What a month!

December was completely crazy. I realized that I needed to concoct presents for everyone on my list, since I had actually finished my dad's sweater.

The sweater:



It actually fit my dad!

I also made a couple of neckwarmers (only got a pic of one right now):



It's based on Fourteen by Yarn Ball Boogie. I love this pattern, and I'll definitely be making more of these.

I made a cloche out of roving (no time to spin it!):



It's utterly soft and warm. It's for my sister in law, who has eclectic taste :)

Pretend there are two of these, and you'll see the socks for my brother:



The pattern is based on Dolomite by Anne Hanson, and made for my brother because of his love for the Dolemite movies.

The Sunday before Christmas, I realized there was no way I was going to be able to knit or crochet presents for all, so I made my sister a lap quilt and a co-worker a silk scarf.

I also made a potholder and oven mitt for one of my brothers and a golf club cover for my brother in law.

I'm still tired.

Blocking hides a multitude of sins

Or so I hope. The gansey is done, and it's drying in the craft room. DP said that if it doesn't fit my dad, he'll take it, so it will have a good home regardless :)

Yargh

I'm still plugging away on the gansey, but it's tough...it means I can't really make anything else, because I have to save all of my energy for it. I'm halfway through the second sleeve, and then I just need to do the neck and block the thing, but it's wearing on my psyche.

I tried to knit socks on the bus, but I found that when I got home my hands and arms were tired, and they didn't want to stay up til midnight making a sweater. So, I just read pattern books and curse every second away from the sweater.

I'm using today to make puff pastry. I'm going to make an apricot frangipani tart for Thanksgiving (DP's idea) and I figured I'd make an extra batch of it to use for a Pithiviers for Christmas. DP was actually woken up by the deep sighs I was making as I tried to roll out the dough :)

I really really want to make the Dolomite socks for my brother for Christmas, but I don't think I'll have time. We've all enjoyed watching the Dolemite movies, and our fantasy football league is named after a phrase in Avenging Disco Godfather. Sigh.

Hopefully I'll get myself in gear and get some more pics up. Now to roll my dough.

Finally, some pics

Finally, I found the usb cord for the camera! Here's a pic of the gansey (I'm a bit further now, since I have the shoulder straps done:



And a closeup of the ill-fated initials:



My hope is that the blobbyness will block out.

Here's my niece's watchcap, made with STR Walking on the Wild Tide:



It's blurry, but this is the picture with the color as close to real life as I could get.

Now that I've finished the shoulder straps, I'm going to have to finish the arms. My plan is to work the arms separately to the definition ridge, then Magic Loop them two at a time through the stockinette and cuff ribbing, to make sure they're the same size. I'm going to use the pattern I started with, the triangles pointing to each other, but then at the bicep on each side, stop the cables and insert an anchor (my dad was in the navy). After the anchor, I'll go back to the cabling. I'm also thinking of adding some diamonds or more chevrons, because it would be too boring to just be the strap pattern.

There's got to be...

A way to keep my shoulders from cramping up. I don't know what that is, but there's got to be a way!

I'm moving along on the gansey. I finished the front and back, and I started on the shoulder straps last night. I wish that I had a set of US4 dpns, because using a 47" US4 is getting old fast.

I also had to spend all of Saturday changing the purl columns back to knits. I realized that while a traditional gansey is fitted, my dad might not prefer it that way. The cables are a lot subtler, but still neat, and the size is right. It took me half of Sunday to come up with the design for the shoulder straps, and in the end I went with something simple:

> <
> <
> x <
> <
> <
> x <
> <

Triangles of purls with 4 stitch cable crossings every 8 rows. I'm liking how it looks, and I think it matches the body.

Gansey woes

On October 12, I started a gansey for my dad. He loves fishing, especially ice fishing, and his mother had made him an aran sweater that he loved (it's currently in my possession). I used that sweater as a schematic for mine.

On October 14, I was merrily knitting along, very impressed with the look of the seed stitch initials I had knit into the bottom of the sweater. I stopped to admire my handiwork, and I realized that I had knit the WRONG INITIALS. It's my dad, for goodness sake! It's only three letters! So, I ripped that part down and crochet hooked it back up - it took an hour and a half. I guess I shouldn't knit while watching cheesy movies.

On October 17, I was into the patterning. DP went to bed early, so I stayed up watching less cheesy movies. After about 6 inches, I again stopped to admire my handiwork. It was looking a bit small, so I measured it. 5" less in circumference than it should be. The cables didn't draw in that much...then I discovered that instead of working over 242 stitches, I had been working over 224 stitches. I may not currently be a math genius, but I got a 5 on the calculus AP test, and I took advanced math courses in college. The fact that I created motifs specifically to fit over 224 stitches when I had written on the first page of my notes "Over 242 stitches" blows my mind. I ripped again, increased inside the definition ridge and started the pattern again.

What will I do next?

I'm trying to get DP to take me to the yarn store that's NOT on the bus line...I want to pick up some cascade 220 for bed socks. I've also been wondering how 220 works steeked...how much reinforcement (if any) it needs. But, I don't want to waste any of my yarn on a practice swatch :)

I've been spinning this fiber from Squoosh on Etsy. It's quite pleasant to spin with a bit of drafting. I'm using the fractal method that I read about in Spin Off. I've spun up the bobbin with the most changes, and I need to start the one with the longer color repeats.

Dear me

I participated in my first swap, and it looks like I screwed it up. Sigh. She got the package and liked it - hooray!

That accursed swatch still hasn't dried yet, and my sister in law will be over in a forty-five minutes. Not everyone likes the smell of wet wool, least of all someone 6 months pregnant!

I'm also working on a mini Retrofit, with sleeves each of a different green. DP was having trouble choosing a color.

Viva, regina

Well, I've been working on the swatch for Juno, and I'm at an impasse. The gauge is taken over 2x2 ribbing, and my ribbing on various needles all seems to scrunch up to the same gauge. I just washed the swatch and it's drying now, so maybe there will be a change. I'm dying to make this sweater, but I don't want to make something that won't fit.

I finally got a picture of the slippers I made for DP:



He insisted on having that movie in the pic.

I also finished my sock for the October swap:



And from the front:



The toe is a little pointy, but I'm proud of the design :) I was going for a jack o'lantern face and an indian corn type toe. The orange is some stash yarn I had left over from a consignment project, and the reddish black is STR Lenore. Strangely, only the orange bled when I washed this sock - people had been complaining about the Lenore bleeding all over the place, but no dye loss at all.

This is what I was up to last night:



Sitting on the couch, drinking vin santo, and reading a Knit Picks catalog. Nerdly? Why yes!

CLB attack

When we went on our honeymoon, we went camping for the first night. When we woke up in the morning, our tent was covered in asian lady beetles, or (as I called them) CLBs. Now, it seems that they are invading my house. ARGH!

In other news, here's the hat and mittens that I finished a few days ago:

Thumbless mittens (with interior pocket):





Squash Blossom hat:



I bought the yarn for the hat because it looked like Green Bay Packer colors, and my sister is a huge sports fan. She loves the smooshy feeling of the hat, and my BIL loves his thumbless mittens :)

I also finished a pair of slippers for DP, though I don't have the pic up yet, and I'm working on his scarf. It's simple brioche stitch, over 18 stitches, on US 11s. This is the scarf I've tried to make for him for 2 years. It's my fourth try; there's always something I don't like about the scarf and I rip it out. The yarn is lovely: Louisa Harding Grace in black.

I'm getting things done!

Really I am!

He did it again...

I was spinning this delightful yarn on Saturday:



and DP came up and said, "That looks great! I'd love to have a pair of socks made of that!" Eep!

I just got a mini-swap package today, and it included a row counter bracelet!



I've always wanted one, but I never really wanted to buy one. Now I don't have to :)

I'm also doing another non-mini swap, for the Folklore and Fairytales group on Ravelry. I'm pretty sure I know what yarn I'm going to give my swappee, but I have to figure out the rest of the tchochkes to go along with it.

Burglers

When I got into work today, I found out we'd been burglarized again. Everything was a mess, and several of my drawers were broken...though not broken into. I hate robbers.

I'm currently working on mittens for my brother in law. He wanted something like mittens, without thumbs, that he could wear to a football game and put handwarmers in. I've made one so far, but I haven't yet added the interior pocket to hold a handwarmer. My recipe, such as it is, is to cast on 40, rib for about 5", then work straight stitch with yarn held double, increasing by 5 two times. When I get to mid-palm, I put 10 stitches on hold--10 single yarn loops. I keep knitting around on the other loops, so I have no hole where I held the 10 inside. When I'm done with the mitten, I'll pick up those loops and make a kind of pocket, whipstitching it to the inside.

Back to my knitting.

I met a star!

Today I found out that the Techknitter is one of my congregants! Totally crazy.

I finished my Forest of Brethil socks yesterday. Not that anyone reads this or would be interested in the pattern, but I'm going to try to write it up anyway.

Now back to making pizza!

Hobbiton wrap

Here's the shawl I made for the One Shawl to Rule them All CAL:



It's Eva's Shawl, a sweet little pattern. I only really did two things differently: used dc, ch2, dc at the corners so that I wouldn't need a marker and used more eyelet rows. I always feel like that makes the yarn last longer, and since I made this out of handspun, I wanted to get the most out of what I had.

Supportive husbands

DP is cool with my yarn buying...perhaps too cool. When I came home with this yesterday,



he said, Great! I'd love socks out of that yarn! I guess that just means I have to buy more yarn for myself :)

I finally got the pictures of my other projects up. The first of the Forest of Brethil socks:





I'm pretty happy about how they're turning out, and I'm almost past the heel of the second one.

I picked up a skein of Cascade 220 yesterday as well:



My plan is to make it into a stocking (with some other Cascade for contrast) for my niece for Christmas. I just love the color.

Finally, a pic of the sampler gansey I made as a preamble to making a full size one:



I ordered special 10" long steel needles from the UK to make the full size sweater, but when they arrived, they were NOT steel, but teflon coated aluminum! I emailed the company, and they said that they ship whatever they have in stock at the time, so if they have more aluminum, that's what they'll ship. Rather than waste the money to ship them back to the UK, I decided to keep them. I'm just really bummed, because I specifically asked for steel needles, and that's what they said they'd send. They offered me 5% off my next order, but the dollar isn't strong enough to make it worth my while right now. They're a very nice company, but I guess I shouldn't buy anything from overseas if I might have to return it. Just one more thing to make me depressed.

Do I knit anything but socks?

Not so much :) Every time I get an idea for a different kind of project, I find another sock project to start on.

I'm almost finished with my Forest of Brethil socks. They use the riverbed sockitechture by Cat Bordhi...neat, but I still haven't gotten the hang of how much to increase for the expansion. When I followed her numbers, it came out too big. When I cut the numbers down, it came out too small. I'm just keeping it small and stretching it out, but I'd really like to find out how to make it fit!

I also stopped at my LYS this afternoon and picked up a hank of Cascade 220 in Pumpkin and one of Cascade sock in Thunder. While I was waiting to check out, I saw the Rowan Anniversary catalog...what I wouldn't give to have a copy! It was so beautiful. Unfortunately, it was a store copy and not for sale. Sigh.

Let's try this again

Argh. I can't seem to post often enough. I'm going to give this another try.

I've been making socks:











However, I've also been dealing with an infestation of these. It's been a horrible few weeks, but I think they're dead. Argh.

I'm working on another pair of socks for myself, out of Shibui sock yarn. It's wonderful yarn, but I wish the skeins had more yardage.

Thanks to those who read this...I'm really going to try to keep up with it.

52 pair plunge--still swimming

I'm keeping up with the plunge; I've knit 5 pairs of socks so far. Of course, 4 pairs are baby socks, but they count too :)

I just found out that my sister in law is pregnant, so I have another "victim" to foist handknits upon. Ha!

With the move, things are still up in the air, hence the lack of pictures. Hopefully I can get things organized and post pics of the socks I've made.

I've also started Eva's shawl in the biscotti handspun I made from the Spinning Bunny fiber. I'm starting with the targhee, and when that runs out, I'll go with the merino/tencel blend. The merino/tencel is a bit thicker, so I'll probably go up a hook size or two, hopefully creating a ruffly edge. I found the patter on theOne Shawl To Rule Them All thread on Ravelry. I haven't crocheted anything big in a looooong time, so it took me a bit to get up to steam. But now, I'm moving right along. I'm so happy to find a good use for this yarn. I wanted to make a shawl out of it, but I already have Laminaria on the needles, and I didn't want to freak myself out. I'm trying to keep the WIPs to a minimum.

Well, back to my shawl...

Fanny is done!

Moving out of an apartment you've lived in for 8 years is a lot of work. I've been going crazy the past two weeks, packing, moving, unpacking...I still have to clean our apartment, and that's not going to be easy. Sigh.

Due to the moving, I didn't get to post when I finished my MiL's socks:



Pattern: Fanny, by MonkeyToes, z"l
Yarn: Crystal Palace Panda Cotton, Chocolate Almonds colorway, about 1.5 skeins
Mods: 2x2 ribbing at the top, rather than 1x1.

I also participated in the June tiny sock swap, and made this little beauty:



Yarn: Crown Mountain Farms Big Yellow Taxi, spun on a medium weight spindle and knit right off the cop.

I have to say, I understand the love for working with energized singles. The fabric is so lively!

Currently, I'm working on a pair of baby socks for my niece, based on the Biological Clock socks from The Eclectic Sole by Janel Laidman. They're basically just plain socks with a DNA cable, but the cable is extremely fun.

Now if I could only find my camera...

Taking the Plunge, playing with Simon

Tomorrow is the beginning of the 52 pair plunge II! I'm pretty excited; my sister is looking forward to a lot of new socks for her daughter :)

Speaking of my niece, I finished her turtle, Simon:



He took just 2 1/2 days.
Yarn: Cascade Luna, .5 skein lime, 1.5 skeins oxide green
Needles: US 4

I'm going to have to make another one for the son of some friends, but I'll probably make his shell 3-tone instead of just 2-tone (to save yarn).

I also knit two tiny socks for the June tiny sock swap. One of them is knit in an energized singles, something I've been wanting to try since I read the Twisted Sisters Sock Workbook. Pics to come.

I'm off to prepare for tomorrow's plunge (and for moving into my new house)!

Kugel

Conversation between me and DP:

Me: Look what I got from the membership committee--a kugel!

Him: What's that?

Me: A casserole made with egg noodles, eggs, cottage cheese and sugar, with cornflakes on top.

Him: Why would anyone mix those things together?

Me: It's an old Eastern European recipe!

Him: With cornflakes?

He has a point :)

In other news, I'm working on a Sheldon for my niece. I used a gift certificate at the LYS, so the yarn only cost me $5.04. Score!

I'm also working on a Laminaria out of SeaSilk for myself. I'm about halfway through the star chart. It's an easy pattern, but it looks lovely.

Warm weather!

It's finally nice outside--hooray! In honor of the nice weather, I made this sundress for my niece:



It's based on the Katja pattern from Knitty's spring '06 issue. I used size 6 needles and some miscellaneous cotton from my stash. I made a skirt by lengthening the top and using feather and fan. I'm pretty pleased with it...we'll see how my sister likes it.

I also saw a great movie, Yeh Raat Phir Na Aayegi, a suspense thriller from 1966. It stars Prithviraj Kapoor, Sharmila Tagore, Mumtaz and Biswajeet. It's the story of a man who goes to visit his guardian, an archaeologist, and meets a woman who may or may not be a ghost. This was the first time I saw Biswajeet in an actual movie (not just a picturisation) and I thought he played the man who didn't know if he was in love with a ghost or not pretty well. He had a knack for looking insane one minute but normal the next, without a cut, just by his expression.

I got a 40% off coupon for Border's today, so I picked up a copy of More Big Girl Knits. Just like the first book, it's worth buying for the information on shaping and ease alone.

Back to the salt mines!

Pictures

Here is the clapotis I made for my sister:



I'm giving it to her today as a Mother's Day present--I hope she likes it!

Specs:
Yarn: 1.5 skeins SeaSilk in Woodland colorway
Needles: US 6
Modifications: Purled the stitches to be dropped so that I wouldn't have to use markers

I'm also working on a pair of socks for my sister in law:



The pattern is Monkey by Cookie A. It is totally hidden by the craziness of the sock yarn coloration, but it keeps things interesting for me to knit.

I've also decided to take the 52 Pair Plunge, wherein you try to make 52 pairs of socks in one year. Baby and toddler socks count, so I think I'll be able to at least make it halfway :) With all the new babies and as-yet-unborn ones coming up, I'll have victims for my creations.

Argh.

Things have been crazy 'round here. I've been really busy...buying a house! After 8 years of marriage, we finally saved up enough money for a down payment. If everything works out, closing will be at the end of May. Eek!!

My little niece is doing well--she's grown an inch and a half and gained a pound, and she's not even a month old. I'm so happy.

My best friend, who's premature baby passed away when she was six weeks old, is now pregnant again. I'm praying that what happened with her daughter was a fluke, and this pregnancy will be a happy and healthy one.

We had some scary graffiti on our building at work...I wish people had something else to do besides writing death threats.

Knitting has been done, but I have no pics yet. Soon!

New niece!

My sister had her baby yesterday at 5:39pm after 16 hours of active labor! She doesn't have a name yet, but she's beautiful--my sister was a beautiful baby, so I'm not surprised :)

The offspring will be the recipient of many a handknit item from her auntie; DP joked that I was just happy to get another victim!

There's a baby a-comin'

My sister's water just broke--eek! I may have a niece before the day is done.

Finished, and adorable

I finished the bell bottoms for my niece:



and



The pattern was knitty.com's Juju, but the color reminds me of spice drops...those spicy gumdrops they sell at Walgreen's. I used US4 circs, magic loop, and about 2.5 skeins of knitpicks CotLin. The picture of the pants is after they've gone through the washer and dryer. I'm quite impressed with the CotLin.

I'm also almost done with DP's orange socks:



Basically, I can't take much more of them, so I'm going to cast off after 5 more rows. Then, I'm going to make some socks for me...unless something else comes up :)

Wah...

I realize it's been a while...but I'm still knitting and spinning.

I finished a pair of wristwarmers made out of the biscotti angora blend, and I'm working on a seasilk clapotis:



DP's socks are as yet unfinished, but at least I'm past the heels!

I also joined the Wee Tiny Sock Swap, and I'm waiting for my little sockie to come. Here's what I mailed out to my pal Brooke:



This was so fun, and not scary like I imagine other swaps to be!

Yet another hat

I finished another baby hat yesterday, mere hours before the baby shower:



Emli Bonnet in STR Nodding Violet. I started it on February 11, but a crisis struck: I did something to my arms and shoulders shoveling, and I could barely move them for two days. On Saturday morning I woke up with movement in my arms, so I immediately started knitting. I didn't have a chance to block it, but I think it looks okay anyway.

I'm still plugging away at DP's orange socks...10 stitches per inch is slow going for me.

Biscotti, three ways

Today I just finished spinning and plying the third installment of fiber from Susan's Spinning Bunny. I bought three types of fiber in the same colorway, Anshan's Biscotti, to see what they look like spun up.

The first is merino/tencel, the second is merino/silk/angora, and the third is targhee:



The merino/tencel blend is noticeably shinier, and it has a silky hand. The angora blend is duller and redder, for some reason, along with being a bit fuzzier. The targhee is dull (or matte, if I don't want to hurt its feelings) and very springy. This isn't surprising...I think targhee is a down sheep, and the suffolk I've spun feels similar.

My plan is to make socks out of the tencel blend, fingerless mitts out of the angora and something out of the targhee. Exciting!

DP's new socks are coming along nicely:



This pic was taken yesterday, and I've put another 2 inches on these guys. They're very lightweight, so I think they'll be good spring/summer socks for my easily overheated DH.

Life is unfair

Today it's a snow day! I decided not to go into work, since no one else was coming in. Unfortunately, we went for a walk in the blizzard and had to help someone push their car out of the snow. I hurt my shoulder and left arm, and I haven't been able to knit all day. Argh.

Right now I'd like to working on the CoH shawl v.3 and DP's orange socks...but instead I'm just drinking tea and reading the Unfinished Tales.

Moving right along

I finished another pair of socks this weekend! They're for me (for once) :)



Reduced Monkeys
Started January 29, finished February 2
Yarn: Bellamoden Watership Down (sport weight)
Needles: US3

Knitting socks on big needles is a strange feeling...I'm glad they went so fast, but I'm going to go back to regular sock yarn and needles.

I also finished my mom's socklets:



Cast on 1-18, finished 1-27.
Yarn: Posh Laura, Applause
Needles: US2

The yarn-over short row heel still left me with holes…Misocrafty’s short row method is the only one that gives me a hole-less heel. I substituted a 7 point star toe for the short row toe in the pattern.

The yarn was tightly spun, and I only snagged it a few times. There was a fair bit of veggie matter in it though, and more came out when I washed them. I handwashed the socks in warm water and had a touch of bleeding; my guess is that in cold water they wouldn’t bleed at all.

Now I'm back to working on my shawl and some bright orange socks for DP!

Is everyone insane?!

I came into work this morning, and my cleaning person told me to go into one of the classrooms. The desks--plastic--looked like they had been sanded down. We figured that no one could possibly have done that, and I went to email the sub that was in for the ed director.

It turns out that the teachers (grown women in their 40s) had tried to used nail polish remover to get some stickers off the desks. That, of course, melted the tops off the desks. So, to make it better, they called someone up, and had them come in and sand the melted tops off.

Lovely.

Finished!

My aunt's socks are done!



Started: January 11, finished January 19
Needles: US1
Modifications: done toe up, magic loop

These were so fun to knit, I might have to make a pair for myself. However, I first must finish my mother's socks :) I'm making her the citrine socklets from the IK holiday issue out of some Posh merino/cashmere. I have to say that I'm not at all impressed with the yarn, but maybe it will bloom a bit.

My best friend's baby is doing fine--breathing without a ventilator, eating--not just having an IV--but she's so small. Becky told me that her feet are only an inch long. She just swims in the baby booties I made for her.

My sister is doing great, though, so I'm very thankful for that.

Back to my socklets...

Finally

I finally got my order from Blue Moon--I was afraid they had lost it! Once skein of Laci in Corvid and one skein of lightweight in Valkyrie. Now, until I finish some of the projects on my needles (or in my brain) I will not be buying any more yarn. The yarn budget is going into the house down payment kitty :)

In other insane news, my best friend had her baby today--at 27 weeks gestation. I'm praying and thinking positive thoughts for her. This is so not good.

Ravelry is a huge time sink, which is one of the reasons I'm not blogging. I really need to get back on the wagon.

Pomatomizing

I realized on Friday that my aunt's birthday is coming up. What's special about that is that her birthday comes once every 4 years--and this year I actually remembered on time.

She always gives us socks for Christmas, and so this year I'm making her a pair of socks for her birthday. Thankfully, her feet are size 6, so I won't have a problem!

I'm using the Knittery's 4 ply merino in the colorway Roses. It's so beautiful, I wish I could have kept it for myself :) However, I asked DP, and he agreed that it would be the best color for her. The pattern is my version of Pomatomus, done toe up over 60 stitches. I started it Friday, and I'm already on the leg. I think this is the fastest I've ever done a pair of socks, and I'm so happy!

I can't believe it's 2008

I just can't believe that it's 2008 already...pretty soon it will be 2009 :)

I've been a busy creature lately. Like I said, I made a Baby Surprise Jacket:



And I made an Emli Bonnet to go with it:



I also decided to make a pair of Mini Monkey socks out of the leftover variegated yarn. I finished one, and I'm starting the other tonight:



Since tomorrow is JRR Tolkien's birthday, I'm going to restart the Children of Hurin shawl. I'll post pics once it's more than just a cast on.

I'm also working on spinning up the rest of that Targhee--man, it's wonderful stuff!