Go Team Canada!

I have signed up to do River Rapids from SockBug in the teal Sock It To Me yarn for the Knitting Olympics. Not happy to be on a team that is associated with George Dubya "I'm tanking the nation, mostly while on vacation!" Bush, I have defected and signed on with Team Canada. I hope to do them proud. I sure will enjoy my Team Canada jersey.

I'm nervous, never having finished a pair of socks yet...

My blog cloud

I'm actually tempted to get the t-shirt; I love this!

I got SEX! (the yarn kind...)

It's here! It's here!












The Kochoran with the Lopi I
want to make into a cardigan:

A tale of four objects

An old FO, a new FO, a glittery UFO and a blue UFO....

The hat is the swirly pattern I just blogged about. The Magic Scarf* is not just done but promised (as soon as I'm done with the black one, I pass this one on). The glittery scarf is restarted and I haven't screwed up yet. The sock needs another 3" and will be done. Yay!

*Pattern: on size 15 circulars (16"), cast on 30 stitches. Knit till you're done. Cast off with size 19 or larger needle.

Yippee! I found it!

I found the free hat pattern that makes such a beautiful pattern on top! It's from Plymouth Yarn Company and is a simple ribbed-edge warm hat. The decreases make this pretty swirl pattern. I've been waiting to rediscover it to make more hats--ok, mostly, to get my own hat back from Graham, as he wears it so often. (Same head size; a little scary.)

Yippee!

No more Lion Brands

I have been averse to Lion Brands yarn for a while now. I picked up a ball of their Micro Spun a few weeks ago and did like its feel and sheen--then was told that it does tend to pill after a while. Yuck.

And yesterday, I came across a very well-reasoned argument against buying their yarns. It makes sense to me. That's it for Lion Brands!

I have an order in at KnitPicks right now. I haven't clicked the "place this order" button yet. I'm making myself wait till I've finished my mom's socks (I'm on the ankle of sock #1 right now; am hoping to finish it during basketball practice tomorrow morning). Gotta get an FO to earn more yarn, I've decided!

Maybe tonight, I'll get some photos taken of the finished Magic Scarf, whose function I really like but whose colors, not so much. Oh, and Coronet, which I'm going to press and then send off to Dharma's mom. It came out great!

Turkish cast-on

I just want to mark this down; it seems so useful for starting sock toes.

I've been wearing my Magic Scarf and I do like that it is soft and warm; I still don't really like the colors. I bought a skein of soft eyelash yarn in black at (frown) Beverly's, so I'll just reknit it. I hope I'll get a chance to take a photo of it on Graham tonight.

I'm almost done turning the heel in my mom's sock. It has bigger holes than the first try, but dammit, I'm just moving forward. They'll still be warm and pretty. I feel like mailing it to her once I've turned the heel so I don't finish them and find they're still too short.

Anyone reading this wear a women's 9 1/2 narrow?

Oh, another FO.

I have pretty much finished the red "magic" scarf. And... ta-dah, I don't like it.

That is it for buying yarn that doesn't exactly make my heart go pit-a-pat. I'll see if this grows on me while I wear it, and if not, maybe I'll give it away on Freecycle or Craig's List.

I do want one of these scarves, and maybe want to knit it...or I could buy one and spend my time knitting socks. Which I really need right now. My feet are cold at work every day. I'm tempted to bring in my hot water bottle just to rest my feet on.

And the East Coast folks go, "bwah!"

Found the sock.

It was in its bag in the corner of the living room, quietly resting on top of a plastic Xmas storage box.

I restarted my mom's lacy scarf. I keep having to rip it back. I don't know what I'm not getting. If this continues, I'm going to break out the Lion's Brand Micro Spun and practice on it. But don't imagine for one minute that I'll be happy.

The problem with this one is that it only has 2 rows of pattern. The intervening rows are all purl. So I keep thinking I don't need to use a row counter, and then the pattern doesn't look right, the spaces don't line up correctly, etc. In short, I'm way too proud.

Ah, well, at least it's not half bad yarn for ripping back (or tinking, as I'm understanding is un-knitting--oh, crap, it's "knit" spelled backwards, those damned crafty folks!). And when the pattern works, it really does look neat.

Oh, FFS.

People have way too much time on their hands.

Oh, and I finished Coronet last weekend. The decreasing was so anticlimactic, I sat there holding it, wanting more. I can't wait to make it in wool. The cotton is lovely and soft, but a little saggy.

I'd start frogging my mom's sock... if I could find it. So instead, I'm back on my red "magic" scarf. Finished the first ball of yarn and am frogging an early attempt and using the wool from it. I keep thinking of boas trying to swallow their own tails. I don't think it'll take 2 balls (too much thickness when it's a cowl), and I really don't want to knit two. I may wind the 2nd half of the froggable one for trim on something (socks?) and see if I can exchange the 3rd ball at the LYS.

Now, where is that damned sock?

Started Coronet

Ugh, it looks orange on a chocolate-brown couch here. Actually, it's pink with just a hint of coral on a medium grey couch.

Anyway, this yarn is a dream to knit with--so soft and just a hint of warmth from the wool. No itchiness at all.

SO glad I ran into someone at the local stitch & bitch who's done this! I have to Kitchener the band together before I knit the rest of it. Yoiks!

Another gorgeous shawl pattern

Found from a post by Grumperina: the Kiri Shawl. In Rowan Kidsilk Haze, which I loved working with for Mom's scarf. Yum! Check it out in pink.

Good knitting news x 4

First--dragged Graham to the Alameda Stitch & Bitch at Julie's Coffee and Tea on Monday night. There were already a lot of folks there, but they were very sweet about making room for the two of us. Graham was terrific--sat and drew with his crayons quite quietly. What a great crowd; very easy to talk with. And quite varied, in age as well as knitting level as well as projects (from simple scarves up to sweaters). Graham asked yesterday if we were going back that day, and was crushed to find out it's only once a week.

Second, while I was there, I asked, "What do you do with a scarf you knit and then don't want?" This was about the blue scarf I posted about recently. Showed it around, hoping for a taker, and then Graham piped up, "I want it!" He's wearing his boa-look scarf to school today. Too cute.

Third, one of the knitters asked Graham, "Do you knit?" and he and I both realized that we could have brought his new knitting spool! He is anxious to get started on it and very proud to realize he could be one of the knitters. (another one had brought her daughter who was working on a scarf, and not her first, either!)

Finally, I ripped out the red scarf, restarted it on 25 stitches, got about 15 rows in and found it wouldn't even go over my head, ripped it out and restarted it on 30 and it seems just right. Finished the first ball this morning. I think I can get 2 scarves out of the 3 balls I bought. This one is nearly long enough already. And it feels so soft. 100% acrylic but worth it, for this!

Thuja

A blog mentioned Thuja (she chanted it, over and over) the other day, and I was sitting there wondering, What the heck is Thuja? (I gathered that it was a sock thing but that's it)

And of course, it's a pattern from Knitty. Just discovered it today. I think I'll do my purple sock yarn in it. I'll have to majorly adjust the pattern, I think, as the Elann yarn seems to be twice as thin as the yarn they used. If you want to check my math, I'd be obliged:

They used ArtYarns Supermerino, 104 yd/95m per 50g skein on #6 needles, 22 sts/36 rows = 4 inches in stockinette stitch
I have Elann Sock It To Me Collection Essential 4 Ply, 210 m (230 yards) per 50 g skein, recommended #1 or #2 needles. Gauge is 28-30 st/4 inches but no number of rows given. Argh.

So... either I'd make it with the yarn doubled (and need 6 skeins?!?), or I use maybe size 3 needles and approximate the gauge...? I can try the sock yarn on #2 and #3 needles and see what gauge I get.

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can!

Ha! Another UFO.

With yesterday's trip to Skein Lane, I bought enough yarn to make the Leaf Lace Shawl from Fibertrends. The yarn I bought is Crystal Palace's Waikiki in "Tidepool" (scroll down). I also splurged on Crystal Palace bamboo circulars to knit it with. I'm so happy about the yarn--I bought it off the cone! She took 3/4 pound off so I'd be sure to have plenty of yarn. Samantha spotted it. She was trying to sell me on Earth, which is lovely, yes, but Tidepool was the one that made my pulse quicken. The gal at the shop said it knit up as worsted weight (wow!). I decided to do my first attempt at Leaf Lace Shawl with a non-hairy yarn rather than doing a lace shawl in something that's hard to rip back. And YES, I'll be doing a Lifeline! (scroll down to "Fixing Mistakes")

I'd like to finish off some UFOs before I cast on. At least I resisted buying the yarn till after Christmas...

A FO and a restarted UFO

Samantha had given me some yarns from a huge stash she got from Freecycle, including some light-blue eyelash yarns. I am not terribly fond of light blue but am intrigued by eyelash yarn. So I'd been searching for a yarn to combine with it. I was in Beverly's (shudder) and a woman and I started chatting in the knitting aisle. I grabbed a skein of similar eyelash yarn, and she pulled out a skein of Lion Brands "Micro Spun" in a gorgeous shade of intense turquoise. The photos don't show off the turquoise very well (it's a little washed out) but it does peek out from behind the eyelash rather intriguingly. I was going to offer it to Sami's mom but I have a feeling she'd decline. What to do with it?

Having finished that, I frogged my second try at the 2-way eyelash scarf I bought yarn for, and started, easily a year ago. (My first foray into Yarn! on Santa Clara.) For my third try (I think this is it), I cast on 20 stitches VERY loosely and am just knitting a tube. This scarf should be able to be pulled lengthwise for a neck scarf and widthwise for a warm cowl. It's more purply/violet than the red in the photos. HAPPY multi, on Clover wooden circulars, size 15, 16" long. I wonder how far I'll get in church today?

Cwap!

No home stretch for me. I tried it on today, to see if I was close to where to start the cuff ribbing, and it's too short on me. My mom is a full size larger.

There's no way around it; I have to rip back the whole heel. Well, next time I'll do it even better, and with more confidence.

sigh.

Two hundred and fifty dollars.

Found a lovely shawl pattern today. Note that it calls for 10 balls of "LW Supercashmere," whatever that is.

Click on the link toward the bottom to find that it is a laceweight yarn of 100% cashmere. And $25 per ball. That's two hundred and fifty smackeroos for a shawl. Wow.

How crazy am I?

Am I crazy enough to try this with my painted sock yarn? I dunno.

Mom's socks: in the home stretch.

I'm working on the ankle right now. One thing I hate about this pattern is that you have to have the foot in question available. You have to start the heel "2 1/4 inches before the desired length of the sock." sigh. And the ankle? "Start the ribbing 2 inches before the desired cuff length."

Anyway, Mom wants them mid-calf, like I'd thought, and there's nothing left to do but knit endlessly and then K1P1 for 2 inches. Yeah!