Knitting and Crochet Blog Week 2011 is such a great idea, and I couldn’t’ resist taking part! Although I’m not usually one for blogging every day, I think all the questions are really interesting and relevant, so I’ll double up on some of the days.

Question 1: A Tale of Two Yarns
“Part of any fibre enthusiast’s hobby is an appreciation of yarn. Choose
two yarns that you have either used, are in your stash or which you
yearn after and capture what it is you love or loathe about them.”

Love: Mirasol Sulka
Knits in Question: Shoulder Warmer, Ravelympic Pullover, Mini Cardi.

What I Love: 
Oh, what don’t I love about this yarn?? it’s wonderfully soft, the colours are all richly heathered and prismatic, it’s a dream to knit with, wears wonderfully, and the Mirasol yarn company does great work in helping disadvantaged, rural communities that tend to alpaca herds in the region. They have made great inroads in building a school, establishing a clean water supply, focusing on nutrition and education (illiteracy is extremely high in the region) for the children who work in this industry. Indeed, the company is named for a little girl in the area that was tending 3,000 alpacas when they started.

Loathe: Valley Yarns Huntington
Knit in question: My folded pullover.

 What went wrong: I really enjoyed knitting with this yarn. It was so soft and lovely and knit up like a dream. But when I went to wet block…. disaster. The dye bled, and the sweater grew to enormous proportions, so I put it in a tumble dryer to help get it down to a smaller size again, and it got all pill-y and fuzzy and old looking, right away. I know the photos don’t show it- the lighting was fantastic that day and made everything look a lot more flawless than it really was. Yarns that grow immensely in the blocking stage just cheese me off in general. So does dye that bleeds.

Question 2:  Skill + 1UP
“Look back over your last year of projects and compare where you are in
terms of skill and knowledge of your craft to this time last year. Have
you learned any new skills or forms of knitting/crochet (can you crochet
cable stitches now where you didn’t even know such things existed last
year? Have you recently put a foot in the tiled world of entrelac? Had
you even picked up a pair of needles or crochet hook this time last
year?”

I’ve expanded my world of cast ons and bind offs this year. The i-cord cast on was a new one for me, and the super stretchy bind off has pretty much rocked my world. I also have been using Kitchener stitch a fair bit, even though it’s not my favourite, but I find this tutorial so helpful, and it’s really not that bad. I also tried short row shaping for sleeve caps (for top down sleeves) and I’m a big fan of that. I’d like to advance my crochet skills- hopefully this is the year! This blog post is the big draw for me.