I wrote this Sept. 16 and am not sure why it didn't post--I'm sure it's that mojo thing.
I've lost my knitting mojo. Sad but true. As of Wednesday night, every project on the needles had a problem, and I wasn't feeling like knitting/fixing any of them.
I'm still mulling over the issue with the Summer Solstice socks.
I picked up my Scarlet Fleece socks (remember them from the winter? Check here) to fix the garter stitch toe that was too wide. When I tried on the sock to determine how far to rip down, I realized the whole instep was too wide. Ugh, I don't have the heart to rip the sock yet.
I haven't gone back to the Decadent Fibers blanket yet, just not feeling it.
It's been too hot to do the second sleeve of the Morehouse roll-neck sweater, but today just might be the day to do it if I get to it--it's 52 degrees F this a.m.!
I fixed the problem in the Dream in Color Tulip Cardigan (knitting increase rows while falling asleep is a problem) but it's not flowing on the needles for me right now.
I signed up for the Fingerless Mitts For Fall Knitalong because I have two pair to finish from last year--a Mac & Me pattern in Lobster Pot Cashmere (but I have to rip out the one mitt I finished, I think), and Rosie's Yarns pop-top mittens in alpaca--but I'm not in the mood, and certainly not in the mood to rip out the Mac & Me mitt because it's almost done, even though it knits quickly.
I even thought I could get my mojo back with this cool Frankenstein hat from See Jayne Knit that arrived on Friday. You know, bulky-ish yarn, larger needles...but I couldn't get gauge! Of course, my sister reminded me that I shouldn't knit a gauge swatch in the middle of the night. Silly me--but it's the only time I have to knit!
But then...my Woolgirl sock kit came
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Friday, September 7, 2007
Summer Solstice waning
I've knit about 1/3 the length of the instep,
and I'm still worrying about this heel:
I think the heel is too narrow, but it's hard to tell--I can't figure out if the heel is too narrow while it's still on the needles, and I don't know that I want to put the stitches on waste yarn, or just rip it out and find another heel that will be more comfortable.
And on a marginally related note: that blob that ate my knitting corner in January is back! And I'm trying to get it out!
and I'm still worrying about this heel:
I think the heel is too narrow, but it's hard to tell--I can't figure out if the heel is too narrow while it's still on the needles, and I don't know that I want to put the stitches on waste yarn, or just rip it out and find another heel that will be more comfortable.
And on a marginally related note: that blob that ate my knitting corner in January is back! And I'm trying to get it out!
Thursday, September 6, 2007
FO Pictures!
Here's the milestone birthday afghan in as much of its glory as I am able to capture:
How I wish I could take better pictures! Maybe a photography class is in my future, say, when all four are in school full time. That would be 2011. I'm not wishing the kids' early years away, but goodness knows, I can't make that kind of commitment yet!
Back to the blanket. You may notice it does not have a border. I've run into border trouble as mentioned in my previous post. Of course, my mom understood and offered to help. Can you believe the woman told me today about a possible border other than the one I've knit? I think she meant Ann's garter stitch border, but my brain fogged as soon as she mentioned it. I mean, I only knit enough of the border to sew to one long side of the blanket and the first corner, but still--it's cabled and took a long time! And to switch to what, 18 rows of garter stitch on each side?! But I'm not complaining, really--she'll even help knit it (I think)!
That pink thing in the square in the lower right hand corner of the blanket: it's a felt heart embroidered by my sister with our initials (the three daughters) and, I think, the year. It's awesome--she did a great job! (Note to self as per sister: in future, be sure to embroider wording before sewing heart to blanket).
And a final note: you see how the blanket seems to grow wider as it gets closer to you? It's not an optical illusion--that's how we were able to finesse the different gauges of the different knitters, all of whom purportedly had the same gauge in their gauge swatches. Go figure! Ahh, that's the beauty of a handmade item, right?!
How I wish I could take better pictures! Maybe a photography class is in my future, say, when all four are in school full time. That would be 2011. I'm not wishing the kids' early years away, but goodness knows, I can't make that kind of commitment yet!
Back to the blanket. You may notice it does not have a border. I've run into border trouble as mentioned in my previous post. Of course, my mom understood and offered to help. Can you believe the woman told me today about a possible border other than the one I've knit? I think she meant Ann's garter stitch border, but my brain fogged as soon as she mentioned it. I mean, I only knit enough of the border to sew to one long side of the blanket and the first corner, but still--it's cabled and took a long time! And to switch to what, 18 rows of garter stitch on each side?! But I'm not complaining, really--she'll even help knit it (I think)!
That pink thing in the square in the lower right hand corner of the blanket: it's a felt heart embroidered by my sister with our initials (the three daughters) and, I think, the year. It's awesome--she did a great job! (Note to self as per sister: in future, be sure to embroider wording before sewing heart to blanket).
And a final note: you see how the blanket seems to grow wider as it gets closer to you? It's not an optical illusion--that's how we were able to finesse the different gauges of the different knitters, all of whom purportedly had the same gauge in their gauge swatches. Go figure! Ahh, that's the beauty of a handmade item, right?!
Sunday, September 2, 2007
Secret Project Revealed!
Bet you thought I'd have pictures! Soon, soon! But I'll tell you all about it: it's a sampler afghan made out of Hunt Valley Cashmere. Gorgeous! Just gorgeous! My two sisters and I knit it for my mother's milestone birthday. I can't believe it slipped under the radar!
My mother bought the yarn 4 or 5 years ago at Stitches East, and even knit 5 squares (it has 20 squares). When we hatched our plot to knit a blanket for my mother, and my youngest sister was caught looking in books for afghan patterns, my sister said she was knitting an afghan for herself, so my mom offered her the yarn and completed squares. I mean, who turns down a jump start on a project in cashmere. Not to mention I saw the completed blanket at Stitches East and it was to die for.
It is not a FO, but an almost FO. We don't have a border. I started the cable border from the Great American Aran Afghan pattern, and it is fabulous, but our dimensions don't fit the Aran Afghan dimensions due to variations among different knitters (shocker). I have to tinker with it, plus it knits more slowly than I expected. I need a knitting consult, and after youngest sister consulted with me, we both agreed we needed the expert: Mom. The problem with knitting a gift for your knitting consultant is that you can't consult/troubleshoot with the knitting consultant. So now that we gave her the afghan, Mom is going to help us with the border.
Other news:
1. Baby Girl is TWO! We had a fabulous birthday party (family only) and she loves her gifts...just about as much as her brothers love them! Fortunately, she now says "[My] turn!" You gotta assert yourself in my house!
2. Boy M had his first encounter with bees. He must be sweet like honey because four bees stung him. Not fun, but he is ok. I now carry Benadryl melt-aways in my purse and diaper bags (as per the pediatrician). Because I need more to carry with me.
3. We took the triplets to the shore (the beach for those of you not from NJ) for the day and we had the most glorious time on the beach and at the aquarium. They just loved it, and behaved beautifully and obeyed us (nothing is as terrifying as being outnumbered by children who are misbehaving near large bodies of water or swimming pools, and fortunately, they didn't).
3. I'm plugging away on the Summer Solstice socks and just finished the gusset on my first sock. When you see the afghan, you'll understand how it sucked up my summer (my sisters did 5-6 squares, I knit 4, but because one sister doesn't crochet, or seam crochet, I did most of her share of the crochet borders on the individual squares, redid the crochet on the squares knitted by my mom, half the seaming, sewed the halves together and wove in all those ends (roughly 2-2.5 hours worth) from all the seams.
4. Preschool starts on Tuesday! Yay!
My mother bought the yarn 4 or 5 years ago at Stitches East, and even knit 5 squares (it has 20 squares). When we hatched our plot to knit a blanket for my mother, and my youngest sister was caught looking in books for afghan patterns, my sister said she was knitting an afghan for herself, so my mom offered her the yarn and completed squares. I mean, who turns down a jump start on a project in cashmere. Not to mention I saw the completed blanket at Stitches East and it was to die for.
It is not a FO, but an almost FO. We don't have a border. I started the cable border from the Great American Aran Afghan pattern, and it is fabulous, but our dimensions don't fit the Aran Afghan dimensions due to variations among different knitters (shocker). I have to tinker with it, plus it knits more slowly than I expected. I need a knitting consult, and after youngest sister consulted with me, we both agreed we needed the expert: Mom. The problem with knitting a gift for your knitting consultant is that you can't consult/troubleshoot with the knitting consultant. So now that we gave her the afghan, Mom is going to help us with the border.
Other news:
1. Baby Girl is TWO! We had a fabulous birthday party (family only) and she loves her gifts...just about as much as her brothers love them! Fortunately, she now says "[My] turn!" You gotta assert yourself in my house!
2. Boy M had his first encounter with bees. He must be sweet like honey because four bees stung him. Not fun, but he is ok. I now carry Benadryl melt-aways in my purse and diaper bags (as per the pediatrician). Because I need more to carry with me.
3. We took the triplets to the shore (the beach for those of you not from NJ) for the day and we had the most glorious time on the beach and at the aquarium. They just loved it, and behaved beautifully and obeyed us (nothing is as terrifying as being outnumbered by children who are misbehaving near large bodies of water or swimming pools, and fortunately, they didn't).
3. I'm plugging away on the Summer Solstice socks and just finished the gusset on my first sock. When you see the afghan, you'll understand how it sucked up my summer (my sisters did 5-6 squares, I knit 4, but because one sister doesn't crochet, or seam crochet, I did most of her share of the crochet borders on the individual squares, redid the crochet on the squares knitted by my mom, half the seaming, sewed the halves together and wove in all those ends (roughly 2-2.5 hours worth) from all the seams.
4. Preschool starts on Tuesday! Yay!
Monday, August 20, 2007
Fresh on the needles!
Because I didn't have enough WIPs on the needles, I cast on two more projects.
*WARNING*
It is a gray and rainy day, there is no good light anywhere, so these pictures are extraordinarily bad. I saw the online tutorial on building your own light box, but I'm not even deluding myself that I can get around to doing it before, say, the kids go to college.
*WARNING*
Summer Solstice socks in Yarn Pirate Rum Runner:
I've only done a few pattern repeats on the leg, but so far, it's a fun and easy pattern. It's also easy to remember, which helps when you're up all night in two ERs trying to get treatment for your sister who has a rapidly spreading infection (don't even ask, but she finally got treated, and after allergic reactions to at least two antibiotics, she is slowly getting better).
Clapotis in Lorna's Laces Lion & Lamb in Iris Garden:
I'm having a good time with this, too, but it seems really wide, and I'm not a shawl kind of girl. I'm trying to thing of it as a really wide scarf. I'm almost done with Section Two, the increase rows; I think Section Three is where I get to drop stitches. Woo-hoo! (And yes, that is Doc Hudson, the Fabulous Hudson Hornet, keeping the work from curling in the photo).
I have new stash, plus two great small project pouches from Piddleloop that were a gift from my mom. No way am I taking pictures today! But they are awesome!
And despite horrible craziness the past two weeks, we have a joyous occasion: Baby Girl is TWO on Wednesday!
*WARNING*
It is a gray and rainy day, there is no good light anywhere, so these pictures are extraordinarily bad. I saw the online tutorial on building your own light box, but I'm not even deluding myself that I can get around to doing it before, say, the kids go to college.
*WARNING*
Summer Solstice socks in Yarn Pirate Rum Runner:
I've only done a few pattern repeats on the leg, but so far, it's a fun and easy pattern. It's also easy to remember, which helps when you're up all night in two ERs trying to get treatment for your sister who has a rapidly spreading infection (don't even ask, but she finally got treated, and after allergic reactions to at least two antibiotics, she is slowly getting better).
Clapotis in Lorna's Laces Lion & Lamb in Iris Garden:
I'm having a good time with this, too, but it seems really wide, and I'm not a shawl kind of girl. I'm trying to thing of it as a really wide scarf. I'm almost done with Section Two, the increase rows; I think Section Three is where I get to drop stitches. Woo-hoo! (And yes, that is Doc Hudson, the Fabulous Hudson Hornet, keeping the work from curling in the photo).
I have new stash, plus two great small project pouches from Piddleloop that were a gift from my mom. No way am I taking pictures today! But they are awesome!
And despite horrible craziness the past two weeks, we have a joyous occasion: Baby Girl is TWO on Wednesday!
Monday, August 13, 2007
Monkeys OFF my back!
FO ALERT! I have finally finished the Monkey socks (actually, mini-Monkeys a la Cara at January One) in ShelbyB's Nymphadora Tonks colorway. I have pictures, but they're worse than usual. That's what happens when you can't take photos until 8 p.m. at which time the sun has basically set. Here they are anyway:
Of course, I finish my first pair of Summer of Socks socks when my group leader (who reports on everyone's progress) goes on vacation. Typical. Now off to block the socks (just because they're on blockers doesn't mean they've been blocked yet!) and swatch something else...maybe Yarn Pirate Rum Runner?
Of course, I finish my first pair of Summer of Socks socks when my group leader (who reports on everyone's progress) goes on vacation. Typical. Now off to block the socks (just because they're on blockers doesn't mean they've been blocked yet!) and swatch something else...maybe Yarn Pirate Rum Runner?
Monday, August 6, 2007
One down, one to go
Check this out:
Could it be? It's a Nymphadora Tonks Monkey sock that fits my sister's foot. It FITS! (Ignore the ends to be woven in; I refuse to weave until I know it fits, plus I may have to redo the grafting).
But what could that be next to finished sock no. 1?
Yes! It's sock no. 2 in progress! I've finished the four pattern repeats I'm doing for the cuff and am about to start the heel flap. I like to do the heel in one sitting, so I may not get to it until nighttime. Oh, and that cool purple gadget is a dpn holder I got at Woolgirl and it's great!
And who could resist yarn from Woolgirl? Not me!
Tippy Toes from Whimzy Pimzy to make booties for my niece-to-be:
Union Center Knits in Kitty's Eyes:
(I'm thinking of getting coordinating skeins in Green or Not Pink for heels and toes).
The Painted Tiger self-patterning Stars & Stripes Forever yarn:
(I've been ogling this on etsy since early July).
And my recent purchases from The Loopy Ewe:
sKNITches Syncopation self-striping in Collegiate:
and Beardsley:
and Yarn Love Juliet (I've been dying to try this) in Shipwrecked:
Could it be? It's a Nymphadora Tonks Monkey sock that fits my sister's foot. It FITS! (Ignore the ends to be woven in; I refuse to weave until I know it fits, plus I may have to redo the grafting).
But what could that be next to finished sock no. 1?
Yes! It's sock no. 2 in progress! I've finished the four pattern repeats I'm doing for the cuff and am about to start the heel flap. I like to do the heel in one sitting, so I may not get to it until nighttime. Oh, and that cool purple gadget is a dpn holder I got at Woolgirl and it's great!
And who could resist yarn from Woolgirl? Not me!
Tippy Toes from Whimzy Pimzy to make booties for my niece-to-be:
Union Center Knits in Kitty's Eyes:
(I'm thinking of getting coordinating skeins in Green or Not Pink for heels and toes).
The Painted Tiger self-patterning Stars & Stripes Forever yarn:
(I've been ogling this on etsy since early July).
And my recent purchases from The Loopy Ewe:
sKNITches Syncopation self-striping in Collegiate:
and Beardsley:
and Yarn Love Juliet (I've been dying to try this) in Shipwrecked:
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