Not a stitch...

Really, I didn't even touch the knitting yesterday. My right wrist was sore -- I actually put Biofreeze on it before I went to bed Thursday. All better now. This morning, I finally finished the round I started 2 days ago, and then did the plain-knitting round that follows it. I don't know why I'm sitting in front of the computer. I need to get back to work on that shawl. Not to make it sound like I'm not enjoying it, because I am.

I didn't even get once around the shawl yesterday! I started a round, got interrupted, didn't pick it back up till much later, got interrupted again, then it was bedtime. I did spend too much time shopping for yarn online yesterday, but I was strong & didn't actually purchase anything. Whew!

I took my knitting with me (not the shawl, as I'm working from a cone of Zephyr, and cones are just not very portable) to the world's longest baseball game yesterday afternoon. It was a middle school game -- it took them over 3 hours to play 5 innings! But my son's team won, 15-14. It was not only their first win (they've played 7 games), but also their first time to score more than a couple of runs in a game. As long and potentially sleep-inducing as the game was, I did not get out my knitting. I just can't bring myself to do it -- people might think I'm weird, or something ;-)

Making little bits of progress

I have already done 6 rounds on my Mystery Shawl today, bringing me up to having completed round 152. I am on the final clue, which ends with round 182, so if I can keep up this blistering pace, I can have it done on Monday! I am just 2 rounds into the final clue, but it was nice to finish a chart and move on to the next one. On the final round of the previous chart, I knitted the shawl onto 4 circs in an attempt to be able to spread it out and take a picture. This is as good as it gets, as I didn't feel like looking for pins and really stretching it out.

This is prom week at our local high school, and the theme this year is Hollywood Nights, so they're featuring a different classic each day this week. Monday was the Wizard of Oz -- this is my daughter in a dress I made her 6 years ago for a Wizard-of-Oz themed dance (October 2000). This is the extent of my sewing -- I don't make "real" clothes. I guess I'd rather knit. And "Toto" is being played by Kai, even though she's not really right for the part.


My Cedar Creek socks have grown just a little -- the Socks That Rock yarn is wonderful! I actually took one sock off the Magic Loop and put it on dpns the other day (thinking I'd get one sock done, and it would be quicker & more portable that way). I knit one chart repeat, then did once through the chart on the other sock and put the first sock back on the circular needle. The dpns were those short 5" Brittany Birch size 1's, and they just don't feel good in my hands.

One sock done

Not much to see here. I finished one of the socks from the Red Cross kit. The leg is the same length as my husband's "real" Army socks. The yarn is quite nice; it seems to be fingering weight. The pattern gauge is 7 sts and 9 rows to the inch. I'm using US 1 needles, and I'm not getting gauge -- more like 7.5 sts and 10 rows to the inch. I wouldn't want to try a larger needle, as the sock would be too flimsy. I think the pattern must have been meant for a heavier yarn, like sport weight. In fact, one version of the pattern specifies 14/4 wool, and when I did a search for "14/4 yarn", everything that came up said sport weight. Strike two for the folks who put the kit together (the 3.75 mm needles, US size 5, that came with the kit being the first strike).
My Mystery Shawl 3 has progressed through row 134; 46 rows (rounds) to go. By my calculations, I've done 24 rounds in 10 days. Not too impressive. The EZasPi group posted the first clues to the Knit Your Own Adventure Mystery Pi shawl last night (um, I think I was up too late, actually, and I'm doing it again, still on the computer). I haven't even figured out which yarn I want to use, and the first clues shouldn't take too long to do, so I can catch up.

It's been a week?!?

Where to start? Let's see... I finished the Pink Ladder Socks on Wednesday, a week ago. Exactly 2 months after I started them, which would be ridiculous if they'd been the only thing I worked on during that time. I usually throw newly completed socks in a mesh bag and wash them, then hang them to dry, but these soft & cushy things have disappeared into the upstairs part of the house.

I told my husband I'd make him a pair of socks, so that seemed to be the appropriate next project. I had gotten a kit from the Red Cross with a vintage pattern and some nice olive drab wool, so I'm going to make those for him. The kit looks like this:


And here's what comes in it:


I'm not sure who picked the needles to include -- they're not marked with a size, but my needle gauge says they're a US 5, or 3.75 mm. The yarn seems to be a fairly standard sock/fingering weight. It's a 4 oz. skein, and I estimated the yardage to be about 435 yards. Pattern gauge is 7 sts and 9 rows to the inch. So I'm using US 1 needles. I don't think I'd use a size 5 even for worsted weight socks!

The pattern is also available as a free download (.pdf format). I am trying to follow the pattern without modifications, just to see what I get. I have 3 inches of 2x2 ribbing done; this will be followed by 8" of "plain knitting" as the pattern calls it. I'm up to about 4 1/2" so far. This is my traveling knitting -- waiting while I get the car worked on, or at the orthodontists office, or the eye doctor, whatever.

In a moment (or several) of weakness the other day, I started the socks from the Rockin' Sock Club. I decided to try them toe-up so I could make the legs as long as I want, without worrying about whether I'd have enough to finish. These are my first socks with Socks That Rock yarn, and I have to say that everything good that I've heard/read about this yarn is true! The socks will be soft & plush; the stitch definition is excellent; the yarn has a sheen to it.

I am using the chart as written but I started with row 3. I thought about turning the chart upside down, but then I'd have to figure out an easy way to turn that nifty right twist into a left twist. I've got 64 stitches on a US 1 (2.5 mm) needle. Started with a short-row toe (love the Queen Kahuna method), and I'll probably do a short-row heel, as well. The tricky part is going to be the picot edging at the top of the leg, or to be more precise, finding an easy way to fasten the edging down.

My Mystery Shawl 3 has grown by a whopping 10 rounds this week. I'd like to get it done before the EZasPi group starts the "Choose your own adventure" Pi Shawl on April 14th. Only 70 more rounds, divided by 9 days... doesn't look too likely, does it?

Glad Raggs

I finished my socks for the Six Sox Knitalong, just in time. [Yarn is Fortissima/Socka #1060] The new sock pattern will be posted on Saturday, April 1st.

Now I'm back to working on the Pink Ladder Socks, which I'm making for the Princess. She wouldn't wear pink for several years, but now she loves pink. Still can't stand purple, though, so she wouldn't even consider attending my alma mater, Kansas State (school colors are purple & white). Seriously, she took school colors into consideration.

Current status of the Pink Ladder socks:

These were the February sock of the month from TheKnitter.com. I did about 2/3 of the leg plus the heel yesterday. It's going really quickly.

I'm also still working on the Mystery Shawl 3 -- haven't made a lot of progress recently. I'm just finished with row (or round, actually) 100. Not that you can see much, but here's a picture.















It's a damp gray day here in the Ozarks. I just let 3 sad-faced dogs into the warm, dry house. I must be getting soft in the head.

Just suck it up and drive on

I made the sanity-saving decision to pick up those Jaywalkers and just finish them. I was past the gusset decreases, after all, so all I had left to do was finish the foot and do the toe. I got the foot done on Saturday and thought I'd get the socks finished that night. I was mistaken.


I like to do short-row toes. The problem with that on these socks is that there are 38 instep stitches (because the pattern pulls in) and 32 sole stitches, and you have to have the same number of stitches top & bottom to make the short-row toe work. So I thought I'd do the decrease rows from the pattern, but only on the instep stitches, until I had 32 stitches on the top of the sock. I did my short-row toe, and counted the stitches on the needle. 31 -- I lost a stitch somewhere. I ripped out that toe and reknit it, and it worked out right this time. So I grafted it -- one sock done! Or not... the toe of the sock looked a bit like a Bell Curve. I was so disgusted, I didn't even think to take a picture before I ripped it out. Hmm... I'll just rip out the decrease rows, rearrange the stitches so I have 35 on each needle, and do my short-row toe. See? That works -- except that now my sock toe has ears.

Fourth try: I realize the problem is that on the instep pattern, you do an increase at each side, causing the sock to flare when you transition to stockinette stitch for the toe. So I ripped back 6 rows, and reknit them in pattern, except that I didn't do the increases on the first and last instep stitches. And voila! at the end of those 6 rows, I have 32 instep stitches to go with my 32 sole stitches. I managed the short-row toe without dropping any stitches, and finally finished these socks. Yarn is Opal Rodeo #1153.


This whole process took me until sometime on Monday. As soon as the Jaywalkers were done, I started the Glad Ragg socks for the Six Sox Knitalong. I really like the yarn I'm using -- it's Fortissima/Socka #1060, a 4-ply sock yarn with 1 strand of black, 2 strands of gray, and the 4th ply is a bright variegated strand. I'm using a 40" addi turbo, magic loop method. I was a die-hard dpn sockknitter. I had tried 2 socks on 2 circs, but didn't like the extra needle ends flopping around.

I tried magic loop for the first time back in November (and it turned out to be a good thing, as the 2 skeins of yarn differed in color enough that it was noticable, but if I hadn't been making both at the same time, I wouldn't have realized the difference until I had finished the first sock and was well into the second, and then only if I looked at them together). One of the biggest advantages is that both socks are finished at the same time -- no lonely sock waiting for its mate while you get distracted by other projects. And they'll have the same number of rows on the non-patterned parts, without having to count over and over again.

You know you haven't posted in awhile...

when you have to go back and read what you've written in order to make some small measure of sense & create some continuity.

Rogue went to school last week, and was admired by all. Actually, one girl told her it was cute & asked where she got it, and the Princess replied, "Um, my mom made it," (in a "you won't believe this, but..." tone of voice). Others chimed in, in disbelief (really, there's just not much knitting in rural southeast Missouri). End of story. *sigh*

Mystery Shawl 3 is coming along pretty well. My biggest lesson from the Knitting Olympics is what I can accomplish if I focus on one project, rather than ... 20 or so. Actually, I just counted, and it's more like 9. But I have several others that want me to start them. Fortunately, I don't have a LYS, so there's no running out to buy more needles when the ones I need are in another project. [What did I just say? Fortunately? Well, probably so. I have managed to acquire a LOT of yarn without the benefit of having a yarn store nearby.]

Jaywalkers are past the heels, but there is a hole on just one side of each one, at the top of the heel flap, where it joins the instep. Progress on these seems to be going so slowly, I'm considering taking them off the Magic Loop and putting them on dpns to finish. But if I do that, I may frog back and do a short row heel ala Queen Kahuna. I like her "no heel flap" method, too, but not with striped yarn in a sock that starts with the cuff. The stripes would look like spats to me, I'm afraid. (Had the same problem with the Strong Heel socks, from Knitter's issue K72.)

Hmm, apparently no pics of them in their current state. I'll have to remedy that.

Gold medal

Is this not cool? It's from the Yarn Harlot's blog. She started this whole Knitting Olympics thing.

Mmmm... more yarn!

In today's mail:
The pattern & yarn for a felted Fair Isle bag. Yarn is Cascade 220 #9467 delphinium, and Noro Kureyon 156.













Jamieson & Smith cobweb in peach, for the Sampler Stole in A Gathering of Lace. There's a knitalong for this project.











Taking a break from my Jaywalkers, and overcome by curiosity, I started the Mystery Shawl 3. The yarn is JaggerSpun Zephyr, in Peacock. US 6 needles. The Major (otherwise known as husband) came home & said, "NOW what are you knitting? You were making socks yesterday." I said, "Sometimes we need a little variety in our knitting." He just doesn't understand.

Here she is!

The princess & her Rogue:




















Now I can go back to the Jaywalkers I abandoned 2 weeks ago. I'm almost done with the legs. They're fraternal twins, as I forgot to make sure there was the same amount of yellow in the beginning of each ball of yarn. And since so many people have had trouble with the fit of this sock, I figured I might have to rip them out, anyway, so I didn't go back & make them match. The yarn is Opal Rodeo #1153.

Finally fixed my issues with getting pictures from the camera to the computer. It was such a pain to plug in the cable & power cord (to save camera batteries), turn on the camera, and hope the wizard would work to download the pics. I was only having guaranteed success when I restarted my computer in Selective Startup, without the Startup Group items. What a pain. Well, for about $20 I got a card reader at Wal-Mart. It's about the size of a jump drive. I put my camera's card in it, plug it into the USB port, and move the pictures off the card and onto the computer. Worth every penny.
So, here's the hood and a partial sleeve. I'm actually almost done with the second sleeve, which means the end is in sight! Whew ~ this may be the most concentrated effort I've ever made on a knitting project. It's good to know I can make a sweater in about 2 weeks, that I can work on a single project from start to finish without being distracted by others. But it hasn't been easy! I think I've gone a little crazy the last few days, ordering yarn (not that there isn't a huge stash here already...). I have joined Eunny Jang's Sampler Stole KAL and ordered yarn for it. Then I decided to take a leap and try the Fair Isle Sampler hat (Interweave Knits Winter 2004), so I had to order the yarn for that. And I joined the Blue Moon Fiber Arts Rockin' Sock Club, and this morning I ordered a mitten kit and the yarn for the Fair Isle bag in Interweave Knits Summer 2004, from Nordic Fiber Arts.
Somebody stop me! Oh, that would be me. I have to stop myself. I think I'll have to live to 100 to knit all the yarn I've accumulated.

All Rogue, all the time

Progress on the Rogue:
I started the hood last night, finished the 6th skein of yarn and started the 7th. That means I'm more than 50% finished. Actually, because of modifications (no pocket, 2" shorter in the body) I should have more yarn than I really needed.

I corralled the kid long enough to try it on her and snap a picture or two. Unfortunately, the other one was blurry.

Knitting Olympics Day 6

Well, I got off to a good start on my daughter's Rogue. I have 12 sk. of Knit Picks Wool of the Andes, so I figured I'd be ahead of the game if I could knit at least one skein per day. That worked for a few days, but I have not yet finished skein #5, and I should be on skein 6 today!
This picture shows the first day's progress, at the end of the 1st skein of yarn. The blue is the provisional cast-on, followed by the hem facing (I did straight stockinette, rather than twisted stockinette or k1p1 rib), the turning row, and the beginning of one of the side cables.

This next one was taken at the end of the 2nd skein. I removed the provisional cast-on, put those stitches on a needle, turned up the hem and knit a body stitch together with a hem stitch all the way around on round 12 of the body (there were actually 8 more stitches in the body than in the hem at this point, so I just knit 4 stitches in each of the side cables without attaching hem stitches to them).

Swatching

Ready for the Knitting Olympics to start tomorrow. Here's my swatch for Rogue -- Knit Picks Wool of the Andes in Fern. I'll be putting aside my Jaywalkers (almost done with the legs, doing both at once on a long circular), the Pink Ladder socks (finished one, haven't started the 2nd -- these socks involve 2 colors of yarn, and I think I'd wind up completely tangled if I tried doing both at once). I was also going to try to finish another long-languishing project, which I would have occasion to wear approximately once a year; this year's occasion falls on Feb. 25th, so if the thing had a chance of being finished, that chance ends at about 2 p.m. local time tomorrow (cast-on time for Olympic knitting).

Way too lazy

I've been way too lazy about posting -- I have been busy knitting, however. I've finished the Standing in the Shadow of Love socks from the Six Sox Knitalong, my Leaf Lace shawl (finished 1/17 and finally blocked yesterday), and a pair of socks using Opal Southwest #2, a color that is apparently discontinued -- I purchased it on ebay.

I have read in several places about people having trouble with the Jaywalker sock pattern being too tight, so I decided to make a pair to see what all the fuss is about. The pattern is fun, and I'm using a self-striping yarn -- Opal Rodeo color 1153. I have realized I have no artistic vision -- I didn't know the socks would look so cool! I don't have enough done yet to try on & see if they'll be too tight.

I also started the Feb. sock from theKnitter.com, a light & dark pink slip-stitch pattern called "Pink Ladder Socks". The yarn is Cascade Bollicine Dolly, 100% extra-fine merino -- very soft & nice. It's looking really good, but I'm not sure the leg is going to be big enough around. I probably should take it apart and make the larger size.

I have signed up for the Yarn Harlot's Knitting Olympics. My project will be a Rogue hoodie for my 17-year old daughter. I have ordered KnitPicks Wool of the Andes in Fern, and have done my gauge swatch. Now I'm just waiting for the Opening Ceremonies on Feb. 10th. I thought that having a goal of finishing a project in a set period of time would be a good way to make sure the sweater actually gets done.

Camo socks

Here are the camo socks -- I got 3 pair out of 2 hanks of Twinkletoes sock yarn (from ebay seller Over the Rainbow yarns).

Sampler Shawl

This is my completed Sampler Shawl, from Folk Shawls. I used Alice Starmore Scottish Campion, purchased on ebay. Jamieson's Shetland Spindrift is the same thing, and I did have to find some more to complete the shawl. It's very long -- 90" or so, I think. The rows are 399 - 400 stitches long! (Depending on the stitch pattern, you increase or decrease as instructed.)
















What is it about damp wool that is so attractive to cats?
More stitch detail:

Doll poncho

This is the doll poncho I made for my niece. The Yarn is Lamb's Pride worsted. The pattern was adapted from the real-people-sized one in The Knit Stitch.

Oregon vest

The dreaded zipper application in my sister’s vest --

I thought about trying to sew it in with the sewing machine, but after consulting several books and websites, decided to do it by hand. It involves pinning the zipper in place, backstitching it to the vest, and then whip-stitching the edge of the zipper down.






And here’s the whole vest, relaxing in a chair on the deck: