FO Friday 41

Happy Friday everyone! Also, I want to wish my US readers a happy and SAFE Fourth of July! I hope you have fun plans. As far as I'm concerned, we're just going to play it by ear. My neighborhood has a community party we might head to for an hour or so. Last year we took Milo, my corgi, to it and he had a blast. It was great to get him into a large crowd with music playing and see him not freak out. He's 2 years old now, so I'm guessing he'll do even better.

In other news, I have decided to take part in the Year of Projects on Ravelry, as you can see from the button on my sidebar. That means I will now have posts (most) Sundays. I will try to keep them fresh, despite also having WIPW and FO Friday posts with the same projects. My first post for it will be this Sunday, listing my projects I have planned (though I expect them to change a little), along with pics of some of the yarn I'll be using from my stash. I'm very excited about it, and I must say, my list is INSANE!

In more news, just because I love this picture, I had to share. Yesterday I was getting ready to tag all of the Delicious lace weight yarn I've been dyeing. 7 skeins were ready for tagging, but before I did, I decided to have a little fun with the camera. Check it out.



Total eye candy, right? (Pun NOT intended! LOL) (Almost) all of these are available at Candy Skein, and more to come on Monday!

Anyway, back to FO Friday! As most of you know, I started my first shawlette on June 20th. I just finished on the 29th, and then blocked it. I was kind of silly (actually, to be honest, I started this before I had my needle set) and didn't use a needle size up (I usually have to, due to knitting so tight), so it's a little smaller than it's supposed to be. I ended up adding two rows between the last lace section and the end garter section, so the length down is pretty close to what it should be. The wing span on the other hand, is a bit shorter. I blocked it, but couldn't block it out to the size that was recommended. I also had some yarn left over. In hindsight, I could have added probably two more rows, but was so nervous I would run out of yarn, I just stopped. Despite that, I love it. It's so so pretty and love that the bottom is in the dark blue, but not a ton of it. What do you think?


Materials Used:
Size US 8 needles
Candy Skein DK (Blueberry Ripening)
Pattern: The Age of Brass and Steam
Tapestry needle

Sorry for this crappy iPhone pic with terrible lighting, but I forgot to take a regular pic when it was blocking. I ended up blocking it on a yoga mat with towels under it on my dining room table. Oh look, a sneak peek of one of my projects for Year of Projects on the front of the magazine! That was totally not planned. Anyway, the blocking went well, IMO. I didn't block it too heavily, as it didn't really need much since it wasn't a heavy lace pattern. I will say though, I wish I had gone up a needle size, since I'm such a tight knitter.

This is the shawl on my neighbor's wall. I had to hang the top over a bit to get it to stick and not fall in the dirt, but this is pretty accurate to the color.


This is the shawlette folded. Isn't it pretty!?

And folded again, but this time so you can see the back as well.

Unfortunately I was unable to get a picture wearing it, as my husband didn't get home until very late. I hope to soon!


Share your FOs!

Work-in-Progress Wednesday 47

Hello! I hope everyone is having a good week. This week is flying by for me, as my husband had Monday off for our anniversary, so Tuesday feels like Monday and so on. Anyway, great news today is that I can actually get to all of your WIPW posts. I'm so sorry for last week. I wasn't able to visit all WIPW and FO Friday posts. Life got in the way. This week and next, I don't have to watch my nieces, so that won't happen. Thanks to all of you who continually post for WIPW/FO Friday. I can't believe we're up to 60+ people on Wednesdays. That's maddening!

Thanks to the kind comment about the new Candy Skein Delicious lace yarn. This coming week, I'll have a few more skeins of it, along with two skeins of Yummy lace. I've also ordered a whole box of sock yarn (75% merino/25% nylon) and a box of fingering weight Delicious yarn (70% baby alpaca, 20% silk, 10% cashmere) which should arrive at my house July 5th. Looks like I'll be busy in the dyeing factory the next few weeks!

I should get on with WIPW 47 (can you believe that? FORTY-SEVEN!!!)



Not much going on for me as far as WIPs that I'm actively working on. The socks have been pushed aside for The Age of Brass and Steam shawlette I've been working on. This isn't a great pic, but that's on purpose. You see, I'm only a few rows from finishing/blocking and don't want to show it all spread out before Friday (let's hope it dries in time!) I'm a little nervous on the blocking front, as I have yet to do it. Any tips/tricks? This is 100% merino superwash, and is Candy Skein DK in Ripening Blueberry.

Well, that's all for today from me. After all, I did just start this shawlette last Monday evening (pretty much Tuesday since Monday night I didn't get much past the first few rows once I learned how to knit/pick up the garter tab). I have to have more exciting stuff to share next week! I hope everyone has a great Wednesday and Thursday and I'll see you on Friday!

Please remember to use the new link to your post from this week, overriding the one that Mr. Linky saves from the previous. I've had quite a few links still linking to their old posts, or links that go straight to their blog's URL instead of the actual posts URL. Thanks!

For those that are new to WIPW, to share your WIPW post with us, just fill out the Mr. Linky below. Despite it saying you must comment, don't feel as if you do. That is something Mr. Linky automatically adds. I just ask you to check out a few of the links posted to see what everyone else is working on and comment there if you can. Everyone loves feedback and a little encouragement on their projects! Also, please link back to this post in your post to get the word out! The more the merrier!

Work-in-Progress Wednesday 46

Hi there, all! This week is a good one for me at the Candy Skein workshop, because as I write this, I'm staring at 10 skeins of un-dyed gorgeousness (is that a word?). That's right, be jealous. Honestly, I should be the jealous one, as I will only be keeping one of these skeins, if any at all, the way my Monday night knitting group wants to snap them up before they're even out of the packaging. I figured, I'd share the awesomeness that is the new Delicious yarn from Candy Skein. I hope to have this all dyed up by Monday, to share with you on Tuesday. If you have no clue what I'm rambling about, check out my post from yesterday and the exciting Candy Skein news!

This is how I get them from my supplier! Very cool, isn't it?

Okay, now on to WIPW for real now that I've shared the pretty fiber.





I shared my cowl that I had just started last week, and as you can see, I've worked on it but not as much as I had hoped. I was cranking on it, but then my next project caught my attention. This cowl is a very fun, easy, yet can get boring pattern. It's the Pedestrian Crossing Cowl on Ravelry and is a free pattern. Once I memorized the one difficult row, I breezed along. I will say, I didn't realize how it was pooling until I just uploaded this picture! Very cool! Anyway, I had to stop working on it and put the stoppers on the end of my interchangeable needle cable due to the fact that I only have one size 8 circular needle...And that brings me to my next project.





For those of you who checked out FO Friday this past week, you may remember that I cheated a little and actually shared a ball of yarn that I dyed this past week for myself instead of a finished project (I guess it IS called Finished OBJECT, not Finished Project luckily). Anyway, since I had no clue how this yarn would turn out due to how I dyed it, I, as I mentioned, kept it for myself. I decided on The Age of Brass and Steam for the pattern to use with this ball of DK yarn. Since this is my first shawl-like project (it's smaller so I guess more of a shawlette or kerchief?), I needed a little help starting from my Monday night knitting group. Because they are awesome, I had no problems and actually learned a few tricks along the way! I must say, I'm quite proud of my progress and how the yarn is turning out. I can't wait to get to the first major color change. As you can see, each color (as demonstrated in the light blue so far) has a little of the other two in it to tie it all together. Cool, right? I can't stop working on this project, I have to admit.

The great news (at least for my cowl) is that I ordered a set of Knit Picks Zephyr needles this week, as they have them $10 off the set. I really want the Harmony set, but unfortunately can't afford them right now, as almost every penny I have to my name is going into Candy Skein right now (as you can see from the pics above of the 10 skeins of butter soft yarn). I thought $30 was a steal for a whole set! I should have the set on Thursday, and can work on both projects at the same time again. YAY for packages in the mail!

Anyway, that's it for me this Wednesday. Please remember to use the new link to your post from this week, overriding the one that Mr. Linky saves from the previous. I've had quite a few links still linking to their old posts, or links that go straight to their blog's URL instead of the actual posts URL. Thanks!

For those that are new to WIPW, to share your WIPW post with us, just fill out the Mr. Linky below. Despite it saying you must comment, don't feel as if you do. That is something Mr. Linky automatically adds. I just ask you to check out a few of the links posted to see what everyone else is working on and comment there if you can. Everyone loves feedback and a little encouragement on their projects! Also, please link back to this post in your post to get the word out! The more the merrier!

Candy Skein- New Yarn & Exciting News!

Hi there everyone! I hope you had a fabulous weekend. We hung out a lot and saw Super 8 WHICH WE LOVED!!!! It took me back to my 80's childhood, and felt so much like a Goonies/Stand By Me/Close Encounters type. I think it's the best movie I've seen all year and can't wait until I can see it again. I also made a stop to one of my LYS, which was having a sale. That's right, A SALE! I got two skeins of Ella Rae Lace for 40% off. What a steal, right? I have no clue what I'm going to do with it, but that's the fun of it, right?

This week, I have a mishmash of skeins, instead of just one weight. A skein of fingering in a beautiful dark red with splashes of vibrate red, a fun speckled redish pink skein of DK and two skeins of the same dye lot in the fun blues, pinks and purples of Party Punch. Sure, I'm excited about those, but what I'm really really excited for is what I have in store next week...

You may have noticed a change to the Candy Skein website if you've been there the last 24 hours. That's because I have gotten ready for the arrival of a new blend of yarn! That means I had to name what we currently had in stock, the 100% merinos (20% nylon for the fingering), the Yummy series! Those of you who have already bought Candy Skein yarn, have purchased the Yummy series of yarns. It is more of the workhorse yarns, used for any pattern and most are superwash.

Next week, I will have a new lace weight in the shop that is TO DIE FOR! It will be in my new series of higher end blend yarns called Delicious. The Delicious series will be for those special projects and gifts that are amazingly soft and buttery. They are NOT superwash.

The new yarn next week is a lace weight, 70% baby alpaca, 20% silk and 10% cashmere. Yum, right? I got samples of everything my yarn supplier currently carries, and I instantly fell in love with this one, so much so that I had to buy it right away. It's supposed to be delivered today, and can't wait to get it into the dye pot. Be sure to check the blog and Candy Skein website (they will be up Monday afternoon, Tuesday morning on the blog) next week if you're interested in seeing this amazing yarn. It's so great, I've already resigned myself to the fact that I will be keeping a skein of it myself. Any color recommendation/suggestions you'd like to see with it? It has 875 yards and is buttery soft with a great twist.

I'm really looking to expand Candy Skein to offer more variety. I want to thank everyone again who has purchased Candy Skein yarn so far, as you have made it possible for me to bring you the best product I can.

Anyway, enough about next week, on to the great yarn this week!





Colorway: Black Cherry
Fiber content: 75% Merino Wool, 25% Nylon Superwash
Weight: Fingering Weight
Yardage: 462 yards
Unit Weight: 100 grams
Care: Machine wash/Tumble dry low

Price: $16
Quantity Available: 1
Available at Candy Skein

Colorway: Strawberry
Fiber content: 100% Merino Wool Superwash
Weight: DK weight
Yardage: 246 yards
Unit Weight: 100 grams
Care: Machine Wash/Tumble Dry Low

Price: $14
Quantity Available: 1
Available at Candy Skein





Colorway: Party Punch
Fiber content: 100% Merino Wool Superwash
Weight: Chunky/10 ply
Yardage: 137 yards
Unit Weight: 100 grams
Care: Machine Wash/Tumble Dry Low Price: $14
Quantity Available: 2 (from the same dye lot)
Available at Candy Skein

FO Friday 39

Happy Friday everyone! I must say, I'm very excited that it's Friday because the weekend is rolling around. Funny enough, since I started Candy Skein, I pretty much work 7 days a week on it, so it's not like I get it off. The nice part is I get to spend time with my husband, so that makes the weekends special. This weekend we don't have too much planned. We were going to go to the San Diego Fair (which is epic each year), but we're still tired from last weekend's craziness so will probably skip it and wait until the next weekend. We're still waiting for summer like weather here in San Diego, so the beach might be out as well. We'll see. Maybe a movie? Has anyone seen Super 8 yet?

Okay, enough about weekend plans. Unfotunately, I've stretched myself too thin recently on the knitting WIPs, so I have nothing to share today that is of the actual knitted related BUT, I wanted to share this. Is sharing a skein of newly dyed yarn cheating as a FO?



Now, as you probably know if you follow this blog each week, I normally only post Candy Skein yarn on Tuesdays. Why is this one different? Well, it was an experiment with long color changes, as well as going from light to dark of the same color. I'm really happy with the results and am keeping this skein myself. What do you think? Is it a nay or yay? I'm thinking I could start a series of colorways like this if it knits up nicely. Each color change is the same length (roughly, as I split the skein by weighing the yarn with each change), and each color is in the other two, as you can see some darker spots in the lights and lighter spots in the dark. I had a great time dyeing this!

It's a DK weight, and I named it Ripening Blueberry. I think I'm going to try and make The Age of Brass and Steam kerchief. Don't you think it will work nicely with the yarn!? It will be my first shawl like project and the lovely ladies at my Monday night knitting group are going to help me out in getting started. I can't wait!

Well, that's it for me! Be sure to share you FOs!