still hooked on green

green is my favorite color, no doubt. and i love all the other colors too, but green is number one. and after i got this palette from knitpicks, i started thinking how nice it would be for the dovecote shawl. sometimes you just need a good basic wool, especially for a pattern that reminds me so much of gansey, but with lace ....









i'm ever so pleased with this shawl ... i wore her today, took the pictures this morning, but am now bundled up in windpro fleece as the day has turned ugly.

what i enjoyed ... the changing patterns. just when you're "over" one repeat, you get to switch to a new one. and then, after all those different stitch patterns, there's still the edge border. with that, i patiently purled backwards. the border is rather narrow, and i didn't want to keep flipping my knitting back and forth, so i purled backwards, ... to get the garter stitch. hmmm ... did i purl or knit backwards? well ... whatever i did, i got garter stitch, as i was suppose to. it's not hard. i'm sure there's videos out there on the net.

now, i am semi-projectless. i still have my aran sweater to knit, but i want to start a new shawl. i have been trying to figure out for a week already what's next. i have no idea. but, i will figure it out this weekend.

ps ... whoops! i knitted the "petite" size on 4mm needles with approx 554 yards of fingering wt. yarn. the pattern in this size calls for 600 yds.

i love holidays!

first of all, thank you all for the sock drawer love. i actually need more drawer space, as all the socks were not in the drawers, and if there was more space, i might actually be able to see what i do have.

this is what happens when you've knitted socks since '94, are addicted to socks, and don't give very many of them away. each pair is a memory. perhaps that's why i keep them mostly for myself. some people go on vacation and buy stupid t-shirts. i go on vacation and hunt down a yarn store for my souvenir.

so, here's the kicker ... i actually am not actively working on a pair of socks right now.

i thought i would. i had plans for at least two or three more pairs i thought i would like to cast on for this month, but instead i turned my head towards a lace shawl ...



this is dovecote by the amazing anne hanson. i love all her patterns. i had cast this on in january with a different yarn, but just wasn't buying it. my original yarn choice left me doubtful.

so, recently, i placed that order to knitpicks and ordered some of their palette yarn in a fabulous shade of green. i think this shade is called grass. and it's totally grass. it's perfect.

i've been knitting on it whenever i've had knitting time this week. the aran sweater (whoops, just realized i never posted it)(well ... it's spring time and i'm knitting a fisherman sweater)(seriously) will get its attention on the weekend.

i'm amazed that i can knit on this even when watching movies with subtitles. it's not that the lace is that easy (the repeats are long). it's just that this is my second time on this set of charts.

in other news, i got off early from work. of course, i should had stayed and made money vs. leaving early and spending money. but, it was just so pretty outside the windows!

so, i hopped into my truck and headed down the highway to a local knit shop, and treated myself to some other new things ...



yarn, of course ... this is knit one crochet too "crock-o-dye". the colors remind me of summer. when i saw this yarn, i instantly thought, "wow, this would make some great firestarter socks !" they won't get cast on anytime soon. but, yarn will 'keep'.

i also got a new book ...



this is _the fine line_ by grace anna farrow, using the isager yarns. i LOVE this book. i'm so glad i found it locally. all of the wraps are modern and edgy. the yarn store also had the yarns, but i wasn't ready to spend as i have a shawl on the needles (and, i DO have a lace yarn stash).

lastly, in the shopping bag, was this pretty shawl pin ...

it's like a big safety pin. most of my pins are dull and brassy, or sparkley and silvery. this one will fill the gap ... dull and silver.

(sigh) a good day. and now it's cloudy and cold. it will be dark in a couple of hours. i think it's a good time to settle into a movie and my green lace shawl.

happy st. patrick's day !

finished!

i'm a knitting-whore. (gosh, i sure hope that word does not bring spammers onto my blog!)

but, i am. THAT.

i have finished my lace socks, my pretty green lace socks, that i COULD wait until wednesday to post (st. patrick's day), but no .... they're done now and i am posting now.

so, here's the socks!



and i love them :)

first of all, green IS my favorite color. plus, i'm very pleased that i knitted a design from a book i already own. it's nice to knit from stash .....

and nevermind that i very recently ordered two hanks of yarn from evermore studios ... the yarn has been received (at my parent's home) ... but from what i hear, i made some lovely choices :)

but, about the socks above ... they were an interesting knit. the pattern is from a japanese lace source. so, there's patterning on every round (for about 1/2 the chart).

regardless, i could not knit these w/o the chart.

i will be wearing these on wednesday ... or maybe another pair of my green socks ....

apparently, i own A LOT of socks!

ps. each drawer is two rows deep !

bedtime reading

i do realize that i already have more books, magazines, and yarn, than i can possibly use in this lifetime, but that didn't stop me from picking up this special issue of piecework by IK press.


i use to subscribe to piecework magazine. it's a really great publication, but i only have so much shelf space, and moving magazines is heavy work!

and the cover price is a whopping $14.99 (but, depending on where you find it ... such as i found mine at my joann fabric store ... you can possibly use a coupon for it).

i do have some of these patterns already because i use to subscribe, but there were enough that i didn't have and wanted. you can see the contents here on the IK site.

in other knitting news ... i am getting close to the heel of my second green sock. i hope to finish this pair soon as i'd love to cast on a new pair for march.

rare post

yes ... RARE because i'm posting on a weekday ! but, i got off work early. wow. amazing. seriously. today was the first day since ... ? ... that i got off work while there was still daylight.

so, i rushed home (after a quicky run through the grocery store), dropped the food on the kitchen floor, and grabbed my camera so i could take pictures of my finished sock.




this is ariel from the book _sock club_ (see previous post). i grafted her toe today, and could not wait until the weekend to share the progress and pictures.

now, i must cast on the mate.