Still Skewing

I'm making some progress on the Skew socks. They are still pretty cool. With the modifications that Ms. Holden suggests for the higher instep, they fit much better. Still a bit over half of the second sock to finish. Here they are modelled by B this morning!

Apparently I can't get enough of Eunny!

I finished my sister's Anemoi mittens on Friday evening. They are beautiful! Early on I was a bit worried I wouldn't have enough handspun to finish, but I ended up with more than enough. These will be on their way west shortly.

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But empty needles have a way of filling up quickly! And the thoughts of new projects have been whirling in my head even before I finished the Anemois.

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I wanted to knit another pair of mittens for the gift exchange at G's staff party. It's the sort of exchange that's a bit of a game. You draw a number out of a hat. Number 1 gets to choose any gift to unwrap. Number 2 can steal Number 1's gift, or unwrap a new one; Number three can steal Number 1 or 2's gift or choose something as yet unknown, etc... I thought of knitting these, but G nixed that being a die-hard Canucks fan. "How about something cabled," he suggested. I didn't even know he paid enough attention to my knitting to know what cable was! So I tweaked a pattern I love, Eunny's (again) Bayerishe socks to make a worsted weight mitten. I wanted these to knit up fairly quickly. I do like G's co-workers and spouses, but fingering weight mittens I reserve for those I love. These are modeled after my favorite mittens.

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Details:

Patons Classic Wool "Dark Grey Mix"

3.25mm dpns

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CO sts 56 sts.

Work 6.5cm k1tbl, p1 ribbing

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Cable set up row: *(k1tbl, p1) 6 times, k1tbl, m1 purlwise, purl into the front and back of the next st, m1, k1tbl, m1 purlwise, p, m1 purlwise, (k1tbl, p1) 6 times*. M1, place 2 markers - this will be the thumb gusset. Repeat from * to * once more [67 sts].

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Follow charts C, D and A from Eunny's Bayerishe Sock pattern, including a k1tbl between each chart. For the thumb gusset, m1 purlwise between the markers on the first round and then m1 (either purlwise or knitwise) on the inside of the each marker every following three rows, maintaining a k1tbl, p1 ribbing between the markers. Once you have 17 sts between the markers, transfer these 17 sts plus 1 on either side to a holder and CO 1 over the gap. Continue working the charts for the hand. Once you have worked 3 repeats of Chart D, follow the chart below (beginning where the row is marked "1") for the mitten decreases. Turn mitten inside out and work a 3 needle bind off.

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Maybe I should go work on my Print O' the Wave shawl now too!

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Back to the Knitting!

It's been a while since I've been able to find time to work on this pair of Anemoi's. I love this pattern, and can't find enough ways to say it. I can knit without looking at my hands when I'm just doing stockinette stitch, so I read the pattern with my eyes and follow with my fingers and find the rows just zipping by. I love the regular repeating patterns of the palm and thumb, how I know what it will look like as it knits up. And I love the organic swirls on the back of the hand, how after knitting along for several rounds I can look away from the pattern and see the swirls taking shape in my knitting.

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I forgot to repeat my mistake on this mitten in order to produce a matching pair. So I'll just have to carry on for three more rows once I've finished the patterned section so that they will at least be the same length.

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The Secret Project

I'm progressing on the "Secret Project". I'm about a quarter into the project. Do you see the papers in the lower left? That's were the WIP is sitting. Here's what I can show you:

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It's knitted on dpns. There are already some ends woven in. And the yarn.
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Now that I've knit a bit with the Rowan Felted Tweed Aran I can give you my impressions of it. The dark grey "Soot" is considerably softer than the light grey "Dusty" and the "Cassis". The yarn definately feels felted, but the plies still separate easily enough. It's easy to break my yarn without scissors when it's time to change colors. I like that! I have a serious problem finding scissors in my house. This yarn retails for about $12 in Canada, and that is probably the biggest deterent I would have in purchasing this yarn. I'm thrifty when it comes to my hobbies. But if anyone wanted to give me more of this again, I certainly would accept it gladly and enjoy knitting with it again.

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New & New

I've put together a new pattern. I think it's unique, fun and exciting and I can't show it to you.
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Yet.
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I have new yarn. It is a gift, of sorts. I think it's new this year to Rowan - Felted Tweed Aran. It also comes in a DK weight and a bulky weight.
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It will be used to knit the new pattern. So while I knit on the pattern that I can't show you with the yummy yarn I've never used before, I won't be able to show you any work-in-progress shots.
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Not until December 9th!
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Now with No Legs

I finished some adorable pointy toed shoes for Simon, ripped off the old unapproved shoe and sewed the legs to his body. Apparently the legs were too long. So now Simon has shoes, but no legs. My co-designer is certainly determined in her vision for this toy!

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She INSISTS on pointed toes

Apparently my idea of not making the blue pointy toes for Simon the Cyclops has not met with B's approval. When you are twelve and love shoes to the point that you frequently have at least 5 pairs at the front door, the footwear of the monster you are co-designing with your mother really matters!

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Here's some legs - with a blue shoe that will be frogged!

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Cyclopsish

I was shopping with B on the weekend and we saw some really cute stickers. One was of an adorable alien/monster and she said, "You could knit me that!" So I took a picture on my cell phone so I could remember the look for inspiration. Funny how she has such faith in my ability to turn a 7cm tall two-dimensional sticker into a cuddly 3D companion!

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So here's what I have so far.

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I don't think I'm going to go with sparkly pointed toes. Blue feet, maybe, but not pointy! And I think I want my little guy to look a bit more happy.

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Sneak Peek

I'm working on a new pattern. It's out to a few test knitters now and I plan to publish it on October 5th.

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If you have little boys looking for Halloween accessories, this might be just what you'll need.

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I realize the little teaser photo looks quite boring, but I assure you excitement around here is high. M has already put dibs on the "item" that I'm just putting finishing touches on for its photo op. He's looking forward to wielding it in a menacing manner!

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No frogging required

After 4 1/2 repeats, I thought my Print O' the Wave was long enough that I could give it a light steam blocking and decide whether it's good as it is or if I needed to change needle sizes.
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I love it! I'm also finding the Gloss Lace softer and squishier knitted up!
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We're movin' on! 29.5 repeats to go...
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Print O' the Wave

I have loved Eunny Jang's Print O' the Wave pattern since I first saw it on her blog years ago. And I've finally decided to try it out.

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I'm not sure if I like the Gloss lace yet. I love the Gloss Sock yarn, but this doesn't seem quite as soft and squishy. I do love the Ultramarine color though. I've completed one pattern repeat... only 33 to go. I'll probably stop after 6 repeats and block it a bit to see if I'm liking my needle choice. A 4mm needle is suggested for lace weight, but I know I knit loose, so I'm using a 3.25mm. Eunny suggests here, that she also likes the resulting fabric using a 2mm needle.... so I'll decide in a few days whether to rip and restart or continue as I am.

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I'm not very good at waiting...

... so I plied the singles last night. Twice. I decided it would go more quickly if I plied the singles on my wheel. I can't make lace weight singles on my wheel, but I can ply them on it! I wasn't really paying attention to how much twist I was adding and also found it tough to decide how much plying twist to add with the wheel since I'd spun them on a spindle. Turns out I had totally underplied the yarn. So I wound it into a ball and ran it through the wheel again to add some more. This time the yarn looked much more balanced. After a little "soak and thwack" and some drying it was ready to knit with this morning!

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I have 2oz of light fingering weight/lace weight yarn about 300 yds.

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And I've decided not to knit "Inconceivable". I finished the first 16 rows and decided while I love the idea of this wrap and all it's versatility, it just isn't me. So I decided to knit something I know I love. A few years ago I knit the Rectangle Cover Shawl from Knitpicks for my SIL and I loved it (I don't think it's available for download anymore). I've decided to use my handspun for a slightly smaller version for me.

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So far 30 rows. This will be frogged however - one of the hazards of jumping into a project without much forethought. I just checked how much of the lovely colored batts I have left and am beginning to suspect I may run out before the shawl is as long as I would like. What I should have done, was spun one ounce of singles with the colorful stuff blended in and one ounce of the corrie without the color and plied them together. Not really knowing how to unply something, and guessing that would be quite an undertaking, I think I'll spin up 2oz of the corrie and knit from the two balls, alternating rows. I'll still have to spin up more of the color-blended and more plain to finish the wrap... but I'm game!

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Inconceivable

I decided to do a knit-a-long this summer. I wanted to try spinning laceweight and the Inconceivable Wrap KAL caught my eye. The pattern was available July 1st and many knitters are posting wonderful progress so far. But I haven't even cast on yet. I wanted to blend some of my Phat Fiber Box samples with a neutral roving like to get an amazing yarn like this (be sure to click on the picture to zoom in). But wasn't happy with what I had in my stash. So I ordered some light grey Corriedale roving and am finally out of the starting blocks.

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From left to right:

"Beach Glass" batt from Giffordables

Mohair Locks from Wonders Mohair

"Ocean" batt from Corgi Hill Farm

"Sitka Spruce" roving from Northern Lights Fiber Co.

and some of the light grey corrie blended with the samples

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I've spun up 2 ounces so far and will ply them tomorrow. A little soaking... time to dry... and then, I'll be able to cast on. Hopefully if the humidity stays low, I'll cast on tomorrow night!

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This 2oz won't be enough to do the wrap, so I'll be spinning and knitting a-long on this one!

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44 divided by 294 is 15%

And that's how far I am on M's new blanket. I think the goal I set for myself of 10 rows a day was a bit over optimistic. Each row has 219 stitches. That's a whopping goal of 2190 stitches a day. Do-able if the kids were still in school, but I'm having too much fun with them to sit under a blanket knitting like crazy. M is still pleased to see progress - so I will continue, but on a less ambitious scale. Like maybe 4 rows a day!

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Micah's Baby Blanket - Errata

M's new "Micah" is progressing. I've promised him I'd knit 10 rows a day and have been doing that for 2 days now. He wasn't too impressed with me casting on and then doing nothing! So now I've got a plan and a bit of momentum. If I continue at this pace, it should take me about 30 days total to finish.

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I've discovered that there are some problems with the pattern of Micah's Baby Blanket. If you've already finished knitting it, you'll still have a beautiful blanket, it just won't be the quite same as what I had intended.

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If you've purchased the pattern through Ravelry, you'll receive a notification when the corrected pattern is available for download (probably no later than Wednesday). If you've purchased it through my etsy shop, and haven't received an email from me by Wednesday, please contact me and I'll email the corrections to you. I'm sorry for any frustration or inconvenience the errors have caused.

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If you purchase the pattern after today, you will receive the correct pattern.

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It's time for a new blankie

M has worn out his blankie. I've been mending holes for some time, but the yarn has so little strength left, its more a matter of darning the darned patches together. So I've cast on for his new blankie.

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I designed this pattern for my sister's baby when we were both expecting our seconds. Her boy was born 6 weeks before mine and the pattern is named for him. When I first made these blankies for the boys, I used Bernat Handicrafter Cotton. Both boys blankets have lasted about 5 years with constant washing and use. And I've also heard guiltily relayed accounts of possible tug-o-wars occuring with my nephew's blankie. I would have liked to use KnitPicks Shine or Swish Superwash this time to find out first hand how those yarns would last in such a well used item, but M insists this must be THE SAME as the first blankie. So Bernat Handicrafter it is.
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Pattern details here: Micah's Baby Blanket

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Available as a Ravelry download $5.00



This link will redirect you to Paypal through Ravelry's shopping basket

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Or from my Etsy shop
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Progress Socks

I thought maybe if I gave these a positive name, positive things would happen! Despite the fibery distractions of the last few days, I did manage to finish the first sock!

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I have yet to cast on for Number 2, but will soon. I love having a sock stashed where-ever waiting may occur for some mindless knitting. This one will likely stay on the coffee table, as I've got another sock in my purse.

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This one is using the yarn I recycled from my first ever pair of socks. I'm knitting contrasting heels and toes with a Odd-ish creations sample from my Phat Box. Love how this sample is knitting up.

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But progress for the sake of progress must be discouraged

I've finally made it past the heel on the Toe up Sock with Gussets. It's not you, Wendy, it's me. I ended up frogging and reknitting the silly thing three times! Rather exasperating, especially when the pattern is perfectly well written and easy to understand. The problem has been that I can't count. So lots of knitting on this sock, but until now - very little progress.

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So here it is, another evening an I should be able to start the second sock. Cross your fingers for me that the second heel does not follow the same path as the first!

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A lack of progress

Here's a picture of the sock in progress:
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Yes, it does look a lot like it did on Sunday. In fact, it looks exactly the same, desipite my finishing the gusset increases, shaping the heel, finishing the heel flap and working about 6 rows of the leg.

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It was at that point that I tried it on and realized that it was too short for my foot. And this sock is for me, not someone with a foot three quarters of an inch shorter than mine. So I ripped it back.

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Today I had great plans to resume knitting on the sock while dd had her braces tweaked and tightened at the orthodontist's. Did you know it's very hard to knit a sock on only three needles? It appears I left the fourth needle at home. I tried to knit. The stitches kept falling off the ends. I knit two rows before giving up.

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I made myself happy by scoring some super cheap Paton's Grace at Michael's. $0.99 per ball!

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New Yarn!

For Mother's Day, the kids bought me yarn! the little dears! They chose SRK's On Your Toes Bamboo sock yarn (color ON260808) and Wisdom Yarn's New York sock yarn (color 222).

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I've already begun a pair of sock with the Wisdom. I'm trying Wendy's Fingeringweight Toe Up Slip-stitch heel sock.

.I believe B, my wool-hater, chose the Bamboo. Something tells me she'd like me to knit the Shetland Shorty from Knitty with my present!

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