Thursday, July 27, 2006

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.

8 comments:

Gina Loves Lake George said...

Thanks Liz, I will be more than happy to accept any purple items you are willing to give :) Also, thanks for luring me to your blog, now I have one of my own and will be spending way too much time on the computer! I resisted for this long...but I am truely weak.

Teresa said...

I was going to darn my husbands socks, but then I looked at them closer. I would have to replace the entire sole. That was too much for me. However, I can't through them out, so he continues to wear them.

Anonymous said...

hoo boy, you got THAT right about gina's purple fetish!

mind you, it's a harmless thing.

now her spouse, on the other hand, probably wishes this color had never been created...

anne marie

Dorothy said...

My Mom used to darn the socks my Grandmother made for us. They never felt quite the same, but that's probably because she had to use a different yarn to do the darning.
If I had a bigger stash, I would join Project Spectrum. It looks like people are really having fun with it.

Ann said...

I'm glad you're making the pillow. I really love the crystal palace, but don't want a bulky sweater/scarf/hat/etc. so I've only felted with it. You're not felting the pillow are you?

Do you have one of those cool darning eggs?

PBnJ said...

Please count me in! Thanks! And thanks for the info about darning. I need to learn how to do this!

iSeL said...

That's a lot of purple.
A pillow? How exciting. I always look at my copy of Handknits for the Home and think...someday, someday.

Richmond tomorrow! Unraveled is having an anniversary sale this weekend. I don't think I'll make it there, though. Boo-hoo.

aija said...

Thanks for the darning reminder; I have a pair with a hole at the toe I set aside but forgot to look up *how* to fix socks...