I started Cheesylove back in feb(?). That's a sleeve. I put the hearts on the sleeve, instead of bust ...er. yeah.
These two photos are swirly mittens start, 40 rows of st st cuff, to be folded in half. Louet Gems :)
Happy birthday to the fuzzies. They are nine today :) This is now their preferred position - sleeping. (sorry, I woke up Winter when I took the pic).
Also progress on the Bird in hand mitten. It is painful to knit worsted weight wool in tiny gauge. I am also unhappy with cuff and will frog and redo, but I will have to wait until I find (or buy!) more needles. Speaking of ... I did a little therapy today and bought more Patons Classic Wool Merino. It was on sale and I need some sweater (mindless) knitting. And . ahem... stash is .. well.. too much work to dig in the boxes.
Happy New Year!
I needed something small, simple and easy ... For the last few week, my brain hurts from the moment I wake up to the moment I go to bed. There is a lot happening between work, house... G is working long hours. The juggling is a ... er... a huge handful.
So perhaps this little knit of Endpaper Mitts will help me unwind.
Plain St st is a good car knit. I finished the cardi back and started cardi front w/pockets. Donegal tweed is pretty but is a little tough on my fingers.
Sloooooow progress on Nicole. I ended up ripping up one of the pattern repeats of the yo's. I added a repeat below the waist yo's, and more inc in the top.
Third time may be a charm. I ripped three times .. once due to too many stitches, once because I didnt like how the pink & brown transition ... I sincerely hope it looks better once blocked. Now I am on to a good way to do the button holes...
Work in progress baby cardi in KP merino from J and Trekking 126. Adorable! "Babies (not mine)"!!!
Periodically, I interact with the DH about knitting.. he knows and is interested a little on my projects.
A few weeks ago.. I held up two balls of yarn - green and orange to DH:
"Look, a new project"
DH: "What's that?"
"mmm. an animal .. but it doesn't actually exist"
[time lapse, a few days later after I finished a few parts"
DH: "It is a dinosaur!"
"Er. almost :)"
DH "Well, no real animal is that color"
...
Continue reading "What are those.... green and orange things?" »
After untangling 15 balls of Debbie Bliss Cottn Angora, playing with steek, and a scarf .... and two weeks of contemplation. I started Audrey last night.
A few rows of black yarn on a circular needle looks really exciting.
I tried steek with the Purple Donegal tonight.. using the Crochet Enforced technique in Winter 2006 IK. It took a couple of tries on the Crochet part ...
Thanks to J who talked me through the thumb gore/gusset ... I now have almost a thumb. Never mind I didnt check gauge and this will be a huge mitten! oh, and lets not talk about how many times I frogged cause I couldnt follow the chart. (I blame it on the meds!)
.. from Folk Mittens with Dale Heilo
sz 2, Crystal Palace dpns
GD invited DH and I over for dinner and a date with her top loader washing machine. Her DH cooked while we experimented.
Here is progress on the Jo Sharp Aran Tweed vest on US 7 needles.This is almost two balls. I am freeforming this vest. It is 204 stitches on 5 st/inch gauge.
and a sort of funny story about this vest...
AKA..What do you do when you have a conf call at Sunday Midnight?
Well, you start an icord after dinner .. and stop at 11:57am. Here is the icord and the body of the purse. GD and I got plastic bottom and a swivel hook (for key) this weekend ...
Oh, btw, did I mention there is a black yarn shortage? Here is a pic of Rowan ASC - Slick. The top ball is from Woolworks in OR. The bottom ball is from JBW in NV. Phew. I am hunting for a few more balls in this lovely shade ..
I am usually not a felted thingie person, but a long time ago .. in a land far away. (ok, Bainbridge Island!), GD and I saw this really clever purse at Churhmouse.
On my way home on Friday, DH said he was making somethingsomething in the kitchen .. and after a long day at the office and the prospect of somethingsomething in the kitchen, I decided that I should call GD who was working on a ahem.. 80's Halloween thing. We met at PF and picked out new colors.
I was really tired when I got home, but I started it anyways. I plan on making it slighly shorter and slightly skinnier.It looked like this the next day, half of a repeat. It goes slow.Good thing this is in the round, cause I have completely spaced everything elsed I learned in that colorwork class we took.
Finally, here is the baby sweater in progress. The back and half of one of the fronts took two balls of yarn. So I went to Cultured Purls and picked up two more balls yesterday. But I forgot to get buttons. So I started on the sleeves instead.
Here is a view of the back and sleeves. Now I am worried the sleeve opening is too small. argh.
.. since my last post. The calendar on my desk says "June 8", we skipped the whole month of June on the calendar in the kitchen.
My craft and personal time has dwindle to almost non-existent. I did manage a sum total of about six hours of knitting (since mid-June) to show a few row of the sleeves. And a couple pieces of fabric for various project. Pics of those some other time.
I finished the aran front last night. Below the aran is an Old Navy Favorite T, part of my regular uniform. I am crossing my fingers, the size and length seems to look ok. :)
Oh, and true to my lack of attention and ability to follow direction, I totally screwed up the dec on the neckline. I will deal with it when I pick up stitches for the rib collar. Sleeves, seam, and collar to go ... This is taking me forever.
I found a mistake yesterday on the aran back. I was so obessive about it that I fixed it last night. Then ... I noticed another .. ahem.. problem. I ..er. yeah. am .. too .. embarrass ... to talk about it ...
... one hundred and twenty something for the aran top. No pics. It looks just like the back :). I am knitting as often and fast as I can! Knitting time is really limited right now and I am trying my best to not stray into other projects.
UPDATE:
*CRY* I just noticed I made mistakes in the (finished) back! Will frog and redo.
Allow me to procrastinate for a moment and post some progress. It is going very slowly due to lack of knitting time. This is a close up view of the pattern - half diamond w/bobble, braid cable, and berry stitches. I like Cascade Sierra mostly. The 20% wool makes a good cable, but you can see all my uneven tension thanks to the 80% cotton. A full view of work to date. I am about half way through the 8" of the armhole. Slooooowly making my way....
Row 12. Progress has been slow. Knitting aggravates my wrist and forearm.
From Holiday 2005 Vogue Knitting. I started it with tubular cast on with Cascade Sierra US sz 8 needles.
Row 2 of the neck split. I couldnt figure out the direction in the pattern so I winged it. Er. Hope it works out!
I started Soleil around the first day of spring, hopefully in time for a long season of wear in this lovely weather. Debbie Bliss Cotton DK with US sz 7 needle. This is 1+ most of a ball (minus a swatch I did last summer). I hope I have enough!
I was totaly unprepared and did not pack a travel project for the trip DC -> Knoxville. J took advantage of the situation and gave me purty meilenweit multiringel (that she has try to unstash on me for a while!) and taught me an elastic cast on, loan me needles ... THANKS J!
I need one more arm before friday morning ...
The body is finished. I picked up stitches on one sleeve and realize I dont have the right length circulars. duh. All the trips to LYS last week and I didnt think to pick up shorter needles.
J sent me some sqs.Lookie ... oh please oh please I am freaking out I wont have enough time to finish. And the colors wont work together. argh.
Square #19 is woven pattern from VK and eyelet flower that I borrowed from IK, or is it VK mag. Er. I dont remember!
I barely escaped the house, I had to buy yarn and borrow needles from GD. Phew. I am glad I went. It was very good. Part two of the fair isle class is picking up the strands on the knit and purl side. Here is a pic of the back.
Square #17 is the Luckenbooth madallion from Jena. And #18 is a daisy from Knitting stitch bible... White on white is fabulous, you cant see any details.
Nosegay from Knitting stitch bible. I mod'ed the top one to have a bobble.
Black berry from Knitting stitch bible. I misread the pattern, so this may be the extra.
Diamond and rib from Knitting Stich Bible.
Beaded Rib from VK big book.
"XO" from VK big book.
Square #11, Flying Geese from VK book. It looks better blocked. Honest!
Square #9 and #10. Heart from VK big book.
Square #9, clam shell from Knitting bible. You can see k(&) to the right and my faux sheepskin in the foreground. Oh, and the cute karabella sweater in from VK winter '06.
Square #7, clover eyelet from Barbara G Walker Book #1.
Square #7 in basketcable. 1 ball of cashmerino = ~2 squares. Cable patterns take up more yarn. So I need a little bit extra for this square bur somehow, I managed to misplace the extra bit from the first ball. gah.
I don't mean to sound philosophical, but what does R[ight]S[ide] mean? Is it the side you think should face you, or the side the pattern say to face you, or am I just too lame to figure out what's right and what's wrong?
Valentine and Little cable from Barbara G book #1
CO 42: cable portion = 8+16+8=32
5+ [ 8 (side cables)] + [16 (valentine) [+ 8 side cables] +5 = 42
Happy new year! Er. Pic of a black WiP looks like a blob. Ball 5, after Chart C - bust decrease. Bamboo is slippery yet wonderful to knit with. It is easy to spot the mistakes. Also, it splits a little, but overall very pleasant to work with on addi US#7.
Next up .. Chart D and established pat for ~10 inches.
Square #5 in Staghorn cable from Barbara G Walker book #1. CO 40, 9 rows bottom border, 7 repeat of 6 cable pattern, and ended with 7 rows + bind off.
Corset is worked from the top down and I am at 3.75" (~54 rows tot) measured from the start of ribbing. Here is a closer up of the lace and the ribbing.
From Barbara G book. #1, pg 102 English Diamond Quilting Pattern. It is a bit small. gurr. The next And #3 block'ed. On a side note, I pinched a nerve and I cant really turn my head. argh.
Row 44 (2.75" into the ribbing).
The bust decrease starts at 3.75". The rib pat is not difficult, but it is a little tricky- WS does not equal to RS stitches. I found two mistakes tonight. I am almost done with Ball 3 of bamboo. CEY Bamboo is 77yds a ball. eek.
Sq #2 : DB cashmerino in White/Cream - Plain St st (together with Sq #1)
I CO 38, garter stitches for 8 rows, and 5 stitches on each side. 36 rows of St st. I blocked Sq#1 and Sq#2 and there isnt a noticible difference in the texture. I will check on the fabric once they are dried. I did, however, notice a problem I have with cast on and cast off edge - the 8 rows of garter are not matching up. gurr.
In other note. I am debating whether to make a olive + cream version of the same pat. Hrmph.
CO tonight and worked 18 rows. The next row is the bind off for the sleeve opening and the following is the "CO". Er. I need to look that up.
Sq #1 : DB cashmerino in Olive/Green - Plain St st.
I CO 40, Garter stitches for 6 rows, and 6 stitches on each side. duh. That didnt work. I didnt have enough garter stitch border on the bottom. I miss read J's notes. After 13 rows I pulled it off the needles and it was too big.
So I errorred on the side of smaller (blocking :) ) Take 2. I will try to make one just like J's.
CO 36,
Garter stitches for 8 rows, and 5 stitches on each side.
36 rows of St st in the center.
It ended up smaller than I thought it would be. However, it will block to 8". Hrmph. Should I CO more or work with 36 so we are at the same stitch #s?
-12/23
A quick swatch: CO 4+22+2 and 28 rows with US#7. CEY listed Bamboo as 4½ - 5 sts/#6 or 7 needles. ModeKnit's Corset gauge is 22 sts x 24 rows = 4” / 10cm in ribbing.
So J asked whether I know how much time I've spent on Rogue (and I added the deadline of december 21st). Here is my SWAG:
I have been missing Rogue. I havent worked on it since t-day weekend. I ignored the pres'sy tonight (bad me!). I am on row 30 on the hood ( of ~75 rows). Knitting body + hood in one piece is a little awkard. Each turn takes a little more work. However, that means less seaming! My goal is to finish it before Winter Solstice - 8hrs of daylight. I am so looking forward to that (finishing Rogue AND the shortest day of the year).
G, (&), and (&) are all snoring .. I am behind on pics.. they will just have to wait. Tis bed time for me.
I started Storm when I was in Cali. On US#13 needles, Equinox Stripe is a breeze. It makes simple & fast presents Attach label and it will be all set.
I finished knitting both scarves. Latte is washed and dried .. I will post pics of both of them later (once Storm is dried and I trim the fringes). I like Nashua Equinox. It is fast and smooth.
I started Halley from Marnie on the plane on the way to Cali using leftover DB cashmerino Dusty Pink.CO 8, split into four US#8 needles is not a simple task on an airplane tray :) I am at the 'repeat until desire height' portion of the pattern.
Latte multi-directional scarf is almost done. I couldnt figure out the last bit of direction so .. after frogging a few times .. i ... er ... made up the ending.
After much fussing, J convinced me I should finish seaming and see how WC fits before I take ANY action (aka frogging the shoulder). So I finished seaming WC last night .. the shoulder/armpit/armhole is just a little too small [as expected].
I blocked the shoulder/sleeve cap seam and the top of the shoulder. I pulled diagonally on the shoulder/sleeve cap seam and tried not to stretch out the body .
[crossing fingers that WC will be ok with this blocking]
[insert embrassed face] I try to keep to TWO projects in progress - Rogue's hood and watching WC while it dries. So I really shouldnt CO another.
Here it is - Wet Cat body ... with plaited cables. Mine definitely doesnt look anything like the one in the mag .. somewhere I screwed up the neck dec.
Happy t-day!
Phew. Row 24 chat B just before the neck split ... I changed the metering on the camera to see if I can get better black knittery pics :)
Oh! I 'tried' it on over a cami and it seems to fit alright .. whoo! Now tis time to take care of fuzzies and finish t-day treats .. that would be 2 gallons (36 cups) of eggnog. (There is a pecan tart cooling its heels in a safe place. ;-) )
Sleeves are done. Hopefully they fit.
On an unrelated note .. my newly acquired SD card for the compact camera decided that it is write protected. er.
Row 70. The body side cables are completed. I need to go to LCS to get stitch holder to proceed ..Ugh. Taking picture of a black thing is terrible at best!
"WC" aka Wet Cat ...
I started WC last night when I had to stop on row 70 of rogue.
US 15 addi turbo
8 rows of Big wool tuft and 7 rows of Big wool later
... It is looking like a cuff. I am off gauge (as usual), but I think it will work out ok. You can see the two different colors of black, but it doesnt bother me (hrmph, not now anyways).
Bad pic. a little progress ...
I am on row 14, which is where I frogged. Here is a recycled pic of about where I am. I checked, no twist. There is a small hole at the bottom of the cable loop that is bugging me .. but not enough.
Two balls of DB cashmerino and Charlie is .. well.. almost done. Hand washed and lay flat to dry. :) I have plenty left over for a hat, socks, or ...
I am two rows in the actual body. Second time may be a charm. We will see. :) Read on if you want glory details ..
Rogue body was frogged tonight with the help of DH. I found a couple of problems that escaped me...
Here is the beginning of the body cables .. row 10. 216 st per row. phew. The 32" inch long addi is a little too short now, it should be alright after a few more decreases.
216 stitches. Oh boy ... I CO 216 stitches with a crochet hook. Knit 2 rows ... [insert good brunch break] then finished off the remaining 4 rows. so far so good eh?
OK. I managed to get stitch gauge (18st per 4") on US8 needles with the DB Cashmerino Aran. My row gauge was off -- yarn specifies 24 rows, but I get more like 26.
I cast on 36 stitches, used 5 stitches per side for the vertical border (36-5-5 = 26 pattern stitches).
I worked 8 rows of garter stitch at start and end with 36 rows in between -- 36 + 8 + 8 = 52 rows total.
One square was 23g, so we should be able to get at least 2 squares out of a ball (plus change).
This is a nice plain red st st square -- ~1" border all around.
Cables and ribs pull in more, but the cables can be blocked flat so they still have the different look but less texture.
Are lace squares okay, or should we only do cable/rib/etc?
Here is Charlie. (The zigzag stripe reminds of Charlie Brown's sweater. Yes I have strange association.) US#8 bamboo needles on DB cashmerino aran in dusty pink. This also doubles as gauage swatch for the squares.
It is a pattern of stockinette and garter. The stitches arent laying flat so they look funny.
Garbage bag shot of lace blocking on garbage bag on top of the foam chair ;-)
I finished the sleeves one minute before midnight .. phew. I realize I may have miscounted the bind off in the last four rows .. they will be ok. The four rows of bind off does not seem to make a smooth curve. They are funny looking :)
But heck, these are my first sleeves!
I think we are almost there ...
No pics tonight. Lame me couldnt get WS dec to pair correctly.
But I did complete 2+16=18 rows ... 26 more rows to go on the sleeves. They are picking up lots of fuzzies fur .. A quick glance tells me I am knitting at about the same gauage. Phew. With the exception of a SSK slipping off the needle .. so far so good.
2 + 8*2 + 4 * 3 + 0 + 2 * 5 + 4 + bind off
