The Knitting Sponge

Updated list of UFOs

2010-06-16T11:23:00.000-04:00

So as I've recently finished a bunch of things, I'm looking over my current UFO's and the list comes down to this:

1) Cashmere Leaves Scarf
2) Handspun socks
3) Basketweave blanket
4) Wash’s sweater of DOOOOOOOMMMM!!
5) Aeolian shawl
6) Night Blooms Shawl
7) Evenstar shawl
8) Chucks socks (new WIP i cast on in celebration of finishing 3 UFO’s)

This really isn't a bad list. The shawls are the most long term and most work projects. The Chucks will be finished in a few days and the Handspun socks will probably be frogged and re-cast on. The basketweave blanket is a very low key and mindless project for now and it will be so until it is time to actually sew the thing together. So that leaves the scarf, which is boring and the sweater which is the sweater of DOOOOOOOOMMMMMM!! I really don't want to frog it and I really can't seem to get motivated to knit on it. BAH!

Lack of posts

2010-06-14T21:25:00.000-04:00

There has been a lack of posts lately and this is mostly because there has been a lack of photos lately. Since I last blogged, I've managed to finish 4 projects. Well, in all fairness, I finished 3 over the last 3 days (went on a "finishing-bing"). And I even managed to take a picture of one of those projects:

Behold! My gorgeous Ulmus shawl, made from the last two Blue Moon club kits from last year. This is my third blocked project (the second is one of those yet to be photographed).

I'm extremely pleased with my color choices. And I will be posting pictures of me wearing the shawl soon.

Finishing Socks!

2010-05-01T14:00:00.000-04:00

I finished another pair of socks! They are another set of self patterning socks knit from Knitpicks Felici - i love this yarn! They have recently come up with new Felici colors...I'm so tempted!!! But i'm sticking to my yarn diet and I've told myself that when I finish knitting the 10 pairs of socks from my resolutions list, I am allowed to purchase some more sock yarn.

I had also promised more pictures of my Soleil tank after it had been blocked and here they are:

As it turns out, this may be one of the best constructions of tops to properly flatter my figure. Amy of stash, knit, repeat has been blogging a series called Fit to Flatter that has been very helpful and it is helping me make better choices in the patterns I pick out.

Now, I'm going to work on knitting one of Amy's other designs - a sock pattern that is awesome. Unfortunately my choice of colors is just terrible at showing Amy's wonderful design but i'm going to keep chugging along on it anyway.

Summer Tank

2010-04-12T17:55:00.000-04:00

I started the Soleil Tank last May but put it aside probably when i started working on the Aeolian shawl. Last week I joined a Ravelry group dedicated to finishing the UFO's and they have lots of fun knitters on the group and they are very encouraging. I pulled out the Tank from it's bag, fluffed it out and figured out where i was in the pattern. Once i did, i realize just how close i was to finishing - within 3 days i had the thing completed!

Here are some pictures of it unblocked:

The pictures aren't fantastic because of the harsh light but i'll be putting up more pictures when it has been blocked anyway.

This sweater qualifies for 1 of 2 sweaters to be knit up for this year's resolution.

Another pair of socks completed

2010-03-30T22:15:00.000-04:00

I finished knitting another pair of socks. Sherri is right, there is something about knitting on DPNs that makes the socks at least seem to knit up faster. Whatever it is, I like it! I like finishing a pair of socks in 4 days - that's right! 4 days!!!

I knit them out of Blue Moon Socks that Rock Lightweight in Petrified Wood colorway. Once again, I knit the foot purl side out. It seemed very odd to me to knit the socks so short but I know Winter would like them. Yes, these are another pair of Winter socks. :)

Next I cast on some socks for me.

Yarn Diet and Crawl

2010-03-28T21:49:00.001-04:00

I've been on a yarn diet since the beginning of the year. I promised myself that if I made no yarn or fiber purchases by the end of March that I would allow myself a few small purchases. Well, I successfully made it to the end of March without any purchases. And a large group of us also went on a yarn crawl yesterday. How awesome is that!

I'm proud to say that I kept things very controlled. This is the entirety of my yarn purchase:

That little white skein on the top of the picture is laceweight cotton - over 1500 yards! Is that incredible or what!?! The others are beautiful sock yarns.

I also purchased some really beautiful cable needles:

Entrelac Socks

2010-03-21T16:27:00.001-04:00

A few weeks ago I came up with the clever plan to knit a pair of socks with Entrelac to fulfill 2 new year's resolutions items: 1) knit 10 pairs of socks and 2) knit something Entrelac. I know, I'm a total genius :)

I emailed sockJulie (to be distinguished from capecodJulie) to see if she had ever knit Entrelac socks before and if she had any advise for me. She replied that she had not but had always wanted to knit such a pair. So we decided to do a knit along.

First I'll talk about my socks. I picked a ball of Blue Moon Socks that Rock in Lightweight that Karen had gifted me last year (she is such a sweetie!) and then left on a trip. HAHA! Didn't see that comin', did ya! By the time I got back sockJulie had almost finished 1 sock and it is beautiful. I will put up a link to her project when she puts it up. It took me some time to get settled in from my trip and I was also distracted by a few things so before I even started, sockJulie had already finished her first sock and this thing is something to marvel at (I will explain why later). Well, of course, I started furiously knitting on my sock in order to catch up and the final result is this:

Marvel at the beauty of the handpainted colors as they gently pool in little squares and triangles. Admire my flawless technique and hand...[I'm going to stop now as this could go on for a while]

Let's examine the structure of Entrelac when it is knit in the round:

The entrelac is basically made up of Starting Triangles, followed by 1st Tier of Squares, followed by 2nd Tier of squares and then the desired number of 1st and 2nd tiers and at the end you have the Ending Triangles. Quite simple really - just trust and follow a good pattern, that's all there is to it. In that aspect it is ironic that I chose to try this technique for the first time with a sock; a sock is much the same in that it does not make sense the first time you knit a sock, you just have to trust and follow the pattern and you will understand the concept fully after you have finished knitting it.

The pattern sockJulie chose is called Annetrelac Socks (the designer's name incidentally is not Anne, go figure) and in this pattern, you do the entrelac on the leg and then do a plain knit on the foot as I did. sockJulie however, decided to do the entrelac all the way down the foot - now imagine this with the schematic I put up above! Basically, she did the starting triangles, a few tiers of squares and then she split her stitches to do the heel and so had to do ending triangles on half of the stitches and continue the tiers of squares in the front; after she finished the heel, she had to do another set of starting triangles on half the stitches while maintaining the active tier of squares! The thought boggles my mind - she is an amazing knitter! As I said, I'll put up a link as soon as she puts up her project.

Here is yet another picture of my gorgeous handiwork! LOL. As you can see, the foot looks inside out. That's right, I put the purl bumps on the outside. I chose to do this because my experience with this yarn is while it is very soft, the purl bumps bother the bottom of my feet when I wear them with shoes or boots. So when I finished knitting the leg, I turned the sock inside out and changed the direction of knitting by doing a wrap and turn and then continued knitting the heel onwards. So basically I still knit the whole foot, but I did it while the sock was inside out; I learned about this trick on one of Knitpicks' podcast episodes and thought what a clever idea to get all the purl bumps on the outside without purling the whole foot.

I am extremely happy with the socks and am giving them to Winter. Winter is knitting me a shawl! So I've decided to knit her a few pairs of socks. :) I can't believe I'm going to get one of Winter's gorgeous lace shawls! YAY!!!!

Striped Socks

2010-03-20T22:47:00.002-04:00

Before I went on my yarn diet, I had one last hurrah at Knitpicks and purchased some Felici self-striping yarn. It is made from my favorite base of sock yarn - Knitpick's merino/nylon blend; their new name for this is Stroll in solid colors, Felici for the striping yarn and they also have a bare version which Winter has dyed up for me in the past. I'm not affiliated with Knitpicks, it is just my favorite sock yarn!

I knit the socks toe-up and two-at-a-time using magic loop. They were very fun to knit because I could really see my progress every few rows when the color changed. I have another pair's worth of this yarn that I'll be casting on soon.

This is 1st of 10 pairs of socks for my new year's resolution.

Finally some pictures!

2010-02-18T08:33:00.000-05:00

I finally took some pictures last night. First up is my beautiful Damson - i love the pattern, the yarn and the color:

Next is my winter set. This is the first time i've knit out of Malabrigo Worsted - LOVE IT! And the yardage per ball is amazing - i was like, am i ever going to need a second ball? LOL. I wore this set quite a lot while on vacation.

With these two projects, I fulfilled two items from my Ten410 resolution - block something and do colorwork! Not bad in 1 month.

And once I cast on my Evenstar Shawl, I'll have fulfilled a third item - Provisional cast on.

Back from Vacation

2010-02-11T08:44:00.000-05:00

I think I forgot to mention here that I've been on vacation. That is why there have been no updates. Now I'm back so there will be updates within the next few days. :)

Finally, another post!

2010-01-20T22:29:00.000-05:00

Well, I've finished a couple of things so I finally have something to share. First of all, I finally blocked something - my Persian Damson.

Unblocked:

Blocked:

Pictures of me wearing it are pending. I have to find the combination of the following ingredients: Shawl, Camera, Light, Person to take picture, Me.

I also finished grandma's blanket. I used the scallop edging Ruth used on her blanket. The whole blanket is just small washcloths that have been crocheted together and then the border added.

January Goals

2009-12-28T11:18:00.002-05:00

Fewer goals for this month:

Finish Grandma's blanket
Finish spinning and plying wool/silk blend
Finish Damson
Spin sample of Yak
Finish 2 Squares for Basketweave Blanket

The first goal absolutely has to be done and in the next two weeks as my parents are hand-delivering the blanket to my grandma in India.

The wool/silk blend is from Rhinebeck purchases of 2008 so its about time it gets spun up. Its two 4oz rovings of this dusty rose color roving so I probably won't keep it for myself. Or I may knit it into a gift for someone.

The Damson is being knit out of Malabrigo Sock in the Persia colorway - absolutely gorgeous! This will be the first shawl I knit for myself so am very excited to finish it and wear it.

The Yak fiber is for a sweater but I have to spin up a couple of sample yarns to decide what I like best. I've never spun for such a large project.

On a completely unrelated note, I watched Avatar yesterday. Amazing movie! Such wonderful imagination on the part of the creators. What was most amazing to me was the absolutely stunning use of colors; there were so many shots where I could have just freeze-framed and if possible, copied down the colors into yarns...ooo I want to go see the movie again already! LOL.

December Goals Update

2009-12-28T11:04:00.000-05:00

I guess I did not have as much crafting time this month as I only managed to accomplish 2 of the goals I'd set out for myself for the month. I finished spinning up the bag of alpaca (from hell, might I add) and I finished the Peaks Island Hood (from heaven, might I add). Smaller goals for January, I think!

Spin up:

Bag of Alpaca - FINISHED
1 skein of meriboo
1 oz of yak fiber

Knit:

Finish blanket - more strips sewn together but not finished
Start and finish Peaks Island Hood - FINISHED
Start and finish Convertible Mittens
Work on Handspun socks
Work on Cashmere leaves scarf
Finish setup edging of Aeolian

Binned

2009-12-23T09:30:00.001-05:00

I’ve been working on the Peaks Island Hood and nothing else for the past few days. I’m almost done too! I’ve finished the long length of the scarf and the entire hood and have started the short length of the scarf and am on my last ball of yarn. I have a feeling I may run out of yarn before the end so I’m going to knit and knit and knit on it today and see which one I finish first – the yarn or the pattern. The shop is open today and early on Thursday so I can always run out tomorrow if I do run out of yarn first.

I also organized the stash – took all of it out of my living/thinking space and put it in storage upstairs. I have only one bin of yarn that I want to work on next and all my WIPs (which attacked me from every corner when I was organizing) in a space that is visible to me. This has made life so much easier – no only is everything very decluttered but I find that I can knit far more easily now. It seems weird I know but I think what was happening is when I could see all the yarn I have all the time, I was starting to build up guilt over it and it would actually make me not want to knit. Now that I have one small bin of yarn and some WIPs, I can just focus one or two projects and a time and get them done. It is even more relaxing as a hobby now.

[Pictures of bin pending]

Laptop

2009-12-15T17:44:00.000-05:00

Forget the damn Pleo, what I really need is a new laptop - this one is on it's last legs! I'm changing my prize countdown to indicate laptop instead.

Need for simple project

2009-12-09T13:02:00.001-05:00

I haven't had anything to knit in the car with me since I finished the HWL scarf (remember the red neon?); the reason being the two projects i'm focusing on now are my grandma's blanket and the handspun socks. Both are in stages not conducive to car knitting (not while driving, of course!). The blanket is too big and the socks are too high maintenance with the delicate Lantern Moon DPNs.

I need another simple project to work on in my car during lunch breaks. I've been looking through my stash and i don't have any yarn that i have as yet designated to be another simple donation scarf. But I do have a bunch of that Rumor yarn for the blanket from this past weekend splurge. I threw a ball of it and some needles in my bag before running out the door for swatching purposes. I've been having trouble coming up with a good pattern for the yarn partly because an adult size blanket has the issue that a simple garter stitch will start to fall apart on you (as I discovered with that Homespun blanket I knit many years ago). there are adult sized blankets i do like, like the sock yarn blanket, barn raising blanket and such but these do not look good with just one color yarn. they need variety in color.

Lois is knitting a lovely afghan right now and it is a seed stitch design - i like the look of that. I'm not sure if that is a stitch that will fall apart or not - maybe the knits and purls will give it more stability. I'll swatch when i go out to my car today - maybe both seed stitch and stockinette.

Yak blend spun

2009-12-07T22:21:00.001-05:00

I finished spinning the Yak blend fiber:

I'm not sure if I mentioned this on the blog before or not but this stuff spun up very badly - very uncooperative and lumpy. it was the way the fiber was blended - i guess its my own fault for buying an "as is" bag of fiber. the stuff is incredibly soft, don't get me wrong, but not easy to work with. Either way, it is a finished 3 ply yarn and I got about 340 yards of it. I'm thinking of making a hat for sure and then i'll decide what to do with the rest.

I also finished my Handmade With Love Especially For You scarf:

The picture did not come out well at all. the red is a far more pleasant red and the green is a darker green - it looks more Christmas-ish in life than the neon in the picture. Will be mailing it out tomorrow.

I got my spinner!!

2009-12-06T22:37:00.000-05:00

I got my spinner but haven't had much time to play. Will be posting about it soon.

In other news, total yarn diet fail at the Smiley's Yarn Sale! Will be posting pics of the new acquisitions soon too.

100 Balls Knit up in 2009!

2009-12-04T17:49:00.000-05:00

I did it! I knit up 100 balls of yarn in 2009. Remember, when I started this challenge last November because I thought I'd need to cheat in order to make it to 100? Well, turns out I didn't; I finished knitting my 100th ball of 2009 last night! YAY! I'm definitely doing this again next year.

Looking back at how I did with the challenge, I have to admit, knitting with 2 or more strands is clearly the key to success here! Not only does it use up stash faster and create a thicker fabric faster, it also creates absolutely beautiful colors and fabrics that are indeed quite a surprise!

Also, I remember not knitting much at all for about 3 or more months during the spring and summer - I'm sure if I had knit during that time, I'd have reached the 100 balls goal even faster! I'm debating whether or not to up my goal from 100 to 120 or 150. I am planning on doing more lace knitting next year and that certainly takes much longer than knitting with worsted weight or something else.so.maybe I should stick to 100 for now.

Something else I noticed last night as I pulled out the Malabrigo worsted from it's bin: I don't have to force down the lid of that bin to close it anymore. In fact, I see open space at the top of the bin! I'm getting there, folks! I'm getting there!

Update to Ten410

2009-12-03T18:20:00.001-05:00

I thought of 2 more things to at to my Ten for 10 or Ten410 list. I'm reordering it because i realized that certain things go together.

Socks #1:
1) Provisional Cast-on (believe it or not, i've never done this one)
2) Short Row toe
3) Afterthought heel

Socks #2:
4) New sock construction (HatHeel)

KP Vest:
5) Do colorwork
6) Steek something

Market Squares bag:
7) Entrelac
8) Felt something

Mittens:
9) Thrummed Mittens

Lace:
10) Block something (Aeolian)

Broken out into 6 projects makes the goals seem not as overwhelming. The Lace and Market Squares bag projects are probably the longest projects but the rest should go pretty quickly.

2009-12-03T12:38:00.001-05:00

I just had an idea about the malabrigo set I’m going to be making in this yarn:

I want to make a hat, scarf and mittens set but am thinking that the variegated colorway might be too much for my head. So I had an idea: I make the scarf and mittens in this color and get a skein of solid color malabrigo worsted for the hat; then I’ll run around the rim and flaps of the hat with the variegated so it’s a nice pop of color and the whole thing looks like a set but isn’t like “WHOA! What’s that on her head?!?”

Resolutions

2009-12-02T23:35:00.001-05:00

I posted a draft of my 2010 resolutions on ravelry and here's what i said. I'll be working on this and figuring out what's best:

Crafting related:
1) Use up 14 of the 18 items purchased at Rhinebeck
2) Limit purchasing of yarn or fiber to 1-2 items per month if at all
3) Spin up 2 of the 4 bags of sweater quantities of fiber
4) Knit 10 pairs of socks
5) Knit 2 sweaters
6) Knit up 100 balls of yarn

Other stuff:
1) Continue to exercise 6-7 hours a week
2) Continue vegetarian diet
3) Declutter/organize at least once a week

Another thing i read on ravelry is a Ten for 10 plan which basically encourages you to list 10 new things you would like to try in 2010. I thought this was a very clever idea so here's an initial list for that as well:

1) Do colorwork
2) Knit an afterthought heel
3) Make thrummed mittens
4) Block something (most likely the Aeolian when it gets done)
5) Felt something
6) Entrelac?
7) Steek something
8) Try a new sock construction (probably a Cat Bordhi pattern...HatHeel?)
9)
10)

I can't think of 2 more right now. that's a lot to do in 1 year regardless!

SQUEEEEEE

2009-12-01T12:39:00.003-05:00

Screw all that thinking and planning. I ordered the spinner!

December Goals

2009-11-30T22:56:00.004-05:00

Here are my December goals in no particular order:

Spin up:

Bag of Alpaca
1 skein of meriboo
1 oz of yak fiber

Knit:

Finish blanket
Start and finish Peaks Island Hood
Start and finish Convertible Mittens
Work on Handspun socks
Work on Cashmere leaves scarf
Finish setup edging of Aeolian

An electric spinner?

2009-11-29T21:09:00.001-05:00

When I was researching wheels, I looked at electric spinners too but eventually decided to go with a regular treadle wheel instead. I'm glad to have made this decision because what I learned about spinning from my wheel is invaluable. But now that I've been spinning for a while and have found that I can spin for extended periods of time, I am starting to feel the need for an electric spinner. One of the greatest hindrances I am finding is that while I can spin for a while without my hands getting tired, I cannot treadle for very long periods of time. I think an e-spinner is the perfect choice.

Now the decision I need to make is do I count down to 25 projects and then order the e-spinner (as a replacement to the Pleo) or do I order it now so it will help me spin up my stash faster. Thanks to the money I put aside for the laptop I've decided not to get, I do have the funds.

This is the spinner I am thinking of getting:
Hansen Crafts

Plying on the wheel

2009-11-20T19:43:00.002-05:00

I finally got the plying head installed on my wheel and it actually quite easy! I was worried for no reason. And the plying went so fast! The only thing is, I put the drive band on the largest whorl (non-spinners: that means the lowest speed) so I don’t think the yarn has enough ply twist in it. I may have to run it though again. I’ll wind it onto the niddy noddy first though and see how it came out. I’m definitely glad I did it though because plying a 4 oz roving took an hour instead of a whole day.

The skein itself is very beautiful!

As I mentioned in my last post, I’m going to start spinning the chocolate brown floof next and I’m thinking because of the quantity I have (6 oz) that I may split it into 3 bobbins and do a 3 ply. My only concern is, what do you do when you run out of yarn on 1 bobbin in a 3 ply that isn’t Navajo plying. Maybe I should Navajo ply. Hmmm…must email the spinning genius…that Winter!

Last night's adventures

2009-11-19T20:50:00.002-05:00

I gave Ruth the handspun and she absolutely loved it! we were brainstorming ideas of what she could knit with it and I suggested a small triangular shawl…you know, like the kind I want to make when I end up plying that orange handspun (both bobbins are now full so only the plying remains). So at some point I’ll be going over to her house so we can go on ravelry and find a pattern she likes.

Winter brought some more of her handspun fresh off the niddy noddy and omg, she is turning into an amazing spinner! Her third skein ever is so beautiful – even I can’t spin that well yet! If she posts pics of it to her blog I’ll link it here so you can all admire the pretty!

The next thing I’m spinning is that beautiful chocolate brown alpaca blend I got from Rhinebeck. As you can see, it is a floofy bag so spinning it up will free up a lot of space!

I also finished something yesterday with Ruth’s help:

This scarf was supposed to be for the OFA charity but I love it so much that I decided to keep it for myself. I cast on another scarf last night using some more rejects from their originally intended projects but after knitting about 4 inches, I fell in love with that one too! ::sigh:: so I had to put that one aside as well and will finish it later when I have more time.

I started a second scarf last night and this one I’m determined not to like! Though I may have to rip out the 1.5 inches I accomplished last night to switch to a bigger needle. I’m very happy for all the stashbusting happening though!

Lastly, I bought Heather dinner last night so she would sew in ends on all the washcloths for me! Yay! So now I’ve got a large stack of squares ready to go. WOOT! Thank you Heather!

Still no Eucalan!

2009-11-17T11:48:00.000-05:00

This is getting a little absurd! I called up the shop and looks like Terri still hasn't printed out the gift cards so I can't get the Eucalan yet. I don't want to pay for it and then have a gift card just sitting there because i don't want to get more yarn.

Speaking of gift cards, i still haven't ordered anything with my gift card from knitpicks. i want to order a bunch of needles but then i'll have a bunch of duplicates and ... sigh ... its all so unnecessarily complicated!

25 FOs to Pleo

2009-11-16T21:35:00.001-05:00

I've found my reward!!! So I've got to finish 25 things (including spinning) to get myself a Pleo! Starting point is Rhinebeck so I've finished 2 things so far: the granny squares blanket and 1 skein of handspun.

A Spinning Weekend

2009-11-16T20:00:00.001-05:00

Because I was sick this weekend, I spent most of it in front of my tv but there is only so much knitting I can do at a stretch. So I opted to spin a lot - apparently that one I can do forever! LOL. I finished a skein of superfine merino (4 oz, spun up to approximately 360 yards so it is a fingering to heavy fingering weight yarn):

This is going to be a thank you present for Ruth for helping me with the blanket. It is a 2 ply yarn and it took surprisingly long to ply. I did it on my spindle (really need to install the plying head on my wheel) so it took all day. The yarn has come out beautifully and has got to be my most even yarn to date.

The next one I've started working on is a wool/bamboo blend from Creatively Dyed. I've already finished 1 bobbin full (told you I spent the whole weekend spinning). In roving form the colors are very bright orange but it is spinning up to be a beautiful dull orange/gold which I absolutely love! It also has large splashes of dark brown so I could not be happier. I think this is going to be turned into one of those small shawls knit with sock yarn that have suddenly become so popular.

Speaking of small shawls - I'm not knitting that for my grandmother after all. At some point last week I just started reaching into that bag of cotton yarn I have and started knitting dishcloths and knitting dishcloths and ... knitting dishcloths. I've got a nice little pile going and i think i'll join them all together with the cone of cotton yarn to make a lap blanket for her. That way it can be machine washable, does not have to be blocked, won't be too warm and I'll have used stash yarn instead of buying new yarn so perfect on all counts!

Now I know I promised a picture of the blanket but it has still not been washed and blocked. I didn't get the Eucalan last week because Terri hadn't printed out the gift cards to the store yet. I hope they are ready by tomorrow because I really want to get started on knitting that hood as well (it hasn't gotten cold yet but it will soon enough). So no picture for now.

WIPs Planning and Goals Update

2009-11-11T11:07:00.001-05:00

The blanket is finished! I will put up pictures as soon as I've washed and blocked the blanket (so probably later in the week).

I've been thinking about the number of WIPs I have and how that keeps me from focusing and more importantly finishing the projects. So i was considering the idea of using slots for WIPs:

Sample knitting: Basketweave sock
Sock: nothing at the moment (using the slot for OFA scarf)
Whatever: Aeolian shawl
Long-term: should be the barn raising blanket (using the slot for the cashmere scarf)

I don't know how practical this method is or how much it will help me focus but I'm going to try it out at least for this month. BTW, that Whatever slot may get changed to the Aram sweater in case i want to try for NaKniSweMo still but since its already 10 days into the month and I don't see myself having to time to even attempt to cast on the sweater until the weekend, this may not happen. I may just stick to my original goal of at least casting on the sweater this month. Speaking of which, here's an update on my goals:

1) Spin up 1 skein of yarn (Gift) - finished one bobbin and about half way through on the second bobbin
2) Finish the granny squares blanket - FINISHED!!!!!
3) Finish OFA Scarf - working
4) Finish the Edging Setup chart on Aeolian Shawl

Bonus Goals:
1) Start the Aran Sweater
2) Finish Cashmere Leaves Scarf - working
3) Finish 1 skein of the meriboo fiber

Edging Started!!!!!

2009-11-05T13:55:00.001-05:00

The edging on the blanket has officially begun!!! I'm so excited! I would post pictures but you can't really see much right now. I have a feeling that i'm going to be okay with my brown yarn and will definitely have enough orange to at least do the first round of orange edging.

Spinning Tuesday

2009-11-04T18:25:00.002-05:00

The Yarn Harlot, an absolutely hilarious woman and quite a celebrity in our knitting world, has Tuesday's set aside for spinning only. I thought this was a great idea - having 1 specific day for just one craft, especially since my spinning often gets ignored for several weeks at a time. I've been thinking about implementing this rule but never actually got around to it. By coincidence though, I ended up ignoring the blanket yesterday (Tuesday) and spinning, spinning, spinning! I finished an entire bobbin-full which is about half of the roving. I'll see if i want to start the second half of the roving today or wait until another day (like next Tuesday).

Here's the finished bobbin:

And here's a picture of the blanket as it currently stands:

It is wonderfully warm and comforting despite having all the holes in it. I was surprised by this but am glad because I love this blanket already!

Projects Update

2009-11-03T14:21:00.001-05:00

I sewed two more strips on the blanket yesterday so now it is an 8x8 giant square. I laid it out on the bed and it was just 2 strips short lengthwise. Ruth and I estimated it perfectly! She was so sweet last night saying that she'd only done a little bit of work on it and it was really my blanket but I know that isn't true. She did so many squares and at least 3 strips and showed me how to do the squares and the seams in the first place! I am definitely giving her at least one skein of my handspun - the blue and brown one, as soon as it is finished. i'm sure i'll be giving her more yarns as soon as they are spun up but I also have to spin more yarn for Jenna.

Speaking of which, i've already got the two skeins of yarn spun up for Jenna and I thought instead of spinning more yarn for her, I may give her cash for her to buy yarn at the Smiley's yarn sale. I just wish they did gift cards because giving cash seems a bit tacky.

I haven't started my NaKniSweMo sweater yet - I've decided not to start it until I've either finished the blanket or have run out of yarn and am waiting for more to be delivered. The blanket is taking top priority. It seems that my tolerance for seaming is about 2 strips a day so since i only have 2 strips left, I will probably be starting the edging tonight. YAY!!!

Sweater Planning

2009-11-02T12:36:00.001-05:00

One of my absolutely favorite shows is Firefly which is a scifi show and is totally awesome and everyone should watch it even if you aren't a scifi person. The show stands up on it's own as a good show - scifi or otherwise. Go rent it, netflix it or get it whatever way you get shows.

So the design for my Aran Sweater is inspired by this show and the main cable panel on the front, back and the sleeves looks like the ship - as much as a pretty cable can look like a ship. The sweater is actually modeled after a sweater that a character wears on the show. The details can be found here.

This will be my first geek project! I know Jayne's Hat (from the same show) is a much smaller and quicker project but i just like the thought of doing this one more. First because Jayne's Hat requires me to order more yarn for it in appropriate colors and second because i dont see myself wearing a bright orange hat - no matter how geeky awesome it is! I will definitely still knit one of these but probably not anytime soon.

NaKniSweMo?

2009-11-01T11:20:00.001-05:00

Inspired by the NaNoWriMo, the knitting community has created the NaKniSweMo KAL - National Knit a Sweater Month. I found the group this morning while just browsing on Ravelry as an attempt to wake up. Since today is the first of the month, I would be playing catch up but it would be a good way to get some work done on that Aran sweater that has been hanging over me forever! I haven't decided yet because I definitely want to get the blanket finished this month and the OFA scarf needs to be finished this month so it can be mailed out in time. Perhaps I will consider at least starting the sweater this month and if the blanket gets finished in enough time then I'll aim for attempting to finish the sweater.

If I recall correctly, the other sweater I knit up took a long time because I put it aside for several weeks but the actual knitting didn't take as long - I had a full long weekend of nothing but sweater knitting and I remember getting about 60% of it done in that time. I've got the trip to Key West this month so that's a lot of plane and car ride knitting time. I'll also have the Thanksgiving break (after the Key West trip) for much knitting time since I don't celebrate the holiday and Jenna is probably not going to be around to do a dinner. Even as i'm typing, this project seems more and more likely as doable in November. I will continue working vigorously on the blanket but start swatching and such for the sweater and it won't be like casting on a new project since I already consider the sweater to be a current WIP.

Spinning WIP's

2009-10-31T12:18:00.001-04:00

What am I spinning at the moment?

Meriboo - 70% Merino, 30% Bamboo, 8 oz, spinning cobweb weight for a shawl.

Superfine Merino - 4 oz, spinning light-fingering weight, possibly for a gift

Projects past and next

2009-10-30T17:52:00.001-04:00

I am sitting in training today and as usual we began late - about 1/2 hour late. So, I was killing time on Ravelry and when I went to see what I'd finished in October, I realized I haven't finished a single thing this month! NOT ONE!!! I think that explains the BLAH I've been feeling.

I did finished spinning two skeins of yarn though so that's something. Here they are:

4 oz Tencel/Wool blend by Creatively Dyed, 94 yards, Navajo plied:

4 oz Wool/Silk blend, 100 yards thick-thin, andean plied:

Here's another skein (finished earlier in the year), 4 oz superwash merino, 400 yards, andean plied:

I was also thinking about the reward system some more and the only things I can think of that I'm "denying" myself are a drum carder and fabric for the flannel pjs. I can't imagine getting a drum carder even as a reward though because of the space issues. I would consider renting a carder or borrowing someone's carder so I'll have to explore that some more when I'm ready to start working with the fleeces. So fabric is looking to be more and more likely as a reward.

Since my post a few days ago about my spinning stash, I've been thinking of all the sweater's worth quantities i have. I think i should start spinning with the yak roving since that is professionally processed and would be a better way to learn to spin for a sweater. Spinning from a scoured fleece comes with it's own challenges and I would prefer to tackle one new thing at a time.

I am thinking of making a cabled yarn for the sweaters. A cable yarn is a 4 ply yarn (nice and sturdy for sweaters) where you spin a single, 2 ply it, and then 2 ply the 2 ply. I also think this would be an appropriate yarn because my preference while spinning singles on the wheel is something that turns into fingering weight or heavy fingering weight when 2 plied so when cabled, I think I should get a sport to dk weight yarn which should work out well.

Reward System

2009-10-29T23:16:00.001-04:00

I'm a fairly active participant on the Stash Knit Down group on Ravelry which is, as the name may indicate, a group of crafters who are choosing (or attempting) to stash dive as much as possible into their many different stashes (yarn, fiber, fabric, beads, etc.). I've joined the "100 Skeins in 2009" challenge on this group which I've discussed in the past and am currently tracking on the sidebar of this blog.

Well, I also like to read threads other than the challenges I'm involved in and have been reading the fabric stash down thread; one of the most recent things being discussed is a reward system. Now this is certainly not some new system that I've never read about but this particular post struck me because the writer said that she would reward herself after she finished "6 or maybe 10 projects". Whenever I've read about reward systems its always been an amount of accomplishment that I never felt was sufficient so I would dismiss the whole system or wouldn't stick to it. DUH! How obvious is it that you can set how much you would like to accomplish before allowing yourself the reward! I have no idea why this never clicked in my brain before but it has this time!

I think that at the rate I'm going with my projects, if I tell myself that I will give myself a treat after 10 projects - that's a huge accomplishment! I can use the Rhinebeck trip as a starting point but I have no idea what my reward would be. Considering the severe storage space issues I'm running into, I've actually LOST the desire to buy yarn or fiber! My shopping mojo is gone. I need Yarn-Viagra! I suppose though, my reward does not have to a crafting thing, it could be something entirely different. I'll think about it though and in the mean time, i'll let the reward system motivate my to finish projects.

Speaking of finishing...does this look like two strips of the blanket sewn together?!? :::gasp:::

November Goals

2009-10-29T11:24:00.001-04:00

I've gotta have some goals for November. I usually just post my monthly goals to the list on Ravelry but perhaps I should add them here as well. I am considering what would be the best way to track this - adding another panel to the sidebar would mean...another panel in the sidebar and its a bit crowded over there at the moment. I'll just post updates for this month and see how that goes.

Goals (In order of priority):
1) Spin up 1 skein of yarn (B/G)
2) Finish the granny squares blanket
3) Finish OFA Scarf
4) Finish the Edging Setup chart on Aeolian Shawl

Bonus Goals:
1) Start the Aran Sweater
2) Finish Cashmere Leaves Scarf
3) Finish 1 skein of the meriboo fiber

A blah moment?

2009-10-28T11:52:00.001-04:00

This has been a blah sort of week for crafting for me. I find myself spending all my time on the computer doing anything from browsing youtube to Ravelry and yet nothing on my projects. Granted its been a bit of a mess at home but I'm waiting for Mom to remove her things out of my storage space so I can sort things out. I may end up pulling her things out as it is the only way she will look at them. Once I have breathing room again, I'm certain I'll get my mojo back.

Tonight is SnB night. I am bringing my blanket and pjs (if I can find them) only. Oh yea, btw, Jenna has been talking about her sewing stuff so much that I've been considering learning to sew. Evil Jenna! So now I'm thinking of sewing flannel pjs patterned after the black and white ones that I have. I have to find them though since they probably got put away with the summer stuff. All I can see is yet another stash building up! yikes!!!

I went out with Heather last night (unexpectedly) and she showed me some cool new yarn she picked up at Stitches East. I never made it to Stitches East so it was nice to see some of the yarn. I guess she's really into novelty yarns. Here's a cool one she had:

I found out that Stitches East will be held in Hartford again for the next two years so I guess its not so bad that I skipped this year. I hope I've used up most of the current stash by then though. Honestly, I need to finish at least one project, and SOON!!!

Speaking of which, I picked up the vendor cards for the Shoppe as I said I would and have to put together notes for each one because i'm meeting Terri tomorrow. I need to do the print outs and stapling as I'd planned and it's gotta get done tonight at some point - so many things to do today! In payment, I'm getting a bunch of Blithe yarn - which is baby camel and OH SO SOFT!

A Collection of Fibers

2009-10-27T22:11:00.003-04:00

It occurs to me that in order to get perspective on the shear amount of spinning fiber I have, I must view it all at once (this happened when I found myself scouring Ravelry and Ebay for more raw fleeces).

So let's start with the big ones:

3 lb White Cormo Fleece
3 lb Chocolate Merino Fleece
2 lb Silver Cormo-x Fleece
1.5 lb Yak Roving

Other rovings:
Angora Batt
Foxfire Cormo silk roving - natural
Foxfire Cormo silk roving - dyed
CD Seawool
CD Bamboo/Wool
CVM
Cashmere Top
Orange Merino silk
2 Merino Tussah
Mocha Java
Spice
Redwoods
2 Wool/alpaca rovings
Yak Alpaca bag
4 Etsy rovings

WIP Control

2009-10-26T15:20:00.001-04:00

Oooh the WIPs are getting extremely out of hand! I've got way to many things going and nothing finishing!

The oldest WIP of all is, of course, the blanket which is going to be about a year old soon. It is almost done, 6 out of 10 strips have been sewn. Once the strips are done, they will have to be sewn to each other and finally the border. I'm concerned about running out of yarn for the edge; fortunately, I received a very generous gift certificate to Knitpicks for my birthday so I can order more if need be.

A couple of the newer WIPs are the recently started scarves:

Cashmere Leaves - being knit with the cashmere I purchased at Rhinebeck.

OFA Scarf - this is stash yarn, the bamboo yarn that i'd gotten in hopes of knitting an accessory scarf but honestly, who knits accessories in such a drab color! I'm also holding a strand of some sock yarn from Sunshine Yarns along with it to give it a beautiful splash of color.

Then there is of course the Aeolian Shawl, such a beautiful shawl but it has taken a back seat lately because of the blanket and all the spinning.

There is also the Aran sweater which has gone through a couple of transformations. First I was going to do the St. Brigid pattern by Alice Starmore but decided against it after MANY iterations of it failed. Then the yarn was stashed out of spite. I found an Aran Sweater pattern on the Lion Brand site and am considering it. The other option is to do the Wash's Sweater with this yarn but I need to check the yarn requirements and such for that pattern.

There is also the sample sock for the shop which I've actually made a bit of progress on. Though, I don't think i want to be devoting a majority of my crafting time to the sample knitting as I've got the overwhelming stash/lack of space issue to be worrying about.

Rhinebeck 2009

2009-10-19T08:17:00.001-04:00

Rhinebeck was this past weekend. They'd been predicting dire weather - rain AND snow and really frakkin' cold! The day turned out to be cold and cloudy and nothing else - YAY! I picked up a LOT of fiber for spinning and some yarn as well.

I also picked up some more of the cashmere from Springtide Farms - the same stuff I got last year and made the Abby Cowl with. This year i got a beautiful burgundy colorway and am planning on knitting the Leaf Lace Scarf with it.

Lastly, I also picked up 2 fleeces!!! That's right, 2 fleeces! Both color fleeces - chocolate brown merino and a silver cormo-x. I've already scoured them and they are drying. Will take pictures later and post them up.

Parade of Socks

2009-05-30T07:49:00.000-04:00

I was looking through my Ravelry page and noticed that I've knit a lot of socks! I had cast on my first sock at the beginning of June last year and now i'm working on my 11th pair of socks; that's almost 1 sock per month. WOW!

First Clapotis

2009-01-25T15:30:00.001-05:00

I must be completely in love with Alpaca right now because this is the second project in a row i'm writing about that is knit in Alpaca.

I finished my Clapotis!! I'm so happy with this shawl. It looks beautiful and is warm and cuddly and just awesome! I'm totally in love with the pattern too. I've heard a few complaints that people have found this pattern a bit boring to knit...well, its no cables or lace or anything complicated but quite enjoyable. i loved getting to the row where i got to drop the stitches and unravel them all the way down. I am definitely planning on making this one again.

Alpaca Bed Socks

2009-01-24T14:12:00.000-05:00

OMG, I have returned to the BLOG!! Holy crap! LOL.

I had started this pair of socks back in December in Berroco Ultra Alpaca Light because i thought they would make a nice pair of extra warm bed socks. I finished them today and i think they came out pretty nice. Its a simple 3x1 rib pattern and a 2x2 rib for the cuff. And they most definitely are extra, extra warm!

Yay socks!

2008-12-15T15:20:00.001-05:00

My Jaywalkers are done. I'm not in love with the pattern and probably won't knit it again but i loved the yarn and the colorway.

Visual Aids

2008-12-14T17:55:00.001-05:00

I come bearing visual aids! Hehe, I received my camera on Friday and I'm still playing around with the different settings so these aren't going to be very consistent pictures but its technicolor nonetheless. First up, a picture of my stash (well, most of it anyway):

Can you see why i need to join the 100 skeins challenge. hehehe.

Next up are my Jaywalkers knitted up in Blue Moon Fiber Arts Silkie Socks that Rock in Mochaberry:

As you can see, i'm at the home stretch now and since i'm 2 at a time, when i'm done - I'm completely done! WOOT! I love this yarn and the colorway but i have to admit, i'm not in love with the pattern, i know its a popular one but it just isnt' for me.

Next is my Alpaca Clapotis...sorry about the not so great picture, i'll try again later:

That's all i've got for now. More pics later...

Froggage required

2008-12-10T10:19:00.000-05:00

I knit a few more rows on the Jaywalkers last night at the SnB and realized that the ankle really is too tight. i'll frog back to to the heel part and redo it with 2.5mm needles. I learned about another SnB in the area from one of the new knitters who came yesterday. This SnB meets on Monday nights - i see some knitter stalking in the near future. LOL.

i've also started bagging up my sock yarns into paper bags for the personal sock club. i'm still not sure how i am going to coordinate this with the BMFA and the Sunshine Yarns sock clubs but i want the personal one to take priority. Maybe i can do the non-personal sock clubs after i finish the personal one or skip the personal one on months when i get the other sock clubs. hmmm...

as for the Sunshine Yarns sock yarn...so far i've only tried the Soft and the Twist yarn bases and i have to admit i'm not impressed with either. Maybe the Classic yarn base will be better - though i'm not sure how the sock club works in regards to which yarn base is used. The colorways are gorgeous including the first club yarn i received in October but i hope that a different yarn base is used for the next club yarn. That said, Dani has some GORGEOUS superwash merino rovings and is willing to do a special order for me for a sold out color. WOOT!

Lack of photos and a random generator

2008-12-09T11:37:00.001-05:00

Have you noticed a sudden lack of photos on my blog? And if you are on Ravelry, i'm sure you've noticed the same on there too. the reason is that my mom has the one good camera and the other camera i have is just...CRAP. no worries though, i'm getting an early Christmas present in the form of an awesome camera - even better than the one my mom has "spirited" away. it should be here by the end of the week so expect an explosion of photography on this here blogging space. i am especially looking forward piling up all my yarns and rovings on the bed to take a pic for the Stash Knit Down 100 skeins challenge. I fully intend to jump on them and roll around after the photo op. LOL.

I have 4 really pretty drawstring WIP bags at home that i purchased from various sellers on Etsy and they are seriously awesome in keeping my organized as well as helping me avoid unnecessary puncture wounds from scattered needles. i like using them so much that i've decided that i'm going to use these bags to help me control the number of WIPs i have. I have 4 drawstring bags so i am limited to 4 projects (large projects like blankets and sweaters are obviously an exception). I currently have more than 4 WIPs so those don't count until they get transferred to a drawstring bag. All this may seem odd but it works for me - it is like a pnemonic for controlling number of WIPs instead of for memory...if that analogy makes sense.

I'm bringing this up because i'm pretty far along on my jaywalker socks; i've discovered the secret to finishing projects quickly - TOTAL FIXATION! LOL. The socks are absolutely all i've been knitting for the past few days and i'm done with the foot and the heel and am at the leg part now. the let part is going to go up until i've run out of yarn. I forgot to change to larger needles when i got to the heel part as Sherri had suggested and now that i've gotten about 1/2 inch into the foot - i can feel how tight the sock is. I may just rip back to the top of the heel (because the sock felt pretty comfortable when i tried them on after i finished the heel) do the leg again in larger needles. another thing i could do is what Karen does - make the leg part larger than the foot part so i could go up to 76 stitches for the leg part. i think i'll knit about 1 more inch on the leg before i decide.

wait that was another tangent. The reason i brought up the drawstring bags controlling the WIPs was to actually talk about what happens when i finish a project (such as the jaywalkers that i'm FIXATED on). I checked the number of items i have in my queue (171!), went to some online random integer generator and generated an number between 1 and 171 - as soon as i landed on a number/project that i have the yarn for, i moved it up to the top of my queue and as soon as i have an empty WIP bag, that is getting cast on next. In this case, it is a pretty crochetted lace shawl pattern that came up. Now i have to decide what to do with my WIPs that aren't already in the bags - do i finish them first?

FO Rage!

2008-11-27T11:01:00.000-05:00

Okay, i was planning on try to punch out a pair of socks over the holiday weekend but i was looking at the number of UFOs i have and i've decided to instead finish as many of them as possible. FO Rage commences now!

Finally!

2008-11-23T20:29:00.000-05:00

Socks are done!

100 Skeins Challenge

2008-11-21T11:33:00.000-05:00

One of the suggested challenges on the Stash Knitdown 2009 group was to knit 100 skeins in 2009. It doesn't matter what weight or yardage of the skeins, just do 100 in the year. Of course, this means you have to average 1 ball of yarn per 3.5 days! A daunting task indeed! I'm cheating and starting early - the diamond lace sock yarn skeins take the first 2 spots in this countdown of mine. WOOT!

Most of my sock yarn is in 1 skein so i'll get at least 12 skeins done from socks alone. I'm double knitting that DK weight alpaca for the hat, scarf and gloves so that will also expedite my coundown. I'm also counting spinning a roving into yarn as 1 skein used. Then when the handspun yarn is used, that counts as another skein (or 2 if i made 2 skeins but my skeins will be of reasonable size).

Socks from HELL!

2008-11-21T11:30:00.000-05:00

These freakin' diamond lace socks are the socks from hell! i've been working on these since August and by now i even hate the colorway of the yarn (which i was totally in love with when i first started these socks). They will never end!!! I've been staying up late every night this week knitting on these stupid things. FINALLY, i'm at the top ribbing part. God i hope i get these done in the next day or so. I'm going C-R-A-Z-Y! How the crap am i going to be knitting 1 sock a month if just the leg part takes over a month! GUH!

First Fleece

2008-11-20T00:05:00.000-05:00

EEEEEEEE!!!!!

Pretty, pretty Cormo!!!

Stash Knit Down

2008-11-19T17:47:00.000-05:00

I just found a really cool group on Ravelry called "Stash Knit Down 2009". The group is centered around the idea of using up as much of your stash as possible in 2009. One fabulous idea is to create a personal sock club where you bag up your sock yarns along with patterns and treats (just like a real sock club) and pick a bag up every...whatever frequency you want.

After reading this great idea, i decided to organize my stash by weight of yarn to figure out how much of everything i had. As i went through my bags and boxes and baskets and watched (aghast) the pile of sock yarn rise higher ...and higher...and higher and then i thought about the yarn i have ordered with Karen that hasn't even arrived yet...well, "i'm freaking out" does even begin to describe my feelings. Clearly the personal sock club is the thing for me. I promised myself the Rockin' Sock Club membership a while ago so i am still definitely getting this whenever it opens up but i'm thinking that in addition to this club membership (and the Sunshine yarns Harry Potter club that i already have) i'll do the personal sock club.

When i went to the NYC knitting group, i met a girl who punches out 1 pair of socks a week. A WEEK! this is my goal! well...first baby step is 1 pair a month. I'm trying very hard to finish those Diamond Lace socks and i'm almost done. I'm a few inches into the leg (finally!) so when the balls of yarn are just a little bit smaller (i'm thinking just a couple more repeats of the diamond pattern) i'll start the ribbing and finally be done with them. After that, i'm not going to start a pair of socks until December and my goal will be to finish the next pair of socks (which will probably be the Baudelaire socks from Cookie A) in December. This is also a chart sock pattern so i'm not sure if i'll be carrying these around.

So, goal for 2009: Finish 1 pair of socks per month.

Overdue Update

2008-10-24T12:24:00.000-04:00

I am so used to just updating Ravelry that i forget to add updates here.

I finished my Cable sweater which came out really nice but is a little...form-fitting. :) I guess its just incentive to keep losing weight (am doing really well with that, btw). Here is a of the cable sweater:

Next i started on a sweater from Knitscene Fall 2008 - also a hoodie sweater but i think i'm going to modify the hood into a long hanging collar. I started working on this and knit up 4 balls of yarn when i realized that the sweater was 4 inchs too wide! I was devastated but i had to pull all that knitting out. The one good thing is now i get to modify the hem a little so it doesn't curl up anymore like it was before. Here is a pic of it after about 2 balls of knitting - you can see the curling is pretty bad:

So i recast on and did a couple of rows but i put it down again. I was a little frustrated with it. I haven't touched it for a couple of weeks now. But i've had something else occupying my mind - RHINEBECK!!!

Last weekend was the NY Sheep and Wool festival at Rhinebeck, NY. It was full of yarn, fiber, yarn, sheep, llamas, yarn, food and YARN! I spent so much money (though when i counted later on, i realized that i didn't end up spending much more than my birthday money. I bought many many yarns and also lots of spinning fiber. That's right, I've got a new fiber addiction - spinning. I had tried to learn spinning a few months ago with that crappy, cheap spindle that was a complete deterrent to my learning process so i did some research on it and found out that spinning really should be learned on a good, well-balanced spindle. I invested in 2 Golding Spindles at Rhinebeck:

I started spinning with these and absolutely loved it! It was so much easier spinning with these - i didn't feel like i was in a battle with the fiber! LOL. I even made a baby skein of yarn which I still have to take pictures of and will post soon.

As i said, i bought lots of yarn and fiber at the festival. All of it is posted on Ravelry so i wont' repost here but some of my more "exotic" purchases included cashmere and llama yarns. I've already started knitting the Abby cowl from knitty.com with the cashmere. I haven't decided yet what i'm going to do with the llama.

Lastly, here are a few pics from Rhinebeck:

First Sweater

2008-09-02T18:59:00.000-04:00

This is my first sweater. The pattern came from the Fall 2008 Vogue Knitting.

Spinning Yarn

2008-09-02T18:56:00.000-04:00

Okay, so I ordered a roving from Etsy and its just been sitting there. I think after I finish my first sweater I'll once again try my hand at spinning. This roving is so beautiful, I'm afraid to touch it. I just want to order more and more practice roving before I get anywhere near this thing with my spindle.

Hedera Socks

2008-09-02T18:48:00.000-04:00

I finished my Hedera Socks.

OTN Update

2008-08-17T11:05:00.000-04:00

I haven't had any FOs recently except for the Absorba Bathmat from Mason-Dixon Knitting but it didn't come out to great. I think putting the mat away half done for a few weeks was a bad idea because my tension was completely different when I picked it up again so it looks discombobulated.

I'm working on the Hedera socks from Knitty which are knitting up very fast. I'm using 1 size larger needles and its only 60 stitches so it is going much faster than the Siren socks. I've already turned the heel and picked up the gusset.

The Simply Gorgeous Pi Shawl is also coming along though looks like a crumpled mess at the moment. I'm still on the first ball of yarn but i think i've used up about two-thirds. I'm thinking i might use one of Meg Swanson's lace edgings to finish this shawl so that will probably be about a half of the second ball of yarn.

I also started two new projects - a scarf for charity and the shawl i'd been planning for my mom. I was going to use the Feather and Fan pattern for the shawl but i found that the yarn didn't really show the pattern too well and looks just as beautiful with simple garter stitch. So I decided to use the Feather and Fan pattern for the charity scarf instead. The charity this scarf is for is OFA Red Scarf Project.

Lastly, i've decided to learn how to spin yarn. I keep seeing these gorgeous rovings and i just couldn't resist. I ordered a starter kit that has a drop spindle and some practice roving. I over-twisted the first piece i tried but i'm working on it.

First Socks!!

2008-08-02T18:14:00.001-04:00

My first pair of socks are done! I am so happy with them. If anyone questions the reasons for knitting a pair of socks, let me just tell you - listen to the knitting gurus because they are right! Once you've donned a pair of hand knit socks, you will never want store bought socks again!

The heels and everything came out perfect. I make the leg part a little short because I always scrunch my socks down to the ankles anyway. So I have more scrap yarn left over than anticipated. Also, since I hadn't bothered to practice Kitchener's stitch on a swatch, I did create a couple of holes but those were easy enough to fix. I was planning on knitting the next pair of socks for my dad and the pair after for my mom...but they are probably going to end up being for me. LOL. I do love the fabric from size 0 needles and don't mind spending the extra amount of time on the small needles for myself but maybe if I decide to knit for others, I'll do it on size 2 because they are faster to knit.

Trip to Montreal and Projects update

2008-07-12T09:41:00.000-04:00

My trip to Montreal was absolutely wonderful! The Jazz festival was on when I went so I had a great time there. We also visited Old Montreal which was gorgeous and the street performances were hysterical and impressive. I even had a caricature made. We also went to the church of Notre Dame, the BioDome and the Botanical Gardens. Unfortunately it was too hot and we were too tired to truly enjoy the Botanical Gardens but the rest of the trip was great. Since I still don't have a decent camera, we hardly took any pictures at all.

I ended up going to one yarn store while I was up there and got some beautiful hand painted baby alpaca lace yarn. It is so lovely. I am making a simple knit pi shawl with it:

As you can see, the yarn is so lovely that it doesn't need a pattern at all.

Speaking of shawls, I frogged my Mystery Shawl...I just picked the wrong charts from the clues from what kind of shawl I had in my mind. I looked at some of the other knitters' shawls and saw what I wanted my shawl to be and am going to change the charts around. I may actually wait to finish my Siren socks first before starting the shawl again. I have to check the measurements of my Siren socks today because though I cast on the correct number of stitches from my gauge, it seems the actual sock is much bigger with the scallop pattern. I'm going to have to confirm. Sherry from my knitting group suggested that I put a K3, P1 ribbing in the areas where it is just plain stockinette which I may end up doing after all.

I also have some really good news: I finished my Merletto Mitts!

They are full of mistakes and I absolutely love them! I used the wrong side leaning increases on the thumb of the second one - I got confused as to which increase leaned which way and then i just sorta continued with it. LOL. And the other fantastic thing about this project was it produced by my first ball of scrap sock yarn!

Look at the cute little ball of yarn! I have no idea why but I'm so proud of this ball of scrap yarn. I feel like I've accomplished something now that I have scrap yarn rather than just new, mostly unused balls of yarn.

I'm looking forward to having many, many more balls of scrap yarn to adorn my stash with.

A Very Long Post

2008-06-30T15:20:00.001-04:00

So I’ve made my first genuine learning mistake – no forgotten stitch or missed yarn over, but a real mistake I made because I had no idea what to do but I figured it out when I looked at my work. The whole thing happened in the Merletto fingerless gloves I’m making:

I made the mistake in the thumb gusset. The pattern talked about how to make increases and about left and right leaning increases. I wasn’t sure which increase to use for which mitt so I thought to myself, well let me try doing the right leaning increases on the right mitt and here is the result

Okay, I’m probably in need of a better camera so you may not be able to see that I did right leaning increases on both sides of the thumb gusset. A few rows of this and I had a light bulb moment – duh! Right leaning increases on the right side of the gusset and left leaning increases on the left. I was so happy when I figured it out! I’m so proud of myself for figuring it out on my own that I’m not going to rip back to the lifeline (which I placed just before starting the gusset). I’m keeping the mistake – partially also so I can refer to it when I do the second mitt. I have to admit this project really is knitting up very quickly. And I love this color!

Speaking of lifelines, the first lifeline I put in was in the mystery shawl I’m working on.

I know the lifeline is in the middle of chart 2-A but who cares. The line was actually a row lower but I unwittingly put it through all my section markers and realized what I’d done the next row up. So the line had to be moved. I think for section 3, I’m going to do chart C – it looks the least complicated. LOL. One last thing, someone mentioned that there are no beads on this "Beaded" shawl - well, I'm not sure if I'm going to be adding beads. If I do, it won't be until section 3 or 4 or even just 5 (edging). We'll see.

Yet another tangent – I was about to order A Gathering of Lace on Amazon for the Feather and Fan Shawl pattern but it is a good thing I didn’t – I went to my local Barnes and Noble instead to look at the book and well…I’m working my way up to being that advanced. The book is on my list to get – just not yet.

Tangent (squared) – Since I broke the plastic ball winder from KnitPicks (which they are graciously returning on their tab), I ordered the Heavy Duty Ball Winder by Nancy’s Knit Knacks from www.yarnmarket.com – I figured that I’ve been so good this month with the spending that I’m going to treat myself to a $200 yarn notion! WOOHOO! And well…I just couldn’t help it – I ordered $100 worth of sock yarn on top of it. And wouldn’t you know it – the very next day KnitPicks announces new handpainted sock yarns in their own line! I really must finish one pair of socks before I order any more sock yarn! The only sock yarn I can justify ordering is the 12 skeins I’m going to order to make a sweater from Knit so Fine.

Speaking of socks, I’m still working on my dad’s socks from Father’s day.

They are my travel project – always in my purse for whenever I have a few minutes. This means they will be slow going which is fine since the pattern is so boring but easy for when you have just a few minutes. I am thinking of making the Hedera socks with the red Berroco Comfort Sock yarn I have.

Lastly, the Siren socks I just haven’t started yet. I have to look at the pattern and make sure that I know how to make all the different stitches before I start. I was thinking of doing these socks with the Trekking XXL yarn that I have but I may change my mind when I see the yarns from Yarn Market which should be arriving tonight.

One final thought, the Leaf Afghan. To be honest, its been hibernating because I’m just not sure I’ll be able to actually do the narrow stripes. I can’t figure out the pattern which I was told I would be able to do when I did the wider stripes. I suppose I can email Ann who wrote the pattern to see if she will send me instructions on it. I guess I’ll stop here with that thought.

Leaf Afghan started

2008-06-22T13:31:00.000-04:00

I started the leaf afghan. The pattern calls for 5 wide stripes so I got a long circular and am knitting all 5 at once. Surprisingly, it is still knitting up very fast which is such a nice break from lace and fingering yarn. The only problem with this method is I've got 5 balls of yarn connected to my needles and creating quite a tangle.

The other thing to keep in mind is all the stripes look the same so how am I going to determine which is the left and right needle if I put the work down. Well, this requires some deligence - see the Red and yeLlow booties I've got attached to the needles - that is for Right and Left.

I was looking at some of the other patterns by Ann and noticed a really beautiful blanket called The Boys Afghan which is just gorgeous. That may be the next long project I do...although the Moderne Log Cabin blanket from Mason-Dixon Knitting calls out to me as well.

Goddess Mystery Shawl Knit Along

2008-06-07T23:32:00.001-04:00

Talk about firsts! This is my first lace, shawl, bead project and knit along. I'm very excited as the group seems great. I've created the test swatch which was relatively simple and I love the yarn I'm using - Baby Alpaca Lace by Plymouth Yarn.

As you can see, I'm playing around with the beads in the pattern. I don't like the two beads in the pattern at the bottom two motifs but I really like the 3 beads in the top two motifs. The picture does not do justice to the colors of the beads or even the yarn. The yarn is a very soft pastel pink and the beads are purple (left) and pink (right). The pink is very close to the color of the yarn itself. I'm still deciding which color to use. Perhaps I will use both colors and alternate between motifs but that will depend on what the final pattern looks like.

For now, I'm just twiddling my fingers until June 14th when the first clue is published.

Leaf Afghan

2008-05-28T21:54:00.000-04:00

Need size 7 needles
Worsted Weight Yarn
Gauge: stockinette - 4 sts and 7 rows = 1"

Generous yarn reqs:
Dark Color (narrow stripes): 4 skeins, 8oz each or 1040 yds
Light Color (wide stripes): 8 skeins, 8oz each or 2080 yds

http://www.gallentine.org/Knitting/leafafghan.html