Lovely Yarn Escapes : September 2016

Thursday, September 29, 2016

Thursday Latvian KAL Update

The Latvian Sampler KAL starts next week on Wednesday October 5th. Every Wednesday for 43 weeks the designer Wieke van Keulen will give us a new clue.

"In October 2016 the Latvian Sampler start as a knit-a-long. The kal consists of 43 parts. The Sampler is knit in the round, and at the end of the 43 weeks, you will have a lovely scarf."

She says about her designs -

(There will be ) "elaborate patterns – The weekly patterns are very elaborate. There will be charts and photo tutorials of all the techniques used in this sampler. At this point, the pattern consists of more than 110 pages!"

-And-

" techniques – A large part of this scarf will be worked using the Fair Isle technique."

-Also-

"new techniques – There will also be some new techniques"

(Note from me: Weike messaged me to say we will be using 2 circular needles at once, a new technique for me!)

Materials-

Weike offers a lovely selection of yarn, but if you are stateside you might want to check out Knit Picks Palette Yarn which comes in an amazing array of colors. I do love their yarn!

They also have wonderful needles, I like their colored wooden circular needles, wonderful! Knit Picks Needles

-Finally-

" 43 weeks – The Latvian Sampler KAL consists of 43 parts. That’s 43 weeks of knitting. We will reach the halfway point on Wednesday March 8, 2017, and the final part will be published on July 26, 2017."

From the designer Wieke -

"donation – This design has taken a lot of time and effort, and will continue to do so for the next 43 weeks, while I support all the participants and write out the patterns. I have also had to spend quite a bit of money (on materials, swatches and the English translation). While it is possible to participate in this KAL for free, it would be greatly appreciated if you could, at some point during the KAL, donate 3,75 if you think it is worth it." (If I got it right, that should be $4.21 in U.S. dollars).

More detailed directions on how to navigate the Wieke site to get the pattern (some English direction is provided).

Go to her site https://www.wieke.com/latvian-sampler/latvian-sampler-kni... and first register, then go to the top drop down "breien" and then scroll down to "knit-a-long" (brei mee) and the 2016 Latvian Samplier will show, click on this. On this page "buy" the pattern by either pledging to promote the pattern or make a donation (the words involved are Dutch but close enough to the English to guess). Once you get past this the pattern site will open - Latvian Sampler (link top of page). Also on the comment section of the Ravelry pattern there are lots of people offering "how-to's" on getting through successfully - Wieke van Keulen > Latvian Sampler kal > comments. Think of it as a Treasure Hunt, it also seems to get better as Wieke updates the site.

Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Wednesday's Yarn Along

Join us at Ginny's "Small Things" blog to share what you are reading and knitting at her "Yarn Along".

I'm still working on my Just Knit It with Gifted Stash and I'm over halfway through my yarn. Hoping to finish it within the next week so I can wear it in Maine. I leave next week to see my son in college, for Parent Weekend at College of The Atlantic and his 21st birthday.

Tuesday- What's Up in My Knitting World

I'm continuing reading a series of books on my tablet that started with a free book from Amazon: "To Catch a Bad Guy" (Janet Maple Series Book 1) Kindle Edition by Marie Astor. Janet Maple was a lawyer, then she works for the treasury department catching the bad guys who do insider trading with the stocks since her own grandfather had been financially ruined by market finagling bad guys. She wants to protect the innocent that loose their money through money schemes of others. After catching the bad guy in number #2 book, but losing trace of the money she finally catches her guy (the undercover agent working with her) and in #3 they are teamed up to go in pursuit of hunting out more bad guys. Funny, romantic, just plain fun. Plots that keep you interested. Love it!

I loved it so much that I've continued through #2 rapidly and now I'm reading #3. "Catching the Bad Guy" (Janet Maple Series Book 2) Kindle Edition by Marie Astor, and "Bad Guys Get Caught" (Janet Maple Series Book 3).

Please join us at Ginny's "Small Things" blog to share-

"~ Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading and I love sharing my projects and current reads here. I would love for you to join me every Wednesday to share a single photo of what you are knitting (or crocheting) and reading too! " Share with Ginny at Small Things.

Tuesday, September 27, 2016

Tuesday- What's Up in My Knitting World

Joining "Frontier Dreams" today and sharing my creations.

I'm working mainly on my Stash shawl - Just Knit It with Gifted Stash. I've used half of the mystery yarn I got from a friend two years ago, who was cleaning her stash out. It seemed the perfect yarn for this Deep Stash Along KAL and it's the perfect colors for Fall knitting. I'm loving the colors, they look painted on.

But besides weighing it at the first, I really know anything about it and I might be running short on yarn. But I'm pushing on, the Deep Stash Along KAL was lengthened by 2 weeks, so I have to mid-October to finish and next week I'll be in Maine for two weeks, plenty time to finish and maybe pick up a new project?

Join "Frontier Dreams" to post your projects on Tuesday or later in the week.

Nicole says: "The act of creating, in one form or another, preserves my sanity amongst the chaos of life. This explains why I always have more than one project going at a time as well as why my housework tends to fall behind. I enjoy seeing what others are working on and keeping calm with, too. What are you creating? What is keeping you going? Snap a picture or two and share it with the rest of us by leaving your link" on her blog, link above.

Monday, September 26, 2016

Monday Moments

One more week till I'm off to visit my son in Maine for his college Parent weekend and his 21st birthday. I'll be there for two weeks! Yes, the ocean, I miss it and my son.

So I'm pushing to finish my Just Knit It with Gifted Stash. The Deep Stash Along was to end October 1st, but it's been pushed off two more weeks so I do have time to finish, but I'm running low on yarn. I'm beginning to think it will not be enough yarn to make a complete scarf.

It began as a skein of stash wool that a friend gave to me 2 Christmases ago. When I came across the KAL Deep Stash Along I found at against all knots , I thought this would make a perfect scarf or shawl and since I didn't have a wrapper with info. I just weighed it and figured it seemed like it should have enough for this project with 94 grams, since other fingering weight yarn at 100 gms. are over 400 yds. I'm at 46 grms. left now. I might have enough, I might not. So if I come up short I have a quandrum.

My thoughts at this point is if it's ends are long enough to wrap around my neck- I have a simple scarf. If not, I could keep my eyes open for a coordinating yarn and finish it with another color.

Just Knit It - 2012

Finding a similar yarn might prove difficult. My friend that gifted it tells me it's %100 wool from a Webs fair, but it seems so different than just wool, almost a cotton texture, so I'm wondering if it must be partially something else and it has a painted effect. So if I use it up and it doesn't seem long enough, I might put it on a piece of yarn to keep and bring with me to Maine and go yarn shopping. There is supposed to be a real cute yarn shop in Bar Harbor called - Bee’s Yarns, Sweaters, & Candy, reviewers say it has old fashioned candy and lovely yarn at good prices. So I'll take a look.

The Original Just Knit It - 2012

Saturday, September 24, 2016

Simply Saturday - Doing A Latvian Sampler

Two days ago I did a post on KALs coming up in October, Thursday - Upcoming October KALS. Of course every time I do this I get my attention diverted to something new. This time I was really struck with a project that lasts 43 weeks, with weekly clues on how to create a

Latvian Sampler. In the end you will have a beautiful scarf!

Yarn in Designer kit for KAL

Ravelry on the KAL Fanatics page - KALs October 2016 describes the KAL -

"Requires sign up here and you may need to use google translate or some other means to translate the page.

The Latvian Sampler will be a new knit-a-long consists of 43 parts. It's fair-isle work. In October 2016 the Latvian Sampler starts as a kal (knit-a-long). The Sampler is knit in the round, and at the end of the 43 weeks, you will have a lovely scarf. "

Knit Picks Palette Yarn

It starts October 5th and clues are released every Wednesday morning.

"Latvian knitting colorwork patterns"

To get the pattern (for free or small donation) you need to register on her page, Latvian Sampler. Looking at comments on the Latvian Sampler kal site reveals many have had problems getting registered. I did get it done, so I want to encourage others to try. It requires patience and a bit of guess work on some words that are Dutch (I also used Google Translation for Dutch to English). I imagined I was on a treasure hunt and finally made it through. Some hints - creating an account was the first obstacle to opening her site, to make a password - use caps, and lowercase and numbers and make it longer than you usually do, it finally took! The Sampler is under a drop down at top under the word - "breien", then "knit-a-long (brei mee). When purchasing you can make a donation (or later for the designer's hard work) or promise to promote it (what I'm doing!). This is the page you will go to, but it will only open once you've "purchased" it - Latvian Sampler knit-a-long – home page.