Dare I Say It?

Christmas knitting has begun. Gasp. I know. Halloween is barely over, yet I am well on my way to finishing my Christmas knitting. Well, most of it.

Since my last post the sweaters have languished in favor of Christmas presents for family and friends. As such, I have finished objects proudly displayed in my yarn room. Last night I finished Tyler’s brown socks as well, so now I’ve cast on for a pair of Christmas socks. I’ve also finished a super cool scarf from Noro Silk Garden in a pretty green, grey colorway. I used a Knitty pattern called Edgar, and I am thoroughly pleased with the results. My mileage was better than the pattern suggested for a single skein. It was a fun knit, and I highly recommend it for gift knitting.

I’ve also knitted and stuffed several lavender eye pillows of my own design. I still need to get some pretty ribbon to accent them, but other than that they are ready to go.

And, I’ve knitted, though not yet felted, another present.

I am now knitting a pair of socks in Regia 4 ply Patch Antik. That link is even the right colorway, but mine came from Churchmouse during one of their awesome sales. Just my standard sock pattern, with the added excitement of guesstimating the recipient’s foot length.

So, all that sounds great, doesn’t it? I think I have a pretty good handle on my Christmas knitting. Except for that big blue sweater! Poor Tyler has been waiting for it for almost a year now. I know he deserves his lovely blue, cabled sweater.

Sigh.

Okay, okay, I’ll go back to cabling.

Confessions

So, I have a confession to make. I did something silly (no, I’m not telling you what) and as a result, I have no way of getting pictures of my current knitting projects online. So the long break in posts has been me hoping beyond hope that things would fix themselves and I’d be able to give you a report complete with pictures. Miracles have not yet happened though, so I’ve come with a written report and you’ll just have to use your imaginations.

I seem to have gotten over the moving-in knitting desert. I finished a lovely pair of socks (in my usual pattern with size 2 needles). They were made of Posh Yarn from the Loopy Ewe. I used the Water Nymph colorway, and I loved it. After checking out the Posh Yarn website, I realized that Posh makes a bunch of different sock yarns in combinations of merino and cashmere. The one I used was 30% cashmere and 70% merino. Lovely, lovely, lovely. Pretty much the only word I can think of to describe them. The only down side was that I did have a bit of color transfer while I was knitting them.

I also started some Cotton Panda socks in the Strawberry Lime colorway when we went to San Deigo for a wedding (of course from the Loopy Ewe). On returning to chilly New England, however, I’ve decided to put them on hold until spring starts to look nearer, or at least until the winter is driving me so crazy I need something bright and light to remind me that it will get warm again.

In the active project department, I am well into the second sock of a pair of chocolate brown socks for Tyler. They are made of Apple Laine Apple Pie. (Again, from the Loopy Ewe.) I’m using a pattern from Knitty called Thuja. This is the second pair of dark brown socks I’ve made for Ty. I knit the first pair for him while he was gone and some how went crazy and made them much too small for him. I persisted in completing them anyway and he wound up not being able to get them on his feet. Sigh. I claimed them for my own and then proceeded to loose them on a camping trip. Clearly, these socks had a destiny that did not include me or my family. The current pair is doing well, though. The first sock fits him very well, and the second sock is well on its way.

I am also working on a sweater for myself. Martha form Rowan Studio Issue 2. I’m using the recommended yarn, Rowan Felted Tweed in a very fall-y deep red. I bought the pattern and yarn at Churchmouse this spring with the thought that it would be my reward for completing our move to Connecticut. I decided it reminded me of the brilliant red leaves I remembered seeing here when I visited before we got married. It does. The leaves peaked last week, and my only regret was that the sweater wasn’t finished to wear with the leaves.

I’ve also pulled Tyler’s shetland cabled sweater out. Hopefully, for completion before Christmas. (Keep your fingers crossed for me.) I am almost done with the back.

Speaking of Christmas, I realized I need to get my other Christmas knitting going. Since some of the recipients are readers of this blog, I will only say that I’ve finished one present (now displayed proudly in my yarn room). And, am well on my way to finishing a second.

So, that’s the knitting project update. I’ll work on the picture thing. I swear.

The long awaited Summer in Kansas Shawl

Anyone who has moved recently will understand the long spans between posts. We are finally in our new home and, dare I say it, mostly settled. During the settling process my knitting production (let alone any time for blogging) was drastically decreased, and I am just now getting back on the horse.

The up side is that I had a burst of productivity right before we moved in. (No job, no internet, and no real home will do that to a knitter.) So, I should have plenty to show off until I get myself back up to speed. Part of that burst of productivity might also have been the inspiration of fibers I found along the way. My favorite was definitely some Buffalo Gold I picked up at the Yarn Barn in Kansas. Especially since we saw so many live buffalo in the national parks.

This one was actually following the road in Yellowstone National Park.  

This fall is looking quite busy as well though, so I’m still not promising daily posts. But, I will do my  best. In the mean time, here is some fun stuff to keep you busy.

Yes, that’s right, I have pictures of the Summer in Kansas Shawl. I know, I know. I finished it, well, months ago. But I forgot to take pictures of it when I left it with mom it’s intended recipient) on our way cross country. But she came to visit our new house last week so I talked her into posing for me.

I have to say, the finished Summer in Kansas makes the long time it took me to finish it well worth while. To be honest the last portion of the edging should not have taken me as long as it did, I just kept putting it off.

That is our new back deck. I am especially fond of the clemantis vines that adorn the railing.

So that’s all for today. I promise more pictures of my summer and my summer knitting to come.

In Connecticut

We’ve arrived. Well, at least we’ve arrived in Eastern Connecticut. We took about a week to drive across country, and spent about a week at my parents’ new house in Kansas City. So, yes. I’ve been reunited with my stash. The first section of the trip, we travelled to as many national parks as we could. So when life calms down a bit, I’ll have beautiful photos of Glacier National Park, Yellowstone, Mt. Rushmore, Custer State Park (the Needles), and the Badlands. I was disappointed to not see a bighorned sheep, but we did see many mountain goats, antelope, moose, prairie dogs, and even bison. We didn’t see any wild herds of bison, but we saw four or five using the roads and parking lots of Yellowstone. It was truly an awesome experience.

After a fun week with Mom and Dad, Tyler and I left the puppy with them for safe keeping until we get a house. (Our temporary housing doesn’t take pets.) The finding a place to live thing is what is taking up most of our time at the moment. I’ll let you know how it goes.

As for knitting, I’ve finished one pair of socks and the linen sweater I was working on. I’m almost done with another pair of socks and the Show Your Colors shawl, which I’ve decided to alter the edging on. I’ve got another pair of socks in the works. And, this afternoon I cast on for one last summer sweater. It is a simple cardigan from Nashua June. I swapped my mom for the yarn. After I made the gorgeous pink lace top, I still had eight balls of the pink June left. Since I didn’t want to make a cardigan that was too matchy-matchy, I swapped Mom for some June in pure white. I’ve been needing a plain white cardigan for a while, plus Mom had three or four sweaters worth of white yarn in her stash, so now she has some color to work with. It is a pretty simple sweater, and I’m hoping it will go fairly quickly. After that, it is on to fall sweaters. (Especially the one I promised Tyler last year.)

The Stash Is Gone!

That’s right, my long term and intermediate stash is gone. Okay, so it’s not actually that bad. We are preparing to move all the way across this great big country. And part of that preparation was sending my precious stash back with my mom (who was here last week) to Kansas. That way I don’t have to trust the movers with it. I only sent my actual yarn and spinning supplies. And, quite surprisingly, it all fit into one very large suitcase. I still have a shawl and sweater that I want to finish before I leave (less than a week now), and I have another shawl in progress and two more socks in progress for the road. Additionally, I have needles, patterns, and yarn for another sweater and three more pairs of socks. That should keep me busy for the trip cross country. Right?

The plan right now is to send a small quantity of novelty yarn (gifts), my patterns and knitting books, and my swift and ball winder with the movers. I will be reunited with my precious yarn when we drop the puppy off at my parents and there is more room in the car. Sadly, the live animal isn’t allowed in the temporary housing we’ll be staying at until we find a house.

It is suddenly painfully obvious that my priorities have drastically changed since taking up knitting. When we moved to the west coast, I was most concerned about a few pieces of furniture that had been given to us by family members. Now, it’s the yarn that gets the highest priority. Sigh.

Sorry for the lack of pictures. I’ll try to get some especially pretty ones up before we leave to give you something to look at until I get a reliable internet connection back.

In the mean time, happy knitting and happy summer!

Socks and Sisters

Since I last posted I have definitely been on a sock kick. As a symptom of that, there have been a few more Loopy Ewe packages. The latest goody was an adorable kit to make a Loopy sock. I was completely charmed.

I mean, seriously, the thing is adorable. I finished it before I officially got out of bed the first day it arrived. It called for size one double points, which resulted in a foray into my seldom looked at dpn sock needles. While the size ones I had were metal, I also found the little bamboo dpns pictured inside the little sock. (It is about two inches long.)

So, when I started a full size pair of socks later that day, I decided to give dpns another go. I couldn’t resist the Duet Sock Yarn. How cool is the little matching mini skein for the heels and toes. In order to make the toes and heels look the way I envisioned, I decided that toe up socks with a short row heel would work best. I experimented with a few new toe up cast ons, but wound up resorting to my old faithful: the short row toe with a provisional crochet cast on.

First, let me say that the provisional crochet cast on is soooo much simpler now that I have a working knowledge of the anatomy of the crochet stitch. It is not nearly as difficult of mystical as I thought when I first tried it out. The yarn is DK weight, so the socks just flew off the needles and I finished them in a record (at least for me) two days!

Here are the results.

I am just thrilled with them. They are quite thick and will be great for the cold, Connecticut winter.

This weekend was spent with several sorority sisters near the Allegheny Forest in Pennsylvania. We stayed at a beautiful cabin that belonged to my friend Erin’s parents. It was just gorgeous and exceptionally relaxing. Plus, it was wonderful to catch up, since we are all fairly far flung across the country.

That’s Gabrielle, Holly, me, Erin, and Ashley in front of the house. Gabrielle’s boyfriend, Marc, was also with us, but had already flown home. Something about gainful employment…

We spent the weekend catching up, canoeing, cooking out, playing with sparklers, floating in the river, and fishing. While we didn’t fish in the river (no license), we did fish in pool/pond in front of the cabin. The cabin was apparently the party house in the early half of the twentieth century with Gatsby-esque parties as exhibited by pictures we found in the house and folks who have stopped by the house who remember attending wild parties there in the 1930s and 1940s. So, the “pool” is was sandy bottomed and fed by the river and a small pump house. Obviously, this is no longer allowed due to environmental concerns. It has now reverted to a sort of shallow pond.

As you can see, we actually caught a few fish. This is Holly when she realized she actually caught a catfish. Ashley also caught a few smaller fish. And, later on I also caught a catfish. It might have been the same one Holly caught. Don’t worry, we let them go.

They just had a little out of body experience.

Over the course of the weekend and on the very long flights to and from Pennsylvania, I worked on my Show Your Colors shawl and another pair of socks.

Here is the shawl. I swear it is bigger than the last time I showed it to you.

I feel like I’m going to have a LOT of yarn left over, but we’ll see.

Here is the first Claudia Hand Painted Caribbean Blue sock.

 

And, here is the second.

I finished the first sock just as we took off for my flight home, and I worked on the shawl for the rest of the flight.

I know these look a lot like the Sea Scape Socks. But, they are my favorite colors and well, you need them in both bamboo and wool. I finished the Sea Scape Socks last week, but wore them before I had a chance to take a photo. I’ll get you one in a day or two when they make their way through the laundry cycle.

For now, it is back to getting ready for the move and Mom and Dad’s visit later this week.

Happy Friday

So, I’ve been working steadily on my new projects and enjoying my stockinette marathon immensely. But, what with switching between the three and devoting some time to the Summer in Kansas edging, everything looks roughly the same only a bit bigger. The notable exception is the linen Chaise top. I’ve finished the first side of the front and am almost done with the second strap.

It looks a little short and squatty from this angle, but I think it will drape more appropriately once I put it on. I went with a fairly open fabric, so I’ll have to wear a camisole or other undershirt with it. I also envision it working great for over a bathing suit at the beach. Here is a closer look at the hem.

 It still surprises me that something that feels so much like twine when it is in the ball can result in fabric with such nice drape. It certainly has a crispness typical of linen (which will soften with repeated washings), but I still think it’s neat.

To show that I really am working on other projects, here is a shot of my second Seascape Sock in Progress.

The second ball of Cotton Panda seems to oddly have different color spacing than the first one. Don’t get me wrong, the colors match perfectly. But despite starting from the same point in the skein, I seem to be getting a different color pattern. While the first sock seemed more random, with a few columns of alternating stripes, the second sock seems to have more diagonal/spiraling stripes. That might not make any sense, or it might just be me. Regardless, slightly fraternal sock twins don’t really bother me, so I continue to be pleased with my results.

To keep you amused over the weekend, here is Ginger at her cutest, just waking up from a nap.

Pictures Are Here!

I finally had some time to get the pictures going for you. First, go check out my Completed Projects page to see some of the projects I’ve been talking about the last few weeks.

I am still in a pretty simple knitting phase. I’m still working on the Summer in Kansas Shawl, but I get itchy after a while and want to speed through some stockinette. So I’ve cast on several new projects to satisfy that craving. Plus, summer is upon us, so it only seemed right to give some linen and bamboo their due.

After my last delivery from the Loopy Ewe, I cast on some standard socks in Cotton Panda in the Sea Scape colorway. I’ve finished the first sock,

but I’m still on the cuff of the second one.

Here is another view of my progress.

The yarn is just perfect for summer socks. It is a combination of bamboo, cotton, and nylon for stretch. I love the way it feels in my hand, and the finished product seems great as well. I used size 1 Addi Turbos. I can definitely see myself using this yarn again. Plus, it is pretty cheap for sock yarn.

Another Loopy purchase was some Chewy Spaghetti lace weight in the Wicked colorway.

It is quite a large skein, and I wanted to make a large triangle shawl that wouldn’t make me go cross eyed and that would show off they subtle color changes in this yarn. I settled on the Show Your Colors shawl. It is a free pattern from Spunky Eclectic. It is a nice simple pattern and I’m playing with the lengths of stockinette a little bit. I may also add another section of stockinette and eyelet. Here are a few photos of my progress:

and

And, here is a close up of the eyelet detail.

My last new summer project is a sleeveless top from Jo Sharp in EuroFlax Linen Sport Weight.

As you can see, I’m all the way to the armhole and neck shaping on the front (the first side). I’m quite pleased with it so far. I expected some hand fatigue from the linen, but that hasn’t been a problem so far. The guage is a bit loose, but I went with it since it will be nice and light for the summer. The neck is split and there is a cut ruffled ribbing at the top. I’ll keep you posted.

And now, for a little update from earlier knitting and a preview of the vacation photos. Here is a shot of me at a Sonoma Valley winery.

I finished this top before we left on vacation (obviously), and I am completely taken with it. I used some Nashua June that I had in my stash from a Churchmouse sale, and I only used half of what I had. The pattern is a combination of two Interweave Knits patterns. The bottom half is from the Lotus Blossum tank from last summer. It is knit in the round and was an easy to memorize pattern. I added a repeat, but it still went quite quickly. By the time you finish one repeat, you can’t wait to start the next one. (Or, at least I couldn’t wait.) Then, I used the top half of the Josephine top from this summer’s issue.

And, here is my first attempt at an Elizabeth Zimmerman top down sweater.

Not a great picture of me, but it was at least 4 days into our road trip. I’m standing in the “drive thru” tree in Humbolt State Park. (Where all the really big Red Woods are.) We couldn’t actually drive through the tree with the giant American rental car we had with us. In fact, I’d be surprised if anything asside from the Miata could have actaully driven through. Back to the sweater, I added some down and dirty waist shaping that actually worked great for me. The yarn is DK superwash from Fancy Image Yarn. It only took three and a half skeins. I used a purl row to turn up the hems at the cuffs and hips, and used seed stitch at the collar. (You can also see some hand knit socks peaking out from my shoes.)

Well, there you go. Thanks for your patience. I hope you enjoy the photos.

Happy knitting!

More FOs

So, I finally seem to be peaking out from the sickness. It is definitely good to be able to breathe without being in a cold medicine haze. However, the sickness doesn’t seem to have put a damper on my knitting production. (Although much of it is of the plain knitting variety.)

Yesterday, I finished the U-neck vest from Stephanie Japel’s Fitted Knits. I am quite pleased with the results. It is lovely on its own, but will also make a great base for all my favorite shawls and cardigans. I would have been done much sooner, but in the midst of the sickness, picking up stitches for the neck and arm hole edgings seemed like an advanced procedure.

I also finally finished a nine-patch dishcloth. I found the Sugar and Cream I used a bit of a pain to pick up stitches for the mitered corners which resulted in the long hiatus. But it seems alright now that I’ve finished it. Kay is right though, it is not nearly as cool as the ball band dish cloth.

I’ve also finished the Amanda’s Squatty Sidekick. And, I love it. I ran out of the Cascade Eco Wool half way through the handle, so I frogged back and made the handle and closure with Jamieson’s Spindrift in a pinky, red color that was left over from edging a cardigan. The felting was very satisfying. The Eco Wool felts like a champ, by the way. I haven’t decided what I’ll do for a button yet. I’m going to head down to the Churchmouse to see if they have a button I like. Otherwise, I might just make a felted ball in one of the two yarns. We shall see.

So now that I’m feeling better, I will get back to Mom’s Summer in Kansas shawl. I’ve also started another pair of gift socks from some of the yarn from the Loopy Ewe. It is Cherry Tree Hill in the birches colorway. After finally admitting the colors weren’t really suited to a gentleman recipient, I went with the Quills lace pattern from the spring Knitty. I’ve made some changes to make the pattern more suited to the recipient, and I’ve got about five and a half inches on the first leg so far.

For now, back to getting better and lace knitting.

Yarn!

Right after I published the last post, Ginger (our dog) started barking at the front door. There was the maintence man with my package from the Loopy Ewe. Wow, it is all just beautiful. Each skein was carefully wrapped in tissue and Sheri really does include a hand written note with your order. Everything I had heard about, and more.

I have the goodies set out on the coffee table to inspire me as I finish up my two beige (almost finished) projects.