Favorite Photos from the #YarnLoveChallenge

As you may have read in my previous post, this month I am participating in the #yarnlovechallenge over on Instagram. The organizers of this fiber themed challenge came up with themes for each day of the month in February 2017 and encouraged any yarn enthusiasts to share their photos related to the themes. It's been so fun to participate and I particularly like the themes for the second week of February and thought it would be fun to share a few of those photos here on the blog...in case you missed them.  

The theme for day 8 of the #yarnlovechallenge was "where I craft".  This photo was taken in my home studio where I spend a lot of my time.

My home studio.

I bought the sturdy, white table for my first college apartment many years ago.  This table is fantastic for crafting.  I love the durable white surface and it fits in right next to a big east facing window so I have lots of natural light.  My husband built an awesome desk and cabinets that run along the wall (behind the table).  That's where I have my computer and printer.  We live in an old house and this room was originally the kitchen when the house was built in the 1940's.  In case you are wondering...the grey blanket draped on the chair in the center of the photo is my Over the Rooftops blanket knitting pattern.  The blue blanket on the table was made using my free knitting pattern...The Boulevard Blanket.  The blue yarn is Lion Brand Hometown USA in the color 'Washington Denim'.

The theme for day 9 of the #yarnlovechallenge was "tools".  I love knitting tools!  It was fun to create a flatlay design using some of my favorite knitting tools...plus a few old treasures...

Some of my favorite knitting tools.

The Susan Bates US 13 straight knitting needles on the right are from the 1980's.  I haven't used them in years!  These days I primarily use circular knitting needles for flat knitting (working back and forth just like with straight needles) and double pointed needles for hats and other small in the round projects. My stitch markers, tape measure, tapestry needles and old Susan Bates gauge ruler are a few of my most used little tools.  I use a clip board with paper or a simple spiral notebook to keep notes when I am working on a new knitting design. I always have several ballpoint pens and basic pencils handy for taking notes, editing patterns, jotting down pattern name ideas, etc.

The theme for day 10 brought back a lot of memories..."oldest stash".  I pulled out my bin of really old yarn and dug to the very bottom to find some of these yarn treasures from the 1980's...

My oldest stash yarn.

I bought a lot of this yarn when I was in high school and college when I worked a couple summers in a little yarn shop.  Apparently I spent a lot of my earnings on yarn!  I knit mohair sweaters with the ivory and blue yarns (top corners).  A mohair sweater sounds dreadfully itchy to me today!  But...I did wear those sweaters. The raspberry colored yarn is alpaca and I knit a very soft, over-sized sweater for myself with that yarn.  I used the medium gray blue yarn (center) to knit a short sleeved pullover top that I wore many times in the spring and summer.  The greenish and gray blue yarns in the lower right of the photo are Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Worsted. I knit many sweaters with various colors of this reliable yarn back in the 80's and 90's.  In more recent years, I used up some of my leftover Lamb's Pride Worsted by knitting hats and mittens for my kids.  The ivory ribbon marketed for knitting and crochet was purchased in the 80's.  I never used it for knitting so these days I use it for wrapping packages and as a background prop in my knitting photos.

"Travel Projects" was the theme for day 11.  My favorite travel project is to visit a local yarn shop and bring home some beautiful yarn as a memento of the trip. I also love going to local book stores when I'm on a trip. Books and yarn are my favorite souvenirs!

The Yarn Barn in Lawrence, Kansas & Purl Soho in New York City.

 Last weekend I took a day trip to Lawrence, Kansas with my daughter.  It's only about 40 minutes from our house.  We went to Mass Street Music for her to check out some guitar accessories.  It's a really nice guitar store!  We also stopped in The Yarn Barn which is a lovely little yarn shop on Massachusetts Street.  (Locals call it "Mass Street".)  The Yarn Barn carries a great selection of yarn for knitting and crochet, as well as a huge section of supplies for weaving. (If you are interested, they print a beautiful annual catalog filled with their products.) I bought some beautiful yarn...see photo below.  One year ago I went to New York City and loved having the opportunity to go to Purl Soho. Their wall of yarn is gorgeous!  (FYI: check Purl Soho's hours before you go...when we were there they did not open until noon.)  Also...I would suggest previewing their yarn online before you go so you have an idea of what to look at first.  There's so much to see in this small but well stocked store!

Here's the gorgeous yarn I purchased at The Yarn Barn last weekend.  It's Malabrigo Rasta - a super bulky weight yarn that is kettle dyed.  The color is called 'Solis'. I'm making plans for this yarn!

Malabrigo Rasta - kettle dyed yarn in 'Solis' #809

Now I should get back to working on one of my knitting projects. I have a couple things in the works. Honestly...one idea has been slow to come together.  Trying new ideas takes time and patience!

If you would like to see more behind the scenes photos and follow along with the #yarnlovechallenge follow me on Instagram...@fiftyfourtenstudio.

Hope you have a wonderful week!  Happy Valentine's Day!  Happy knitting!

Mary Lee
Fifty Four Ten Studio