Knitika's Knit Fits

Hats! Hats! Hats!

2012-01-29T18:53:00.000-07:00

Okay, there's a lot of hats going on right now! I made another hat with Big Nom (on sale through the end of Jan!!!)

And I added beads to my archangel hat. This one is definitely my new favourite. I'm wearing it all the time, now that we've got real winter here.

Another Hat

2012-01-14T12:51:00.000-07:00

Stripes! Clearly, I'm a stripey fan. I pay attention to the stripey yarns out there. They're not always easy to buy, either, and many of the stripey dyers sell out swiftly. Additionally, most of the stripey yarn that is available, though hard-to-get, is sock yarn.

So when I discovered stripey yarn in aran weight, I immediately had two skeins come home to me.

The yarn is Big Nom by Gritty Knits. I purchased it on the 6th. It arrived on the 9th. I started knitting it on the 11th and finished it on the 13th.

Just a basic hat with a turned hem and a picot edge. I used Ann Budd's The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns for the numbers.

I want to say a little more about pompom makers, and why I like them better than using cardboard circles. The nifty feature of the pompom makers is that they fold out to allow really easy wrapping. Your hand just flows around and around, wrapping it stuffed full of yarn.

In contrast, with the cardboard maker, you need to pull the yarn through a little opening for every wrap. The process is clumsier, and I usually run out of patience for the wrapping before it's really stuffed. You can still make a lovely pompom with a cardboard circle, you just need to engage yourself in a lot more effort.

Archangel

2012-01-07T10:19:00.000-07:00

What do you do with a Holy Grail skein of yarn? You make sure you get it right.

To review, there was this skein of Malabrigo Rasta in the colourway Archangel that I admired from afar for months and months, until I finally brought it home to me. Look at it:

So I found a pattern that is versatile and cute. You can wear it slouchy, or like a beanie. It used up the entire skein of yarn. In fact, I ran out of yarn with only 40 stitches remaining, so I ripped out the decreases, removed one row before the decreases, and finished it up so it all came out perfectly. It was very cute.

Slouchy!

Not slouchy!

Yes, very cute! But sadly, not on me.

The great thing about bulky is that it knits up so quickly that there's little regret in ripping the entire thing out and trying again. And this skein of yarn had to be a hat for ME. So the 2nd go was a pattern from Vogue Knitting, a tassled hat.

I knit it as directed on size 15 needles (HUGE needles!), except I changed the embellishments a little. I added a little i-cord as the hat transitions from top to tassle. And I braided the tails on the earflaps, and gave them a really long end.

The stitches are the size of cornnuts! Cornnuts are a crunchy/salty snack food that remind me of road trips and truck stops.

New favourite hat!!!

Crush

2011-12-31T14:54:00.001-07:00

Last summer, I got a wild crush on a skein of yarn called Archangel. I've had crushes before, and I try to be careful not to indulge all my crushes. This particular skein was a super-bulky Malabrigo Rasta yarn, and I really didn't have any need or excuse to buy a super-bulky skein. I admired the skein online, but didn't buy.

When December rolled around and my crush on this yarn remained undiminished, I decided it had earned itself some validity and could be purchased. I even realised that Malabrigo carries colourways across the bases, and I could purchase Archangel in other bases, too. But the photo that entranced me the most remained the super-bulky Rasta.

I did order, and got Archangel in Rasta, as well as a worsted skein in Rios. It's prettiest in Rasta, but the other skein is a beauty on its own.

I mentioned earlier that it's hard to find good grapey-purple yarn. So I just had to get that "Eggplanty" by Alisha Goes Around. Plus some sock needles, of course. My knitpicks size ones and twos have all broken in the cable.

Let's just take a closer look at that archangel, shall we?

The only thing that's stopping me from casting on is that I have lots of things in progress that are for other people.

Sigh.

I think it's love.

....and socks!

2011-12-31T12:05:00.000-07:00

My son is fond of handmade woolies, because he's fond of being warm. He also has feet that are challenging to fit. And it turns out his feet also don't get along well with cotton socks. I've been working to find a good sock to make for him. My most recent attempt involved trying a brand new Cat Bordhi heel, the Sweet Tomato heel.

The first socks were made with Dream in Color Smooshy in the colour Black Parade. As Black Parade is also an album he likes, this was a happy coincidence.

The first pair seemed to be a success, so I made a second pair following the same formula. This second pair is made from a new favourite yarn of mine, Dragonfly Fibers Djinn Sock in the colourway Starry Night.

These new heels are made with a series of wedges. I'm still getting used to them, but they seem to work for an effective heel for these socks.

Socks!

2011-12-31T11:38:00.000-07:00

Last Christmas, I gave my man some yarn for Christmas, and then made the socks in the coming weeks. Not too long ago, he mentioned that they were his favourite homemade socks, because they are so soft and comfortable. I said, "If you think those are soft, wait til I make you socks from Bugga!" but then I remembered I already had.

Hm. A quick search shows I never blogged those Bugga socks. Darnit! But it turns out, he likes the Christmas socks even better than Bugga socks.

I decided to buy more of the yarn, which was when I discovered it was discontinued. I guess the Knitters didn't love that yarn as much as I did! They still had some at discounted prices on their website. I'm not fond of yarn with white stripes, but I found 2 colourways that were husband-appropriate (one a rerun of what we've already done) and ordered them.

This year, I managed to cast on the socks on Christmas Eve. I knit on them all day, then tossed them into a gift bag before going to bed. He unwrapped the works-in-progress for Christmas and I just kept on knitting them. Last night I bound off, today I wove in ends, and they're already on his feet.

They are made completely identical to the previous pair. The colourway is pumpkin pie. The yarn is Vivace by Sweet Paprika and I wish it wasn't discontinued! It's 100% merino, and he's gotten a year's wear out of the first pair and they're still looking good.

A knitter's classic pattern

2011-12-31T11:11:00.000-07:00

I feel like I've completed a Knitter's rite of passage. I have knitted a Baby Surprise Jacket. This is a vintage pattern by Elizabeth Zimmerman, the legendary godmother of all modern knitting, and there are jillions of these jackets out there.

It starts out as one long line of knitting:

You increase and decrease where you are told. There are no knitting instincts at play here, you just have to follow directions because it makes no sense while knitting.

When you are done doing as you are told, it looks like this:

So you have an origami moment, and fold it up to look like this:

Then follows some seaming, edging and button sewing, and you have a baby jacket!

Add booties, and you've got yourself a gift.

A nice phone call this week told me the set has arrived. Baby is 7 weeks old, and they put them right on her, so they seem to fit okay.

The yarn is a club yarn I got back in 2007, Duet XXL. I didn't make as good a use of the contrast yarn as I'd thought. I thought the edging would be cute in contrast, but it hardly shows. It was chosen as a good colour for either a boy or a girl, and the yarn is very soft and lofty.

Pom pom makers! (and stuff)

2011-12-31T10:51:00.002-07:00

Amy inquired about the pompom makers, and I have to say, they rock! I don't seem to make pompoms full enough or secure enough when I do the cardboard-circle method. The makers might be gadgety, but I am a convert.

I made more hats...

The ballerina liked her brother's Jayne hat, and wanted one for herself, but in purple. I've discovered that it's not easy finding really grape-koolaid-purple yarn, but finally found a nice bulky at a local store. The hat is huge and slouchy with a big old pompom. The yarn is Willa by Jupiter Moon Farm in the colourway Concord.

I've been trying to get a modeled photo, but I never can ask at the right time. And it's Nutcracker season, so the girl is hardly ever home! (and if she's home, she's asleep. Like now.)

Her hat was admired by the ballet-carpool buddy, so I made a second. The yarn is also Jupiter Moon Farm, but this time in Chadwick. I had to adjust the stitch count, because the yarn is worsted, but otherwise the hat is identical. The gal really wanted white, which wouldn't have been my choice, ("It's going to get so grubby!") but I love how it looks.

Those hats took the biggest maker I have:

(I saw an even bigger one at the yarn store. I didn't buy it, but it would be fun.)

I also got the teeny-tiny pompom maker, because I must be an addict.

That was perfect for baby booties for a nephew's infant:

Compare to another pair of booties made a year ago with a cardboard pompom maker:

Well, I can see a difference.

The booties had a matching hat, which I made with the pattern Tricable from an ebooklet published by Wooly Wormheads.

The yarn is a worsted handdyed superwash merino I got from No Two Snowflakes.

It's so hard to know if baby things will fit, and if they'll fit at the same time! We got a lovely thank you note from the mama, and hope they managed to keep the little boy warm a few times.

Finished Socks

2011-12-31T10:17:00.000-07:00

The socks have been made and delivered, so I can post without worry of spoilers. The socks that ran out of yarn midway up the leg turned out quite satisfactorily, I do believe! By switching from pattern to cuff at the yarn transition, the difference in appearance of yarns was minimized.

These socks were an adaptation of a Nancy Bush adaptation of a gentleman's sock pattern from 1895. The lozenge pattern and the cross-hatching on the cuff maintain the original look, but the heel itself is my own favourite style, and the tapering of the lozenges on the toes was something I charted. The original (adapted) pattern can be found in Knitting Vintage Socks.

The two yarns were Dream in Color Everlasting and Wollmeise 100% Merino Sock. Both yarns are 8 ply, but the WM was a little softer and was less likely to have plies causing havoc with my knitting. Both are very lovely yarns, though, with very luminous colours.

100 grams is not enough

2011-12-04T11:57:00.000-07:00

Note to self...

When knitting socks for my dad and his size 13 feet, 100 grams is not enough. I seemed to know this last year, when I used a contrast yarn for toes and heels, and used every last yard of the 100 grams of the main yarn.

The yarn is Everlasting from Dream in Color (which I also used this summer), an 8-ply 100% merino sock yarn. As it became apparent that I was running out of yarn before making the leg tall enough, I started considering my options. A quick search of DIC retailers did not come up with any skeins in the same colourway (Black & White). I first considered using a black DIC in the different sock yarn Smooshy to make a black contrast cuff. But Smooshy is a very different base, and wouldn't blend well. I realised I have a yarn in a very similar base, and I even have it in slate grey and 100% merino. It's a skein of Woolmeise, and while I have a small but steady collection of WM, I have never actually opened and knit with my own skein of the stuff. (I knit with it once, but some one else's skein.)

Turns out, the skein is a fairly good match. Not as excellent as the picture might suggest, but impressively similar. It has less variegation, and a slightly different hue.

I have busted open the skein and wound it, and am ready to graft it into the sock. I am confident and optimistic about the results. What makes me crabby is that I should have just knit the entire sock with that skein instead, since the WM is a 150 gram skein, and used the Everlasting for some one with smaller feet. I know better, and maybe now I will remember that.

From now on, either WM, or contrast toes and heels for my father's socks. I will remember this.

Loooong term project

2011-10-09T15:57:00.003-07:00

I have been gathering materials for quite some time in order to make a Shipwreck. I did some trading and purchasing on Ravelry to get enough Skinny Bugga! in the colourway Eurota Purplewing. I spent a lot of time looking at beads, and before I was done had ordered 3 different sets.

The knitting began in May. It's a circular shawl, so it starts like this:

Once the centre three charts are knit, the knitter strings beads onto the yarn and knits a bajillion rounds, adding beads. The beads need to be strung on before you knit. This involves getting the right number of beads onto your yarn, and then sliding the beads down the strand as you progress through the skein. It's very fiddly.

I started knitting the beaded part on vacation this summer. The beads are supposed to be placed randomly. I had intended to bring a die to cast to determine where to place the beads, but I didn't. I found that I wasn't very good at generating satisfactorily random numbers, so I ran to the gift shop for a deck of cards. Cards 1-6 indicate the numbered stitch to add the bead. Cards 7-Q are assigned the numerical values 1-6 again. A King card indicates knit a few past 6 and add 2 beads.

The shawl is sitting in the basement and gets grabbed on a regular basis, but I'm only about 10 rounds into the process. (ETA--Did I mention there's 580 stitches per round?) There's a whole lot of beaded knitting remaining.

On accuracy

2011-10-09T12:18:00.000-07:00

In 2008, I purchased a new scale, and was very pleased with it. Even at the time, we acknowledged that it was a little light on accuracy, but it did the trick.

Enough time has passed that I can now replace it with one that has increased accuracy.

Exhibit A:

On the left, a stuffed puff weighs 3 grams. I weighed a small ball of yarn and also got three grams, and therefore thought I might be able to get a full puff out of it. I could not.

Exhibit B:

The old scale's range of accuracy is revealed. Items weighing both 2.3 g and 3.5 g both were assessed at 3g. Elementary math students would recognize that as very sloppy rounding.

The scale is tiny, but it does the trick.

Maybe in another 3 years, I'll buy with with accuracy to two decimal points?

Man walks down the street in that hat, people know he's not afraid of anything

2011-10-09T11:24:00.000-07:00

A week ago when I posted that I'd purchased acrylic yarn, I honestly believed I'd be posting the final product that night. The knitting did indeed go quickly, but I cast on 5 times before I got the size right. Yesterday the hat all came together and it's done.

The hat is fashioned after a hat worn by the character Jayne in the show Firefly. I mostly followed directions here, based on careful scrutiny of the show. I held the yarn doubled and used a size 11 needle.

I'll go back to wool, now, thanks!

Oh, and I bought a little Pom Pom Maker because my pompoms always look like crap. Such fun!!

ACRYLIC YARN

2011-09-30T12:10:00.000-07:00

Hello there, Vanna!

Yes, yes, I bought acrylic yarn. With good reason, too. I need a bulky yarn for a project, but I need it to be wearable indoors, without the wearer's head going up in flames from the heat. Supposedly acrylic fits the bill better than wool. We'll see!

There are people out there in the internet land that will know exactly what I'm making just from looking at the colours. I don't know that they read my blog, though.

Doodling With Yarn

2011-09-25T14:02:00.000-07:00

I've been practising with my needle and yarn to make cute little doodles on the hexipuffs. The following picture shows the evolution of my skills.

This gorgeous yarn is Dragonfly Fibers Djinni Sock in the colourway Starry Night. I kinda want to buy a bajillion more skeins of this yarn because it's delicious to see and touch.

It is included in honour of the Doctor Who episode, Vincent and the Doctor. It also reminds me of Vincent's famous lost painting, The Exploding TARDIS.

Everybody else is doing it, so why can't we?

2011-09-25T13:39:00.000-07:00

There's a herd of knitters out there, a really huge herd. And there are trends and themes and stories that circulate in the knitters. Now I might not be the kind of knitter who switches from coffee to tea because the Harlot posts about tea (but then, I was already there), but I did get seduced by the cute little new pattern that's all the rage: The Beekeeper's Quilt.

The Beekeeper's Quilt is a woolload of hexagons, tied together to make a quilt. The hexipuffs are knit in the round, so they're 2-sided, and they're lightly stuffed, making them quilt-like and squishy. To me, the appeal is making an epic-sized knitting project in tiny bits. Because you're making little hexagons, it's an extremely portable project. It's go-anywhere do-anything kinda knitting project. Other blankies have been popular for the same reason, but this is the one that sucked me in.

Some knitters jumped right in and made a bazillion without hesitation. Me, I've been dithering over this, in between other projects. This next photos is an example of much dithering:

From left to right,

column 1: knit as pattern directs on size 4 needles.
column 2 and 3: knit as pattern directs on size 6 needles
column 4: top, knit with casting on 24 stitches, bottom, knit with casting on 22.

I find myself favouring the size of the size-6 hexipuffs, but I worry that the fabric isn't dense enough to keep the stuffing in and the fabric neat. But every time I look at the size-4-hexipuffs, I'm displeased with the aesthetics of their tiny-ness.

Oh, and my blanket has a theme: Every puff will be somehow related to Doctor Who. I'm planning a Spotter's Guide, to identify each puff's story. Here's the first installment.

Computer Stuff

2011-09-25T09:19:00.001-07:00

This is a knitting blog, but I've recently spent a lot of time solving problems with my desktop PC. I'm going to blog about the solutions here in case it manages to bubble to the top of some one's attention and maybe help them.

"chkdsk doesn't fix the problem"

Problem: My desktop PC has been automatically running the chkdsk routine on startup for over a year. The routine takes about 20 minutes, but fails to fix the problem. My attempts to get it to solve the error just ran the same routine and didn't change anything. It's a pain, because either I needed to start the computer 20 minutes before I needed it, or hover and stop the routine before it ran.

Solution: I tried to start the computer in "safe mode with networking". The start up paused with the message "please wait". It didn't show that it was doing anything, but it made the same sounds as it makes when it runs chkdsk. 15 minutes later, the computer rebooted and the problem has gone away.

"After installing Norton Internet Security 2012, my PC won't read my Nikon Coolpix camera and won't read cards."

Problem: The computer won't recognize the camera. It makes a stuttering connect sound, but won't see the camera. When I removed the card from the camera and put it in the reader slot, nothing happened, though the card reader's light was lit.

Note: I actually found other people through google who had similarly lost access to their camera after a Norton install. One person said that Norton said it wasn't their fault, because if you uninstall Norton, the problem persists. But it seems suspicious that some how the install hoses the drivers.

Solution: In administrative mode, open the Control Panel and the Device Manager. My camera and card reader drivers both showed as damaged. I deleted them both. The next time I connected the camera, the computer downloaded new drivers and it worked.

"Installing Norton Internet Security 2012 made it so my Windows Vista PC couldn't connect to the internet."

Problem: Install NIS 2012, all connectivity disappears. Even NIS won't open, but just gives error messages.

Solution: There is no easy solution. I spent four hours with Norton customer service. After hours of going round in circles, I was escalated to a supervisor, who eventually requested to take control of my computer remotely. This was a terrifying thing to permit, but I went ahead and allowed it. After messing with my software and drivers, he finally fixed it.

Research carefully before upgrading to NIS 2012 on a Windows Vista computer.

Just in time for cooler weather

2011-09-24T15:20:00.001-07:00

I had some good knitting time, and my Camp Loopy Third Project was finished in time.

I don't often knit with cotton, and really, I don't much want to very often, but this was pleasant enough. This is my first adult-sized garment, but possibly not my last!

Pattern: Tabitha
Yarn: Kollage Riveting
Needle size: US 6 for skirt, US 5 for bodice
Modifications: I had been pondering doing away with the button closure in front, and gained inspiration and confidence from this Tabitha. So I knit the bodice in the round, with a faux button-band in seed stitch, until I had to split for the arm holes and neckline.
What I wish I'd changed: The shoulders are a bit broad. A few more decreases for the arm holes might make them narrower.

Down to the wire

2011-09-10T17:36:00.000-07:00

I am making steady progress on my Camp Loopy project. I am also really running out of time.

This has to be completed in 5 days. I have to finish about 3 more inches of the back, and then knit edgings along the neckline and armholes.

It's possible, but to do so, I will need knitting time. Today, for example, I started driving kids about at 8am and pretty much was driving/running errands until I arrived home at 4:30pm and fell asleep. Tomorrow, I'm taking the kids out on an outing. I work all week, as always, and every evening has a parental-meeting scheduled. Monday's meeting might allow for knitting time, but Tuesday's won't.

But I've made it this far in Camp Loopy, I'm not willing to fail now!! Off to knit....

Camp Loopy Update

2011-08-28T14:04:00.000-07:00

Knit on, campers!

The skirt of my Camp Loopy shirt is making progress. I've knitted it to 12". I've also worried and fussed and done the math over and over, wondering if I'm going to run out of yarn.

I finally put an end to my worries and ordered another skein. That's the only way I can guarantee I won't need it.

What I Did Over The Summer, Camp Edition

2011-08-21T18:09:00.000-07:00

Okay, it's true, I'm a Joiner. When Sheri at The Loopy Ewe announced they were sponsoring Camp Loopy, I totally joined in. This was, after all, camp without bugs, camp without uncomfortable beds.

Camp Session One: Knit a shawl or scarf that is two-coloured.

I immediately ordered two skeins of Bugga!, ready to camp.

Well, make that 3 skeins. The one on the left, Smiley Face Spider, just leaped into the cart, along with the Autumn Tiger Beetle (centre skein) and Mr. Nancy (on the right).

Autumn Tiger Beetle + Mr. Nancy = Camp Loopy Clockwork!

Clockwork is a steampunk-inspired pattern by Stephen West designed specifically for The Sanguine Gryphon, the dyers of Bugga! yarn.

Camp Session Two: Knit socks, mittens, or gloves with cables.

For this, I returned to a classic favourite dyer, Dream in Color, but a new sock base, Everlasting, colourway Nebula. I knit the Yarnissima pattern Appunto.

(This was my primary project during the Alaska voyage.)

Camp Session Three: Use at least 800 yards of yarn.

With this challenge, I'm embarking on a new project: my first adult-sized garment. I'm using the Kollage yarn Riveting, which is made from recycled blue jeans.

I'm making the pattern Tabitha, designed specifically for this yarn. I purchased the pattern last spring, and this was incentive to finally use the pattern. Session Three officially started Monday, but I continued struggling with swatching throughout the week. Last night I cast on 308 stitches, then had to rip them out again. This morning, I cast on 308 stitches again, and I'm working my way steadily through the edging.

I've got a lot to do in the next 3 weeks!!!

What I Did Over The Summer, Tourist Edition (photo heavy) --Part Three

2011-08-21T17:46:00.001-07:00

[part one] [part two]

In a once-in-a-lifetime trip, I traveled to Alaska with my mother and sister...

... on an enormous ship.

We saw glaciers

and glaciers calving

and icebergs

and humpback whales

and orcas!

There were people who fed the wildlife, even while the naturalist was yelling over the shipboard announcement system, "DON'T FEED THE WILDLIFE".

I kinda love trams,

and totems, too.

And now for the Fiber Arts portion of the blog, the weaving in the Totem Museum in Sitka Alaska:

What I Did Over The Summer, Tourist Edition (photo heavy) --Part Two

2011-08-21T17:03:00.001-07:00

[part one] [part three]

More fun with cousins, this time at a ranch.

Ranchers not only travel by horse, but by 4-wheeler.

And when they need to move a lot of people, by hay wagon. At blinding speeds like 5 or 10 miles an hour.

Although some people travel by bucket.

Now, see these cliffs?

They loom over the California Trail. The pioneers graffitied the cliffs and left their marks.

The "49" and "50" mean 1849 and 1850. Unfortunately, the surface is soft enough to take graffiti, and is also too soft to be preserved. These marking won't last many more years.

What I Did Over The Summer, Tourist Edition (photo heavy) --Part One

2011-08-21T16:46:00.001-07:00

[part two] [part three]

I think these pictures make our summer look even more exciting than it was.

There was boating with cousins.

(only one individual in the above and 2 below pictures is my actual progeny)

It's fun to stay at the YMCA

There was Bryce Canyon

My Square Foot Gardening Disaster

2011-07-04T08:08:00.000-07:00

This is my third summer with a Square Foot Garden. Every year has been full of hope and promise but devoid of results. The premise of the square foot gardens is that with a high-quality soil blend, you can grow a lot of produce in small areas. The soil is theoretically so rich and abundant that you don't even need deep gardens. So 2 years ago I put out a lot of money to create 3 square gardens that hold 16 square feet each and to make a really fabulous soil blend with vermiculite, peat moss, and a bajillion kinds of compost. Each year it's started out well, but the plants never really take off and thrive. This year, soil tests showed that my garden was completely devoid of essential nutrients, so I've been fertilizing organically, but my garden is still doing what it always does--not much.

Take for example the zucchinis. Two plants from the same batch, planted at the same time. The one on the left is in the square foot garden, and just very recently started growing a little. Despite its tiny size, it has bloomed, but I've seen this other years. The tiny plants can't grow a proper squash, so it will get to be a few inches then go soft and rotten on the vine, never reaching a proper size. The one on the right was planted in a container bag into planting soil that I bought for $9.99 at the gardening store. The one on the right is flourishing and I have confidence that those blossoms will actually bear fruit.

Similarly, I have 4 tomato plants in the square foot garden, and one in a container bag. The ones in the garden on the left are tiny, with a few odd blossoms. The one in the container is huge and has set fruit.

In past years, I've had promising potato plants, but the harvest always turns out to be about the same number of potatoes as I planted. So again, the potatoes have been put into bags. The plants started out in 4" of soil at the bottom of the bags, and bit by bit I've added enough soil until the bags are full. No guarantees that I'll get a bigger harvest this year, but I hope so.

The square foot garden that formerly held potatoes has now become my onion and carrot garden. The onions are flourishing but the carrots aren't. I hope that under those huge green onion tops are delicious and oniony onions, but considering how my potato plants looked great but had not much under the soil, I'm not confident.

Conclusion: These shallow square feet gardens aren't as effective as the book promised. It's just not as easy as they say to get soil that's so fabulous it can grow good plants in tiny spaces. If I total up the cost of the building materials, the soil, and then all the fertilizers, composts, and worm castings I've purchased to try to get something to grow, it's embarrassing. It makes gardening look like a casual pursuit of the wealthy and privileged, rather than a frugal way to expand one's food budget. Sure, a lovely homegrown tomato is priceless, but I don't have limitless money to throw away on trying to grow one. I could have bought bushels of fabulous produce every summer at the farmer's market for a lot less money.

Copper in the sun

2011-07-03T12:50:00.000-07:00

It's 97F/36C out there. We're melting! We're melting!

What better time than a stinkin hot day to finish up a cozy pair of hand warmers.

The last of the Copper yarn is all used up.

Plus, if i may whine for just a moment, these little warmers had SIXTEEN ends to weave in. Yes, SIXTEEN. Thank goodness for chilly basements where one can weave in ends without baking to death.

Will Knit For Stuff (part 2)

2011-06-29T20:40:00.019-07:00

Yet another trade this spring!

In exchange for handmade salted caramels (oh wow oh wow I hoarded these)

I knit a pair of Firestarters.

She sent me the yarn, which was Wollmeise in Poison #5.

And I admit that I ate most of the pound and a half of the caramels all by myself (but only one or two at a time). I only shared with the kidlets if they performed significant tasks for me. My logic was--these socks took my time to knit up, so do something that frees up more of my time to knit.

Another fun exchange!

Cu

2011-06-29T12:28:00.015-07:00

From String Theory Colorworks, we have Copper!

It arrived, and I cast on immediately. I used a modification of an old traditional pattern, Old Shale,

with my own version of the Bordhi-style riverbed heel.

This yarn is pure love!

Will Knit For Stuff (part 1)

2011-06-28T20:21:00.000-07:00

Oooooh la la! I recently completed a trade where I sent handwarmers in exchange for an intricate lovely piece of embroidery. Check out what arrived in the mail!

Such incredible little details! Here's how the whole piece looks:

She has much nicer pictures of it here.

In exchange, I sent her 2 sets of hand warmers, to keep her toasty while stitching and in other occupations on that gloomy west coast.

The first are made of Bugga! in Horseshoe Crab.

And then, because one can never have enough hand warmers, a pair of Dashing made from Malabrigo Rios in Pearl Ten.

I think we are both pleased with the outcome of this exchange. I've been admiring her extremely detailed intricate work for a while now, and was so very pleased for a chance to have one of my own.

Knitting with Wollmeise

2011-06-04T12:54:00.000-07:00

I have recently been knitting with a skein of Wollmeise. I've owned some of this rare and highly-sought-after yarn for nearly a year, and just recently began actually knitting some. This skein is not actually my skein. I'm knitting the socks as trade.

I soon discovered a problem with the yarn. It's overtwisted. Way overtwisted. Twisted enough that the stitches won't sit straight, causing the socks to twist diagonally. It was unsightly and unacceptable. To solve this, I wound up letting the sock dangle every half row and spin out the overtwist. Consequently, I can't knit the socks two at a time, because they can't untwist when they're joined. And even worse, the knitting takes a lot longer because you're stopping every half row.

To test the twist of the yarn, I hold two spots on the yarn, and bring the dangling strands together. If they twist around themselves, they have too much twist. I pay attention to the direction the strands spin, and that's the direction I spin the sock.

If you hold the dangling strands close to each other and they just hang there, not twisting around each other, then the yarn is fine for knitting.

Perhaps the overtwist is a defining characteristic of this expensive yarn, but I couldn't knit with it that way. The knitted product was sloppy and twisty. It's been a long process, knitting these socks while untwisting the yarn, but I'm nearly there.

Gothify (Photo heavy post)

2011-04-26T19:53:00.000-07:00

Goth-i-fy--verb--to make gothy. To imbue an item with gothy properties. To make yarn like Gothsocks. To take a variegated, solid, or semi-solid skein of yarn, and overdye part of it to create stripes. Origin 2010. Variations gothy, goth, gothing, gothed, gothification.

Sample sentences:

"She is quite the gothify-enthusiast."
"Dude! I would totally gothify my pistazie for your feuerwanze!"
"Love this gothed-up yarn!"
"This would be awesome gothified."

Before/after of WM Frosch, gothing by thestarsandseas on ravelry.

Before/after of WM Pistazie, gothing and before-pic by jakey on ravelry

(These greens look similar in photos, but the upper is a bright green, and the next is a darker, khaki green)

And before/after of a gothhoard, gothed up by theotheramylee on ravelry, The Amy Lee Show on etsy.

Look at these pretties!

Sad Garden

2011-04-24T14:40:00.000-07:00

Luster Leaf 1601 Rapitest Soil Test Kit

Well hot damn! I think I know why my garden has been such a dismal failure.

BOOM

2011-04-24T11:32:00.000-07:00

Okay, yes, it's another orange skein. But.. but... it was called Louder than Bombs!

The magic of blocking

2011-04-03T11:34:00.000-07:00

I'm neither the first nor last to blog about this little bit of knitter's magic.

Fresh off the needles, before blocking...

After a nice evening's blocking...

Yarn: Rainy Days and Wooly Dogs Belladonna Gothing (BFL) in Tainted Love
Pattern: Gail aka Nightsong (Rav link, must sign in to see)
Needles: size 7

Those photos were taken today. Friday was sunny and warm. Saturday was dreary but temperate, until it rained. This morning, we awoke to snow.

Do you sense a theme?

2011-02-25T21:48:00.000-07:00

-He likes to be warm

-I had an extra skein of purple

-Dashing is an easy pattern to just dash off

-Oh, and it might be safe to say he has a favourite colour

Tainted Lace

2011-02-20T14:19:00.000-07:00

It doesn't happen very often, but sometimes I catch the lace bug. It happened several summers ago, and then ever since I've been concentrating on my main love: socks, mittens, hats, even scarves and shawls, but not complicated lacey ones. It's not that I draw a definite line, and lace will totally slip into my work sometimes.

This week I found myself paging through stitch dictionaries, and then grabbing needles and swatching. Then I went through the library catalogues and requested a gaggle of lace books.

This was partially fueled by a general lace excitement, and partially a search for the best way to knit up my skein of tainted love.The yarn was slim and twisty, and was in no way appropriate for socks. (Or rather, I'm not willing to knit on a size 0 needle or smaller, which would have been required to make this a decent pair of socks.)

The pattern Gail (aka Nightsong) jumped out as the Right Pattern For The Yarn, and I cast on right away. Knitting lace is a completely different experience than my usual knitting. I can't put the needles on automatic pilot while watching a show or chatting with friends. I can't use the chart for a few rows and then memorise the pattern. I can't read my knitting and know just by looking at what stitches I've already knit what stitches I should knit next. I can't forget my pattern at home and blunder ahead anyway.

Also, knitted lace is never very pretty while still on the needles. It's scrunchy and bunched up and all messy. When it grows up, it should be lovely. That's the intent, anyway.

The little orange lines snaking through the pattern are "lifelines". These are threaded through the stitches and left there as a safety net. If I ever screw up royally, I can pull out the needles and rip out the stitches down to the lifeline. That will hold the stitches securely and allow me to carefully put the stitches back on the needle. With a sock, I can just rip out stitches and put them back on the needle without too much difficulty. It's time consuming, but simple. With lace, there's so many complicated stitches that ripping out is a headache, and can sometimes be so unrecoverable that the entire project has to be scrapped. The lifeline is there to prevent a project-dooming calamity.

Experienced and daring knitters knit lace with a lifeline. I'm not that experienced with lace, and decided the extra time and fuss of putting in the lifelines was a worthwhile use of my time. With careful attention and good knitting, I will hopefully have no need for them.

Baby things

2011-02-20T13:52:00.000-07:00

Far, far away, a little baby was born. She's so far away she's in tomorrow. The poor little thing had IV lines and cultures and infections, but I hear she's home and sleeping in a cute and noisy fashion. A few days before she arrived, I sent a package across the world to her. Hopefully the items will arrive while she's still an infant.

Skewed Skew

2011-02-20T13:45:00.001-07:00

At what point should a project be abandoned? At what point does the heartache and frustration outweigh the joy of the process and the joy of the finished object?

These questions have been looming large recently. I returned to a skew-in-progress that has been in time out since October. I have knit the skew pattern four different times, and while it's involved, it's not all that tricky, so I do not understand how it is that I continue to mess it up. This grey pair was in time-out for having been the cause of a great deal of redo.

I already have one sock finished. It's the 2nd sock that is not cooperating. The previous attempt was completely ripped out, and I started over with the correct needle size. When the sock was big enough, I switched from magic looping to a 9" circular. At that point, I made a critical error. When you're actually doing the increases, it's too close to see any misalignment, so that's how I got a good 2 inches past the error without noticing.

At the point where I switched needles, I accidentally moved the centre of the row one stitch to the right. This shifted the central column of stitches, making the skew sock rather skewed.

No, seriously. I have screwed up this sock yet again.

Time-out lasted about a week. I ripped it down last night and have started progressing on this again. With the column correctly aligned.

Epic Elven Socks of Epicness

2011-02-13T13:56:00.001-07:00

The socks with the intricate cable pattern are complete. They took the entire skein of yarn. Only about 6 little grams of yarn remain. I've never knit a pair of socks that took so much yarn! They have been renamed to Epic Socks.

Yarn: Bugga! in the colourway Juniper Hairstreak
Pattern: Aragorn

Also, while wearing these socks and wandering a creek with a girlfriend, he encountered a strange man who told them about the elves that lived in the hollow, showed them the mystical faery tree, and read his past lives and named him brother.

Once locked, now open over there

2011-02-10T22:22:00.000-07:00

two worlds once parted,
there, now sewn together
with the past behind us.
-John and Mary

The legs of these socks have been very slow going. The cablework eats up both yarn and time. And not only have I had other projects pushing them out of the way, but the intricate detail requires dedicated attention. I can't knit on these and watch Doctor Who, and there's been quite a lot of watching Doctor Who around here lately.

I finally finished the 2nd leg, and turned that second heel. Then the socks' requirements with regards to speed and attention completely changed. The plain knitting of the foot speeds by. Seriously, I knit 3 inches on 2 socks just tonight. The socks are now being knit together, to ensure that both are the same length in the foot. In the legs, since the distance is measured in cable repeats, it's easy to make sure they match. On the feet, since it's just a sea of plain knitting, there are no place markers. Knitting them together eliminates any pesky counting or measuring.

Also? I think there's a camera hog in the house.

Fun facts about this yarn

2011-02-07T19:01:00.002-07:00

I once purchased this colourway when I had my best gothluck ever.
I went ahead and sold it to a mama in Australia because it caught my sympathies that she would have to get up at 2am just to even try to buy gothsocks.
This skein was a prize I won in the aforementioned stripey sock KAL. It was the "newbie" prize and I guess I knit the most stripey socks of all the newbies in the swap group.
MLO is a kind and wonderful person who donates amazing skeins as prizes.
I've never won a prize in a KAL before!
Today I watched Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland for the very first time.
When the movie was over, I went to check the mail and found this skein, Mad as a Hatter.
This skein wants me to knit it. Now.

Knitting Cryptology

2011-02-06T16:30:00.000-07:00

In graduate school, I had a technology-related class that had us write a paper with a fairly open topic. The instructor wanted us to use topics of relevance and interest to us, but to examine them in a way that related to our studies. I wound up writing a paper examining the cryptology of knitting, discussing constant and context-based signs and codes that communicate patterns and methods to knitters.

If I were still writing that paper, I'd have a new experience to discuss. I found an adorable hat pattern that I wanted to knit, but the pattern was in Finnish. Google Translate provided me a rather whimsical interpretation of a knitting pattern, translating "knit" into "correctly" and "purl" into "inside out", with reference to manipulating wires and electrodes. With the assistance of an online guide to translating knitting terms, as well as careful study of the photographs, I was able to come up with a fairly good translation of the pattern, and a pretty cute hat.

A tale of two Knit-a-longs

2011-02-06T16:15:00.001-07:00

In January, I was participating in two KALs (Knit-a-longs) organised through ravelry groups. One was a gothalong, which simply meant knitting with yarn from Rainy Days and Wooly Dogs. The other was a stripey sock KAL, which had helped inspire me to knit all those stripey socks in the fall. These 2 KALs are very compatible and I could have so easily double-dipped by knitting some gothstripes into socks.

But of course, the knitting-controller aspect of my brain went rogue and completely discarded that plan. I couldn't decide which gothstripe to knit up, and what I really wanted to knit up was my Absinthe. I had just discovered a delightful little pattern named Hitchhiker, and that had to be my gothalong project.

The hitchhiker was so named because the designer's prototype knitted up with 42 points. My version knit up with 38 points, and I'm just so happy with it. It makes a really snuggly scarf, and I find myself wearing it nearly every day. Instead of Douglas Adams, it reminds me of Anne McCaffrey books, with the scarf looking like the tail of a little green firelizard perched on its human's neck.

Once I'd attended to the gothalong, I found myself with a week left of January and the desire to knit one more pair for the stripe-along. I had plenty of yarn leftover from the neon anklets, and cranked out a new pair of neon socks for myself. I bound off the cuffs in the 10 o'clock hour on the final day of January.

And more pokehats!

2011-01-16T09:56:00.000-07:00

The teen's need for new pokemon hats continues. This time, we captured drifloon in hat form.

This is one of his fan graphics, showing the pokemon itself.

It turns out that it's not easy to find a vibrant grapey purple worsted yarn. I custom ordered it from Coulrophobia, and the yarn she sent was perfect. I didn't want to run short, of course, so I ordered 2 skeins. One skein was more than enough so I have an extra skein of purple yarn!

Pattern details may follow.

Stripey socks, another finished pair!

2011-01-16T09:46:00.001-07:00

I've been participating in a stripey sock Knit-a-long, which helped guide my choice of gift socks this winter. This is the pair for my #1man, yarn gifted and then knit up afterwards. The yarn is Vivace by Sweet Paprika in the colourway Cinnamon Bark from the Loopy Ewe. I used a Bordhi-style riverbed heel, but with modifications. Her heel increases are enourmous and take up a large section of the foot, eating up huge quantities of yarn. This version had less increases, and increased every other row. I'm really quite happy with the heel. It turned out nifty, wrapping neatly around the heel when worn. The eye-of-partridge patterning has tactile and visual appeal, and hopefully compensates for the lack of nylon content in this 100% merino yarn.

The weekends are for turning heels

2011-01-09T18:17:00.000-07:00

I have been turning heels this weekend. Two heels have been successfully turned, the third will hopefully be completed tonight.

The browns socks are for my husband. I did the classic knitter gifting stunt where I gave him the skeins of yarn, and a promise to make them into socks soon. The yarn is Vivace by Sweet Paprika in the colourway Cinnamon Bark. I ordered this yarn on the 21st of Dec from the Loopy Ewe and it arrived--amazingly--on the 23rd.

The green yarn also came from Loopy in that same order. It is Bugga! in the colourway Juniper Hairstreak. The pattern is Aragorn. I have long toyed with creating a pattern where the cables twined down the front of the sock and then split in the middle for Bordhi-style sky-sock increases. This pattern did all the designing work for me.

I've been using the Hiya Hiya 9" circulars for this sock. While the tiny needles take some getting used to, I find the knitting quite flies once I've adjusted. The needles are appropriate for the leg because the pattern controls the number of rows on the leg. Now that the heel is turned, I will be putting the sock onto a holder until I've knit the second sock to the same point. Then I will knit the feet together on a large circular, in order to ensure both feet are the same length.

What I Did For My Winter Holiday

2011-01-09T17:02:00.000-07:00

The teen in my life said, "Mom, I want you to make me some hats." I said, "I love making hats!" Turns out, he wants complicated hats. The skitty hat took me days, working one step per day. The ears tried my patience in a huge way--there may have been cussing--but they turned out adorable. I even had to bust out my rusty embroidery skills for the eyes.

2010 went out with a stripey BANG

2011-01-09T16:45:00.000-07:00

Hello, blogland. I'd like to show you the last projects of 2010.

First of all, socks for my mom. Finished but not mailed yet, sigh. Out of Knitpicks Felici Sportweight.

Secondly, socks for my dad. Also not mailed. Also out of Knitpicks Felici sportweight. This took the entire 2 skeins. The contrast toe and heels were out of necessity to ensure these fit a large man's foot.

And some anklets for the tween, made out of String Theory Entanglement, the colour custom-ordered from the dyer.

As a bonus, there was a wee pair of booties for a coworker's baby who will be arriving any day now. These were crafted out of the mystery mini-skeinlets I bought at a local yarn store. The pompoms are adorable, but I fully expect the momma will just cut them off, because they really do make the booties fiddly.

A cunning tree

2010-12-13T19:14:00.001-07:00

The teen in my life has a wee Christmas tree that he carries to school with him. Adorned with USB Christmas lights, it twinkles festively, powered by his laptop.

Last week I decided it needed a Jayne hat.

Yeah, it took me less than an hour.

Hats!

2010-12-07T22:00:00.001-07:00

(details here)

Stripey insanity

2010-12-06T21:57:00.001-07:00

It just so happened that I had two very excellent skeins of stripey yarn, fresh from etsy. Garbo, by Rosy Retro, and some black/green from Anne's handspun. I couldn't decide which to cast on first.

I had one of those epiphany moments. I picked up a 40" long size one needle, and wondered, "How many socks could I fit on that?" The teen said, "YOU'RE SCARING ME MOM"

Clearly I can fit four socks at once on two 40" needles. The crowd control on the strands of yarn took a bit of getting used to, but once the socks got big enough, I could stuff the separate balls into the socks, which settled down all the yarn riots.

The four socks grew up together until the cuff, when I split them up for more individual attention.

And now I have two new delicious pairs of socks.

Both are plain toe-up socks with garter stitch toes, stockinette feet, mini-gusset at heel, short row heel, 3x1 rib on the leg, and 1x1 for the cuff.

Yay for stripeys!

Play at Life Hats

2010-12-04T13:22:00.000-07:00

Yarns! Hats!

A week ago, I got two new yarns from Play at Life Fibre Arts. One is from reclaimed yarn, recycled and dyed by the artist. That's the purple gradient yarn. The other is new fibres, aran weight in the colour "twinkle lights."

Since then, I've been knitting hats. First, a slouchy hat for the tween girl. The pattern is Arrow, but I knit the arrowhead pattern nearly twice, instead of once as directed.

Then, a long pointy hat for me, which used up the entire skein.

Modeled photos to come, as always.

Mini mystery skeins

2010-11-24T17:41:00.000-07:00

While shopping in yarn stores for buttons, I discovered a little basket of sock-yarn skeinlets. They were sold by the ounce, and I bought a little selection that was about 1.2 ounces. It cost me $3.10.

Once I got home, I realised I wouldn't be able to classify the yarn on ravelry! I quite think the purple is Auracania, with the way it sticks to itself, but the pink is some merino superwash. I cranked out some teeny-tiny newborn booties. The picture shows how much yarn was left after making four booties. I have woven in about two thirds of the ends. More button shopping is in order!

Buttons!

2010-11-24T10:14:00.000-07:00

Just over a week ago, the first of the two nephew-babies arrived. She was 3 weeks early, small, but healthy. This meant that we could spend our Thanksgiving time adoring a brand new baby.

I got the buttons on and the ends woven in this morning, just in time to hand deliver the gifts to the new family.

But of course, the aftermath of the underwhelming blizzard is that the roads are closed, so there will be no Thanksgiving journey, and no hand-delivering the gifties.

We adults are disappointed to not see the family, but relieved to not be driving in adverse conditions. The teen is happy to be able to stay at home. The 12 year old yelled "IT'S NOT FAIR!" and ran to her room in tears and slammed the door. Is she right on schedule or what?

A story

2010-11-10T20:07:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time, long long ago, I was young. At the time of this story, I had a very nice boyfriend. Very fine indeed.

One day, my boyfriend said to me, "Would you like to come to my grandma's 80th birthday?"

I thought, "Wow, he's taking me to meet his family!"

He thought, "This long trip will be a lot more fun if she comes along."

Although he was clueless to the implications of taking a girlfriend to a major family gathering, no one else failed to catch on. Even his four-year-old nephew knew that this was an interesting development. He beamed at us cherubically and inquired sweetly, "Are you guys gonna get married?" We weren't quite ready to deal with that kind of question, and I'm sure our answer was an awkward splutter.

But within the year, we were indeed married.

A couple years ago, I had the pleasure of attending that cherubic nephew's wedding. Now both he and his older brother are expecting babies in the new year.

Of course, I've always been the weird aunt. And I'm supposing that hand-knitted gifts from the weird aunt might not be among the favourite gifts. But you see, I'm one of those knitters who, when hearing that a baby is coming, casts on. It's just what happens.

The yarn is Dream in Color Classy, and I bought it specifically to have for baby knitting. I was very pleased, while agonizing over what to knit, to remember this yarn. I still have to locate the perfect buttons for the booties.

Retroactive Blogging

2010-11-08T13:46:00.007-07:00

In November, I finished a pair of socks that had been languishing on the needles. I failed to blog them, and I know that no one will care but me, but for my own closure, I'm blogging them in the future and backdating the entry.

It's funny, I have a pair at home just like them.

Miller's hat, more pictures

2010-11-07T12:00:00.000-07:00

Did I mention how very toasty this hat is? I love it!

A surprise

2010-11-04T16:59:00.000-07:00

I didn't notice that I liked orange until I looked at my yarn stash...

Seriously, I have NO orange clothing. But I something about orange yarn seems to suck me in!

acquisitions--more yarn than knitting

2010-11-04T16:52:00.000-07:00

I recently brought a little more Bugga! into my life. They had a Hallowe'en special, where for a small discount, you could buy two matched skeins designed for striping knee-highs. You could get black-and-orange or black-and-purple. That brilliant orange sucked me in, and I had to buy it.

While I was ordering straight from the source, I decided to bring home one more skein. I didn't notice at all how close it was to the other skein until I had them both in my hands. Both a vivid orange, but different enough to really not work well together. I think the picture is a little too red, it's really very orange.

It came with a soap sample, so it smells very very good.

Unfinished Skew

2010-10-30T08:34:00.000-07:00

Remember Skew? The pattern quite took over my spring.

Then, with 3 unfinished Skews on the needle, my attention wandered elsewhere. Recently, I have been working to finish up languishing projects. I started work on the mismatched pair, progressing through the increases. Then I remembered I had a single sock I could work on, and perhaps I could finish it up in time for it to count for Sock-A-Month's October. So I switched to the grey sock pictured above and got knitting.

So let me recap the story of the grey sock. I started knitting the skew for my dad. I wasn't sure if it would fit him or not, so I didn't finish until he was visiting and could try it on in progress. We determined that it would fit, and I quickly finished off the first sock, and knit like mad to finish the 2nd sock. I didn't make it before he left. My attention might have wandered, but I returned to the grey sock, intent on finishing for Father's Day. When I got to the heel, I discovered my numbers didn't line up. I ripped back to the start of the increases, ready to redo it more carefully. I ran the numbers in my head and couldn't get them to line up, and that's when I put the sock in time out.

I ran the numbers again recently, and pretty much figured out that I wasn't going to get the heel numbers to match up without fudging one stitch. I don't recall doing it for the first sock, but I just will go ahead and do it to on the 2nd sock so I can finish it up. I knit like the wind on that 2nd sock, got the heel done and kitchenered, and started on the leg. That's when I held the 2 socks together to see that they matched perfectly. They did NOT. The sock I was knitting on was smaller than the first sock. I counted stitches, but the rows numbered the same. I compared the two socks. That's when I got a sick, sinking feeling. I've been there before.

I got out the calipers and measured, but it only told me what I already knew. Sock #1 was knit on a 2.50mm needle (size 1.5), and Sock #2 was knit on a 2.25mm needle (size 1).

Ironically, when my dad was visiting, I had pulled out the calipers, the size 1/1.5 needles, and the St. Peter Port socks, and told him the disastrous story of what happens when you knit a sock on a needle .25mm different. He's no knitter, but he's worked all his life with electronics and wood, and has a good appreciation of precision and of utilising the right tools. He fully appreciated the story, and commented that he wouldn't even have kept the 1.5 size needle, he would have thrown it out to prevent this from ever happening again. I countered that the 1.5 size needle was useful, and look, I was knitting those new socks for him on it.

I don't recall what happened that I allowed myself to start the 2nd sock on the wrong needle. I can't imagine why I let my attention lapse so carelessly. But now I won't be able to finish sock #2, and that pair of socks is going back into TIME OUT.

an embarrassment of yarnz

2010-10-30T08:17:00.000-07:00

I seem to have a lot of incoming yarn this fall. I found a new dyer of delicious stripeys, Rosy Retro, and decided I needed to bring home one of her skeins. The skein is called "Garbo", which reminds me of my mother's paper dolls that I used to play with, and I can't wait to see how those blues and greens knit up.

I traded my Old Blue Jeans WM for an Amethyst WM. The colour is rich and deep and very lovely.

Lastly, I needed some trim for my Miller's Hat. I went to a local yarn store and spent a great deal of time wandering through, looking at all their worsted weight yarn in brown, grey, rust, black, and even olive. I found some Malabrigo that looked promising, but it was a chunky weight, and I needed worsted. I eventually settled on some heathered Cascade 220. I hadn't intended to choose Cascade 220, but of all the colours I examined, this one had the warmth and richness needed to compliment the lovely Ember colourway.

Finishing the Miller's Hat didn't take long. I don't have any good photos of it worn; beware, those are yet to come. But I'm quite pleased with the outcome, even if the decreases will forever be steep and a little too short.

a second finished object for today

2010-10-25T19:28:00.000-07:00

Yay, something else got finished off today, ends and all. These haven't been languishing nearly as long as the hat, but they've been waiting for a few weeks for just the final inch. Now I can get these soaked and ready for gifting.

Unfinished Object, Finished

2010-10-25T11:42:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning thinking about the Quincy I started last November. I'm home with a recovering flu-victim, so I had the time to pull the hat out of the drawer and take a look at it. Turns out, it didn't take long at all to finish up the crown and make this a finished hat.

I think it'll fit a kid 5-8 years old. Yay, an unfinished object out of its hibernating drawer.

How I fixed the hat

2010-10-24T23:01:00.001-07:00

After my previous post outlining how I ran out of yarn for the decreases for my miller's hat, I settled down to see what I could do.

I did go ahead and use the leftover Skinny Bugga by holding it double stranded. I alternated rows between the gothling and the Bugga, and I only knit the decrease rows. This made the decreases rather steep, as there's supposed to be a row between each decrease row. Impressively, the Skinny Bugga doesn't show at all.

Next up, I need to find a contrasting colour for the lower band.

Miller's Hat, Stuck.

2010-10-21T17:14:00.001-07:00

So, the pattern requirements are 220 yards of worsted yarn. The skein supposedly has 260 yards of worsted yarn. But it's not enough. On the 2nd row of decreases, I have 7 grams of yarn left, and no hope of finishing this hat.

When staging this picture, I also tossed in the little ball of fingering Bugga that was left over from making the herbivore. There's 4 grams of that. If I held it double, it might pass for worsted, but while it's the same colour, it's far more luminous than the worsted yarn.

Not. Happy.

Pernicious Gauge

2010-10-17T12:40:00.000-07:00

Not too long ago, I started knitting up my worsted gothlings in Ember, using the Miller's Hat pattern. The pattern suggests a size 6 needle, with a recommended gauge of 20 stitches to 4 inches in herringbone stitch. I just started up the hat as a swatch, which allowed me the luxury of already having progress made, if the gauge was correct, or I would have to start over anyway, if the gauge was wrong. Well, the gauge was way off. In a size 6 needle, I was getting 20 stitches to only 3.25 inches. I went up 2 needle sizes and started over. My gauge is still small, more like 20 stitches measuring 3.5 inches, or sometimes 3.75. I'm not willing to go up any more sizes. The cable part of the hat is to be knit on one needle size larger, and I'm not willing to knit this yarn on a 9/10 combination, which would be too loose for this weight of yarn.

The herringbone stitch is tricky, because it involves floats, which tighten up the gauge, but I pay careful attention to those floats to make sure they aren't too tight. That's what makes the knitting so tedious. I have 8 more rows of this stitch, and I am quite looking forward to being done, so I can move onto the fun part.

The picture shows the size 6 version above, and the size 8 version below. I do think it'll be very pretty when done!

Acquisitions

2010-10-17T12:32:00.000-07:00

The red-n-black yarn from the previous post got sent out into the world, and in return, I got Absinthe Makes the Heart Grow Fonder, a Rainy Days and Wooly Dogs club yarn. I've wanted this yarn since I saw it, and am glad I could make a successful trade.

The pictures I took of it were all washed out, so I sent the picture to NinjaTeen, and handed him the skein of yarn. With his photoshop skillz, he painted it up so it looks like the true colours again. I'm still deciding what this yarn will be, but it will be worn around the neck for sure.

Recently, I looked at my WM in "My Old Blue Jeans", thinking about starting to knit it into a clapotis. I looked at it critically, and realised it wasn't quite the right blue for me. So when I saw a blue WM at Loopy Ewe that was to my liking, I tossed it into my cart and bought it. Amazingly, I succeeded. I had already filled up my cart, so that I just hit the $75 shipping threshhold. I have 2 skeins of Malabrigo, both destined for things for other people, 2 fancy-shmancy crochet hooks I want to try, and the WM in Blaue Tinte.

The My Old Blue Jeans was perfect for a Ravelry swap, so it's on its way out, and I'm expecting a lavender skein in its place.

Acquisitions

2010-10-09T11:25:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago, I had a really good etsy day and managed to snag 3--count them, 1 2 3--skeins of Gothsocks. My secret was to employ the ninja skillz of my teenage son. This would be gluttonous and greedy, considering how difficult it is to buy this yarn, but I'm only keeping one of them. One is going to Australia, to a mama who couldn't wake up at 2am to buy yarn, and the other will be traded for a colour that caught my fancy. The blue one, Tardis, will stay with me.

Acquisitions and progress

2010-10-09T11:17:00.000-07:00

Last week I ordered yarn. I read about it on the Ravelry Longies/Soaker group, and I admit I was encouraged by a glowing review by the Yarn Harlot. So I ordered a skein of green merino from Marr Haven.

The yarn arrived early this week. It was every bit as wonderful as I'd hoped. So soft and so plush!

I caked up the yarn as soon as I'd photographed it, and immediately started swatching. I've been working all week on a little pair of newborn sized longies. For a friend. No babies expected around here.

I do love being able to knit the legs together, just like 2 socks at a time.

Sparkly completed objects spring forth fully formed from my needles

2010-10-03T12:12:00.002-07:00

I have 2 finished objects. They're delightful things, and I'm very happy to have completed them. Looking back, I see that I never blogged any progress, and there's not even progress photos, save one. Looking back further, I see that I didn't even blog the arrival of this lovely stripey yarn.

The yarn is Night, a gilded Gothsocks by Rainy Days and Wooly Dogs. I was so impressed with how perfectly it pairs with Eurota Purplewing, a Skinny Bugga! yarn, that I had to knit them together. Twice.

It started with some socks, of course. Sparkly socks with no fancy pattern, just a toe-up sock with a ribbed leg. The heels were knit double-stranded for extra strength.

Moments after completing those, I cast on for a pair of gloves. Thus we get the only in-progress photo, and ill-staged shot of the cuffs that start out a pair of top-down gloves.

I wove in the ends to these last night, and would be wearing them now if it weren't so dang hot!

Here's me, headless but happy with my new sparkly knitwear!

No picture--Green smoothie

2010-10-03T11:53:00.000-07:00

I'm new to the Green Smoothie thing, and I'm still trying to make one that the kids will consume. I tell them it's not a fruit smoothie but a green smoothie, which helps, but still it has to be delicious. I use a VitaMix, which is the only blender I've ever owned that can churn up anything I toss in it.

Today's smoothie:

Carrot juice (from Costco)
frozen spring greens
frozen banana
ripe pear
flax seed
1/2 avocado
frozen blueberries

Delicious flavour, but a little sludgy.

Acquisitions

2010-09-27T21:03:00.000-07:00

The Etsy divinities have been smiling on me. I have had success in not one but two Rainy Day and Wooly Dogs updates. Some people are still hoping for their first skein of this yarn, so I feel very fortunate to still be able to acquire some now and then.

This first of the yarns arrived today. The only word to describe it is "SQUEEEEEEEEE"

Need another look?

As they say on the Rav forums, "CDH", which means "Cold Dead Hands", or rather, "from my cold dead hands." But this will be knit long before anyone could ever try to pry.

Off to snuggle up with my new yarn. G'night!

Skirt! Again!

2010-09-21T19:51:00.001-07:00

It's 9pm. My #1grrl is in tears because she's gone through her entire closet and drawers and cannot find a single thing to wear for picture day. It has to be a skirt or nice pants, but she doesn't have any nice pants. And she can't find a single skirt that touches her knees, well, she can, after all, I just made her one this summer, but she doesn't want to wear *that*. No, no, the skirt won't even show in the picture, but you still have to have just the right thing for the *outfit*. And me, I'm a sucker. If she wants me to sew for her, I'll do it, even though I know she'll never ever wear the skirt again. Besides, I got to practice my *rolled hems*. Oooh. Ahhh.

State Fair

2010-09-20T18:50:00.001-07:00

In honour of my blog silence for all of September so far, I present you with, "Sorry I haven't blogged in a while, I've just been so busy..."

I just wonder--is life ever not busy? Not that I would ever know.

As in other years, the end of summer means time for the State Fair. I had intended to enter my Jeanie in the fair, but that fell apart. So I opened up my Ravelry project page and looked over my last year of knitting accomplishments. I decided to submit my herbivore and my stripey gothy hat-heel knee socks. The socks have gotten a lot of wear in the last year, and so they weren't in pristine condition, but they were clean and neat, and I liked their unusual construction features, including the garter toe, the reinforced pad-of-foot area, and the hat-heel.

Attending the fair has cemented into a bit of a tradition with my daughter. We attend with my knitting coworker and her son, who this year is 4. We also bring along one of her ballet carpool buddies. The girls enjoy taking care of a little boy, and he likes hanging with big kids. We tour the Home Arts building, and the girls keep an eye on the boy, while we two adults run around looking at everything. It's not just the knitting that impresses us. We linger at crochet, quilts, baby christening gowns, table cloths, embroidery, and so much more. This year we ventured into the food-side of the building and oohed at the cakes and breads and preserves, too. We never get enough time, what with the patience of a 4-year-old being our limiting factor, but we thoroughly enjoy the visit.

Now, on to my results. My stripey knee socks received a red second place ribbon! The judge wrote on the back, "Fun stuff" and "loved the graduation to fit calf". In the picture, you can see a lovely set of monkeys (I think?) beside my socks with a blue ribbon, although they were submitted by a different category of knitter, so they weren't in direct competition. This year, the socks were stuffed a little for display, which gave them some body in the presentation.

And my herbivore received a third place ribbon in the scarf category. The judge wrote "Interesting concept". Well, I can't take any credit for the concept, other than choosing that lovely pattern to knit.

I also was quite delighted to find a Shipwreck entry displayed. I have been gathering supplies to knit my own Shipwreck, and thought this one was very lovely. I felt like it could have been displayed better, and was surprised to see it only took fourth place. Because of the nature of the chaotic displays, it was not worth my limited time to hunt down and see what three items placed above it, although I'm certain they were also very impressive. I did try to find this on Ravelry, but with so many shipwrecks listed, I gave up. But to the Shipwreck knitter out there, "Lovely job! I think it rocks!"

This year, I let my daughter spend her babysitting money on a wristband for rides. She and her ballet friend toured all the animal sheds with us, and then they were let loose on the rides. Soon I left with my coworker, and the ballet girl's mother took over for the rest of the afternoon. When she came home exhausted at dinner time, the grrl admitted, 'My favourite part is really the Home Arts building and the animals." But I do think she got her money's worth on that wristband.

It's all over now, baby blue

2010-08-31T07:25:00.001-07:00

You know how it feels to have your words thrown back in your face, especially when they're true?

"If it's bugging you now, you know it's going to bug you even more later"

Yeah, my knitting coworker and I tell each other that a lot. Because we both know it to be true.

When I started on the third skein for Jeanie, it looked darker, but I kept knitting, trying to believe the difference wasn't significant. After all, I hadn't been able to see the difference in the skein.

It's no good. The difference is noticeable. In the photo posted below, I hope it's obvious that the edging is significantly darker than the rest of the knitting. The last third of the project would be that darker colour.

And as much as I've tried to tell myself I don't mind if the last third is darker, it's bugging me now. And experience tells me, it'll bug me more later. It certainly cannot be my entry for the state fair.

This yarn is, of course, an "experimental". I bought it at a discount because it wasn't a regular line of yarn, so the inconsistent colour is all part of the experience. I just wish it had been visible when I examined the skeins.

My entire summer's knitting efforts are for naught.

Bye bye jeanie.

Musings and Numbers about Jeanie

2010-08-26T07:46:00.004-07:00

There's just not a lot to blog about when knitting Jeanie. I've done it before and she looks the same, just longer, day after day.
Jeanie needs to be 3 skeins long.
July didn't even finish off one skein.
Jeanie progresses in groups of 6 rows, one cable unit.
I could theoretically knit one cable unit in 35 minutes, because 5 of those rows take 5 minutes, while the cable row takes 10.
I have never actually knit a cable unit in less than 40 minutes.
What with interruptions and distractions and life, a cable unit often takes an hour.
While on the road, I challenged myself to knit 3 cable units in 2 hours, theoretically possible.
The first time, I completed it in 2 hours 6 minutes. The second, in 2 hours 11 minutes.
There is no "making up time" if you get behind in knitting Jeanie. If you have to reach back and pass the ipod to the teen, that is time forever lost. If you try to quickly find Pretty in Pink on the ipod, but it's not there, and you search and search and never find it, that's all knitting time forever lost.
I focused on knitting on the trip home, and I calculate that I knit a half a skein in a 13 hour drive. My goal was to knit a cable repeat for each hour. I managed 15 repeats, by way of the above-mentioned 2-hour challenges.
I'm almost finished with skein 2.
I'd like to finish skein 3 in the next 8 days.
That would have been easier if Mockingjay hadn't come out on Tuesday.
But I finished Mockingjay last night, so now to knit knit knit like a maniac. Back to knitting!

Raven's Wings--a finished object

2010-07-17T16:38:00.000-07:00

Yarn: Bugga in Ruby Tailed Wasp

Pattern: Herbivore by Stephen West (ravelry link)

Made for an art show benefiting the Zen Center that is affiliated with our knitting circle.

This is my second herbivore made from a bugga yarn. The yarn is delicious. The pattern is a joy to knit. The finished product is very pleasing.

A skirt's tale

2010-07-17T07:40:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time, I had a blue linen skirt from Old Navy. It was a good skirt, with a delightful bell shape, and attractive embellishments above the hem.

I wore that skirt often, and it was with me when I stepped into the Mediterranean Sea for the first time, and when I met Don Quixote.

Then, one tragic day, I was wearing the skirt at work, and it split open right at the bum. Alas, those fabrics from Old Navy are fragile and have no stamina.

Although the fabric was sorely damaged, and I could not see how to repair it, I could not dispose of so much good fabric, and the skirt went into a pile in the sewing room, where it became a part of the clutter, forgotten and dusty.

One day, my daughter wished for a better skirt for her costume. She needed something blue, with lots of fabric for flowy dancy action. It was she who discovered the old blue skirt in the sewing room, and presented it for my consideration.

Being that the skirt has a draw-string waist, no alterations to the width were needed. All that was required was removing a great chunk of thin and damaged fabric, and the skirt had a new life!

Let's get this started already!

2010-07-10T16:19:00.000-07:00

I"ve been wanting to start another Jeanie all year now. I started experimenting in preparation for it in February.

A week ago, the time came to start my new Jeanie. Casting on turned out to be an adventure.

Casting on Take One:

cast on 137 stitches
count stitches--136. add one stitch.
count stitches--136. add one stitch.
count stitches--137.
count stitches--137.
start first row. come up one stitch short.
rip out.

Casting on Take Two:

Cast on, adding stitch markers to keep exact count.
Knit one row.
After examining knitting, understanding why Judy's Magic Caston is not a good replacement for the provisional caston and will not be okay.
rip out.

Casting on Take Three:

Cast on using a size 10 needle and replacing the waste yarn with a cable from my interchangable needle sets.
use stitch markers to keep careful count.
due to busy schedule, carry this around in my knitting bag a few days.
knit the first row, carefully following pattern, at lunch time at work.
after lunch, sit in a work session, fondling my knitting.
discover that section one, which should be 8 stitches in length, is only 6 stitches.
recount several times that afternoon.
section one still continues to be 6 stitches.
rip out.

Casting on Take Four:

sit down with the family to knit and watch sitcoms
cast on 20 stitches, using stitch markers to keep track
notice I'm doing the figure 8 backwards
rip out.

Casting on Take Five:

cast on 40 stitches, using stitch markers to keep track
notice I'm using a size 6 needle instead of the size 10 needle that's needed for caston
rip out.

Casting on Take Six:

cast on all stitches, using stitch markers to keep track
knit first row
knit second row
notice that I didn't put the end cap on the interchangable needle cable, and the provisional stitches have fallen off the cable.
rip out.

Casting on Take Seven

cast on all 137 stitches, using stitch markers to keep track
continue to knit.
This time seems to be the right time!

More herbivore!

2010-06-23T18:38:00.005-07:00

I've required some pretty simple knitting lately, aka "mindless knitting". So when I finished the Noro scarf, I immediately cast on my new Bugga! into a new herbivore. The yarn colours are knitting up just gorgeous.

Stripes!

2010-06-22T21:36:00.000-07:00

I previously posted that I was caking up my Noro. Since then, I've had lots of "mindless knitting" time, but not much blogging time. Time enough to knit up a whole new Noro scarf. Once again, it was a very addictive knit! It required a little intervention, now and then, when the colours collided, but was a very rewarding project to knit. The scarf is a donation to the school auction this fall. Yay, I'm done early this time!

FOOD--Italian-style tofu on rice

2010-06-22T17:42:00.001-07:00

Last night I wanted to make marinated tofu to serve over wild rice, but I didn't have time to marinate for an hour. Instead I started to make sauteed tofu, but it turned out so saucey that it wound up being stewed instead. The recipe was loosely adapted from the Italian Marinated Tofu in Vegan with a Vengeance, and it turned out yummy.

Italian-style Tofu

1 lb tofu
8 cloves fresh garlic, crushed
2 TBSP olive oil
2 TBSP Bragg's Aminos
2 TBSP red wine vinegar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp Italian seasoning blend
2 large tomatoes, roughly chopped

Drain tofu and press while preparing the sauce. Heat the oil over medium-high in a saucepan and add the garlic. Stir and cook just until sizzling. Add rest of ingredients, and stir together until well incorperated. Dice and add the tofu. Simmer until the tofu takes on the flavour of the sauce, about ten minutes. Serve over rice.

Notes. All measurements are approximate, I just poured stuff in. I would have preferred fresh Italian spices, like basil, oregano, and thyme, but my garden isn't thriving well enough yet to provide.

Titanium Socks, Finished!

2010-06-21T21:27:00.000-07:00

On May 31, I finished my titanium socks. I didn't want to let my participation in the Sock-a-Month club pass me by for the month, so I cast them off at the very last hour.

Yarn: Stitchjones Titanium Sock
Colorway: Bangkok
Pattern: Yarnissima's Firestarter
Needle: Size 1 circular

I loved the yarn, but was dissatisfied with the pooling. I gave up on trying to avoid the pooling and just let it pool like a pooler. The socks are very comfy and colourful.

Acquisitions! Spoiler alert for Loopy and Gothsocks

2010-06-21T18:18:00.002-07:00

Dude, like the topic above says. There are spoiler pictures in this post for the Loopy Groupie package and the June Gothsocks. In case any readers care.

First of all, I have acquired my first Wollmeise! I have been aware of its insane popularity on Ravelry for a long time now. Only recently have I paid enough attention to be able to successfully navigate an update at The Loopy Ewe and actually purchase some for myself. I also got some more Hiya Hiya 9" needles, as I still do enjoy knitting with them. I had also added the pattern "book" Balloon Tying Creations to my cart, but in an incredible stroke of bad luck for me, Sheri blogged about the book on the very day that I was stalking for the WM, and the book sold out instantly, and I didn't get to buy it.

Need another look at that Wollmeise?

As a bonus, this was my sixth order at the Loopy Ewe. (And it's taken me years to get to six orders.) Loopy has a loyalty program called Loopy Groupies. When you place your sixth order, you are inducted into the Loopy Groupie club. As a welcome, they send you an awesome package. This purchase was made using my mother's day and birthday gift certificates, so getting a bonus gift in my package made it extra special! They sent a really cute see-through tote bag, a pattern, a sheep calendar, treats, plus a skein of yarn! My yarn was Brooklyn Handspun in the colourway "renew".

Oooh la la!

But wait, that's not all! Today I received a birthday package from Ember. And she sent me the Balloon Tying Creations book! Thanks Ember!!

Plus! Today I also received my June Gothsocks club package. It's my final club package, and I struggled a long time while I decided whether to renew or not. By saving my yarn money, I was able to buy the Wollmeise, which isn't exactly buying yarn as it's needed, but I've definitely slowed down on the gratuitous yarn-stashing. Anyway, back on topic, my final yarn is GORGEOUS. DO WANT.

The yarn is based on the TV show Big Bang Theory. The photo above shows the yarn with a disc of Big Bang Theory, which also arrived in the mail today. Good mail day!

Caked Noro

2010-05-30T11:13:00.001-07:00

Well, the titanium socks just need to be bound off, and my dad's socks are at the heel, but the numbers don't add up, so they'll require more problem solving.

What to do? Cake some Noro! MMMMmmm, Noro cakes!

Herbivore, finished object

2010-05-30T09:11:00.000-07:00

Yarn: Skinny Bugga in Lubber Grasshopper (mmm-mmm good!)
Needle: Circular size 7
Pattern: Stephen West's Herbivore (ravelry link, if you're interested and aren't a member of ravelry, sign up. it's worth it.)
Notes: The pattern says to knit until the centre spine measures 12". That was a little too small for me. I knit until I couldn't get any more pattern repeats out of the yarn. There were 5 grams left when I bound off.

Yarn 4 yarn--May Gothsocks Club Spoilers inside

2010-05-29T08:40:00.000-07:00

When I received the May Gothsocks Club shipment, I knew that it was a yarn that needed to be with someone who would love it madly. As always, as soon as the spoiler pics were released, there were people looking to acquire it, so trading it was no problem.

I received Bugga Ruby Tailed Wasp from the lovely MissTwilight on Ravelry. It snuggles up with me at night and keeps me warm.

Spoiler below

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And in return, I sent her the Alice-inspired "Drink me" colourway. Gorgeous, pettably soft, but not something I would have knit up. I'm glad she can give it a Good Home.

I also gave up my spot in the Gothsocks club, allowing one more lucky soul to get in. I only have so much yarn money, and I need to be able to choose what colours and yarns to buy when I do splurge. But I still have the June yarn to come!

when it all falls apart

2010-05-27T19:41:00.000-07:00

I really do like center-pull balls. For my routines, they work the best, and keep the yarn tidy and behaving. However, when they get low, really low, they get all discombobulated, and that's when it's a bummer.

Bullied by wings

2010-05-16T07:46:00.000-07:00

Well! I was knitting along on my titanium socks and I'm really only 14 or 21 rows from the end. But then I started dreaming about Lubber Grasshopper, and couldn't stop. The titanium yarn was the same way, creeping into my consciousness and demanding to be knit up. The this other yarn edged out titanium and forced me to take up my needles and knit.

I'm knitting the Stephen West pattern "herbivore". The sharp angles and crisp texture speak of the yarn's namesake, grasshoppers, with their sharp angular legs. They also speak of dragon wings, huge, intimidating, sharp and angular, but delicate and graceful in luminous colours.

Linger

2010-05-14T21:16:00.002-07:00

Ooooh la la! Linger is coming!

What's in progress now, Part Two

2010-05-02T16:24:00.000-07:00

With my mom's socks finished, and my dad's socks well underway, but not able to be gifted before he left, my attention has wandered back to the titanium socks, and I split my knitting time between the Skews and these.

I've just started the gusset on sock #2, and I'm hoping to contain the pool to one side like I did on the first sock.

Back to knitting!

What's in progress now, part one

2010-05-02T16:19:00.000-07:00

Last week, my parents visited. It was their first visit in 5 years. We just live a little too far away to get many visits. Sadly, life does not stop for visits, and we still had school/work/ballet/softball. But I did fix them dinner every evening, Dad fixed several things around the house, and we had a lovely visit.

Before they arrived, I finished my mom's socks. I immediately started a pair for my dad. I managed to finish one sock, so he could try it on, but didn't get the second done before they left. Sadly, the heel is tough to get on, but he still thinks he'll wear them, as they seem to fit well once on. I'm using Trekking that I bought last November specifically for this purpose. In fact, I've knitted from all the yarn I bought that time, although one skein still has enough left for socks.

Finished Firestarters!

2010-04-27T15:54:00.001-07:00

Pattern: Firestarter (rav link) by Yarnissima
Yarn: Dream in Color Smooshy in Deep Seaflower
Needles: Hiya Hiya 9" circular in size 2 and 3

They've been gifted and they fit. Hurrah!

Acquisitions, Gothsocks Club Spoiler

2010-04-17T16:22:00.002-07:00

Attention all ye readers! If you happen to be in the Gothsocks club and you haven't received your April shipment, beware! The picture is below. (I'm pretty sure no one would find it by accident, but there's the alert, just in case.)

Okay, I have to admit, I'm still acquiring yarn faster than I can knit it. But selectively.

First of all, I needed a new order of Noro for a donation piece I'm going to make. I just happened to buy a couple of skeins of the highly-coveted Skinny Bugga to fill up my shopping cart. The colours are gorgeously saturated, and are called "Lubber Grasshopper" (the left skein) and "Eurota Purplewing" (the skein 2nd from left).(ETA: Ordered from The Loopy Ewe, of course, and received only two days after ordering.

Also new to my yarn stash is the March Gothsocks colour, Godric's Glory. If you watch True Blood, it makes sense to you. If you don't, like me, you can still admire the pretty, pretty sparkly stripes.

April Spoiler, here.

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This is called "Frakkin Toaster" and it's inspired by Battlestar Galactica. It's a bamboo/merino/nylon blend and begs to be something wispy worn around the neck.

Sob. I need more knitting time!

Socks of the Deep Sea Flower

2010-04-15T17:45:00.001-07:00

Finally! A chance to knit a project on a 9" circular needle. My hands get a little uncomfortable, but it's not a barrier to use, and the socks just sail along.

The pattern is Firestarter, just like the previous (still unfinished) socks. The yarn is my ever-favourite Dream in Color Smooshy, in the colourway Deep Sea Flower. I turned the heel last night and finished the heel flap today, so I'm making good progress.

ETA PS--Look! Squee! Johnny Jumpups! Did I plant those??

Ravelry Goodies

2010-04-12T01:41:00.005-07:00

For those of you who use Ravelry, check out this page of lesser-known goodies. This showed me how to get progress bars on my blog, which gives me happiness.

splish splash

2010-04-05T21:08:00.000-07:00

In a previous post, I worried about the gussets pooling. Boy howdy, did they ever! Those beauteamous stripes just oozed into a slick smear. Fortunately, the smear confined itself to one side, so I was able to make that side the heel. We'll see what can be done about sock #2.

A skewed-up finished object

2010-04-04T10:33:00.000-07:00

For a long time, my daughter has wanted socks out of fingering weight yarn, and finally she has some.

Pattern: Skew

Yarn: Online Supersocke

Needle: Size 1

Modifications: Knit as instructed at a smaller gauge to fit a slimmer foot.

Issues: it fits perfectly, but it's difficult to get over her heel. I suspect here's another pair of socks she'll never wear.

Those darned right twists

2010-04-04T10:25:00.000-07:00

Me: These right twists are going to kill me.
Him: I hope those aren't your last words!
Me: That would suck, eh?
Him: I'd put it on your gravestone.
Me: In the stress of my demise, you'd forget the exact words, and there'd be a misquote on my grave.
Him: It's not that difficult. "These right twists are going to kill me." I'd get it right.

The pattern is Yarnissima's Firestarter. The yarn is Stitchjones' Titanium Sock. At 72 stitches around and 10spi, this yarn knits up perfectly. I'm not sure I'll like the gussets. I suspect they'll pool.

The right twists have been the worst part of this pattern. I recall warriors in Sock Wars complaining about the right twist. They did a workaround that involved a k2tog, but what with the purls and the ktbl, that's not an option here. I unvented a workaround in which I slip both stitches to the right needle, and do a mirror image of the process for the left twist. Works beautifully!

A year in the making

2010-03-28T16:03:00.001-07:00

I started this sock a year ago on a road trip. I just returned from a road trip to the very same place, and I found myself knitting on the sock again. I had previously decided to rip out the heel and redo, but I changed my mind.

I took this picture to show the kind of scenery I was enjoying while knitting, but knitters might notice something interesting about this picture. Look at the needles. Can you see that one is missing? When I put the knitting into my knitting bag, I some how pulled out a double-point and didn't notice. Directly after taking this photo, I put the double-point back into the knitting. It actually went back in quite smoothly.

The yarn is Knitpicks, the discontinued Essentials. It's really quite soft and lovely to touch, in sharp contrast to some other Essentials I have.

I started the toe as written, and then remembered that I wanted a double-stranded toe. I ripped out 12 rows of toe and redid the toe to match the heel. That didn't turn out so well. The toe was too pointy to fit a human toe, and the decreases made the chequerboard look messy, not cute. I ripped out the double-stranded toe, and redid it as written in the pattern, finishing just as we arrived home this afternoon. A year later, one sock complete.

The pattern is Hiiumaa from Knitting on the Road