Yarn Question

Okay....so I'm still not finished with the handbag that I've been knitting for, like, two months. But I think I've picked out my next big project. I want to do the knitted dress/shirt in the latest edition of the 'knit.1' magazine. It's the picture in the middle by the way...and it comes down to about mid thigh. I think it's really cute....and the patten didn't look like it was too terribly difficult. I figure Jenn can help me get started. :)



Anyhow, with regard to my question, the pattern suggests 13 balls in #8 Brown of Bali by Tahki Yarns (1.75oz/50g balls, each approx 81yd/75m(bamboo)).


I looked online and found the yarn. It's apparently a lightweight bamboo knitted tape yarn. The cheapest I've found online is $6.99 on the yarnware.com website. So...that would be about $90.00. I don't think this is too terribly expensive. I consider it to cover the cost of my knitting entertainment for the next couple of months...so that's not too bad :)

Does anyone have any other suggestions for yarn that could substitute and would be cheaper? I know nothing about yarn but am interested in using the tape yarn. Sounds like fun.

Details

The baby blanket was a fantastic first project, because it taught me so much. Prior to this blanket gage an yarn weight meant nothing to me. Now, they are my new religion. My blanket was suppose to be 36"x36" but since I bought the wrong weight yarn and never even considered making a gauge swatch, it turned out to be about 18"x30". Oh well, instead of a baby blanket for Iona, it has become a stuffed animal/doll blanket for my friend's triplets. There was a slew of other mistakes that I made through out the process, but with the exception of the size issue I think it turned out pretty good.

Next I'm working on a travel pillow. It was a very tempting project for the girl who learned to knit so she could keep herself occupied on road trips. Here is a picture of the top half (without the clouds). If I have room to take some knitting stuff on the plane to Europe with me next week I plan on working on these ponchos for the triplet's birthday.

I've also joined my first knitting swap. It is just a summer swap with no theme. It is being organized by one of the members on a forum that I have been reading. I made our little graphic. Don't tell my currently unassigned secret pal, but I'm hoping to pick them up some lace work from Brussels while I'm there.

Happy Mother's Day!!!!

My mom started taking ashtanga yoga classes a few weeks ago. Now she's totally hooked! I practice ashtanga myself and am thrilled that she has started practicing as well. So....what do you get for a new yogi? A yoga mat of course!

Jenn taught me how to crochet so I made my mom a yoga mat bag. Yeah, I know, it's not the best example of crochet....but I think my mom will like it. So...here are some pictures.



This is the mat...notice sweet Murbella...she can't wait to get her claws into it.

Coffee and Knitting

As my participation in the Knitter's Coffee Swap proves, I love to knit while drinking coffee. And as several of the Kniterati also enjoy imbibing caffeine and knitting, we trekked over to our nearest local coffee shop to hold our meeting.

It was a lot of fun. We welcomed one new knitter (finally!), and she did very well with her first swatch. I also taught Kathy to crochet--the OTHER needle art--and she took to it rather quickly. (She wants to make her mom a yoga mat holder). I'm sure we'll be seeing it posted here soon.

I worked a little on my ISE scarf, which is coming along nicely. Soon--when my camera arrives from Mr. Postman--I'll post some pictures of it. I finally got over messing up on every repeat. I've only messed up twice in the last 10 or so repeats, so that was a relief. I need to get this scarf done so I can concentrate on my other projects (like socks!)

[Random interjection: I just went to the LYS, Hand Held, and bought some cool yarn. All of it will be destined for someone else, but it's still fun to buy yarn.]

I think we'll have to meet at the coffee shop again, when I'm not feeling like hosting the Kniterati at my apartment (it's dirty, etc). It was fun, we got to drink coffee, and we drove a girl from a table next to us so we could take it over (hahaha). I'm really enjoying this knitting group.

The Practice Piece and the First Project

Hello Everyone! Thank you for inviting me to be another long distance member of your group. I'm excited about transitioning from Fangirl to full fledged Knitter.

I started knitting last Wednesday as a treat to myself for finishing all of my finals papers midweek. I'd like to say I taught myself, but it just isn't true. Amy Finlay taught me and she has been wonderful. With the patience of a saint she has been willing to show me all of the basics over and over and over again. Here is my practice piece. The yarn is Real Teal and from bottom to top it goes: Knitting, Purling, K2P2 Ribbing, Stockinette, and practice for Project #1.

I picked the teal color thinking that working with something pretty would help keep me from getting frustrated. What I didn't think about was how much easier a light color would be for seeing what I was doing and seeing my mistakes. If I had to make a practice color suggestion knowing what I now do, I would suggest one of the multicolor skeins in a variety of bright colors. That is what I'm using for my first project and having the yarn I'm pulling through a different color from the yarn currently on the needle has been a lot of help for seeing where I am pulling at the yarn and getting the needles stuck.

I don't know what the knitting culture norm is for saving the practice piece, but I had every intention of throwing it away. It was a plan inspired by my anti frustration mood. You see, if I plan on throwing it away, I don't have to worry about making mistakes. Despite my intentions, it is still around. Mike, my husband, is so in awe of the fact that I created it, that he can't imagine it not being something. He doesn't seem to care what it is. He calls it a wash cloth one minute and a pot holder the next; he is even ok with it being a Barbie quilt though neither of us have Barbies. So, now it is his. He can do whatever he'd like with it, and he can call it what ever he wants. He's proud of me for making it, and that's cute so it has become too hard to throw it away.

I've moved on from my practice piece, and I've started my first project. Picking a first project was hard for me. I felt almost an ominous expectation to make a scarf. However, in this muggy, unbearable, Arkansas weather I don't even want to think about scarves. Fortunately, I have some friends who are expecting so I've decided to start with a baby blanket. When I went to pick out the yarn I was still thinking about the fact that it is spring and I don't want a wintery scarf so I picked out the most spring-esque yarn I could find. Since I didn't get the pastels, it looks a bit more like Easter and less like baby, but it is brighting my mood so I don't mind. I'm already about half way done with it. If you have compared my picture to the picture on the link, you may be able to tell that the bottom five inches aren't quite right. I was doing something fundamentally wrong with my knit stiches, but I think I've fixed it now. My new plan is to 'mess up' the top five inches too, because if it is symmetrical, it can't be wrong. Hopefully Iona (the baby) won't mind. If she complains, I suppose I'll just have to make her another one.

Welcome, Amanda!

We have a new blogger amongst us. She's a brand spanking new knitter, and I look forward to seeing her post all about her projects and other assorted knitting-related things. You can visit her blogspot site here: ADAllen.

Welcome, Amanda!

Field Trip!

The Kniterati took a little field trip last night. I discovered that our town does, in fact, have a LYS (Local Yarn Store). Hand Held is located just a short walk away from my current abode, and it is all one could ask for in a LYS. It's in a charming old house and is filled to the brim with varied yarns with knitted projects suggesting how you might like to use those yarns.

I'd actually only been in one other LYS--lately, I've been going online to find my quality yarns or relying on whatever Hobby Lobby might have on hand. This yarn store was stocked with all the yarns you could possibly desire--100% bamboo, organic wool and cotton, Malabrigo, Kaigu, Lorna's Laces, etc...the lists went on. It was a nice store, and a fun place to go into. The aisles were narrow in order to fit all of the yarn. And they offer classes, which is great. When we went there were a group of knitters all in a circle, chatting and clicking away.

Overall the field trip was successful, but perhaps a little overwhelming. I think someone said something about how it showed them all the possibilities of projects they could do. For me, it was a realization of how much cool stuff there is out there to knit with--and how I want to try it all. Any other LYS experiences out there?