Feels good

... to actually finish something!



A very gnome-like hat
Pattern: Pointy Elf Hat from More Last-minute Knitted Gifts
Yarn: Madelinetosh Tosh Merino in Pop Rocks, 1 skein held double
Needles: U.S. 10.5
Mods: Check out my Ravelry project page



He chose the yarn months ago and was delighted to finally see it again. Now he wants me to knit one for his dad, but in green. I'm worried, though, that my husband's stubbly shaved head would have a Velcro-like effect on a knitted hat!

In other news, I've entered the whopping 210 yards I've used this year into the KnitMeter on my Ravelry profile page and am feeling a strange sense of accomplishment. Perhaps if I had a yarn-buying meter to keep track of all the yarn I've bought lately, I wouldn't be feeling so satisfied ...

Dig if you will

Honestly. The only thing preventing me from posting sometime within the past month and a half (well, not the only thing, but the thing that it really comes down to) has been the lack of visual accompaniment to go along with these words. I can't find the battery charger for either of my stupid cameras!

I've got a pretty OK camera in my smartphone, but you've gotta do some finessing for things to come out all right, and I'm just not patient enough to sit down with the manual and figure it out. So it's just pretty OK photos from now on, I guess.

Well, KAL-ing and yarn buying are in full effect. It seems I'm not holding back in 2012, which is kind of invigorating. I'm in no less than 4, count 'em, 4 KALs (though I'm not starting anything new for the Doubleknit podcast Finish, Frog and Slog-along), and I've cast on for a few other projects. Holy jesus (as my 5-year-old says, unfortunately, as he tries to copy my inappropriate exclamations), I'm out of control!

I've got an action-packed knitting repertoire lately (KALs, yarn buying, club joining, knitterly trip planning, etc.), so I'll ease into this, my return to posting.

Some beautiful Woolen Rabbit Opulence in Birch Beer. I love Ravelry destashes.



Aaaahhhhh. Some kind of shawl or scarf, of course.

Why do I do this to myself?

So things are not looking so great for the Fingerless Mitts Blowout 2011 Edition. It's 10 days until the Big Day and I've got 2 pairs done. (I have an extended family of about 20 people here in town, and they all have 2 hands each.)

What I've got done is pretty, though.



Pattern: One Cable Mitts
Yarn: Blue Sky Alpacas Worsted Hand Dyes in a burnt orange, 1 skein
Needles: U.S. size 7
Mods: I shortened the thumb by a few rounds. I used Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind Off (after being reminded that I know this, while listening to the A Playful Day podcast -- thanks!) for the top and the thumb.

My aunt has already claimed these. Yay, a willing and appreciative recipient!



Shiny!

Pattern: Cozy thermal mitts
Yarn: Spud and Chloe Sweater in Moonlight, about .75 of a skein
Needles: U.S. size 4 (gosh I'm a crazy-loose knitter)
Mods: Jeny's bind-off on the tops. Shortened the thumb a bit.

Very nice and cozy, and I like the texture. Up next, a return to the Toast fingerless mitts of Knitmas past. And this Miss Babs Yowza in Merlot Shadows. Yowza indeed! Just beautiful.

A modeled FO!

Pattern: Kid's Vest from More Last-Minute Knitted Gifts
Yarn: Spud & Chloe Sweater in Moonlight, I think, 1.25 skeins
Size: Small (18-24 months)
Needles: US sizes 7 and 9
Mods: No duplicate-stitch initial, yet ...

I don't know why I shied away from baby/kid knits. Well, I do, actually: Kids grow fast. I knit slow. But, baby knits in worsted-weight? They practically knit themselves!



My younger son's first birthday was the other day and I didn't have enough time to do the duplicate-stitch initial on the chest. Part of the problem was I didn't have a similar-weight yarn in a good color to do the initial. Maybe I'll do it someday.

It was a quick and enjoyable knit. I see many more baby knits (worsted weight) in my future.

Some yarn action shots:







Up next: Finishing his cousin's birthday dress and knitting hand warmers/mitts for anyone and everyone.

(Thanks)Giving

I've wanted to return to the blog several times in the past few months, but either I was too busy or too sick or too uninspired to write. I had some pics to share and stuff to talk about about VKL, but then it seemed too long ago to remember the details really well. Someday, when I find my camera and can get all the photos where I'm smiling cheesily next to the stars of the knitting world, I'll do a post about it.

Along with being too busy or too sick or too uninspired, I haven't gotten a lot of knitting done. But something happened, something unusual, to give me a kick in the pants to get back on the knitting horse: knitting gifts for others.

Usually doing this is a pain and half the time I don't end up finishing anyway, or I get too shy and think the recipient won't like it and end up stuffing it in a drawer. This time, I'm determined to make some really nice, smaller projects. Once those are done, I can return to my regularly scheduled selfish knitting.

1) Anouk

My DS No. 2 was born on the same day as his girl cousin. They're about to celebrate their first birthdays together, so I wanted to make something special for both of them. For the niece, Anouk.



I've had this yarn since, oh, 2006 , or was it 2005? It's the suggested yarn, Cascade Pima Tencel, and it's soooo soft. However, the yarn does tend to get a fuzzy halo around it -- not pilling exactly, but looks like it has some slight wear. Because I wanted to make a larger size than the one I originally had planned on, I ordered more yarn and, can you believe it, the dye lots are still right on! Way to go, Cascade!

I decided to knit it in the round since I had less than 2 weeks to finish, and I'm glad I did. I've gotten pretty far in only a few days, and hope to have it finished this weekend.

2)Vest from More Last-minute Knitted Gifts

I again went with the suggested yarn and am finally getting to try Spud & Chloe Sweater. It feels wonderfully sproingy despite the cotten content, and I'm so happy that it's superwash! Also, it won't roast my little man alive when he wears it for his birthday party.



3)Some mitts for Mum

The other day I was at my parents' house and noticed a pair of fingerless mitts I made for my mother during the Fingerless Mitts Blowout of 2008. They were made in some super bulky Alpaca With a Twist and they had a hole in the palm. A hole! A sign of wear! She actually wears them every day, on her morning walks. I was so jazzed to see someone regularly using my handknits (even I don't use my knits that much) I decided to knit her a new pair, maybe even several. Heck, handwarmers for everyone -- looks like it's gonna be another Fingerless Mitts Blowout!

That's the way the cookie ...

This little pile is what I've been able to accomplish so far before jetting off to Vogue Knitting Live in LA next week: two just-started Cookie A socks (Twisted Flower in pink Malabrigo, In and Out in pale blue-grey Squoosh) and a VKL app downloaded to the iTouch.

I had hoped to be further along (OK, I had hoped to finish at least one of the pairs before the trip; do you think that's gonna be possible? You can stop laughing, I really thought I could do it) because, supposedly, I'll be sitting at the designer's table for some overpriced gala meal (it was part of the package I got, I don't generally go for gala dinners with intimidatingly creative designers). I figured I should have at least one of this talented designer's patterns under my belt before I have to sit awkwardly with her and a few other people I don't know and pick at my salad. I mean, what would I say to her? "Oh, I'm such an admirer of your designs! I've had a half-finished Baudelaire on the needles for the past 3 years ..."

I can't seem to get gauge for Aidez and I'm too brain-dead these days to figure it out. But I think once it's started, it'll be a quick knit. Soon, soon.

OK, back to planning the trip ...

Trying

So there will be no (good) photos of my finished Cria today, as you can see by this wonderful self-shot beauty. Also, I haven't blocked it yet, probably because I don't really know how to block, since I admittedly don't finish many of my projects. Kind of pathetic, I know. Anyway, sometime soon you will get to see my second finished sweater, ever.

After what seemed like years of stockinette with only a tiny bit of garter for a treat(!) with the darn Cria, I decided now was the time for me to do something super-cabley. Like, right now.

I was trying to hold out until Vogue Knitting Live to buy the yarn for Aidez, but I wasn't doing well with the prospect of waiting a month. I was jonesing for cables, so I started looking.

Now, somehow I got the idea that I wanted Aidez to be in an obscenely squishy yarn, in a watery blue-green color. Not seafoam green, like from your box of Crayolas. A truly watery, milky blue-green like vintage jadeite glassware.

Strangely enough, the closest I came to finding the color I wanted online was from KnitPicks, their bulky Cadena.

Then I had to wait for the yarn to arrive. Ugh. The urge to cable hadn't abated, so when I saw an ad for the lovely Milkweed Capelet (I know, a capelet? Because it's so me), I jumped to cast on.



And again color dictated my yarn choice. This is some old, old Queensland Collection Llama Seta (80 alpaca, 20 silk) in a nice lavender. Mmmm, squishy.

OK, that took care of the cable jitters. But what about that bandwagon I was going to jump on last week, the Beekeeper's Quilt? Consider that bandwagon jumped.


Two teeny pinkish-purple and pinkish-orange hexipuffs

They are fun and luxuriously mindless. Expect an FO post here in 10 years.

Oh look, the Cadena is here!


Sagebrush. Mind you, it doesn't look this minty in real life. It strikes a really nice balance between minty green and pale blue with a tinge of gray-yellow. Ha, who would have thought I'd wax poetic about a KnitPicks colorway (not that there's anything wrong with that ...)?

Time to cast on for Aidez at long last.

Pink and shiny

For months I've been good about holding off on buying yarn. I even got to the point where I just started purging it -- I obviously can't knit fast enough to use most of what I've got, so why not sell it and use the Paypal funds to buy something cute on Etsy?



And these are just *two* of the four rings I've bought recently on Etsy. The teeny peonies are from jennykim, and the foxy fox with the diamond chip eyes is from Michellechangjewelry. These two lovelies will give me something pretty to look at while I'm knitting.

So, getting rid of a lot of yarn felt good. Until I had a little extra Paypal cash and found this grab bag of 5 skeins Koigu KPPPM in pinks, 50% off from Jimmy Beans Wool.



These are likely going to become little Hexipuffs from the latest craze, tiny owl knits' beekeeper's quilt. You know you want one.

And I knew I wanted mine in pink (plus that's what was on sale, of course). I'm waiting on another skein of deep pink yarn, this one coming from a destash. From a very popular German dyer whose yarns I haven't tried yet. It'll become my Twisted Flower socks, in time for VKL I hope.



Oh, I also picked up this skein of Lorna's Laces Solemate sock in Kerfuffle. Solemate is made with some fascinating space-age technology that's supposed to cool your feet with teeny nanobots or something like that. We'll see if it passes the DH test.

Get ready

In about a month I'll be heading out to LA for a weekend of knitting, yarn shopping, drinking (mixed and caffeinated) and, most of all, sleeping. Goodbye family, hello me, me, ME time!!!

Can you tell I'm excited? But I've got much planning to do before I get there: plotting a stashing strategy, planning where to get some good eats, and just figuring out what to do with so much time to myself (!!!). It'll also be nice to hang out with some fellow knitters - I don't really get to do that at home. So I'm jazzed.

I'm finishing up the Cria I've been working on for nearly 3 months. Argh. Should be ready in a few days.

That's my boy

We had some time to kill, so HD (Handsome Dude) No. 1 and I stopped by one of my LYSes that has recently changed hands. Thank goodness the new owner has kept much of the store's feel (and stock) the same, and even added some wonderful new stuff, like Madelinetosh. The boy went right for the Tosh Merino in Pop Rocks and wouldn't let go.



The boy has taste (it's obvious who he got that from, and I swear there was no coaxing going on here) and wouldn't give up the goods for the more kid-friendly Spud and Chloe -- I mean, that color! I totally know how he feels. He's gonna love the hat (and a hat for his teeny elephant) that this will make.

Home away from home

Where do people knit? I'm guessing the majority of people knit at home, during a commute or at a knit night/knitting group.

I tend to knit at home mostly, but when it's too busy/noisy/annoying there (most of the time), I escape elsewhere with my knitting. Last night I decided I needed a few good hours of solid knitting time and realized that it was Tuesday, which meant that the yarn store I used to work at was having its knit night that night.

But instead of heading down there to be social, I chose to hit a coffee house down the street. I guess when I have very little time to knit, I want to focus on that and not on chatting.

Well, unfortunately, some folks at the coffee house were in a chatty mood -- so chatty and loud that I could hear them though my iPod was cranked way up. I don't mind people talking, but I hate it when one person dominates what's supposed to be a conversation, and that's what this one guy did -- talk at his two friends. For an hour and a half.

Then I realized I screwed up the button band on my Cria and didn't have enough light or a crochet hook to fix it. I thought about starting some socks with that new sock yarn I bought but didn't have a cable needle to do them two-at-a-time toe-up. Ugh, it was so distracting and dark and annoying ... then I remembered something -- haedn't I wanted to try knitting two socks at a time, one inside the other? What?!!??

A quick search led me to Knitty Fall 2006, Extreme Knitting: 2 socks in 1. Wow, this looks like a challenge, but one I think I need right now. Plus, I had a bright idea to help me tell the difference between the two balls of yarn I'll be using:



Knit two different colored socks! Both pairs will be for DH, so I can knit them identical. Woohoo!

Also, I finally found the square needles -- do they look that square to you? It's hard to tell.

Under construction

Here's how much of my Cria I've been able to complete in a month:



Not really as much as I'd have liked. It's been the only project I'm working on and I'm getting a little impatient about how long it's taking, but what did I expect knitting sport-weight yarn on size 5 needles?



My buttonholes look a bit wonky, so I've decided to just keep the 3 up top and ditch the rest.

I wanted to have some socks to work on when I wasn't in the mood to work on the Cria, but I've misplaced some new square DPNs from Kollage, size 0, that I wanted to try to see if they could help with my extremely loose knitting. I was going to use those new needles with some new, erm, sock yarn I bought ...







That's Paton's Stretch Socks, 41% cotton, 39% wool, 13% nylon and 7% elastic. I've been looking for not-so-wooly sock yarn to knit some socks for the DH and myself (and perhaps the little ones, I've never done a child's sock before, it must be the easiest thing in the world!) and when I found this stuff at $2.97 a ball at Jo-ann the other day (but for some reason it's not on sale on the website), I grabbed enough for 3 pairs.

But it only occurred to me, leaving the Jo-ann parking lot again yesterday (yes, I went back to buy enough for another 2 pairs, sue me), I hadn't looked up any projects using this on Ravelry or looked for any reviews. I assumed this stuff was pretty hard-wearing with the fairly high wool and nylon content, but I have no idea.

If I can't find the freaking Kollage needles soon, I might try knitting a pair of these toe-up two at a time using the Silver's Sock Class tutorial, which I heard about on one of my favorite new knitting podcasts, A Playful Day. She completed a gorgeous pair of knee-highs using that method, so I thought I'd try my hand too.

Forget what I said

I broke my own rule about not starting a new project before I cast on for a new one. It's Cria, Ysolda's latest design from her upcoming Little Red in the City book.



Go on, Ysolda, it's your birthday -- you're just as excited about this sweater as I am!

Seeing as I'm half-brain dead these days, even Ysolda's cool schematics and diagrams on the crazy construction of this top-down sweater didn't make sense to me. So I threw caution to the wind (or decided to go ahead and be lazy) and cast on anyway.

Right now it looks like a teeny bikini top.



Part of the reason I dove headlong into this project was because I had one of the recommended yarns, Madelinetosh Pashmina. My goodness, I've never knit with anything like this before. It's sooo soft and sproingy, it made my first gauge swatch (I went down to U.S. 3 from the recommended 4 because I'm a weirdly loose knitter who throws {sort of} with her left hand) actually turn out really, really small, way smaller than the recommended gauge. That never happens to me! So I know this yarn has some magical properties.

There's a Cria KAL going on on the Ysolda board on Ravelry. I'm tempted to join, even though KALs don't usually turn out so well for me. We'll see.

What the what?

I was just cleaning up my subscriptions in my blog reader (does anyone read blogs anymore? anyone?) and found more than a dozen that 1) haven't posted since at least 2008 (around the time I started actively reading blogs {I am always, always behind the times}) and 2) I can't even remember subscribing to them. Interesting to see how people have moved on in their lives and in their crafting.



I've finished the first of my Honey Bee socks. I'm on a WIP kick right now, tackling long-marinating projects with a little gusto. I'm bouncing back and forth between socks (I'm trying to finish my Baudelaires so that I can say I've knit a pair of Cookie A socks, who I supposedly will be sitting with and some other participants for some Vogue Knitting Live! dinner -- more on that another day), my Cerisara from last summer (should be pretty easy to jump right back into that, I hope) and the Maude Honeycomb blanket for an unnamed baby.

*I've started alreadyyy ...

Finally, a moment to blog. I've been wanting to, but caring for a young'un and having little time to actually knit has kinda put a crimp in my knit blogging.

But this past weekend, Mother's Day weekend it turns out, I treated myself to some knitting and shopping, and other stuff. Because the only social activity I ever seem to do is go to concerts, this post will also be about that -- this time, Elvis Costello and the Imposters on the opening night of their Revolver tour in Reno. At a casino. Fabulous.

I'd like to say I spent the whole time soused in gin and tonics, chain-smoking up a storm and winning the jackpot at the Star Trek slot machine, but that's not entirely true. What I did do was fill up at a surprisingly excellent sushi buffet and visit the retail location of Jimmy Beans Wool.

I've been ordering from this company for years and often marvel at their huge selection. Suffice it to say I was salivating to get in there. Unfortunately, they don't seem to display all their online offerings in the store, which, while excellent for an LYS, didn't match up to the image in my head of a Target-size store full of yarn, and yarn at huge discounts!

What they did have out was a nice book and pattern selection (including lots of popular self-published items from Stephen West, Ysolda and Cookie A) and a huuuuge amount of Lorna's Laces yarn, which I've never used. So I got some: 2 skeins of shimmery Lion and Lamb in a natural color (I've got an idea for a strange, bulky, cloudlike purse, we'll see) and a skein of Shepherd's Worsted in the very best colorway name in the world: Zombie Barbecue.

The DH was with me and sat patiently as I ran laps around the store, trying to figure out what I could fit into my carry-on. He spied the pattern for Jared Flood's Brownstone and said he wouldn't mind having a sweater like that. Woo hoo, an excuse to try out Shelter yarn!



Amazed at my restraint at Jimmy Beans Wool, I spent the rest of my time in Reno trying to finish the first of my Honey Bee Socks, which I started last spring. Ann Hanson's patterns are detailed and explained very plainly. She can make such an ornate-looking pattern seem really simple, and I love that.



I'm about 3/4 done with the first sock and am excited to finish something. Right now I'm interested in clearing out the UFO closet, so we'll see.

*Can't get Tracy Jordan's EGOT song out of my head.

Going the distance -- or not

The Wayfarer scarf is done. I wrapped it up while listening to a roomful of people scream and yell during the Super Bowl (I wasn't much interested in the goings-on on the field -- if it's that upsetting to you, why watch the stupid game?). Because of the ruckus, I was so annoyed and didn't feel like reading this thorough tutorial on the tubular bind-off, so I just bound off the regular way and called it a day. Yes, a matching cast-on and bind-off would have been lovely, but I think I can live with it.

And of course the scarf is done just in time for the return of our balmy high 60s-low 70s winter weather. It would have been nice to be able to wear it with my winter coat during our cold snap (those of you who were living in the death grip of last week's ridiculous storm, go ahead and scoff now, but highs in the 40s, in the desert, IS cold!).



It was a great knit: just challenging enough to keep my interest from the beginning to the halfway point, and after that it was mindless enough to be a do-whenever project, to finish up at my leisure. It took about 3 skeins of Malabrigo Twist in Zinc on Size 7 needles, I think. I want to block it, but there isn't much room in my house these days, so I'll just keep it as it is for now (notice the theme of 'eh, good enough' going on here?).

It felt good to finish up a project and I'm wanting to wrap up some other longtime UFOs. The Maude Honeycomb Blanket is sort of on hiatus -- I don't know how I thought I could finish a baby blanket by the end of February, but anyway, it's not going to happen. My older son's teacher is due at the end of the month, so instead I'll whip up a trio of cabled baby hats, or maybe some hats and some bibs.

Chew on this

I've been cleaning out the overflowing blog reader and stumbled on two posts that set me thinking: one from a blogger commenting on another blogger's post about privilege and representation, and the other about buying PDF knitting patterns and what knitwear designers' work is worth.



I've started the Maude Honeycomb Blanket from Vintage Baby Knits and I'm loving it. I'm loving it so much, in fact, that I'm thinking about keeping it for my own newborn instead of giving it to the intended recipient. We'll see if this selfishness wins out or if I'll get so sick of knitting a baby blanket (I've knit one before -- the log cabin pattern from the first Mason Dixon book -- and swore never again to do a blanket) that I'll want to get it out of my sight.



I hope I'm not the only knitter out there who has knit little or nothing for their own kids, but have jumped at the chance to knit something for others' children. I'm guessing that it's because the majority of items knit for kids are clothing, and I know how quickly they outgrow those items, and it seems like such a waste if they're not going to wear it for very long. At least that's the way I feel about knitting for my own -- but for someone else, sure!

Slogging on

To quote an old '90s dance song, it's getting kinda hectic. The teeny monster shoes you see there on top of my 2/3rds done Wayfarer are a hint as to why I'm not knitting as much as I'd like lately. Wayfarer is the perfect project for me at this point -- simple slip-stitch repeats that go on and on and on. Unfortunately, by the time I'm done with it, it'll be too warm to wear it. Oh well.

And this may not happen, but I'm plotting a Maude Honeycomb Blanket from Vintage Baby Knits for my oldest's teacher who's due at the end of February. We'll see.

It's getting ridiculous

I just recently discovered the lovely and supremely talented harp player/rock star Joanna Newsom. Last Sunday she played our historic Orpheum Theater (one of few such venues to play in our relatively young city) and declared it "the most beautiful room I've ever played in." Well, shucks, Joanna! I definitely recommend seeing her live.

Anyway, after the concert I was listening to the song "Have One on Me," from her album of the same name, wishing there was some way to weave knitting into a blog post about the concert. Other than the sweater vest that her trombonist wore, there wasn't much knitwear/knitting going on (I had wanted to bring my Wayfarer scarf to work on, but my purse was too small).

As I listened, I had to stop and rewind the song -- had I heard her sing the lyrics "...you put me straightaway/in the cupboard with/a bottle of champagne,/and that knitter on a train"?

Of course not. A Google search found what are probably the correct lyrics: "...you put me straightaway/in the cupboard with/a bottle of champagne,/and then later, on a train.:" Well, that does make more sense, doesn't it?

Oh, and I thought I heard the NPR announcer this morning say, "This is Knitting Edition," rather than "Morning Edition." My poor hearing and obsession with this hobby is really screwing with me, obviously.



BTW, the sound quality of this video is excellent, but you can't really see her gorgeous gown.

Smug

That's how I've been feeling after learning not one but two new-to-me techniques in the past 24 hours: Jeny's surprisingly stretchy bind off and Ysolda's long-tail tubular cast-on.

After finally completing the ribbing on my Trilobite socks, I tried out Jeny's bind off. It's so easy and has a wonderful give. I have a feeling I didn't bind off as loosely as I could have, but that's OK. Any bind-off that allows a sock to fit nicely around my ginormous calves is alright by me.



The bind-off looks nice and neat as well as being stretchy.



I do love toe-up socks, and this pattern was great and fairly easy to get through, but for some reason it seemed to take forever! I'm feeling like I might want to tackle a regular cuff-down sock next -- one from Cookie A.'s new book, maybe?



Next, I cast on for Jared Flood's Wayfarer scarf. This project might have been just an excuse for me to finally try out Malabrigo Twist, but whatever. It's also my first Jared Flood pattern, so I was doubly excited.



My sweet lord, what yarn!!! It's even squishier than regular single-ply Malabrigo, and the Zinc colorway is a pale gray/lavender and tan. It reminds me of the color of Colinette Jitterbug in Oyster Blush. Freaking gorgeous.

Ysolda's video made the cast-on very clear, and even though I think things got a little wonky there in the center, it's still not too bad. I'm going to have to fend off people who are going to ask me for this scarf (it's for me, duh!), I can already tell.