Past, Present, and Future

Past,

A few years back, 2006 ?, Brad and I visited England.  While there we found a really neat craft farm where I purchased a lot of wool.  Why?  I wanted to have a keepsake from England that wasn't a t-shirt or paperweight.  I don't want to have a keepsake of a big pile of wool either.  So, I have future plans for this wool - carding and spinning with a drop spindle!

I found this merino yarn earlier this spring on a trip to NYC.  Brad and I stopped at the Greenmarket in Union Square where I purchased this yarn from Catskill Merino Yarn.  I really didn't have plans for the yarn other than to purchase a few skeins and then see what happens.  I love the orange color and the white yarn makes me think of cream.  The orange knit really nicely into the Zig-Zag scarf you will see later in the post.  The undyed yarn's future has yet to be determined. 

L'illo

Finished this a few weeks ago and just haven't posted.  I need to find some buttons for the front but the button holes are awfully small so I may need to find another option, like snaps or a zipper or something.   Anyway, I really like this little cardigan because of the wonderful textures.  Hopefully my baby will grow into this sweater during a season that he can actually wear the sweater, i.e. not summer.

Present,

My favorite local librarian, Sue, who also happens to knit recommended this book, 101 Designer One-Skein Wonders.  I am so glad she did because I have found so many really cool patterns.  The one I am currently working on, Baby Squash Hat, can be seen in this picture.  Right now, it doesn't look much like a hat but it will get there, I promise.

The Zig-Zag Scarf pattern came from this book too.  I really didn't need another scarf I guess, but I did need to learn a technique used in the scarf, the short row wrap.  All the zigs and zags come from these short rows.  With a better understanding of short rows I can knit one of the soaker patterns I found, Curly Purly.  Also, many socks require a short row heel.  Woo-hoo! 

and Future...

Since we are planning to cloth diaper, I want to knit some wool soakers to cover the prefold diapers.  I learned recently that the long ones ("Longies") can sell for as much as $50!  That is just a little too rich for my blood, especially when I can make my own.  Here are some examples of what I plan to make.

  

Here are some great tools to help me card and spin all the wool purchased in England.  I have had plans to card and spin all this for a while but have been delayed partially because I needed the right tools.  Well, now I have them so nothing (except procrastination) can get in my way!