better knitting, better days ....

of course, i'm not to the blocking stage yet .....


... but, i am nearing completion (knittingwise) with this pullover. tonight, i got home a bit earlier than i have on other nights in the last week or so, poured myself a glass of red wine (safe enough with black yarn ... right?) ... and am knitting away on the last piece of my black dianna. i am also watching a netflix movie (because, i don't know how to just sit & knit, or sit & watch a movie ....).

i'd love to finish this sweater this week, and wear her soon. i tend to stall out on finishing anything. and then, of course, there's the "what am i going to wear this with ?".

i am thinking a slinky (charmeuse) cami, which ... i don't have. but surely, being spring, target, jcpenny, kohls, or somewhere, must have slinky cami's in stock ?!

i hate icarus

yes. i said it. it's true.

why? ... because my blocking surface is not big enough. so, i first blocked 1/2 of the shawl, and thought i'd come back later and block the other half.

instead, i've spent a week walking around the table, bumping into the table, and moving it around here and there so i don't have to bump into it or walk around it.

so, i decided to block the other half. it was a no go. a failure.

i yanked the pins out and put icarus into time out.

besides, who the hell needs a baby alpaca shawl when it's 80* ?!

good stuff!

last week, i helped a woman and her mother with a crochet pattern. it wasn't anything big ... and i'm not really sure if i interpreted the instructions correctly, but i did "give permission" to stray from the instructions, as long as they were consistent.

see, i have this *theory* about crochet ... i feel that you don't necessarily have to be so exact, as long as it looks good, and you're consistent.


they were so pleased that the mother said she was going to make me "a doily" ! the daughter said, "it takes her six hours to make one."

wow. six hours of someone's time!

i cannot think of a better gift.

so, it was brought by my LYS today, for me, with a note, and a copy of the pattern to knit a 14 point star dishcloth. how awesome is that?!

i'm not going to use it for dishes though ... it's definitely going to be a washcloth for the bathroom instead.


i also started another new project. hmmmm .... a sweater. a black summer sweater.

see, i have jealousy issues, as my kind friend jackie gleefully points out. what does that mean? well ... when i work at my LYS, and i help someone pick out yarn and pattern for a new project, sometimes they end up getting exactly what i would want for myself!

that happened on saturday. after all was said and done, i wanted the yarn she bought. but, she bought it, and i don't need it. but the pattern, the pattern is a freebie off the net ... it's the pacific view pullover from tahki/stacycharles, as seen advertised in the latest VK magazine.

though the original is knitted in tahki's bali, a bamboo tape yarn, my substitute yarn has the same gauge and the same body as the bamboo (meaning, my yarn is 87 yds/50 gr, and the bamboo is 81 yds/50 gr).

i am using vittadini's dianna. i have knitted the back, and started a sleeve. of course, fit is always an issue, but, i will cross that bridge when i get there .....

half-assed knitter

so, this week has been vastly different from other weeks. the biggest change has been training for a new temp job, which has ('cause i'm also still working other/primary/current job) impacted my knitting time.



so, what's the best project to carry around, just incase there IS knitting time? .... well, a sock, of course!

i was so pleased with my last panda sockens, that i decided that perhaps summer sockens were a good idea. so, i cast on with some stashed yarn, and went for a very plain sock (as the yarn was quite complex, colorwise).

it has been some seriously slooooow knitting. perhaps because i rushed in too soon with something i had done before (ie: same yarn!) ?!

but, it does allow me to do other things while i knit (ie: watch movies!).

speaking of which, i received i am legend (via netflix) almost a week ago, and finally made the time to watch it, not so long ago. as it turns out, i have become a wussy. apparently, i cannot watch a scary film by myself, after dark. how pitiful is that?!

so, the first night i watched about 55 minutes, 'til i realized that my sleep would be compromised (i can fall asleep, but i have trouble staying asleep). i hit stop. went to bed with a book and "happy thoughts". the next day, i put the movie back on to finish, while it was still daylight.

great movie! love will smith! can't believe he didn't get an oscar! .... and i didn't miss a stitch ....

the details:

cpy's panda cotton in nasturiums, 64 sts on 2.25mm needles. my gauge feels a wee bit tighter than usual, probably due to the elastic nature of this yarn.

for the picot top, i did a crochet provisional cast on, then knitted 8 rounds of the panda cotton, did the eyelet row, then 8 more rounds of stockinette, then joined together on the 9th round.

i figured if i was going "plain" i could at least go "girly".

"do i really wear socks in the summer?"

"ummm .... i don't think so !"

then why did i knit lace summer socks?! i dunno. because i had the yarn? it's pretty? the pattern, it's pretty too? i like knitting socks? duh.



i meant to wear them today. it was only in the 70's, sunny, beautiful, and all that good stuff. but, i never made it out the door with socks on.

that's how it is in the south. there's sock season and sandal season (sans socks) .... and maybe, when you're feeling entirely practical, sock & sandal season.

specs: floral lace anklets by evelyn clark, in interweave knits _lace style_ book.
cpy panda cotton in lacquer red, 2 balls.
size 2.25 mm susan bates dpns.
got gauge with zeros, but was skeptical of a 60 st. sock with zeros, so went with the 1's. i'm glad i did! it is a stretchy pattern, but ......

purse knitting

i had some running around to do today, including an unusually long wait at doctor's appointment ... thank goodness i had my trusty socken project.


this picture is actually of the first sock (meaning, yes, i am on the mate!). and because my appointment was so long, i almost reached the toe of the socken mate.

i even felt some pangs of panic ....

"what if i finish ... then what ?! i should carry more than one socken project at a time .... "

these socks are from lace style by interweave knits. they're called floral lace anklets. i call them 'red summer sockens'.

the yarn is cpy's panda cotton in lacquer red. it is splitty, but i've come to terms with that. i just have to keep a bit more tension on the yarn to keep the plies together. i like the color and fabric very much. i don't know why i'm knitting 'summer socks', since i don't wear socks in the summer. but, if i do, they'll be pretty girly ones!

slacker knitting

first of all, i am a sucker for accessories. especially the clicking variety, with locking mechanisms. this is my green kacha that has been held hostage by my icarus, since july of 2006 !

apparently, the last time i knitted on it, i had finished row 9 of _____ chart. yep. i didn't know. but, it didn't take me long to figure it out, as i'm pretty good at reading my stitches.


so, i picked it up again, and knitted a whopping 8 or 9 rows on sunday. progress is slow when there are so many stitches. i was also surprised by how quickly my ball is disappearing. the pattern should only take two balls, and i am near the end of the knitting, and the end of the 2nd ball. i do have a 3rd ball in reserve.


i revisited icarus on ravelry, to see how many balls of misti alpaca lace others had used ... it varies between 2 and 3 balls. i guess i shouldn't really worry and just keep knitting. it's just nice to not have to break into an extra ball for a few yards, ... but, i do believe in knitterly insurance.


why am i going to finish this now? ... in time for warm muggy weather? well ... i do want to knit another lace shawl of significant yardage (nothing small like 'spring things' or 'swallowtail'). and, i cannot do that with this still on the needles.



oh, speaking of the needles ... i am using addi turbo 3's. these are not the lace needles. and the tips are painfully blunt! the lace needles weren't on the market when i began this.

socks for next season

as i so often do, i stalled on these socks just before the toe. i just do that for some reason. and if i knitted toe up, i'd probably stall before the bindoff!


but i am glad i finished these. perhaps i slowed down because the leg of the mate was knitted twice. i had dropped a stitch on the 3rd round, and didn't discover the mishap 'til i had almost finished the leg. i ripped because it was a mistake i could not overlook. infact, it was glaring!

my original thoughts were that the socks would be a quick knit, on size 3 needles. but, this much cabling, even w/o a cable needle, is slow going.

i would knit these again, perhaps in a superwash wool. but, i'm not in any hurry to do so. i've got lots of other socks to knit !

specs:
tyrolean stockings by ann budd
interweave knits fall '07
Bemidji Woolen Mills Original Homespun, 2 hanks
size 3 cpy dpns