Long Ago and Far Away!

So the long ago is because it has been two years since I last posted. Cringe! The far away is because I just left on vacation this morning and flew from the east coast to the Arizona desert. The family will be spending time in Sedona before traveling over to Catalina Island and San Francisco.

Project updates: since the last post I finished my dad's blanket. I liked the pattern very much, but I wasn't that impressed with the yarn I was using. It was Berocco Comfort, and I didn't like that it was cabled, and when the blanket was done, the yarn stretched out a lot and didn't really maintain it's structure.

I did some baby knits, too. My sister's husband's brother and his wife were expecting a baby girl, so I knit the Luca blanket in pink and green and it turned out lovely! Arianna loves it, too, and wants to take it everywhere. I made two baby surprise jackets and a baby hat in neutral colors for the future. I also made her an adorable stuffed toy i designed that I named "Bumble Bea". And good news, I have two friends who both informed us of bundles on the way. I have a couple of blankets and quilt patterns I would like to design for them, but I had better work on my quilting skills ASAP. There's also a baby book from Cascade 220 that I want to make a lot of stuff from.

The big project of the moment is a blanket for my mom. I designed it myself, and it is turning put swimmingly. If all goes well all the way to the end, it is something I might try to get published. This is also the project I brought on vacation with me. (Don't worry! It's made up of squares I sew together, so I didn't bring the whole thing with me.)

That will about wrap this up for today. I'll add pictures when I get home from vacay, unless I can figure out how to do it from my phone before then.

Adios!

Welcome!!!!

Welcome to Yarnspirations! I just set up this blog before heading to bed, so hopefully I will have some pictures for you very shortly.

I would like to introduce myself. My name is Samantha, I am 26 years old, and I live in New Jersey. I am a high school math teacher and love crafts of all kinds. My grandma taught me to crochet 20 years ago. About a year and a half ago I wanted to expand my horizons and try knitting. I picked up a starter kit and went to work. I could wrangle out the little 2" swatches they had you practice the knit and purl stitch on, but when I went to anything wider my stitches kept falling off the needles. What the . . . .!!!!

Well, after trying this for several hours, I resigned myself to the fact that I could have crocheted two scarves in this same amount of time and all I had to show for myself was 2 itty-bitty swatches. Away those needles went!!!

Last February I decided to pick up those knitting needles and try again. I don't know what happened, but I had no problems this time!!!! I was able to cast on, knit and purl a two-strand (fun-fur, ack!) scarf with no problems. After I finished three scarves, I went straight to a shirt and then after that jumped right into socks. Since I picked up those needles a second time I have been fearless and unstoppable. In the past year I have now knit: 8 scarves, a shawl, all the parts to that shirt, knitted flowers, 2 pairs of thrummed mittens, 2 pocketbooks, 5 finished pairs of socks, 3 half pairs of socks, and I have almost finished the cap shawl from Victorian Lace Today.

By the end of the summer I plan to have another couple of pairs of socks finished, a shawl for my grandma, two scarves for my mom, a new pair of mittens for me, a felted water bottle holder, a couple of felted coin purses, and maybe a hip scarf (the first pattern in Victorian Lace Today).

I still want to teach myself how to do cables, Fair Isle, sweater knitting, steeking, Intarsia, and dyeing yarns. I would love your input on any of these topics!

I will be posting pictures of my current and past projects soon! Please bookmark my site and leave your information behind if you would like me to visit your site, too!

Knit away!
Samantha