Israel hasn't been great for my blog, huh?

I don't know why I never post anymore. I apologize to my faithful readers (Dad). I've been in Israel a year and a month and I've only written four posts, which is really unacceptable, especially considering the amount of free time I have (a lot). But you must admit that each one has been jam-packed with exciting new projects. Just as this one will be! Sort of.

There's a lot of stuff I haven't updated you on. For example, I got a new stash delivery MONTHS ago, in January, when my sister visited, and never posted about it! I've made some projects-- not that many, to be honest, but a few: a felted potholder and matching oven mitt, two hats for a friend, a case for my new Kindle, and I'm in the middle of a summer cardigan (that I'm sort of worried about ever finishing). 

I'm going to do my very best to bring you up to date.


New Stash

This is hardly new as I got a lovely shipment of Knit Picks yarn  as a Hanukkah present in January, but I'll still show you all the pretty colors.

Chrome Fingering in Mix Tape

Soft, hazy, one-ply. Don't know what I'm going to use it for. I thought maybe a purse or something.


Knit Picks Stroll Handpainted in Playtime

Love Stroll. I'm using this as the base color for my summer cardigan.


Swish Worsted Tonal in Pearlescent Tonal

Nice, firm, basic worsted yarn in a pretty, neutral colorway. Don't know what to use it for. Maybe a new hat, since I lost all mine this year?


 Shimmer Hand Dyed Lace in Silver

It's so soft and pretty, I love feeling it. I just started a cowl in anticipation of next winter. We'll see how it goes.


Wool of the Andes Bulky Hand Dyes in Bonfire

I got three skeins of this because I think it was on sale. I used about a skein and a half to make felted kitchen accessories, which came out great and which I will tell you more about below.


Merino Style DK

I got 8 skeins of this in Fairy Tale. I think I had a reason for getting so much of it when I ordered it-- I had a project in mind-- but by the time the yarn actually arrived I had totally forgotten what it was. I'd like to make something nice with it, like a cabled bag or something.


Projects!

The aforementioned oven mitt and potholder....

I knit and felted them during a "Game of Thrones" marathon. I hand-felted them by agitating them in a bucket of hot water with knitting needles. Pretty easy. It took a while, but the show kept me from being bored, and now we use them constantly. In fact I should probably make a few more.

Summer Cardigan, or as I like to call it, Abra's Cardigan of Many Colors

Yeah, the original wasn't done in crazy random stripes, but I'm very limited with both yarn choice and patience here, so I dove in with what I had, which was about a dozen different shades of Knit Picks Stroll. The basic color scheme for the body was two repeats of one of three shades of Stroll Tonal or Hand Painted to one repeat of a solid color, but since I'm running out of the tonals, for the sleeves I'm doing two repeats of tonal to three repeats of solids. The only problem is that it's not very portable because I have to keep changing colors, so I can't really take it anywhere so I don't work on it that often. I got through the body pretty quickly, but sleeves always slow me down, they're so boring. This will be cute when it's done, I think, if I ever finish it...

I made two hats for my friend's fiance (now wife) as part of their wedding gift, because observant Jewish women cover their hair when they get married.

The first I made was actually the second shown here. I bought the yarn in a shop here, but it's not the texture I love. Slubby, wooly, one-ply, etc. I prefer neatly spun wool. I had sent her a bunch of different patterns and she picked a few she liked, so I just made both. The yarn from the first one, the pink/purple, actually used to be part of that striped sweater from a year ago that I kept knitting and ripping. I figured I can just get more because I'm going home this summer, if I ever decide to actually finish it up, so I just used it for the hat instead. She told me she loves them but obviously won't be wearing them until the colder weather (they just got married in May.) I hope she does get some use out of them.

And my Kindle case.

I had to make this because my first Kindle BROKE, about two weeks out of warranty, of course, and after many days of deliberating over how to replace it, I ordered a newer version of the Kindle, only to find out when it arrived that it does not fit into my expensive, wonderful case that I used with my old Kindle. It was so great because it had a booklight BUILT IN. I'll probably order a new one that's compatible with the new Kindle when I get home, but until then I needed some kind of protective device, so I designed something new. I bought a stiff plastic board, knit the case and sewed it on, sewed the cover securely to the plastic, and sewed in elastic, which isn't that secure. (I added another vertical strip of elastic to the left side of the Kindle since this picture was taken.) I really love the honeycomb sort of pattern on the front, so I'm making another one to maybe put on Etsy. It's pretty cute. I used the overspun Knit Picks wool of which I have a TON. I've gotten a lot of use out of it.

Here's the aforementioned cowl. Haven't gotten very far yet:

We'll see if I do finish it. The pattern is not too interesting. But it's a different kind of thing, and it's good to branch out. Maybe it'll be a plane project.

That's all that's happening knitting-wise now. I need a project for the plane because I'm flying back to New York a WEEK from Sunday (so excited!!!!). No idea what to get on my needles, because although I find patterns I like, I don't have the proper yarn for them. I need to stop buying yarn willy-nilly, and start shopping for SPECIFIC projects. Otherwise it's a waste. I have gorgeous yarn I bought years ago and have never used, because I never buy enough for a big project, and we all know that I'm not very into shawls or scarves. However, for the upcoming winter I think I will find a few solid patterns in advance and supply myself with appropriate yarn during my visit this summer. I'm sure I will be coming back with a lot more yarn than I planned... yikes! I already have way too much!