Summer of Socks

It's been the summer of socks. There's the lovely Pagewood Farm Yukon yarn. I'm dreaming of what socks this will become.









I just finished this pair of Embossed Leaves socks in another Pagewood Farms yarn - Chugiak. I can't say enough good things about this pattern and this yarn, they were both a joy to work with. I got to learn a new cast-on for this one, along with the star toe. It was just plain fun.

















Then we have the Coriolis socks. The first one (left) turned out fine with the swirling band just grazing over the corner of the heel, but somehow on the second one the swirl slammed right into that corner. Sigh. Couldn't have been knitter error. No way. Not a chance. It couldn't be the yarn, that's the lovely Sea Wool from Fleece Artist. It's amazing. Maybe it's the pattern. Yeah, that's it. never mind that no one on Ravelry mentions the issue I'm having. Fine, maybe it is knitter error.


The Jaywalkers are a fun distraction from the evil Coriolis. The Zitron Trekking yarn is decent. I'm enjoying the colors, but the yarn itself doesn't compare to the Fleece Artist or the Pagewood. I'm becoming spoiled by all that hand-dyed goodness.

Now summer is almost over. It's cloudy again here, so I went to the yarn store at lunch to cheer myself up. That's a bad idea. I bought yarn for 3 more pairs of socks. Maybe the summer of socks can last until fall?

Gratuitus Cat Picture:



At least someone around here shaved this week.

Lace Love

It's been over a year in the making, but it's finally done.

Pattern: Oriel Lace Blouse by Shirley Paden.
Interweave Knits Summer 2007

Yarn: Elann Lara in Antique Blue

Things I love:

• The process. Knitting lace is so fascinating that other knitting just seems ordinary now.
• The cotton yarn was much cheaper than the silk the pattern called for.
• I don't have to worry about it snagging on any little thing - in spite of the lacey knit, this is a sturdy garment.
• It's gorgeous!

Annoying stuff:

• The sleeves, armholes, and neckline needed major modifications to fit properly. MAJOR.
• The cotton doesn't stay blocked. To keep it's shape I'll have to block this every time I wear it. Even when I have it on, it loses length as the lower part contracts. You can see this in the above picture. The lace around my waist has a shorter, wider pattern while toward the top the pattern is longer and narrower.
  
• The size varies so much depending on how aggressively I block it that it was hard to predict how it would fit.
• The collar won't stand up.
• The style isn't particularly flattering on me.

Also, it's warmer than I expected. I thought an open-weave cotton knit would be quite cool but this is too warm for summer day-wear. This isn't a bad thing - just unexpected.

I loved knitting this and don't actually mind the negatives too much - Some of them I realized very early on and yet I kept knitting because I was having so much fun.

Hands down the most challenging and the most fun project I've knit to date. It took a year, but there were a few distractions. A peek at Ravelry tells me I started and finished 22 projects from the time I cast on Oriel to the time I finished it.

Now I'm almost sad that it's done.

Sock It To Me

It's official. I'm a little sock crazy.

Seeing as how it's summer and it's hot I decided to make some 'summer socks' using
Crystal Palace Yarns Panda Wool Print (bamboo, wool & nylon). Naturally it had to be an anklet sock to stay cool, so I chose to modify the Vog On pattern with a shorter anklet edging. This is a great sock. I started it in Morocco and almost finished it on the day we returned.

Oh look - more socks! I brought these socks as my 'backup' project for our Morocco trip. Good thing since we spent a lot more time than we thought we would in the airports. Or resting during a hike (above). I finished these in Morocco, most of it on or waiting for the plane. The yarn is Zitron Trekking (XXL) and the pattern is the ever famous Monkey.

Here's my latest pair of socks. They look somewhat similar to someone else's socks.

Internal Dialog

This morning as I'm getting ready to leave for work:

Oh good, I might finish knitting these socks today!

Hmm, better take another project along just in case.

Nah, I can just take a book.

You're almost done with that book, and knitting is better anyway.

So true. I should take another project, but there's nothing ready to go. I'll just take a different book.

GO NOW. RUN. You're going to miss the bus.

(Barely catch the bus)

I'm definitely going to finish these socks today.

Well then, you'll just have to read on the way home.

What if I don't like the new book?

You can handle it. It's ok to sit quietly with still hands for 45 minutes.

Sounds like torture.

Then you'd better stop by the yarn store after work.

Seems reasonable.

Buy sock yarn.

If you insist.

How I Scammed SP's Hat

Or made one for myself.

This is the Amanda Hat, created by some knittin chick named Gina House. I saw SP's Hat, which I'd be happy to link to but I don't see a blog post about it. Ok, so there's this...



Anyway, I had to have it because it looks so awesome on me (and it's really too small for Pam's big noggin - or maybe I was jealous). So both of us went to Shuttles and after too much deliberation I finally chose a suitable color. I bought some Manos del Uruguay in color 100.

Finished Cardigan

I finally finished the Martha Cardigan. Granted, it was over a month ago, but better posted late than never!

Pattern: Martha by Kim Hargreaves from Rowan magazine #28

Yarn: Cascade 220 Heathers in Yakima (9459)

I had to adjust the pattern because the yarn is a larger gauge than than called for even though it's knitted at a fairly tight gauge. I also lengthened the torso, made slight revisions to the armholes to adjust for row gauge, and did more bust increases than called for. Basically, I made it fit.






My favorite things about this sweater?

It fits. Perfectly!

The textures of the stitch pattern and the yarn offset each other beautifully.

The buttons complement the design beautifully.

It's warm enough to wear as a jacket on those warmer Denver winter days, yet not so hot that I have to take it off the moment I walk indoors.

I finished it early enough in the season to have a few chances to wear it before summer really hit.



Things I'd improve on if I had to do it over?

The armholes have issues. The sleeves fit into the armholes nicely in the first picture of this post, but here you can see the problem. If I move my arms much there's bunching.

The collar doesn't want to lay flat. I've tacked it down in back and the damned thing still flips up.

The neckline is a bit too wide.


In spite of these flaws, I love it. It's done, it fits, and it's mine!

Spinster #3

Ok, so I didn't finish plying my yarn and I really don't know when I'm going to get a chance to do it. Plus, I don't know what I want to make with it! So it's on hold for the moment.






However, I did LOVE getting the corriedale plied, and dyed! Here is a sample of the plied corriedale, the parallelogram :0 on the bottom. I clearly had some over twisting going on.

The single is actually the combed fiber we experimented worsted spinning with. Still a little biased and wonky but damn fine stitch definition even with the unevenness of the spinning.

Spinster #2

Llama silk blend spun on my drop spindle. It's sooo soft!










On the left: spun from various colors blended on the drum carder. One strand was spun worsted, the other woolen. I just wish there were more.

In the middle: more of the llama/silk, this time bulkier.

On the right: Corriedale spun for class - the second skein. I can really see how much I improved.






And the best part - naturally dyed hand-spun yarn. This just begs for a small fair isle project.

Done in time for Spring

After 7 months and 17 other projects the sweater is finally done.
It's warm, beautiful, and fits perfectly. The weather even cooperated by cooling off this week just so I could wear it.

Alas, the day after I finished it I took a tumble while running for the bus and sprained my wrist. I haven't been able to knit or spin in 2 days. 2 DAYS!!!! I'm going nuts. Or more nuts.. either way.

I tried to get the boy to take a picture of me wearing the sweater. How does he manage to take out of focus pictures with an automatic camera? It's a mystery.

Perhaps another purl girl can help me out with a photo soon!

ooo.... ahhhhh.....

Look, it's something I might even want to knit with!








And I started a new project: linen tunic. Pam has contributed by assuring that I am not using a pattern. :P

Sorry for the hideous photo. You'll just have to imagine how nice it is.