Addendum to my last post... and extra startitis

Bah.

Awesome as the BMPs are, they don't hold a candle to these.

Perhaps I should take the weirdly hugeness as a sign that pirate argyles are better than space invaders.

Post Christmas Startitis

Phew.

It's over. Christmas, that is, and all the knitting that came with it. I finished everything I had planned to knit (except for one pair of socks, which I'm working on now. It's okay, though. Tobin got a road bike instead), and all of the knits have been given.

I'm such a bad blogger,though. In the fury of knitting and blocking and wrapping and giving, I neglected to photograph just about every single project. I think there's one somewhere of Tobin's grandmother in the shawl I made her, and I posted about Buck's Green Tea Socks way back when I finished them. Everything else, though, has been lost to blog posterity.

Now that all the gifts are done, I'm experiencing a rush of startitis. In the last four or five days, I have started:

FINALLY started the BMPs from Knitty that have been sitting over there in the "Queue" column for months and months. They look weirdly huge, though, so I'm putting them on pause until Tobin returns from his East Coast trip and can try them on.

Blue Sky Alpacas' High Neck Cable, in Rowan Felted Tweed, except that I didn't have time to get the pattern so I was making it up as I went. I tried it on in Tucson and looked like Baron Harkonen, so this is going to be frogged and turned into a version of Rowan's Demi. I'm in a designing mood, though, so I'm going to try and copy this and knit it based on EZ's no-seam saddle shoulder sweater. Heh. We'll see how that goes.

Ogee Lace Shawl. I took the Ogee lace pattern from my Barbara Walker Treasury Vol. 1. I have a ball of Baruffa Cashwool in chocolate brown, and had this crazy idea to make a shawl for my wedding. Eh. I have six months.

Tabi Socks from Veronik Avery's Knitting Classic Style, which K-Bull gave me for my birthday. With the gaw-jus Colinette Jitterbug that K-Bull also gave me for my birthday.

I have the yarn for the Tangled Yoke cardigan -- Rowan Felted Tweed in Treacle, but I want to swatch a variation for it. I loved the original sweater that Eunny posted on her blog. She has horizontal cables winding around the hips of the cardi that echo the tangled yoke. I love the balance this gives the sweater. So, I have plans to see if I can figure out how to do this, based on the charts in IK. (see? Design-y mood).

I know from experience that, when I get into these bouts of startitis, more than half of these projects will fall by the wayside, but that's okay. I'm enjoying them while they last!

Hopefully they'll at least last long enough to post some pictures.

dipping a toe back into the frog pond

Golly, my knittas have been quiet. I suppose I'm the only *ahem* loquacious one in the bunch. Okay, like, superfluously so.

*triple bonus for using two of my favorite unnecessarily large words in a row!*

Today I'll be picking up my needles for the first time in months. Our December Fatterday Knitterday is upon me, and it's time to knit or perish. And by "perish" I mean do nothing but sit around tittering and stuffing my face with the crack mix MCR always buys. Evil.


Before I can be reborn as a knitter, I feel that I need to confess my sins and renounce the works that have turned me into the knitting blackguard that I am today.

• The Sizzle (on needles). You're lovely, and one day I look forward to being annoyed with you (in all your finished glory) for not containing by boobs properly. For now, though, you have no place. It's December, which doesn't lend itself to rust-colored knit tank tops with deep Vs.
• The Glee (on needles). So close, and yet, so UFO. You require a lot of stockinette just to repay me with a white, short-sleeved, cropped cardigan in January. You'll just have to be patient.
• Mr. and Mrs. Dashing (on needles). Maybe I wasn't ready. Maybe neither of us were. All I know is that your cables are irregular, your thumb looks funny, and I bound you off too soon. I still have hope for us.
  
• Widdershins (in knitting Purgatory, begging forgiveness). *hisses* Maybe one day I'll frog you down to the gusset and take you on again. Don't hold your breath, though.
• All my unmade Christmas knits that were never born because of vile Widdershins (in skeins in my closet). Sorry, my lovelies. Maybe next year.

Today, I plan to start fresh. I plan to indulge, and glut myself on an easy pattern and fabulous fiber. I'm going to bust out my unforgivably gorgeous Lorna's Laces Worsted Multi, and I'm going to cast on for Marnie's variation of the One Skein Wonder.

Hoping for redemption,
SnoopFrog

the little skeink that couldn't

There's been nothing but silence from the Frog House, and for good reason. The Widdershins have broken me. After weeks of knitting, frogging, knitting, tinking, knitting, tinking, and frogging some more, I finally reached the end of my tether. I'm only barely able to talk about it. The wounds are still too fresh. I feel like a jilted lover, and I'd rather be crying into a cup of hot cocoa while watching Sense and Sensibility than reliving my pain.

In spite of all my care and caution (read: lifelines, measuring, and counting stitches like a Gringotts goblin would galleons), I still got bitten. I turned the heel only to find that these socks wouldn't fit my mother unless A) she's been secretly binding her feet for the last ten years, or B) I found a way to travel back in time and give them to her as a gift for her 5th birthday rather than her 50th. How the hell did this happen? I'm flummoxed. I followed that f'in pattern to the letter, and yet somehow things went terribly awry.

And now... I can't even bear to look at them. It took every ounce of my willpower not to set fire to the unfinished socks, needles and working yarn still attached. I might have even tossed in the pattern and Ziploc baggie for good measure.

Ever since the incident, I'm finding it difficult to be enthusiastic about knitting. I've worked a bit on my long-lost Mr. and Mrs. Dashing, but to no avail. My knitting heart is tender, and wonders if it can ever love again.

NaKniSweMo update from Lil Purl

I'm very close with my Beau. I have finished the main parts of the front and back and have blocked it to start my seaming. After seaming, I'm working on the neckband, buttonband and attaching the sleeves:



Here are my sleeves. I'm working on them simultaneously to minimize the variation in my gauge.










This knit has gone faster than I thought since I only started a couple of weeks ago. The only problems I've had is some of the laddering that happens when I've switched from knit and purl Some of the Rowan pattern is also confusing. It's fairly simple but some of the written descriptions were not as clear as I would have liked. "Work the same as back until 36 rows less" is a strange instruction. 36 rows less? Wouldn't it be more intuitive to give dimension?

On another note, I finished staining and varnishing my stash's beautiful new home some time back. Here she is:
Isn't she a beauty?

NaKniSweMo

Sure, we're a day or two late in starting, but that's okay -- we have 28 more! Who's in with me? Come on! Knit a sweater in the month of November, with Knitgrrl and the group over on Ravelry.

I'm going to make this one:
It's the Star-Crossed Cardigan, over on Anthropologie. I'm going to make it out of some chocolate brown Cascade Eco Wool from the stash, on size 9 needles, with long sleeves. I haven't cast on, but I've swatched and sketched and I think I've figured out how it works. Sure, I've made sweaters before, and in less than a month, too, but the challenge here for me is to do this sweater and the 3 pairs of socks and the shawl I have lined up for holiday gifts. Woo hoo!

Who's with me? Come on girls! Let's knit sweaters!

Meet Vera

5 oz of Lorna's Laces superwash merino roving, spun into 280 yards of somewhere between dk and worsted. I'll have to check the wpi after she's all washed. But here she is!


The roving was bright pink, with brown, pale pink and some olive greens. I didn't want it to end up in stripes, because I was afraid of any pooling that would happen (see the ugly Breeze sock fiasco), so instead I plied two singles together, offsetting the colors, to let whatever interactions happen that wanted to happen.




Overall, I'd say the skein wants to be bright pink. The pink is so dominant. But there are these interesting smudges of browns and greens as well. I can't wait to knit this into the shifting sands scarf.

I feel like I'm getting a much better handle on this whole spinning thing. It seems like I'm stuck in a bit of a "somewhere between dk and worsted" rut, though. I'll have to try really hard to spin something... thicker. Or thinner. I suppose either way would be new to me!

My new stash home

I finally bought a new dresser to house my stash. I can't wait! We bought it at an awesome furniture sale so now all I have to do is stain it and presto, my yarn has a new home! Check it out. Isn't it beuuuuutiful!


Currently, my stash is stored in the sad coffee table so hopefully, I can get it out of there soon!
On another note, here are updates to my current WIPs. First is the shifting sands scarf for my mom, second is the clementine shawlette for my bridesmaids:This weekend, the ladies are knitting ornaments at Snoop's house. I can't wait! =)

Addendum to my previous post

Augh.

Etsy, DAMN YOU AND YOUR BEAUTIFUL HAND DYED FIBER.




Fiber diet too. Starting now.

:(

But I have 8 oz of merino/tencel winging it's way to me! Yippee!! :)

A Vow

Let my Knittas be my witnesses.

I hearby swear off buying any new yarn until (at LEAST) January, 2008.

Yes, I'm going on a yarn diet.

I've never really, TRULY felt the need to go on a yarn diet before. I've always just accepted the natural accumulation of yarn that has come from being a fiber-holic, and the natural accumulation of UFOs and WIPs that come from being a process knitter. It's always been about the challenge of a new pattern, the triumph of getting a design out of my head, onto a page, and then onto the needles (even if it never comes OFF of the needles). But I think things are getting a bit out of hand.

See, I have this weird categoric memory -- ask Kid SSK. We rock climb together, and I have this bizarre ability to remember every route she or I have pretty much EVER climbed at the Sunnyvale Planet Granite. It used to be the same with my yarn. I was always able to remember exactly where and when I bought any of the yarn in my stash, and what I had intended to make with it. But I was looking in my stash this past weekend, in preparation for the great Destash and Stash Organization of 2007 (Take 2 -- don't ask), and I came across several skeins that I swear I've never seen before.

This is a problem.

So, the yarn diet. It's time, it must be. Now, I know that two and a half months of yarn dieting may not seem like a lot, but I just don't want to set myself up for failure. Also, please note that we are coming into the height of Holiday Knitting Season, which is historically a period of yarn-buying weakness and knitting insanity for me. I've already gotten a good start on knitting socks for everyone I know, and have a huge stockpile of sock yarn (mostly accumulated within the last month), so I'm thinking I should be okay. Also, with my new found love of spinning, I'm in danger of spending the REST of my income on fiber, so something has to give.

You heard it here first, girls. And I'm really going to need your support on this. NO NEW YARN FOR MCR UNTIL THE NEW YEAR.*

*The only exception is exchanging the second hideous skein of CTH variegated sock yarn that I just bought. This doesn't count as buying new yarn since the money has already been spent. ;)

tales from the frog pond: my first lace

Harumph.

I frogged my very first toe of which I was so exceedingly proud. I realized once I went to start the main body of the sock that I had somehow completely botched the increases and ended up with too few stitches. Like... "enough to notice" too few.

I was undaunted, and frogged without a moment's hesitation. I was only 14 rows in, after all, and figured it was good practice at working the toe of a toe-up sock.

Well. I re-did my work last night, slightly under the influence of pain killers and High Victorian drama. I realized this morning that everywhere I was supposed to do an M1 increase, I instead did a yarn-over. Note that this is 4 times every round. For 14 or so rounds.

Perhaps third time will be the charm...

regia silk... don't make me cut you

The one-armed wonder perseveres, despite oppression of the UltraSling II®.

So much to tell, so few arms to do it...

1. I finally got around to casting on Mr. Dashing, which I'm working using some combination of Magic Loop and Side Loop knitting. This is officially my second go on this project. I first cast on around nine months ago with overly-thick, cheap yarn. I know, I know. I was a noob. It was turning out chunky and inelegant, and eventually I frogged it and began summer projects (which are now shamefully hibernating in the closet).

Needless to say, the Sirdar Snuggly Baby Bamboo I'm using this time around is a vast improvement. In fact, this might be my most favoritest yarn thus far. So soft. So snuggly. Yummy yum yum.

I decided that I wanted an elbow-length arm warmer, so I'm working 5 cable rounds instead of 3. Nearly finished with the first one. I need to analyze the sequence and location of my cables... which got a little haphazard... before I work the second one. I was going to do both at once using a super long cable, but I chickened out at the last minute.

2. Amidst a haze of Romantic and High Victorian film adaptations (thanks, MCR!), I realized that mid-October was upon me. Thus blossomed a mild panic about my first pair of socks, Widdershins, which I hope to knit as a birthday present for my mom by November 6th.

I created my first toe last night, and I'm exceedingly proud. I was braced for the worst (recalling LP's sock-induced nervous breakdown last summer), but things seem to be going really well. Despite having never cast on for a toe any other way, I feel that Judy's Magic Cast On is indeed magical.


There is, however, a sour grape in my sweet, sweet bunch. Upon the recommendation of the very knowledgeable MCR, I'm using Regia Silk. The yarn is lovely, and I have every confidence it will knit up beautifully. BUT... when I pulled out the center of my first ball to wind it and prepare it for work, I found a little knot about a yard in. This wasn't a tangle, but rather a place where the yarn had been cut. Annoying.

Not wanting to deal with this nonsense on my very first sock, I dug out the second ball and pulled out the center. Lo and behold, another knot, in almost the exact same place. What the hell?! I paid $8.95 for each of you! Why you gotta play me like that?!

3. I'm pleased to announce that Ravelry will soon feature each and every one of my knitting projects in my relatively short knitting history! It's a bit of a cheat, as I don't have all that rich a history, but I'm tickled pink nonetheless. The only missing link was my very first scarf, which I photographed earlier this week and will be adding to my notebook shortly. It's just a garter stitch scarf with a moss/garter edge (yes... moss stitch. again, I was a noob, and I didn't know any better). It's made with pointedly inclement acrylic, which is unfortunate given the amount of time and effort (see "noob" above). One of the many reasons I love my husband is that he cherishes this scarf, as plain, impractical, and scratchy as it is.

I feel oddly complete.

Adventures in Sockland or, the good, the good and the ugly

First, an FO:

Pattern: Highland Schottische Kilt Hose, by Nancy Bush in Folk Socks
Yarn: Regia Silk 4-Ply in Charcoal
Needles: Addi Turbo 32" size 1 1/2 (2.5 mm)




I love these knee-high stockings. They're super comfy and warm, and they fit perfectly. I was a little concerned that they'd make my ginormous calves look ginormous-er, but I don't think they do.

They went super fast, continuing my insane sock knitting frenzy. I started them two weeks ago, the third pair in as many weeks... the second one took about 4 days. I like them with my little mary janes. But I can also wear them to relax in. Ah, Kilt hose. How do I lurve thee...


Next, though comes a sad, sad tale of yarn that tricked me with it's pretty colors and squishness.

Ah, Cherry Tree Hill supersock merino, how I loved your greys and blues and lavenders, how I loved the soft snowiness of your white and the leafiness of your green.

But how you tricked me. Pretty, pretty yarn. Knits up so so ugly.
|
This shot doesn't even do justice to the hideous pooling and flashing on the instep. A big chunk of white next to a triangular pool of purple. Gah. Horror of horrors. KBull described it as an "'80s couch." Totally. I have two other skeins of cherry tree hill supersock that I just added to the stash, and I may just have to return them. I can't stomach another betrayal.

These were supposed to be for my sis for christmas, but the Birch Breezes of Horror have (mercifully) been frogged, and I cast on something to relieve my aching eyeballs.


Pomatomus from Knitty, by Cookie A. In Koigu KPPPM, two skeins of which I bought at Stitches this past February. This yarn started off as Monkeys, but quickly became Elfines (scroll all the way down), but didn't like being either of them. But Pomatomus, I love already. There's something about the texture and direction of this pattern that really takes to variegated yarns in a way that many other patterns don't (eh hem. Breeze?).

So, the Poms and I ride off into the sunset together, leaving birch in a stringy puddle of 80s couch hideousness in the dust.

Knittas in the House

This lovely Sunday, I hosted a knitting day with my knittas m.c. rib, KBULL, and snoop frog. With lots of lovely munchies and girly movies playing, we had a ball (or should I say skein?).

I finally completed my Mr. Greenjeans and am now in the process of steam blocking the rib band before sewing on the button and officially wet blocking it. Here it is blocking on my new knitter's block:

I'll post pictures of me in it soon!

Oakland knit/crochet show and the 49ers game

Phew that was a busy day! A knit show and football game all in one day! I would normally complain about the "petite" nature of this knit show (Stitches is WAY bigger) but with less than 2 hours to shop, it actually worked out better this time! I hit the Oakland knit and crochet show early Sunday morning and with the recommendations of m.c.rib, went straight to the Article Pract and Red Fish stalls to get my knitter's block and lace yarn! Check them out:

More lace yarn from Terrilyn Needleworks:

Malabrigo lace yarn:

Afterwards, off I went to the 49ers/Seahawks game to accompany my mom. The game sucked (49ers lost 23-3) but the day was beautiful and the knitting totally made up for it!

I made great progress with my Mr. Greenjeans at the game. I am now on the second sleeve and will hopefully be blocking it soon before I do the rib band. I'll hopefully get started on some lace shawls soon to show off this fancy yarn! =)

Wisp

I started the Wisp yesterday, and this is as far as I got (after ripping half of it out and redoing it). It's nice because I can work on it while watching tv but it's not totally boring. The only problem is that my wrists and elbows are killing me. I think it's because of how I hold the yarn and needles. Something about the super thin yarn makes me change my hand positions to something very bad for me. Hopefully I'll be able to change that so I can get back to this.

hand-spun wonderment

My lovely friend Rebz, whom I met on the Intrawebs (ain't it the darndest thing), just sent me some beauteous hand spun yarn as a gift. Squeeeeeeeeeee! X-D

The color is a bit hard to describe... it has a little touch of everything depending on how the light hits it (kinda like McR's McAwesome Engagement Ring).

I'm very much looking forward to spending some quality time with it, in the hopes that it will whisper to me what it wants to be.

Thanks, R!!! Lurve it, and lurve you!

What do we think?

Spurred by Nina's experiments with the Urchin, I tried making Ysolda's Gretel pattern out of some Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk from the stash. Now, this yarn is heavenly to knit with. I LURVE it.

Not sure about the hat, though.
What do we think?

Do I look French?

This is my ooh la la face. How does it look?





And then, of course, there's pouty french face. Non?







Eez eet moi?'Cause, I'm about to run out of yarn... and I'm not quite done yet.

Oops.

Should I bother getting another ball of yarn, or consign zeez one to zee etang de grenouille? reebeet?

Pictures of my urchin

I finally found my camera so here's the pictures of the sad, ugly, little urchin. Ah, urchin in the sunshine...


I do like how it looks from the top. It really is like a sea urchin.

But it looks horrible on me. Adam said it looks like a Muslim prayer cap. I know it's just because it's too small but it's not encouraging me to make a new one. (pay no attention to the pasty face and slightly crazy eyes. Just remember I've been sick for the last 3 days. Be kind, be kind...)

Oakland Knit and Crochet Show

KBull and I trekked across the Bay to the Oakland Knit and Crochet show yesterday. It's much smaller than Stitches West, but that makes it more manageable, though somehow no less exhausting.



We made one absolutely INGENIOUS find at the Article Pract booth.... the Knitter's Block. How did someone not think of this?
I haven't unwrapped it yet, but it's modular, 12" or so squares that you can put together in different sizes and shapes to block your work! And it comes with t-pins, and a blocking cloth, and this fantastic, handy orange tote bag. LURVE. On the bag are the buttons I bought at Buttons! (More about those below.)

My other great find was this:

800 or so yards of cotton/rayon yarn from Interlacements. It's the perfect yarn to make a nice, sleeveless top for my mother-in-law-to-be for Christmas! I found some equally nice yarn at Nine Rubies the other weekend for three times the price.

And, of course, Buttons!

The last ones are my favorite. They're Victorian glass, late 19th century. No idea what I'm going to do with them, but they sure are purdy! The button woman is amazing -- she knows what all the buttons are made of and what era they come from.

Now all I have to do is find something to put them on.

banana split for my baby

Spumoni Mary Janes are finished and gifted, and I must say they were very well-received.


These ones knit up super quick, and were insanely easy to make. They're essentailly just the Saartje bootee with no second strap. I didn't end up gifting my original bootees, as the craftsmanship looked pretty shoddy next to these.

Some notes:

• After trying it both ways, I have to say that I think using two contrasting colors detracts from the cuteness. I'd recommend going a single color, or at least staying in the same color family.
• This works much better with a regular M1 than a lifted M1, which is what I did accidentally on the last pair.
  
• I did a crocheted button loop, which worked out much better than the totally ghetto improvised button loop I tried last time.
  
• I still don't quite understand how you're supposed to cast and work the straps. Whatever I did last time really didn't work out so well. This time I just cut a long tail on the working yarn, cast on the additional stitches off the ball, and continued working with the yarn still attached to the ball. I ended up with lots of tails to weave in, but it looked... well, more attached than whatever nonsense I tried last time.
• Still wish there was some seaming guidance. This time I did a combo of mattress-type stitch (though a bit different as it was worked on garter) and just a regular sewn seam on the sole.

Tomorrow's a big day. We're off to the Knit & Crochet Show, and a world of buttons awaits us there...

Ugly urchin...

I've been lolling on the couch being all sick for the last few days and was struck with an intense attack of knititis. I burrowed through my meager stash looking for yarn and a pattern and, with a little help from Adrienne, settled on the Urchin and a dusty pink skein of Lamb's Pride Bulky yarn that I had left over from making a gift. I got about half-way through the hat when I figured out that I'd been doing it completely WRONG. That's what I get for not consulting with m.c. rib before starting.

Anyway, I ripped it all out and started it again, this time correctly. Once I finished it, I sadly found out that it was too small and also UGLY. I think I just needed to use size 11 or 11.5 instead of 10.5. I'm not sure if making the hat bigger and with a looser knit would make it necessarily look better though. Still, I may try it again after changing everything.

(side note: I actually looked around for my camera this time to take pictures for the blog, but I can't find it right now. I'll show you all the hat at our next Knit Night)

Mr. Green jeans Update

Yay! I'm finally onto the cable/rib section of my Mr. Greenjeans. When I started my Seamus cardigan, the stockinette stitch is what did me in. The cable and rib section of the Mr. Green jeans is enough repetition and interest to keep me going. I also love that it's practically a one piece top down construction (except for the button band where I have to pick up stitches later) but really that's no biggie since there's no seaming! Yahoo!!!!

Of course, this project has not been completely trouble free. I've had quite a number of stumbles along the way (too many to probably mention). My poor fiance had to endure my colorful language for the last few days. Oh well, it's par for the course. Following the pattern, I made the mistake of using the smaller size needle to start the cable/rib section. Although the pattern calls for this, I should have known this wouldn't work as the needle they recommended for the rib/cable part was too small when I did my initial gauge swatch. Long story short, I had to frog a good 3 inches (start again at the stockinette portion) of cable/rib when I finally had the sense to try it on! That hurt! I know I know, I'm stealing snoop's style. =)

After I fixed that problem, I then realized that somewhere along the way, I was knitting with one size 7 needle and one size 9 needle. This must have happened when I changed needles after my gauge snafu. Such an absent minded dork!! I love love love these knitpicks option needles but this confusion can certainly happen, esp. with me! See if you can tell the difference:



Then, after I fixed that problem, I realized that I had missed TWO cable twists! At this point, I was a little beside myself but decided to buckle down and try to fix it myself! So, I dropped the stitches I had made and tried to retwist the cables. Here's what I did:
































Not bad, eh? I apologize for the sideways pic of the final fix. I couldn't figure out how to flip that.


With that, I am go go go! Hopefully, I'll get to the sleeves by Monday. I'm off to the Oakland knit/crochet show with my knittas on Sunday so I'm sure we'll have plenty of stories and yarn to show and tell.

So far: