Everything Old is New Again

Interesting how the lighting changes the color of yarn. The picture of the ball is accurate and the one of the sock done with the scanner is a bit different. You never know...
Quite some time ago I knit a sock and did a pattern. The yarn is long gone from my stash. I was fortunate enough to be gifted with a wonderful ball of a new sock yarn by Debbie Macomber. The Blossom Street Collection and is called "Petal Sock Yarn". This color is "Plum Tree". This was a perfect time to do the sock again. My own pattern and I did a little edit to it and am ready to teach a class on this nifty heel. It does fit nicely and avoids the picking up the heel flap that seems to perplex some knitters. The yarn is absolutely wonderful. Soft and silky with a bit of halo. I love it, the yardage is fantastic 462. I think a shawl in this yarn would be something so soft and warm I can hardly wait for the yarn to arrive at my local yarn shop. I would caution those who purchase this yarn to remember it seems a bit thinner than the Sockotta I used in the beginning so I did that old trick and went up a needle size. Worked perfectly. Also the label says NOT to put it in the dryer. All in all it was a breeze to knit. It just seemed to flow through my fingers. It also has a feel good aspect and that is that Debbie is donating all the proceeds from her yarn line to help children all over the world. Now how nice is that?

FALL

That old saying " a picture is worth a 1000 words" I am in awe of the beautiful colors of fall.

MORE PHOEBE AND KNITTING

I have been really busy lately. I finished up the knit doll named Phoebe which a coat that matches Lillie's as well as a pink dress. I know Lillie will love this when I take it to her in a couple of weeks. I can't take her something I knit without something for the big brother Louis. A teenager can be a bit picky but I know he always loves socks so that is what I made for him. Then there is the stranded two color hat for a class I will be teaching. I am doing quite a bit of that these days. Sometimes I wonder if the students know just how much preparation goes into getting a class ready? I do love doing it which is why I enjoy my students so very much. We are having beautiful fall weather with the trees doing their best to put on quite a show. I will get some pictures for all of you in the next day or so. When I thought of taking a picture this afternoon it had started to rain and the sun was gone. I shall not forget.

PHOEBE

On my last trip to the TNNA show in Columbus in early June I saw this wonderful book. I right away thought of Lillie. I just knew she would love it. I was right when she was here for her visit I had the sweater nearly finished and love it she did.

So I began to knit and here is what her little sweater coat looks like. As usual I did a few modifications. So for those of you who wish to knit it here is what I did: I added 2 stitches to the body so I could have a slipped stitch up each side of the front for a neater finish. I normally knit to gauge but I had to drop to a #10 needle for this so be sure to check your gauge. I used 3 needle bind off on the shoulders but put the wrong sides together to avoid a stocking stitch area on the shoulder. Then when I reached the sleeves, I picked up the stitches as directed and purled the first round. This makes a very nice finish with the little purl bumps filling in that pick up ridge. I also used this same technique when it was time to start the hood. It gave what I felt like was a nicer finish.

At this point I thought I was finished but Miss Lille let me know she really needed the matching doll so I then knit that little sweater. It is so cute and such fun to knit.

And now hopefully this weekend I can knit up the doll and her dress to fit into the little coat. School started today for Lillie and I know that soon we will have cool weather this will be perfect for. Our leaves have already started to turn and a few are now floating in the breeze.

What little girl would not love this coat. I did make the size 6 and lengthened both the body and sleeves.