nittalagh

The socks-that-never-end are done! Done I say!

Yarn was Regia something or other - I lost the ball band ages ago but it's varigated and has blues, purples, greens and browns in it.
Pattern was based on Sally Melville's simple socks but I used an alternating rib pattern for the leg and the top of the foot. I went in two row sections of 1X1 and 2X2 ribbing. The only problem was that I kept forgetting which type of ribbing I was doing, leading to some irregularities but it looks nice enough. Pics will follow once they are taken.

I was finishing up a sock yesterday and put it down for TWO MINUTES to powder my nose and it happened.



*sigh* Those are the 4th and 5th pony pearl dpns he's bitten through. My cat is such a freak. I guess I will have to stick to metal dpns for sock knitting.

Bind off on left one done. Basic bind-off is just fine in my opinion. However my weaving in of ends sucks. I hope I have enough yarn for the second one. Pic will follow when my lonely glove has a mate.

EDIT:

Pic to follow as soon as I get my crappy-a**sed decides to take a decent pic. Damn thing.

A long time ago, I got a bag from my mother and it laid forgotten in my apartment for ages. I was going through things this weekend and I came across it again. The bag had some old report cards, some old immunization records and another bag. I opened the bag and once I got over the smell of tobacco, I was intrigued.

I investigated.

"What's this?"
"It's yours. My mother made it for you to come home in."

( Click here to learn more. )

A little bit of yarn p*rn (don't want the google hits) to get everyone drooling. I took my lovely skein of Fleece Artist over to casa de socksforphlox because she has a swift and a ballwinder. I don't try to be mean and use my friends but it does happen. Yarn makes us do crazy things :)

Here is the FA on the swift. So lovely....


I love this yarn so much. I actually changed my MSN name to "If this yarn were a man, I would take it to bed" and I am really really not kidding. It is that lovely. I think it's the colours - they are so vibrant and true, they are like feelings. If that makes any sense. No? Uhhh...more pictures!



That is one massive yarn cake. How can it be that the world is afraid of colour? Look at them! :) I love :)

And finally, we have the required glamour shot of the yarn. Voila.



Did I mention that I also have two skeins of Koigu Kersti that are to become gloves to match my malabrigo (click here to see it featured in socksforphlox's LJ - mine's the green one). That however, is for another entry.

Why all the photos? I was told by a friend that good knitting blogs have pictures. Knitters need to see yarn, like fish need water. Makes sense to me.

My results are ironic, as I have never actually used mohair. Could be a sign....

I ran to my LYS this morning because I HAD to get some Fleece Artist sock yarn after my friend socksforphlox showed me hers. It was a bit daunting picking between all those lovely colours but I used a bit of logic in selecting my yarn. First of all, I already have some green sock yarn,-lovingly dyed for me by socksforphlox and her mother-in-law. Secondly, Fleece Artist is hand-dyed-one-of-a-kind sort of yarn. The bland colourways are better suited to more generic socks. So I, being me, picked the loudest yarn there was. Here it is:



Well, what do you think? What pattern is worthy of my beloved yarn? :)

I am bored with the baby sweater. The front is done and I have revised the due date to be the twins' birthday, which is at the end of the month. I also am a bit bored with the pair of socks I am knitting. They're nice but I have been at them a while - I need something new.

So I turned to Marley's Ghost.

I have completed two links so far and it's not all that bad. I mean, it's a bit fiddly because it's a tight fit to get that many needles and a chain link all together but it does seem do-able. I am using Paton's Classic Wool Merino in dark grey mix. Yes, I used it for my Yorick scarf too but a single ball of grey wool seems destined to become a chain. The felting process for me will be a bit laborious because I don't have my own washer and must truck any felting projects to the laundromat with my laundry. Did I mention I don't have a car so I have to carry it there one load at a time? So in order to properly felt something, it may take me 5 separate trips. *sigh* This just tells me that I will only felt things for myself as I don't think anyone else would appreciate the work involved.

Back to working on the chain gang...

I didn't finish the sweater. I can cope however. I liken this not to failure but more like the slider who falls off their luge: more embarassed about ripping a hole in the butt of their suit than questioning their right to be at the olympics.

I will continue on and finish the sweater and take photos of the twins fighting over it but there is no medal for me. I managed to keep some of my sanity in tact though, and that in itself is a victory.

I also learned that cold hands do not a happy knitter make. Brrrr....lousy weather.

So I have been urged oh-so-strongly by socksforphlox to join in the Knitting Olympics. By urging I mean she picked the pattern and gave me yarn from her stash. She's enthusiastic...and brutal :) I will get a flogging for teasing her so. I really do enjoy her enthusiasm for my knitting - it makes me want to show off my work.

For the project I am doing a modified Lucy Neatby baby sweater in Emu Superwash DK. It is a sort of varigated brown colour, which is ideal because I am knitting this for my sister's twin boys. Yes, I know I am only doing one sweater but they don't dress alike. Only one sweater is needed and it's sort of funny to watch them fight over things. It's a bit mean but these are boys, and there will be much fighting in the future - my sister needs to get desensitized to the brutality :)



So that's my project - my very first sweater, my first garment ever and it has to be done within the timeframe of the Olympics. I cast on this Friday.

I'm scared!

I haven't taken photos of my completed scarf, Yorick as the light is bad in my apartment. They will be coming soon, I hope.

I learned yesterday that my cat should never EVER be allowed within a foot of untended knitting. Especially not for a few hours or so.

I tried for an entire NFL football game to fix the damage he did to my sock (how on earth did he manage to get the needles out???) but I finally had to give up and rip.

I cast on the sock again and it will arise from the ashes like a phoenix.

Beau will get no nip or gooshy food for a few weeks. He must learn his lesson.

Well, I have been productive :)

I finished my socks. I am wearing them right.now. And they are super comfy! So comfortable that I have started a new pair! I used a 1x1 rib on the cuff and then straight stockinette for the rest of the sock. For my next sock, I wanted a 2x2 rib at the cuff. socksforphlox has convinced me to try to do alternating rows of 2x2 and 1x1 for the rest of the sock. She will just have to tell me how to handle the heel :)

I am working away on Yorick but I am a bit nervous of the felting. I don't have a washing machine of my own! Has anyone hand felted before? How do I go about such things?

As for pictures, I cannot seem to take one of my feet that is in focus. I suck at photography.

The surprises are up at Knitty and I can honestly say that I MUST MAKE YORICK!! Look at it! It's a scarf just MADE for a physical anthropologist by training like myself. The only thing that is holding me back from casting on right now is the yarn for which the pattern calls.

It says "Classic Elite Lush [50% Angora, 50% Wool; 124yd/111m per 50g skein]; color: Cream #4416; 2 skeins"

What the hell? I haven't even heard of this yarn. I am such a dumbass when it comes to these things. I know that sock yarn is good for socks and I just knit on the needles that socksforphlox tells me to use. So far so good. This one calls for 5mm needles which I do have. The yarn is confusing me. Help! I seek guidence!

..just very little blogging about knitting.

Let's see. First of all, I learned the meaning of the word "hubris"

hubris / 'hju:bris/ n. arrogant pride or presumption

When I first began knitting socksforphlox told me about a little something called "dyelots" and how yarn was dyed in vats and how you had to make sure you got yarn from the same dyelot so they would actually be the same colour. I laughed as I thought it silly that someone would make such an obvious mistake as to buy mismatched yarn. What a stupid, amatuerish mistake, I thought. And then it happened to me. I was at Michael's and I didn't pay attention to the labels. As a result, I had two slightly mismatched balls of grey Paton's Classic Wool Merino yarn. socksforphlox bailed me out as she went and exchanged one of the balls. I swear I was ALWAYS double-check dyelot numbers from now on.


Secondly, I have started my first pair of socks! I will post pictures when I am finished the first sock. I am using Regia 4 ply yarn in colour 1937, which looks like this:

Come to think of it, this is every colour. You can buy some at http://www.simplysockyarn.com.

I thought I was doing quite well until it was pointed out that I screwed up my decreases at the heel and had to tink all the way back. It was painful doing all that tinking but it was the only option. Because of the amazing jaws of Beau, I had a spot where the yarn was broken. I don't know where he got a taste for yarn but I hope I can break him of it. I am really really enjoying sock knitting! Turning the heel was very exciting - and I mean it! It was thrilling to see how this strange arrangement of stitches resulted in a heel. I was geek-cited. I also had to switch from pony pearl dpns to metal dpns. Beau broke two and I managed to snap one as well. Apparently, I am a crazy tight knitter.

I hope this satisfies the need at least one of you *cough*ladyknits*cough* has expressed to see updates. That is what I am up to at present, and now, I have a sock waiting for me :)

I finished my stockinette scarf. Very curly. But since it's acrylic, it's perfect as a nephew scarf. It will probably be chewed to bits by their dog anyway.

I have been practicing with acrylic as to hone my skills. I tried a basketweave pattern for a bit which I did successfully, I just decided that I didn't like the way the pattern was written. So I unravelled and right now I am practicing some ribbing (k2, p2) which looks like actual ribbing. Boo-yeah! :)

I am practicing all these things because I have sock-in-waiting. socksforphlox gave me lovely sock yarn for my birthday so I am getting severe sock pressure from her :)

And to be anecdotal, I had another strange experience when knitting at my Celtic club. I was knitting the basketweave in green (a club approved colour) and was part way through a row when I had to go powder my nose. I turned to Jimmy and told him to remind me that I was knitting 4 stitches. So off I go, and when I return, he looks at me and says "K 4". He used knitting abbreviations. He then told me that I have to start doing the knitting where I bring some of it off on a smaller needle and then stitch it back in.... Cabling! Dammit, he was describing cabling. He's not allowed to do that! I guess he watched his mother make sweater after aran sweater. I must remember to photolog the sweater he has that his mom made - it's too hot to actually wear but I am sure I could make myself something similar in a wearable weight and itchiness level :)

I have realized today that knitting while watching a soccer game is NOT recommended. I stabbed myself twice with my needles and for every goal we scored, I dropped a stitch. I also knit half a row I was supposed to have purled because I was too busy screaming at 11 men thousands of miles away. I know they can hear me, so I am trying to encourage them....yes...that's it. Knitting is good for filling the half-time lull but during the match, it's messy and dangerous! You have all been warned....

Well, I folded to peer pressure and I have now started a knitting blog.

I am currently working on my "practice" scarf. It's made out of cheap bright red acrylic and I am using it as a way to practice my stockinette stitch. My next project will be a pair of socks made out of Regia wool. After that, I will tackle the devil hats for my nephews, Garrett and Christian.

I was working on my scarf yesterday morning at the Celtic game and I seemed to shock the guys there. I don't think they're used to a young woman knitting, either that or I am not the "knitting type" in their minds. At any rate, I was surprised when I showed Jimmy my progress, he commented "You're dropping a lot fewer stitches than you used to!" This is his version of a compliment but I was surprised that he knew about dropped stitches. I guess I should have known he's been around knitters before, what with the fabulous aran sweater his mother knit him. Oh well...it gives me something to do at the games. I was harassed because I wasn't knitting something green....I guess they will be unhappy with me for a while :)