warming hubby's feet

Hubby is wearing some new socks today.


Fun colors - just enough to keep things interesting, but very suitable for Hubby socks. It's Brown Sheep Wildfoote yarn, in Brown Sugar. One skein had flecks of green, but the other did not... even though they were the same dye lot. The second skein also had different patterning than the first, and I think you can see the difference between the two. But they are socks, and I think that they came out well enough. The yarn had been marinating in my stash since December 2006, and it was high time for it to get knit up.

(Post #2 of the week! I'm gonna do it!)

tap, tap: anyone there?

I spoke with two friends today, and both made comments about my lack of blog action in the past couple of weeks. And it's true, I just haven't had the drive to communicate about my knitting lately. But hearing that my readers are eager for more updates was a bit of a shove in the right direction.

The mornings are relatively chilly here in Portland, usually hovering just above freezing. My double-thick wool mittens aren't really necessary, nor are the polarfleece gloves, since I'm just walking and waiting for a bus. These mittens (Ann Budd's book of knitting patterns) are thin, but provide just enough warmth and coverage. They fit easily into my pockets when I get on the bus, and I'm quite happy with how they turned out.

I think I started them over a year ago, and got as far as the ribbing, and a couple of thumb gusset increases. They were so quick to make that I felt rather silly having them hang around as long as they did. The yarn is Diakeito Diamusee Fine - a Japanese import - and the color changes are subtle enjoyable to watch while it moves through your fingers. I got the yarn years ago in Cold Spring, NY at a shop that's sadly closed.

OK: I will pledge to post each day this week. There's actually a lot of knitting progress to show, s here goes!

winter wonderland

I finished half a scarf this past week, and took a really dreadful photo.

Luckily, the scarf is a lot nicer than this picture. I really enjoyed the little bit of lace, followed by inches and inches of plain knitting. Just when it was getting to be a bit of a slog, and I couldn't believe that all this knitting was only getting me 8" of fabric, it was time to move into high gear and start zipping along. I'll probably get the other half started tonight, to be ready for the bus ride tomorrow morning.

It's been snowing all day (well, mostly just blowing now), and we've enjoyed being home-bound. We did walk to the local coffee shop this morning, and I just walked to the store to get some spinach for dinner... so we weren't exactly trapped. But the city seems quite paralyzed by this inch of accumulation. I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!

The good thing about being at home for the day is the fact that I got all my present wrapping done, and nearly everything is boxed and ready for shipping. Yes, I'm much later than I anticipated, but I'm fairly certain that the boxes will arrive on time.

Soon: pictures of me as a lumberjack, cutting down my Christmas tree.

my list

There are a bunch of projects I want to begin, now that my holiday knitting is done! I have all the yarn, and now just want to start. All of these are going to be great on the commute...

The Koolhaas hat, in purple Malabrigo.


The Snowball hat, in a lovely burgundy Lamb's Pride.


The scarf on the right, in an alpaca yarn that's pretty close to the color shown. (I might want to do the scarf on the left, too.)

And a Monkey Cowl - which isn't quite like this one - but made in a wildly varigated yarn that never worked as socks.

cozy, but warm

Last weekend, I finished my Herringbone Neck Warmer, and it kept me warm and cozy for the two days that I needed it. Temperatures have recently been in the 60s, making an extra layer of wool not really, really necessary.

I tried out some vintage buttons, but the the colors weren't really floating my boat. I'm sure that I'll find a great use for them at some point, and as you can see, they didn't really break the bank.

Ultimately, some shell buttons from Joann's were the best solution. I really enjoyed this project, and the yarn (Morehouse Merino) was sublime. Do you see all those pools of pink and green? They don't even bug me. They are just delicious. The weather will be taking a cooler turn soon, and I expect to get a lot of good use out of this soon. All I can say is: yay for busting lovely yarn out of the stash for a quick project!

neck cozy

My chilly neck is calling out for a cozy little scarf. I really liked the Herringbone Neckwarmer (pattern available here*), and cast on Wednesday night with a skein of Morehouse Merino three-strand that I purchased at Rhinebeck in 2007. The Herringbone pattern is the same one used in the My So-Called Scarf (pattern available here**). A couple of years ago, I tried to make one and found it nearly impossible. Even this time, when writing out the pattern into my traveling notebook, I couldn’t get my head around what the directions were instructing. But I decided to plunge in and just start. And lo, it made sense once I started knitting.

It's coming along well, and should be keeping me warm very soon. Now I need to shop for buttons...

*The comments at the end of the pattern were very helpful in figuring it all out.

**And it’s in Dutch, too!

it's autumn, right?

Yesterday's high of 84, and the equally steamy temperatures forecasted for tomorrow has me in a bit of a state, but my knitting knows that it's fall, and nearly time to break out the woolens. So I started making a pair of mittens from Diakeito Diamusee Fine, which is a very fun yarn. It's Japanese, and has two plys that are very gently, um, plied in great colors.* I'm using a basic Ann Budd pattern, and it's about perfect: lightweight, and just hand sized. It only took two or three evenings to whip up, and I'm excited to start the next one. I have two skeins, but this mitten only used about a third of one, so I get to make another pair... holiday gift, perhaps?

*The photo doesn't show the colors very well, but there was no light this morning. The fog was so dense that I couldn't see across the street.

The hot weather means that I haven't started putting the sleeves on the Tilted Duster yet. But I've got Monday off, and will finish it then! And keep my fingers crossed that someday it'll be cool enough to wear it.

august wrap-up

Used up this month:
- 2 skeins of Shelridge Farms sock yarn for the Embossed Leaves
- 8 skeins of Summer Tweed for Chamomile
- 5 skeins of Lambs' Pride Bulky for AfA hats

I did quite well in cleaning out some yarn that had been marinating for waaaay too long this month. Of course, I think that I bought more yarn this month than I used up. (Correction: the trip to Portland was in July. Yay! I'm fine!)

And I made lots of cute hats! How many ways can you stripe it?

We're off for vacation tomorrow morning! While we'll be travelling avec laptop, I don't know how much wireless we'll be able to swipe. I'll definitely be back in a week, so have a good one.

july wrap-up

-one skein of Trekking XXL for Jaywalkers
-one skein of Silky Wool for Branching Out
-one skein of Lorna's Laces Angel for baby booties
-three skeins of Jo Sharp Rare Comfort Infusion Kid Mohair for the Misty Garden scarf

I thought that there might be more to add, but I didn't get a whole lot of knitting time during our Portland trip. I'll talk more about the trip soon...

What's in all these bundles? Lots of wonderful items! But my photo skills weren't working very well yesterday, what with the four hours of airplane sleep, and I need to do another photo shoot. It'll be worth the wait!

potter revealed

I had Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in my hot little hands (embellished by a HP7 tattoo! (which is still on my hand and amusing my co-workers)) by 12:10 am on Saturday. Rudely, I read while we had a glass of wine and Hubby chatted with some friends after we got our books. They didn't seem to care, thankfully.

I did sleep, and upon waking on Saturday, I read through until the finish at about 4pm. And I didn't peek at the end ONE BIT. Lots of tears, but I was really satisfied. I still have questions about some of the plot twists, so if anyone wants to discuss, please let me know!

This weekend we head to Portland, OR for a friend's wedding. Not only is this a vacation (thus allowing yarn purchasing!), I'm taking an intarsia class at the Yarn Garden on Saturday. Our hotel is also just down the street from Knit/Purl. Wee! It also means that when we get back next Tuesday my Knit From Your Stash pledge is over! However, I've still got so much yarn that I'm going to really try to not go crazy for the rest of the year. Ideally, I'd like to keep my yarn only in the bins under the bed. I've got a lot of stash reduction to go to meet that goal.

ssr #5 and #6

Two more skeins down! The gifts are piling up!

Pattern: Branching Out from Knitty.com
Yarn: Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool in color 08, purchased from Webs about two years ago (I think)
Needles: size 6 circular, from Claire's mother's collection of needles
Modifications: none! It's such a lovely little lace pattern.

Pattern: Angel Booties, pattern available here. Thanks for showing this off, Ravelry!
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Angel (70% Angora, 30% Lambswool) in color 142, Bucks Bar
Needles: #5 DPNs, Susan Bates, perhaps?
Modifications: I would use size 4 needles for the next set, and maybe make the cuff a little longer. But it was a very fun knit, and as promised, knit in an afternoon!

ssr #4

Actually, it's not a single skein... it's three! Mohair is rough in the summer, of course, but it's been very dry and relatively cool for summer, so I seized the opportunity.

Pattern: Misty Garden from Scarf Style
Yarn: Jo Sharp Rare Comfort Infusion Kid Mohair in color 614
Needles: #9 straight bamboo
Modifications: none that I can think of

Look at how incredible these seats were! I didn't want to leave. The food was still pretty icky. It didn't stop me, though.



Have a happy 4th!

june wrap-up

June was quite a productive month!

6.25 skeins of Royal Linen for the Ribby Shell
1 skein of Regia Cotton for stockinette socks
2 skeins of Wildfoote for Garter Rib socks
1 skein of Fibre Co.'s Terra for a child hat
1 skein of Blue Sky Alpaca Silk for the Totoro hat
1.5 skeins of bulky cashmere for Hubby's hat
3 skeins of Touch Me for a seed stitch scarf

Last night's dessert was a mixed berry terrine, recipe available: here. It was very easy, and very tasty. Any guesses about the knitting project sitting on the table behind all the wine?

finished object friday

Another pair of socks are done! I can't say that I love the Wildfoote. It was a bit tough on the hands, but Brenda says that they hold up really well. I've seen others mention that the color bleeds a great deal in the first few washes, so I'm kind of interested in seeing that.

Pattern: Garter Rib Socks with a Heel-Flap from Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlotte Schurch
Yarn: Wildfoote (color SY-200 Rhapsody)
Needles: Addi circular size 0s
Modifications: I had to fudge the heel flap a bit for the 64 stitches on the leg. For some reason, I keep thinking that a heel flap is a good option, but I. Do. Not. Like. Them. Remind me of that when I get there on the Jaywalkers that are hanging around...

During the Yankees game on Thursday, I was feeling very discontented. With the Yankees, and with everything that I had on needles. Also with some yarn that's been hanging around for too long, and that is cluttering up my psyche. And yarn bins. So I grabbed this plush, extravagant yarn, and cast on.

The Touch Me has been knit and ripped a number of times. Originally, I planned to do a smaller version of the Vintage Velvet scarf from Scarf Style, as I only had three skeins.* But ribbing didn't seem to work, and the cable completely disappeared. I'd often grab it when heading on a short trip, but always ripped. I was concerned about length vs. width with the limited yardage, and just never got anywhere. But now! I'm very pleased.

*I got the yarn on sale (yay 50% off!) at least two and a half years ago at an UES shop, called, I think, the Lion and the Lamb. I think it's closed now.

Pattern: Seed stitch over 25 stitches, back and forth until I ran out.
Yarn: Muench Touch Me, three skeins in a bright red (the labels are long-lost)
Needles: Bamboo size 9, 10" long or so (I used straight needles!)

ssr #2 and #3

Hubby lost his Silk Garden hat late in the spring, and since this cashmere was left over from He-Who-Goes-to-Nepal-and-Scotland's (more on that later) neckwarmer, it seemed like a good match-up.

Pattern: Morehouse Merino Mushroom Hat, with modifications
Yarn: Bulky cashmere from School Products, purchased this spring
Needles: Bamboo 10.5 circular and DPN
Modifications: The pattern was written for much thinner yarn, but a quick consultation with the Ann Budd pattern book gave me the proper number of stitches to cast on.

Oh. My. God. This is just too cute.

Pattern: Top Down Bonnet with Anime Character from Hello Yarn
Yarn: Blue Sky Alpaca & Silk
Needles: Addi circulars #3
Modifications: I made the ears a little shorter than called for. I really wanted to make sure they would stand up... and they do! I'm so pleased.

I got a book of pictures from My Friend Totoro to accompany the hat, in case the parents haven't seen the movie. I'm fairly sure they'll get it immediately, but just to be safe...

ssr #1

Pattern: Winter Femme, from d-made
Yarn: The Fibre Co.'s Terra, in Nettle, seen here (60% merino, 20% baby alpaca, 20% silk), purchased from Downtown Yarns in September 2006
Needles: #7 16" circular and #7 DPNs
Modifications: Where to start... First, I had a very different yarn, and limited yardage. Instead of the recommended 108 stitches, I cast on 84. I worked only six rows in the cables and in the decreases, assuming that I had different row gauge as well. I liked the pattern very much, and the yarn was great. I'm glad that there's another in a different color in my stash!

For a while, I was engaging the Power of Positive Thinking in that the hat was going to fit an adult, and that I'd have enough yarn to finish: two things about which I was quite concerned. That Power got me a hat that should fit Little Miss Red Dress (celebrating her 18-month birthday in July and my favorite knit-wear model) this winter (it's 13", unstretched in diameter). Ah, well. She loves hats, and I had enough yarn. It's all good in the end.

single skein syndrome

I have a problem. My name is Abby, and I buy single (or maybe two) skeins of really lovely yarns, and then don't really have an idea of what to do with it. When I'm feeling drunk from whatever it is that they pipe into yarn stores to tamper with my discretion and better judgement* I think: hey, this would make a very pretty scarf! All fine, except for the fact that I have more scarves than I know what to do with. Really.

*Somehow, yarn websites can also pipe those fumes through my computer (back when I bought yarn (ha! right. Like I haven't been acquiring yarn this year**)).

**Dare I imagine how bad the yarn acquisition would be without the Knit From Your Stash pledge? No.

So. I'm feeling burdened by the little single skeins lying in my stash. Over the past few days, I've been making a list of those skeins, and the projects (not scarves! not socks! but some sock yarn!) that I'd like to knit with them. (It's been a very quiet week in the office, so I've been doing a lot of yarn daydreaming.) The list is very long. I'm going to have so many holiday gifts to give this year!

I'm not going to knit socks for a while (except to finish up some seconds). I want some bigger needles, and portability... so it looks like there are going to be many hats and baby items coming up.

The picture shows the yarn for Round One of the Single Skein Syndrome Reduction project. It's going to be a great summer!

taking shape

I've been working away on Bonne Marie's Ribby Shell for the past week or so, and I'm very pleased with how quickly it's going along. The back is finished, and since it's knit in the round, the front (up to the arm holes) is also done! I'm using Filatura Lanarota Royal Linen (50% cotton, 30% viscose, and 20% linen), purchased at the December 2006 Smiley's Yarn Riot.* I can't really tell if I'm even close to gauge at this point. All I know is that, with the ribbing (I'm doing the 2x2x3x1 version), it's much smaller than it's supposed to be. I'll try it on before dunking it in Soak, just to make sure. My very small gauge swatch smoothed out nicely after drying, so I have high hopes for Ribby.

It's been riding back and forth to work with me in my new Lexie Barnes bag. It's really too big for Lexie at this point, but that doesn't hold me back. It was intended to be home knitting, but it's been too exciting to leave behind.

*It is a riot, in so many ways: first, that there are hundreds of people in a hotel ballroom on the outskirts of midtown looking for discounted, already-cheapy yarn; second, that people stand in line to pay (cash only) for 30-60 minutes and walk out of there with massive garbage bags of yarn; and third, that the Best Western patrons are SO confused at the sight of all this.

may wrap-up

• 3.5 skeins of Cotton-Ease for the log cabin baby blankie
• 1.5 skeins of Cotton-Ease for the Thinking Dress*
  

Not a great total for the month, in terms of fully-finished projects (thus becoming eligible for the knit-up stash total). Given the rate at which I acquired yarn in May, it's really not terrific. But June is going to be impressive!

*I got pictures of the Little Miss in her red dress, and they are completely adorable. I don't want to share them with the whole world, but believe me: all that finishing angst was completely worth it!

really: no more yarn buying!

When in New Orleans, I thought that I needed to do my civic duty and go shopping. As soon as we broke for lunch, I took off down the street for Quarter Stitch. It's a pretty small shop, half yarn and half needlepoint.* There was very little sock yarn, which is my typical go-to for vacation yarn shopping. The store also organizes much of their stock by color. Perhaps I'm easily confused, but that method doesn't really work for me.

*Which are completely beautiful, but why does it cost so much for a machine-stamped piece of canvas? I guess one could say that about lots of things, but they just threw me a bit.

However, I did find a bundle of 425 yards of a slightly-varigated cotton/rayon blend that was dyed by Quarter Stitch. The colors really fit with my wardrobe. However, I think that I'd like to make a garment, as opposed to a shawl. Knitters, what do you think? Is that even possible to contemplate without exposing waaaaay too much, or looking all mid-80s? There was no gauge, but it looks like it would need at least a #10 needle.

Or should I call them and ask for another bundle and plan to make a full sweater?