It just went bad. Real bad.

Well, on Sunday I settled on the Lupine Lace pattern for my mom's pair of socks, and cast on late afternoon. Things were going well until I got to the heel. Although I followed the pattern, it turned out a little longer than it should have. It was about 8 1/2 inches long. I wasn't crazy about the length, and considered ripping out one repeat of the lace. Then I changed my mind and continued. Gusset was fine. This morning I knit away, thinking I'm about an hour away from the toe decreases (which made me very happy, because I thought that would give me some definite possibility of finishing the first sock today.)

And that's when it happened.

I realized that instead of alternating each row of the lace pattern with a straight knit row, I was doing all lace pattern. For about 2 inches.

I looked at it, willing it to fix itself before my eyes, but that #&%$# thing just sat there and mocked me.

So I ripped back to the end of the gusset, and tried picking up the stitches. Have you ever tried to rework a frog on a size 1 needle?

It's sitting there, over on the ottoman, still mocking me.

I'll have to rip it entirely and start over.

At least I'll be able to correct the length issue, but now I don't think there's any way I can finish the pair by the 26th.

snif.

Crunch time

So in the past week, I've finished the first fair isle hat. I'm not sure why it turned into kind of a bell shape. Might have something to do with the lining. And can you see the mistake? I didn't notice it until I was putting the ropes on. Oh well! Sorry brother!



And I finished the second fair isle hat. I don't like the puckered top, and it turned out to be smaller than the first one. I really like the tailored finishing on the first one. But I like the pattern on the second one. HRH tried it on, and it fits. So I might make another one for her in acid green and purple, to match her winter jacket. I enjoyed knitting the snowflake hat much more--maybe because there were much less yarn flopping (that's a techincal fair isle term, right?). So I won't be divorcing fair isle just yet.




Then I started a pair of finglerless mitts (pattern from KnitPicks) in some koigu I've had hanging around for ages. Note to self--don't let koigu hang around so long. It's perfect for this pattern! One skein makes exactly two mitts, and it's so sproingy that the ribbing will fit any size hand. Even my fat one! I'm about to finish sewing up the second one as soon as I finish this post, and then I'm casting on for the final Christmas gift--a pair of socks for mum in Lisa Souza's sock yarn--color garnet. Not quite sure about the pattern yet.

So all in all, I'd say it's been a pretty productive week considering I had a bazillion other things to do. And I also started the holiday bakathon this weekend, in which Jenn tries to bake 50 dozen christmas cookies without swearing and throwing things. I've got 13 dozen down this so far. I'm supposed to finish by the end of the week.

Ask me about the year I made 83 dozen.

Thanks Mr. Postman!!!

My surprise package did indeed arrive, and prepare yourself for some gushing. I read about Yarntini's yarn on someone's blog, but it was all sold out at www.purenits.com Wahhhh! I subscribe to her blog, so I was alerted to her adding some inventory to her Etsy shop. By the time I got there, there were only two variegated colorways left--the elusive cherry cordial, and pumpkin twist. So I ordered one of each (fingering weight). Well let me tell you, Yarntini is just a doll to do business with, and they yarn? Oy. It came prettily wrapped in pink tissue. Each skein was in its own plastic bag (great drool protection), AND she included a pot of lip goo in chocolatini flavor. Yikes! Is this the most gorgeous yarn you've ever seen? Love it, love it, love it!



On a sadder note, my love affair with fair isle is over, I think. I don't know what went wrong. Maybe it was the hat. I haven't made one in over a year, and I'd forgotten how niddly it gets towards the end. Maybe it was the monotony of the pattern. I'm committed to finishing this one (there's only 2 rows left), and the second one for my SIL (unfotrunately in the same colors, but a different pattern). After that I'll take a break. Which is unfortunate, because I really do like the end product. I'd like to have one for myself in fact. Anyone out there want to knit one for me? And then I was contemplating making one for Da Man. He wants a hat with the Boston Bruins logo, and I'm wondering if I can take a black background, with yellow B's and turn it into fairisle.

By Christmas.

I've been busy!

I finished the second braided scarf in 10 days. That's less than half the time it took me to knit the first one. I don't think I'll be making that one again. The finished product looks ok, but I'm not a big fan of the ends, and it was just a big pain in the neck to knit. I hope the teachers like them.




Then I cast on for my Mom's Shetland shawl in the Tilli Tomas silk. This took only eight days to finish. I don't know how--it was a very fast knit. The only modification I made was adding an extra repeat on the main body, and I'm glad I did, because it didn't block as large as I thought it would. I guess I should have realized that silk won't stretch as much as wool when wet. This yarn was nice to work with. Blocking, however revealed that this yarn bleeds. A lot. When I lifted it out of the sink after its soak, it look like the sink was filled with blood. It was that bad. I rinsed, and rinsed, and rinsed. It was still bleeding a bit when I called it quits. I'll have to tell Mom not to where it over white, or when it rains!




Last night I cast on for my first fair isle project. It's one of Bea Ellis' hat kits. I discovered these on someone else's blog--can't remember who, and they looked really neat. So I ordered one for my brother, and one for the sister-in-law. I was kinda scared when I started the double stranded knitting. I've read how hard it is. But I found that as long as you keep the two strands separate and untangled, it's not bad at all. The stitches on the first few rows are a bit wonky, but I think I did just fine on my first attempt. I'll definitely be ordering more from Bea Ellis--she is so friendly, and quick to ship.

My next post will include a surprise! I was EXTREMELY lucky to snatch something off an Etsy shop earlier this week. This stuff is in hot demand, and I can't believe I was so lucky! More later...

This N That

THIS....

Is the Vogue holiday braided scarf. I finished it on Tuesday just as I had hoped. I even had enough time to cast on for the second green one. I'm almost done with the second finger, and I'm hoping to finish the green scarf by the 30th. Right now I'm ahead of schedule, but I'm cooking on Thursday, so I'm sure I'll lose at least a day of knitting there.

And THAT...




Is three skeins of Tilli Tomas Pure and Simple in colorway Ruby Wine. This is for the Shetland Triangle from Wrap Style. It's a Christmas gift for my mum. 97% of mum's wardrobe is black, so this is a bold move. I wonder if she'll ever wear it. But honestly, a red shawl over a black blouse is going to look a heck of a lot better than a black shawl over a black blouse, right?

RIGHT????

Knitted Intestines

Can you guess what this is? It's the scarf from the Holiday issue of Vogue Knitting. I'm using the prescibed Lush. Here's another photo which gives you a good idea of how it's knit:





I'm about halfway through the last (sixth) finger. I'm hoping to finish this one tomorrow. It's for herself's teacher Ms. B. Then I get to knit another one in green for her other teacher, Mrs. L. Despite it being a scarf, this is NOT a quick knit!

New Beginnings

I quit my job last week. I'll spare you the long explanation, but this is a very good thing for me and my family. Herself started kindergarten this year, and my working became too difficult for all of us on a number of levels.

So here I am with an extra 25 hours per week of knitting time on my hands.

More posts coming, with more pictures.

Bobble/2=Bob

Here's the back of bobble shirt completed, and it's now off the needles and in a bag with the rest of its yarn. I've got some Lorna's Laces that will be arriving on Wednesday for a Clapotis for one of my daughter's three, no, make that four preschool teachers. Since she's finishing preschool in mid August, those absolutely have to be done. So I'm detouring bobble for a Clapotis or two or three or four.

I've also got to make a pair of socks for a houseguest arriving on June 15. Yes, sleep in our bed and get a pair of handknit socks to go home in.

Don't ask me to knit you a bathrobe.

Numbers don't lie

173.

That's right. One. Seven. Three.

The number of skeins of yarn in my stash.

Crap.

Day One

What's on my needles? Bobble shirt in a slightly different color scheme. Well, a completely different color scheme.

What's my stash like? I'm going to guess I have 64 skeins/balls of new yarn. Maybe I'll count them tomorrow to see how far I'm off. I've probably greatly underestimated. (Husband, don't read that).

And that's not counting the 4 skeins of Lorna's Laces Worsted for a clapotis, or the 7 skeins of Cascade 220 (felted bag from pickup sticks) on its way from http://www.yarn-store.com/.

Better not read that either, dear.

FO's this year include a baby blanket that just...would...not...die from Sarah Dallas Knitting. Man, that thing just went on and on. It took me about three weeks to finish. One of my longest projects.

Also finished is a Seraphim shawl, still waiting to be blocked as I don't have a blocking board yet. But I guess I'd better get one because the shawl is for my Gram's 90th birthday in August.

I honestly can't remember what else I've done this year--probably some socks, a few scarves maybe. Must document better.

And now for a dirty little secret. So many knitters talk about the yarn stash. Well, what about the book stash, hmmmm? Magazines anyone? Loose patterns floating around? Those babies are REAL easy to hide.

Time to fess up everyone. Flaunt that pattern stash too!

And if I have the guts, I'll do it on my next post. Cause day one? She's done.

'night.

I'm married to a geek, and swore I'd never go down this road, yet, here I am.