Knitting Their First Socks

Finally my cold has abated and I feel more myself. Sunday we had our sock knitting class since the "teacher" was actually upright and conscious. Four friends dropped in for the party, I mean class...three wanna be sock knitters and one scarf knitter who wanted to be in on the fun part of talking just not the sock learning part.

Not sure what everyone expected out of the lesson and I hope they are not dissappointed in the progress made in a couple of hours. The socks did get cast on and placed in the round which was the hardest part for all. The size of the needles and the newness of knitting with 4 needles was a tad bit overwelming in the beginning for everyone. Not to mention how hard it can be to concentrate when you'd rather be talking with everyone else. In the end the 3 wanna be sock knitters have their socks cast on, joined in the round and a few rows of k2p2 done. The scarf knitter got a few rows on her scarf done. A whole lot of talking and laughing went on along with some drinking...tea of course.

Their homework is to complete the 2 inches of ribbing and then start the stockinette for the next 5 inches. We'll get together next Sunday and see how everyone's progress has been. Who know's maybe we'll be able to start the heel & get some pictures of the progress!

Stupid Cold

Well wouldn't you know that I'd miss out of something fun while I was laying on the sofa with a box of Kleenex and a blanket. We were all set up to have a little "tutorial" on sock knitting amongst the neighbors when I busted the plans all to pieces by getting the cold of all colds.

I never get to a point when I have a cold that I feel the absolute requirement to lay down...except for this one. I cannot remember the last time a cold knocked me on my butt. My DH couldn't either...he kept saying things like 'gee you look like hell' and then he'd ask 'wanna go get a sub so you can get out of the house'. Why on earth would I want to leave the house if I looked as bad as he said ...I know I felt that bad. So the neighbors got together and knitted without me.

I think that was the worst thing about the whole weekend...I did not knit one single stitch for 3 whole days/nights. My head wanted no part to picking up the needles...hard to watch TV without the sticks I must say. What did I ever do before I discovered knitting? My neighbors learned a few new things from their knitting party...one learned how to do a yarnover, then another showed the wonders of a life line to save their knitting from the frog pond. Sorry I missed the whole thing...looking forward to our next "tutorial".

New Yarn Pics & Possible Project Matches

Not much new on the knitting front due to amazingly not knitting for the last 5 days! A new record for me that I had no choice but to accept due to sickness. I always knit, every night, no exceptions....according to my DH I'm obsessed with my knitting and I guess I am. I just can longer watch TV without needles...it feels weird these last several days having all this time and cannot knit. I'm much better today and hope to feel up to a bit of knitting later.

So today I'm going to post some pictures of recent yarn purchases over the last few weeks. The Brown Sheep Cottton Fleece's Nymph will be used for one of Chicknits patterns called the ChicKami. I'm going to do the wide strap vesion and hope to start in the next 2 weeks so I can actually wear it during the war weather.




The Rowan Felted Tweed is beautiful...feels soft to the touch and the color is a very rich red with flecks of blues & pinks. I'm planning on doing the sweater in Rowan's Magazine #28 called Martha. Since there isn't much need for a sweater at the moment this one is on the back burner until a few other projects are completed. I could have waited, but there was a sale at the time and you just never know when the color will not be there when the mood strikes.


The Frog Tree Chunky Alpaca is just so soft! I discovered this yarn last fall, but didn't buy at the time. Then I saw a beautiful ruffled edge scarf at Mosaic made by D....I wanted the yarn bad. of course the dreaded "we've sold it all" wasn't what I wanted to hear. This past week I was in luck....lots of yarn in stock. I bought enough for the scarf, a hat, & maybe mittens. I'll be ready for Hokie football this fall!



Last but not least the Prism Lace Wool...just gorgeous. I'm leaning towards the a wrap in knitty called Jeanie or maybe a better choice would be Muir since the Prism is lace weight. Once I finish my current lace project one of these will be started. That's about it for future works at the moment....just need to feel well enough that my eyes can see the knitting!

More Yarn...

In about a week's time I have once again bought new yarn for the stash. Actually less than a week...first the Yarn Lounge 3rd year birthday sale. As mentioned before I did buy yarn that I wasn't actually seeking, but fell for once I saw the sweater all knit up. At least it all was on sale. No excuse for buying yarn on my trip to Blacksburg's Mosaic. I was only going to look and possibly buy yarn for the Purl Jam event in June. D mentioned that G was ordering all the colors so you'd think that would squelch the urge...no the need to buy anything. However in my defense they had more of the Frog Tree 100% alpaca in bulky weight...in HOKIE colors that I fell in love with last fall. It seems that the company dyed up a batch in chicago maroon & burnt orange last year after the tragedy. So now I have a ruffled edge scarf in the works thanks to D's help. That wasn't the end of the yarn purchases though because I also discovered some Prism Lace Wool in Alpine. The skein has over 1400 yds so who could resist...not me anyway. Now I'm on a "yarn diet" until the Purl Jam event. I don't need anymore because it's not likely that I will run out of projects in the next several months. Let's see how it goes...

The Edge Update

The Shaped Edge Sweater is coming along...fairly slowly since my lace addiction is a fever pitch at the moment. Over the last couple of days I had more time with the Edge since the designer was looking over her lace pattern for the error.

I actually took the sweater on our recent ski trip thinking it was the easiest project for "mindless" knitting. Alot did get done once I sat...rather stretched out on the bed for knitting time. By the time dinner was done and coffee time was over I didn't have much time to knit before crashing. I did get the front done up to the decreasing for the sleeves...I only added about a quarter to half inch to the length. The pattern called for 13" before starting the decreases, but I thought I'd like it a touch longer & since I needed to end on row 1 I added another repeat.

A night or so ago I finished up the decreases up to the top...the k1p1 knitting is rather mindless, but it's going well and I don't find it the least bit boring. I'm increasing my speed with the process and hope to have this project completed before too much longer. If I can stay away from the lace consuming all my brain power.

I've even cast on for the back and have about 2 inches done on that so it's moving right along. It won't get any wear until fall unless the weather suddenly turns cold again, but I'm loving the feel of this yarn , Sublime Cashmere Merino Silk Aran.

Of course yesterday a friend and I paid The Yarn Lounge a visit on their third birthday celebration. A 20 % off sale is hard to pass up and of course I bought more than I had originally planned. I wanted to order some Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in the color Rue, but didn't like the color compared to the Nymph already in stock. I did, however order a neutral color called Teddy Bear which is a nice shade warm shade of kahki for one of Chick Knits patterns called Aleita Shell...in the new Interweave Spring 2008 . I even bought enough Rowan Felted Tweed in Rage for a sweater that was on display...Martha from Rowan 28. The texure of the sweater is what I was attracted to...I hope I'm up to the challenge of actually pulling this one off.

Once again my eyes are surpassing what my hands can possibly do in any reasonable amount of time, but then again I love having several projects going at a time. For some reason I have never figured out I seem to finish them all within days of one another which is pretty cool.

All Signed Up

Yes, I am all signed up for Purl Jam 2008! Really looking forward to attending the weekend in Blacksburg. It will be the first time taking an official class...I hope I don't embarass myself.

I'm taking a couple of classes with Annie Modesitt (Knitting with Color, Tips & Tricks) and a few with Cornelia Tuttle-Hamilton (Finishing Techniques, Herringbone Block, and Swedish Socks). I so hope that by learning something about the Swedish Sock I can rescue Her Ski Socks and maybe even His Ski Socks. The ski socks just did not work out at all...to loose around the ankles & foot for skiing. Too much risk for blisters & rubbing in areas while skiing which would not have helped our ski trip.

As for the other classes...all seem to be things I need more instruction on. I'm not very comfortable finishing up seams, etc always nervous and fearful that I will mess of the knitting and not wear the item. My Mermaid turned out well, but I'm still not anywhere near comfortable seamibg up sweaters. Now I just need to stay out of yarn shops and save some cash for the event!

"Froggin is Knittin"...right?

Joined another group....mysticlightKAL. I had to since I have the recommended yarn in the stash so no reason not to, right? Ever since I started a lace test knit I seem to be drawn to lace projects. They seem to want to drive me crazy once they suck me into the vortex, but I do enjoy the challenge.

My current lace project is now in standby mode...found a glitch and now the designer is looking through her charts to see how far back I need to rip. It's a weird problem that didn't show up until I started a chart at least 40 rows past...what the heck could it be? The pattern sure looked great...the YO and chains all lined up perfect, until chart 10. Then the numbers went to pot and I could not figure out what my problem was...thought I was going crazy since everything lined up so well. Finally decided the pattern had to be off somehow. It will be gorgeous when it's done however this turns out..."froggin is knittin" is the motto around here anyway.

Nothing to See Here

Well I can't say a whole lot of anything got done this week. Between my 2 daily projects the lace has taken over most of my knitting time. The darn thing is in my head so bad I cannot stop knitting on it...even reknitting parts. It has gotten a wee bit frustrating over the last couple of days. It seems like the more "comfortable" I get with the pattern, the more the pattern is out to smack me down. The "weauxf gods of knitting" have taken me out more than once on this project.

The funny thing is that it seems to occur about the time I count how many rows I have left on the current chart. I haven't paid much attention to how many rows are in a given chart. When I do count the rows about halfway though, I get pretty excited to be almost done with another chart, then the weuxf gods decide "ooooo gotta smack her silly and make her tink back a row or 4" just as soon as I have 2 rows left.

It has taken over 2 hours to fix my error of a dropped stitch...a simple drop would have been quick. Nooooo, I had a bigger problem of fixing 'sl 1, k2tog, psso' which ended up down 2 rows from were it should have been. Once that unwound itsef I could not get back in pattern without ripping past the error & starting again.

I tell you what I am stopping all counting of rows...from now until completion I will only move the marker up one more row. The weaxf gods are not going to get me again....on to chart 8 of 15!

Progress on the Knitting Front

Progress is being made on a test knit for Laura at Dragonwingarts. I'm up to chart 5 of 15 so I'm almost 1/3 finished with the shawl. I'm still enjoying the knitting even through some boneheaded mistakes on my part. You would think that counting would be easy at my age wouldn't you? Evidently 8 is too large a number for me to knit & count at the same time. Might have to count out loud as I knit the stitches...that'll drive DH crazy won't it?

The Edge sweater is also coming along. I'm up to the armpits & starting the decreasing for those. The front really should be done by midweek and I'll post pics when there's more to show. I'm thinking the sweater will not be worn this season unless March gets really cold. No need to be much in a rush to finish I don't reckon.

I really like the shape of the sweater. The diagonal 'shaping' looks to be very flattering...I hope so anyway.

A Do Nothing Day

Today is one of the rare "do nothing" kind of days. With the light coat of ice & dreary day predicted I decided to get all my work done early so I could knit ALL DAY. I have actually done a small bit of tidying & laundry...there's always laundry.

I am knitting on a lace test pattern for Laura at Dragonwingarts. So far I am enjoying the heck out of the project. Lace knitting projects have been few for me so as part of the Knitting Fearlessly I decided I really need to do more "difficult" or intense projects. I don't find this one difficult, but I do need to pay close attention to my "psso" areas of the chart. I have missed a couple of these and of course I don't realize this until I'm on the purl row. Which is a bit annoying , but it is knitting...even if it is backwards!

I'm using a yarn, Malabrigo Lace in Indigo, that I have not used before. It's a wonderful blue colorway that has some lights & dark playing off one another. I think it's going to show off Laura's pattern well. I'll post pictures once I'm done with the knitting & Laura says it's okay to do. I must get back to the lace...it's gotten into my brain some kind of bad. I reckon that's a good sign, right?

Excitement & Expectation...maybe

When I realized that I was down to only 2 projects (Her Ski socks and 1/2 a Monkey sock) I decided I needed to cast on at least 2 more projects. I've gotten used to having multiple projects to work on during the evening hours. TV just is not interesting now that football is done unless my needles are in hand.

There are times I feel like having an intense, pay attention to type of work and then there are those evenings that the brain is shot (or body) and I want the so called "mindless project". A couple of nights ago I cast on the Edge Shapped Sweater from Out of Town by Debbie Bliss. I first saw this sweater knit up at one of my all time favorite yarn shops, Mosaic, in Blacksburg back in December. The owner, Gina, was kind enough to track down whose pattern it was and order the book for me. I bought the yarn, Sublime Cashmere Merino Silk Aran in a charcoal gray color, at Mosaic around Christmas and now that all the projects that had been hanging around are done it's time to get busy with the sweater.

If I am lucky maybe I can get this done in a couple of weeks. So far the knitting is fairly simple 4 row repeat so I cannot say that the mind is being taxed to the limit. I must say though that the excitement of casting on a new project makes me very happy. I'm keeping the expectations in check, but so far the yarn is behaving well and feels yummy in my hands.

Whitby's are Done!

Wooohooo...another finished object complete and ready to wear. I finally completed my Whitby Socks in Knitting on the Road by Nancy Bush on Saturday.

For some reason the brain stopped working between the leg & heel gussets and I dropped a stitch somewhere along the way. The sad thing was I did not realize this until I had about 3 inches left before the toe decreases. Why oh why does this always seem to happen as soon as I say out loud no less to my DH that "I'll finish these tonight". Tempted the knitting gods with that comment because as I was saying this and putting the sock on to see how much longer it needed I noticed the loose stitch on the gussett. As I was trying to see if I could just tack thing 'tighter' rather than rip back it became quite obvious that I was indeed screwed beyond hope...there was a dangling stitch just sitting there and no way to get it back.

I decided to sleep on the "problem" overnight and tackle during the daylight hours. The solution was to frog back to the LEG for goodness sake and start again paying attention to every stitch. It took a few hours to get back to where I was the night before, but once back on track the sock had no other events happen to it. I love the yarn and the feel of these socks. At first I was worried the cables would be felt when a shoe was on the foot, but this is not the case at all.

Details:
Pattern: Whitby in Knitting on the Road by Nancy Bush

Yarn:Pagewood Farm Hand Dyed Sock Yarn, fiber content: 70% merino, 20% bamboo, 10% nylon, color: reds

Needles: Latern Moon sox stix, size 2

Finished Size: Woman's size 9

Modifications: I cast on 8 extra sts to insure a nice fit around leg & foot since my foot is about an inch larger the suggested finished size of 7 1/2 inches. I adjusted the gussetts as well to maintain 17 stitches on needles 1 and 3 to get the size needed down the foot.

Decreased down to 4 sts per needle, continued knitting the last 4 stitches to the end of needle 4. Then I used the kitchener stitch to close the toe rather than the suggested method.

Here, There & Everywhere Cables

Wow was this scarf fun to knit up. The pattern is so simple, but looks way more complicated with the way the cables run on both sides. I love that the most...no matter how you put the scarf around your neck the cables are right there showing off with no "right side" or "wrong side".


The yarn is fantastic...super soft and feels so nice & warm as you knit it up. I wish we'd get some more cold weather around here so I can truly enjoy the scarf this season. I know it will be a much worn scarf during the next football season. I'm thinking a set of mittens to go with the scarf could make great use of the last skein in the stash...maybe I can score some Hokie Orange malabrigo to go with the red mahognay. My DH likes to claim it's purple which it is not...definitely maroon which is why I chose this colorway.


The details of this project:
Pattern: Here & There Cabled Scarf by Nora Gaughan as found in Scarf Style

Yarn: Malabrigo, colorway red mahogany, 2 3/4 skeins

Needles: 24 inch Knit Picks Options, size 7

Finished size: Length 75 inches with a width of 5 1/2 inches

Modifications to original: CO 54 stitches for a narrower scarf. The original stitch pattern was kept the same & continued until I felt the length was long enough. I did block the scarf using my current favorite wash, Soak, as suggestioned to open up the interplay of the cables. I'm happy with the results.

Retro Rib Socks

Finally done, I cannot believe it has taken over 6 months to finish the darn things. I started way back in the summer doing these socks. I don't really remember what I started to do rather than finish up a set of socks when the 2nd one was complete to the heel for goodness sake. I do remember that the ribbing on these drove me nuts...easily memorized, but went on and on.

I so love the yarn for this project... the Jitterbug yarn feels so nice on the feet. Project details are:

Pattern: Retro Rib Socks in Favorite Socks by Evelyn Clark

Yarn: Jitterbug by Colinette in the Castagna coloway

Needles: Clover Bamboo, size 1

Size: Woman's medium, size 9

Now on to the Whitby's.....

The Ella Shawl

The Ella has been blocked and is now dry. The shawl turned out beautiful in the Handmaiden Sea Silk...only one regret and that is in the overall size. I modified the pattern by dropping down a few needle sizes due to using the much finer sea silk rather than the called for Lady Godiva. I so wanted to use the Sea Silk, but the large needle size of 10 was much too large for the yarn. I chose to switch to a size 5's which did show the stitch pattern very nicely.

As I was in the process of knitting the pattern I did consider adding some rows to the overall pattern to make up for the needle size, but decided it would be large enough for the way I would use it. Now I'm thinking a tad bit wider/longer may have been a more wise decision.

Now on to the details:

Yarn: Handmaiden Sea Silk - 2 skeins

Pattern: Ella by Wendy Wonnacott

Needles: 47" Addi Lace Turbo, size 5

Finished size: 35 inches from the outer tip to the center bottom edge, panel widths are 13 inches

I have been draping this around me during the evening and it feels very nice against my skin. I was surprised at the warmth of such a light shawl...it will be a much used item in the cool evenings out and about.

Ella is Finally Done

I finally sat myself down and finished up Ella. The sad thing was the short amount of time it took to complete. It only involved 2 evenings of knitting time to finish the darn thing. I wish I'd known how close to being finished I had been... it would have been nice to have this completed in October of 2007 rather than Feburary of 2008. Oh well...what is done is DONE!

Today the shawl got a bath in Citrus Soak. It's now in the process of being blocked. I'll post pictures & details once it has totally dried.

On the Needles

I was asked "just how many projects are you working on." The funny thing was I didn't know exactly the TOTAL number...I work on about 5 routinely, but have a few more just sitting in their bags. I decided it was time to count them out so here you go:

Monkey Socks in Fleece Artist
1 sock complete, other sock frogged due to "gauge issues" I need to recast this one and get busy because I love the feel of these socks...too bad the colors are fall. Missed that season didn't I?


Branching Out Scarf using the recommended yarn, Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool in a nice green tone. I'm not 'in love' with this and I'm only about 10 inches along...may need to frog this one.


Retro Rib Socks found in Favorite Socks by Evelyn A. Clark using Jitterbug.
One sock completed, the other sock is down to the foot section with about 3-4 inches to completion. These need to be completed! I've left them far to long sitting in the bag. I'm taking these on the ski trip so I can get them done.


Ella in Handmaiden Sea Silk in the ocean colorway.
I love this wrap...it's been hibernating since October so it also needs a resurrection.

The other projects are: Here and There Scarf, Her Ski Socks (my own pattern), and the Whitby Socks. I've been working on these daily so I know that these will be complete soon. So a total of 7 on the needle projects...no too bad since 3 are being worked on and should be competed in less than a week. Nice to see the list written down..now time to knit!

A New Yarn Adventure

My friend, B and I went out to Holly Springs Yarn Shop today for the first time. A very nice shop with friendly people. We enjoyed our trip out to the "country" which isn't all that far out in my eyes. I love to drive doesn't matter how "far out" it may be I'm game to go.

Of course I bought yarn....I always do...a sickness is all I have to say about it. Sock yarn can never count as 'stash' in my opinion. I bought some of Kathy's Scarlet Fleece it's Tubular X2 in persimmon. Already been wound and ready to start a pair of socks...a very Hokie feeling colorway!

The other two skeins were from Wisdom Yarns in Chicago and Boston. I loved the socks done up with the different patterns...know nothing about this yarn, but could not resist the patterning. The two different skeins will pattern out differently- one stripes (Boston) the other with stripes and splashes (Chicago). I'm looking forward to seeing how these work up.

Her Ski Socks

I started on Her Ski socks...don't think I'll have the pair complete before the ski trip, but I may get lucky. I'm trying out Grumperina's "pretty way" of picking up the gussett stitches. I do like the look although not easily seen with the yarn I'm using for the socks. A nice & easy technique for picking up the stitches. The gussett area seems flater...important in a ski sock to have no rubbing inside your boot.

Pattern: standard ribbed K3P2 pattern from cast on of 60 stitches

Yarn: Jo Sharp DK Wool in owl for the cuffs and brocade for the leg/foot.

Needles: size 4 Clover Bamboo

The heel is ribbed as well due to problems I have had in past ski socks...the ankle area sags. I did a slip stitch k1 to the end on the right side, then purled the wrong side.

Shaped Edge Sweater

I started to swatch for the Shaped Edge Sweater from Out of Town by Debbie Bliss. I'd really like to get started and hopefully finish before the Spring weather comes...yeah I know that's not going to happen, but I'd like to. I should have started last month when I got the pattern book from Mosaic

Looking forward to working on this though. I'm using Sublime rather than the called for DB Cashmerino Aran...kind of glad the shop didn't have enough stock of the color I wanted to use in the DB after reading comments on Raverly and other sites regarding it's pilling problem. The Sublime feels very similar to the DB Cashmerino Aran which is the one thing I loved about the sweater- the softness. In the "granite" colorway...better get busy!