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Archive for March, 2009

Did I Mention

Posted in Bunny, new projects, project photos, Socks, Socks that Rock, sweater on March 29, 2009 | 1 Comment »

Last night, I turned the heel on the new STR sock club sock and in a flurry of knitting, worked my way almost to the toe.

I loved the slipstitch (purl) heel so very very much that I stopped mid heel to snap a few pictures for posterity.

Outside of Heel

Outside of Heel

Inside of Heel

Inside of Heel

The heels are made by slipping knit and alternating purl stitches and then purling back across. This means that not once do you ever knit a stitch when working the heel! Who would have thunk it, right?

And, it makes a very cool looking and very textured inside of the heel.

And, today I have one more thing to show you.

A year ago, Bunny & I went to my LYS and picked up some Butterfly super10 cotton in a pretty yellow color. Bunny picked out the color and it’s so sunny that it made me happy to cast on for a new cardigan for her.

Bunnys New Cardi

Bunny's New Cardi

Miles and miles of stockinette make for mindless (and somewhat soothing) knitting.

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Wow, Knitters are so Fickle

Posted in Musings, new projects, new yarn, project photos, Socks, Socks that Rock on March 28, 2009 | 3 Comments »

I know last week I was all about the new Cat Bordhi sock, and while I had the best of intentions to stay loyal to that sock, this week everything changed when I went to the mail.

And found this:

BMFA Sock Club Kit March 2009

BMFA Sock Club Kit March 2009

I haven’t loved a kit this much since the Monsoon kit that came out in 2007.

So I threw everything else aside and gleefully cast on for the first sock.

Then I realized that I jogged my picot edge (or so I thought), resulting in a sock knit on the bias. So, I ripped the darn thing out, undid the picot edge, started knitting the leg again and realized that the sock biases all on it’s own.

Of course.

So, here is the progress that I’ve made so far. I keep trying not to think about all that work lost.

Rogue Roses

Rogue Roses

And, see, the little rosebuds? These socks are so girly, I could just about plotz.

Oooh, rosebuds.

Oooh, rosebuds.

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Insert Catchy Title Here

Posted in Book Review, Cat Bordhi, FO's, lace, new projects, project photos, Socks on March 21, 2009 | 1 Comment »

I finished the Hedera socks today. It would have been sooner, however, I couldn’t find my darning needles for a few days and it’s very hard to Kitchener stitch a toe without a darning needle.

So, here they are in all their glory!

See, we are all finished

See, we are all finished

Pattern: Hedera (Ravelry Link) by Cookie A.

Yarn: Dream in Color Smooshy (Giant Peach)

Needles: US 1.5 (2.5mm) dpn’s  – I knit these on 4 dpns, despite the fact that the pattern had directions for using only one needle. It didn’t seem to make much difference.

Mods: I made the heel flap shorter than the pattern called for as it was looking a little too long for my taste. I only did 30 rows before I turned the heel.

I really, really like this yarn. It lived up to it’s name and was incredibly smooshy. Super yummy.

And, over the last week, since I was still missing a ball of blue yarn, I whipped up some coffee cup cozies…

Felt Me Up

Felt Me Up

Yarns: (clockwise from top) Brownsheep Shepherds Shades (Steel), Arucania Atcama, Patons Soy Wool Stripes (Natural Blue & Natural Pink)

These still need to be sewn and felted. No promises that this will happen before the end of the weekend.

And, I managed to cast on for another of the Cat Bordhi socks (Ravelry Link) from her New Pathways for Sock Knitters book. Remember I said I would review all of these when the book came out? Well, I am still planning to, but it might take me a few years to do it. Stick around; it could be fun.

Linen Stitch Beginnings

Linen Stitch Beginnings

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Let’s Review, Shall We

Posted in Monkey, Musings, project photos, Socks, sweater on March 13, 2009 | 1 Comment »

Still waiting on the extra ball of yarn to finish the Big Blue Sweater. Seems as though I may be able to get my hands on one this weekend as someone I know offered to return one to my LYS as she had extra. I teach there every Sunday, so I should have the sweater finished (if nothing goes horribly wrong), by very early next week.

I am a little concerned about the fit of the sweater, as I think it’s too small (ack!), however, I won’t know for sure until it’s done. Cross your fingers…

In other news, I turned the heel of my Hedera sock.

Ooooh, a heel

Ooooh, a heel

I purposely over exposed the picture to show the pattern a little better. So far, I am loving working with the Dream in Color, Smooshy, however, I have heard some poor reviews about it lately.

Don’t be alarmed. I realize that what I just said might get me skeined to death, so, please bear with me. I haven’t taken leave of my senses.
It’s still beautiful and amazing yarn, however, it seems as though, if you are not careful, you can pick up a few skeins that all have the same dye lot and end up having them be wildly different. This happened to a friend of mine, during the making of a shawl out of DIC Smooshy in Black Parade. The veil dying process and sproinginess of the yarn make for a beautiful project, however, you can clearly see that one skein is much, much darker than the other.
The verdict? It’s great yarn for socks, but given the huge variations in color, I don’t know if I would be tempted to use it for a shawl or stole. I will try to remember to snap a picture the next time I see her.
On that note, let me leave you with this eye candy to make up for my last few paragraphs.
Even babies gotta eat

Even babies gotta eat

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Still No Sweater

Posted in new projects, project photos, Socks, sweater on March 10, 2009 | 1 Comment »

I swear, the big blue sweater is eating yarn. Or, maybe the baby is eating the yarn. Either way, I have run right smack out of yarn… again. Which is weird, since the pattern, featured in this months aptly named Knitting magazine calls for 5 balls of the yarn I am using.

I bought five balls. I then went back and found one more ball at my LYS. Sadly, I am now having to resort to begging total strangers and friends alike for one more ball of the danged stuff.I don’t know what else to do.

So, instead of worrying (because that’s simply not Zen), I cast on for another sock.

So very pretty, indeed

So very pretty, indeed

This is Dream in Color Smooshy. I dreamt about this yarn, in this specific color (which is a color I would not normally buy) for six days straight. Then, I listened to that persistent inner voice, went out and bought the yarn, and the dream went away.

I am so glad I did. Just look at it. Perfection.

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One Skein Short of a Sweater

Posted in project photos, sweater on March 6, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

I have been marching right along on the blue project that I posted about at the end of February. The good news is that although it’s a bit of a fire hazzard (given it’s 49% acrylic content), I still really like it and am looking forward to finishing it.

The bad news is that I ran out of yarn. See, as per my usual battles with gauge, I am getting stitch gauge, but not row gauge. So, I have to wait until Sunday, when I teach again at Make One Yarns, to pick up a new ball of yarn.

Wow, thats a lot of blue...

Wow, that's a lot of blue...

The yarn, in case you were wondering is Sirdar Big Softie (Ravelry Link) and I am knitting it on US size 15 (10mm) needles, so as you can imagine, it’s going pretty fast.

Shouldn’t be long before I have a whole sweater to show you.

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Now I Want a Pony…

Posted in Bunny, project photos on March 4, 2009 | 1 Comment »

Talk about throwing it out to the universe. A few days ago I blogged that I wanted, above all, to leave the legacy of knitting with my children. And the very next day (I kid you not!), totally unprompted, my kid comes to me and out of the blue, asks me if I will teach her to knit.

So, of course, I agreed right away. I may have scared her a little when I whooped and then grabbed her hand and showed her all the wonders that knitting could bring to her life. Socks, blankets, yarns, needles. I may have gone a bit overboard, but in the end, she choose a deep red acrylic trainer yarn and some bamboo addi circs and was knitting like a pro in about 10 minutes flat!

Bunny, the knitter!

Bunny, the knitter!

Colour me thrilled!

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Something I Pondered

Posted in Bunny, Monkey, Musings, Socks on March 2, 2009 | 1 Comment »

Two things happened this week, which made me ponder both just how lucky I was to stumble over the whole knitting thing and just how unlucky I was that no one of significance in my life taught me how to knit.

See, over the weekend, as part of my job (I am so darned fortunate to have a great job), I was able to attend the AFL Conference for Diversity and Human Rights. See, this conference is a big deal in the Labour community to which I belong through work. The conference was amazing and so eye opening. It really left me with one huge thing to ponder. What are my roots? What is my history? And, what will I pass on to my children and their children?

I realized that I wished that I knew more about my grandmother and her grandmother, and her grandmother… (well, you get the idea). And, I realized that I wished that there was someone in the family, an aunt, or some other relation that I could have learned to knit from as a child.

I had been thinking about this for two days now, when today, I went for a massage. And, at the office where I go to get the most amazing massages ever (it hurts like hell, but it’s worth every excruciating minute), the receptionist asked me who knit my socks. Well, this sparked a whole discussion about her family (who incidentally has strong Norwegian roots) and the knitting she remembers her mother doing every spare minute of the day when she was a child.

It left me feeling a sense of pride and somehow sadness when she asked me who taught me to knit and I replied, “myself”. I felt somehow happy and sad all at the same time. And, I resolved that both my children will learn to knit… even if they hate it.

I want them to be able to say that they learned from their Mother and pass it onto their children as well.

Monkey Likes Them

Monkey Likes Them

P.S. One sock down… one sock to go.

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