We Interupt Your Regularly Scheduled Knitting...

I have never had this many projects actively on the needles. I'm running with scissors over here.
I'm taking a little break from my regular knitting projects to work on a block for a baby afghan for Grace's niece. It's a complicated story I won't go into, but suffice it to say the Sisters are coming together for a good cause. We each purchased a skein of this pretty green yarn and promised to knit a block. It is so interesting to see the patterns each person chose to knit. I searched websites for pretty dishcloth patterns and found this one. Our blocks should be 10" that's the size of this pattern. No small holes for small fingers to tangle in - perfect.

I haven't blogged in over a month. I've been busy knitting. This is the Hannover Socken in Rittersporn Wollmeise. I'm loving it. I used the toe originally cast on for Pomatomus and carried on with this sock. The two patterns are similar, but Pomatomus had way too much *P1, K1TBL* This pattern gives me section of stockinette. A nice break. Love the yarn, love the pattern.

I've had the yarn for the Shetland Tea Shawl for over a year. For whatever reason the urge to cast on struck me about two weeks ago. This is where I've been spending most of my knitting time. The first 30-ish rounds were very tricky. And I do have a big hole I'm hoping I can close up by shifting stitches around. The first pattern repeat went quickly. Then I doubled the number of stitches to start the next pattern and all of sudden it felt like I was slugging along in water up to my knees. The rounds just aren't going as quickly. I knew this was going to happen, but for whatever reason, I was still a little surprised.

I finally jumped on the Clapotis train. I'm making mine with Blue Sky Alpaca Silk in Spring (I16). It is fabulous. It's not getting a ton of knitting time, but that's OK. It's a fairly mindless project (compared to the STS) so I keep it close for days when I'm not in the mood for lace.

I started out just knitting through the back loop as written in the pattern. Then I remembered reading about purling through the back loop on the purl back row. It makes a huge difference and I love the look.

This is the re-knit everlasting bag stopper from knitty. I just need to get some handles and then I can gift it. It was a fun, easy diversion - mindless knitting.

DFW Fiber Fest and Wollmeise

Joy and I hit the DFW Fiber Fest today. What a kick. You meet lots of new people traveling with Joy, she knows everyone.

We didn't buy them out, but I got a couple of really fun things.

Check out this great pink sock yarn for Fiber Lady. Each skein is 200yds and it's a wool/bamboo/nylon mix. I'm not sure what I'll do with it, but I love the semi-solid coloring.

Next I visited Brooks Farm Yarns. My fabulous vine lace shawl is made from two skeins of the brown and black acero. I knew I wanted at least one more skein. I was thinking red, but then this green started talking to me. I'm not sure if it's going to be socks or a skinny clapotis, but I had to bring it home.

We saw lots of other great yarns, but I set a limit and tried to stick with it. Lonestar Arts has some nice offerings and I will visit her on Etsy. And Jojoland has some amazing stuff. And of course, Madeline Tosh has fantastic color combinations.

It's not as if I don't already have enough yarn. A couple of weeks ago our Wollmeise order arrived and I am now the proud owner of 2 skeins of Wollmeise 80/20 twin, one in the coveted Spice Market and the other in Birkenrinde.

Because of presschecks on Friday I made a lot of progress (finally) on the Caribbean colorway simple rib socks. These things are dragging on. I did the afterthought heel which was fun to learn. Picking up the stitches is a bit of a pain, but I love just decreasing like a toe.

I need to go knit. I have to play with some of this new yarn.

Four - Count Them Four - Projects on the Needles

I have an unprecedented 4 projects on the needles.

The Wollmeise Pomatomus - which are on the needles but currently hibernating.

The Brighton bag from Knitty that isn't far enough along to photograph.

My Caribbean colorway socks. These are my February SKA offering. I'm trying out a new heel, the afterthought heel. I have to be honest, this scares the crap out of me. Right now I have a gaping hole in one of my socks where the heel will go. I released the stitches and got them picked up at knit night. I think next time I'll do it at home. It's a tad nerve-racking and I wasn't very good company, but I was thankful to have Jeri there to save me a couple of times.

Finally, I have a "green" shopping bag I've decided to give Adrianne. I'm gifting it to Adrianne for a couple of reasons, she'll appreciate it, she gave me the yarn, and she knit the bottom of it. She started a Mason-Dixon kimono for her niece, but got sidetracked and the niece grew. Adrianne got frustrated and gifted me several skeins of brightly colored cotton. I frogged the sweater back until I picked up the required 116 stitches and started knitting. It's a great 5-minute-a-day knitting project. Can't wait to give it to her.

Gratuitous pictures of the dogs.

Baby Girl loves - loves - her ball. If you'll throw it, she chase it for hours.

Niña is a challenge to photograph. She is so black, most of the time you can't even see her eyes. This picture allows you to see her sweet, sweet face. She weighs whopping 6lbs, but she thinks she can run with the big dogs.

Wait. I Think I Changed My Mind

I've had the Linen Lace Beaded Shawl in the queue since I bought the yarn in Minneapolis in February 2006. I tried on the store model and decided then and there that I must have it. Since the pattern was free with a yarn purchase, I went for it. Except that I'm a little cheap and back then I would short the amount of yarn I purchased thinking I would make "it" (whatever it is) just a little smaller then the pattern calls for. So I bought two skeins of yarn rather than the specified three. I also bought 5,000 (or maybe it's 8,000, I lost count) beads for the project.

I have since seen the error of my cheapskate ways and don't waste my money buying inadequate amounts of yarn. I've toyed with the idea of buying another skein of the yarn at a local store even though the dye lot wouldn't be the same. I've also discussed the project with a few people on Ravelry who have actually knit it and they agree the project is beautiful, but they found the yarn difficult to work with.

I've also recently learned that I prefer knitting shawls, wraps, stoles, whatever you want to call them, to wearing them. So when the Brighton bag presented itself in the Spring '08 Knitty, I changed my mind about what the Euroflax Linen wanted to be. I'm not sure what I'll do with all those beads. Not panic for now. I got a good deal on them and will find something to do with them eventually.

I've been knitting more than blogging and I finished my umpteenth pair of clogs - Robyn's second pair. No pictures yet. I've also been working on my February SKA socks - a new heel. I'm using my caribbean colorway and trying the afterthought heel. I'm at the heel on both socks and have until the end of March to finish to qualify for the SKA challenge. I figure it's a good goal.

Vine Lace Shawl is Done

Done. Complete. Blocked. Ends woven in and everything.



I could wear it tomorrow if I wanted and I just might. I'm very happy with it and the Acero yarn is wonderful to work with. It blocked beautifully. I would definitely use it again.

The finished dimensions are 17" x 85." I was actually hoping it would be a tad wider, but it will be OK. The length is good. I didn't want it to get too long so I was on the cautious side about when to stop. I did the lace pattern all one direction, no provisional cast on kitchner for me. Both the cast on and cast off edges have a similar scallop.

I used ~580 yards of yarn. I have 2 partials skeins totalling 260 yards. I don't think that's enough for a pair of socks. Not sure what I will do with it, but I know I would love to knit it. Maybe I can find something that will work for toes and heels.

I Just Couldn't Do It - Plain Ribbing

The vine lace shawl is still getting much knitting and I think it will be done this weekend. Rumor has it the weather is going to be bad, so it will be a good time to snuggle up, watch a movie and knit.

The Pomatomus is hibernating. I'm undecided if the "knit thru the back loop, purl" repetition is something I really want to get into. They are lovely socks, but I'm just not in the mood. I'm much more in the mood for these slippery socks. I'm not really sure where the name comes from, but I love the pattern. I also think it's fabulous that they were created by a young designer. I think the wollmeise will provide outstanding stitch definition. So I'm seriously considering these socks.

In the meantime, I needed something to knit on for the SKA February challenge. So I cast on, toe-up of course, socks using my caribbean colorway Some Assembly Required sock yarn. I planned to do a 6 x 2 rib with an afterthought heel (I've never done that type of heel before.) But I just couldn't do it. A plain old rib, no way. So I searched my stitch pattern books for a cable, just a simple cable I can run up the sides of the sock. I'm not coming up with some brand new, off the wall design, just building off existing ideas.

I found several 4 stitch cables that might work. Six stitch cables would also be an option. I haven't actually gotten both socks to the point yet where I want to start the cables. So I still have time to plan and scheme. But when I get the socks going, and if my plan works. I'll share the recipe.

The Vine Lace Shawl is Getting a Turn

I'm not sure what happened. Maybe I got just a bit burned out on socks or maybe I am just really ready to knit some lace. Whatever the case, the Vine Lace shawl has been a lot of knitting lately.

I am really enjoying it. My hands don't cramp from trying to hold the yarn tight to maintain some kind of gauge. I just knit and yarn over and purl and don't worry about it being a bit airy. I'm currently at 34" without stretch. I figure I need to be at 52"-55" in order to finisd at 88" or 90".

To determine my finished unblocked length, I measured out a 6" long unstretched section and then blocked that section out. It blocked to 10" long. This told me my unstretched measurement was 60% of the final size. If I want a stole 88" long, I need to get to 55" unstretched. Another example of how to apply math in real life.

I make no mention of the width. I figure that's pretty much set. I was happy enough with the width stretch when I blocked it. I'm good.

Guess I'll get back to knitting. I have about 20" more to go. But I'm really enjoying.

It Was a Handmade Christmas!

We had Christmas with my family in OK this weekend. As is turns out, it was a predominantly handmade Christmas. I started to say homemade, but that doesn't do justice to the wonderful works of art I received.

I put in a request with my Aunt Peggy for a painting. We have a bathroom near the pool that I want to decorate with a beach theme. I have these pictures I took on our cruise to Mexico, but alone they were not all that outstanding. I had a vision of them being combined.

Aunt Peggy did a great job of putting them together into a wonderful painting. It will definitely be the focal point of the pool bathroom. I love it.

My sister-in-law surprised me with this fantastic filet crochetted piece. B is my married family initial. Those that know me know me by my maiden name, but my married name starts with a "B." She would have done the whole name, but it's 9 letters long and she was afraid she wouldn't find a frame to fit it. I just love it.

My Mom paints these fantanstic rock animals. I asked her for a rabbit for Christmas. The rabbit will have a special place in my flower garden in the back yard. I'm going to nestle her into the mulch once the bed wakes up from winter.

My sister got me one of those LCD picture frames. So cool. I can put family pictures in it as well as pictures I've taken on trips.

It was a good Christmas. I love everything I got. Several things I could not have made for myself and one thing I would never have bought for myself.

Brigit - My First FO for 2008

These are my Gigi Silva - Brigit socks. They are my December Sockdown offering and they are finished - ends woven in and everything.

I cast on 72 followed the pattern. I wish I had made the leg longer. I had yarn leftover, kind of alot. I did the Jeri toe and stopped when I had 10 stitches on each needle to kitchner together.

Yesterday I cast on my January Sockdown socks - Cookie A's Pomatomus. I'm doing them toe up and I started with 10 stitches on each needle. I finished increasing the first toe and I thought I might cast on the second toe during the Cowboy's game today, but instead I'm going to get into the pattern and make sure it's going to work. Then if it does, I'll cast on the second sock. I'm using the Wollmeise Sockenwolle and I'm in love.

One Step Forward and Two Steps Back

I knit a lot this weekend. I finished #1 Brigit sock to the toe. I would be much further along on Brigit sock #2 if I hadn't done so much re-knitting. Twice - twice I just yanked the needles out and started frogging. This is not something you do lightly on cabled socks. But the error was so bad and so far back that was all I could do. In the end it worked out fine. Hopefully I won't make the same mistakes on sock #2.

I knit a couple of rows on the vine lace shawl. Just so it would have a turn.

I did not cast on the Clapotis even though I seriously considered it. I gave the vine lace shawl a turn instead.

I'm nothing if not faithful. I keep thinking, I don't want to give the shawl a turn right now, if I'll just knit on the socks, I can get them done. Then I'll cast on the January SKA sock. I did decide to do Pomatomus in the Wollmeise. Wollmeise is not the kind of yarn you want smoldering in your stash. It is meant to be knit.

I have a KP order coming soon. I ordered 4 new circular needles. If I can just get over this need to be faithful to one project, I might cast on two pairs (that's 4 total) of socks.

On the walking front, I've done 8.75 miles. 9% done. The challenge is about 9% of the way done so I'm on target. Wahoo. The dogs are loving this. I think Baby Girl actually smiles when we are on our walks. Niña too for that matter. They love their walks. I can't even say the word "walk" or they go crazy. I have to spell it out or risk the wrath.

Having a Hissyknit: Is Having a Contest

Having a Hissyknit: Love Knit, Love Knit, Love Knit Contest

Check our Hissyknit's contest. My favorite yarn is Blue Sky Alpaca Silk, I'm knitting the Clapotis and I got it at the Shabby Sheep.

Got the Heel Turned

Just a quick update as I try to get back into work mode after 11 days vacation. I did finish turning the heel on the second Brigit sock before I went to bed last night. Wahoo.

100 Miles in 3 Months

I signed up for the 100 Miles in 3 months Ravelry group. Figured it sounded like a good idea. I like to walk the dogs everyday (except Tuesday cause that's knit night). This way I have a group to share it with.


They mention running 3 miles 3 times a week, but I'll knock it out a day at a time, a mile at a time. I'm sure as the weather gets nicer, I'll put in some longer walks on the weekends. It's not unheard of for the dogs and I to walk for 40-60 minutes on a pretty weekend day.


Brigit update - I finished the heel on one sock and will get started on the second tonight. I think 1 more full pattern repeat for the foot and I'll be ready for the toe. It shouldn't be too long now.



I need to cast on for the January SKA challenge. I'm definitely going with a Cookie A pattern. The question is do I cast on Pomatomus with my Wollmeise Rittersporn

Or take a slightly easier route and knit Hedera with my latest acquisition Charcoal Louet Gems

I'm really leaning toward the Louet Charcoal Hedera. I've read that Hedera is a quick, easy knit. The SOWs also have a Bayerishe KAL coming up in February. So I'll need to free up some needles for that. We'll just have to see what happens.

For now I have to wait for the needles I ordered to come in before I can cast on anything. I guess I have a little time to think and knit.

2007 - The Year of the Destash

As I reflect on 2007- The Year of the Destash, I have to wonder if maybe it really wasn't a year of stashing.


I have 21 finished objects for the year. 26 if you count each of the Blocks for Greensburg individually. 13 of the 21 projects were from stash.


There are two types of destash projects.


One, truly destashing projects. That's the kind where the yarn you use for a particular project was actually bought, and possibly used, for another project. The Greensburg Blocks are a great example. I had bits and pieces of several different wools leftover from various clog projects. They came together to make the blocks. Another example are Megan's and Emily's baby booties. The yarn I used for those projects was not bought with the intent of making baby booties, but in the end, it was perfect.


Two, I categorize as yarn that is spontaneously purchased and then it sits in "storage" for more than 3 months before it gets cast on. CTH Northern Lights is a perfect example. It doesn't qualify for stash definition #1 because I bought this yarn to make socks. However, since the socks (Mad Weave) didn't get knit until some time after I'd purchased the yarn, the yarn is considered stash.


Yarn also might go into stash mode if a skein that was purchased after the original skein gets knit before the original skein. So the Brooks Farm Acero I bought, pushed any previous purchases into stash the minute I cast it on.


Just a quick run down of my stash projects:

Celeste's Felted Clogs
Brown and Black Random Striped Socks
Walking the Dogs hat
Emily's Mary Jane Booties
Corrugarter hug
Mad Weave Socks
Megan's Mary Jane Booties
Blocks for Greensburg
Yellow Cotton Hat
Blue Cotton Hat
Dr. Suess Scarf
Mad Cow Socks
Koigu Pink Socks


Not too bad. I'm pretty happy.


Now at the beginning, I said maybe this was the Year of the Stash rather than the Destash. I say that because here at the end of the year, I've been piling it on. Wollmeise, Yarntini, Louet Gems I mean, come on, that's three pairs of sock yarn in less than a month and 2008 was supposed to be the Year of Lace. At the same time, when you compare 2007 stash to 2008 stash you have to admit my taste has gotten much better. There is no destash planned for kitchen cotton in 2008 only fine quality wools. Yeah, I can live with that. It was a good destash year.

What's In A Name?

The boys started their Christmas vacation with us Wednesday afternoon and we kicked off the week with Stars Hockey game. It was close at first, but in the end the Stars whooped'em 8-3.



In the program one of the articles talked about how the various hockey teams got their names. For example, in MN the Stars were the the North Stars, they dropped the North when they moved south, but felt the "Stars" still fit since this is the LoneStar state.


This got me to thinking, what's in a name? Does the name of a colorway make you more or less likely to buy it? Does it affect what you'll knit with it? Does the name of a pattern affect the color of yarn you'll use to knit it? If you dye your own, how do you name your colorways?


For me, the name can play a part.


My yarn from the SOWs sock yarn exchange is a fantastic semi-solid light blue. It could be anything it wants to be. The possibilities are endless. This makes choosing a pattern difficult. However, with a name like "Designated Driver" "Drunken Bees" is the perfect pattern.

Then take Pomatomus for example. An excerpt from the description on Knitty "The finished socks are reminiscent of blue-green fish scales hence the name Pomatomus, the genus of the blue fish." I'm thinking my Wollmeise Rittersporn might fit the bill. At the same time, Rittersporn translates to Larkspur, so Cookie A's Twisted Flower might be just the thing.

With so many pattern and yarn colorway choices, one way to narrow down the list is to make a game of matching the pattern name to the colorway name.

Any thoughts?


A note about the hockey game.

The Havoc Fanatics cracked me up. They have to have to worst seats in the house. Section 332, total noise bleed, but they have a great time. After each goal, the annoucer highlights the scoring player's stats and the time of the goal. When it's a Stars goal, the crowd goes wild. When it's a goal for the opposing team the Havoc Fanatics holler, in unison, "Who cares."


When the clock ticks to 1 minute before the end of a period, the announcer says, "1 minute remaining in the 2nd period." The Havoc Fanatics, in unison, say, "Thank you." So funny. They obviously have a really good time.

No Pictures, But It's an Update

I was waiting to get some pictures to put in my update, but that could take forever.

I'm working on a pair of clogs for Celeste, the boys' grandma. They are made completely from stash yarn - that's exciting. And I'm 65% of the way finished with them. That's really exciting.

I'm finished with 2/3 of the leg on both of the Brigit socks. I have about 18 rows more on each sock before I get to the heel. Not too bad.

I have the yarn for Mom's next pair of clogs. Just want to get those done before 1/18 since that's when we are having OK Christmas.

The vine lace shawl is waiting again. I made good progress for a while, but now it's resting while I make clogs and work on socks.

I have a beautiful skein of Wollmeise yarn on the way. It's Rittersporn medium blue and I think it wants to be Pomatomus. Since Cookie A is part of the Janaury sock knitter anonymous challenge, that works out perfect. I'm going to have to buy more needles if I'm going to have more than one pair of socks on the needles at one time.

We are planning to give Eunny Jang's Bayerishe a go with a SOWs KAL in February. I have some stash sock yarn in natural that I think will be perfect.

Only One Project on the Needles?

I can't believe I only have one project cast on right now. I finished the brown and black random striped socks yesterday. Love them. Pictures when my batteries recharge.

I'm planning to cast on Brigit on 12/1 for the Socks Anonymous Sockdown challenge. I'll have two months to finish them which is a pretty quick pair of socks for me.

I'm seriously considering casting on the Everyday Wrap. I like it, I have some yarn in my stash and it seems really simple to knit. Not sure what's stopping me.

Really need to get started on Celeste's clogs. I'm so glad they are a small pair. I could probably get them done before the Sockdown challenge, but I'm procrastinating a bit.

I Needed a Hat

I walked the dogs in the cold last week and realized I needed a hat. Fortunately I had some leftover wool.

I had several colors to choose from. I liked these 4 together. I wanted the hat to go quickly so I opted to hold two strands of worsted together.

Using the basic increase principles of toe up socks, I cast on eight stitches and got started. The result was a hat with a crown that looked like the toe of a sock. Hmmm, no.

I frogged it and started again. I cast on eight (using the magic cast on method), knit a round, then increased in every stitch, knit a round and then increase in every stitch again. This looked much better. From there I increased in six places (evenly spaced) around the hat. When I first switched from magic loop to a single circular, the hat looked a little bit like a fabric frisbee. I was afraid it was too flat.

In the end, the hat is great. I love the shape. I used a size 13 needle for casting off and I kept the tension ridiculously loose. It worked out great.

I found a new project I want to give a try - the Everyday Wrap. I love the little ruffle. I think I also like the simplicity. It would work really well for a varigated lace weight yarn (KP Blue Jean Gossamer), but I have some KP Alpaca Cloud in Moss in my stash and I think they'll make a happy couple. The pattern calls for 229 yards of Kid Silk Haze. I have a full skein of the Alpaca Cloud so I should be in good shape. I may even double the yarn. This coud be my 5 minute a day knitting project. It's really just a giant scarf. It's the finishing that makes it so great.

A Surge of New Projects

Just yesterday I added two more projects to my knitting plate. First, Celeste, the boys' grandma (their mom's mom) came by to see them here for Thanksgiving because she isn't allowed at their mother's house. It's really sad and Celeste is basically alone. So I thought a pair of knitted clogs for Christmas would make her feel better. My Mom also needs a new pair, she flat wore her's out - you go Mom - so I have two pairs of clogs on the horizon. This will be pairs 13 and 14, but who's counting.

Not that I'm be a cheapskate or anything, but I was going through my wool stash (see below) and realized I probably have enough yarn on hand to make a small pair clogs so Celeste's clogs will be a pink mix with brown/olive green soles. Sounds kind of yucky, but it's not bad in person. This also allows me to get started on them immediately without waiting for a KP order to come in.

The second project I decided to add yesterday is a dog walking hat. The weather has gotten pretty chilly. The dogs don't seem to mind, but it's not for me. I can't just not walk them, so I decided as we were going around the block, that I needed to go through my wool stash and come up with yarn for a hat. A fairly long hat I can pull down over my ears.

I have two options. For the first one, I have 80gms of black (bits and pieces of various skeins), 30 gms of cranberry red, 15gms of Winter Night blue and 10gms of grass green. I'm going to hold two strands together for a bulky yarn and mix the colors to make a really interesting hat (I hope). My issue with this is I will most likely be walking the dogs in the dark, something light would be much better.

So option two is to use some remaining bulky natural yarn with say a red or blue stripe. Or maybe a red and blue stripe. Not nearly as interesting as the combo mentioned above if you ask me, but functional. Not sure exactly what I'm going to do.

I finished one of the brown and black stripe socks. Record time for me I think. It took about a week. I'm anxious to get started on the second one so I can have a finished pair.

I also worked on the vine lace stole. With that project it feels like two steps forward one step back. Knit four rows, rip back two. I think it's because I pick it up and put it down with several days in between each session. It's just kicking my butt and it's not that hard.

I almost forgot, I joined Sock Knitters Anonymous on Ravelry, not that I want to quit knitting socks. No indeed this is only feeding the addition. Every month they post a new challenge and give you two months to finish.

The December challenge is to either knit a Mimknits pattern or knit a top down pattern. I've decided to kick off Brigit on December 1 as a top down pattern in my Cherry Tree Hill Sockittome Loden yarn that I've had for a while. It will be a challenge to finish the socks in two months with a hat, two pairs of clogs and the brown and black socks also on the needles.

Actually, I'm hoping to wrap up the brown and black socks this week while I'm on vacation and perhaps finish the hat. We'll see.

I Love Gansey

I can officially say my Christmas socks are done. Using the sewn cast-off, I finished them up yesterday. I learned a new trick - how exciting. It was super easy.

Here are my brown and black "random" stripe socks. I did use the random stripe generator to create the base for my socks, but I knew I was going to use the black for the toes and the heels so I had to manually adjust the ratio of black to brown stripes slightly. You've got to love Excel for these types of things. I'm keeping a close eye on the yarn as I go along to make sure it all comes out in the end. I've seen lots of people do a pair of socks with 2 skeins, but the skeins seem so small.

I'm using Elann Esprit. I can't remember exactly why I bought the yarn, but I'm really liking it. If the socks wear well, I can see making more socks with this yarn and the random stripe generator. There are so many colors.


And let me just say, I'm a huge fan of toe-up socks.