Saturday, March 10, 2007
Friday, March 09, 2007
Socks and Stuff
I gave Jersey Mama the first Forest Canopy Shawl. I tried to hold out until I got a photo of Jersey Girl in her knitted birthday gift in return (I am totally not above woolly blackmail). But she was having technical issues so here's a picture from the birthday girl herself:
See, who needs a camera when you've got markers? I made her a sort of overall-like dress adapted from Family Circle Easy Knits for Kids. The pattern, Bear Necessity, called for an intarsia teddy bear on the front. I left the bear off because I wasn't sure if bears were cool among the almost-tweenager set. (Stephen Colbert has them perpetually on notice, which is not a good sign.) Instead of the recommended Tahki Cotton Classic, I used 5 balls of Debbie Bliss Cotton Cashmere, which was very pleasant to knit with, despite being splitty.
The second Forest Canopy Shawl is bound off and ready for blocking. This picture doesn't really capture either the color or the nice variegation, but trust me, it's fun to look at!
Sock Update: I moved Broadripple to a long circ, turned the heel and will proceed in magic loop fashion.
It's a bit slower than having a short circular, but the Cascade Fixation is much easier to work with this way. I also started another sock in a friendlier yarn.
This pattern is from the American Red Cross Museum. I found the link on my SP9's site (thanks Veronica!). I don't think one ball of Opal has enough yardage to make the knee length socks described in the pattern (3 inch ribbed cuff plus 8 inch st st ), so I shortened the leg by 4 inches.
Next up....more shawl news, a spinning update and SP10!
See, who needs a camera when you've got markers? I made her a sort of overall-like dress adapted from Family Circle Easy Knits for Kids. The pattern, Bear Necessity, called for an intarsia teddy bear on the front. I left the bear off because I wasn't sure if bears were cool among the almost-tweenager set. (Stephen Colbert has them perpetually on notice, which is not a good sign.) Instead of the recommended Tahki Cotton Classic, I used 5 balls of Debbie Bliss Cotton Cashmere, which was very pleasant to knit with, despite being splitty.The second Forest Canopy Shawl is bound off and ready for blocking. This picture doesn't really capture either the color or the nice variegation, but trust me, it's fun to look at!
Sock Update: I moved Broadripple to a long circ, turned the heel and will proceed in magic loop fashion.
It's a bit slower than having a short circular, but the Cascade Fixation is much easier to work with this way. I also started another sock in a friendlier yarn.This pattern is from the American Red Cross Museum. I found the link on my SP9's site (thanks Veronica!). I don't think one ball of Opal has enough yardage to make the knee length socks described in the pattern (3 inch ribbed cuff plus 8 inch st st ), so I shortened the leg by 4 inches.Next up....more shawl news, a spinning update and SP10!
Monday, March 05, 2007
Thank you, Spin-to-Knit Pal!
A great big Thank You is in order for my lovely handspun yarn swap pal Autumn! Is this a wonderful package or what? She spun some awesome merino single in a beautiful purple colorway. And she sent lots of other stuff too! Let's see...there's tempting camel fiber, which I simply could not wait to start spinning, two bars of (British!!) candy, two wee turtles for my collection, an adorable elephant tape measure, a funky polka dot cone (Autumn, is this a bobbin for winding yarn onto?) and a postcard of the King himself. I think Autumn must be a bit psychic because I just finished spinning some lilac fleece that I got at Springwater:
It's approx. 175 yards of a fingering-ish weight single spun from 2.6 oz. of fleece. I think if I knit it double stranded, it'll work really well with my pal's merino.The Thuja socks are done:
Pardon the devil-dog green eyes. My doggie may be a scottie, but I guess he likes celebrating St. Patty's Day too.I worked on this on the way over the weekend:
It's a Broadripple sock in Cascade Fixation from my stash. The pattern's nice but my hands aren't loving the yarn. The cotton gives it an unpleasant stiff feeling, plus the elastic contracts, making the piece just a bit too small to be comfortably knit with 12" circs. I knit about 5 inches of the leg before taking a break. I may have to knit this sock a bit at a time, or switch to magic loop with really long circulars.I think I'm going to take the Reversible Cables class at Stitches Midwest. It's a half day class on a subject I like, which will give me a chance to take my time at the Stitches Market. As tempting as that two day sweater class was, it would be just plain wrong to stay cooped up in a convention center when there's family to see and places to visit (and local foods to eat).
Oh my gods, I was pretty stunned at what happened on BSG last night. When that viper exploded, I just about dropped my knitting. I was waiting for a parachute, or a resurrection ship, or...an anything.
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Newsbreak
In sock news (wait, I have sock news??), I knit a Thuja sock with the Gypsy Girl Creations yarn that Jinann so kindly sent me. Aren't the colors pretty?
The colorway is called "Goblin" and I love it! Check out the slip stitch heel flap:
Very cushy, no? Well if the picture were better, you might be able to tell. I've turned the heel on the second sock and may be done by tonight. It depends on if there's room on the Metro train to knit. I've gotten pretty good at knitting while standing on a moving train. (Hint to mobile knitters: Remember Inigo Montoya's Scottish fencing guru and use the wall; leaning on it isn't as good as a seat, but it leaves your hands free for swordplay, er, I mean knitting. but that only works when we're not packed in like grumpy sardines.)
Mom and I are going to Chicago in the summer to visit family. I oh-so-cleverly timed the trip to coincide with Stitches Midwest. I can't decide which class to take. Bohus, maybe? Such small needles though. There's also Reversible Cables. I've always liked cables so it should be interesting without being too intimidating. Then again, I could go totally crazy and sign up for the two day Danish unpronounceable sweater class. Flying to another city to knit with strangers for 12 hours seems a bit over the top, doesn't it? Can anyone think of a good way to rationalize this? Hmmmm, I could just call it a family reunion, with an organized knitting component. Yeah, yeah, that sounds good.
The colorway is called "Goblin" and I love it! Check out the slip stitch heel flap:Very cushy, no? Well if the picture were better, you might be able to tell. I've turned the heel on the second sock and may be done by tonight. It depends on if there's room on the Metro train to knit. I've gotten pretty good at knitting while standing on a moving train. (Hint to mobile knitters: Remember Inigo Montoya's Scottish fencing guru and use the wall; leaning on it isn't as good as a seat, but it leaves your hands free for swordplay, er, I mean knitting. but that only works when we're not packed in like grumpy sardines.)Mom and I are going to Chicago in the summer to visit family. I oh-so-cleverly timed the trip to coincide with Stitches Midwest. I can't decide which class to take. Bohus, maybe? Such small needles though. There's also Reversible Cables. I've always liked cables so it should be interesting without being too intimidating. Then again, I could go totally crazy and sign up for the two day Danish unpronounceable sweater class. Flying to another city to knit with strangers for 12 hours seems a bit over the top, doesn't it? Can anyone think of a good way to rationalize this? Hmmmm, I could just call it a family reunion, with an organized knitting component. Yeah, yeah, that sounds good.
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