My nephew’s first birthday seemed like a great excuse to make Elizabeth Zimmerman’s Tomten Jacket (ravelry link).  I spun up some BFL in greens and browns with some hints of blue:

The blues were so much more visible in the singles.

As a two-ply:

The tomten jacket was a really quick knit – and surprisingly not boring (as I expected all that garter stitch to be).  I’m really excited about making another one, maybe even Jared’s adult version of the jacket.  Have you seen that?  Seriously, go take a look – it is unbelievable!

I followed the instructions for the jacket in Knitting Workshop and Knitting Without Tears (they are quite similar).  I started and finished knitting this project while I was sick with that horrible plague of February – the spinning was done in December and January.

Here’s the finished jacket:

I had a little bit of extra fun with the zipper.  No idea why I made such a big deal about putting it in, it was quite easy (once I just put the dang thing in).  I basted it in by hand and then machine sewed it using a slightly longer than normal straight stitch.  Easy as pie.

It’s a little big for the boy right now, but he’ll grow into it soon.

See those little remnants of birthday cake on the cheeks and eyebrows?

I got a little spoiled during the club last year.  My priority USPS box was always one of the first to arrive… not so for this shipment.  Totally worth the wait, though.  Wow!

The yarn is Zen Yarn Garden Serenity Sock (colorway: Gold Dynasty).  It is an 80/10/10 blend of superwash merino, cashmere, and nylon.  I really can’t explain to you just how soft and super smooshy this yarn is (just the way I like it).

The color is somewhere in between these two photos, much more golden orange than true orange.  While it isn’t a colorway that that I would buy, I must say I really like it.  It is very fresh and spring-y.

Jen always sends the best goodies with the club shipments, but she absolutely outdid herself this time!  Look at this gorgeous silk project bag from Lantern Moon!  I’m almost afraid to put it into my bag – I don’t want it to get snagged (this will make sense if you’ve ever seem my bag).

The other treats are equally as exciting:  A Queen of Knitting pen, body mousse from Rachel Rene (I think this may become a staple around here), chocolates dusted with gold and silver luster from Gayle’s Chocolates, a really cool calendar magnet with all of the club’s shipping dates, the cutest little sheep note card, a pretty stitch marker from Mama Llama, and special limited edition SOAK.

And… two patterns!  I was super excited about this because the thought of making socks out of this color yarn made me a little sick.  I have seen that horrible red clay in South Carolina and they’d be ruined in a second.  I will definitely be making these socks, though (maybe in a deep blue or red).  Here’s the Ravelry link for the Majestic sock pattern (by Elizabeth Warner).

The other pattern is for a really pretty (and easy) scarf, Alexandria (by Lisa Dykstra).  Ravelry link is not available yet.  I cast on the other night and this thing flies!

It really seems like I had more to say… hmm.  Maybe later.

After picking up the Spring ’09 Interweave Knits, I was so excited to find a project for some yarn that has been sitting patiently in its Rubbermaid container just waiting for the perfect pattern.

Leave it to Eunny Jang to come up with a gorgeous slip-stitch scarf in cotton!  Her pattern called for Tahki Cotton Classic, but I had the perfect substitute.  Last year, I stocked up on Classic Elite Premiere when it was on sale at The Yarn Haven.  I love this 50-50 pima cotton/tencel blend – soft and drapey and really nice to knit with.

The colors I purchased weren’t exactly *my* colors, but they are really pretty – and I love how they look together.

The purl rows add such a nice texture.

There are really long floats on the wrong side of the scarf.

It took a while to get the hang of getting them nice and even.  I think they’ll make the back of the scarf look really pretty in its finished form.

This pattern is so much more fun than I’d thought it would be.  Anything that begins with casting on 400 stitches using the knit on method leaves me skeptical, but this is quick and fun and the pattern is very easily memorized.