The shortest distance between two points

The return of autumn always means more knitting for me. Knitting is much more bearable during cool weather and the temperature change always makes me start looking for my sweaters.

So, the yarn has been flowing, so to speak.

First, I knit up an early Christmas present (a Lady Londenberry shawlette) out of Cascade Yarns' Venezia Bulky.

Next,  

another Mother Bear for the Mother Bear Project.

Then, a few bike rides later . . .

I finished up my EZ Saddle Shoulder Aran sweater.

Time to enjoy some of our beautiful Minnesota weather!

"Hello from the top of the Highland Park Water Tower!"

Hop, hop, ouch!

I can only hope it is just a coincidence that last weekend was the Minnesota Yarn Shop Hop 2014 -

if you haven't gone to one yet - this year was the biggest ever. 17 yarn shops spread over four days. Great patterns, yarns, door prizes and a final Bonus Prize-

 and this weekend, I am flat in bed with back muscle spasms of some kind. Too much driving really does you in! I ended up power driving from shop to shop just to visit some of the neatest shops in the Twin Cities. I did fall down into the yarn once or twice but it was all Necessary Yarn and patterns so - I don't feel so bad.

The nice staff at A Sheepy Yarn Shoppe helped me find a great cowl pattern (Annabella's Cowl from Churchmouse Yarns) and some Classic Elite Yarns Firefly for a lovely gift cowl. I added in some Kidsilk Haze and it's knitting up for a very drapey look.

And the best part was that a few days later - I won a door prize as well.

A beautiful skein of Kimono by Zitron.  328 yards of 54% Merino and 

46% Silk that has a beautiful sheen.

I can't wait to use it for a cowl as well.

I also bought a skein of the cute Mountain Colors River Wash Sport from Skeins Yarn Shop in Minnetonka. This was the Terry's Azaleas color way they made up just for that shop. And then, I found another skein of Mountain Colors River Twist in the Firehole color way. 

I love Mountain Colors color designs - that is one yarn manufacturer I'd love to tour!

Earlier this month, we were traveling for Spring Break and I had a lot of knitting time in the car.

I tried out a Stephen West design - Windschief - from some leftover Berocco Vintage yarn. It got snapped up by Youngest Child on our first night in the hotel.

Then, another Mother Bear fell off the needles.

Sad to say, I'm still working on the face. 

My third travel project was the body of my Saddle Shoulder Aran Cardigan. I finished up with the body and now I'm moving onto the arms. I'm doing them two at a time and they are creeping along but I'm still enjoying the pattern very much.

Nowadays, I'm working on my cowl, the sweater arms and my Death-by-Hexipuff project. That should keep me until, oh, June. See you then!

Not a once a monther?!!

Yeah, well, if I let my lack of blogging project get to me, I would never get anything done. 

As it is, life just got in the way. Birthdays, hockey, retreats and strep throat meant that - well, I finished a number of projects this month.

Week eight or so of the Hexipuff Challenge took a little bit (I should just bite the bullet and do one every morning instead of putting them off until after dinner!) but is still fun. I've been breaking out odds and ends of sock yarn and I so enjoy using them all up!

Mr. Youngest Child's striped Ribbed Socks finally came to the bitter last stitch.  These things take a while if you only ever do them in church.

Today, the shiny goodness of Middle Daughter's Socialite Shawl hit the runway. Very pretty, very silky but - probably not the yarns I would use again. The pattern - that I may make for myself next year.

Now, back to the saddle should aran . . . and the final maple syrup flavored lollipop I got in my Savvy Girls Podcast package. Good stuff for sore strep-ravanged throats!

Two tiny steps forward - and one big slip backwards

Well, the second stash project is finished. 

A simple hat, already lumpy and misshapen with use.

The Cabled Beret - just not posed in beret mode!

And the second serving of - Hexi puffs! I'm part of a group on Ravelry making eight of these a week. The final result will be The Beekeeper's Quilt. Sock yarn and size three needles - I'm supposed to come up with about 12 per skein of sock yarn but I'm only shooting for the bare minimum of 8 per week - not the yardage.

If you are on Instagram, do a search for the tag #hexipuffKAL2014 - you'll see some fabulous puffs! Hopefully, this will use up all my sock yarn stash leftovers!

The big tumble is really my own fault.  I read the Lila and Claudine's January newsletter and - boom -

found this:

"The January Stretch Cable Goal.

Anyone interested in knitting Elizabeth Zimmerman's Saddle Shouldered Aran Cardigan?  You can do it, You know you can. Kirsten will begin knitting this sweater with you on Wednesday, January 15 @ 10:30.  Call us for more information . . . "

Now, it happens that Wednesdays are one of my busiest days of the week AND every Wednesday recently has been full of terrible cold and snow. But I'm doing it - making the Saddle Shouldered Aran out of Briggs & Little Tuffy in a lovely dark red. 

I've only made my second swatch so far (Elisabeth Zimmerman always said, "Just make it a hat!") - but it's looking good! The first swatch was out of a bulky three ply yarn and it was making my hands hurt. Luckily, Lila and Claudine's had this Tuffy on hand.

This side of the hat shows the fishbone cable.

A little farther down into the pattern lets you see the sheepfold pattern.

Now I just need to decide when to decrease and bind off. After that, I'll keep the hat around as a gauge swatch and as a source of extra yarn, in case I run short. The next step after that is to measure myself, multiply the inches by my number of stitches per inch and then - cast on the sweater!

And don't worry - I've still got the socks, the mittens and the other sweater on my plate for when I need something a little more simple to work on!