Thanks to You

I finished the socks! Thanks to the kind words of others & the thought of how much my mom would have dug these socks, I finally knit those last few rows, kitchenered them up & tried them on. Not too shabby for my first heavily-modified pattern.
Here they are:


This photo really shows off the neat way the swirling pools of color match up on both socks!


They are so soft & wonderful, I can hardly express how much I love them! The Mr. likes them too, and, thanks to my big feet, he might even have a chance to wear them. I think they'd look kind of snazzy with his Birkenstocks.

Well, next up, I need to finish my French Market Bag from knitty.com, just finishing up the handles is all that's left! Then onto my Clapotis-redo. I made it up last year, but, sadly, I came up about 10 yards short on my yarn! I ripped & was unable to bring myself to knit it up again immediately & it has been waiting in a corner for me to notice it. It would probably still be waiting if I hadn't gone to knitting class these past couple of weeks (I use the word "class" loosely, as it was more of a social gathering I paid good money to attend.) Anyway, one of the great things about class (aside from the company!) was that I could use the shop's swift & ball-winder! So my many many yards was wound up neatly into 1 big & 1 little ball.

Hot on the Clapotis' heels, I hope will be my Cafe Bastille sweater from Interweave Knits. I am mostly done, just have a sleeve to finish & the seaming. I am making it from Cascade's Ecological Wool, which has proven to make a much nicer fabric than I would have guessed. It is actually quite soft & no more scratchy than I find Manos. I'm just waiting on another skein (why do I keep running short?) to finish this bad boy.

Thanks again to everyone who wished me well in words & thoughts!

Switch it good

Oh yeah, I'm a switcher & I don't care who knows. Well, I might not go shouting it at Bill Gates, but otherwise I feel pretty safe letting you all know that I am the proud owner of a delicious & nutritious new iBook! I am so happy with my new toy. Of course, the Mr could not be long behind me, so 2 days after my purchase he tripped into Best Buy & bellied up to the Sony Vaio laptop he's been lusting after for months. We are such suckers for technology. Of course, I am also proud to say I am doing my bit to support the Red Cross & craft at the same time by patronizing the Etsy.com shop for Crafters United - all proceeds from the sale of the items listed by crafters all across the country go to the Red Cross for Hurricane Relief.

I feel bad for not keeping up with posting, but I have had a really horrible August. My mom passed away on the first. This left me barely functioning for the most part & then, to top it off, I found out my sweetest, most loving cat, Cole, has kidney stones. He's only 4 years old & although we thought it was touch & go at first, we are hoping he will be around for awhile, even if we have to force yucky medicine on him every day! And we will do it. These 2 things just left me speechless, I guess you could say, but I am going to try to pick up where I left off. This includes knitting. See, my aunt called me with news that my mom was doing poorly on Saturday, I flew straight out on Sunday. While I sat with her I talked & balled up some beautiful sock yarn. I told her all about it & the socks I was going to make with them. She passed away on Monday & I began knitting the socks. I used the 2 socks on 2 circs method & managed to do a little at a time. But I can't seem to finish them. I keep picking them up & putting them down, I'm at the beginning of the toe decreases now, but I just can't bring myself to finish them. I only knit one project at a time, so this is a pretty big deal for me. I have been knitting practically every spare minute for the last year & a half. Until now. I have some beautiful dark brown Calmer to knit a Shedir for myself (made a chemo cap for mom out of some beautiful lavendar Calmer), the Debbie Bliss Cashmerino to unravel from my gargantuan Hourglass Sweater, my Clapotis to re-knit, Irish Hiking Scarf to finish (ran out of yarn, now have more thanks to Rob!) and various other projects waiting to get going. I really want to finish the socks. But, at the same time, I don't. I guess I just need a little more time.

What a downer! Go read something funny now, I promise to be better next time.

She likes them!

That is so cool, having Alison leave a nice comment for me!

I have actually finished the socks, but am not going to show the finished product until after the swap is over. I realized when I had finished that they were a the tiniest bit too snug for me (maybe because my pal's feet are an inch smaller? Hmmm?) thus ensuring they end up with their intended recipient, rather than my having the sock poll I had planned. The really sweet thing is, the Mr. was soooo impressed with them he forgot I made them for someone else & was really put out when I told him they were going to a different home. That made me feel good that he liked them so much! Plus, it gives me a perfect excuse to go get some more DB to make another pair! Right? That's what I thought!

Other knitting progress...
The Koigu tie has bored me to death & I haven't even made it 30 rows. So it sits in the corner until I can muster up some enthusiasm for it. I think it'll be a Christmas gift at this rate!

I am now making this: in this: . It is turning out beautifully! I am so impressed with the sophistication of this simple stitch.

That's all for now, I'm off to brunch with Mr. Phil.

Cashmerino Socks - Truckin' Along

Thanks to Ben Franklin Crafts I have been able to continue the journey down the cable road. I was told they don't carry smaller sized circs, but I think the person just didn't think to look behind the larger sizes. There were 0s-2s behind the 3s! Yesh! So far s'ok, I infinitely prefer the Addi Turbos, but beggars can't be choosers. The join is very abrupt & the tips can split the yarn if I'm not paying enough attention. Still, I think they're coming along nicely. I'm a little nervous about the amount of yarn I have left, so I might stop with a 7" leg instead of the patterned 8". The pattern calls for 2 skeins of Lana Grossa Meilenweit Cotton which has 208 yds to the skein & I am using DB Baby Cashmerino which has 137 yds, cutting it a little close...


 

 

Can I just say, this yarn makes my cables look sooooooo good! I am in love with it! I have been wondering what to use my Cashmerino Aran (formerly used for the Hourglass Sweater)for & I think it'll either be Bonne Marie's Scoop du Jour or something with lots of cables like Mariah. Decisions, Decisions!

My Bad

I re-read my last post & realized I came across as miffed at threadbear. This is absolutely not the case! I am really impressed with the customer service & the fact that Rob has devoted so much time to helping me out...not an easy thing, I can be a bit of an airhead. He even managed to track down another skein of the Koigu for me & I am so grateful! So if anybody got the wrong impression, let me correct it, I LOVE threadbear fiber arts, they are faboo & have well-earned their stellar reputation. I am already planning my next purchase!

What I meant to convey was my exasperation with my day in general. Yes, even library staff have funky days at work. Let me tell you, the number of people who are willing to argue over a $.20 fine is astounding. Oh, they'll admit to being tardy, they just think it's not fair. Like the lady who wanted her fine reduced after returning some books she'd lost while on vacation & thinks there's a difference between someone who intentionally keeps a book & one who accidentally loses one. Come on people, this is the library for Bob's sake! Free books, free internet access, friendly people who will help you find out the average length of hibernation of a naked mole rat...for FREE! Give us a break!

Back to knitting...
I reached the point on my socks where I need to go down a needle size. This means I am looking for 32" size 2 addi turbos. I had no clue that this would be difficult, I mean, I walked right into the store & bought my 32" #3s off the shelf easy-peasy. Oh no, #2s, it seems, are special order material. Well, not neccesarily, there is a store (that shall remain nameless) that I don't like to support that has them...for $17 each!! I need 2 of them, no way am I paying $34 to finish a sock. I would rather wait & get them from elann for $25 + shipping. I am hoping I can get them from threadbear with my second skein of koigu ::shameless plug::. I refuse to use dpns. Especially since the point to the 2 circ method is that I'm doing 2 at the same time, why mess that up now?

Wish me luck!

Baby Cashmerino Cable Rib Socks

 

I am having a great time using the "2 socks on 2 circs" method. Such a time-saver & will take away my ability to procrastinate on sock #2! I really don't think it's taking that much longer to do 2, than it does to do 1. I've also learned a new cast-on, the cable cast on, but done as a combination of knit & purl. I wasn't paying enough attention & cast on as k1p1, when I really should have done k2p1, as that is the pattern of the sock itself. Oh well, it's still wonderfully stretchy & I think it'll pass inspection by all but the most discriminating. Hey, I'm a beginner, what do you expect?

My order from Threadbear arrived today (speedy speedy!) and I am in loooove with the Koigu. Unfortunately, I found out that there was a correction to the necktie pattern (printed in the issue with my sock pattern, ironically) & it actually takes 2 skeins of Koigu. So, I shall beg & plead on the Knitter's Review forum for another skein, in hopes that someone is willing to let one go. In the off chance someone reads this, it's P422, I am willing to swap and/or pay! And then my Cascade Eco Wool is the wrong color! Yeesh. They charged me for the right color, but the wrong one ended up in the bag. Ah well, I wasn't going to work on the sweater for awhile anyway...too hot! Socks & neckties are perfect summer knitting.

Ommmmm

I am at peace. I have found a pool of tranquility within myself. I am transcending. I am so full of it!

What I AM is knitting a bag for my yoga mat & I think it's pretty darn nifty. Especially since I'm using the rest of the Cotton Ease to do it, the pink adds a crazy preppy/citrus look to the mat.
See:

om bag & mat 

Not a look I would have planned, but that makes it even better that I like it so much. Plus, this is my first lace project, so I'm feeling pretty special right now. I even like the way it looks just laying around on its own:

om in progress 

The pattern is the Om Yoga Mat Bag from Stitch n Bitch Nation, a book that has very few patterns that appeal to me, this is one of them. I felt like they went a little overboard on the edgy/funky patterns, leaving us with fewer real-life options. Unless you're 17 & don't care what anybody thinks, you'll wear what you like. Man, 30 is old.

Anyway, back to the re-knit. Might just turn into an un-knit, no re. Unravelling gave me string. Not yarn, string.

sweater string 

I'm not sure I want to continue unravelling, or if I might want to pick up stitches & do something interesting for the neckline instead.

I feel like I had a rite of passage today. I placed my first order with Threadbear! Not a big one, a skein of Cascade Eco Wool to finish a sweater, a skein of Cascade 220 in a black & brown tweed to finish an Irish Hiking scarf & a skein of Koigu KPPM to knit a necktie for one of my favorite co-workers. Man, the Koigu was quite the slippery eel! I asked for a single skein of a particular color, when it turns out they had none I listed 4 alternates, all of which they were out of. Luckily, I knew from other blogs that Rob & Matt are excellent at making recommendations, so I gave Rob some basic info on the intended recipient & he suggested the last skein they had of P422. I jumped on it based on his description, and I'm really taking a leap of faith, as I can't find a picture of that particular colorway anywhere!

Should have my loot on Thursday, I can hardly wait!!! My first Koigu!

Which brings me to a slight dilemma. I can't for the life of me decide what to use (yarn & pattern-wise) for my Sockapal2za pal. I have some beautiful variegated turquoise/garnet/cerulean sock yarn from Plain & Fancy Sheep & Wool Co (originally meant for myself, but I would love to make a special gift of it). I have some light blue Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino. I have a hankering to get some Blue Moon "Socks That Rock" from Threadbear. I really want to learn to handspin with a spindle @ a local fiber shop to make my own sock yarn with some superwash merino roving they offer. I can't decide on the yarn, don't get me started on the patterns! So, I'm thinking that rather than choose 1, I'll choose all. I'll make each one that I can & then I'll put it to the vote. Hopefully, I'll have some traffic at that point, but if not, I'll ask Alison to link to my poll on her site.

Take Back the Knit!

$3 =
1 & 1/2 boxes of Red Vines (mmmmm, Red Vines);
greeting card to cheer up my mom;
15 minutes of my time (yes, apparently I do come that cheap)
OR

 

Re-Knit Project - J. Crew Linen/Cotton Sweater 
A loverly cotton/linen blend J. Crew sweater in excellent nick @ Diversity Thrift! (Dog free w/purchase)

I originally figured this would work for a Rowan sweater that Phil has his eye on. But I can just tell the gauge is all wrong, too big. So maybe an hourglass sweater? I'm thinking it would be too heavy, so for now I shall ri-i-i-i-i-p it out & see what I think of it when it's just a couple hunky hanks.

One Skein Wonder - Addendum

Well, here she is, home from work. She had many compliments & I am already certain I have at least 3 other outfits waiting to meet her! I love that the pattern fits so well with no adjustment for the "ample figured." Easy peasy!


OSK - front 


OSK - Side 


OSK - Back 

And this one was prompted by the Mr.

OSK - Silliness 

One Skein Wonder

One Skein Wonder 

Specs -
Pattern: Glampyre's One Skein Wonder
Yarn: Lion Brand Cotton Ease in Bubblegum
Needles & Such: Denise size 9's & 6's (I can't knit loosely no matter how I try)

Doesn't get much easier than this! So cute & summery, and I thought I hated shrugs. Ah well, I'm not one to let everybody else have all the fun. I also have never been a fan of the pink & me combination, but I think it actually looks good with my skintone, who knew?

The pattern was simple, but I think a bit of explanation would be necessary for an absolute beginner. I think this would be a really satisfying project for someone new to knitting, esp. circular knitting. It's not as much of an investment of time & money as a sweater, and is an equally nice wardrobe addition.

Maybe I'll get some photos up of it on tomorrow night if I can wrangle the Mr. into taking some. I might even wear it to work tomorrow!

Shedir - First of Many!

This was such a great project, I am already planning one in black & another in brown. I'm sure the Mr. would like it in a more manly color scheme.


Shedir - top view 


Shedir - flat 

Specs -
Pattern: Shedir from Knitty Fall 2004 Surprise
Yarn: Rowan Calmer in color Lucky #484
Needles: Addi Turbo #3 32" (used 2 circulars instead of 1 circular & dpns), no cable needle used as per Wendy's method

Adjustment -
The only change I made to the pattern was to make one less cable repeat. My mom has a bit of a small head & I don't know that she would like her head to be as covered as the original, so I think the slightly shorter version will suit her better. We shall see!

Oops -
1. The usual M1 mistake I always make - knit through the front instead of the back loop! Actually, I like the mini-eyelet effect, so I'm not complaining & I doubt my mom will either.

2. For some inexplicable reason I shifted 1 st after the first twist & this caused the first cable not to line up. I wish I had noticed what this was at the time, but again, I'm not losing sleep over it. I am glad I won't have to look at it on a daily basis, it would make my hands itch to fix it!

P2tog tbl...woah

I had to post this ASAP, in hope of helping others who might be tearing their hair out trying to decipher this clever (read:diabolical!) trick.

This website is fantastic! Video clips of all sorts of knitting techniques, beginner & advanced. The thing that impressed me the most is the fact that she has separate clips for English & Continental knitters.

So if you know Shedir, then you know that I am zipping along & almost done with this little beauty. I am quite impressed with myself actually! The only other real cabling project I've done has been the Cafe Bastille Sweater from Interweave Knits & I never quite "got it" with that project. This time I really understand how the cabling works & how the sequence should follow. It's a really good feeling, this burgeoning confidence & hey, I'm extraspicy, baby!

Taking A Time-Out

That would be the Hourglass. I am not yet feeling up to ripping it out/down, so I have started another project in the meantime...started & almost finished! See:


Shedir day 2 

Next item in the queue is in the top corner of the photo, the One Skein Wonder. This pattern has been getting some major blogspace lately & it's easy to see why! I stopped into the local Tuesday Morning (I think this place is East Coast/Mid-Atlantic only. Kind of a cross between Marshall's & Big Lots.) as I saw on a S&B list that they had Lion Brand Cotton-Ease there. Sure enough they had 3-packs for $5.99, so I picked up 1 of the pink. There was one more pink pack & I think I might go back to make a sweater for Phil's niece. There is another store relatively close by & I'm thinking of calling them tomorrow to see if they have any other colors I want (red, orange or black) as this location only had the candy blue, turquoise & pink colors.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I am a proud Sock-a-pal-2-zer!! I'm so excited about this & am dreaming up all sorts of combinations for my pal. Not shy about colors & only states a reservation about lace (ditto!), the possibilities are endless!

Enough fo rnow, back to Shedir!

Hourglass Sweater for Pro Basketball Players

Unfortunately, my enthusiasm for this sweater overshadowed my common sense. Every time I thought to myself, "looks a little bit big," I hushed the voice & continued on. Now, I'm still a beginner at this sweater game, so I don't yet trust the gut instinct that tells me the sleeve looks suspicious...or that the Russian Joins really do stand out against all the rest of that clean stockinette. Sadly, sometimes the voices are right. This is one of those times. The sleeves, well, see for yourself.

full frontal 

They are miles too long. The body, which seemed just right before I joined the sleeves, is far too long as well.

Time to retreat, I think. That would be the reason for the curling bound off edge at the neck. I just figured I should take a "before" pic to compare with what I plan on being a fabulous "after" a few weeks from now. Oh, I do not look forward to ripping this out. I have yet to master the winding around a chair thing to form hanks.

Stats:
Hourglass Sweater from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts
Largest Size (49")
Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran on Denise Interchangeables size 7