Knitting Musings

Must Take Pictures!

But since I haven't, here are some older pics I haven't posted yet. In my defense, the pink Astrakan Cardi just got a bath, so it's drying. But it's finished, and I've already worn it to work, so after the photo shoot, I can cross another FO off the list!

Seaming this sweater was a pain in the @$$... there's no way to mattress stitch this, and there's no way to use the same yarn. So out came a couple of yarns from stash, and my trusty backstitching skills...

Here you can see a close-up of the side seam - I used the darker pink sock yarn on the less visible seams, and the better-color-match-but-thicker wool ease on the more visible seams (collar, shoulders).

The backstitching looks great from the outside though...

I'll save the official project wrap-up for when I actually have photos of the finished object...

I hope my next FO will be the silk shrug. I'm almost done with the last piece - and then I get to add in all of the edgings. I think I'll block before I pick up and knit, though - I have a feeling the silk will relax quite a bit and make the whole edging process much easier. Shut up - I know I should have swatched. Blah blah blah. I like to live dangerously...

I'm also plugging along on the second Eleanora Sock. It's gotten quite the attention at my new job... yep - I started at my summer associate position on Monday (hence the lack of pictures!) So far, I'm really loving it... I think I picked the right firm. First clue? The librarians in the law library knit. How do I know? I was working on the sock while I waited for the training to start, and it was like moths to a flame. I'm working on setting up a lunchtime knitting club, but we'll see. I'm only there for 12 weeks, so it might be tough. But still - KNITTERS!

But since I don't really have any pictures or progress or anything else, here are some distracting dog pictures. But look! Yarn! So it's KINDA like knitting, right?

That's the pork bone we pulled out of the crock-pot pork roast. We froze it, and apparently it was the YUMMIEST THING EVER.

But all of that chewing is really hard work...

REALLY REALLY hard work!

No, seriously - couldn't even wake up for snuggles hard work.

"Can't you people see I'm sleepy?"

So tired.....

See? You've totally forgotten that this was one of the suckiest posts ever. Ah, the power of the cute animals...

Labels: Abby, Astrakan Cardigan

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3 Down, 1 To Go!!

By Wednesday night, it'll all be over.... another year of law school under my belt. Only I still have all sorts of work to do for the journal, and I start work on the 8th, but we'll leave all that aside for a moment and concentrate on the important stuff. Wednesday Night? Happy Place. Friday? Happy Place. Saturday and Sunday? Nirvana.

But in the meantime, there has been a bit of knitting progress - I'm still plugging away on the black silk shrug, but black silk is almost as hard to photograph as a black cat, so no update pics. I did, however, finish the first Eleanora sock this afternoon - I decided to go with a short row toe, and graft across on the bottom. I somehow had more sts on the top than the bottom, so I had to fudge it a bit - but I'll double check that on the second sock, and I'm sure it'll be fine.

The Sock - Mid-Graft:

Finished Sock - Profile:

Finished Sock - Aerial View

So I don't forget, things I'll change for next pair - start with fewer sts!

I also got my space board in the mail, so I gave it a test run with the pieces of the Astrakan Shawl Collar Cardi. I lovingly steamed the $&*# out of each of the pieces, which did wonders for the curly edges, and will hopefully make it much easier to sew this puppy up.

And the beauty that is the shawl collar:

Woo Hooo! Ready for seaming! Wait - where are you going? Don't put us on the shelf! HEY! PUT DOWN THAT SILK, YOU PROJECT-HUSSY!

My excuse for not seaming right away? Trying to figure out what to use. The embroidery floss at the far right matches best, but I don't have enough of it. The sock yarn is my first choice, but I'm afraid it's too dark. The lighter pink is wool-ease, and I'm not sure how well it'll work since it's worsted. SIGH. So any suggestions are much appreciated!

In other very exciting news - Wendy's launch party on Friday night was great! Ian played bartender and poured a mean champagne cocktail...

Kristine was a very gracious host, and Wendy herself looked amazing in one of the most fantastic dresses I've seen in a long time, and one of her beautiful shawls. Thanks so much for including me, Wendy - and CONGRATS - the book is amazing! Although I still need to get a copy signed ... I couldn't come to the signing on Saturday.

Maryland Sheep & Wool Caravan:
So far, I have Erin, Liz, Carol, Dani (maybe) interested in a Saturday caravan. I know more of you want to join in ... even if you want to take your own car, we can coordinate arriving so we can run around and fondle yarn en masse. So let me know ASAP if you want to be included - maevezana ~!at!~ yahoo ~!dot!~ com.

Labels: Astrakan Cardigan, Socks

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I'm Not Posting - I'm Studying

Disclaimer - this post is an illusion, because I'm actually studying for finals RIGHT NOW. I'm NOT reading blogs, or watching Gilmore Girls on DVD, or knitting. Because doing any of those things would mean that I wasn't actually studying, and since I am, well, you get the idea.

So I don't know where this pile of finished pieces of the Debbie Bliss shawl-collared cardi came from, because I certainly couldn't have been knitting the collar on Wednesday night at Knit Happens (because, of course, I wasn't AT knit happens on Wednesday night, because I was studying!)

Funnily enough - even though I can seemingly justify knitting for hours instead of studying, seaming up a sweater so I can wear it would totally take too much time away from the books. So the sweater pieces will sit there, on my shelf, looking sad and lonely, until I finally take pity on them.

But I have another excuse for waiting besides studying - I just ordered a space-board, and I want to try it out with these slightly curly pieces before I seam up. See? There's always a good excuse available when you're trying to get out of seaming up a sweater.

I've also NOT been knitting on my Eleanora socks... I'm loving these. Despite appearances, the main pattern is REALLY easy to memorize, which makes them go much faster. And yes, I'm doing these top-down - I actually followed the pattern exactly... for about 5 minutes. And then I made them narrower, and did a short-row heel, and I'll probably do a short row toe. Still undecided about that one. Oh, and I didn't change to size 1 needles. Please. Size 1's for socks? That's crazy-talk! (unless they're koigu, or possibly Cherry Tree Hill.)

And here's a close-up of the stitch pattern:

And finally, I'm DEFINITELY NOT knitting the back of the Shrug from Debbie Bliss' new Pure Silk book. So since I'm not knitting it, I couldn't possibly know that the silk is so amazing that I can't actually put it down without looking at it longingly as I walk away. Oh, and of course, were I actually knitting this, I would have changed the pattern by knitting the ribbing on the bottom (instead of picking up stitches on the cast-on edge), and that I mirrored the cables around the center motif, because I'm anal like that.

But even if you're studying all the time, you have to eat, right? And so it's totally justified to make chicken noodle soup from scratch, because you've TOTALLY got to eat, right?

Ok - enough with the (not) studying.... Happily, the weekend after my last final is SHEEP & WOOL. You know you're going. So if you're local, and want to go on Saturday bright and early so that minimal blood-letting has to occur at a couple of key merchants (cough cough, that means you, Holly!), then email me (address in the sidebar). I'll start putting together a list, and we can figure out logistics!

Labels: Astrakan Cardigan, Silk Shrug, Socks

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Searching for the Fear

This is my last full week of classes. At some point, I really need that burst of "Oh My God, I'm taking a FINAL soon" fear to get me to hit those books. So far, I keep looking at the calendar, seeing how little time there really is, and somehow - no fear. This weekend the studying starts in earnest, fear or no fear.

But until then, there's knitting!

Cherry Blossom Socks

Pattern:
my own - basic toe-up with short-rows, added in a very stretchy lace pattern:
row 1: *k3 p2*
row 2: * yo k2tog k1 p2*
row 3: *k3 p2*
row 4: *k1 ssk yo p2*

Yarn:
Koigu KPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPM, Color 219

Notes:
50 sts with size 1 needles

I almost managed to finish these during the official Cherry Blossom Festival, but missed by a few days. But still, the perfect color yarn for my favorite time in DC!

And I have PLENTY of yarn leftover - thanks to the lacy stitch pattern, I barely touched the second ball of yarn.

And I've picked out my next sock project - happy koigu in a happy spring color. Pattern to be determined, because currently I'm "helping" S knit his gigantic brown socks. He's done a fair bit on them, but if we wait until he finishes them, he'll be wearing the best handknitted socks in his nursing home. So he knits a bit, I knit a lot, he knits a bit... and K has even gotten in on the action during the brief period when she was (gasp) WITHOUT KNITTING. But don't worry, we've fixed that now.

I'm also still plugging VERY slowly away on the shawl collar of the Debbie Bliss sweater in astrakan - it seriously never ends. I think I'm over 1/2 way there, but I ended up having to buy an extra ball of yarn to be safe. If I can ever finish this, I'll be done with the knitting - all that will be left will be the blocking, assembly (note to self - find coordinating smooth yarn in stash!), and bringing this bad-boy out for its "please don't get too hot yet because I have a new sweater" debut.

Meanwhile, my repeated pleas for help in the "countdown to finals" stress have gone unheeded -

Exhibit A: Cricket

Exhibit B: Abby... and yes, she put her little head on the pillow all by herself. At S' house, she has her own pillow on the couch so she'll be comfy.

At what point can I just give up on the whole studying thing, curl up with the fuzzles, and take a nap of my own?

Labels: Abby, Astrakan Cardigan, Cricket, Socks

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Prisoner of Astrakan

(thanks to Erin for the title!)

Yeah - due mostly to an almost complete lack of knitting time, the Debbie Bliss Shawl Collar Cardi is stuck - here's the back. Both fronts and both sleeves are complete, but the shawl collar is huge. I hope to finish this before the end of time.

So instead of making progress on my sweater, I'm making progress on my Cherry Blossom koigu sock. It's a simple lace-rib pattern, over 50 sts on size 1 needles.

Speaking of socks - another knitter has succumbed to their siren song - K and I met up early on Friday morning at a local *
And yes, I started her on Koigu. It's like the drug dealers - you give them the good stuff so they'll get hooked faster.

And that pretty much maxes out my knitting content. I have 2 pairs of socks to photograph, but apparently they didn't pose, on their own, for the camera, so no pics yet.

So, using the "fallback" technique common among knitbloggers seeking to distract from the lack of knit-blogging -

PRESENTING THE CUTE ANIMAL SERIES!!!

On Saturday, S and I headed to REI to use our 20% off coupons, and buy a tent and a few other things. Because REI is one of the best companies out there, they allow dogs in their stores, and even have a little doggy water bowl by the drinking fountain.

So Abby helped us pick out this tent - we got the full-sized version because she thought the little one would be a bit cramped.

Next, Abby consulted with S about the comfort level of the various sleeping-pads. In this picture, Abby seems content to allow S to judge the pad for himself.

However, true-to-form, Abby quickly decided that she needed a bit more room. Eventually, S ended up testing the other pads on the floor.

But it was good that she rested up - on Sunday morning, we headed down to the Tidal Basin to check in with the Cherry Blossoms -

- which are not quite blooming yet, but are really really close. But do you know what's even more exciting than some stupid flowers on some stupid trees?

DUCKS.

In fact, even though these particular ducks were not playing fair and wouldn't come out of the water, ducks are SO interesting that we had to resort to the "carries" method to even get to the Tidal Basin. Later on, we had to revisit the ducks a few more times - you know, just in case they decided to get out of the water, waddle over to Abby, and let her catch them.

Eventually, though, we convinced Abby that the ducks were selfish little bastards who really wouldn't be coming over to play, and that maybe it was time to go home and get some breakfast.

Apparently, she got enough exercise on her field trip, because this is what she looked like on the ride home:

And finally, in the ultimate attempt to distract you from the complete dearth of substantive content in this post, I present:

Dog, Cat, and Sunny Spot

Labels: Abby, Astrakan Cardigan, Socks

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Why is Spring Break So Short????

Mondays and Tuesdays are my killer days this semester, and somehow, just coming off of spring break makes them seem even worse.

But enough with the whining. Before I left, I managed to finish both sleeves and 1 front of the Debbie Bliss Shawl Collar Cardi. I even managed to take a few pictures of the finished front -

see?

oops - sorry - looks like there's a big black spot in the picture. I'll try again.

Hmmm - that didn't work - the black spot is even bigger, and is now blurry!

I've basically given up trying to get a Cricket-free picture of the cashmerino astrakan. Cricket is rapidly becoming quite the yarn snob - she actually drools when she gets to snuggle up with cashmere, and we all know what happens when she sees the Cormo. And now the cashmerino has been added to the list of "yarns Cricket sits on if given even the smallest opportunity."

Speaking of knitting, I finished a pair of socks and started another on my spring break trip - I haven't done the photo-shoot for the finished pair yet, but here's the pair-in-progress:

The astute among you will notice that the background of this picture is surprisingly white, wet, and cold. That's right - I went to New Mexico for spring break, and lucked out - it was cold, windy, and snowy. The one weekend that the weather was crappy, there I was...

and sorry to you folks in Minnesota - it's totally my fault you guys got like a foot of snow on Monday. I flew through Minneapolis on my way home, and looks like I brought the crappy weather with me.

but it was still spring break, and I got to hang out, watch lots of basketball, and relax. So it was a good trip, even if the weather made us want to stay in our PJs until well into the afternoon. The highlight was definitely this place.... don't let the $$$$ on most of the spa services throw you - for $15, we spent like 5 hours alternating between the women's hot tub, the cold dip (45 degrees - yikes!), and the sauna. It was absolutely blissful.

Curiously, "blissful" is exactly the word I would use to describe the packages I found waiting for me when I got home -

check out the beautiful wrapping, complete with a personalized Virginia keychain.

Inside? The beautiful vintage kimono fabric bag I ordered, plus a little change purse bonus! They're BEAUTIFUL. Thanks to someone's enabling ways, I bought these through this etsy seller. HIGHLY recommended - I may be ordering more soon!