So - Where's the Knitting?

As you might notice, that isn't knitting. I'm busy learning something the hard way yet again. I'm teaching myself to use the sewing machine my BF's mom let me borrow, and that needle case is my third project.



As usual, there is shocking lack of patterns, which means my corners stink. But I'm gaining experience quite quickly. I think my next endeavor might be a skirt from a book I saw at Powell's: Sew What!.



Aside from the sewing machine marathon of last night (I finished putting together a log cabin quilt top, hemmed some fabric for napkins, and you've seen the needle holder) there has been actual knitting as well. Cast-on-itis, probably. I was feeling pretty good about having a good clear-out - giving my single socks mates, getting somewhere on those blankets, the shawl and the sweater. And then some well-intentioned stashing got all out of hand. View the carnage:



The DIC Shrug.



Endpaper Mitts in Noro Kureyon Sock.

And various and sundry other bits. Oi.

So - what's up with you?

Log Cabin Blues, Indeed

It seems that my choice of names for my latest (and belated) Log Cabin project was more apt that previously expected. In setting up Excel to help me chart my colors and arrange a final pattern for the various squares, I inadvertently figured out a way to calculate precisely how much progress I'd made on the blanket. Being all for precision and perfection, I went ahead and did the math.

Conclusion? I have just now crossed the halfway mark. Gah.

Happy discoveries of the day: a Loopy Ewe group on Ravelry, and a DIC Shrug that only requires 2 skeins of Classy. I'm thinking "Into the Mystic" is my color of choice for that last one.

Not All Business

It seems that while I was away, racking my brain for a topic that could be somewhat interesting to write about and read, I missed a couple comments by Quail Hill and Yarnhog! Sorry ladies. If anyone is still reading. I guess when we changed our email setup here at home (and server, and internet provider, though sadly not hardware) I didn't get things quite sorted with Google and Blogger. Whoops.

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Ravelry, wonder that it is, has served to show me that I have way too many projects "in progress". Well, hibernating, really. My commitment since for the last few weeks has been to get some of the single socks into pairs and possibly finish off that blue log cabin disaster in time for Mother's Day. The Pi Are Square shawl is still wallowing, but I'm 3/4 done with the border. Just a little at a time is all I can handle, I swear. The things that seem to be easiest to get finished are the things that don't take a year or more to reach FO status. It must be some reverse law of physics; I think the Yarn Harlot said something like "projects that aren't finished stay unfinished". My PRS shawl must be a test case.

Just in time to fill my WIP queue, Spring '08 IK arrived last week in my hot little hand. Just love getting good mail, don't you? I'm totally loving about six different patterns, but most especially the Flutter Sleeve. I was thinking it might make good use of something with a little linen drape, and I've been dieing to try out Knit Picks' CotLin. I know, somewhat cheap on my part, and I could make all sorts of justifications about buying Knit Picks and staying within budget. However, the honest fact is that I actually do want to try out that yarn.

(was that too self-conscious?)

The other thing I've been a little obsessed about starting are Eunny Jang's Endpaper Mitts. After my little experience with the Celtic Spiral Socks (a bit bumpy, knit too tight) I think I'm ready to try something else. Which means I've finally found a use for a skein of Kureyon Sock yarn. Let me just qualify this with the fact that I was super excited the minute I heard such a thing was coming out. The very next minute (the one in which I discovered it wasn't superwash) I was totally bummed out. My feet could felt cotton, for booger's sake. But I've been biding my time, knowing an opportunity would present at some juncture. I think they might resemble the color changes of the Kauni geometric and the finished product with either be hideous or wonderful. I've been cruising photos of other Endpaper FO's on The Rav, and finding that really good contrasts make a more attractive FO doesn't get me down. I'm going to try anyway.

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So that's me for the end of V day. Hope you all had a great one. See you on Ravelry!

Tangled Up In Blue

Free of deadline gift knitting, I've gone right back to my old flame - Socks. Okay, so I was checking out the lines on a Sunrise Circle Jacket pattern, knitting, ripping, editing to match gauge and bodily peculiarities. But that isn't cheating. I didn't spend more than a week on the sweater before I slagged back home to the Socks.



Above is my most recent attempt to reflavor vanilla. Koigu, baby. I'm totally in love, and it shows. I knit the entire first sock in 24 hours, and I've actually cast on the second instead of moving to the next yarn and letting the single snooze.



Strawberry Fields. Love them.



Schaefer Anne. A colorway I like to call Buffy. Yes, as in the Slayer.



Jade basketweave socks. Shibui sock yarn. Gack. I have 2 more skeins, and that's all I'm ever going to buy. It was like knitting with cheap unmercerized cotton, only not as good. The socks are pretty, though.



Jaywalker, second attempt. I cast on the larger number of stitches this time. Still no success. I'm inclined to stick to Vanilla for the time being.

1 Scarf, 2 Scarves

A few years back, a friend gifted me with a beautiful scarf that she'd made and decided wasn't the right colors for her. Ever since, I've wanted to return the favor. As the scarf was given to me before I'd taken up knitting in a way that involved nice yarn and a "stash", the scarf has been a sort of demarcation gauge for what I've learned.

My own version of the scarf was seed stitch, as was it's model, but mine was knit up from Noro Kureyon colorway #40 (nearly 3 skeins) and the model was made from Malabrigo (1 skein?). The color changes were fantastic, and there was always some color surprise in each skein. It was fun to knit, and after washing and blocking that sucker was over 80 inches without fringe. Yoiks.

I sent off the package and that was my job done. I had returned the favor.

Today, the story of the scarf continues. The friend I sent it to is a welder in Seattle who rides her bike to work. In order to have something lovely and colorful to wear to work and yet retain a bit of scarf that doesn't turn black with soot and metal, my friend cut her scarf in half and retied the fringe. That just genius!

Where Has The Time Gone?

The internet, which holds great value to me as a place to learn about new yarns, is also a place I'm supposed to do things like maintain a blog and keep up with Ravelry. All in the good name of yarn, true. But what a time sink.

This week we introduced ourselves to Fios, which is four times faster than our previous service. Things don't load, they appear. Since then, I've uploaded all my current projects to Ravelry. I guess it's time to start working on my blog again.

I'm back to knitting socks for myself now that the holiday is over. I've even begun working on the Sunrise Circle Jacket, though after finishing the back and half the left front in a size 41 I discovered my gauge problems were really going to mess things up. I've decided to knit the fronts in a size 37 and the back in a 41 with fewer rows.

I've finished my first (and last) pair of socks in Schaefer Anne. The colorway is very wonderful (dark reds, blues and purples), but the dye comes out on my feet when I wear them. I have enough yardage left to make a third sock. Oi.

I think I've learned my lesson about Christmas knitted gifts. Fewer and with less ambition next time.

Changing Faces

Mostly, I just aspire to knit. Lately, I've been aspiring to knit a sweater from an actual pattern. Frogging ensued, of course. Every once in a while I aspire to color changes to keep up my own interest. A little creative meddling. Right now, I'm trying to blow just enough life into one of the rather drab blog template choices to lessen the blah. If it's a little garish around here at the mo', I apologize. (Watch out, I've been experimenting with new fonts as well.)