Knitting Reflections & Planning for the Next Season

Even though we're quickly approaching August (like right around the corner), my knitting thoughts are now focused into the next season. I love the cooler weather. I tend to get warm very easily. I will still be knitting a lot of short sleeved or 3/4 sleeved garments well into the Winter season. Even some lace garments will get knitted. That's my plan.

I have collected some wool yarns over the last year from closeouts, clearance bins, and sales. Mostly worsted weight and a few chunky yarns. I plan on looking at my spring/summer patterns and knit them into fall/winter garments using the wool that I have in my stash.

As fast as I'm trying to knit my summer garments, I know some will not get a chance to be casted on this year. Most of them will have to wait another 6 months before I think about them...again. I now need to focus on transitional garments in the appropriate colors and textures.

I've already ordered the Little Blue Sweater and the Lush & Lacy cardi and have the patterns in my hands. I ventured out today to another LYS with my friend, Sarah, and was not able to find the right bulky cotton blended yarn I needed for Little Blue. So, after doing a little stash diving, I came up with a merino chunky yarn that fits the bill. For Lush & Lacy, I plan on using Cotton Ease from my stash as well. At least one of the garments will be in a cotton blend.

I also plan on knitting another Shrug This! in a cotton blended yarn. I'm using Berroco Love It Colors (blue, sage, yellow, pink) yarn. It's a wild colored yarn and I hope I get the correct striping of colors instead of a pool of colors. We'll see. I will have to re-calculate the number of CO stitches based on the yarn I'm using which is worsted weight.

Oh, did I mention that Ravelry is using my three previous shrug pics on their main Shrug This! page? Way cool!

I also have a jacket called Tibet that's been sitting in my queue since I joined Ravelry. Yarn was purchased awhile ago and has been patiently waiting.

I have two scarves that I hope to get started in the next few weeks. One is a called a shoulder scarf that I hope to knit up with the Fiesta Rayon Boucle yarn. This will be a fast knit on large needles. The other is the Swirl Scarf that I mentioned a few posts back. This will be a nice long knitting project involving knitting in the round and picking up stitches using DPNs. I'm also looking into using the magic loop technique for this project.

I haven't started any major garment projects. I've been really, really good and knitting up my WIPs. We'll see how long that lasts.

Why Ravelry?

I've decided to manage my knitting projects better with the help of Ravelry. As you can see in my left side bar (my current knitting projects), I have 3 ongoing projects or WIPs. The other projects are now in hibernation. To keep my focus, I need to stick to 3 WIPs. As I complete one project, I should be able to rotate a project from hibernation and get it done. We'll see how that works for the month of June.

I love Ravelry. This is one site/tool that has helped me stay organized and keep track of my knitting projects and progress. It's a great place to document knitting projects for future reference. Save favorite patterns. Most importantly, it's a big help when I've forgotten what yarns I have in my stash. I can also keep track of the knitting needles and crochet hooks I have. Instead of accidently purchasing duplicate needles, I can use that money to buy more yarn. :) I also have a library where I can keep an eye on all the books and magazines I have.

I can also look up yarn information and see what projects others have made with the same yarn I'm interested in. A search can be done by fibers, name of the yarn, or by brand.

I can search patterns by categories and then find a particular pattern I'm interested in knitting. I can then see all the ongoing and completed projects others have tackled. I enjoy going through the galleries and seeing pictures of the garments/accessories in different colors and in a variety of yarns.

I love how the knitting projects/patterns are linked back to the appropriate knitting magazines and books. I can go into my library and select the magazine I have and find all the projects other knitters have created. There's a lot of cross-reference information available and I've only touched a fragment of this lovely site/tool.

The group/forum is a great place to join and ask questions or just read what other knitting folks are up to. There are many groups available. Local or worldwide.

The galleries and groups are great resources as others uncover knitting issues or errors in patterns. A great place to learn something about your knitting pattern.

If I'm looking a garment/accessory pattern, I do my initial search on Ravelry. There are many free patterns here as well as inexpensive ones.

I love using the message box feature to keep in touch with my fellow knitters.

Ravelry reminds me of a one-stop knitting resource and communication tool for knitters. Kind of what PatternReview is to sewists.

If you are interested and new to Ravelry, you can request an invitation for Ravelry here. It typically takes 2-3 days before you will receive an invitation to join.

For those of you who are members, I would love to hear how you use Ravelry or neat things you've uncovered. :)