Just an update

ETA: Now with photos!

No more FOs to report. Some updates:

Rainbow childHood
I'm partway up the hood on G's childHood. I had started it at the cabin and only had dpn's with me, so I've now converted to a circular needle; way easier. Got a few rows done but it's, well, a little dull.




Blue ribbed cotton sweater
Speaking of dull, I'm still plugging away on the blue Tahki cotton sweater. I thought it would be mind-numbing, but the k2p2 ribbing keeps me interested enough, thank God. I'll start the shaping at about 8.5". I have misplaced the magazine. Wish me luck, eh?



Trellis shawl
Nearly finished with the first ball of Li*n Brand Trellis on my shawl. Dharma figured out that the third ball is really only used for the fringe so I'll probably eBay it. It'll be nice to be done with this one; it's mind-numbing enough and not nearly fast enough, even on size 19 needles!



Birch
While at the cabin, I cast on for Birch. Something about this one fills me with trepidation. That I won't get it finished within 6 mos and won't be able to return the extra $15 ball of Cracksilk Haze? That it calls for a lace cast-on and I, not knowing what that was, went ahead with a regular cast-on? That I'll get lost and have to rip back Cracksilk Haze, which is reputed to be a b!tch to rip back? I've done part of one row. sigh


Child's first socks
Something about having no socks on the needles was driving me crazy, so last night, I balled and started swatching for Child's First Socks from Nancy Bush's Knitting Vintage Socks. I chose the RedwoodForest sock yarn from KnitPicks. It might work on size 3 needles, so I'm starting out with my Addi Turbos that I used for my Knitting Olympics socks. ETA: I'll be doing two at once on two circulars. No more one-sock-at-a-time for me!

Gosh, could that be it? Hard to believe. It feels like I started another project besides these. I'm certainly feeling like I have startitis.

Oh! I did forget to mention what Mummy brought back from Convergence in Grand Rapids, MI: my very own swift! She is too good to me.

Final chapter on the Shrapnel Socks

I left the socks on my mom's bed in the cabin we occupied last weekend, for her birthday weekend (one of the decades...!). She didn't say anything when she arrived, so I brought them up. She said she thought the tops were unfinished. I had bound off using much larger needles because I was worried that the tops would be tight, so they ended up looking picot-ish.

After I assured her that they were done, she tried them on. She was really pleased. She proceeded to wear them the rest of the weekend, at least in the morning and night, until it got too hot in the daytime to wear wool socks. And she ranted to anyone who would listen about how incredibly well they fit her feet, better than any other socks she'd ever worn!

C'est fini.

The Shrapnel Socks are finished, a mere 2 days before we leave to visit my mom at a cabin in the woods. I won't be wrapping them, as they aren't her birthday present; they are for (last) Christmas!

Now we can all breathe a sigh of relief. And then I'll start another pair of socks!

What is so intriguing

about taking this







and making it into this








that I must stay up till 2:30AM on a Sunday morning? And yet, it is. (80% silk 20% cotton ugly as hell sweater to become sweet short-sleeved top.)

I'm ribbing

I am up to the beginning of the 1.5" ribbing of the Shrapnel Sock. Of course, true to form, instead of the K2P1 ribbing specified in the pattern and already done for the first sock, I did a few rows of the lesser-known and strangely not stretchy at all K1P2 ribbing, merely because I am a complete idiot.

Think I'll be happy when these socks are done? Do ya?

Nothing finished, many updates

Finally took some photos of my current WIPs. Well, active WIPs. I keep coming across the Branching Out scarf I started and averting my eyes. I'll pick it up again some day.

First, the Tahki cotton "I am so making this up" sweater. It's looking great! I'm in the middle of the 2nd ball and finally feeling like it's getting somewhere. Maybe 3.5"? The K2P2 rib is slow going and periodically I mess up and K a P or P a K, which astounds me--can't one get a rhythm going with K2P2? The color is a true French blue (the photo looks more like a medium blue to me).


Next, the L!on Brands "Copper Penny" trellis yarn shawl. I thought this would go like lightning! I am not even making clear damage to the first ball of 3. I still love the colors and still wonder if I would wear this (it is not soft and I am all about the softness). The colors are very coppery/autumn. I don't think I captured that.





And then comes the childHood sweater, on which I'd love to get started on the hood... but I messed up the right-hand button band. I counted repeats on the left and tried to match it on the right... but I miscounted--AND cut the yarn! I'll have to rip it all out and start over. I hope I have enough yarn. I hope, I hope. The right-hand band seems just fine.



Finally, the Shrapnel Socks. It's actually going well (pausing to knock on wood) and I have maybe 1.5" left before ribbing. For such tiny needles and yarn, it does go pretty quickly, especially if your dental hygienist is running behind!

Good start on blue sweater

I took the Tahki blue cotton sweater to SF Pride yesterday and knit on BART and while we were waiting to march, and after. I have 2.5" done and finished the first ball! It is very slow to knit (k2p2 rib for 8") but I still love this yarn and the drape seems quite nice. (photo to come soon)

I did one of the front bands on Graham's childHood sweater and slip-stitched it on. Did the other one, thought I'd matched the first, but... cwap. It is shorter and I snipped the yarn already. Ugh. I'll have to rip it completely out and start over. I did have to do the yarns differently for the right-hand lapel band, as the direction of the garter stitch means I have to swap yarns at its outside edge, rather than the inside edge that the left-hand one had. I decided to follow this method:

At each new row, twist the new color with the previous color and knit the first stitch. *Then* wrap the new yarn around the other 4 yarns behind the work and continue to knit the row and its following row with the new yarn.

This way, the bundle of carried-up yarns is behind the edge rather than at the edge. I didn't wrap the just-previous yarn because it is right below the current row and, I think, doesn't require it.

I can't wait to be done with the bands (and not just because I hate slip-stitching!) and start on the hood. I just hope with all this ripping that I'll have enough for the (multi-striped) hood. My calculations said I'd have plenty. Well, nervousness helped the Leaf Lace Shawl!

Blocking again

I blocked Graham's childHood sweater last night. I'd forgotten how hard blocking can be. Blocking the Leaf Lace Shawl was hard, just because it was hard to line up things straight (and with right angles, as for that center stripe) and stretch it out evenly.

But blocking something to measurements? Shew, even harder. Some pieces were slightly too small. No problem; stretch 'em a bit. Several dimensions were too big. Huh? Too big? I measured while knitting! But they must have gotten stretched while I washed and squoze them. Argh. So I crept my hands across them to bring in the width to reasonable size. I gave up on the sleeves and hope they're not too long on him. On the rest, I persevered.

Thankfully, we're having good blocking weather. It's supposed to be almost 90F/32C today.

Got some more rows done on the huge needle/crap-yarn-source shawl. I still love it but feel... dirty when I knit on it. Ha, I'm such a snob!

Yep, another new project

I'm 1cm up the leg of the second Shrapnel Sock (so named because these socks have been through the war) and quite pleased. I think they'll (knock wood!) turn out.

And... started a new project. I nearly picked up Birch, but since the Leaf Lace Shawl is fresh off the blocking couch, I couldn't ponder casting on 299 stitches just yet. I put it back in the yarn-stash box and pulled out my 3 balls of Lion Br*nd ladder yarn in Copper Penny. Still love this colorway. It comes with a shawl pattern on the back of the label (CO 3 sts, K across, then Kf&b, K to last st, Kf&b; repeat last row till you're done). I had bought the size 19 circulars at Websters in Ashland (INOX brand; not bad!).

I was afraid I would hate this yarn once I started knitting with it; not so! I still adore it. I knit some rows this morning. The only odd thing is that the yarn pulls from the outside of the ball. I'm used to center-pull balls. I know better than to wind it on the ball winder; non-stretchy yarn just slumps and makes a huge mess. I'll keep yanking it as I knit. Eee!

I'll be blocking childHood tonight or tomorrow night.

Knitters CAN knit bone!

Very cool news from the knitting world. All those of us who knit and sent our knitterly vibes to Mr. Etherknitter have done it.

He is producing bone at the three appropriate places. Woo hoo!

Half-turned heel

I took the sock with my on my noonday walk-for-exercise. Knitting while walking rocks. I loved getting fresh air, sunshine, and exercise, and getting the heel half-turned.

That's right, my friends: I half-turned the heel already. Woo hoo!

May I have a word?

From Rabbitch's blog, so of course it belongs in my knitting blog.

She writes, "Almost afraid to do this one, here. " I'm definitely afraid.

Please leave a one-word comment that you think best describes me — it can only be one word long. Then copy and paste this into your blog so that I may leave a word about you.

Going great guns

Got the Leaf Lace Shawl blocked. It is beautiful... but kind of itchy. I'm going to try freezing it, as one person suggested, and then (ugh) I'll wet it and put instant hair conditioner on it and see if that does the trick. Freaking mohair. Who knew it was itchy? I didn't. (Photo was taken blind by holding the camera up high)

Anyway, so since I blocked it but am too wimpy to go ahead and weave the ends in, I moved on to other projects. Today, I finished the right front of childHood. Now I need to block the pieces before doing the 3-needle bindoff on the shoulders and picking up stitches for the hood.

Also ripped back my mom's 2nd sock to before the heel shaping. I got more knit of the foot and I think I'm ready to redo the heel (and I'm remembering that the heel only took me one day, or rather, one visit to the zoo, so I'm hoping it'll be as quick). Then an inch or so of st st and some ribbing, and Bob's your uncle. (well, he is mine; isn't he yours, as well?)

And I haven't started Birch yet. Quite proud of myself for holding back. Ha!

I'm finally getting it

I have a $121 pending order at DiscountYarnSale.com. I keep thinking, "but this is madness! I don't even have plans for some of that yarn!" But they are gorgeous yarns and good prices and I do think I'll use every scrap.

And I'm starting to get, really get, why folks have good-sized stashes. Because once you start accumulating good yarn, man!, it must be fantastic just to look over your cache of really nice yarn and think of the possibilities and really feel... lucky.

Like I need another complex project

But this Wee Fair Isle project sounds compelling (as a hat), and Knit Picks' FI yarn is sooo inexpensive...

Two FOs

Here is the finished scarf for the teacher. I figured it can be wrapped around one's neck as many times as the weather dictates.






Here is a close-up of the pattern. I'm very pleased.







And... ta-dah! The Leaf Lace Shawl is ready to be blocked. Remember
this? Well, check out the end trailing around the side of the LL Shawl. That's all that is left. Talk about exciting...!









A close-up on that gorgeous pattern. Can't wait to have it blocked!

Nearly done with Leaf Lace Shawl

I'm on row 14 of 16 of the edging--the 16th row is actually the bind-off row. I am loving this pattern! Easy to follow, well written... I can't wait to see it blocked.

I blocked Graham's teacher's angora scarf last weekend. Graham picked it up and put it around his neck, pulling slightly on the ends... and it all curled up again. *steam pouring out my ears* So frustrating. I'll flatten it with my hands and wrap it and present it. It does look nice and airy.

I told my friend that I wanted to make a ministry stole for her. We talked about it and decided on chasuble instead, out of a sage green non-insulating yarn (linen or cotton or bamboo or hemp). I knew if I just made her something and presented it that it would not be what she wanted. Now, to find a pattern!

No new work on the sock. Am considering pulling out the heel, no matter how much it pains me. sigh.

Oh, rats!

I was going to post about the great progress I've made lately (OK, I will below), but I just read the blog for my LYS and she's considering selling the shop! It's the best shop in town. Agh! I'm really sad. Bother.

(sigh)

OK, so I'm nearly done with sock #2 for my mom. And... I'm afraid it's not right. My first clue was that the stripes, which were off from the other sock by a smidge in the foot, line up perfectly for the calf. I put it on last night and it felt... snug. On my feet. Which are smaller (but wider) than Mom's. I can't take it any more. Maybe I can block them the same. Oy!

I still have 1 repeat to go on the Leaf Lace Shawl, then the border, then the blocking (still thinking of using my hide-a-bed for that).

I need to locate my camera so I can take photos of the nearly FOs above and the red scarf for the teacher. I want to get it blocked this week so I'm not hurrying (or anxiously waiting for it to dry) next week.

Finally, true to form, I started another project. I've been feeling quite upset about another yarn shop selling me the Waikiki yarn to use for the Leaf Lace Shawl, which would most likely have been an absolutely horrible choice--lots of work for very little lace showing. I poked around in Yarndex, which, bless them, has a keyword "slubby," and found that Waikiki is nearly identical to Cherry Tree Hill Yarn's Ariel. And Googled, and found that there is an Ariel project in Lavish Lace--which I own! So I started it. We'll see how it goes. It looks like kind of a boring shawl but maybe with the gorgeous Waikiki, all will be well. I kinda wish I had more options! All of the patterns I like on the Crystal Palace Yarns website use two yarns together. I don't want to lessen the beautiful colors in the Waikiki at all. And, despite all my other feelings, I still adore this yarn. It is odd to have wound it into a ball and then to have it slump. It has none of the clinginess nor springiness of wool. I'm thinking most cotton yarn would be the same. I rewound a ribbon yarn and had the same problem--if you don't keep a constant tension, it just slumps off the ball!

Tip: I've been using old onion net bags for balls of yarn. They keep the ball from slumping, the yarn from catching on other things, and seem to keep it cleaner, too. And as you near the end of a ball, it doesn't go flying as much. I love this trick and wonder where I got it from.

Phew, an FO

I sat at my computer, watching an episode of Lost that I'd missed, and finished the teacher's scarf. It's about 2" wide and 2 yards long (5 x 183 cm for you sensible metric folks). I expect it to widen and shorten when I block it. I finally got into the rhythm of the pattern by making a piece of paper that says "K1 K3" on one side and "K2 yo" on the other, and flipping it after I did that part of the design. Dharma said she memorized it easily, but somehow, my brain forgets what I just did quite quickly with this one.

I'm going to do a bit on mom's 2nd sock now... two FOs in quick succession would be nice!

Update: I've turned the heel! Yeah!

Um, more WIPs

So I've done a teeny bit more on mom's 2nd sock, a little more on Graham's sweater, and am on the last repeat (I think) of the Leaf Lace Shawl, which leaves the edging to be done (and then blocking), and...

I started something else. Graham's teacher really likes red, and I made her a shrug (the One Skein Wonder) last Xmas, but it was too small for her. I had some wonderful 100% angora in a bright red from Dharma's inherited stash and decided I wanted to make a small scarf from it. There were about 48 ounces of it. I started with using the angora for 2 rows and a red mohair I had for 2 rows, etc., but it just wasn't soft! I asked the KnitList and they recommended stranding it with a red merino wool for strength. I went to Websters while I was in Ashland, and instead of selling me wool, she pulled hard on the yarn (ack!) and told me it was plenty strong by itself and just to knit an open pattern with it. I tried the Airy Scarf pattern stitch from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts, but it just didn't work for a worsted-weight yarn.

So I went back to our beloved Knotted Openwork Scarf pattern from the CKDA and used the pattern over 9 stitches, and it really looks very nice. (Thanks again, Dharma, for finding this great pattern!)

Now to finish by June 15...!

(do I have to admit that I found an unfinished scarf for my niece in my stash, if she said she doesn't want it any more?)

Update

I haven't managed to get a new pic of the Leaf Lace Shawl, but I am working on the 8th repeat of 10 (or 11, depending on how much yarn I have left). It is going great. I failed to move my lifeline on the last repeat (it's too short now, anyway) but am doing really well. I am able to find mistakes pretty quickly and then I tink back only 4-7 stitches to fix them. Love this pattern. (it still looks like cat barf and likely will until it's blocked)

I did a little on Mom's 2nd sock and a few rounds on the Tahki blue cotton sweater.

And... am realizing that while my stash is still spiraling out of control a bit, there is always someone with a way huger stash and someone with more projects on the needles. Although I would like to finish several of mine and move on...

What I also did yesterday

I got a great start on the Leaf Lace Shawl I've been threatening to make. I got all 29 setup rows and the first 10-row repeat done. And I remembered to put in the lifeline (light purple in this pic). It's challenging but also fun!

What I did yesterday

Not bad for a few hours' work, eh? I bought this sweater at Goodwill for $2.99. Incredibly soft Italian merino wool. I have drawn the line at luxury fibers in general (silk, cashmere), but this was so nice that I got it. It was marked $3.99 but had obvious mothholes, so I asked to pay $2, but the most she would give me was $1 off.

What you see is the back and two sleeves, with a fair amount thrown away (threads that were too short to be worthwhile making into a ball). The front had three or four large, well-spaced moth holes.

It was kind of fun! 147 grams should be more than enough for one pair of socks.

Small F.O.

I did mention this, but wanted to jot down all the details.

The 3-way scarf: the idea was to make a scarf like you can find many places already. A friend at work has one.

If you stretch it lengthwise, it's a regular neck scarf and can be wrapped around your neck at least once, if not twice. If you stick your hands inside the tube, and stretch it widthwise, you can wear it as a neck cowl (and not worry about the ends flying). If you pull part of it over your head, it's a cowl/head covering and neck warmer. (I thought it would look dorky this way, but my coworker thought it would be elegant with the right coat.)

Simple details:
Clover 16" size 15 circulars
N.Y. Yarns "Fluff" in black (couldn't find what I wanted in my LYS, so had to go to Beverly's! It was painful.)
Cast on 25 stitches VERY loosely. Join in the round, being careful not to twist. Knit for a bazillion years, till you're just tired of it and the stretched length is acceptable. Cast off VERY loosely (I used my size 50 Speed Stix). Tie off ends (it sure as heck won't show!).

I am unreasonably pleased with it. No photos as I'm sure it won't photograph well at all, being black.

Calming realization

I realized I wanted to do Branching Out to have a small scarf for Asilomar, as it apparently is chilly when the wind comes in off the sea.

And then I was looking over my UFOs on this blog and realized I was not far from finishing my black 3-way scarf! I finished it last night, but the bind-off (even though I used my humongous size 25 needle) is too tight. I'm having to rip it out (holding it close to the Ott Lite--black fuzzy yarn, ugh!) and will re-bind-off with one of my size 50s from Sue and Sarah. (Glad I have them! They are thick red poles. So odd.)

And that frees me up to start the Leaf Lace Shawl, guilt free. I'm bringing Mom's sock, the Tahki blue cotton sweater (I am SO making up the pattern), and the Leaf Lace Shawl with me. I plan to knit through every meeting, only stopping to eat and pray. Yeah!

Getting off the pot

Two chemo caps going out in the mail today (or tomorrow, if I missed today's pickup). Phew. Nice to finally get that done.

Mystery project that will be revealed anon is in the final few rows. Why are the final few rows so painful, sometimes?

I cannot WAIT to start the Leaf Lace Shawl. I wound one skein into balls yesterday/last night. I was worried it would be such a big ball, but for naught: there were two, count 'em, two, knots in the skein. So one large ball (whose start is eluding me, for now) and two smaller balls from this skein. I'm a tad annoyed that one 300-yd skein has 2 knots, but I think it's OK in the end.

But I really should knit up Branching Out so I have something for Asilomar, weekend-after-next.

Oh, too bad.

I had really been looking forward to making the Leaf Lace Shawl with the Waikiki yarn I got at Skein Lane. Did a swatch in it--and emailed Crystal Palace yarns. Would the lace pattern show up? I asked. They responded quite quickly, but not positively. They said folks had contacted them, complaining that lacework didn't show up well in that yarn. Rats.

Why did Skein Lane let me buy this yarn? They knew it was for that shawl.

I remained hopeful for about an hour, then chucked the idea. I'll make a simple garter-stitch shawl or a very simple knotted shawl like the one I just got from Elann.com.

And now I have an idea for the red skeins I got at Stitches West. At 600 yds total, it's exactly enough for a small LLS. And I still adore it. I just better not freaking run out of yarn!

Dang, it is really hard to switch gears. But the Waikiki yarn has slubs and no bounce at all. I have no idea what it'll be like to knit with. So different from wool.

FO! Shedir is done, and--frogging candidate?

I finished Shedir! She's freakin gorgeous. I think I'll block her, because the top is a little pointy. She's really big on my head, so that should mean it fits my friend well, as my head is curiously small.









The top is just wonderful:










And here's what I have so far on Branching Out. I think I hate it in this yarn. I think I'll restart it on CrackSilk Haze, since I've mastered the pattern having the correct stitch counts and the use of a lifeline. Votes? I like the yarn and will probably save it for baby booties or something.

whimper

I'm on row 58 of 83 of Shedir, and... I'm running out of yarn! It honestly never even occurred to me to buy two balls. The pattern says one ball, it's a complex hat but not thick or anything (but it is deep, as it is a chemo cap)... oy!

Bless Yarn!, as they have another ball in the same dye lot. I'll pick it up tomorrow.

Still loving the pattern, but I did come across a row that was not dead easy. That threw me for a bit, as the others have been completely simple to memorize and do! It is fascinating, though, as the cables are coming together for that fantastic twining that happens at the top.

Must finish soon! My friend is losing her hair already!

Ordered the yarn for Birch

Made it to the yarn store today, and got to ogle all the colors of Cracksilk Haze in person. I'm so glad. This is a great reason to patronize your LYS--so many yarns are just plain different in person than they are online. One was very brown in person, and had looked quite purple online!

I ended up agreeing with Janis that the dark colors would really not work for Birch. She didn't have Smoke in stock but she had (yeah!) a color card for them. Smoke is freakin' gorgeous. It's a medium grey, but the silk gives it an absolutely lovely glint. She's going to order 4 balls for it (since some are running out after 3) and it'll be in in 3-4 weeks. I can wait.

I think.

Oh, and she was very sweetly appreciative of Shedir. It really is a pretty hat. And I'm still loving the red-coral color.

Unfortunately, with this Branching Out obsession, it still looks like it did below.

UFO Update photos

As promised, I retrieved my camera from the car and took a few photos.

First, childHood (details in sidebar). One back, one front, one sleeve, one partial sleeve. I pinned out the front because otherwise, it curls like a mofo and looks about 4 stitches wide.









Next, Shedir, where I'm on the 6th repeat of 6 of the main twining cable patterns. After this, I get to start decreases!









And close up. It's not actually as shiny/plasticky looking as this in real life. And it is SO SOFT.










Finally, Branching Out in the leftover Claudia's Handpainted, full view that's blurry (ugh) and close-up that's not, but whose colors are a lot less true (too purple). Note the lifeline (oh, yes).


















Important omission: Yes, still working on mom's sock. It looks like the last update (about 4" from the toe) but narrower--the same width as the other sock, this time.

Branching Out will not defeat me

I'm on the 6th repeat of the main twisted-vine pattern in Shedir and was feeling a little bored. (Photos to come, as Shedir and my camera are never in the same place at the same time.) So last night, I put down Shedir and picked up the Branching Out pattern. (Let's recall how thoroughly my CrackSilk Haze spanked me when I last attempted this pattern.) Went to my yarn basket (I adore having a yarn basket) and found the leftovers from my Knitting Olympics socks. Exactly what I was looking for--a nice fingering yarn that isn't lacy/mohairy.

I don't think it'll be lovely in Branching Out, but it will work well for me in conquering this pattern so I can pick up my Cracksilk Haze again.

And... after several false starts (including going straight into pattern stitch without doing the 5 rows of garter st AND starting the pattern with 1 too many stitches, only catching it on row 3), I have completed (ta da!) one full pattern repeat. And it looks right. And yes, yes, yes, I have done a lifeline. (But I need to buy unwaxed floss, as Glide's "lightly waxed" is already leaving a bit of wax on my yarn.)

Very proud of myself. Thanks for suggesting I use my KachaKacha on this one, Dharma.

Woo hoo! I've got progress bars!

I found some % bars in another knitter's blog, and she was kind enough to include a link for them. Sadly, the link didn't work, but I searched on "percent bars" and finally got some hits (wonder what I searched on before).

So yay, I've got progress bars! Do you want some?

Score at Goodwill

So what did I do when foiled by Yarn! for buying yarn? I toodled on over to Goodwill, around the corner, and checked out their sweaters for unraveling.

Shoo, what a score. I got one all-cashmere sweater for $4.99 (in an unfortunately vibrant blue which I hope to overdye with a red to make a lovely purple), one very soft all-silk sweater for $4.99 in a lovely French-bluish color, and a soft merino wool sweater I couldn't put down in a gorgeous heathered brown. This last had a rip in the collar (who cares?) and two mothholes (I care), so I managed to get it for $2.99. It'll be interesting to unravel it. I hope to make a few pair of socks out of it.

I know, I know, Dharma. I'm insane.

Bzzt, try again... again

Today, I went home, left the car, picked up Shedir-so-far, and biked down to the yarn shop. Was so excited to show my progress on Shedir to the shop owner, as I bought the yarn and had seen the hat for the first time there. (I was also hoping to see some of the colors of Kidsilk Haze aka Cracksilk Haze that I'm interested in for Birch.)

Imagine my shock, and then laughter, as I saw the Closed sign. She is always closed on Mondays. When will I learn?

(update photos on Shedir and childHood to be posted soon.)

Knitted lace--only when you're mad?

Well, I was home, and steamed at my neighbor for causing my basement to flood, so of course I decided to try some knitted lace ("Branching Out" from Knitty with CrackSilk Haze).

I actually did really well for a full repeat of the 10-row pattern. Then about row 5 of the next set, it happened: I was short a stitch. I counted for a while and finally just adjusted. Turned my work and found I was short by yet another stitch. Time to tink back.

I tinked back an entire row, and found the stitch count was still off (and some of my stitches were so twisted that I couldn't even move them on the needle.

What's that you say? Lifeline? Yeah, I remembered that just at this point. Oh, well, I think I did rather well, given that I was watching a movie that required watching rather than just listening ("Rush Hour 2" with Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker. In one outtake, a guy has a horrible multi-story fall, and one of them jokes, "Well, he won't be in 'Rush Hour 3'!"). I don't see the pattern--in fact, it looks kind of backwards, but I hope I can recover the lost switch and continue on.

I decided to conquer Branching Out before I start my Leaf Lace Shawl, which, I believe, is lace knitting, the kind where something happens on the return rows as well as the forward ones. Yoiks.

An FO I left out

I started another watchcap just before we went up to my mom's, one weekend in March. I was able to finish it just as we arrived. I'm really pleased. The color variations in the yarn are really beautiful. And, once again, Cleckheaton's 8 ply, what can I say? Easy care, soft, 100% wool. This one is from the Tapestry line, color(way) 13.

You can see where I changed balls: the second ball has some lighter colors. I still like it; I think the variation is interesting but not jarring. And I love this pattern (a free Plymouth pattern; email me about it!).

Now I have a watchcap to replace the one my son commandeered. Ha, and his is just Red Heart TLC!

Secred project, revealed.

Sharp readers will have noticed very few updates on this blog lately. That's because I was working on a Secret Project and didn't want the recipients to see it before it was ready.

Well, now it has been delivered, for the Most Heralded Baby Ever, and you all can see the final project.


Voila. Baby Sweater for Murrita.

Details

Yarn: 2 balls Cleckheaton's Country 8-ply Natural, in a heather purple color that seems to have been discontinued. This is a superwash wool; easy care for the new moms.

Pattern: Elizabeth Zimmerman's "Practically Seamless Baby Sweater," from Knitter's Almanac. Modifications: my gauge is larger than hers. Also, instead of doing the Gull Stitch, I chose a 2x2 cable interspersed with 3 purl stitches. Finally, I knit the sleeves in the round (only doing cables on the fronts and plain purl stitches on the undersides, as cables all around made them all shrunk up and funky looking), and ended with 1" of ribbing.

Fasteners: large black snaps, over which I sewed these cute green flower buttons found at my LYS (interestingly enough, cheaper than at Beverly's!).

Preparation: I washed the sweater using a small amount of Orvus from my mom and blocked it on two towels on the couch. There was quite a bit of wrinkliness where the cables began. Perhaps next time, I'll decrease some stitches before I start the cables...?

Overall, I'm pleased with the result. I hear the moms are, too.

Good start on childHood

I'm nearly done with the first sleeve of a rainbow-striped childHood in Elann's Peruvian Highland Wool, which is so soft. (No, the sweater won't be entirely rainbow-striped. Just the striped parts of the original sweater. The body of this one will be yellow.)

I had to modify parts of the pattern because the gauge I'm getting is too fine. Fortunately, as someone on my glb-knit list pointed out, it's mostly rectangles, so it's pretty easy.

I think it's darling so far, and I'm loving this idea of doing a sleeve first as a gauge swatch. I had to rip it out three times, but I do like that the knitting I'm doing has the potential not to be ripped out.

Spoke too soon

I was looking through older posts, trying to find info on my projects (updated at the right), and came across this post about mom's socks. "shouldn't have to do major rips this time..." Ah, I was so young and naive back then.

Multiple WIPs? OK!

I am becoming more and more comfortable with the idea of having several projects going at once. I really like Wyvern for my next pair of socks. I want to start ChildHood for Graham soon. I need to get his bear from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts started; I hope it's as quick as the bunny was (what was that, 4 days?). And I want to get started on my Noro Kochoran-yoked cardigan with a charcoal-grey body from the yarn from Elann. Eee!

The endless sock journey.

These socks (for Mom) are just doomed. I was showing them to Dharma last night, and I put the new one together with the first one and was noticing a slight color difference--when Dharma noticed that the new one is WIDER.

Significantly wider.

So this morning, I counted... and the new sock has 36 stitches where the old one has 32. That's on one side. So 8 stitches more. For about 4 inches now.

Ugh, how many times will I have knit these blasted socks in the end?

Satisfaction

One of the aftereffects of the Knitting Olympics was a yearning for fast projects. I started a watch cap just before our trip to Portland, and finished it the first day we were there. It looks great. I used some Cleckheaton superwash wool in a beautiful navy-maroon-teal variegation. Mom had bought the wool a while ago, I think for a cap for Graham. So this one was ostensibly for Graham, although since he stole mine a while ago, I think it'll end up being mine. It used about 1 1/3 balls of the wool so I have lots left over. Hm, what to do with it? It is so soft and you can't beat machine wash & dry wool!

I got about 4" done on my mom's 2nd sock while I was there; she tried on the finished 1st sock and was quite pleased. Interestingly, the color patterns of the wool are parallel; had I known, I might have pulled out a few yards of the first ball to make them completely match. So interesting.

Bought so much yarn at Mom's LYS; wow. Very reasonable prices for a shop that is about the only shop for an hour's drive around. They had lots of sock yarn and fun fur-type yarn that I passed on (except for some super-soft milk-chocolate-brown fur I want to make a scarf/cowl from), and lots of basic yarns too. I got to feel Cascade 220 (GREAT yarn) and found out each skein contains 220 yards (oh, duh!). Also chose a skein of brown yarn for Graham's teddy bear I'll be making from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts.

And I just got a box from Elann.com... eeee!

In the end

I started my mom's other sock. It's kind of fun so far. I had to figure some things out with the pattern (one row had "Sl 1, k1 across," which turned out to mean "(sl 1, k1); repeat across"), but it's already looking neat.

And I'm thinking that since I shouldn't have to do major rips this time (knocking on wood), it will be easier and faster.

And then I can start my next pair of socks.

At a loss

Finished the bunny Saturday night, while watching Lethal Weapon 4 (not great) and with Graham "helping" by shredding stuffing before we stuffed it. It's pretty challenging to hold stuffing in and do a good stitching job at the same time, but he looks pretty cute, if a bit melancholy.

Then I thrashed around for a while, looking for what to start next. I measured the swatch from my French blue Tahki cotton yarn and found size 6 needles to be exactly right (I knit in the round on Crystal Palace dps and rediscovered how fantastic those needles are--so smooth and easy to use). I swatched with the brownish-grey handspun my mom gave me years ago (stranded with one strand of a grey Lopi yarn) and the first swatch, on size 11 needles, was so stiff, it was like a brick wall. Re-swatched on size 15; ditto. Finally broke out the size 50 Speed Stix Sue & Sarah gave me as a (joke?) present. With those, it finally has a drape. I'm going to search out some size 35 needles and see what comes of that. If it doesn't work, I'm looking into a bulky-weight vest pattern. (The problem is that there are only 250 yards of the handspun. I'd really like to use it in a sweater.)

Then I cast on for the blue cotton sweater. The join in the round is AWFUL. There is at least 1" of yarn between the ends. And I can't see how the 128 stitches can possibly go around my waist (I'm making the L/XL size). I'm about to break out my "try-on tubing" from Machine Knitting to Dye For to see if it can possibly go around me.

I feel like I'm flailing and need a new project to pop up and scream, "knit me!"

Up to shoulder shaping.

Finished row 24 of the body today at noon. Next is a row of shoulder shaping, then 4 rows till head shaping.

I'd say "HOO-ah!" if it tied in better with knitting an angora bunny toy.

Bunny update

Two arms, two legs, and almost 1/2 of a body done. This is going quite fast, and I'm pleased. The legs are knit flat but then joined to the body, which continues upward seamlessly.

The yarn is so soft--70% merino wool, 30% angora. I'm starting to understand what folks say about angora going up your nose. I don't know how it works, but I'm constantly rubbing my nose because of tiny tickly fibers.

Can't wait to start the head. The ears get pink angora in them--sweet!

Two more FOs, and future knitting

I finally wove in the ends on the hat for Dharma's mom. (Gee, would have been good to send it with her while she was gone. Darn it.) Tried to iron down the crease of the band and failed; it's just ornery, I think.

Bound off Mom's black/shiny "knotted" scarf. I'll mail it to her this week.

Started the bunny from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts, on behalf of my mom, for my godmother's grandchild-to-be. I have decided that I hate, hate, hate my size 8 circulars. The cable is actually metal and I have to fight with it all the time. So I went to the yarn shop (in and out in 15 minutes; a record for me!) and bought 2 new bamboo circulars. I hadn't realized that the pattern calls for 2 circulars anyway. I asked her whether she carried the Crystal Palace circulars (their swiveling cables are very cool) and she said absolutely not. I said, cringing, "Is it because they snag the yarn?" because that's what happened with my size 7s from Skein Lane. She said yes, that's why. Dang it. I had hoped it was an isolated incident. Their dpns are terrific. She agreed, and said she stocks the dpns but not the circs.

After the bunny, I'll start the corn bunting; am hoping it's a fast knit! I still need to swatch for it and see what changes I'll need to make.

Finally, I'll be swatching for the blue cotton sweater from an old Vogue Knitting. Someone on the glb-knit list asked today whether side seams added stability to a garment. Oof, I didn't even think of that. But I really hate seams, so I'm going ahead with my knit-it-in-the-round idea. It'll be interesting to see how it turns out, since I'm making so many changes to it (removing the lower part entirely; knitting in the round; making the sleeves either shorter or all k2p2 ribbing instead of the awful eyelet section). Oh, and whether I'll have enough yarn in the end. That's why I hate swatching, too--don't want to run out of yarn.

Moving forward

I swatched for the bunny from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts yesterday.

(Aside: in my next life, I would like more common sense. My gauge was too dense, so I switched to smaller needles. I'll say that again: I switched to smaller needles. Guess what? My gauge was even denser! Duh. When I tried again with size 8 needles, voila. it was a lot closer. Still a tad dense [20 stitches where I was aiming for 18], but close enough for a toy.)

I knitted one bunny arm last night. It was easy and mindless. I do hope this one goes fast. After the bunny, which is for my godparents' youngest son's first child, I'll be starting on the corn bunting, hoping to be done by the baby shower. I picked up the wool again last night. It's so soft. And machine washable and dryable! Ah, the wonders of modern science.

It's Gold for me!

First, me in my triumphant Team Canada jersey:













And then, my triumphant Olympic post.

Here's your photo

Now I need to get back to knitting!
latest update

So pleased.

I just knit a few more rows on my River Rapids socks today at noon. I've had this sneaking feeling they are huge. They look huge, like big knitted boots. I am not ripping out and reshaping them, because BY GOD I am finishing these by Sunday evening. But I would like them to be for me, rather than a friend with larger feet...

So I tried them on. (one of the great things about knitting with circulars--the flexibility to try on without the fear of losing stitches) and

Yay! They fit just great! And are so gorgeous, I gasped. I'm so pleased.

Photo later--must get back to work!

Bring on the knitting monkeys

I'm still turning the heel, or maybe finishing up from turning the heel... in any case, I'm decreasing stitches from the heel turn and am not on the actual instep yet. I have 3 days, people! Fortunately, I'm going to a day-long meeting on Saturday and can hopefully knit my little heart out.

And lay out the church newsletter.

And make soup for said meeting.

And clean the house.

And and and.

(sigh)

And I'm still getting into situations with these 2 circulars where I say to myself, Didn't I just knit this sock? Shouldn't I be knitting the other sock now?

Getting there! Gold is in sight!

At lunchtime, I finished the 2nd heel flap and turned the heel on the first sock. I hope hope hope the instep isn't too complex.

The pattern is really well written. I accidentally knit only 16 rows of the heel flap, instead of 32. What caught me was the pattern saying that the flap should be nearly square. "Nearly square? It's totally rectangular!" was my thought before I reread. "Ah, 32; that will help." And it did.

Went to the local STITCH AND BITCH last night. Only 2 people, as compared to last time's 10 or more. Graham was fairly well behaved, despite being a bit antsy. We had brought his knitting spool and he did pretty well (I only had to fix one stitch). But he couldn't stick with it to finish the green and wanted to restart with the yellow or do stripes (stripes, on a 4-peg knitting spool? It could work, but...). I told him to finish the green and he chose to finish his hot cocoa instead. Turned out to be a good choice. I love that cafe.

Stitches West report

(If you're on the glb-knit list, you've probably already seen this.)

I drove down to Santa Clara on Sunday afternoon, after the usual too-long preparations for a 40-minute trip. We got there about 2:30 and I presented my $2 off coupon for entry. The man at the desk kindly pointed out that entry would be free in half an hour. I thought for a moment and then decided that it was well worth $6 to me to get in an extra half hour's worth of shopping.
I went through the doors, and WOW! was immediately overwhelmed. Racks and racks and booths and booths of fiber of every kind and condition. (Lots more roving than I had expected, for one!) All thoughts of "yarn for XX project" went right out of my head and I spent 90% of my time feeling up yarn, as is my wont. Lots of alpaca, but not a lot of baby alpaca, of which I'm completely enamored, after having received two balls of it from Little Knits and its softness is breathtaking.

(I got Misti Alpaca lace in a gorgeous blue--if this link doesn't work, got to http://www.littleknits.com/ and click on Baby Alpaca Lace under "Misti Baby Alpaca" on the left-hand side, then scroll down just a bit to "Beautiful Deep Blue." The color is spot on, at least on my work and home monitors.)

Sticking firmly to my new ideal of not buying yarn that doesn't make my heart go pit-a-pat, I gazed at and rejected many sock yarns, fingering, and unbelievable lace yarns. Finally, at Fiber Elements, I found some red variegated yarn I just couldn't put away. The colorway is simply called Reds and it varies from a soft tomato red to a gentle grey and is soft and lovely. At $20/skein, I only felt I could buy 2 skeins, but that could make a nice sweater for my son or a shawl for me (we'll see).
(Their website is http://FiberElements.com/ but it isn't easy to get a link to show you the colorway... for the stouthearted, select Art, then Yarn, then select Sport Weight, then scroll down alphabetically to "Color: Reds." The photo looks more pink than tomato.)

I also picked up a pattern for the Brambleberry Lace Stole that is on the main page of their website. She had made it up in a fuzzy and a high-definition yarn and they were different but both lovely.

We went on, stopping to get a hot dog with ketchup for the kid (safely esconced in the stroller and parked out of reaching distance from the yarn each time). One shop had 10 skeins of various Debbie Blisses for $60 and I nearly bought a set of blue Cashmerino Aran yarn... but it didn't make my heart go pit-a-pat.

Finally, found a fascinating booth: a woman is knitting swaths of dyable yarn on her knitting machine, doing striping dying, and then selling the swaths to knitters to re-knit into socks... OR knit with another skein (either of self-striping/variegated or solid) for a gorgeous two-color hat. The effect is stunning. She had two sample knitters seated at the aisle, knitting from the swath into a sock (very effective). She also included, with any purchase, a long length of tubing she called "trying-on tubing." The tubing is forced onto the end of your needles and you slip the knitted object onto the tube to have lots of flexibility for trying on the object. Neat! Then she sealed the deal by pointing out that if you buy an extra skein of the 2nd color, you can actually get 2 hats out of the wool. Sold.

Perused a few more booths, but the Market closed at 4PM (I was expecting 6PM, which was the closing time for Thurs/Fri/Sat, my bad), which was a big help for my budget. Cadged a "Yarn Lady" bag from their booth (http://www.yarnlady.com/) because everyone carrying them cracked me up, then went by the "Knitter's" booth at the front and asked if one had to subscribe to get the magazine that was out. The woman shoved one quickly into my hands. Good thing it was free... I don't think I've found one thing in it that I want to knit (other than some of the things in the ads).

As we were leaving, I spotted some round tables w/chairs that knitters were just sitting at and knitting and chatting. I considered inviting myself into one lively group but changed my mind and just sat near them. That was probably good, because as I knit more rows of my River Rapids socks for the Olympics, I realized I heard the word "Satan" from the woman behind me. Yep, I heard it again. She went on to talk about the Lord God and I was glad I hadn't joined them. I'm a Christian but not a fire and brimstone one! Oy.

So now, 5 more skeins of yarn for my stash. I really should have joined that Buy More Yarn -along. :)

I'm hoping for a report from those who went to Stitches West and did more than just shop for yarn (and seemingly abandon their kid, but that's another post entirely)...

Olympics update, and yet more SEX

I'm on the 3rd repeat of 3 for the legs, and hope to start the heel tonight. I could make it, but it'll be a struggle!




And at Stitches West, I indulged in a few more skeins... no plans for the red skeins, but 2 hats from the kit, yum!

A sort-of FO and an Olympic update

I pretty much finished my mom's black/multi lace scarf. I have to rip back one row since I ran out of yarn in the last row while binding off (dang it!). It looks gorgeous. Pics of this and other items soon.

I perused some sites about the Knitting Olympics and found a French site that termed it the "Tricolympique" which is cute because it kind of rhymes and totally works (tricoter is "to knit" in French).

My latest update is here.

Knitting Olympics blathering

can be found here.

Knitting Geekdom

I am so loving the geeky side of knitting. I confirmed by kitchen scale that I am 2/3 through my mom's scarf (and have done more since then). It is so cool to compare the ounces knit versus ounces left (and subtracting the weight of one needle!). I have now switched to Crystal Palace dp's with point protectors on the other ends. My turned size 6 straight needles are up for grabs. One end seems to have a tiny snag and in any case they are not as fast to work with. Life is too short!

The Olympics approach!

I don't know how I would host this button, so I'll just post it here:


Casting on will occur at lunchtime on Friday!

Pics, as promised

First, Mom's glittery black scarf so far:












Next, square for love blanket.
If you look very carefully at the right-hand image, you might be able to make out the heart I did in purl stitches. I can't see it at all in the left-hand image.

An FO, and progress on another UFO

I finished the square for the "love blanket" and got it blocked to size. Knitting can be so frustrating; I needed it to be 10x10" and it came out of the washer 9.5" x 10.5". So I had to stretch it in length and inch in the edges. At least I got it to behave, and Maddy decided not to lounge on it (it's pinned to some old diapers on top of my living-room rug).

I got about 2' total done on my mom's glittery black scarf. I finally got into a groove with the pattern, but I still need to look at the directions and switch my stitch counter between "2" and "4" to keep track (odd rows are purled). And I'm still gripping the stitch that's pulled over 2 others between the needle and my fingernail to grab it. It's slow going but looks wonderful. I may block it for length rather than width, as it's already much wider than the pattern calls for and may only be 4' unblocked (I got all geeky and weighed the remaining wool, what I've done, and the other knitting needle; I'm almost exactly halfway through). So I may block it from 5.5" x 4' to 4.5" x 4.5' or 5'. Pics to be posted later... Knitting Olympics starts Friday!

Mom's sock, cast off

My mom's finished (first) sock (cuff's too short, dang it! But the foot length is good, I think). The edge is picot-ish because I was worried about casting off too tight, so I used a needle 2 sizes up.

Phew, that was close.

I did my swatch, measured it, chose a pattern (I really don't want to have to adjust a pattern to fit my yarn/needles), and... nearly cast on.

For the Knitting Olympics. Whoops!

(rules are that you cast on during the opening ceremonies and finish by the end of the Olympics. Swatching ahead of time is OK; casting on is not.)

I'm going to try to do two at once on two circular needles. I hope it works out well!

I have sinned.

I crocheted... and I liked it.

I'm making a square for a "love blanket" for someone on my glb-knit list who's sick. I swatched twice and knit the whole thing... only to find it was 9" square instead of 10". I had already put a garter-stitch border on it, so I decided to crochet an edging. Single-croche wasn't tall enough, so I did double-crochet. Turns out I can still do it. It's got to have been, seriously, 20 years since I've crocheted, but I felt quite comfortable crocheting. Wow.

Not that I'll quit knitting or anything; I don't like the look of crocheted fabric. But I may use it as edging a little more... I think I've found the real Dark Side!

Yet more drooling.

I've been loving/coveting all those fabulous yarns in colorways (colourways?) that meander from shade to shade. But so many of them are so expensive!

And then I found this. The laceweight yarn is just $5.95 for 850 yards! Mmm, yummy.

Help me out here...

What is with the excitement about Interweave Knits' Union Square Market Pullover? There is even a knit-along for it.

I think the front looks completely dorky. What is the appeal?

Yarn opinions?

OK, I'm going to make this bunting for the Murrita, silly as it may seem. I had initially settled on "Shine" from KnitPicks, as it is washable cotton-blend yarn in good colors for corn ("Grass" and "Butter"). But then Liz posted that she wanted to dress the baby warmly, in general, as she expected to have the baby at hockey quite a bit.

So then I was back to wool. But KnitPicks' "Wool of the Andes" is only said to have "reasonable softness"; I kind of want this to be unbelievably soft!

In my recent shipment from Little Knits, I got two balls of laceweight baby alpaca. OMG, is that stuff soft.

But... what about washing? Should I just assume a bunting doesn't need washing that often and relegate Liz & Andrea to washing it in cold water on gentle and having to flat-dry it? Or should I go with washable, as babies do spit up?

What to do?

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!