Mr. Bear Ears Knits On

Connor has finished his second project! He now has a very warm 2x2 ribbed cowl out of Anzula's For Better Or Worsted in the Mariana color way. We used Purl Soho's Lovely Ribbed Cowl as a starting point.

This is the face of a man who enjoys the feeling of wool, silk, and cashmere on his skin. And since he has been wearing his cowl, I've been able to steal use his scarf.

I've also added this to his project page on ravelry. I didn't know that when I convinced him that he should have a ravelry page, I'd be maintaing it. I just tell myself he's Mr. Bear Ears, not Mr. Social Media.

I had bought him the yarn at Stitches West last year. I asked him if he wanted a scarf. He said yes, so I handed him the yarn and told him there was some assembly required. I'm proud that he rose to the challenge and made himself a cowl. (He decided he wanted the yarn to become a cowl rather than a scarf in the end.

We've been talking about what he might want to knit next. He's thinking of making fingerless mitts. I'm trying to talk him into knitting me a sweater. We shall see.

Mr. Bear Ears And His First Knitted Scarf

Connor had been diligently knitting away at his scarf. He thought he would have it done for next winter, but it got cold, so he became "motivated to finish" so he says. I'm pleased to show off his very first knitted project, a 2x2 ribbed scarf in Jill Draper Makes Stuff's own Rockwell in the Pacific color.

We decided that the only place the Pacific scarf could be photographed was in front of the Pacific itself

He's already received compliments at work. A co-worker told him they didn't know what a "manly" scarf would look like until they saw his. He was pleased to report to them that he made it himself. I'm so proud.

I'm also pleased to report that he is working on his second project already. It is Purl Soho's Lovely Ribbed Cowl out of Anzula's For Better Or Worsted in the Mariana color.

Since he is on his second project, I thought it was high time for him to join ravelry. You'll find him under the moniker mr-bear-ears.

The Wedding Shawl

It has begun. The wedding shawl. The wedding shawl that needs to be done in 15 days. After waffling over several patterns, I went with the Frozen Leaves pattern, but I'm using the (rav id) like2makethings variant. I almost went with the Kristen TenDyke Leaves Shawl, but decided that the leaves weren't high enough on the shawl. I still like the pattern. I still bought the pattern too... maybe when the wedding craziness is over I'll have time for it.

I'm using two skeins of Anzula Squishy in the Spruce color way. And I'm switching skeins every two rows to make sure it is blended. One skein I got was bluer than the other, but I decided that it was a blessing in disguise. I love the skeins that are more yellow, but they don't look as good against my skin.

Now the question is, can I do it? Can I have a shawl knit and blocked by the wedding even though I have absolutely no time to do it. Well, we won't know if I don't give it a go.

Poppycock? Nope, They're Poppy Socks!

Sometimes it feels like I have absolutely no upcoming designs, and sometimes the exact opposite happens. At the moment, I have four designs that are in various stages of completion. This past weekend I was able to complete a photo shoot for the hat/mitt combo. I'm hoping to have them out by next week, all going well. The Police Box Sox are being tested. And now I'm knitting like a crazy person to get a pair of California Poppy themed socks done. Why, you ask? Well, it looks like unlike last year when the Antelope Valley Poppy reserve looked like a desert, this year there are poppies. I'd been toying with the idea of poppy socks for a bit, but when I realized that not only are there poppies this year, but we will be going south at just the right time, I knew that I needed to make the socks a reality.

So far I've figured out 10 ways to not make poppy socks. In fact, yesterday, I'm pretty sure I knit an entire sock's worth of stitches. Unfortunately this did not result in a complete sock. One of those half-socks in the picture below is destined to be ripped.

I'm just hoping that all this effort is worth it. Poppies are notoriously picky about weather. So even if we get to the reserve and there are poppies, they might all be closed. Of course none of that matters if I don't manage to knit a pair of socks in time. No pain, no gain... right?

Reading Is Key In Reading The Key

It's funny what a few days can do for a knitting basket. I finished knitting up all the blue yarns and now everything is going to be bright for a bit! The green and gold are the Anzula I bought two posts ago. All going well, I hope to have another sock design knitted up before the month is through.

The red is Wollmeise Sockenwolle 80/20 Twin in Hertzblut that Rachael got me when she went to Germany. It's becoming a pair of Woodpile Socks. So far so good. 

Although, I did get to do a little ripping. It was a little my fault, a little not. I didn't read the pattern key, I just knitted the cables like you do. I noticed pretty quick that it didn't look like the picture. Silly me, I knit the cables opposite of what the key said. In my defense, the symbols are the opposite direction of what cable symbols typically are. That being said, I have learned that I need to read symbol keys BEFORE knitting. It'll save time in the long run.

Most of what was in my knitting basket in the last post are designs that I can't show off just yet. But I did finish the Watch Cap for me. It's out of Knitwhits Freia Handpaints Ombre Worsted in the Denim color way. I am pleased. The brim can be folded up and probably will be when I wear it, but I wanted to show off the gradient.

In case anyone was wondering, I still haven't located my other hats.

It's So Squishy

I have a weakness, and that weakness is yarn. The other day Anzula was having a trunk show at Green Planet Yarn, so I thought I'd go over to "Just Look." I thought I'd be safe because of what I did to myself at Stitches West. No such luck.

I ended up with six skeins in the Squishy base. The colors are, starting at the top orange one and going clockwise: Arizona, Black, Boysenberry, Poppy, Charcoal, and Spruce.
Spruce is what started it. I've eyed it for quite some time, but just hadn't managed to get my hands on it. Once I chose one, it was all over.

Who else has fallen down recently? It can't have been just me.