Knitting Musings

A Real Update

Despite all of the recent excitement, there is still knitting going on! Sure, it's only a sock, because, well, there are limits to how much one's brain can handle. But it is knitting nonetheless -

These are the Forest Socks, using a garter stitch rib pattern, in sock yarn from ebay seller lotusblossom. This yarn was FUGLY in the skein - too much bright yellow/green. But knit up, the browns really come out, and the whole thing looks amazing! Just goes to show you that you have to knit with it before judging it. ;)

Ummm... those of you who are trying to (for some unknown reason) NOT buy yarn may want to skip this next picture. But it wasn't really my fault - first, Stephanie bought some, so she started it. And then the colors were so pretty, and I was just going to look at them, when, in a bizarre accident, the yarn and my credit card flew towards the cash register, and suddenly I owned the yarn!

But isn't it purty? It's Cherry Tree Supersock yarn in Serengeti. I lurve it. :)

Plus, I was justified in buying more yarn because I have two finished objects!! :)

Multi-Directional Scarf

Pattern: the multidirectional scarf from Magknits

Yarn: Hipknits 100% cashmere sock yarn on size 5 needles.

Notes: Um, well, the length is a bit, um, extreme. My plan was to keep knitting until I ran out of yarn - and it totally worked, since I ended with about 10 yards or so extra. But things got a little out-of-control.

Even held double, it's a bit on the long side - just for scale, I'm 5' 7".

But because it's so skinny and loosely knit, it works GREAT when worn - see?

and finished object number 2:

Ireland Cardi

Pattern: my own

Yarn: 100% Cormo Worsted from MDS&W

Notes: I still need to install a zipper... but words can't quite express how happy I am with this sweater. I proved to myself that I can successfully plan all the raglan and neck shaping - and come up with a sweater that fits me the way I want it to. This sweater was definitely a challenge, but I took it one step at a time and took the time to do everything properly - and it shows!

hint - the fair isle is a shop sample!

front views

back

And despite the crazy amounts of snow they're predicting for the Washington area this weekend, the spring yarns are arriving at the shop - and apparently, they put a little "crazy" in the boxes with the yarn!

And speaking of crazy - is it normal that one of Abby's favorite treats is a CARROT?

Labels: Abby, Ireland Cardigan, Multi-Directional Scarves, Socks

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Recovery from the Weekend

Well, the 48 hour editing exercise sucked, as expected. I actually enjoyed the challenge of editing the text, especially since it was almost unreadable originally, but it was very frustrating to spend hours making something readable that will only be read by judges for this competition. Plus, all of that time stuck in front of the computer really cut into my knitting time - I haven't touched the Ireland Cardi since it dried, and I'd really like to get it finished in the next week or so.

And yes, y'all were right - I'm totally cannabalizing those cashmere turtlenecks for the yarn. Here are 2 of the 3 sweaters, all ripped up - I'll have enough of the cream to make whatever I want (I bought 2 t-necks), and I hope I'll have enough of the blue to make a scoopneck, shaped sweater with short or 3/4 sleeves... I'll have a lot less yardage since I'll hold it doubled, so I'm not sure how far it'll stretch. It'll be an interesting experiment, I guess! :)

And speaking of cashmere, the cashmere sock yarn decided that it didn't really want to be the Baltic Sea Stole after all. So instead, it's trying out life as a multi-directional scarf, and I think we have a winner. I'm planning on basically knitting until I run out of yarn, so I think this will be an extremely long scarf... but since it's so skinny, I think it'll be fine.

Here's a close-up of the stitch pattern - I'm debating on whether/how I'll block this. I guess part of it will depend on how long it turns out to be - but I'm thinking it would be really stunning if i stretched it out and increased the "drapy-ness" of the whole thing. After all, this IS cashmere, and even with a size 5 needle for sockweight yarn, it has a lot of stretch thanks to the extended garter stitch.

Speaking (sort of) of sock yarn - look what I discovered when I took off my shoes the other day!!!

A HOLE!!!! Now, if the socks were on their last legs (hee hee), I probably would have just tossed them. But except for this small hole, they're perfectly fine, so I couldn't justify relegating them to the trash.

Luckily, a bout of extreme boredom during class had resulted in the ordering of a perfect tool from ebay - a vintange sock darning egg. So, with my darning egg and some convenient instructions....

All better! Sure, it won't win any "best sock darning job ever' awards. But (a) it's on the TOE, people, and (b) it's a SOCK.

Abby reminds you that, regardless of how exciting a sock may be, it can't compare with a new squeeky-toy bunny. Especially one that is clearly filled with stuffing, and if she could just figure out how to get at it, she could rip it all out and scatter it around the floor. And then she could rip apart the larger clumps of stuffing into smaller clumps. I swear, if I spun, she's be SO helpful in the fiber-preparation process... assuming copious amounts of doggy-slobber don't negatively affect the spinning process!