Needles and a Pen » Knitting, Sewing, and Nursing School

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  • Welcome to my blog!

    Hi! I'm Traci. I'm a Registered Nurse who loves quilting, knitting, cross stitch, and the great outdoors. In my pre-scrubs life, I owned Real Photography, and you can still see my old wedding and portrait photography site here .

    I've created a map that shows links to our camping/hiking/general family fun review posts that you can find here. It's pretty much the coolest thing on this site. Thanks, Google!

    I great big puffy heart *love* comments, so please let me know you visited! I try to always reply!

the knitting obsession

I’ve been knitting up a storm lately and thought I’d share my projects from the last few months!

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Last night I finished up my “weihnacht socken”–the Christmas socks I knit mainly in Germany and Austria over our Christmas trip.  I had run out of the green yarn that I used at the contrast color but got that last week and was able to finish these off.  I just love Jessica of yarntini‘s self striping yarns.  They make for such a fun easy knit and she is WONDERFUL!!!  This strip was a dk, so I held the lime green standard fingering weight sock yarn double for the heel, toe, and cuff.

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This honey cowl was my first finish when I revitalized my interest in knitting but I somehow managed to forget to post about it in my last knitting post!  I love it but I’ve shelved it until the weather warms–it sheds like CRAZY on my black wool coat.

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A Millwater cowl in Madelinetosh vintage yarn in antique lace.  One thing I’m not crazy about with the Madelinetosh yarn is the smell it gives off when you get it wet to block it.  You can really smell those chemicals.  ::eeek::

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Speaking of yarn, like a lot of knitters I’ve fallen head over heels on the very-difficult-to-get-your-hands-on Plucky Knitter yarn.  So many gorgeous colorways.

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We visited Stash in Castle Rock because I told Ellie she could pick out yarn for a hat.  She told me she wanted white, which I was surprised by (she’s a pink fan) but totally excited by–a cute white beret would be adorable on her!  But then she saw this pink skein and it was all over.  She was on me like white on rice to get this finished.  She literally woke me up one morning and made a very pointed comment about how “I would like to be wear my hat when we go to Germany” (a trip that was just days away at the time).

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If you knit, I absolutely love this toiletries bag I got at Target right before Christmas as a knitting organizer.  It’s perfect for the task!

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Another honey cowl for me, more Madelinetosh yarn.  Pashmina in cathedral and weathered frame–I alternated rows (the cathedral on the k1s1 rows) to make the variegated yarn effect a little more subtle.  I’m really happy with how it came out–just finished it Saturday!

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This project is in danger of becoming one of those what-was-i-thinking projects if we don’t have some sort of snow-pocolypse where I’m stuck inside for a week.  I’ve started it four times.  Following along with a lace pattern is not my strong suit.  It’s just a baby lace project, though–a cute headband, so I feel like I should press through!  I need to learn how to knit and read a pattern at the same time though instead of having to look from the paper to the yarn and then back.  Makes me lose my place every time.

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I knit this on the plane to Germany and then finished it right before Christmas (or maybe on Christmas?).  I didn’t realize when I picked the pattern that it was reverse stockinette…made for a LOT of purling!  But I still love it.  This one is in plucky yarn, the sweater base and ‘good ole days’ colorway.  It got a lot of use in Europe!

Suzanne - What beautiful knitting projects!

Laurie - These are all GORGEOUS! I especially love the socks.

We emailed back and forth a while ago when i told you I was moving to CO Springs. Well I am finally moving there- we will be there in about 3 weeks. Are you still involved in the guild.

Beccy - Lovely! I had a friend teach me to use a post it to keep track of where I was on my chart, so helpful. You do amazing work!