Give me a HY a VKT!

Yes! It's Friday!

I said "burr it's cold in here, there must be some HITHER in the atmosphere"!

I said "HY"!

That lyric is from the movie Bring It On, well the Hither is Toros in the real version.

This is the lovely latest installment of Hello Yarn fiber club.

All right "she'll wear you out livin la VITA loca come on"!

That lyric, you should know it, is from the pop sensation song "Livin La Vida Loca".

Just bought all this Vita yarn needed for my VITA Cardi, and yes it's progressing!

And now "this is a KNITSCENE, its a god damn arms race"!

That lyric is from one of my favorite songs from Fall Out Boy, original lyrics are "this ain't a scene, its a god damn arms race".

Pictures are from the latest Knitscene for Summer 2011, two pics of patterns I love in it.   Definitely a good issue to have.

Lastly...

"Here we go again, I kind of wanna be more than friends"

These last lyrics are from my current favorite song, that I love to hear, "Animal" by Neon Trees.  I love the lyrics of the song and the beat is so uplifting.  I know they don't go along with picture, but I couldn't resist using it.   The picture is both the Clue 1/2 of the current "Cranked" Trekking Kal socks for April.

Happy Friday!

~Rocky

Arista!

One thing I love, just love is those quick knits, the ones that truly are fun to make, beautiful, colorful, simple, yet fabolous all-in-one.

I bought the Arista Gauntlets kit at Stitches West 2011 from PADyeworks, pattern & yarn together.  I was instantly attracted to the colors, two shades that are always my favorite.  The next was the simple look of the pattern, and the fact that they are like fingerless gloves in a way. 

I started these and finished these back in early March, just never took pictures but I've wore them many times since then.

One thing I found out wearing these, is that they are perfect for when your wrists are sore, whether from knitting or the cold or just need some soothing.  These work great at applying a nice grip around the wrist.  They absolutely don't get in the way with typing or anything else, I just love them.

The PADyeworks yarn is great, soft enough against your skin and very little pilling, in fact the ones I've made have yet to pill.  I can also see this pattern as a great stash buster, imagine the color combo, even fiber combo that can be made with this!

Pattern: Arista Gauntlets by Stevanie Pico
Yarn: PADyeworks yarn kit sold at Stitches West 2011
Needles: US 3 (Knit Picks Harmony)
Started: March 11, 2011
Finished: March 13, 2011

Mods: I wanted a more snug fit, so instead of casting on 70 stitches, I went with 50.

It's always good to start the week off with a FO share. 8)

Eye Candy Friday!

It's that time, yes sharing all the eye candy I have for the week, or rather the eye candy I have yet to share. 

So, in quick fashion, he we go...

First up, Zitron Trekking Hand Art Color Sock yarn in "Columbo" for the Zitron Trekking KAL in May 2011.

Is it not superb?  Very colorful, but in a refreshing sort of way.  I'm excited to see how these socks turn out.  It's nice to knit a color out of my comfort zone sometimes. 

Next are these adorable, versatile, and portable Lantern Moon clamshell purses.

I had previously used a small tin box, the kind you get at fabric stores that when you first purchase them only has a few small spindles of thread.  That kinda worked, but it was super loud with all my notions banging around in it.  And it wasn't very friendly to some of my special stitch markers.  When I saw these little purses, I was sold!  I love that they fit into each other, oh, and again I picked them up at the LYS (Green Planet Yarn),  that I work at.  Like I said before, such great notions there. 

Now to my circular needle storage, this baby I picked up awhile ago, have yet to use (because I just haven't found the time to organize), but I love it!  It is a black Namaste Circular case.

It's got tabs and everything for storing circs, and let me tell you, I have circs, too many.

Last, but certainly not least is "Hither" my recent shipment of Hello Yarn Fiber and quickly becoming my fave colorway.

That's it for sweets, enjoy your weekend, relax, knit, do what you enjoy best.

~Rocky

Whip It

Two knew books I splurged on at my LYS recently...

Both fab books with some great patterns. First is Shetland Trader with almost every pattern being a must knit.  Check these out.

Second is the second of West Knits by Stephen West, the first I do own, and yes I have committed a knitting sin and have yet to cast on for a pattern for either book.  Not because I don't love or find any pattern interesting, just cause I've been all over the place knitting lately and just haven't got around to it.   But don't fret!  I will cast on at least one pattern from both books soon!

Stephen has such great patterns with unique style, I absolutely love them.  Just look at this hat!

And what's even nicer, he acknowledges the work of his test knitters, awesome all in itself.  8)

So to "Whip It" in celebration of the forthcoming Wednesday, hump day, (I laugh each time I say or hear that), here is my teeny-weensy beginnings of my new Homin Shawl from Shetland Trader, knit with Ella Rae yarn.  Ella Rae yarn, just absolutely luscious and gorgeous to knit with.

Tomorrow is TGIW for me, work week halfway done, thankfully.

Enjoy!

~Rocky

A new bag, a cardi, and more yarn...oh my

I splurged my last visit, or rather visit(s), to the my LYS, and not really visits per say, but my last couple of shifts.

The awesome LYS owner and friend always has such a great eye for notions and bags and she's not failed again.  I had been eyeing these gorgeous new Lantern Moon bags everytime I was at work, there perfect for a nice day at the beach.

I finally broke down and picked one up.

I love it!  The handles are soft and nice and wide to handle the full loads of the whatever you put in it.  There's full inner pockets from top of the bag down to the base around the entire bag.  It's perfect for stashing yarn, clothes, food, you name it.  It'll definitely be used this summer come beach visits.  There's only 1 of these left, not in the green I got but in a very lovely pink.  I'm a green gal but the pink is very nice too. 

Onto my other splurge, new yarn, Vita, cast on for a new summer Cardi, one to schlepp along for those breezy summer nights.  We have a sample at the shop in O'Wool yarn, but I went with Vita, a recycled wool & cashmere blend.  The cashmere is suttle, not overwhelming at all, not that there's a problem with cashmere, I love it, but for summer you'd want something not as warm as cashmere.  

The beginning of the pattern is about 9 inches of 2x2 ribbing followed by another 4 or so inches of stockinette st.  So far a pretty fast pattern, I can't wait to have this finished to carry with me.

Lastly I bought a couple more skeins/balls of Cotton Candy yarn for the Hearts blanket.

I also bought 2 new books, one of which has some really cool patterns in it, but I was too lazy and forgot to take pictures so I'll share later this week.  Who knows, maybe I'll have cast on a pattern from one of the books or maybe two of them as well!