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This came in the mail:

Loft Camper

Loft Snowbound

Dream in Color Smooshy w/cashmere in Butter Peeps

 

Dream In Color Smooshy Cashmere - Black Pearl

     

Mother Nature did this:

First Snow

 And these came off the needles:

Jacobean Socks

Pattern: Jacobean
Yarn: Pediboo
Size 2.25mm dpn

I think the mail carrier won!

Happy Knitting!
Nana

Wednesday, Whatever

1. As a long time Cardinals fan, I’m really excited that my guys once again captured the pennant.   I’m also a little sad that Tony La Russa is hanging up his jersey for good.  I’ve always had a fondness for Tony and I appreciate his good work on and off the field.  We adopted Saucey from ARF, which he founded.  

He will remain a hero to us for a long time. 

2. I’m guessing it will be safe to knit myself a pair of socks inspired by these now. (Skip's socks not his buns)

3. I finished knitting my October personal sock club selection:  

 Pattern:  Menehune Cobblestone

Yarn: Mountain Colors Bearfoot in Indian Corn

Size 2.25mm needles, ML 2AAT

I am so wearing these tomorrow :)

 

4. I’m still knitting a cardigan (but I've switched patterns), the Rock Island Shawl, the Miss Marple Shawl and my October challenge socks.

5. I could have been at the heel turn on sock #2 of said socks last night if I hadn’t needed to rip back 22 rounds because I forgot to pay attention to the chart… ooops!

6. It is raining with the possibility of snow later today, yuck.

7. I plan to cast on my November personal sock club and Mystery socks later today (still mad at that October sock)

8. I’m unofficially playing along with NaNoWriMo which my daughter is officially participating in.  I had an idea, so what the heck.  I used to be a fairly decent writer until I started blogging

9. I bagged up the 2012 personal sock club yarns & patterns… at least I’m ahead on something.

2012 PSC... I may be developing a project bag problem

10. Whatever…. This makes the list 10 items long; so Monk will be happy.

 Happy Knitting! 

Nana

Color Story

I started knitting the Late Summer Socks the day the state fair started in Iowa.  I initially dubbed them the State Fair socks for that reason, but it really didn't work as a project title.

Coffee, beer, a sock-in-progress and chocolate... what more does a knitter need?

As I continued to knit these, I began to notice something about the colors in these socks:

They were a nice reflection of the colors nature was putting on display here in Iowa as the summer came to an end and fall started to stake a claim on the landscape. 

Late Summer Socks

They are now finished and mailed to my DD #2 who was born 30 years ago this week.

Wait 'til you see the colors of the new socks I just cast on... I hope nature lives up to that palette this fall!

Happy Knitting,

Nana

Actual Knitting Content

I really have been knitting; I’m just really lackadaisical about sharing my progress;

So in the interest of not driving readers crazy, I thought I’d try to do a little post every day this week about what I’ve been doing. 

Here are couple recent FO’s

My August personal sock club selection: Pumpkin Vine socks in a very non-pumpkin, eye popping turquoise:

Something Lacey Socks

Pattern: Pumpkin Vine Socks by Fern Pea

Yarn: Koigu KPPPM in color 2130 104(turquoise)

Size 2.25mm dpn  

I enjoyed this pattern, but it won’t make a repeat appearance in my knitting queue anytime soon.  It was frankly a little on the intense side.  The pattern is repetitive, but not easy to memorize so you really need to stick with the instructions; it is not charted because there is a changing stitch count (decreases in one row, increases in another) I wouldn’t recommend this to a newbie.  It makes a pretty sock, but is really bad for carrying around or social knitting.  I guess I’m a little bit of a glutton for punishment though, because my September selection is even more intense and very chart heavy.  (But it will be gorgeous if I survive the knitting part)

I also finished my August Mystery Socks:

Pattern: KLC August KAL as yet unnamed by the lovely Jen Hansen

Yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock in Vancouver Violet
Needles: Size 0 magic loop

The next thing is a quick little cowl I whipped up out of this yummy Rabbit Ridge yarn that I got in Alaska.  There might eventually be a pair of fingerless mitts or mittens to match, but the leftover yarn is in my back burner project queue for now.  I give you the Forget-me-Not Cowl. 

Forget Me Not Cowl Un-blocked

I have since blocked it and it looks better than this pic, if I get a chance I will post a better picture. I doubt I will take the time to write up this pattern, but if somebody asks, I can give them a recipe.

 

That’s all for today, stay tuned for the first installments of the WIP series…

Happy Knitting,

Nana

Month’s End

I am so happy to see February (finally) end.  I’m not a fan. This is not a deep dark secret either.  For some reason, February is the one month that I just can’t manage.  Somewhere around the third week, I become convinced that this month will never end.  Every.  Year.   I’m not sure exactly why this happens, but I just want it not to be February anymore, and the realization that I can’t make the days go by any faster just makes me sad. 

So in defense of this state of “blah” that I sink into, I want to knit and generally do.  I went into a sort of high gear of sock knitting…

I knit my February PSC pair:

Blue Chevvy's

Pattern: Father and Son Socks by Mona Schmidt

Yarn: Malabrigo Yarn Sock / Color 806 Impressionist Sky

Size 2.25mm needles / magic loop

Then I finished these:

Sweet Sweat Socks

Pattern: Basic sock
Yarn: Panda Cotton Sock / colors Ivory, Crystal Pink and Deep Water
Size 2.25mm needles / dpn

And meanwhile, I worked on these along with the class I was teaching for knitting Two at a time Top down socks at the shop:

Pond Ripples

Pattern: Harris Tweed Socks by Ali Green

Yarn: Noro Kuryeon Sock / Color 150

Size 2.25 mm needles / Magic Loop, 2AAT

Just before I finished those, I realized I wouldn’t have any socks on the needles so I cast on a mindless pair to get me through until I cast on my March PSC socks:

Vegetable Thin socks

Pattern: Basic Sock

Yarn: Noro Kuryeon Sock / Color 255

Before you get the impression all I knit in February was socks, when I wasn’t working on socks, I also knit another one of the little dice bags,

Sea Urchin Bag 2

this is a fun little project and I still have a lot of the yarn left over... I'm thinking of a new design for using that. 

And I finished this:

Carefree Shawl

Pattern: Carefree by Jen Hansen

Yarn: Three Irish Girls Adorn Sock / Color Alchemy

Needles: US Size 4

Cast on for this:

Friday Cardi

Pattern: Girl Friday

Yarn: Gedifera Extra Soft Merino

Needle: US Size 6

And this: 

Marmalade

Pattern: Miss Marple's Shawl - What Would Miss Marple Knit / Vintage from Weldon's Practical Needlework

Yarn: Knitivity Down Home Fingering / color Peachy

Needle: US Size 5

Hopefully March will bring better pictures and some interesting activities and I’ll have something besides socks to post.

Happy Knitting,

Nana

Dun, Dun

Like so much else lately, the announcement that the long running series Law and Order was being cancelled was quite abrupt.  Considering last night’s series finale; the familiar sound of Law & Order makes a good theme for this post.

This is my last week of working at the shop.  Right now it sort of feels like I’m a kid getting ready to start summer vacation, but I have to keep reminding myself that my job is done (Done!).  I will really miss everyone that I met and helped with their knitting along the way.  I had such fun working in the shop, learning about yarns, fibers and such, and especially teaching.  I will continue doing private lessons on a limited basis.  That’s a little scary and I’m not quite organized about it yet, but I’ll get there. 

I also have some FO’s. 

Remember the Skew socks, they are done…

Pattern: Skew, Knitty Winter 2009, (Lana Holden)

Yarn: Down Home sock by Knitivity; Aint Gail colorway

Size 1 needles / /Magic Loop

A very strange concept in sock knitting and they actually don’t fit badly, but they are really some weird looking socks.

Also, the Blue on Blue socks are done…

Pattern: My basic sock recipe

Yarn: Claudia Handpainted in Deep Blue and Antique Jeans colorways

Size 1 dpn

I started knitting these for the sock class I taught in April (not realizing it would be my last) I’ve been using them for my back-up on the go knitting and finished these Monday morning. 

Also, I have been sort of between projects and was in a real funk last week so I needed a quick and fun project… this little guy filled the bill.  I give you Claude the Crab.

So if you are ever in a giant funk and need a little knitting pick-me-up; I give the pattern two claws up. 

Pattern: Most Dangerous Crab, Knitty Summer 2009 (Amber Allison)

Yarn: Patons Classic in Bright red and Aran

Size 7 dpn

I’ve got a couple of other things on the needles and one project I’m getting ready to swatch that will make someone very happy.

That’s it for me today, I guess you could say that I’m done… done.

Happy Knitting!

 

Nana 

Not what I planned

Well I finished something, but not the something I planned to finish over the weekend.  (The evil uncooperative vest).

But I did finish these:

Pattern: Loksins by Cassandra Thoreson

Yarn: Cascade Heritage Hand Paint color 9962

Size 1 dpn

To make this feat seem more impressive, I might also add that I posted to the SAM 9 blog and Ravelry already too. Yay! I really enjoyed this pattern and would like to do it again in a plain yarn so I can see the details a little bit better.

Happy Knitting!

Nana

I did it, I did it, I got it done!

Yeah, I know really original post title. Well it’s been hectic, creativity is a little on the short side today. But I finished Delve, project name Desire. Yay! I did a little happy dance even though you can’t tell from this picture. (Maybe I should have let Saucey take the picture instead of Zelda... she never holds still! I’ll try to get a better, less-blurry modeled shot when I’m up in Alaska.) So just the facts today: Desire; Pattern Delve from Rowan #43 Yarn: Rowan Summer Tweed Color 546 Loganberry Size 6 needles

I thought this might knit up a little heavy because the yarn is a worsted weight, but the silk saves it and the finished sweater is light and airy. I hope to get much wear out of it. I ended up using smaller than the recommended needles to get gauge, but as you can see it was worth it to get it to fit! The yarn is actually really nice to work with and I was almost a little sad for the knitting part to end. I totally want to knit something else with this yarn again… maybe color 548 (swirl)… hmmmm.

Happy Knitting Next post from Alaska! Nana

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