Bandwagon jumping

I not much of a bandwagon jumper. I don't necessarily HAVE to knit what everybody else is knitting, in fact, I would rather not knit what everyone else is knitting. Even though the chances of meeting up with someone wearing the same hand-knit as me in my regular life is pretty slim. But, if I see a pattern that I like, the fact that 2398 other people are knitting it is not a deal breaker.

This was the case with the February Lady Sweater. I was feeling the need to knit a sweater, still am actually, and this fit the bill. It wasn't going to be too heavy and was going to be relatively quick. Especially if you are trying to avoid a certain pair of socks with grape leaves on them.



The pattern was very well written, I had downloaded my copy after the discovery of the giant error, and seems to be error free. I followed the link in the pattern to do the buttonholes, which I worked over 3 stiches.



I seem to have more rows after the eyelet increases that most, I probably *should* have frogged back to the raglan increases at that point and done more, sort of a s/med hybrid, but I didn't want to have too much ease in the sweater and left it as is. The lace pattern is a simple 4 row repeat over 7 stitches and goes very quickly.



I really like this sweater. I used Dream in Colour Classy in the Happy Forest colourway (I am well situated on this band wagon) and I love it. It's green, it's happy, and Classy is amazing. I have read about growing issues with this yarn so I swatched (yay me) and washed (yay me again!) the swatch the way I will wash my sweater, which is not in the machine. The swatch grew a tiny bit, enough that my tension was now correct on the 4.5 mm needles (it was off before washing). I did make the sweater I little bit shorter to account for the weight pulling it down when I wear it, and it did grow a little after a soak and a spin. Just enough actually.

I'd show you a picture of me wearing it, but they are out of focus and I have issues with showing projects using out of focus pictures. I tried to use the tripod and the timer and got lovely sharp photos of the fence behind me. The 4 year old isn't allowed to use my Nikon, so, all you get are on the deck pictures. Sorry. Now, I need to be done with green for awhile in the recent past, 2 green socks, 2 green sweaters, one green vest, one green shawl. I think that's enough green for one year, time to climb out of that box.



February Lady Sweater, by Pamela Wynne. Based on February Baby Sweater by Elisabeth Zimmermann
Dream in Color Classy, Happy Forest. About 3.75 skeins
4.5 mm Addi Turbos, with a 5mm for the cast-offs

Dinner at the IL's in 8 days, will Vintage be finished?

Hats for Boys

Late last winter the big boy (8), asked me for "a hat with flappy things hanging down". I promised him I would find a pattern and knit him one.

Well, I found such a pattern, by one of my favourite bloggers tiennie knits. It's the Norwegian Star earflap hat, and he absolutely loves it.





It's knit with Cascade 220 in two shades of blue, on 4.5mm needles. The pattern is great, well written with both a childs size and adult size. It knits up very quickly too. I used just under 1/2 of the skein of Navy for this hat and because big brother had such a cool hat, Small Boy (almost 5) wanted one too. I used a 4.0mm needle for his hat, just to make it bit smaller. Worked perfectly. He is equally enamoured with his new lid. Now trying to decide if The Girl needs one too.





These hats conclude my sad participation in Project Spectrum, and I'm not quite sure how Socktoberfest is going to go since there is still a sleeve left on the September (now also October) Lady sweater. Then, I HAVE TO finished the Vintage socks. Have. to.

And RSC package arrived last week too...stop now if you don't want to see it. Love love love.

That Little Scarf

Back in April I purchased 2 skeins of Blue Sky Alpaca Alpaca Silk in a lovely charcoaly-blue colour. I don't know the name exactly (or number if that is the way it's done) because somehow, from me taking from the shelf to the counter and home, the tag was lost. This has caused me some grief because I have an oddly difficult time ridding myself of ball bands. Usually I can part with all but one when a project is finished, but we'll get into that pathology another time.

The intent for this yarn was the first Little Nothing from the oh so talented Anne Hanson of Knitspot called That Little Scarf

A few days before I finished Icarus, I cast on for My Little Scarf. I was pleasantly surprised how quickly it knit up, with it having patterning on both RS and WS rows. I never memorized the 12 row pattern, every row is different, and I never tired of knitting it.

It was even pretty before being blocked.





I did block it though, why work that hard on a pretty lace scarf just to leave it all scrunched up? It blocked out to about 39 in, by 8.5 in.



The pattern calls for 10 repeats of the 24 row chart, I had enough yarn to do 11.



This was my first Anne Hanson project, but it won't be my last! It was very well written, with a wonderful chart.



Pattern: That Little Scarf, by Anne Hanson
Yarn: Blue Sky Alpaca, Alpaca Silk
Needles: 4mm Addi Turbo

Is it stash?

"They" say sock yarn doesn't count as stash, so maybe I haven't enhance my stash. I'm not much of a stasher, I can't look at a pattern and think 'Ooooo I have the perfect yarn for that!' because I don't. I have in the last year and a half developed a good little pile of sock yarn. Sock yarn is fun and can be used for more than socks. Speaking of socks, I'm still working on the Vintage sock with the goal of October 25, that's the next family gathering with the IL's and a good time to present MIL with the socks. Hopefully I can figure out the leaf attachment instructions well before then.

I had my BMFA coupon burning a hole in my pocket, and I placed an order just before the new seasonal colours went up (otherwise I would have probably bought A LOT more) and purchased three colours from my I Want! list.

Faulty Dyer


Pebblebeach


and Mochaberry (Love.)


Those are going in the box, someday, I will knit them. I promise.

This past Saturday was the KW Knitters fair, bigger and better with over 70 vendors. It was really nice, they had 2 rooms so the aisles were nice and big with lots of room to move around. Much squishing, squeezing and petting of yarn was done and a little bit of purchasing. My main objective was finding the perfect red in the right fibre for a scarf for my (non-knitting) SIL for her 40th birthday in January. I was hoping for something really luxurious, like a cashmere/silk or something, but the right red was very important too. We found the perfect colour in a baby alpaca laceweight, so I bought it.



I'm pretty sure I'm going to knit Fiddlehead by Anne Hanson with it.

There was also a purchase of some Jamieson Shetland Spindrift to make Brooklyn Tweed's Druid Mittens from the Fall issue of Vogue Knitting.



At the Purple Purl booth they had some Malabrigo Sock. The colours were amazing, Jen and I kept pulling out different skeins of the same colourway to show each other at the same time. It was very funny. We ended up buying the same colour too.



And, a few weeks ago (yikes, I need to stop) I bought some Cascade 220 to make Norwegian Star Earflap hats for my boys. Thanks Tiennie!

What am I actually knitting instead of just planning to knit? I'm working on a February Lady sweater in Dream and Colour Classy, Happy Forest and I have a That little scarf blocking downstairs that I finished last night. My RSC shipment should potentially come next week, so I'm not starting any socks right now.

Have a good weekend!

The sun came out today

With the sun shining again today, Icarus came out for a little photo shoot. I'm so happy with it.



I think I did pretty well for my first lace with skinny, slippery silk. The feathers are so pretty. And, it's so beautifully light and sheer.



And look at the colour (Gooseberries), and the sheen of the silk. Sundara, I thank you.



I think it just might look good on too.



Pattern: Icaraus by Miriam Felton, knit as written and had 16g of silk left
Yarn: Sundara Silk Lace, Gooseberries. Received in a Seasons I mix up, but I loved it and kept it instead of trading it for my Autumn.
Needles: 3.25 Knit Picks circular


I really enjoyed knitting this and it wasn't a difficult as I had made it out in my mind. I never used a life line, and fortunatley, didn't need one as there was no frogging, just the occasional tink here and there. I used one split ring as the shawl got bigger so I new when I was getting to the centre line and just kept moving it up periodically.

Next: Between my Blue Moon coupon burning a hole in my pocket and the KW Knitters Fair, there has been a little bit of yarn added to the house. Just a little.

A finishing flurry

I've been finishing things. Aren't you proud?



Last week it was the Aleita Shell from Interweave Knits Spring 2008. This was a spur of the momment knit, Jer says "Let's go to the yarn store for your birthday!" so I quickly find a project that isn't going to require too much yarn, nor too little yarn. Plus, we were going on vacation and it was going to be good vacation knitting. And it was, then we got home and I stopped working on it.



I decided Aleita needed to be finished, so I did. It's very quick and simple, with minimal finishing. Fits well, and should look good over a collared blouse.



KW Knitters Fair this weekend! YAY! And I'll have company/enablers this year, Mom and SIL are coming too! I might just deserve something special, since I've also finished this.

Just do it

I've been meaning to do the post for, oh, more than a week now. Sometimes you just have to do it. I'm a terrible procrastinator you see.

I watched a lot of Olympics, I know, I know, everybody does. I just love it, I laugh, I cry, I yell at the TV. I remember the two Olympics that I had tiny new babies and it gave me something to watch on TV at 3am when I was up with them (one of those tiny babies will be 8 on Saturday). I decided that my Olympics project would be my Gumdrop socks from the July RSC package. So I started with this.



Wound it up, and had it ready and waiting. I cast-on while watching the opening ceremonies and it was the only thing I knit for 10 whole days (well technically there was something else but we'll get to that later). Before too long I had this



At this point, I was very worried about running out of yarn even though my scale said I would be fine. I'm normally worried about running out of yarn, but I was REALLY worried this time. You see, I added length to the leg AND I did a flap heel instead of the short row garter heel. Short row heels just don't fit me right, as much as I would like it if they would.



And because I didn't do the garter heel, I didn't do the garter toe either. Not that that had anything to do with my yarn shortage paranoia. So I dove into sock 2 with what seemed like a too small ball of yarn (pretty yarn too), and you know what? The scale was right and I had plenty. I knit the small size and it fits fine, I might like a few more stitches on the foot to lessen the negative ease a little but they are by no means to tight.

Lessons learned?
1. Trust the scale
2. When you are only knitting one project at time, you can finish it pretty quickly
3. I have no discipline when it comes to Olympic watching and my bedtime.




Pattern: Gumdrops by JC Briar for Blue Moon Fiber Arts
Yarn: Socks that Rock Lightweight, Goody Goody, the July 2008 Club colourway
Needles: 2.25mm knitpicks circluar, magic loop
Based on the colour, I like these socks a whole lot more than I though I would. The pattern was great but even though I said I would knit all the club socks as written, I just couldn't do it this time.


Oh, and that other project, ballband dishcloths while I watch kids swim in the pool.

Two posts in one day!

That's just crazy.

I started another ballband dishcloth today. It's half done and it's wrong because I was sure I knew what I was doing. Apparently not. I'm not ripping it out, I'm just going to do the next half right. It's only a dishcloth after all.

Purple and green

First we will revisit my last completed knit, the Hedgerow Sock. I finally took some pictures of the sock on my foot. It's showing up a little more yellow than it should be I think, I love the colour of this yarn.





Pattern: Hedgerow Socks by Jane Cochran
Yarn: Sundara Sock, Mossy from the Seasons club 2007, Autumn
Needles: 2.25mm Knit DPNs

Then, while we were away I finished the May RSC socks. They are FANTASTIC, a little tight through the gusset getting them on, but just a little. They were really fun to knit and my first toe up socks so they were a great learning experience. Which was just what I was hoping for from this club and the last two socks have lived up to it.



I love the look of the gusset, but if I were to do these socks again I think I would leave out the side ladders that travel up the sides of the foot and around the edge of the gusset. I can see myself doing another one of Yarnissima's patterns Firestarter perhaps?) as I really enjoyed this knit.



The socks are fraternal for more than one reason (heehee). First, I just kept knitting on the leg of the second sock without looking at the instruction and negelected to start the transition to the 1x1 rib in the last diamond on the back. Also, I cast off purlwise on the first sock and although it's not too tight (I worked really hard to make sure it wasn't) it's not all that stretchy so I did a sewn cast off on the second sock and I like how it looks. This is the sock with the rib where it's supposed to start.



Pattern: Cleopatra's Stockings by Yarnissima
Yarn: Socks that Rock lighweight, The Incredible Shrinking Violet. The May RSC shipment
Needles: 2.5mm Knit Picks 32in circular, magic loop
Mods: I'm not normally one to modify a pattern much, but I didn't do the twisted rib on this sock. It drives be batty to knit it and I don't much like the look of it either. But I'm VERY happy with these socks!

Like I said, I finished these while we were away. And what was waiting for me when we got home? The new package, complete with two patterns, I do beleive that Gumdrops will be my Olympics project.

Happy Birthday

It was my birthday on Saturday. My IL's took the kids on Wednesday so Jer and I could go out, he mentioned that he hadn't bought me anything (it was still only the 16th and he is a man) and was there something I wanted at THE YARN STORE. So before we went to dinner we stopped at The Needle Emporium, in addition to some Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool for an Aleita Shell, I bought this



It's yummy and I love it. Happy Birthday to me.

I have also finished my Hedgerow socks but I don't have a very good picture of them yet, so this will have to to. All I can say is, I love Sundara Sock yarn. Amazing. And I love the heel flap in pattern.



Also, prepare yourselves, I finished Jer's socks. I know, crazy isn't it, I'm almost going to miss seeing them on my WIP list. Almost.



Heehee. I made him stand like that, he wasn't pleased.

We are leaving for a little vacation tomorrow. I have the second Cleopatra's Stocking to finish (the toe is done on #2), and Icarus to finish. I'm probably going to start the Aleita Shell too. That should be enough knitting for 4 days right?

A WIP post

Mostly, because nothing seems to be finished. I am failing miserably at SOS'08. I had such lofty plans then the 'must do' knitting came up and there were the 'these need to be finished before I start more socks' projects. So I'm stuck, finishing my Hedgerows that are sucking the life out of me the way Retro-Rib did, but I really like the finished sock so I persevere.



I'm really loving the Sundara sock yarn and the socks are looking really nice, I'm just about done the gusset decreases on the second sock. When these are done I will be casting on Cleopatra's stockings with my STR lightweight, The Incredible Shrinking Violet. Love. It. If all goes well, I hope to have them done by the time the July Kit arrives. I'm not really sure where May and June went, they just kind of disappeared.



I'm also plugging away on Icarus. I'm really enjoying this. I've finished all the repeats of Chart 1 and I'm about halfway through chart 2. It's getting to be rather slow going as the rows get longer and longer, but it's so so pretty. I'd love to be done for my birthday, but I'm not sure if I'm going to get enough knitting time to actually accomplish it. With the boys home from school and all that actual parenting that needs to be done. It's Sundara Silk lace from the first Seasons mailing when I recieved Spring by mistake, but I loved the Gooseberries, so I wasn't too upset.



And that is what's going on here.

The Ballband Dishcloth

So last week, after finishing the baby blanket, I got an urge to knit dishcloths. So I drove down to Mary Maxim to have a look at the Sugar'n Cream colours. I found I few that I liked, bought 4 balls and came home. As I was knitting that afternoon, I realized that I didn't yet have end of year gifts for the teachers and wouldn't this be a great idea. Too bad I didn't think of it BEFORE driving down to MM. So I finished up one for me, with the plan of hitting Michaels in the morning for some Bernat Handicrafter cotton.



The colour selection of the Bernat are a little less appealling, but I managed to find 3 combinations that I liked. A solid blue and a varigated white/blue/yellow for two.



The same solid blue and a varigated white/blue/brown.



And yellow with a varigated white/green/lighter green. This one is really cheery, but not obnoxious bright



I did two for each, with the possibility of a third if there was time. There wasn't, but I have plenty left to make at least 3 more cloths, possibly 4. I made them in co-ordinating pairs by reversing the colours (Betcha didn't figure that one out! :)), and knit them over 39 stiches instead of 45 as called for in the pattern. All in all, not a bad showing for 5 days worth of knitting. I missed the kick of of Summer of Socks but that's OK, the teachers have gifts and school is done tomorrow.