cranky knitter

i am knitting even slower and slower ... because i already have a case of second sock syndrome ! ... and i haven't even finished sock #1! i am lame! i love the colors, and know they're going to fit. so then, what is it? i think it's this ...


i am not enjoying knitting with these needles. i had trouble on the gusset, getting the tip of the needle under both my stitches for the decreases ... i think the tip is too blunt for my liking. also, i'm in constant fear that i'm going to snap one. i'd rather be knitting with my crystal palace dpns. they have better points, are more slick, 1/2 the price, and flex without fear. all this ridiculous needle anxiety has made for an unpleasant knitting experience, and they're just socks !


before christmas, i downloaded anna bell's flicca sweater coat pattern. i swatched it last night, on both 10.5 and 10.75 needles. i often have a hard time gauging in rib. the swatch on the smaller needles looked very stressed when blocked to the measurements. but, i liked the fabric better than the swatch on the larger needles. what does this mean? maybe i can knit the larger size sweater with the smaller needles ....

jitterbug

i'm not sure which i love more, the pretty boingy yarn or the hopelessly cute label! the yarn is colinette's jitterbug sock yarn. it's very koiguesque, and very skimpy on yardage ... under 300 yds & 100 g ! ... but is sure is pretty!

i found mindless ...

i certainly have a ton and a half of yarn in stash, but it's always the freshest yarn that entices me ....


such as, this trekking 107. all i knew was that i needed a mindless project. no guessing of fit, no trying to decide on technique, no trying to figure out a clever stitch pattern. i just needed too knit 'round and 'round, and let the yarn make the sock pretty.


and pretty it is ... this is the first time i've knitted with trekking, and i love how all the plies change colors.

the pattern is just my tried and true basic ... size 1 dpns, 72 sts, tubular cast on, 2x2 rib, plain jane leg, slipped stitched heelflap, and standard toe decreased and kitchner stitched.

crochet me!

i picked this book up yesterday at the regulator in durham.









i was hanging out with a certain agent aubergine. we had a knitty kind of day, and we both love crochet. once she showed this book to me, she enabled me by driving me to the bookstore, where she knew there was just one more copy !



it's filled with great designs, and great reading too. i was sitting in bed this morning reading about the author, doris chan, and the history of her mother and needlework, but had to put it down ... 'cause i knew if i didn't, i'd spend the rest of the morning in bed with the book.



the garments are crocheted with a wide range of yarns, from shiny label designers to craft store inventory. i think there's also a lot of leeway in fit and gauge, with the loose and open crochet, and drape.

which holiday is this?

it's beginning to look like valentine's day i think! this is the other colorway of peaches & creme i picked up in shelby over the christmas holiday. i went to a new year's shindig and enjoyed my fill of black-eyed peas and collard greens, and the company of mary of sculpted yarns. i had met her informally the week before at the lys, while she was shopping with a friend visiting from england. we enjoyed part of the first day of the new year, me ... working on something mindless as a dishcloth, and her knitting away ... on something way more complicated, two socks toe up on two circs!

while home over the christmas holiday, mom and i made one of our usual visits to the local wally world. and as much as i love my fancy handpainted yarns and luxury fibers, i always end up in the yarn section of the store ... where this little gem was stocked. and perhaps it's just luck that wally world carries this yarn label, or only natural, since the mills of elmore-pisgah are only an hour away ....


the pattern for the dishcloth is printed on the inside of the ballband. it's also in the mason*dixon knitting book. there's a second pattern printed inside the ballband, for a crocheted dishcloth. i have two other balls, so i might have to try it out too.


... by the way, this is seriously mindless knitting! just what i needed ....

who doesn't love the bullion stitch?!

from rrrrrita, crocheted by agent aubergine. if you love freeform crochet, be sure to check out books by prudence. i tell you what, come spring and summer, when everyone else is sporting their "summer colors" thick & woolly felted bags, i will be carrying my lovely cotton crocheted masterpiece!

for the mindless . . . .

... knitting on lizard ridge. it has become somewhat of a mindless project, though i must constantly refer back to the pattern instructions ....
but, i can watch a movie or hang out with friends while knitting on these squares ... which qualifies it as mindless.


and the colors still seduce me ....



and one of santa's elves thought i should continue on this journey ....