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....

Surf's Edge Socks

This project was the “test knit” for a pattern I created a few years ago.  I have intended to write this pattern up for a while now, but knew that I needed to recreate the sock from my notes to be able to make it a workable pattern.  Here is the original version of the sock:

The inspiration for this pattern was the way that the sand looks at the edge of the shore from the movement of the waves.  If you’ve ever walked along the beach by the ocean or even a large lake, you’ll notice that the movement of the waves carves ripples and grooves into the sand at the edges of the beach, also as the waves recede there are little bubbles of foam that form and create sort of a lacy border between the wet and dry sand.  I wanted to create a piece of knitting that captured this effect.

This is the best example I could find... you get the idea

After reviewing my notes from the original pair and examining the socks after many a wearing; I determined that I couldn’t just open my charting softwear and chart / write up the pattern as it was created.  There were a number of design elements that affected the look, fit and wear of the finished sock.  So, I actually needed to revise some of my original design and the best way to do that was to knit another pair.

Firstly, my stitch counts and repeats didn’t work mathematically.  For some reason I used 75 stitches which made a cuff that was very loose and required a drastic reduction during the heel and gusset transition to make the foot fit.  I’ve learned a lot about sock fit and construction since then and made adjustments to correct both of these problems.

Visually, I was able to represent the rippled sand effect with the cable stitch used in the original version, but the lace/eyelet pattern made a lacy border which didn’t quite evoke the foamy bubbles. Also, I wanted a different transition between the eyelet and cable patterns to give it a more fluid feel.

Changing the lace/eyelet pattern was a bigger challenge because I had to find a repeat that worked within the allowable stitch count (not easy) but also one that evoked foamy bubbles.  I had to try several different YO/decrease arrangements before finding one that gave me the look and feel I wanted and that worked with the stitch count.  I’m pleased to show off the result:

I’m currently working on a larger size to add to the pattern, so the pattern isn't ready yet.  I’d also like to have it properly test-knitted before publishing.  I’ll post it here when it’s available.

This isn’t the only knitting I’ve been doing since my last post.  I’ve sort of lost the will to keep updating the blog and am seriously considering ending it. I've also had difficulty taking decent pictures of any of my projects due to the endless string of grey/overcast/rainy/ spring days that we have been suffering.  For now, future posts will be a series of project updates from Flickr with brief project description.   If/when my blogging mojo returns, I’ll try to get back to more detailed posts.  In the meantime….

Happy Knitting,

Nana

Into April

I finished the baby blanket:

 Pattern: Inside out Baby blanket

Yarn: Cascade 220 Superwash 

Size 7 needles (dpn & circular)

I then cast on for a couple of pair of socks…. 

Pair one: Working name is tidal pool duex... more later on this one

Pair two:  April PSC / Journey Cable Socks in Fireweed Dyeworks blue/green

But mostly I have been distracted by welcoming Iowa's newest residents…

If you missed any of the news reports or commentaries, the world seems to have discovered the anticipation of watching and waiting for eagles to hatch.  I have to admit that I was pretty drawn in last weekend and this past week.  I was fortunate to have tuned in just in time to see #3 breaking out of its shell.  It was pretty mesmerizing and a cool experience if I do say so myself.   I'm keeping the link on my favorites so I can peek every now and again to see what’s happening.  It’s fun to see the day to day changes in the eaglets, so this will probably go on until they “fledge” or leave the nest this fall. 

And I'm finally a member of the tribe of ‘smart phones’ … We’ve been eligible to upgrade our phones for about a year now, but put it off for a lot of reasons.  Last month we decided to get it over with… but had to be on a waiting list for about a week or so to get the new phones…. So far it seems to be worth the wait. There's a bit of a learning curve for this old gal, so  I’ve spent a lot of time learning and playing on this thing trying to get myself up to par.  I may even figure out how to post the blog from it one of these days. 

We’ve got a trip to see grandkids coming up,(This may or may not have involved some super-secret knitting that I can't post just yet) so I’m pretty excited about that.  Hopefully the long car ride will help me catch up on some neglected knitting projects.

Happy Knitting,

Nana

Finishing March

I finished all three pair of socks that I had on the needles the last time I posted:

Vegetable Thin Socks

Pattern: Basic Sock

Yarn: Noro Kuryeon Sock in color 255

Needles:  Size 2.25mm dpn

Notes: these actually took longer to knit than I liked because I started getting a little too much “muddiness” in sock 2 and had to keep trying different reds until I got enough contrast.  There is a lot of red in this colorway.

Sunday Swing Socks / April Selection Personal Sock Club

Pattern: Sunday Swing

Yarn: Creatively Dyed Steel in Kino Fuji

Needles: size 2.25 mm dpn & ML

Notes:  The original pattern was Cirque, but the cables got lost in the patterning of the yarn and there also seemed to be a bit too much ease in these and I really didn’t want to go down a needle size.  I started them out on dpn, but didn’t like the division of the stitches for the pattern so I switched to circ and finished them ML.

March Mystery Socks / SKA group Ravelry

Pattern: March Mystery sock

Yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock in Lauma

Size 2.25mm ML

Notes: this was my first mystery KAL and I have to say that it was a great experience. I love this pattern and really had so much fun knitting it.  It knit up so fast that by the time I finished the second clue in the first sock, I knew I wouldn’t be able to wait a whole week to work on them again, so I cast on sock #2 and knit it through the second clue so I could do clue 3 on both socks and have more knitting time with the pattern.  They fit great too!

I also started a couple of other projects in between.

I found this Shamrock and Four Leaf Clover Pin (by Cheryl Andrews) pattern on Ravelry and made up a couple in worsted, then I made up a couple in fingering; just a little March fun.

I also started a shop sample for the class I will be doing in April … this is actually a baby blanket pattern, but it will end up on the back of my couch … to protect the spot currently covered with Saucey hair.

Inside out square in Cascade 220 superwash

 Then I cast on for a KAL at work that I’m helping with, I don't have a pic of this project since I barely got past the gauge swatch, but I think it will be a fun KAL.  I'll post more about it when there is something to show.  The project is the Desert Vest from the Rowan Savannah collection.

 

As you might guess, I didn’t make much progress on the sweater or shawl due mostly to letting myself get distracted by the new projects and other ideas. 

I’ve got a lot going on knitting wise and hopefully something will make for good posting in April.

Happy Knitting,

Nana

PS.  Baseball season opens this weekend!

Sox-a-lot

What do we have here?

Three bags full of sock projects in varying stages:

Project 1 (far right) is the Vegetable thin socks that I started at the end of February, just a basic top-down, 2 row striped sock made possible by the lovely colors of Noro Kuryeon Sock yarn.  These are my lug around and car knitting socks.

Project 2 (bottom left) is the March Mystery Mock from the Sock Knitter’s Anonymous group on Ravelry.  This is my first “mystery” project.  I got clue one on March 1^st and whipped it right out.  So far so fun; if sock project #3 wasn’t being such a big PITA, I would probably start the second sock from the other end of the ball, because I’m feeling sort of like a slacker with so many other people posting two sock cuffs already.

Project 3 (top left) is my Personal Sock Club selection for March.  This started out as Cirque.  Right away I started to worry that they were knitting up a little on the big side.  But I tried to give it a chance after all cables pull in right?  Well 3/4s of the way into the cable design, the yarn is very stretchy and they are definitely biggish for me.  I decided to try a different pattern rather than opt for smaller (read size 0) needles.  I poked around in my pattern book but really didn’t come up with something simple enough not to get lost in the yarn colors.  (This yarn is VERY busy).  So I dug up a pattern I need to chart and decided to give it a test knit with this yarn, ha! Not so good.) That got ripped and restarted twice because I am not really happy with a couple elements in the pattern and again, the yarn is overwhelming the detail in the pattern.  Right now I have actually come back to Cirque on the size 0 needles for lack of a better idea.  (Next up is probably plain vanilla socks, but I’d like to do something interesting here.)

The shawl and the sweater are holding their own against all of these socks, but will have to wait their turn for a blog post.  We’ll see what the weekend knitting yields.

 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

Sleepy Zelda

Sleepy Zelda
Originally uploaded by nanaknits21

Sweet Zelda

Sweet Zelda
Originally uploaded by nanaknits21

all mommy ever does is knit, I guess I'll just get comfy and take a nap

In the bag

Dice Bag
Originally uploaded by nanaknits21

I have finished a couple of projects but haven't found/made the time to write up a proper post, this is just a teaser... hopefully my writing brain will get back in gear next week and I'll show you the rest. This is the Deep Sea Flower Dice Bag knit in Noro Taiyo... a nice cotton blend with really stunning colorways (I want to buy one of each).

Have a great weekend

Nana

Really Random Thursday

Hobbling along

I broke my toe almost two weeks ago.  I can’t believe how stupid a thing this is to do.  (It was also pretty stupid how I did it, if you actually want to see a picture go here).  This is not an injury that lends itself to isolation and stabilization of the affected area. About all that can be done is “buddy taping” the affected toe to its neighbor and wearing a very unattractive over-sized “boot”.  

Da Boot

I’m not walking very long or far these days and it’s a very awkward process.  Also, when the temps dropped into the single digits last weekend, I was very thankful for hand-knit socks.  I ended up with two socks on my bad foot to keep my toes warm. 

Iowa Fashion

I was at the grocery store doing a little people watching the other day and I observed that there seem to be different fashion rules in Iowa.  For example, anything with a Hawkeye logo or a Cyclone logo is considered neutral and can be worn with just about anything.  The most recent sighting was of a young girl wearing a fuscia tutu over matching polka dot tights topped with a Hawkeye football jersey… and in some weird sense it worked.  The other rule is that there does not have to be snow on the ground to wear snow boots, although that is a moot point at the moment.  There is nothing wrong with wearing anything hand-knit, especially for outer wear, and there are no restrictions in matching style or color choices. I find this a good thing.  My favorite example was the guy I saw wearing a Dr. Who scarf with a Candy Corn hat.  This may apply to other “cold climate” locations as well, but I seem to be seeing it more here, than I did in my “sophisticated” Chicago Suburb.  

Knitting

I have been knitting.  Thanks in part to my recent lack of mobility and also due to our typical January weather.  I finished several projects since I last posted.   My Annis Shawl is done and turned out lovely:

Annis - Shadow Shawl

Pattern: Annis by Susanna IC (Knitty Spring& Summer 2010)

Yarn: Noro Kirameki color 158A

Size 8 needles

I liked it so much (and so did my bosses) that I will be using it as a project for an introductory lace class.  So of course I needed to knit another one (so I could use beads).  This is the Mini Version done in sock yarn:

Mini Annis Carnival Shawl

Pattern: Annis / w/mods suggested by Zuzusus from Ravelry beads replacing Nupps
 Yarn: Noro Silk Garden Sock Color S308
Size 8 Needles

I knit this over a weekend (the one where I broke my toe no less) and it made me thoroughly ashamed that it took over a month to do the first one!

My January Self-Imposed sock club socks were the Journey Cable socks:  

A walk on the beach

I started these in some of the yarn I got on my trip to AK but unfortunately the yardage was a little bit short which was very disappointing because the yarn was lovely and the pattern really worked well in that yarn, but I dug through my stash and found a nice substitute which I think also did the pattern justice.  I love this pattern and will probably repeat it in the future.

I worked up a hat for charity.  

Spiral Striped Hat

 I’ve been a little slacking in that department, so I’m going to try to do a few more charity projects here and there as I get time.  I wanted to try the spiral stripe technique and this seemed like a pretty good project for doing so. As I suspected this is one of those techniques that just made me go “duh” once I got going.  Sometimes all it takes is motivation.

 I also cast on for a pair of bonus socks since I like to have a project to carry around with me for times when I can squeeze in a little knitting.  These are just simple anklets to wear to the gym when I can go again:

sweet sweat socks

Pattern: my own basic sock

Yarn: Panda Cotton

Size 2.25mm dpn

I joined JenHanson’s KAL for the Carefree Shawl.  Go ahead and pop over to her site and see some of her designs.  She is an up-and-coming designer and indie dyer.   I am enjoying this project so far.  I also love how she has her blog set up.  If I can figure out how, I think I might try her page style (if that's okay with her). 

Carefree begins

I’ve got a few other projects on the needles, but there isn’t much to say about them at the moment.  I’ve had a bit of cast-on-itis and I’ve been trying to counter it by sticking with what I’m already working on and swatching for upcoming things.  It doesn’t completely work, but it helps.

Designers

Speaking of designers, Lucy Neatby released some new designs this week; I’m highly amused by this bag.  I’ve also been following several on twitter who have been posting and tweeting about new books and patterns getting ready to be released.  It’s fun seeing all of the lovely new designs.  (The downside is it causes cast-on-itis).  I’ve also enjoyed the stories coming out of the recent Vogue Knitting Live gathering. 

Cats

The cats are enjoying our new location because they have maximum sunlight for several more hours a day.  Each of them has established a priority spot based on the potential for sun absorption.  They then rotate to different spots throughout the day giving them many hours of sun soaked sleep.   Additionally, since we got new furniture which includes a large ottoman*, DH and I can now sit together on the sectional and each have a cat stretched out on our legs when our feet are propped up on the ottoman.  Real family time; I’d take a picture if I could, but that would require someone getting up to get the camera, thereby disturbing the cats, and well, you know….

That’s it for this week.

Happy Knitting,

Nana

* the cause of my broken toe, you can guess what happened :)

Me and the cats

Me and the cats
Originally uploaded by nanaknits21

This isn't the greatest picture because my DH took it on his cell. Both cats wanted on my lap and it is rare to see the cats this close together so I felt it was a picture worthy occasion.

Glancing Back, Moving Ahead

Since the weather was so uncooperative last week, I never really got a chance to show off these:

Scarborough Fair Socks by Melanie Gibbons

Yarn: Knitivity Down Home Art Yarns sock in Italian Ice - Grape

Size 2.25 DPN

Or these:

Finished 10:35pm Dec, 31 2010

Tropical Stripe Socks

Pattern: Basic sock (Top Down) with a 2, 1, 1, 1 stripe sequence

Yarn: Noro Kuryeon Sock in colors S180 (MC) and S149 (CC)

Size 2.25 DPN

I decided halfway through the Scarborough Fair socks that I needed a simpler pattern for carrying around because although the pattern on Scarborough Fair is not difficult to memorize, the stitches are fiddly and I need to have the chart out more often than not to stay on track so it wasn’t very good for public knitting.  The first socks I knit in Jan 2010 were the Noro Stripey socks that I love, so I decided that the last pair for 2010 should also be Noro Stripeys and keeping in my experimental mode with stripes I changed up the stripe sequence just enough to keep them interesting.  I finished the Scarborough Fair socks on the 27th and even though I only had a portion of one leg done on the Stripey socks, I decided I would kick it into high gear so these would actually be finished in 2010.  I made it with hours to spare and I love the way these socks turned out.  (I also have enough yarn leftover for another pair sometime this year.)  In case anyone is wondering, I did futz with the yarn a wee bit to get the color sequences to match.  I didn’t have to try too terribly hard due to a happy little coincidence; the (inevitable) knot 

I think I was going to write a post about this, but it got OBE

in that skein of Noro (S180) was almost perfectly placed to divide it into two cakes of almost equal weight with not too much pulling out to get to the same starting point in the color sequence. The brown was harder to judge and so I did end up with different starting points.  They are not a perfect match, but that's okay. Heck, I think I would be both too hard on my self and too hard on the yarn if I expected a perfect match using any Noro yarn.

So those are the final two projects that I completed in 2010.  

Oh, and speaking of happy little coincidences, I was pleasantly surprised by this the other day:

1500 Yards of Golden Sunrise in Dura Lace

Ray, of Knitivity, had a little drawing back in December  for customers who ordered yarn during a certain week.  I needed to order a skein to match one I already had for an upcoming project and didn’t really think about the timing of my order in regards to the drawing.  I hadn’t been very active on line in December and subsequently missed the note on his website that I was the winner of the drawing, so imagine my surprise when I got this skein of yarn in the mail!  I do order quite a bit from him because I really like Ray’s yarn. I would highly recommend it if you’ve ever thought about adopting an indy-dyer to support.   

Moving on to 2011; I set up a few personal challenges for myself (rather than actual goals). 

I am continuing in the Sock A Month Knit-a-long and have set up another year’s worth of personal sock club bags to keep me knitting from stash and patterns I have accumulated.  I started my first installment on Monday and am pretty happy with the mix of yarn and pattern so far, but afraid the yardage could be a bit short, though.  If I can get by with making shorter cuffs I will, but if I end up needing to switch yarn, I’ll do that because I really do like the pattern so far.  The pattern is Journey Cable Socks which I bought some time ago and never got around to knitting.  The yarn is Rabbit Ridge Designs, one of the yarns I brought back from my trip to Alaska in 2009.  (See a trend here?)  Here’s a peek at what it looks like so far:

I'm actually quite a bit farther now

I am going to try to knit four shawl patterns (one a quarter?) that I’ve had in my queue forever.  I haven’t matched yarn for all 4 yet, and I’m cheating a little by counting the Annis that I started last month as one of the four.  There’s still not much progress there by the way, but I can show this:

I'll be happy when I get past the nupps

I’ve got sweater quantity in my stash for at least two sweaters.  Patterns not determined on both yet.

I have a couple patterns I love that I’d like to do up for my Granddaughter (not that I need an excuse to knit for her).

I would like to get on with it and actually complete my Level I of the Master Knitter’s course.  (Still working on that motivation).

I’d also like to do a little more charity knitting again and maybe a little more designing this year. 

Really, that’s quite a lot to have on my plate, but hey, that’s why they are challenges rather than goals… no pressure, just an organized way to keep my knitting going in a productive direction… and to try to use up yarn I already have.  

So I hope you'll drop by from time to time to see how I'm doing on my 2011 challenges.  

Happy Knitting,