For Patterns
Mouse 29 is nibbling away:
I finished my navy blue socks:
I finished Clue 3 on the Summer Solstice Mystery Shawl:
It's beginning to look like a shawl.
My Holey Jacket is coming along nicely. I finished the left front, and now I'm working on the right front:
It's still fun!
Mouse 28 is done:
I have completed the second clue on the Summer Solstice Mystery Shawl (spoiler alert!):
It's so crammed on the needle that it isn't much of a spoiler. Just when I figured out how to do the dang nupps, there are no more. Unless I want to knit it again. Which I do not. Most of my knitting this week has been right here, working on my nupps. You wouldn't think days of knitting would disappear so fast, but there you have it. Days and days of knitting. I just hope it's worth it in the end.
I also wound up three more skeins of yarn for my Holey Jacket:
When this yarn is gone, I will be more than half done my sweater. The progress so far:
Unfortunately, I haven't worked on it much, because the nupps have been attacking me, but when I do work on it, it goes fast.
My navy sock also goes fast, when I work on it:
I have on my schedule that my Navy Socks should be done by next Friday. The next clue on the Summer Solstice Mystery Shawl doesn't have anymore nupps, but it might be a long clue to knit, so I hope I can get these socks done -- if I don't, no big deal. They'll get done.
Half a year of one-mouse-a-week.
Half a year of knitting.
Two months of spinning every day.
And half a year of writing something every day but Sunday.
That's a lot of blab, a lot of knitting, and the start of a lot of spinning. I'd better stock up on catnip.
Mouse 27 is ready to rock and roll:
I used The Culprit that unintentionally dyed my lovely skein of yarn pink. There is some satisfaction that will come of that when a cat rips it to shreds.
I blocked my Cardioid Shawl, which came out lovely, and I am very happy with it. Here it is pre-blocked:
Here it is blocked . The magic of lace!
I was going to start my Summer Solstice Mstery Shawl KAL on June 20th, but I had to have something to knit until then, so I started a pair of plain socks with a skein of Comfort Sock in navy blue:
They're good to work on when I am visiting someone.
I also started some crochet because ... well, because. Because I can and it's really fun. Here's my Holey Jacket so far:
I love this pattern. It's quick and easy, and it has a little shaping, but it's not hard. I also love the Wool in the Woods Cherub I'm using, too. The color is called "Majestic Ridge". The pattern calls for Paton's Grace; if I still like this pattern when it's done, I'll order some for either another Holey Sweater or for something else.
So then it was time to start thinking about the Summer Solstice Mystery Shawl. I chose a skein of Sockaholic in color "Speakeasy" that has been sitting in my stash for a few years.
I knit my gauge swatch, and tried out some nupps:
The nupps on the top row are 3-stitch nupps; the nupps on the bottom row are 5-stitch nupps. Wendy gives the option of doing either one, or using beads, or doing nothing. I chose 3-stitch nupps.
When the 20th finally rolled around, I downloaded the pattern and started out. I like Wendy's patterns, because you start out with the most number of stitches, and it only gets easier from there. I cast on my 277 stitches -- twice, because I ran out of yarn for my long tail cast on 30 stitches from the end. I used a cable cast on the second time, because I was bright enough to read the pattern and saw that the first row was a right-side row. About three repeats of the pattern into the first pattern row, I regretted choosing 3-stitch nupps. Those babies are harder than they look! Doing them a couple times is fine, but doing them 30 times in a row, with yarn overs and double decreases on either side of them, is torture. Probably, I will think they're really pretty when they're done, and they better be, dammit.
That is the result of like, four hours of work, and the unending counting. I've got four more rows to do by next Tuesday ... if I live that long. Wish me luck!
Yesterday I succumbed to the crochet bug. Last week, I got an email from Patons (because I registered on their web site for free patterns) with two lovely patterns. I thought, that is a lovely little cardigan, and went to look at it. It is crochet.
Sigh. It calls for sport weight yarn .... hmmm, I think I have some sport weight yarn in my recently-inventoried stash ... yes, there it is. Will it be enough?
Yes, it was exactly enough.
Double sigh. And I already had two hanks wound into balls, too. So I started my Scallop Mesh Jacket, known to me as the Holey Sweater:
That's the beginning of the ribbing. I'm about to start the body now -- well, after I do some web site work. It is a lovely reward.
In other (knitting) news, Wendy Johnson is having a KAL (Knit Along) in Ravelry and on her web site. It's the Summer Solstice Mystery Shawl KAL of her own design. It starts June 20, so you have time to sign up! The pattern is only $2, but it will go up to $5 on July 17. You can join her group on Ravelry if you like; I did.
I'm going to use a skein of Sock-aholic in a color called "Speakeasy", which I won years ago in a drawing on the Knitters Brewing Company's Ravelry group:
It's gonna be fun!
Mouse 26 ...
... hiding in the begonia. Can you believe it? The year is half gone already.
My Cardioid Shawl is nearly done:
A close up
A point
When it's blocked of course, it will be much prettier. By cramming it all on straight 14" needles, I can't really tell what it looks like until I block it. What if, through some strange manipulation of the stitches, it spells out "Horrible Knitter" instead of being a nice, normal lace pattern? You just can't tell.
I do know that I was off a few times on my count and just fudged it; that two other times I dropped some stitches and picked them up -- probably wrong, but they were the right number, and it was better than nothing, which is what I would have if I let it all unravel; and the first time I knit a point, I neglected to pick up the wraps with the stitches which it VERY CLEARLY tells me to do in the pattern, and I didn't go back and do it over because going back, with this very slippery yarn, is pretty much impossible. The yarn is very pretty, though. I will never use it again, but it's very pretty.
I'm not sure how I can block it. That will take some figuring out. It has quite a bit of weirdly-shaped acreage. I could block it on the bed, if no one cares about sleeping there for a night ... we could have an all night party. Or, I could just figure something out. We'll see.
Ravelympics is Ravelry taking part in the Olympics, July 27 - August 12. The Olympic Committee has nothing to do with it, but don't tell the Ravelry people; they're absolutely going bonkers over the Olympics.
The last time I did the Knitting Olympics was when they had the Winter Olympics of 2010, about two months before my stroke, when I spun the yarn for a pair of socks on my spindle and knit the socks, all over the span of the Olympics. I wore my socks to the Spa. That was Stephanie Pearl-McFee's Knitting Olympics. It was really fun and I had a great time doing it. It was the most fun I'd had knitting in a long time.
Used to be, the Winter Olympics were the only ones that registered with me. The Summer Olympics were in the middle of Tourist Season, and the store was too busy for me to focus on anything else. But now, I can focus on the 2012 Summer Olympics!
Ravelry has tons of information. Tons. Just go to the Ravelympics 2012 group and see. You'll find everything you need. Just remember the One Rule to Rule Them All: Challenge Yourself and Have Fun! (Which is basically two rules.)
I'm on Team Sockaholics, which hosts the Village Pub, a very nice place to knit. They have daily drink specials during the games. They also have a team Ravelympic Logo:
I am using it for my Ravatar up to and during the Olympics.
What events am I going to join? Hmmmm. Challenge yourself and have fun. I can only think of one challenge that I need to face: my October Frost cardigan (Lisa Lloyd, A Fine Fleece), which fits the bill for WIP Wrestling. It's been lying untouched since before May 2012 (February 2011, to be exact), and it's a challenge for me. I may not finish it during the Olympics, but I can make a dent in it, and maybe keep on going. Since I started it, I've done more cabling, and whole-sweater knitting, so I think it's time. I am warming up my sticks, getting ready.
Are you in the Ravelympics?
Mouse 25 is getting frisky:
Trying to get into my tea mug. Silly mouse.
This week has been weird. I don't really know exactly what I've done. There've been days with no knitting, but offhand, I can't remember what I did do. One day we went up to Belfast, that was fun.
Consequently, my progress on the Cardioid Shawl has been slow, but steady.
I'm three rows before starting the border, which is the last section. The rows are now really long, 300 stitches or so, and to knit across one row takes forever, especially if it's a pattern row. Did I mention that counting is not my strong suit anymore? I forget where I am, and I have to go back and recount and recount to get things right. While my hearts are lined up okay, the filler pattern is a little wonky, but maybe it won't show. I'm a little wonky too.
When I finish this, I'm going to knit plain men's socks. It'll be refreshing!
First, I want to say Happy Birthday to my sister! These forget me not flowers are for you :) Mwah!
I finished my mouse, #24:
My ruffly scarf is done, too:
It's not as long as I'd like it, but on the other hand, I couldn't take much more of those size three needles and the ruffles, so I'm happy with it. It's softer than I thought it would be. Mohair + metallic yarn would potentially = scratchy, at least around my neck, but this feels wonderful. Who knew. If I knit this again, I'd use fingering weight yarn and size 5 needles, and make it longer. It would be cool in self-striping yarn.
I started my Cartioid Shawl!
I was prancing with excitement. This is how far it is as of yesterday morning:
I love working on it! The never ending repeats are just beginning though, so we'll see how long it takes. The yarn is very soft, but it's a bit splitty -- not bad, but I noticed it. It could be these Signature stilletto-tip needles I'm using, they're so pointy! They are awesome for some stitches where I have to knit or purl several stitches together, though.
The pattern, like all of Wendy's, is very well-written; it has both charts and written out directions, so you can choose what you like, and there are the numbers of stitches in all the parts every single row. When I get stuck on something, I just look and find out how many stitches I'm supposed to have in that section, and I can figure out what went wrong pretty easily. I got pretty good at reading lace knitting a while back, before my stroke, and luckily, it has stayed with me. With this shawl, it's the end-of-section yarn overs that I usually miss, so far.
It will be done next week!
Look what I got on Saturday:
Sock yarn from Lisa Souza! That's Appaloosa on the left, signed by both Lisa and Lorrie; Water Gardens in the middle; and Orion Nebula on the right. Her Sock! is 450 yards of fingering weight lusciousness made up of 75% superwash wool, 25% nylon, and dyed in colors that will make you weep for joy, weep, I tell you. Appaloosa is gorgeous. I never would have ordered a brown color, but now that it is my hands, it is so pretty!
Ahhhh, now to let it marinate in my stash for a bit. I have a couple or three shawls to do first. But right now, I'm ruffling along, or maybe I should say flouncing along.
Happy Memorial Day, everyone!
Mouse 23:
I'd like, on the one hand, to start stuffing them, but I kinda like leaving them unstuffed, too, because I am not sure what I would do if they were stuffed and the cats discovered them! They're so sneaky ...
I put a little more on my afghan and used up the rest of the lime green:
Then I started my Bohemian scarf ... I was a little worried I wouldn't like the pattern. I shouldn't have been; the pattern was wonderful! Every now and then you find the exact right pattern and the perfect yarn for it, and it is good; this was one of those times.
It was a quick knit; it only took 2 days. I added a little more to my afghan:
The Heart Cookie mitts that I blocked this week also took only 2 days.
But now I am knitting something that is taking a couple weeks to knit. I am using this:
Wonderful, sparkly skein of purple yummimess ... to make the flounced scarf of Drops design (Drops 129-28). I saw the woman at Have A Yarn in Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia knitting it in pale gray, and it looked so nice. I chose a ball of the purple, and got the pattern from her, and set it aside. Now I finally am getting around to it!
It is knit on size 3 needles ... if I had really thought about it, I might not have done that. I could probably have gone up a size or two ... or three or four ... but I didn't. I just blindly followed the pattern, like some demented sheep. It's coming along nicely, but it seems slow after the last two projects!
I can knit about 6" a day, on a good day. Maybe I'll be done by next week! I keep telling myself that the ball is only 229 yards long ...
I ordered a Cardioid Shawl kit last week, and it came recently. It's going right to the top of my queue!
It contains the pattern, a skein of Sock-aholic Serene in Blueberry Pie, and a charming little stitch marker with a heart motif. This is going to be cool, and it's a great cause, too.
Speaking of causes, Lisa Souza has a thing on her blog about the Grace Foundation. She's donating the proceeds from sales of her "Appaloosa" colorway until June 30 to the Grace Foundation, which is having trouble due to the Susanville 70 -- a group of horses that have been rescued, and have been tied up in a legal battle ever since, and now the pregnant horses have had foals, and the months of eating sand and debris has had long term liver problems for the horses, and medical bills for the Grace Foundation. I've made my purchase to help! Those poor horses...
It's been another busy week. My mouse got finished:
She is Modest Moude 22 -- she has a yellow polka dot bikini on.
Following that, I went on to my Five Year socks and completed them, too:
That's socks before and after blocking. I made the effort to make them match exactly on the stripes; in this yarn, it makes a difference.
Then I went on and finally knit Mary Jane Mucklestone's Heart Cookie mitts. I have been wanting to knit them for so long!
Wednesday night
Mitts in progress, Thursday morning.
All done :) Thursday afternoon.
It took me 3 months to get around to them, but I knit them in two days. They're a really fast knit. The top two pictures are more accurate as far as the colors go; the sun streams in my window in the afternoon and messes up my colors.
My new project is A Little Bit Bohemian, a scarf, by Rebecca Carmichael-Stromgren. It's a free pattern on Ravelry. It's a simple knit, and should go fast, but I might change my mind. Sometimes I am just sure that a pattern will work with the yarn, and sometimes I just don't know. Right now I just don't know. I love the yarn I am using, and it's very special yarn, and I want it to be something wonderful. I am not sure yet that they'll play well together or not.
The yarn was bought in St. John, New Brunswick in a great open air market. I ran across a stall run by a very nice woman (I forget her name, but Sharon knows her) who spins and knits, and sells her yarn and knitted things all over. It's handspun yarn that looks to have a lot of mohair in it, a little silk, and some wool, maybe merino. It's a 2-ply yarn, with one ply of a spring green, and the other ply a brilliant cobalt blue. It's so pretty! The skein has a nice halo to it, so I have good hopes for a dressy scarf. It looks sport weight, but the halo also tells me that it probably knits up thicker. I'll try it on size 8 needles and go up from there. It's fun to play with!
Mouse 21 is having fun in the sun, finally:
Yesterday I finished my Itchy Scratchy sweater. I know, I only had one sleeve started last week, but it's been rainy, and I was close to being done, and I wanted to finish it. I knit the sleeves:
Then I sewed it together:
Actually, I crocheted the pieces together. My husband helped pin it for me. Here it is, ready for blocking:
It looks pretty funny here. Moss rib really pulls in a lot, but I was encouraged when I stretched the sleeves out to sew them into place. I blocked it by washing in the machine (cold water, with Eucalan), spinning as much water out of it as possible, and putting it on the wooly board for final blocking:
It looks good, doesn't it? I like it; it doesn't feel so itchy anymore. The fabric really opened up with blocking, and it's a nice, comfortable weight. I think he will wear it a lot ... next year!
My next project is some Five Year socks. In October of 2007, I took my ill-fated trip to Bar Harbor, where I went to Bee's and got some stuff:
You can read how the yarn exploded in Helen's Restaurant here. Anyone know what yarn the sock yarn is? I didn't take a close enough picture to identify what yarn it is, and I foolishly didn't write it in the blog post anywhere. Anyway, I knit the beginning on Sand Beach:
And that's the last time I posted about it. Fast-forward to 2012, when I found the sad little sock lying forlornly in one of my bins while I was inventorying my yarn stash. I had actually knit as far as this, when I broke a needle and stopped:
I since had found size 0 needles, which were in it, so I can start right up again. I'm glad I found it!
Now on to a glass of Nicky wine to celebrate:
Despite it being rainy all week, Mouse 20 loved it and went naked all the time:
And here's his bottom, to show you he has no tan lines:
Silly mouse.
The Crosswired Socks are done:
I loved knitting these! It's addictive, keeping on knitting those teeny stripes, and crossing the cables as you go. It's like a little Hanne Falkenburg for socks, except it's Wendy Gaal of Knitters Brewing Company, and she's fabulous.
The Itchy Scratchy sweater is coming along nicely. I got the front done (finally), knit both the front neck and the back neck, and joined the shoulders. Then I sewed the neck pieces together and weaved (wove?) in the ends.
The neck was pretty damn fiddly, but it was better to knit it on the two body parts separately than to try and wrestle with it in my lap trying to knit it in the round on six double-pointed needles. No matter how many needles I had in it, they were gonna fall out. So, I set it aside in my mind, knowing how much I preferred a neck that's all one piece, and knit it in pieces with two little seams. We must make compromises, that's what people who are one-handed do. And really, my husband will never know the difference.
Joining the shoulders was also fiddly, but I got better at it with practice. I figured out the rest of the pattern for the sleeves, how many to cast on, how many increases to do and how many rows between them. It's all downhill from here! I started the first sleeve. and I'm loving it. This sweater is going to be yummy-scrummy!
The body looks too small and the ribbing is doing a weird curl-up thing, but that's because I am using moss rib for the main body pattern, which pulls in monstrously until it's blocked. When it's blocked, it will look better. I hope.
It's slow, but it's still going forward :)
First, here is Mouse 19, unveiled:
You will notice a color change on the face. I finally reached the end of the ball of gray that I had ... but then I found another ball of tan Lush in the stash that I was inventorying last week. Small miracles, like yarn showing up just when I need it, are mysterious but good; thank you God. Now you can see tan mice, just in time for summer! They are naked too, so no tan lines. Silly mice.
My Crosswired Socks are 75% done:
These socks are kind of addictive to knit; I just want to keep going and going. Didn't I say that last week? It's still true. I may want to knit these again sometime, but not right away, because there are about a trillion other things I want to knit first.
I really miss the Itchy Scratchy sweater. It's pining away behind me on top of the knitting bag (which never houses any actual knitting projects, just yarn and tools and needles and stuff). I didn't knit on it at all this week, because I was knitting on my socks, but I wanted to. I'll knit on it for the next two or three weeks til it's done, and then I'll block it and it will look fabulous, and everyone wil tell me I must be a GENIUS, and it will fit perfectly, and my arm and leg will miraculously be all better, and I'll take up scuba diving, and we will go live in Mexico where I will teach knitting to rich tourists.
The End.
I made two mice this week, to make up for not making any last week. Here are Mouses 17 and 18:
I didn't work on my Itchy Scratchy sweater this week at all, because I've been obsessed with my Crosswired Socks:
These are so much fun to knit: it's like eating popcorn. I can't put them down! But I have to be mindful of not knitting too much, or the carpal monster will get me.
I like how there's a different pattern on the back of the leg than on the front. While I was knitting, I dreamed of making a hat with the new colors of Good Karma Farm yarn -- Hibiscus and New Mowed Lawn (I'm going from memory here).
And, as promised, I have been spinning a little bit every day:
My spinning has improved, but it still needs work. This is superwash merino that Tracy dyed. She gave it to me with the promise that I would spin it and knit with it someday. Little did she know that I would have a stroke! So here is my promise in the keeping, I'm spinning it, Tracy!
I divided the fluff in half before starting, and the first half is just about done. It will take me about a week to spin the other half, and then I'll ply it and set the twist. I never really know what I will make with the yarn until I end up with it. I intended to make socks, and I still may, but ya never know. They yarn may surprise me. I think it's still a little thick for sock yarn, but we will see.
My lilac bush has sprouted leaves in earnest now. I love that fresh, green color that signifies the beginning of spring!
I didn't knit any mice this week; I'll have to knit two next week!
I did knit a little on the Itchy Scratchy sweater this week. I missed it. I got to within 15 rows of being done the front. Then I just have the neckband, the sleeves, and finishing, and it will be done!
I have enjoyed working on the Crosswired Socks this week. I am up to the heel turn, which will be fun, and then I start patterning the back as well as the front of the sock. These socks are gonna be great. I thought as I knit, there are so many wonderful color combinations -- I may have to make another pair!
This is obviously a pre-blocked picture; there are no weird colored stripes like in the picture, there is just bad shading. I am loving this pattern! It's a lot of fun to knit, especially after learning how to cable without a needle. I am whizzing right along now!
Happy Friday the 13th!
Mouse 16 welcomes the world:
Another thing that came to a well-deserved end was the Man Socks:
I think the the ribbing on the right-hand one makes it more distinctive. I really can't believe that I ran out of yarn on these socks. They are for a man, but he is not a super-long-legged-foot man. The two other times I made socks out of this yarn, I made girl sizes, and had a lot left over. I'm kind of dumbfounded that I not only ran out, but 29 rows from being finished? Really?
Enough about that.
I didn't work on the Itchy-Scrtchy sweater this week. The socks really took over my life, and I wanted to finish them and find out what the end was going to be. Now that they're blocking, I can relax, and get back to the sweater. It's right here.
The exciting new thing I've started is Crosswired Socks, from Knitters Brewing Company. I chose Foo Foo Drink and Dreamsicle for my colors. They are Mary Jane colors, and when I have to choose colors, I'll stick with Mary Jane's color sense over mine any time. So far they don't look like much, but I like the colors!
You petered out on me 29 rows from the completion of my pair of socks. In the future, I promise to use size 2 needles, not size 1's. Rather than making my brain hurt and tear out what I have already done on the other, finished, sock, and then finishing both of them, I'm finishing this pair with the corresponding green that I found in my stash of yarn. It helps to have a large stash of yarn sometimes. I hope the recipient doesn't mind; I don't think he will.
Needles, why do you try to commit suicide on a daily basis? This morning I found one of you jumping purposely over the table's edge, directly into the furnace's hot air vent. Luckily, you didn't go down all the way; my husband was able to retrieve you. But I've watched you, trying to escape, always falling out in the worst situations possible. You know I can't knit without all five of you!
I have 17 more rows to knit, and then I have to bind off. Please don't go wrong. The Man will love you, honest.
Sunday morning we had a breakfast for the family, and it was great to see everyone again. Georgia was a real cutie pie! I got to thinking, as I watched her, that the Little Girl Cardigan I knit was never going to fit her by Christmas, so I gave it to her ... it fits perfectly now. Good thing, and she will have fun wearing it while she plays outside!
She also got the cutest hat that Lynne knit her, which she put right on. It looks great with the cardigan! She is a stylin' little girl. I can't believe how fast she is growing.
Pam and Kevin gave me my birthday present a little early, because Pam said I deserved it for getting my finger to work. They gave me these gorgeous earrings, which were made partly from gold from a ring of my father in law's, and beach stones. Jennifer Nielson, a fabulous jeweller, made them for Pam and Kevin. Thank you!!! I love these earrings:
They are very special!
Grace crept out after the Small Quick-Moving Person went away, and she's sleeping in her sunbeam now.
This is the wee mouse that scampered off my needles last weekend:
This is the front of my sweater as I s-l-o-w-l-y work up the neck:
Here is the man socks, also dancing slowly:
I think I'm going to run out of yarn on the socks, and that makes me knit slower, because I don't want to find out. Since I knit them from the toe up, I can just finish when I run out of yarn by using some from the finished sock, and then finish that sock again, but just thinking about it makes my head hurt. One way or another, they'll be finished soon. Then on to other projects! There is something, a sock knit-along, that I'd like to start next week, so we will see. :)
My sweater takes a long time to get anywhere, but it's good to know that I'm doing a whole sweater. It's coming out just as I envisioned it, and that's a big plus, especially since I'm making it up as I go along, hehe. The ol' brain isn't entirely dead.
My hand isn't wiggling as much today as it was, but it IS wiggling. That's another plus! I think my thumb is connected to it ... I don't see it, but I feel it. It's hard to describe. I will work at what I can do. It's a fun toy to play with, anyway.
I'm making progress on my knitting. Here's my weekly mouse:
And here's my sock:
And here's the front of my sweater:
The back is done, but I forgot to take a picture of it. Ooops.
It's funny, but I knit a lot yesterday, and I should be feeling the effects of it today, but I'm not. My hand feels fine. One of life's little mysteries; maybe my hand was getting tired of Winter and it wanted a little Spring to warm it up.
I waited for my buttons to show up in the mail, but they're not here yet, and I was commiserating with Lynne about it. She said, "Get in the car. We're going to Belfast!" And off we went. Helen has a lovely store there, Heavenly Socks, where I got the most beautiful buttons:
Lynne even sewed them on for me! It was a good trip all together :) Thanks Lynne!
This week's mouse is called "Stripey", for obvious reasons:
He's cute. I have to start stuffing my mice soon, with catnip and stuffing. I forget how many mice I have so far, but I figure stuffing 10 or 12 mice at a time is probably about the limit for most people.
My Itchy-Scratchy sweater is about 3 or 4 inches short of a full back:
I tried to finish the back yesterday, but my hand and arm was telling me, "Silly Beth, trying to do too much again. I shall have to hurt you!" and I stopped. Part of the problem was, I also knit way too much on the sock day before yesterday, but I got one sock done!
I am worrried that I will not have enough yarn to complete the second sock. When I weighed the sock and weighed the yarn, they were about the same; this is one time I really miss my digital-readout scales that I had at the shop. Anyway, either I will have enough yarn, or I won't. If I don't have enough, but I have just short of enough, I can always unravel the top of the finished sock until they're even. One way or another, they'll be good!
I love the colors. If I have to knit slowly, I am sure enjoying the ride. It's killing me to work at this snail-like pace, and not just dive in and zoom up the back of the sweater and be done the pair of socks by now, but working slowly has it's advantages. I thought at first that it would be drudgery, but it's not.It gives me more time to think, which is kind of fun. You never know what I'll think of next :)
First, look at this:
This is Shelagh's Bobble Hat! Isn't it gorgeous? It makes me happy :)
In other news, remember not to spill coffee over your open laptop, like I did. It wasn't much, and I immediately picked it up and my husband turned it off for me. Being one-handed is dangerous in so many ways! It is fried, so I am typing on my iPad now. I will not be able to take pictures; there's no interface for that on the iPad.
Furthermore, I am learning that patience is required when knitting a sweater and a pair of socks when you are trying to avoid carpal tunnel. I knit a fair amount on my socks day last Friday, and it felt pretty good, so I then knit 10 rows or so on the Itchy Scratchy sweater, and that was too much. When I woke up this morning, the pain in my hand was telling me that I had done wrong. I didn't knit at all the next day. I have decided that 10 rows a day period is my limit, apparently, and that really sucks, but not as bad as being handless entirely and in a lot of pain does. We make our choices. So I will leave you with three quotes about patience:
“Patience is not passive; on the contrary, it is concentrated strength.”
Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton
“Patience iswaiting. Not passively waiting. That is laziness. But to keep going when the going is hard and slow -- that is patience.”
I don't know who said this, but I like it.
“The key to everything is patience. You get the chicken by hatching the egg, not by smashing it.”
Arnold H Glasgow
I will patiently knit 10 rows a day until the sweater is done!
(Photo from Necrodancer)
This week's mouse is named Groovy:
He's adorable. I am going to go nuts making brown mice. Maybe I can jazz them up!
I have not knit much. My 20-rows-a-day plan got sidetracked when I woke up one morning, after only two or three days of 20-rowing, with a severe pain in my one good hand. I decided to take a break from knitting for a couple days and did only one catnip mouse and 2 rows on the sweater. Since then, I've done only ten rows a day on the sweater, or 15 rows a day on the man sock. It is slow going, but slow progress is better than none.
Therefore, my Itchy-Scratchy sweater is not yet done the back, because it is getting heavy, and I really can't handle that. But I still do several rows when I work on it.
I have it done to about two inches beyond the armhole. Poor sweater, will it ever be done? The good news is, my technique seems to be working, as I have not had a recurrence of the hideous pain in my hand.
My sock is a lot easier to knit, as it's lighter and uses size 1 needles instead of size 8 needles.
I'm knitting them toe up. I like that way better now, since when I am finished, the toe is already grafted. I just can't graft with Kitchener stitch anymore, and I have tried. It comes out looking horrible. That's not to say I won't do it anymore, but I am trying to let it go and accept that toes of socks done that way are not going to be perfect as they were before. There is no really good way to hold the piece in order to graft it; you have to turn it around a lot and then it gets funky. As you can imagine, I am not letting go of this as well as I should, but until then, I'll make toe-up socks.
Except for these:
This is my current ball of adoration, pictured with "Saxony" socks by Lisa Lloyd in A Fine Fleece. I just love that design and that whole book. It is one small step to knitting all the items in the book before I die. The yarn is Ball and Skein's "Sophia" (80% merino/10% cashmere/10& nylon) in color Bittersweet. It is lovely. I have 1 skein, 400 yards, which is enough for socks, but maybe I'll look on Ravelry to see what other projects people are making with it. There are some lovely scarves in Victorian Lace Today that would be nice, too. It's fun to ponder!
Happy Leap Year Day!
On February 7, 2011, I started October Frost by Lisa Lloyd.
(photo from knitterBunny on Ravelry)
I did the gauge swatch, and then I started. It was kind of a big jump for me, because until then, I'd only done scarves and socks since my stroke. I really wanted to make October Frost, and before my stroke, it seemed easy. Remember thinking everything was easy to do, but you didn't have the time to do them? Now I had all the time I wanted, but everything was hard.
I did the ribbing on the back, (I blogged about it here) and I started the cables .... I started those damn cables three times, and I kept doing it wrong, miserably wrong. I just couldn't think straight, could not count, had trouble getting "left" and "right" mixed up. The first time I did the cables, I think I had every other cable twisted the wrong way in the sweater, and I ripped it out back to the ribbing, vowing to do it right the next time.
The next time, I paid close attention, which was harder than I thought. Why is this so hard to do, I thought. I got the first repeat of the pattern done, and saw only about 4 cables twisted wrong. It was a big improvement! But I ripped it back to the ribbing and set out again.
The third time, I got it right, checking carefully every single row, but man ... this was really tough. My brain was sore. I didn't like to look at it. So I set it aside and concentrated on doing scarves for Christmas, and felt better. I changed my status on Ravelry to "Hibernating" for my October Frost, but I left it out where I could get at it, because I was bound and determined not to let some silly cables win. I was a little depressed though, because I used to have fun doing Aran knitting, specifically because the cables were challenging, but I could do them easily. Now they were really hard.
Now I'm thinking about it. My brain is not as foggy as it was last February, partly because of the wheat-free thing and partly because I have exercised my brain a bit and can do more. I am going to try October Frost sometime this year, and we'll see if I can get it right this time. Wish me luck!
The mice are getting into the Grateful Dead:
I am using the rest of the skein of Florista Fino, and I probably have enough for two or three more. It's great yarn! I should get more from Webs while they still have it .... but the yarn threatening to take over the house says, not yet. Sigh. Yarn, why must you be so demanding....
I finished the baby kimono:
It's the cutest thing ever, despite the I-cord. I discovered that knitting I-cord one-handed is much more fiddly that I liked, and I renamed I-cord, which is "Idiot cord", to be called "B-cord", which is more aptly named "Bastard cord". However, the resulting kimono is so cute, that I have further renamed it "C-cord", for "Cute cord". In the future, any design having that design element must be wicked cute for me to knit it.
I have ordered some buttons, but they are not here yet. Needless to say, the buttons will make it extra-cute. Pictures when they get here!
My Man Socks have not progressed very far in the wake of finishing the baby kimono and starting the sweater for my husband, but they're a lttle further along:
I finished the toe shaping and started the K 3, P 1 ribbing for the top of the foot. I love these colors; they're very rich.
My husband's sweater is named the Itchy-Scratchy Sweater, because of the Simpsons. He's a big fan. I'm using 10 skeins of what I *think* is Bartlettyarn, but I'm not sure. It has no tags at all, and Bartlettyarn and Christopher Sheep Farm and Briggs and Little usually have tags. This also is stuff that have had for so long that I don't even remember how I got it. It feels like Maine wool though, so that's what I'm going with. I made the pattern up, but it's a V-neck, drop shoulder pullover with a Moss Stitch Rib pattern that I put in to keep it from being too boring. I let him pick the pattern that he liked from Harmony Guide: Knit & Purl. I think he done good. It's a simple P 1, K 3 pattern that uses the P 1 and the center K 1 of the K 3 as ribbing, with moss stitch in between the two stitches. There's no counting higher than three, either :)
I'm using sizes 6 and 8 needles, so it goes along pretty fast. I will probably regret saying that later.
One thing I am doing on both my Man Socks and the Itchy-Scratchy sweater is I am doing 20 rows on each project every day. It's a good goal to work for. That gives me plenty of time to write my blog or do other knitting projects, too. Right now I'm happy with my sweater and socks, because I just started them, but after awhile they will become two horrendous beasts that sit on my shoulders and whip my ass, but I shall persevere because hey, it's only 20 rows a day! Awesome :)
I find the more I knit, the more I don't get done! Maybe that was my problem all along. I just knit too much, so I never finished anything.
Well, that's all different now. With only one, or two, or even three things going, I can finish what I start. It's hard not to cast on that whiz-bang thing that you have just got to make, until you finish what you've got going. I know; I really want to make Mary Jane's Heart Cookie Mitts and Stephanie's Cloisonée mittens, but NOT until I finish what I've got going, as well as a sweater for my husband, which will probably not be done before it's too hot to wear it this year, but oh well. I have heaps and heaps of knitting to keep me entertained.
I got my wee mousie done on Sunday:
I finally ran out of the blue. Now I'm on to grey, a much nicer mouse-like color.
I finished the Little Girl Cardigan, except for the buttons:
I did have enough yarn to finish it! See what I have left? Hmmmm it's probably enough for a mouse and a half....
I did some work on the Baby Kimono:
I know what your thinking, Gigantor Baby, but trust me, it's not. It's all in one piece to the underarms, and it will be fine. I think. Although Lynne did ask me if it was a baby blanket when I was first starting it.
For such a little thing, it sure has a lot of stitches! I knit for several hours and only got an inch and a half done. I am hoping it speeds up a little when it splits for the sleeves.
Just for fun, and to take my knitting out if I am going anywhere, I started a pair of Man Socks for Christmas:
I am using Trekking XXL in burgundy, brown, yellow and green and making toe-up socks on size 1 needles. the pattern is Straight Up Socks, by Kellie Oreb for Knitter's Brewing Company. I'm changing the pattern a bit, as I don't want to do all that k 2, p 2 ribbing. It's funny, I like that ribbing and could do it endlessly in a scarf, but in socks, it drives me crazy.
Now I've got to hurry up and finish the baby kimono, because the baby's coming, and also my husband's sweater is waiting....
