The more things change… January 20, 2016

…the more they stay the same.  I have signed onto yet another Mystery Knit-a-long, this one by a designer new to me called Casapinka.  The shawl is called Welcome Back Garter and looks like it will be interesting based on her other designs.  I won’t be able to start this one for almost a month when funds become available, but I’m sure it’ll be fun.  I’m going to branch out again and use something other than my shawl go-to, Tosh Merino Light.  The colorways just aren’t doing it for me any more so any suggestions for fingering weight yarns would be greatly appreciated.

In other news, I’ve decided to jump on the bandwagon my Facebook knitting group is on and make myself a pair of Rose City Rollers – only using ribbing instead of the rolled cuff which I know would drive me crazy.  I have 60+ grams of Tough Love Sock in Honey Fig leftover from The Doodler and I was going to do a pair of No Purl Monkey socks with the Pistachio for the cuffs, heels, and toes, but I can easily get a pair of anklets out of what’s left of the Honey Fig, and I like wearing ankle socks anyway.  One of my knitting New Year’s resolutions is to knit a pair of socks a month so even though I finished a pair already this month, I’m not really counting them because I started them back in November.

In the land of UFO’s (another resolution) – the Grass and Bubblegum shawl is two inches away from being finished.  Just in time to since I’m going to need it in the cold weather since my scarf has gone missing.  I still have The Desolation of Smaug (yeah, that’s how old it is) Mystery Knit-a-long to finish, two other shawls that need to be blocked, and to finish weaving in the ends (oh so many ends) on my Doodler so I need to get on the ball.  Lots to do until the funds are available for Welcome Back Garter.

I’m also treating myself to a set of Barbara Walker’s stitch dictionaries.  I just got the one with charted designs and it’s very nice.  Some beautiful cable designs – not as pretty as some in the Vogue Knitting Stitchionary but much more practical in my opinion.  I’m hoping for another when my birthday comes along next month, but I’ll have the set before the year is out.

I’ve been staying on top of it, so check the Knitty Keen Facebook page for Work in Progress Wednesday pics and the occasional Finished Object Friday.  Here’s the most recent finished object – my Crazy Zauberball garter rib socks.

 

TTFN!

Where has all my mojo gone? Long time passing. October 8, 2014

I’ve been sick for much of the summer and the beginning of fall so knitting just has not been happening.  I am now ready to start my holiday knitting and pray I have enough time to get what I want done.  Here’s what’s been doing.

 

Scrappy (or not so Scrappy) Shawl

Here’s a picture of the finished object from the pattern page on Ravelry.  There are several and definitely worth a look.

I was supposed to be a tester for this pattern and while I gave input, I misread the instructions and did it the wrong way, then I did it the wrong way again, and finally I got it right.  Here’s my meager shawl.

 

I’m still going to be plugging away at it but Christmas knitting is on the horizon so it may take a back seat for a while along with my sleeping Hitchhiker and Desolation of Smaug Mystery Knit-a-long.

 

Magic Yarn Ball Swap

I was treated very kindly as always and got some marvelous yarns.  Two skeins of Malabrigo Lace in Sealing Wax, A skein of Tosh Sock in Gossamer, mini skeins for my sock yarn blanket, and some other goodies as well.

 

Christmas Knitting

As usual I have probably bitten off more than I can chew and some of these will be new year’s presents, but who is keeping count?

Color Affection for someone.  Here’s the finished object.

Here are the colors I’m using in Tosh Merino Light – Nutmeg, Golden Hickory, and Oak.

 

And two mystery projects because I don’t know if their intended recipients read here or not.

 

 

I also have matching sweaters I want to make my kids and a sock yarn monkey I want to make for my nephew.  We’ll see how much I can get done.  I’ll be knitting a gauge swatch for one of the mystery gifts tomorrow.  If you haven’t already, like my page on Facebook and keep up with what’s on the needles. TTFN!

Long Time No See March 12, 2014

It has indeed been a while since I’ve posted anything.  I have actually been knitting, but not nearly as much as I’d like to be.  I have two shawls waiting to be blocked, another one on the needles, a sock that I’ve barely started and as soon as I get my replacement size 6 needle, I’m going to be casting on for Color Affection.

The first shawl that is waiting to be blocked is an original design called Flirty.  My husband got me a beautiful skein of Madelinetosh Tosh Merino Light in Coquette for Christmas.  I had made a little shawlette out of some Noro Silk Garden Sock (surprisingly in the colorway that comes up when you click the link) years ago.  I played yardage chicken with it and finished it with only six inches to spare.  I always intended to do something with it but I never actually wrote down a pattern.  When I opened my Christmas present I knew exactly what I wanted to make with it.

Flirty is a wide but short shawl with a ruffled edge, just long enough to tie at your throat to keep your neck warm.  I’m planning on getting some blocking done in the beginning of next week so I’ll post pics then.

The second shawl I’ve been working on is Follow Your Arrow Mystery Knit-a-long.  A Mystery knit-a-long is one where you get individual “clues” or pieces of the pattern and you have no idea how the pattern is actually going to turn out.  My knitting board was doing it as a knit-a-long so I decided to jump in.  I was worried about making gauge for some reason so I knit it on US Size 5 (4.25mm) needles instead of the recommended US Size 6 (4.5mm) needles.  I went to my LYS and found the most wonderful color of Tosh Merino Light, Whiskey Barrel.  Here’s an in progress shot.

I actually ordered blocking wires which just came this week to block this one since I really want it to come out looking right.

The third shawl which is currently on the needles is the Desolation of Smaug Mystery Knit-a-long.  Well, it was The Desolation of Smaug Mystery Knit-a-long.  I was getting ready to link the project page on Ravelry and the first thing I noticed is that the price was only $3.00 and I was a bit miffed because I paid $7.00 since the knit-a-long had already started when I jumped in.  There’s a lengthy explanation and I don’t know if my original pattern is any good any more.  I’m going to have to do some digging on the Ravelry forums to find out what is going on.  I bought the new pattern, but I don’t know if I want to do it any more.  This is incredibly annoying.  Here’s the in-progress shot (and this week’s WIP Wednesday) from the original pattern.  I’m going to have to do a lot of thinking about this*(see update below).

The yarn is Tosh Merino Light in the Envy colorway — my birthday present from my husband.  He’s done a great job picking out yarn colors for me this year.  Interesting story about the yarn.  I told him I wanted sock yarn for my birthday.  He went to one of the LYS’s in the area and asked the clerk to show him some sock yarn.  The clerk went on to tell him that sock yarn wasn’t really for socks and steered him towards the Tosh Merino Light.  Now, I love Tosh Merino Light, but sock yarn it isn’t.  Who ever this person was she has no business working in a yarn store.  I’ve told him to go to the other LYS from now on since their staff seems more knowledgeable.

There’s the sock, but that’s really waiting room and bus knitting so it’ll get done when it gets done.  The next big thing on the agenda is Color Affection.

In these colors…

This is my, “I quit smoking for a month.” (it’s now two!) present to myself.  I love the colors and as soon as I get my replacement needle for Knit Picks, I’m going to cast on.  It’s all done in garter stitch so it’s perfect for doing at night when the kids are in bed and I’m watching TV with my husband.

That’s about it for now.  I should have two finished objects the beginning of next week so keep an eye out for the next post.  TTFN!

UPDATE:  It turns out there are TWO Desolation of Smaug Mystery Knit-a-longs.  Here’s the link to the one I’m doing — The Desolation of Smaug.  So now I own both patterns and I don’t have to frog again.

Shopping! (and some knitting too) February 8, 2013

I have not been in a LYS for such a long time, probably more than a year.  I went out on Saturday to check out a new place opened by one of the members of my knitting group called Hidden River Yarns.  It’s a bit off the beaten path for me but worth the trip.

I ended up with a skein of Dream in Color Smooshy sock yarn, some miniskeins for my sock yarn blanket, and some stitch markers for a yarn swap I’m doing.  They had some cashmere blend sock yarn that I was sorely tempted to by as well as some gorgeous handspun.  I’ll be heading back up there on the 17th to work on my long hibernating sock yarn blanket, so I may succumb yet.

This afternoon, I hit two stores closer to home.  My first stop was Loop.  It’s always been one of my favorites, bright and airy with a nice selection of sock yarns which is what I always look for first.

 

This is a skein of Madelinetosh Tosh Merino Light in Vanilla Bean.  I wasn’t planning on getting this particular color.  I am planning on making a shawl with it and needed to coordinate with another skein of Tosh Merino Light that I got as a gift two years ago.  I’ll be doing the Stella Luna shawl in a wonderful deep purple and the Vanilla Bean.

The purple in the Vanilla Bean isn’t the same as the purple in the other yarn, but it’s close enough to be able to pull it all together.  I’m hoping to be able to cast-on for this by the end of the month, once I can get some new cables and needle tips for my interchangeables.

My second stop today was Rosie’s Yarn Cellar.  It’s nice and cozy and again has a wonderful selection of sock yarns.  I have been very interested in checking out the new Manos sock yarn, Alegria, and was not disappointed.  I wasn’t brave enough to get one of the neon blends, but there is always next time.

 

I like the colors in the skein I picked a lot and am thinking about trying out one of the patterns from the Knitter’s Book of Socks if it’s not too much trouble to alter it to fit my foot.  The top skein is some Noro Iro, their bulky wool/silk blend, that I bought for my swap along with the Soak samples.

Enough about yarn, no onto some knitting.  I have not been working on this anyway near enough, but here’s my progress on my new green sweater.  It’s a top-down raglan using the Incredible Custom-Fit Raglan Pattern.  I’m about to start my third ball and am a few inches away from breaking off for the sleeves.  I’m worried about running out of yarn on this one so I’m going to put in a lifeline at 3/4 length for the sleeves and then knit the body and see if I can get away with long sleeves or not.  Here’s the progress I’ve made so far.

 

I’m using School Products Provence Merino Lace, doubled on US Size 8 (5mm) needles.  I need to have it finished by March 9th when I go to New York so I can wear a sweater I made myself (something that’s only happened once before).

 

 

Lace is in the air May 23, 2010

After all the work I poured into making the Aeolian Shawl, I did not learn my lesson and have decided that making 7 stitch nupps is THE BEST THING EVAR.  So I decided that I would use Estonian lace patterns in Elizabeth Zimmermann’s Pi Shawl because my regular knitting and two small children just isn’t enough.

This is the swatch I made using some Arauncania Ranco on size 6 (4.0mm) needles.  It looks very pretty and gave me a good idea on how the patterns worked with the pi increases, but I needed a larger needle for the nupps to stand out.

I had 3 skeins of Knit Picks Gloss Lace set aside for the project and I dyed them up on Thursday.  I need to make new dye stock solutions because there has definitely been some fading and it took two goes to get the color that I really wanted.

I used my crock pot and Jacquard dyes and couldn’t be more pleased with the outcome even if I did have to mess about with the colors more than I usually would.  So I finished charting the lace on Friday night and cast-on.  I’ve just started the 24 round section.

In other knitting news, I made a lot of progress on my Giselle sweater.  I’ve made a big dent in the lower portion of the sweater and since I’ve hit the point of decreasing every other row, it’ll go even faster.

This is what is left of my 2lb cone of Provence Lace Merino from School Products.  It may not look all that small, but the diameter of the cone is at least half of what it was.  I figure that by the time I’m done Giselle, I should have about 800yds left which should be just enough to make a pair of stockings.  If you have the chance to go there, I highly recommend it – I paid just over $50 for this cone and I’m getting a large lace shawl, a size 3x sweater (with yarn doubled) and (hopefully) a pair of lace stockings or at least lace knee highs.

I don’t have it with me, but a dear friend treated me to some sock yarn this weekend in a lovely brown/gray colorway and for the life of me I can’t remember just what it’s called so that will have to wait for the next post.

TTFN and I promise that I’ll get the camera dug out so I can get proper pictures of things up.

1126 yards later May 10, 2010

Which equates to .64 miles of yarn.

The knitting on the shawl of DOOM is finished.  As I am battling a nasty head cold, bad webcam pics and a worse cell phone shot will have to suffice for now.

It is gigantic!  Unblocked, the top is at least 60″.  It’s long enough that I can wrap it around me comfortably.  Next step is trying to find a place big enough to block it and one where it can rest undisturbed until it’s dry.

Shaking off the cobwebs May 3, 2010

Welcome to the new Knitty Keen blog – long time no see!

It’s a rainy, yucky day today.  One of those days where playing with wool is the last thing you really want to do, but seeing as I’m in the middle of row 39 of the final chart for the Aeolian Shawl, I’m willing to take one for the team just so I can get the damned thing finished.  I’ve taken to calling it the shawl of DOOM everywhere and while it is beautiful, oh so beautiful, I’m at the stage where one row takes close to 30 minutes to complete.

Here’s hoping I can get it off the needles by weeks end.