Project Spectrum July

When Lolly came up with her brilliant Project Spectrum, I was immediately inspired. It was for me a great launching pad for so many things I wanted to accomplish with my knitting. I am pleased to say that with only one month to go, I have made a project for each month's color. And in the spirit of using what you have and the SoSKAL, only once did I have to purchase yarn to complete my projects. I have charity knitted, tried some new techniques, and definitely reduced the stash and oddballs.

This month's color, purple, presented with a variety of choices, because it appears that I have a lot of purple yarn. This is weird since I don't seem to wear purple at all. And most of my purple yarn represent potential projects that are perfect for my Project Spectrum requirements.

So, with all of 4 days to go in July, here are the candidates:

Yarn: Knit Picks Sock Garden
PS Idea: darning hole in sock


These were the first pair of socks I knitted for myself, and second pair ever. I wore them a lot, and quickly wore a hole in the heel, and the insides felted very quickly. I think Knit Picks has discontinued this yarn, and I think that is a good idea, because despite the wonderful colors, it is just not durable enough for socks.

Some people do not darn hand-knitted socks, The Yarn Harlot being one vocal sock-knitter-not-a-darner. I, on the other hand, had a hard time not being convinced by Theresa and her excellent tutorial. And since I've never tried it, this seemed like a good opportunity to try it and see where I stand on the to-darn or not-to-darn deabte.


Yarn: Crystal Palace Labrador
PS Ideas: Make pillow cover for soon-to-be painted purple guest room, or make felted boxes


Here we have an entirely finished sweater, the Serendipity Sweater from Hollywood Knits. The sleeves were too tight in the upper arms, so I abandoned the project. In the winter of 2004. I have to face the truth. I will never fix the sleeves because I don't think I'll ever wear this sweater, even though Julianne Moore looks great modeling it in Suss Cousins's Hollywood Knits. I just think this yarn will not wear well, with it's 100% wool content and uneven spin. I think it will pill and look like crap. Never mind that whole bulky-sweaters-make-bulky-garments-bulky-garments-make-you-look-bulky problem.

Yarn: LB Wool-Ease Sport
PS Idea: Sweater for Rosebud

I bought this yarn on sale (of course) at Tuesday Morning, and couldn't resist a sweater's worth of yarn for like $6.99. Which is why, of course, it has languished in stash for over a year.

So what did I choose?

My choice was the Labrador Pillow. I briefly considered making this a combined fabric/knit project, but I quickly rejected that idea, mostly because I have no time right now to pull out the ole sewing machine. Well, that and I am scared of sewing. Not seaming knitted garments, mind you, but actually sewing fabric to handknits. Mr S is the designated sewer in this household, because, unlike me, he took home ec.

But I have enough yarn here to cover the whole pillow, and I plan on knitting a tight enough gauge the the inside of the pillow will not show through the thick and thin fabric.

So this is a perfect PS/SoSKAL project for me, since I will be reclaiming yarn from a long-abandoned project to make something lovely and useable. I will also, hopefully, use up a lot, if not most of this yarn.



And in honor of SoSKAL, I will also be releasing some purple yarn to my friend, Gina, who, to say she loves purple, would be a true understatement of enormous proportion. She is also immensely creative, a fearless crocheter and art teacher. If anyone can make something lovely with this yarn, it is Gina.

And, in the spirit of the SoSKAL, I will be releasing Suss's Hollywood Knits book to another knitter. Leave a comment if you want your name entered into a drawing to win this pattern book. Winner drawn at random at some point next week.