October 2004 Archives

I'll give it a dunk tonight and it should be ready to wear this weekend. Now all I need is some cold weather!

OK, so I held up my end of the bargain. Now I get to pick out my Knitting on the Road sock and get started this weekend!

I'm this close to finishing the neck warmer. I think I need another 1-1.5 inches to make it long enough to cover my neck down to where a zip up pullover would end.

Originally I thought the right side would be the side of the ribbing that had more knit stitches, but last night the girls all thought the other side looked better because the knit stitches popped out. I tried to get a picture of it but it's hard because I didn't have a helper and you really need to stretch it to see the stitches pop.

So, hopefully we'll have a finished neck warmer to show you all tomorrow!

Knitting on the Road

Yup, I did it. I went and bought the book last night. Was there any doubt?

Now my biggest quandry is going to be which pattern to try first. There are so many lovely ones in this book!

If Politics Could Only Imitate Baseball

The Massachusetts underdogs swept the World Series last night, handing St. Louis the defeat on their home turf in Bus(c)h Stadium. We can only hope next Tuesday will be as fortuitous.

added later

just for stella - a blog button so the link to my blog doesn't mess up her pretty sidebar of buttons ;)

I'm experiencing lots of blog envy lately:

• Cromarty envy - Hardly unique to me, but still worth mentioning. Didn't Rachael do an amazing job? I just can't imagine shipping it away for a few months though!
• Hoodie envy - Yup, I've got one on the needles too. But Jackie's is done and it's gorgeous! Just in time for autumn. Absolutely lovely.
• Sock and pattern book envy - What a gorgeous sock! Appropriately done in green hand dyed, from Nancy Bush's Knitting on the Road. I am dying to start a more complicated sock! I have two on the needles but they're both just ribbing and stockingnette.
• Yarn and pattern book envy - Kim's working with two beautiful yarns right now - a mohair that I can't wait to see tonight, and classic elite premiere for the ruffles scarf. Oh yeah, she too blogged about Knitting on the Road this week. I may have to give in a buy it tonight at Borders.

Let's Make a Deal

So I made a deal with myself. Finish up one more small project and then I can cast on for the sock of my choice (with yarn from the stash, of course). The small project is this

It's a neckwarmer, inspired by the Brioche neck warmer from Weekend Knitting. I needed a stitch that looks decent on both sides so I finally decided on K3 P1 K2 P2 ribbing. It looks OK on both sides and has lots of stretch. Comfortably stretched out it measures 22 inches (looks tiny in the pic, right?). I can knock it out tonight or tomorrow at the latest. And then it's on to some fun sock knitting!

I was finishing like a madwoman this weekend.

First up, the Hooray For Me Gloves:

yup, looks just like the first one	in fact, they match perfectly!

Specs
Pattern: Marnie's Hooray For Me Gloves
Yarn: Regia Multi Effekt (the pattern said 1.5 balls but I only used one (and had about 20 yards leftover)
Notes: I cast on 3 stitches (instead of 2) between the index, middle, and ring fingers, and only did 10 rows on those fingers.

I love these little gloves! I've yet to wash them. Can you dry superwash or do I need to air dry them?

Interlacements Mitts

I picked up this pattern at Rosie's. They're so simple! You cast on around the fingers and knit toward your elbow.

the yarn is so soft and comfy to wear	this color is more accurate	there is no thumb gusset just a K1P1 rib to do all the stretching you need

Specs
Pattern: From Rosie's Yarn Cellar
Yarn: Interlacements Oregon Worsted - about 75 yards

The yarn is so stretchy and comfy. The hanks are over 500 yards so I plan on making a neck warmer and a pair of socks with it. The color is really really bright but I like it too (in small doses). I wore them around the office yesterday because it's cold in the mornings and I got a few compliments and even more stares :)

I plan to make a few more pairs of these. They're great little stash buster projects, they are nice to wear by themselves or over gloves, and would make lovely stocking stuffers.

I did it! Mom's scarf was completed Friday night. And I love it. The yarn is such a dream to work with. I highly recommend it.

Specs:

Yarn: 1 Hank of Tess Yarns' Cultivated Silk & Wool
Pattern: Feather and Fan. I used Jo Sharp's pattern from Scarf Style, but really it's just a Feather and Fan. The book did give me the inspiration (after trying out at least 10 different stitch patterns) so it certainly deserves the mention.

Notes:

The garter ridges every 4 rows shows of the luster of the yarn nicely. I like the way the edges sparkle.

Silk has some weight to it, and it makes this scarf very drapey. I love it but it was one of the things that made choosing a pattern so difficult. When you wear the scarf it gets narrower and longer.

Coming Clean

I broke my yarn diet yesterday and bought a hank of Manos. And get this - I'm not using it for the intended purpose. Oh well. Manos is gorgeous and I'll find a good use for it. I told myself it was OK since it was for use with a stash yarn that needed the Manos as an accompaniment. But after swatching it was no go and so it goes back into the stash. Bah!

• Mulled Apple Cider! I had an extra gallon of cider from this weekend and brought it into work. There's nothing like the smell of apple and spices to make you happy
• I've had headaches behind my eye all week. I even called out sick on Monday. But today I woke up, and almost no headache!
• On the way to work I passed by a NY license plate with TGIF on it.* If that's not a good sign I don't know what is.
• Paul gets home this Sunday! He's been visiting the parents in FL all week and comes home Sunday night. While I love me some alone time I'm really looking forward to him getting back. And bonus, he must really miss me because he asked that we do a romantic dinner at home next weekend in front of the fireplace!
• Mom's scarf WILL be done. Yup, 2 FOs in a week here. I could have finished last night but I conked out at 9:30 (mid-knitting no less!).
• I'm spending the weekend in Philly. I heart philly :)
• Stella is coming over tonight. We're hitting the pub in town and then I'm helping her seam up Klaralund. If she finishes while she's over I'm hoping she'll let me try it on too. I know it's kinda cheating to try on someone's Klaralund. Half the sisterhood with the KAL was guessing which size to make.

With all those signs how can it NOT be a good weekend? Enjoy yours too, OK?

* I also passed by a NJ license plate with MPOVICH on it. Must be some kind of code because I can't imagine a big burly dude professing his love for Maury.

I'm making GREAT progress on mom's scarf. Am I the only one who feels like I've made progress when I'm able to fold my knitting? The scarf is not 40 inches long and easily folds up. I always put my knitting to the fold test and when it comfortably folds I think "OK, now I'm getting somewhere!"

I showed the scarf to Kim last night and she commented that the colors are much prettier in person. They yarn has pink, lavender and blue in it. I really think Mom's going to love it and at this rate I'll be done on Friday night!

What's next on my list?

Well, Kelly's Starmore pillow is not going to happen. I bought 3 types of yarn in order to get the color range I needed and the yarns do no play nicely together. That or I'm the world's worst FI knitter. Either way, that pillow is not happening this year.

So, instead she's asked for gauntlets with finger stubs on them. Are they called fingerless too? Or just the ones that are like a big tube? Anyway, that's what she'd like instead. I'm considering doing them up in a nice fiber - maybe a cashmere? - and possibly holding a strand of Fixation with it to make them fit better and give them more stretch. Has anyone tried that before with the Fixation?

Kelly - if you're reading this try to remind me that I need to take a few measurements from you this weekend.

What else?

Stella gave me this pattern this weekend and I'd like to make it. But, only if it comes from the stash! The catch? It uses 3spi yarn. I may have some yarn I can hold doubled but it definitely cuts down on the possibilities. I don't think I'll do the flowers on this one since it's winter. Maybe some fun embroidery though.

New VK

I peeked at the new VK last night. I didn't see anything that really grabbed me though. Lots of ponchos and glittery tops. It's not a bad issue, just not for me.

I also looked at Last Minute Gifts. The book is very pretty and some of the photos were reminiscent of Weekend Knitting. I enjoyed looking through the book but I left it on the shelf. The projects were nice and simple, but nothing totally grabbed me. She did have a chevron koigu scarf in there, but I could easily knit that up without a pattern. Don't get me wrong, it's a nice book, I would love to support the author (Purl is such a friendly store!), and I'm sure it has a market. I suspect I'm simply not the target audience for this book.

Another Stash Busting Idea

Allison pointed out the free pattern for these cute little bags the other day on her blog. I had misplaced that link long ago! Aren't they cute? While these seem to be done in Kureyon or Silk Garden I could see doing them up in a variety of solid yarns to make the stripes yourself (like the little zip up bag in Weekend Knitting).

Well, it only took about 10 tries but I finally found a stitch pattern I like!

What did I try? I started out with Indian Cross Stitch. The yarn is too heavy and the silk makes it too drapey though. Then, I tried out a few small repetitive lace patterns (like YO, K2togTbl), but the fabric became too dense. The yarn is just too thick and the scarf would have been rather stiff.

So then I tried out some knit/purl texture patterns. These were better but none of them said Mom.

Finally, I took out the Scarf Style book (again!) and found what I was looking for. A simple feather and fan pattern. It's mostly st st, with one row of purls showing on the RS for every 4 rows. It gives it just enough texture without overpowering the yarn. The yarn is so pretty that I wanted it to be the main focus of this scarf.

And bonus - the yarn is so heavy that it has EXCELLENT drape! I like that in a scarf, particularly one that won't be fringed.

Simple Socks for the Sock Knitting Newbie

I received a couple of comments from readers yesterday saying they would like to re-start their sock knitting. I'm far from an expert, but here are my recommendations:

• Use a heavier weight yarn for the first time. Something 4.5 - 5.5 spi would be nice. This gauge makes great house socks and you'll have less of the sock knitting duldrums because they will go much, much faster.
• For a simple cuff-down sock I'd recommend Joan's Socks from Lion Brand. They're the right gauge, the pattern is simple to follow, and it's free! I made a pair earlier this year and you can see it in my gallery.
• If you are having trouble with DPNs, I'd suggest giving 2 circs a try. I started with DPNs but I pretty much 2 circs now for any kind of circular knitting. I learned using Cat Bordi's "Socks Soar on Two Circulars" but I'm sure there are some free resources online. I found this one on the socknitters site for 2 socks on 2 circs (you knit both socks at the same time).
• Consider making a pair of felted slippers. You get to try out all the same techniques but bonus - you can hide your mistakes by felting them! Knitty has a free pattern for a pair. Take a look at the prefelted pic - looks like a sock, right?
• Use your LYS. Most LYS's have a sock knitting class, and many instructors will let you contact them afterwards for help. Sometimes you can't beat the help of someone right next to you to tell you what you're doing wrong

Sock knitting can be completely addictive. The yarns are so much fun, the projects are super-portable, and the quantity of yarn needed makes it a rather affordable knitting project. Don't let a few failed attempts stop you!

They're done. And only 2 months late!

They look a little big on me but that's because Kelly's feet are longer than mine (she's 10 inches taller than me!)

Specs:

Yankee Knitter Classic Socks
Plymouth Encore Worsted (5 spi) - nice and thick for house socks
2 5mm circs

Kelly - If you're reading this please know that I washed and dried the socks after taking the pic. They washed up beautifully and they're now free of foreign feet matter ;)

Other Projects

I finally decided on a stitch pattern that I like for my Mom's silk/wool scarf. Pics tomorrow.

I'm also nearing the end of the Tagliatelli Wrap. I intend to fringe it. I'm leaning toward blocking it first, and then fringing it. Does that sound like the right way to go? I figure if I block it first I can tell how big it really is and adjust the fringe accordingly. Plus, it seems like the fringe would just complicate things.

How do you all block large items? I've seen some people use inexpensive rugs as large blocking boards. I do have 2 small rugs that would work well for this purpose. Anyone have experience with it? I'll need to rig up something for the wrap and some of the scarves I've been working on lately.

This Sunday I hosted the PhillyKnitters Stitch n Bitch. I squished 15 girls in the living room! Which translates to about 13 plates of baked goods (lots o' carbs!). You see where this is going, don't you? Let's not discuss my eating habits yesterday. If we don't discuss it maybe it never actually happened.

I always have a hard time knitting at these events. I'm up and down. Looking thru my WIPs for something I can work on while talking.

So what did I pick? Something new, of course:

It's the Alpaca I bought last week at Stitches in Three-Color Daisy Stitch from Barbara Walker's Second Treasury.

* well isn't that fun? it's quite possible that I knit less this weekend than just about any other weekend in the past year! nothing like a challenge to kill any productivity

It's Friday. And you know what that means?

1. There was less traffic driving to work this morning
2. There will be more traffic driving home tonight
   I've yet to figure out how it's possible that less people drive to work in the morning and yet there's more traffic driving home. But it's true. I'm happy to get home in 1.5 hours on a Friday.
3. I get to "sneak" out of work at 5 because I swear this company operates on Pacific time on Fridays
4. Jeep knitting time (ref. #2 above)
5. Crazy drivers who think they don't deserve to wait in the traffic like everyone else

Yup. Crazy drivers. In their station wagons/mini vans/SUVs. Not all of them. Some are normal. Some remember that when you have a child in the back seat you should actually drive MORE safely.

Have you ever noticed that people in this category of vehicle seem to be really aggressive drivers? Well my brother and I have.

This phenomenon is what we call The Curse of the Station Wagon.

What is it about this group that makes them so angry? Could it be that they didn't "Just say no" to the really bad perm. Or is it the fact that their wives have forced them to sell their sexy little sports cars? Cruising for chicks in the station wagon just doesn't have the same effect, huh? Or possibly it's the single digit gas mileage. Just because you're a soccer mom doesn't mean you need to fit the entire soccer team in your car.

Whatever it may be, I am hereby informing you that you don't intimidate me. I WILL speed up if you try to pass me on the right and cut me off. And don't think that tailgating me is retribution because I may have to suddenly downshift into 4th gear. There's nothing that warms the heart like watching the front of your vehicle lunge down in my rear view mirror when you slam on the brakes. Just consider it added value.

I sometimes wonder if I'm giving all the Darwin-Fish-Knit-Euro Jeeps owners out there a bad name.

Nah.

New Challenge

As part of my yarn diet I've decided to try and use up as much yarn as possible by the end of Thanksgiving weekend. To keep track I'll start my posts each day with the number of balls and yards of yarn I've knit so far.**

**I have to share this with you guys. A couple of months ago I was looking thru my referrers and a site named "I Hate My Wife" was in there. I followed the link and the site was actually hilarious. He shared silly couple stories and had a great way with words. The thing that I remember most fondly though is that he started each post with the number of...ahem...how do I say this on a knitting blog?...the number of oral stimulations that his wife "owed" him. If she did something bad or stupid the number would go up. And if the number went down it would be in big letters and he'd be sure to point it out. I always thought it was hilarious but never thought of a way to implement the concept on a knitting blog til now.

When I brought home my Stitches spoils Paul immediately claimed the white Sockotta as his. I've had some blue/tan Regia in my stash for a pair of socks for him, but he requested a tan heel and toe and the yarn defies matching! So it stays in stash.

I have to thank Christy for recommending this yarn. It's really nice to knit with and I can see what she meant when she said it's not as hot. With 45% cotton this sock will be much more temperate.

I cast on for the sock over the weekend, but I frogged it last night. The toe was too pointy. I redid the toe last night following Denise Powell's Square Toe cast-on. It was easy and it looks like a grafted toe! You can't see where each side started. I like that.

I'm doing a K3P1tbl rib along the top of the foot and the leg. P1tbl is my new favorite ribbing for socks. And of course, I'm doing it on 2 circs (US 2). I'm such a 2 circ convert that I've even considered giving away my DPNs. But I can still use them for I cord and modular knitting projects.

Oh, and I just have to share how good I was last night. I stopped by AC Moore and I didn't buy ANY yarn! And given all the nice yarn they're now carrying this was not easy.

Not buying yarn hasn't stopped me from daydreaming about new projects though. I've been coveting a long cardi lately. Last night, Kim showed up with a grey ribbed one. On Saturday, Christy brought a grey cabled one. I may need to make one. I'm thinking something like this

It's Carmel from Rowan 34. I like the length. I like the collar. I DO NOT like the bobble-cables. I'm thinking some kind of rib. I'll have to scour some more patterns to see if I can find something closer.

It really shouldn't be this hard. I know. I have tried a half dozen stitch patterns. Some were OK. Some were too hard and not drapey enough. And one was just bad for the yarn.

I'm trying to come up with something for the Silk/Wool yarn I bought for my mom. It's in the upper right corner of this pic. It's a heavier weight yarn - 4 spi.

The color repeats are pretty close together. So, anything that takes advantage of striping doesn't really do anything special. One of the qualities I want to play up in this yarn is its sheen. So I was thinking some kind of drop stitch pattern - but which one? I tell ya, those Barbara Walker books are wonderful but boy oh boy they can be a time sapper!

One thing I just thought of is maybe a mini Clapotis? Mom wouldn't wear a wide scarf but I could make one 8 inches wide. Hmm, ok...that's an idea.

Any other good suggestions out there?

On a positive note, the yarn has taken amazingly well to the frogging. It still looks perfect! Tess yarn rules.

I've been eyeing up Schafer Anne for quite some time. When I came across a table of it at Stitches I just couldn't resist.

This yarn is really something special. It's quite fine, but the addition of the mohair gives it such a luster. It is really lovely to touch.

I've decided to give the Pooling Colors Scarf a try from the Fall 04 IK*. I've read many people's struggles in getting the Anne to pool properly. I suspect some hanks of Anne may be better than others for the pooling. I had probably opened 20 hanks of Anne at the show before deciding on the one I brought home.

Here is it laid out the way you can test your Anne yarn. See how the colors stack nicely? Some hanks don't stack so nicely. The colors on each side of the oval are represented by different percentages. That's a problem because the way the pooling works, you knit RS rows with one side and WS rows with the other. If they don't stack up you cannot get them to pool.

Just thought I'd mention that in case it helps any of you out there.

Having said that, it still took me 4 tries before I got it to pool.

I am a bit bothered by the contrast of the cast on row. In retrospect I should have used a cable or knit-on cast on, and I may even pull it out later. But for now I'm just happy that it's pooling!

* speaking of IK, did you know the Winter 04 preview is up?

It was SO much fun! The only knitting event I've been to that is similar is the Maryland Sheep and Wool earlier this year. I enjoyed both of them for different reasons. Stitches had mostly retail establishments. Lots of yarn, but mainly by brands you've already heard of -- tons of Koigu, Lorna's Laces, Cascade, Rowan, Regia, Schaefer, etc. Really beautiful yarn. It was nice to see so many hand dyeds too because they're so hard to pick out online. By comparison, MDS&W had mostly smaller companies -- many I'd never heard of beforehand. Still beautiful stuff though.

My favorite booth by far was Tess' Designer Yarns. She got THE booth this year - smack dab in front of the entrance. Her booth was constantly full.

I also visited my two LYS' booths -- Rosie's and Sophie's. And even though I'm there practically every other week I bought something from both of them!

I ran into Ronnie (whom I just met last week) and I finally got to meet Leigh and Carrie. Christy and I ate lunch with them.

Another fun part - I got to meet Debbie Stoller and see a pre-release copy of Stitch n Bitch nation. I'm happy to report Kim's design is beautiful! I am SO SO happy for her to have one of her designs published after only learning to knit less than two years ago. It's a gorgeous design and I can honestly see many people knitting it. It's perfect for the demographic of the book.

yes I'm purposely being vague about what the design is. I don't want to spoil Kim's surprise when it finally does come out

Debbie mentioned that she's working on a third SnB book, which will be closer to the first. I took that to mean it would be geared more at beginners.

People watching

Knitters are weird. OK, not all knitters. I'm normal. Christy's normal. Leigh, Carrie, Ronnie - normal. So what's with all the knitter weirdness? People -- entrelac should be used sparingly. And never around your whole body. Particularly if you're not Kate Moss thin. And don't think that your 5 foot long crocheted chenile poncho is cool just because people stop to stare at you. You're weird. Like take a picture and bring it home to prove that it exists weird. And then I got sexually assaulted by a woman in line at the Mannings. At least a half dozen times. Why did you find it necessary to repeatedly touch my breasts? One time I can forgive. Twice, you're annoying but I'll let it go. Three times? What's with that? I finally had to stand with my arms crossed in front of me. And what's with the old lady manning one of the booths in a purple batik outfit and PURPLE HAIR. Yes, purple hair. I'm not sure if it was overdyed or spray painted but it was purple. Not old lady tinge of blue gray hair. Purple.

Enough already, where's the yarn?

Here's what I got:

In the upper left are 3 shades of Reynolds Alpaca Regal to make some kind of stripey scarf. To the right of that are 2 hanks of Koigu in a red and purple mix (socks? gloves?). And in the upper right are 2 hanks from Tess'. The red/orange/yellow is her sock yarn and the pastel one is a 50% silk 50% wool yarn for a scarf for my mom. The silk makes the yarn is so nice to touch - I keep petting it!

The bottom row is all sock yarn. The purple/gold is Steinbach Wolle, the a red variegated Regia for a textured sock (maybe this one), and two colors of Sockotta because Christy said they were nice and cooler than the all wool socks. Paul has already laid claim on the white/grey/blue colorway.

The only one that's missing is the Schaefer Anne that I bought. I already wound it up and started playing with it. More on that tomorrow.

There was only one thing I wanted that I didn't get -- Regia Mini Ringel. Christy and I scoured each booth with Regia but it seemed only the weird colors were left other than red/orange stripes. And you all know I don't need any more reg/orange colored yarn!

Diet of another sort

I'm putting myself on a yarn diet until Thanksgiving. God that sounds like an eternity. The only exception is if I need to buy something for a Christmas gift. I have way too much stash and I need to get through some of it. I've been considering eBaying some of it because there's just no way I'll go through all this yarn! Have any of you had success in eBaying stash yarn? They're all good quality yarns that have been well kept.

A few commenters suggested I try the Pooling Colors scarf pattern for my Oregon Worsted yarn. But it's not going to work.

anne's color pattern

oregon's color pattern

The only way I'm going to get these colors to pool is if I knit it in the round.

How crazy would it be to do this scarf as a tube? It could be fun if I get the colors to offset a bit so they wind around. I'm not sure I'm doing it but it is a possibility.

Oh, I mentioned the dominos I tried with the yarn. Here's a pic

The colors are a little richer and a little less saturated.

It's Friday!

Woohoo! This weekend should be great. I'm doing dinner tonight with some friends at Medieval Times, Saturday is Stitches East, and then Saturday night I'll be in NYC to see the North Mississippi All Stars. If you like Southern Rock/Blues you should check them out. This will be the third time I'm seeing them.

Have a great weekend everyone! See ya Monday :)

Paul and me on Saturday...

me: hey, i'm in my smaller jeans! can you tell?
paul: *squinting, head tilting, furrowing his brow* uh...hmmm
and then it hits him...and the "do these pants make me look fat?" instinct kicks in
paul: oh! yes! absolutely!
me: if you're gonna lie at least be good at it...grr

Paul and me hugging last night...

paul: hey, where'd the rest of you go? you're all skinny and stuff. btw, you DO look smaller in those jeans today
me: uh huh...nice try
paul: seriously, i can tell today
hmm, ok, maybe he's being sincere
me: hey...did i mention i'm considering joining a gym too?
paul: yeah, right! i'm being serious!
me: grrr...so am i
so close, paul, so close

an IM between me and a coworker yesterday...

coworker: hey, quick question?
savannahchik: what's up?
coworker: this may be out of line, but did you lose some weight? I am so sorry if this offends you but I notice that you look a little thinner. *wince and wait for a reply*
oh yeah, that's offensive alright. excuse me while i run to HR

Since when is it OK to laugh at your girlfriend about her weightloss and not OK for a coworker to notice? Who trains these men anyway? I swear sometimes I think Christy really has the right idea, if only I were wired that way. But we all have our crosses to bear. I guess mine is heterosexuality.

Hey, I thought this was a knitting blog

What's that? You say you came here for knitting content? Well, I have none. OK, almost none. I have some Interlacements Oregon Worsted I want to make up into a scarf and I'm having trouble finding a stitch pattern I like with it. I want the colors to stay together rather than get all mixed and muted. I've played around with domino knitting but that just didn't seem to do it. So now I'm thinking entrelac. How would entrelac behave in a scarf? And how bad does the back side look?

Colinette's 100% Merino tape yarn has been so much fun to knit with! Tagliatelli's* color changes are subtle and striking at the same time. I picked this colorway to be able to wear with jeans or black and I like the way it looks knitted up.

I swear it looks better than this in person. Variegated yarns do not photo well!

It's a basic V-shaped wrap/shawl. The pattern is simple. You knit a few foundation rows (I think I cast on 7 sts to start) and then repeat 4 rows:

Row 1: kf&b, k, kf&b, knit to 3 sts before end, kf&b, k, kf&b
Rows 2 and 3: kf&b, knit to last st, kf&b
Row 4: k *YO, K2tog tbl*

Each 4 row repeat adds 8 sts. I'm not sure how wide I'll go. I keep taking it off the needles to play with it and see. I'm only halfway thru the first hank and I bought 2 so I'll definitely have enough. I'm not sure if I'll fringe it either.

I am going to try blocking it so it isn't as sproingy (do tape yarns block?). I want to flatten it and give it less thickness. I don't care how much weight I lose -- I have no interest in padding my hips! I may also add some dark beads to weigh down the ends and help keep it stretched.

Stitches East Anyone?

I've been busy this week and haven't done much blog surfing. Who's going to Stitches? Christy and I will be there. Leave a comment if you'll be there. We'd love to meet up with some fellow bloggers!

* Don't you think there's irony in a low-carber knitting with pasta-named yarn? Hey, I'm Italian. I gotta get my pasta somehow ;)

I don't think I've mentioned dieting since my post a couple weeks back. Well, I got off to a rocky start. I really struggled for the first week. I had trouble staying on plan and felt hungry, cranky and frustrated.

And then last week it all clicked. I don't know why, it just did. I stayed on plan all week (AND all weekend!). Watching the scale go down is such a powerful motivator. I've now lost 5.5, for a total of 15.5 since Christmas. I feel really strong right now and can easily see myself blowing through that 20 pound mark within the next 2 weeks.

I find myself daydreaming about what I'll wear to the company Christmas party, or what fun clothes I'll dress up in to see a band in the city in a couple of months. I really want this. Heck, I'm even considering joining a gym by work. No promises on that one yet, it's just a thought at the moment.

The one catch -- I don't know how to deal with sweater knitting for me right now. I really have no idea what my size/shape will be in a few months. Will I be successful? If so, by how much? That's why I've been doing socks, shawls, scarves and wraps. They're safe right now. Klaralund is kinda safe too, although I'm considering rippng the one body piece I have done and making it a bit smaller too. Since it's not a fitted garment I think shaving a few inches off of it will be OK.

So I may hold off on St Brigid for a while. That's one sweater I want to have for a long time. And the Phildar Hoodie - ugh, I'm not sure what to do. I haven't hit the armhole shaping yet which means I could sew a line up the sides and cut off a bit of the seed stitch edging. Each size just gets a little more seed stitch to increase it on the sides. And Gerbera -- it's knit in the round. Not so easy for doing a mid-sweater adjustment. All these sweaters I absolutely love.

For now I'm holding off on them because I'm just not sure. I don't think I've been my "ideal" size since mid-college. Funny thing, I didn't realize it then. I'm not quite ready to say with total confidence that I'll hit that goal, although right now I feel really good about it.

So if this blog turns into the knitted accessories blog for a bit don't be surprised. I promise it won't be all garter stitch on 17s (heck, I don't even own a pair of 17s!).

Remember that sock I started on the plane back from Boston? Well, it's done! I've had the yarn in my stash for almost a year now and I've been wanting to make them for a while.

Specs:

Regia Crazy Colors in color 05402 (Passion)

Toe-up using a Figure 8 cast on. I've tried a figure 8 cast on before but it seemed fiddly on DPN. But this is now my favorite toe-up 2 circ cast on.

Heel - No wrap short row heel from OzYarn. This was a super-easy heel! If you like the look of short row heels but dislike the whole wrapping thing give this a try! No holes, I promise!

I did the heel on 60% of the stitches based on some reading I've done but I'm not in love with it. I think I will go back to 50% next time.

Ribbing - K3P1tbl. This made a nice tight ribbing. It starts way down where the heels ends and you can barely see it in the pic. One tip for the P1tbl - I started out by literally twisting the purl stitches. And then it dawned on me if i wrapped the yarn in the opposite direction I would get the same effect without the struggle to twist the stitch. Once I did the tbl that way the ribbing just zoomed along.

One problem - the cast off is too tight! I'm not in love with the way the pink crept in during cast off anyway so I'll pull back a couple rows, do an increase row, and then bind off (hopefully all in black).

One final comment - the ball band says you'll need 3 balls for a pair of socks. I find that hard to believe. Since I did toe up I thought I'd knit until I was almost done with the yarn, but I finally had to stop because it was as long as I would ever wear them. I had a good 20 wraps left on the ball at that point. Not a ton, but enough to make me think any normal shaped foot would be fine with 2 balls.

A note on the yarn - it's superwash with 25% nylon. It's not the softest stuff around but I'm hoping a couple of washings will improve it. They're a heavier sock anyway, and I don't expect super-luxury softness from them anyway.

First up is my Christmas party wrap. It's going to be 3 colors of Jaggerspun Zephyr. From bottom to top it's Copper, Claret and Dianthus.

I really thought hard about the pattern I was going to use. I even bought the first 2 Barbara Walker books this weekend for inspiration. I also picked up the Charlotte's Web pattern to see how it was constructed. I knew I wanted to knit it from center-top out so the colors could radiate. I played around charting variations of many of the patterns. One thing I did learn is that to keep the triangular shape of the shawl in this kind of pattern you need your repeat to be the same number of stitches wide as it is tall. So I knit up a few samples but nothing was really sticking.

When the yarn came I decided to just try something and see what I thought. I've started with the copper and here's where I am.

can you recognize the pattern?

After all that work, charting and knitting swatches I went with the Flower Basket Shawl from the latest Interweave. Thanks to Ricki and Oshun for suggesting it. I'm doing mine with a single strand (not doubled like the pattern states) on 3.25mm needles. I wanted it lighter and airier.

Long term Lace Project

I saw my mom this weekend and brought over "A Gathering of Lace" for her to look through. I thought she might like something in there. While I love the projects I think they're a bit to heirloom-y for me to use. But certainly fun to knit! So I also cast on for hers, in classic ecru.

It's called the Shetland Tea Shawl and I'm making it in a 50/50 merino/silk blend. It's very similar to Jaggerspun but it comes in 1,400 yard hanks. I don't have the band here with me so I'll tell you what it is on Monday.

But just to keep things interesting I'm frogging what I've done so far. I'm doing it on 2 circs and I've got ladders. I know exactly what caused it too. The yarn was getting caught on the join of the needle to the cable so I loosened up a bit. Guess I'll just have to wrestle with it flowing over the join until it's big enough to fit on one circ. I really don't like DPNs anymore. I'm surprised the Addi's are giving me such trouble though.

OK, hopefully the pics made up for no post yesterday. I should have told you all I wasn't going to post. I had to go up to Boston for work yesterday so there was no time to post.

Oh, I did however get a chance to start a new sock on the plane! I've used a new (to me) cast on method and I'm trying a new heel. I'll show you all next week when I get to the heel.

Enjoy your weekends! The weather around here is perfectly early autumn!