My Blue Period

***Notice: link and photo heavy post; please step away and have a cup of hot cocoa or  eggnog if this will further stress you, otherwise, enjoy!***

It happens.  In your wardrobe; in your décor; in your paintings; and inevitably in your yarn choices; you take a good look one day and realize that you have been making some very monochromatic color choices.  In the case of my knitting, the color is blue.  It seems like I have been only knitting with blue yarn lately.   This is not strictly the case, but blue has definitely been my power color recently. 

I have finished several blue things (in no particular order)

The Brooklyn Tweed Rock Island Shawl in Mountain Colors Winter Lace / Harmony Starlight

Mr. Greenjeans in Gedifra Extra Soft Merino / Navy

A couple of pattern notes on this... sizing runs a tad small due to cables.   I made the sleeves longer and closed the YO's on the raglan shaping.  I know it's hard to tell from the picture, but it really did turn out nicely.

Movember Socks in A Swell Yarn Shop Middy Duet Sock Yarn / Lagoon Splash

Escargot in Dream in Color Classy / Midnight Derby / Visual Purple / Some Summer Sky

This pattern was a delight!  I needed something small and fun to knit after finishing the cardigan and socks and fell in love with this as soon as the Knitty Bis was published.  It fit the bill perfectly and I may have picked up another skein of classy to knit another one that matches the mittens I wear most. 

I may have slipped in a few of other projects in random colors just for fun:

My November PSC Houdini Socks in Madelinetosh Fingering / Sweet Pea

A Christmas Cowl (Chunky Eyelet Cowl by Nancy Wyatt) in Misti Alpaca Hand Paint Chunky / Shiraz

As a general rule, I'm not much of a fan of chunky yarn, but this stuff is like catnip to me.  I just can't stop playing with it and loving on it.  I might have yet another skein tucked away for one more quickie project.  Which leads me to another Misti project I'm quiet proud of:

Jazz Age Scarf-let (my pattern pending testing, etc) in Misti Alpaca Hand Paint Chunky / Magic Flute 

I got an idea for this pattern and puttered around with it until I got it exactly the way my head wanted it.  This is a fun quick knit and I hope to have the pattern out on ravelry very soon.

The long suffering and taking-forever-to-knit Miss Marple Shawl is still on the needles lurking somewhere near the back burner.

I’ve also cast on for my last socks of the year:

My December personal sock club selection was Lizard Ridge Socks in The Alpaca Yarn Co Paca-peds / Paccacino but I didn’t particularly like the way the pattern was knitting up and I think the yarn is a little too soft to give it structure after being blocked.  I frogged those and am now happily knitting Thumbelina with the yarn.

There were several choices for December from SKA, one of them was stashbusters.  The pattern Stash  Buster Spiral Socks has been in my Queue for a while so this seemed like the appropriate option.  I started these using up some of my leftover sock yarn. (Bonus points if you recognize that green).  I have finished the first sock and started the second.  No promises on finishing by the end of the month/year, but they have been pretty quick so far. 

On the horizon, I have a few more design ideas I’ll be playing with next year.  I have my 2012 personal sock club packaged up and ready to go; and I am slowly refining what’s in my queue to better target projects/patterns/yarn that I have paired and are waiting only to be cast on. 

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas, and if I don’t post again before then….a splendid 2012!

Happy Knitting,

Nana

PS …. The icing on my “Blue” cake?   I got this for Christmas :)

(Ford Edge / Dark Blue Pearl … or is that Purl?)

[I snatched this picture from the official website for the record. ]

Well, Well, Well

The Cardinals are in World Series!

Despite being distracted by all of the exciting playoff action the past couple of weeks, I've been carrying on with my knitting, just have a look:

The end of several projects…. 

The mystery sock selection for Sept, I was happy to finish these, but am considering frogging the cuff and redoing just plain ribbing of some sort.  They are super floppy and I just don't like that. 

Watercress Socks

This is a little pattern I whipped up for the class I'm teaching at the library.  I needed something simple but with a stitch pattern and a couple of teaching techniques.  The pattern is available here under the "My Designs" tab.

Sumptious Neck Snuggler

Hubby's cousin is having a baby, so he asked if I would knit up a little gift; there's also a hat to match, but the picture isn't good: 

Baby Surprise Jacket

 The long planned and promised dress for my Granddaughter.  This pattern was published in the fall issue of Knitters (last year) and I knew I wanted to make it, it just took a long while for all of the elements (yarn, time, motivation) to come together and git it done, but it is now and on it's way to her with t-shirts and leggings to (more or less) match.  (Whole other rant... Please tell your local retailer that little girls can wear colors other than pink or purple 'k?)

Dress for S

 My September SKA Challenge socks (project named aptly "Falling Behind").  I loved the Mountain Colors Crazyfoot yarn I used for these.  The pattern was okay, but got a little tedious with all of the slipped stitches.

Nornir Socks

Finally, my personal sock club selection for October; the reason all of my knitting felt so slow lately.  The Bayerische socks.  This pattern put me through the wringer... the really sad part is I loved every minute of knitting this.  SHHH... don't tell the Lake County Knitters who really hated it.  Yes it is complex and demanded my full attention, but wow, who can actually hate socks that turn out like this?

Bayerische Socks

I've still got a few things on my needles, but that is (hopefully) another post.

Happy Knitting,

Nana

Made to Match

I am sort of an eclectic personality when it comes to personal style and decorating, so I rarely ever deliberately try to get things to match perfectly,  but recently I felt the need to do a few matchy-matchy projects:

My Nephew is getting married this coming weekend.  I needed a new dress for the wedding, but the only nice dresses I could find were sleeveless ones, so I decided I could knit a quick shawl to go with it in case (as it usually is) the air condition was set to artic-blast and/or the weather chose to be a little less than summer-wear friendly in the Northwest region.  So I dug around in my stash and found some lovely yarn that worked with the colors of my dress.... then I looked around for a pattern.  Initially I was going to knit this but decided the initial lace pattern might be too deep for the quantity of darker yarn I had.  Then Wendy decided to do a summer shawl KAL... I wasn't sure about doing another mystery project on top of the ones I already had going, but by the time I wrapped  up those two and had empty needles waiting, she was already up to clue #3.   One of the knitters in the Friday afternoon group at the shop was working on this KAL and I had seen her shawl in progress.  I checked out the pattern and the stitch count + row numbers seemed doable for me, so I cast on fearlessly.  I breezed through the clues like nobody's business knitting at a very Wendy-esque speed.  By the time I had worked my way through the last row of clue #3, the final clue was up and I whipped through it in record time (for me anyway).  I love the finished shawl... and I think it really does go nicely with my dress:

Finished Shawl

I think these colors match nicely

Project Notes:
Pattern: Wendy Knits Summer Mystery Shawlette
Yarn: Maggiknits Linen (which knits like a dream) in blue & turquoise
Size nine needles / CO 30 May BO 2 Jun (crazy!)

 Since I never don't have socks on the needles I usually have a back-up pair going to the ones I'm knitting for my challenges.  I cast these on mainly to have something to work on with the ladies in the Friday afternoon group until we pick the next KAL pattern.  I had used some of this yarn for my two-at-a-time toe up class sample which ended up becoming footie socks because frankly the plain stockinette just seemed too boring to go on.   I suspected I'd have been happier doing stripes while I was working on these, but you know, two at a time 2 balls x 2 ends? Crazy, right?!  There seemed to be enough left for anklets.  And I had planned on knitting a couple of pair of cotton (blend) anklets to wear while I'm in Portland anyway.  Once I got thru the foot of the first sock and almost ready to start the toe; I started to get a little worried about whether I had enough yarn (I had some odd ends from the first pair, but didn't want the extra weaving-in).  So I did the unthinkable... YUP! I cast on sock number two from the other ends of each ball (see above) and proceeded.  I knit till I got to the same point on sock #2 and determined I had plenty of yarn left for both toes.  Oh well, best laid plans and all. Oh, and bonus! They go pretty well with my walking shoes.

A match made by Noro

Project notes:
Pattern: my basic sock
Yarn: Noro Taiyo Sock (cotton / silk blend)
Size 2.25 dpn 


Now I'm off to see what else I can get knit :)

Happy knitting!

Nana

Parade of FO's in No Particular orderI

I Feel Pretty Socks

Momma & Baby Hedgehogs

Toe Up Footies (Class project)

Satchel (class project)

Strawberry Season (May Mystery Shawl)

Summer Shawlette (before blocking)

Artichoke Socks (May Mystery KAL)

Desert Vest (Shop KAL)

Lacey Summer Tank (Class Project)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Blogger and flickr are not playing nice right now, so this is all I can offer today.  Saucey has decreed (in her Royal opinion) that we will not end the blog anytime soon.  I think she may be working on some sort of manifesto....

Settling In

Things are finally starting to get more settled here at the new house. We have most everything unpacked and put away. We have some rearranging to do to make everything fit or work the way it should and we still need to get the pictures up on the walls, but life is gradually starting to have a more normal feel. The cats are learning which windows are best for looking out at various times of day and have located and worked out rotations for all of the sunny spots.

Zelda's found her spot

I have managed to knit a little here and there amidst the hubbub, but much slower than my normal pace and (it seems like) with more ripping and restarting than usual. I finished the two pair of socks that I was working on since early August and I cast on for a third pair and am making good progress on those. Heck, I may even cast on for my September “personal sock club” pair today! I also started a shawl out of some lovely fall colored lace yarn. It’s going to be a longer term project than a pair of socks, so I might not post about that much. So here’s a little bit about the socks. Since I’m done knitting them I won’t go thru all of the ripping and re-knitting drama that occurred, but each pair had its challenges:

First finished:

Pattern: Sandalwood Socks by Caitlin Stevens rom Interweave Knits, Winter 2008
Yarn: Araucania Ranco Solid
Size: 2.25 dpn

I ended up really liking these once they were done. That said, I found that because the lace pattern was actually a combination of three separate lace stitches it required a lot of close attention to the chart while working on the leg. Once I turned the heel and was working the lace on the instep only, the pattern got a little easier to follow and I could almost work it without referring to the chart, but wasn’t silly enough to actually try. This was my first time using the Arancunia yarn and I think it is nice. I will definitely use it again if I get the opportunity.

The second pair was my challenge pair. It was definitely that.

Pattern: Staccato Socks by Veronik Avery (from Knitting Socks With Handpainted Yarn)
Yarn: Artyarns Ultramerino 4 colors 124, 252, 143 plus a small quantity of Samantha in Stitches FootCrazy in Purple Thunder
Size: 2.25 dpn worked toe up

I liked the finished socks, but would probably never knit this pattern again as written. First of all, the idea of using up small quantities of leftover yarns is a good one, but you have to be prepared for a hard reality. When the knitting is done, you have something like this

to deal with. Many, many ends to weave in; headache … next, although I searched everywhere for any hint of an error, the pattern as written didn’t come out to the number of rows knitted (seriously) and the foot ended up being a little short when I started the heel (riiii-iiip). Next, the heel specified was unpleasant. I substituted a different heel which required (horror) math on my part. Also, I failed to keep good notes on the changes I made on sock one (due to all of the other stuff going on at the time) so, when I got to this point on sock 2, things might not have come out quite the same. (oh, well) Finally, working the stitch pattern around the leg, made it much too tight to get over my foot, so I had to modify and substitute a 2x2 rib on the back of the leg. I think if I was going to do a sock which purpose was to use up scrap yarn, I’d stick to something simpler. When the frustration with these socks reached a peak, I cast on for these:

I gave some of my nieces and cousins and a few others some socks at the family reunion back in July, but my 12 year old niece has smaller feet, so we discussed a custom pair. I asked what color she liked and she said “neon”. I found this yarn at the LYS near where we were staying and she approved of it, so now I’m knitting her socks. The pattern is Ampersand. It’s sort of a simple pattern, (and I’ve been thinking of ways to modify it while I’ve been knitting). But right now, simple is just the ticket. The repeat is two rounds and very easy to memorize. I need that sort of knitting at the moment. I’ve turned the heels and almost finished the gusset since I took this picture.

Finally, there is the shawl that I started.

A lot of people did the Pi shawl in honor of Elizabeth Zimmerman’s 100th birthday back in August, well I was late to the party but I did have it as a project in my queue. I had even hoped to be able to follow the knit-along that Wendy Johnston was doing, but couldn’t get going in time for that, either. So, I’m about a month off with a great tribute project. I started with the basic EZ pattern and am combining it with Mwaa’s 100th anniversary verson. So far it sort of looks like something I don’t want to step in after one of the cat makes ominous noises. I’m sure it will get better as it gets bigger.

Anyhow, that’s what’s on and off my needles at the moment.  I’ll try harder to stay more current as things get back to normal.  I can’t believe it’s almost fall, but the weather has been dropping hints, so I’ll probably have no trouble getting my knitting routine back.

Happy Knitting!

Nana

Ahh, Technology

My computer and I have been at odds lately.  Last week it contracted a virus and although it's healthy again it has had some aftereffects.  Namely I lost some of my software programs.  One of those was the one that interfaces with the camera and basically lets me upload pictures.  After several futile attempts to reload the program, I contacted the company for help, but haven’t gotten a fix yet.  Now ordinarily I would just pop the memory card out of the camera and upload the pictures from there.  That didn’t seem to work either.  It took me until today to figure out that somewhere along the way a setting got changed on the camera and the pictures were being stored in the internal memory and not on the card.  So, human error this time, not computer error; and easy enough to fix; I copied the pictures to the card and popped it into the drive and hurray – Pictures!

So now I can bring you up to date on my knitting projects.  

I mentioned in my last post that I finished the Blue Pukas sweater: 

Pattern: Pukas from Knitters Magazine K98, Spring 2010 Yarn: Dream in Color, Some Summer Sky 

I also finished my Rivendel socks:

Pattern: Rivendel from the Eclectic Sole by Janel Laidman Yarn: Noro Kuryeon Sock, color S149 Modifications:  worked chart B rows 60-44 in place of chart A rows 1-16 

And this morning I closed the toes on these:

Pattern: Knotty or Knice Socks by Chrissy Gardiner, Interweave Knits, Fall 2008 Yarn: Koigu Premium Painters Pallet Merino; color Lilac (P703117)  

And, I’m still working on the Vines and Lace sweater and it is still happier.  

So there you have it, I’ve been busy working away, it’s my computer that’s the slacker.  

Happy Knitting!  

Nana

It Looks Like I Got a Lot Done

I suppose I actually did, but it’s more like since my last blog post, not just in the last day or so.  I have actually finished several projects and am still working on others.  I’ve only cast on for one more thing (so far).  Here’s a quick run-down.

The one I’m most proud of:

Some of you probably watch the show called “The Big Bang Theory” for those who don’t I’ll try to keep this brief.  On the 12/14 episode, Penny was wearing the cutest knitted hat… and of course being that sort of knitting dork who loves a challenge… I decided I needed to try to make it.  So here’s how it turned out:

Several people on ravelry did the same thing, but most of the projects I saw there were done in Chunky.  I had worsted in my stash, because basically I just not a chunky sort of knitter.  So, I worked out my own pattern and knit it up with the worsted I had.  I think it turned out pretty well.  You can see the original in this clip from the show: Penny's Hat

I also finished some socks. First up, the Mountain Color Socks I showed you in progress a while back.  For lack of a more creative name, I called these the Bearfoot socks

Yarn: Mountain Colors Bearfoot in Eureka Colorway

Basic Top-down knit pattern with eye-of-partridge heel

Knit on Kollage square dpns size 2.75mm

And as a little bonus I whipped up these for the top-down workshop I’m teaching this month:

Sassy Toes

Yarn: Brown Sheep Wildfoote in Rock-n-Roll (leftover from these)
Pattern: basic toe-up/w/heel flap & gusset and a little improvised ruffle at the top

Size 2.5mm magic loop

I also made up this little set:

Pattern: (Hat) Lacy Baby Set from Homespun, Handknit / (Socks) just a basic sock

Yarn: Samantha in Stitches Footcrazy in Gemtastic

These and the pair above are for my granddaughter Sylvia. 

 

I also finished the Blue Lagoon socks (again, not very creative in the naming department lately).  This is a modified version of the original pattern which I found on my friend’s blog (http://www.forwardmotion.typepad.com/becca/)

Pattern: Cut Paste Socks by Becca Diaz

Yarn: Dream in Color Smooshy

Mods:  Knit Top Down instead of Toe-up; added patterning on back of leg, added 1 purl stitch to side of chart

I am really happy with how these turned out.

I even finished up a non-knitting project: 

I have a hand-crafted swift (http://www.knittingnotionsonline.com/index.php?l=product_list&c=1)

 that came with a little drawstring bag made out of muslin to carry the pieces in. The swift is doing fine, but the bag was getting a little beat up, so I decided I needed a better storage solution for it.  The pieces were a little bulky when stored in the bag, so I thought about making a case similar to a needle case that would lay flat and hold all of the pieces securely.  I played with a couple of ideas and this is what I came up with:

I’m not the worlds best at sewing, but it turned out well enough to work for what I need it to do. 

Well I have a few WIPS that need attention and it’s a nice snowy day to spend indoors knitting, so I’m not going to waste anymore time on the computer. I wish you and yours all the best.

Happy Holidays to all!

Nana

A little Fidelity

Goes a long way...

Pattern: Arena from Knitters Fall 2009

Yarn Valley Farms Stockbridge

Size 5 & 7 needles

Happy Knitting!

Nana

Getting Ready for Stitches

There's been much to do here and at work the last week or so, but I'm getting a few things done that need to be.

The Swallowtail Shawl is off the needles and blocking!

Pattern: Swallowtail Shawl by Evelyn Clark

Yarn: Knit Picks Shimmer in Cumulus Size 4 Additurbo Lace needles

Mostly, though, I have been working and helping get the shop ready for our first time as being a vendor at Stitches Midwest. We have been busy creating kits for several different patterns which is busy work at its best. I think Linda has been doing nothing but for the last two weeks. I won’t actually be working in the booth since I signed up for classes, etc. But, I will be covering some store hours to keep the shop going while we are at Stitches.

In addition to that I finished my homework for my class and of course I’ve been thinking/dreaming about what I will find at the market. So like so many others, I did a little review of what’s in my stash and UM, I might have a wee little bit of sock yarn.

(it’s divided into cool and warm colors here) I’ve heard it doesn’t count as stash, but yeah, I think I might be good for a little while.

I think it got that way because I’m not exactly effective at saying “no” to the acquisition of new sock yarn. Here’s a skein that has recently been acquired, thanks to my friend Kelly who attended sock summit and picked this out for me. (I might have slipped her some money before she left) The two little knitted socks in the pick were from other summit attendees who sent them as gifts. (Thanks to knitnana and melidomi) So if you are going to Stitches and see me lurking outside of any of the booths selling sock yarn, tap me on the shoulder and point out something else QUICK! Especially if you see me reaching for my credit card. Finally, at some point last weekend I needed a little knitting diversion, so I whipped this up. My dishcloths all started falling apart recently so it seemed like exactly the right project:

Pattern: My Coffee Cup by Enid Danforth

Yarn: Peaches & Creme color 89 Camel

Size 8 needles

Now I'm off to try and finish some socks....

Happy Knitting

Nana