This Elf Knits - Knitting, Handpainted Yarn, LYS reviews

I have a friend on a message board that issued a challenge/KAL for 2008.  Each month has a theme and you must use something in your stash to complete the knit-along.  I think it is a great way to use up some lovely yarn in my stash and keep each month fun.  I also like that you don't have to knit the same pattern as everyone else in order to participate.  Here are the themes for each month:

Jumbo January–anything in a bulky yarn
Felting February–anything you want as long as you felt it
Merino March–self explanatory, yes?
Amigurumi April–dive into the world of knitting and crocheting cute little animals
Me, me, me May–you have to make something for yourself!
Jumbuck June–a jumbuck is a sheep, hence something wool
July Journey–journey somewhere new–learn a new stitch, or a whole new technique–get outside your comfort zone and try something you've never done before
Alternative August–bamboo, corn, silk, soy–there's lots of new exciting fibers so give one a try
September Socks–socks, socks, socks
One and only October–make something from only one skein
Novelty November–try your hand at a toy–they're fun, they're weird, they might even be educational!
Dizzy December–round and round and round you go–has to be done in the round

In honor of Jumbo January, I knit a hat for my daughter using the free pattern Pro Bono hat from Angelina at Zen String.  I had some ZS Bliss Bulky in the Naiad colorway in my stash that was perfect for the project.  It was a very fast knit and only took a few hours.  I love the look of this hat on the bulky yarn.

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Last year I knit myself a pair of socks.  I had tried to knit a pair in September but the pattern was a bit too difficult for a beginner and I never finished it.  So in November I decided I needed to get back on that horse and knit some socks.  And I discovered the Knitting Pure and Simple Patterns.  They really are very simple, walk you through it sort of patterns.  I love them.  Anyway I finished my first pair of socks.  And then my dh finished his first pair this month.   

And the begging started.  My daughter just had to have her own pair of knitted socks.  It was all she talked about.  So finally this week I pulled out the Easy Children's Sock pattern and let her pick out some yarn from my stash.  She went with a lovely dk weight Zen String in the November colorway.  I finished the first one in about two evenings of knitting.  My daughter tried it on and told me to "knit faster momma" in order to get the second one done.  I finished the second one tonight before bedtime and she wore them to bed.  She is in love with them.

It was great knitting a pair of children's socks.  They go so quickly.  If you are hestitant to try socks, you should definitely do some children's socks first.  They have all of the same elements as grown up socks but they are much smaller. 

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While we have a favorite LYS, we love to go out and explore all of the ones in our area.  Metro Detroit seems to have an abudance of yarn stores.  It is fun to check them out and see what they carry and how they treat us.  One cause well my husband is a guy who knits.  For some reason that is unusual.  Normally the owners and employees assume that I am the knitter and he is just tagging along.  Which we laugh cause he has more experience and is a much more technical knitter than I am.  We have had some interesting experiences at stores in the area which make him feel like the woman in a car dealership. 

And two because I have a 2-year-old.  We normally get the "oh she isn't going to touch anything, is she?" look.  For which we do not frequent that store anymore and spend our money elsewhere.  My daughter is a very well behaved child who loves yarn.  She loves to touch yarn and pick out pretty colors (normally pink).  If she was a terror then I wouldn't take her. 

Anyway today we visited two stores in our area, City Knits in Mt. Clemens and Indigo Rose in Sterling Heights.  City Knits is in the location that was once occupied that a now defunct yarn store.  I'm not really sure why they would pick the same location as a yarn store that couldn't make it, but they do have two successful downtown Detroit locations so what do I know.  It is a decent size store with a large selection of Cascade, a lot of alpaca, and some sock yarn.  I was not really impressed with the store and I am not sure I will go back.  There was a class going on and a few people browsing.  Two of the customers got the "these are our specials" spiel and we only got a "welcome to city knits."  Not sure if we missed the spiel cause they were busy or what.

We then visited Indigo Rose.  This store is in our backyard but we rarely go there.  I started going there when I was an inexperienced knitter and didn't really know what I liked yet.  We decided to check it out again to see what kind of yarn they carry.  My daughter fell asleep in the car so we didn't get the full family treatment.  Dh and I each went in seperately.  They are a large store but have a very small selection of needles and notions.   The store was completely empty except for two employees.  This store seems to cater to an older crowd and I have never really felt like I fit in.  I'm also not a big fan of their yarn selection, it seems to be a lot of novelty yarn and acrylics.  I prefer natural fibers.

All in all a sort of disappointing day.  Next time I will try to talk a bit about our favorite LYS in the area.

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I am currently knitting the Ayla felted backpack for my daughter.  I'm kind of hoping to have it done by Wednesday for her first day of preschool, but I really don't think that is going to happen now.  I have about 5 more inches of the body to knit, the straps and the drawstring to go.  Plus assembly and felting.  It is my very first intarsia piece.  I am using 4 different colors of Cascade 220 wool yarn.  My dd got to pick out the colors.  She loves pink! 

I wish that the pattern had a bit more information about color changes and hand wound center pull balls.  That would have made this project so much easier.  Oh well.  Knittinghelp.com was a huge help in learning how to do this.  Between that website and my dh I would not be the knitter I am today.   

Here is a picture I took of the WIP the other night.  I am past the flower now.

I think it is looking pretty good so far.  This is my first felting project and I can't wait to see how that works. 

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Welcome to my knitting blog.  My name is Shannon and I am the WAHM behind Partyelf.com.  Hence the name of the blog.  I wanted a place to showcase my knitting, my love for handpainted yarn, and review Local Yarn Stores.  Thank you for visiting!   

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