At the Finish Line and Beyond

In the last week or so I’ve finished a couple of projects: Like these: Sweetheart Socks; Pattern: Color Collision by Chrissy Gardiner from Knitting Socks with Handpainted Yarn in Classic Elite Alpaca, size 2 dpns; I liked the unusual construction, but I would probably change the foot to knit a regular heel and toe if I do this pattern again. Then I whipped up this little guy for the “hatchling” as DD#1 is referring to her baby-to-be. So quick and easy and fun; I used a little bit of this and that from my stash. The pattern is Sheep in Sheep’s Clothing by Frankie Brown. I found the pattern through a ravelry link. Too cute and fun! I can see more of these coming off my needles in the future. I also did these:

These fingerless gloves were my entry for the one skein challenge. They didn’t get the popular vote, but they were very commented over. The pattern is my own and I’ll be making it available for a small fee once I have found a test knitter. (Anyone?) ; Pattern: Fingerless Mitts Plan and Fancy; Yarn Claudia Handpaints Fingering in Begonia, Size 2 DPN. And since that wasn’t enough to chase the grey out of the February days, I cast on for these: I am calling them my Celtic Knotkins; Pattern: Nutkins by Beth LaPensee; Yarn Down Home Art Socks by Knitivity, Size 2 (2.75mm) needles And I cast on for my next sweater I’m calling this Desire; Pattern: Delve from Rowan #43; Yarn Summer Tweed, Needle Size 6. I got gauge with the size 8 needles the pattern called for, but apparently the swatch was not completely forthcoming and when I started the back it was on course to be about 3” too wide (which would have given me an additional 5.5 inches on the circumference with seam allowances). Frogged and restarted, much happier and closer to the actual desired circumference on the size 6. I've only knit about 3 repeats of the plain lace pattern, and it's pretty boring to look at right now. So no picture of this.

And because this project has been sitting in the on-deck circle for a while and winter is still here, I cast on for a pair of Mittens: Pattern Honeycomb mittens from Homespun Handknit by Linda Ligon. This is one of my favorite go-to pattern books. The yarn is Lambs Pride Worsted and Twillys Freedom Spirit. Size 6 dpn.

Alone Again

It’s back to just me and the kitty girls. I had a lovely visit with my daughter and got a few things done while she was here. We kept it really low key due to her fighting a virus and still having the challenges of early pregnancy. On Wednesday we took the train down to Chicago to visit the Shedd Aquarium … we saw all sorts of interesting creatures there… the aquarium features amphibious and aquatic life from the marshes in IL to the Congo in the Amazon. The centerpiece is a large Caribbean tank which features a team of divers (at set times) who answer questions about the inhabitants. There is also another exhibit featuring the larger sharks, etc which we didn’t see due to time constraints, but we thoroughly enjoyed our visit there. We also ended up seeing the remains of the winter festival in one of the downtown parks. DD took all of the pictures since I forgot my camera that day. Here’s a glimpse of our day: Then we did a lot of hanging out at home and spent a thoroughly lovely morning on Thursday baking banana bread and watching Roman Holiday on TV. The cats approved of that sort of activity as seen from the lap waiting queue. She also got to come to knit night with me and see the store and meet some of the knitters and crocheters I hang out with. And just in case that wasn’t enough, we had an inventory to do on Friday and DD got the honor of helping with that and with the One Skein Challenge event on Saturday. She was enchanted by the shop and satisfied that I’m happy with my work. And I wasn’t the only productive one while we were hanging out. She finished this cute little guy being inspected by Saucey: I’ll have to save my knitting accomplishments for the next post because this one is getting longish. I had a great time with my daughter and am looking forward to our next visit in August.

One More Down

Project that is …. The Loop through Scarf is finished: Pattern: Garter Stitch Loop through Scarf by Marci Richardson From 101 Designer One Skein Wonders Yarn: Dream in color Classy, Visual Purple Size 4 needles

It's now on display at the shop

I also finished the super-secret one-skein project that I have been designing for our One Skein Challenge at Prairie Arts and Fibers this weekend. It will be unveiled during the event on Saturday so if you are in the area, stop by, otherwise, you’ll just have to settle for this sneak peek: I cast on my swatch for Delve and plan on having it on the needles sometime soon. And last but not least, the Color Collision socks had to be frogged and restarted. I got through the heel turn on the first sock and could no longer deny their tiny-ness. So, I frogged them and started over with a bigger needle. I'm thinking there should be a rule that pattern designers should disclose whether they are tight or loose knitters with the gauge information. Anyway, this time the size is much better; I am back to the heel. You can see the cuff from the original sock in this picture: I'm leaving for the airport now to pick up DD#1 when she arrives for her visit. I am so excited! Hopefully I’ll be able to post about our adventures, in the meantime, Happy Knitting!

A Few Things

I finished the Cover Girl sweater! Only 3 days behind schedule… not bad! Pattern: Knit it Down, Creative Knitting, January 08 Needles: size 9 circular Yarn: Moda Dea Cartwheel in Ocean Fit: PERFECT.

The only modification I needed to make was to lengthen the sleeves about 2 " (after I snapped the pic) from the pattern instructions, otherwise I made it the way it was written.

Love, love, love this sweater. Hopefully Mr. Skilling will make good on his promise of some 30 degree weather in the near future.

The sweetheart socks (color collision) are coming along. Next though, I think I’ll finish that Loop Through Scarf that has been hanging around on the list for a while now. Then, I’ll cast on for…. Well, I’ll see what jumps up and down from the on deck bin!

I am finding it a little hard being by myself sometimes (take above photo as proof that some things are better with help). I’ve been missing my hubby a bit and even with a busy schedule, the house seems just a little too empty. I think the cats know this because they have been trying their very hardest to keep me company. They are rarely more than a room away at any given time. But mostly, they have been hanging out here: And pretty good about taking turns at it!

Off Schedule

Things here at Chez Nana were a little wonky last week. I ended up “working” every day. Three days at the shop as normal and two days away from the shop doing work related activities… not that I’m complaining, just ‘splaining why I haven’t’ be online lately. I had a lot of catching up to do over the weekend, and I was knitting, knitting, knitting whenever time allowed because I really wanted to get my “cover girl” sweater done by this past weekend. I almost made it; but, since the "sleeve fairy" didn't visit last night, I still have one sleeve left to do: Which is okay, because temps have been in the 40-50 degree range and I wouldn't have gotten to wear it right away. My favorite forecaster promises there's more cold on the way, so hopefully it will be ready to go when that front arrives.

Sunday during the superbowl, I succeeded in finishing the Horseshoe Cables socks, (despite an unfortunate need to tink back 5 rows due to last minute touchdown). It just took me three days to take sock #2 to work and take a picture of them together. They are both hanging out at the shop now. (the right hand picture is more the actual color)

Then, I cast on for a new pair of socks from the Knitting Socks With Handpainted Yarns book. I cast on for one pattern on Monday, but I ended up frogging that one and then casting on for a different pattern on Tuesday. I’ve knit about one half of the leg so far. The construction on the sock is unusual and a little fun; you knit a garter strip, seam it, pick up stitches around the edges, work some ribbing, then work another garter strip after the ribbing. I’m not really sure how long it will take me to knit the pair. I might have to cast on a plain Jane pair as a back up for my SAM socks. This is what it looks like so far:

The pattern is called Color Collision Socks and the yarn I’m using is Berroco Alpaca socks in color 1862 (reds, orange and pinks). There are also a couple of smaller projects lurking in the bottom of the knitting bag that I plan to knock out this week. Linda wants me to do a vest and a baby sweater as samples for the shop and I’m thinking I can do that, but I should probably get a few of my personal projects out of the way first. We’ll see how that goes! Might wait on the baby sweater until a certain DD#1 comes to visit because she might want to claim it after it has been in the shop… so I think she might get to pick the yarn for that one. I think I touched on getting good news from TX a few weeks back, but it is official that DD#1 is expecting her first baby this summer, so there is some baby knitting to be done. I have a few ideas, but I’m going to let her look through some patterns while she’s here to get a better idea of what to make.

Care and Comfort

It seems that the cats need for lap time has increased significantly since my DH left for Alaska. I don’t know if it is coincidental or a direct result of his absence. Either way, they have been mostly orderly in taking turns. Saucey gets the AM time and Zelda the PM times. Having the cats “need” me in this way hasn’t hurt my feelings much (or my knitting). Basically it extends my knitting time to have a cat on my lap. I’m less able to jump up and go do something else like log on to the computer and play around on the internet (it cuts way down on snacking too!) or housework, or chores…. With the cold weather we’ve been having it has been kind of nice too, because having a cat on my lap works like a space heater. I get nice and toasty and it doesn’t cost any extra in utilities. So about my knitting . . . I’m nearly finished with the horseshoe cable sock, except for the unfortunate incident while waiting for the car to be serviced where I had to tink back 6 rounds because I couldn’t get my head around the fact that 16 is divisible by 4. But it’s all back on track and behaving better now. (I have about half of the foot left to do) After I finished the MIL sweater I cast on for my next sweater project. It is the “Knit it Down” sweater which I am nick-naming “Cover Girl.” The pattern is the one on the cover of the January 2008 issue of Creative Knitting and I’m actually knitting it not just in the yarn, but the same color as the designer used; which is extremely rare for me. I’ve waited nearly a year to knit this sweater even though I wanted to cast on for it the day I bought the magazine. (Okay, before I even got out of the parking lot of the book store). Basically, the delay was because I had to track down the yarn and then by the time I got the yarn, I had plenty of other projects and potential projects to do so this one got stuffed in the back of my stash. Now it feels like a reward. The yarn is so soft and nice to work with and the color is so pretty. I think this one will knit up really fast, too. So far I have gotten almost to the end of the yoke/shoulder shaping. (The picture is the first bit of knitting I did on it I've worked about 3 more inches since). Oh, and once my bangs get done growing out I will totally look like the model in the picture too (wink, wink). (Okay, maybe only in my mind I will). Oh, and I started to put together a care package for my DH, do you think he will need more than what’s in the box? (Have a great weekend)

Fini

Seam Deferred

Seam Deferred

By Saucey [With apologies to Mr. Hughes]

What happens to a seam deferred?

Does it unravel

just for fun?

Or gap in odd places--

And then run?

When the cat demands a seat

if the lap time is denied --

can it ever be neat? Maybe it just sits Like a waiting dream

but, it’s just a seam.

Wednesday Rambles

I just frogged 10” of the MIL sweater due to a 10 row difference between the pattern rows and start of the armhole from the left front to the right front (I was ready to cast off when that little voice told me to compare the two… ) Sigh. So after washing dishes, vacuuming, two phone calls and surfing around my favorite blogs, I find I’m not quite ready to face the knitting music… But It was a good day overall. I now have a pattern on Raverly. Go type “mitten decorations” into the pattern search and see what pops up! And There was good news from Texas There was also a good report from South Carolina And some good things coming together at the shop …Even though it would be premature to say too much about anything right now. All and all, I have many good thoughts buzzing around in my brain right now Maybe I‘ll go tackle that sweater after all.

All in the Family

DH is off on the first leg of his adventure.  He flew out yesterday and arrived safely at Fort Jackson, SC to “re-green” as the Army quaintly calls the program to bring people who have been

 out for a little while back up to mission ready.  He expects to be there for a

 couple weeks before actually going to Alaska.  Today is a down day because of the holiday, so he is doing a kind of “trip down memory lane” as he visits the site of his original basic training.  His big plans today were to go to the PX and visit the work-out room. 

The kitties and I have been rattling around a little bit.  Zelda has been doing some serious moping and clinging to me, Saucey is more used to the occasional coming and going, so she is more relaxed.  I suspect she and I will start moping more down the road.

BUT…

The toe-up striped socks are finished!  They definitely have their own distinct look.  See?

Here’s all three pair that came from the two balls of Noro Kureyon Sock yarn.  (Colors S185 and S180) 

You can sure see the family resemblance between all three pair, yet none of the six socks are exactly identical.  I love this yarn.  I just recently got hints from someone about getting her own pair…. Is there any better excuse to shop for yarn?

This picture probably captures the colors best...

Since I already wear the other two pair a lot, I’m glad to have a third to put into the rotation.  Now I won’t have to fret so much when I haven’t had time to wash socks!

AND…

I finished (drum roll please)... the Santa Cruz Hoodie for DD#1. Here’s a kind of bad self portrait I took using the mirror.  

This is for you sweetie

This thing is really big on me, but she wanted it big and comfy.  I think it will fit her exactly like she wanted. 

Pattern: Santa Cruz Hoodie from Knit 2 Together by Tracey Ulman and Mel Clark (Largest given size)

Yarn: Cascade Quatro in color 5018 (Body) and Cascade 220 in color 8892 (sleeves)

Size 9 and 11 circular needles / size 9 dpn

Pattern Mods: knit body and sleeves in round to start of raglan shaping

My knitting goals for the week are to finish the other Horseshoe cable sock, finish the MIL sweater, swatch for my top-down sweater and maybe my squirrely mittens.  But maybe that’s a little ambitious…

For the Love of Noro

Here's a sneak peek at the latest socks I'm working on....

I cast on for these quick knit socks mainly to use up the yarn that has been sitting on my worktable for several months, but also, with a foggy cold brain, I needed something simple to just knit away. 

I decided to do these toe up since the yarn I'm using is the odd bits of Noro Kureyon Sock left

 over from the two pair of striped socks I knit last summer. Also, I didn’t want to guess at how long to make the leg and still have enough yarn for the foot.  These will be fun when they are

 finished. They will be more fraternal than the other two pair, but that’s part of the fun with the

 Noro.  Sometimes you just don’t know what you will get from one ball to the next. For anyone

 who has never tried Noro, I heartily recommend you try one of the many projects that allow you to play with the colors in the yarn.  These socks combined two color-ways in two row stripes.  There is also a scarf pattern for silk garden (the project that inspired Becca to create the socks that inspired these).  Another fun way to use Noro in a project is Entrelac. 

The heel design is the one that Becca suggested when I said I didn’t like the wrap and turn short row heel I did on my only other attempt at toe-up.  I had to go back and frog the first heel

 because I made the foot too long, but with the adjustments made, I am now getting a perfect fit.  

I can see why some knitters do their socks exclusively toe-up.  It is definitely a plus to be able

 to try the foot on once the heel portion is finished.  The first sock is done and the second only

 about 10 repeats away from the cuff.  Like I said before, a very quick knit.

I have really enjoyed knitting these for more reasons than just being a quick and simple project.

While I was knitting these the color combinations made me flash back to this post and the great trip I had to CA and especially the evening we spent at the farmers market seeing all the lovely flowers, fruits and vegetables….the yellow, gold and orange remind me of the sunflowers and squash we admired, the purple and green stripes of the gorgeous array of eggplants, I didn’t include all of the pictures from that night because it was just too hard to choose.  Here's a selection so you can see why the color combinations in these stripes stirred up memories of that trip and so much more:

Good times!

Cold Plus Cold

Between the snowfalls and extreme cold weather we’ve had plus coming down with a winter head cold, I have had plenty of knitting time lately. I’m slowly recovering from the cold, and we’ve been busy getting DH ready for his departure to Alaska. I’m having a bit of denial that his absence is going to be more than the routine. I guess I’ll figure it out after a couple of weeks go by and he doesn’t come home. Thursday night at knit group I finished the raglan shaping for the hoodie sleeves, which are now blocked and waiting to be attached to the body of the sweater, once that is accomplished, all that’s left is the hood. Yeah! I also knit a super warm hat for DH to wear while he is in Alaska.

Yarn is Ultra Alpaca in dark grey; double stranded Pattern is “Warm and Ready” from Knitters Winter 07 (also the cover pattern from Guy Knits) Needles size 9

This pattern is about the quickest hat to knit up for a man’s hat and looks great. I didn’t get a shot of him modeling, but, hey it’s a hat. He loves it.

I worked a bit more on the MIL sweater… it’s coming along at a reasonable pace. And finally, I started another pair of socks, but I’ll leave those for the next post because there’s much to say.

I hope you're warm wherever you are!

Significant Changes

From the weather section in today’s Tribune…

Sure, a cold spell is coming… in January… and you call that news? Well, now, what’s significant about this picture isn’t the arrival of more cold weather as suggested by the title, but the little weather charts below the title. The chart compares the normal temperature range for January (-30 to -40 c) to the temperatures that AK has actually had for the past week(-38 to -45 c). Brrr…. The reason this is of any concern at all, is because DH has just received orders from the Army recalling him to active duty and sending him on a one-year deluxe vacation mobilization to Northern Alaska. He’ll be leaving this month, so it’s happening very fast. This will be a significant change here at Nana’s house. (Not to mention for DH too!) It’s been in the works for a while, but it was difficult to think about (or discuss) until the reality of the orders happened. The Army didn’t invite me to come along, so I will be holding down the fort here in relatively warm IL. We know the location could be worse and are very thankful he’s going somewhere that I will be able to visit (eventually).

I’m sure the kitty girls and I will all be just fine, but life will be different for sure. I plan on going there once or twice for a visit, since I’ve always wanted to visit AK anyway. We’ve had little short separations of a week or less, but this will be a real challenge. DH and I really have been fortunate that since we’ve met we’ve really not had to spend any real time away from each other. So, to say that things here are a little bit in an uproar is, well an understatement. Otherwise, life here is almost back to normal after the holidays.

Knitting is progressing at a comfortable pace and we’re getting back into the weekly work routine. Of the projects I’ve been working on lately, here’s a little progress report: Horseshoe Cable sock #1 is finished; sock two will be cast on during the first class on 1/12. Santa Cruz Hoodie – sleeves are coming right along, I hope to begin the raglan shaping on both sleeves tonight (I worked separately to the start of shaping and am going to work in two-at-a-time method for raglan tops).

MIL Sweater, back and left front are finished; right front is started. Will not tempt fate for breaking camera with picture taking… suffice it to say that less stitches did not improve the color distribution of this yarn.

Cast-on for the loop through scarf from 101 One Skein Wonders with Dream in Color Classy in … here’s a peek at the progress. This will mostly be at-work knitting, so may be a slow project, but so far it’s a fun one. The next thing to be cast on will be a nice warm hat for DH to wear in AK… better get started on that… the clock is ticking!

Traveled and Unraveled

This weekend, we traveled to Des Moines to visit DH’s family. Since Saucey is now a ‘special needs’ kitty (insulin twice daily) that means that the kitties have to travel with us since we don’t have anyone close enough (or willing enough) to take on administering her medicine. This is not really a problem since the cats travel well by car and our trips are usually short. The only challenge we faced this time around is that SIL and her husband now have 4 dogs since their newly adopted ‘second dog’ had pups last fall. We usually stay with them when we visit Des Moines and so we weren’t sure how they would react to the dogs. Here’s a little glimpse of how the trip went… Are we there yet?

What is that down there? Puppies! Puppies everywhere… ('mom' Dabney and pup Monte.... pup Hugo)

I didn’t get very many good pictures because the cats hid most of the time (looking out occasionally from a strategic vantage point) and because generally the dogs were in constant motion. Winston (the oldest dog) didn't make it into any at all.

(Monte and Hugo 'wrestling')

We had a nice visit and made it home safely, the kitties are happy to be back on their own turf and I’m still trying to get back into the groove.

Knitting wise, things have been slightly less than promising. I did make some progress on the MIL sweater (back is finished, one front is half done).

DD’s sweater, not so good. I got about halfway through the sleeve and realized the stitch count was out of whack. Since we didn’t have access to the internet, I had to wait until we got home to look up the pattern errata on line to be sure there wasn’t some tragic mistake. Okay there was… my inability to decipher the pattern instructions… so I had to frog it back to the cuff… sigh… but never fear, it’s quick knitting when you actually do it right!

The horseshoe cable sock made it through the heel turn and gusset with out incident, but so far I’ve knit the same 8 rows on the foot twice

And if that wasn’t enough unraveling there was also a slight yarn-winding incident that left me with a highly tangled skein of yarn that took 3 tries to get undone and rewound. All is good now.

May your 2009 be filled with many happy hours of knitting and many finished projects!