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Projects On The Go

Posted on January 27, 2012
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I’m back in the game, baby! Knitting was great stress relief during the holiday season. I haven’t stopped since then. I’ve finally taken some photos of my stuff in progress.

First is a new slouchyhat. The first slouchyhat was knit two years ago…

…and while it is wonderful and serves me well, the yarn is soft and pilly. And pilled it has. Half the cabling is lost in pilling.

This time I’m knitting a bit of a chuinkier slouchyhat this time, using the Star-Crossed Slouchy Beret pattern and Berocco Blackstone Tweed.

The hat is knitting just a smidge loose, which I think will be helped by blocking. We’ll see. I like it, though. Simple and fast.

Not so simple or fast, but thoroughly enjoyable so far… the Omelet shawl.

I am not far into it, at all. But I can see the patterns developing. I spread it all out every few rows just to admire the shapes and the fact that all these yarnovers and decreases form such cool shapes. It’s my first proper fancy lacework, and so far it’s relatively simple, as long as I’m careful to follow the charts.

Last but not least, my sock.

Nothing special, just a ribbed sock knit with KnitPicks Stroll Tweed. It’s nice soft simple yarn and it’s nice to have a small on-the-go project. And to tote it in, I have…

A new Zuma bag!!

I have wanted one for awhile, after coveting a fellow knitter’s Zuma bag at a knit night. They’ve been hard to find, but I located one on sale online, and it’s finally made its way to me. I love that it’s a big sack bag disguised as a cute leather girlybag. :) And the fake leather is so soft and nice. And the extra pockets are just perfect. Love it love it love it.

What have you all been working on? :)

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Simple socks, long scarves, stash enrichment & shark hats

Posted on April 13, 2011
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I’m still knitting. All the time, in fact! Also HEY LOOK, new design for the blog! Wanted something a bit more fun and edgy. Hope you like!

I scrapped the RPM sock for the time being, as it yet again DID NOT FIT MY FOOT. This sock curse is as maddening as my feet are.

I have a solution. To the left is a new sock in progress. It is a simple 3×1 rib sock that I am making out of simple and sophisticated KnitPicks Essential Shoreline Twist.

With this sock I will carefully work with my ridiculously shaped feet, and figure out my measurements and how they pertain to stitch counts. I will retain these records for further socks.

Oh, and no more short row heels. They’re the devil for my feet. Flap heels forever.

 

In other news, I’ve been pressing forward on the Doctor Who scarf, and decided to take  measure and some photos. I was rather… blown away by my progress. Looking at my chart, I am over halfway done. The scarf is 5 feet unstretched, 8.7 feet stretched to blocking length. It’s trippy to think I’m halfway done, even though it’s taken me over two years to get to that point. Can I finish it in time for Halloween this year, and fulfill my Fourth Doctor costume? We’ll see.

Pics of the over-halfway progress:

I love looking at it. It’s all coming together!

I had a job interview yesterday and kicked it’s butt, so I celebrated with new yarn. Here, you may ogle it. It’s Biscotte & Cie – Felix in the Belle Gueule colorway. Self-striping superwash merino deliciousness.

Also!

Regarding the shark hat:

So many of you have stepped up offering test knitting support, kind words and encouragement, and you’ve all been more than patient waiting for the pattern. It will be ready for release very soon! My small but dedicated team of test knitters have been fabulous in helping me perfect this pattern so that it can be as error-free as I possibly can make it before release. At this point, it’s my own paranoia making me triple and quadruple check it. You’ve all been fabulous and I appreciate all the resounding support. :) Knitters are Good People.

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KniCroBlo Week, Day 4: Where are they now?

Posted on March 31, 2011
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Whatever happened to your __________?

Write about the fate of a past knitting project. Whether it be something that you crocheted or knitted for yourself or to give to another person. An item that lives with you or something which you sent off to charity.

I have two pairs of lost socks.

Lost completed socks.

That fit.

I lost them before I could even get around to photographing them completed.

You see, right before I moved to this house, I was on a sock spree. I knit two first socks, and then I knit both of their matching pairs. I was proud. They fit my weird feet. One pair was a simple rib sock, and one pair was Lighthouse Gansey, a pattern I loved but had to frog repeatedly. Both were knit from delicious KnitPicks Stroll in different colourways.

They both went missing in the move, and many searches later I have deemed them lost to the void. I am very sad about this, and here’s a secret: ever since, any socks I have knit have not fit very well. The closest I’ve come was the Who socks – they fit once put on, but putting them on over my heel area is a fight every time. It’s like my reign of well-fitting socks ended with those two pairs.

My next pair will be meticulously planned. I will measure them to fit my stupid feet, and I will frog until they fit. Hopefully I can break this curse!

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Shark Hat and Travelling Sock

Posted on November 16, 2010
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First, some big news. As many folks have learned, the Shark Hat pattern is… poorly written. It is my fault, having made a sore attempt to combine by test knitter’s efforts with my own and then failing to test knit once again. This time, I’ll be doing it right.

A lovely person on Ravelry has made the needed edits to my pattern, and with credit to her, I’ll be test-knitting and re-releasing the pattern soon. Watch for updates, and to all who have been frustrated by this hat, I give my sincere apologies. It is a lesson learned as a noob designer: Don’t be in a hurry to release your patterns. Be thorough and do your best to make sure it is correct the first time around.

In pleasant Shark Hat news, something awesome is going on over at Halos of Hope. One of my shark hats has been knit, named after a wonderful pit bull (which, given my other aspiration in life, fits perfectly), and took an inspiring voyage for cancer awareness. I have no place to brag in this awesome story; I am merely humbled that something as adorable and silly as my shark-eating-head hat could be an inspiration for something like this. Halos of Hope is an awesome organization; if you can spare it, throw them a donation.

Last weekend was spent in Virginia, up mountain at my sister (the Knitting Pirate)’s house. She is not my blood sister, but her and my two swornbrothers make it a point to unite ourselves a few times a year.

Sister and I knitted. Natch.

My sock is RPM knit in Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock Multi. It looks weird when not on a cylindrical object, but it’s knitting up very nicely.

Knitting and wine while watching our brothers cook was bliss. It was an enjoyable retreat and I look forward to their visit here in February.

Falling back into that comfortable knitting groove is nice.

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Timey Wimey Socks

Posted on October 4, 2010
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So, many moons later, the socks are complete.

Wibbly Wobbly.

I took a significant knitting hiatus over the summer, and came back with a vengeance.

Timey Wimey.

I tried very hard to make them symmetrical, but the dye was uneven, so no fault of my own. I still love them.

...stuff.

Stripey socks are cool.

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Socks Ahoy!

Posted on May 14, 2010
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There isn’t much that’s more happy-inducing than getting a KnitPicks box in the mail.

Delicious Felici goodness.

Two skeins each of two Felici self-striping yarns, Time Traveler and Abracadabra. Felici is DELICIOUSLY soft and smells like fresh wool. The most exciting one, of course, is the Time Traveler colourway:

Wibbly Wobbly.

The Pirate and I have decided on the Jaywalker pattern for the socks. We both adore Jaywalkers, and they are appropriately wibbly-wobbly while still maintaining the integrity of the stripes.

Also, I only had to chop a small amount of yarn to make the skeins start in the same spot.

The small clump is the sacrificed yarn. Woo!

So excited to start these!

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Wibbly Wobbly

Posted on May 4, 2010
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First off: I finally found my notes for Jack’s Beanstalk Blanket! This means the pattern cannot be far away.

My sister the Pirate and I are up to our usual shenanigans. She has recently gotten into Doctor Who, which makes me love her all the more. KnitPicks recently unveiled the new colours in their Felici sock yarns, and there is one that piqued my interest, the Time Traveler colourway:

Photo belongs to KnitPicks.com

The description from KnitPicks:

Wear these brightly striped socks whether you are going to the office or traveling through time and space. Time Traveler is a colorful mix of purple, tan, red, gold, ivory, and gray stripes. While you can knit some really really long socks, this colorway will not create socks that are larger on the inside than they appear on the outside.

It is evident that I require it. Sister agreed. Not to mention, the colours are nice enough that we both wouldn’t mind wearing such colours of socks on a regular basis.

So, Pirate and I are knitting matching socks! Most likely going to be simple stockinette socks, to prioperly showcase the stripes.

I’m going to be so sick of these colours when all is said and done! :P

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KnitCroBloWeek Posts 6 & 7: Past F/Os and All Tooled Up

Posted on May 2, 2010
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I need to do two questions today! Yesterday got madly busy, and today was, too, but tonight is nice and calm and relaxing, and I can finish up the week with a double post. Enjoy!

Saturday:

Revisit a past F/O

Bring the fortune and life of a past finished project up to the present. Document the current state and use of an object you have knitted or crocheted, whether it is the hat your sister wears to school almost every day, or a pair of socks you wore until they were full of hole. Or maybe that jumper that your did just didn’t like that much…

I’m sort of revisiting two past projects: My first socks ever, and my favorite socks ever.

My first socks ever were simple stockinette, top-down, flap-heel socks. Knit with Invicta Coloris, which was not a fantastic yarn but self-striped nicely with entertained me, and slightly loose around the ankles, they were my Very First Socks and I wore them to the end. Well, one to the end. It got a huge hols in the toes and repair proved impossible. Sad, considering the remaining sock is still very intact and wearable.

My absolute FAVORITE pair of socks, the ones I wear all the time and not a sign of wear yet, are my second pair of Jaywalkers.

I knit these a few years ago, from Regia sock yarn in the colourway “Canyon”. I made sure they lines up all symmetrical and pretty-like, and tried them on the whole way to make sure they fit right. They are dream socks. Snug, comfortable, warm, durable. Very little sign of wear yet, and I wear them as often as my store-bought socks. Easy one of my favorite, most-worn FOs yet.

So yeah. Socks. :)

See what others blogged about for Day 6!

Next… today, Sunday! The Sunday given topic, a yarn you love, didn’t really interest me (I don’t love any one or two specific yarns, I love many equally) I decided to choose the wildcard topic:

All Tooled Up

Do you have a particular knitting/crochet tool or piece of equipment that you love to use? Maybe it is an old bent pair of needles that used to belong to someone special, or a gorgeous rosewood hand-turned crochet hook that you just love the feel of? Write about what you love it.

I loveloveloveloveLOVE my Denise knitting needle set.

I got it secondhand from a friend of a friend, in great condition. I was a bit skeptical when I purchased it, as I had never used the needles and have used some plastic needles before with little success… but I adore them. They warm to the touch and are just a bit flexible like bamboo, but with slickness like aluminum needles. The interchangeable-ness is so useful for so many projects, especially now that I tend to knit most straight items using circular needles. Now that I have a good interchangeable needle set, I never want to be without them.

See what others are blogging about for Day 7!

Knit and Crochet Week was a HUGE success! I had a blast reading other bloggers, commenting, and making some new e-friends along the way. I hope those of you who caught my posts enjoyed reading them, too! I did my best to crack my blogging knuckles and keep the posts mostly interesting. :)

Keep blogging!

Do you have a particular knitting/crochet tool or piece of equipment that you love to use? Maybe it is an old bent pair of needles that used to belong to someone special, or a gorgeous rosewood hand-turned crochet hook that you just love the feel of? Write about what you love it.
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Ferret Sweater Pattern

Posted on November 7, 2008
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I come bearing patterns. A pattern for a cute little ferret sweater. :D

Palom, my adorable, huge boy in the photos, was kind enough to model the sweater for me. In fact, he’s still wearing the Noro one. And napping. He loves his sweater.

I made two, a blue stripey one and one from leftover Noro sock. If you’ve got ferrets, it’s a great stash buster for leftover sock yarn!

Palom got a treat for being so photogenic, and to beg forgiveness for scruffing him for an underside shot in the second photo. Sorry, little man. Enjoy your peanut butter chew.

Pattern will be in my pattern list to the right momentarily! (Decided to do the post, first.)

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Rogue in the dark

Posted on April 3, 2008
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No posts in forever. Been busy working, and knitting.

With that last one being prominent, you’d think I have photos to show. Well… not yet.

With not much time to run errands, I’ve not been able to get camera batteries. On top of that, the weather here has been disgusting. Rain and clouds. Not photo weather at all. Today was actually sunny, but aformentioned battery problem kept me from photo-taking. I need one of those little portable light studios everyone makes for photographing their knitting.

My Rogue is progressing swimmingly. It’s such a delicious pattern. Well-written, and engaging. It keeps me interested and entertained. I stop every row to ogle the side panels. I’m currently on the cable midsection and I tried on the sweater thus far and it fits so great. Love.

I’m still working on my Lighthouse Gansey sock as a travelling project, although I haven’t gone out much lately with aforementioned work.  I’ve also, just tonight, cast on for another cabled newsboy cap, since I wore my last one right out (and it was made of ACRYLIC, jeezus!) and I have this lovely leftover dark grey/black Patons Classic Wool Merino. I love hats.

Photos will follow as soon as I remedy the above.

Happy spring, Happy April, and Happy Knitting. :)

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