I finally realized that if I put just a quarter of the time I was spending on Ravelry into blogging, I’d probably have a pretty good blog going on! So, I am going to try to get back into this.
I still feel intimidated by all the other blogs I read, I just don’t seem to have the humor in my writing, or the interesting content, but I am going to try to improve – I guess I certainly won’t get there if I don’t try!
It has been a long time since I last blogged (I feel like maybe I should go to confession, but I’m not Catholic, so nevermind). The Christmas holiday same and went a long time ago, but resulted in a number of hand knit gifts – not all of which I took pictures of. I am going to go through what I’ve completed since the last entry, and what it OTN right now.
For Christmas, I completed a pair of Lombard Street socks for my mom. She brought me the yarn from her own stash, because with failing eyesight, she didn’t think she could knit with sock yarn. I really messed this project up though. I knit one sock, according to the pattern, but way too big for her size 5.5 foot. So I knit the second one shorter. It was the right length, but the heel looked freakishly long on such a tiny sock, so I tried again. I frogged all the way back to the start of the heel, and knit a short row heel. However, I forgot to make the 8 stitch adjustment to line things up properly for the patterns to flow nicely into the toe.
By this point, I was fed up with frogging, and just fudged what I had to make it look nice. The second one (which was originally the first one) came along with no problem, as I kinda knew what I was doing by this point. 
The color is a bit washed out, but it shows the detail better than the true color photos. They fit Mom like a glove, and I hope to make a pair for myself soon (with the correct foot pattern of course)!
I also made a scarf for my MIL, using Lion Brand Wool in Winter White and the ?? leaf pattern from the ?? issue of KnitSimple. Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo of it, but it turned out very nice. While the scarf was in progress my MIL expressed an interest in a pair of socks. So, I sacrificed the Trekking XXL yarn I had bought for myself back in August, and knit her a pair using the Oriel pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch. These turned out great as well, but in the hurry of finishing them up 15 minutes before MIL’s arrival, I forgot to take a photo as well.
I guess that was it for Christmas gifts, it felt like I was doing a lot more than that at the time.
Since Christmas, I completed a pair for my youngest DD (4yo) from Knit Picks Dancing.
I used a slipped cable rib pattern, and they came out nicely.
The pair only took one skein, so now I have one lonely skein that I don’t know what to do with. I might pair it up with the purple that is left over from doing the toes and heels of the last pair I did for her.
I currently have to WIPs, both for DH. The first is a cardigan sweater (the one in the middle)
, which I complained about here, out of Dale of Norway Falk Dalegarn in a chocolate brown color. I received much input about harvesting crinkled yarn, and put one of the suggestions to use. It worked perfectly. So after winding what seemed to be about 30 balls of yarn, I started work on the sweater again. I made sure I got guage before I went anywhere, and this was a good thing, because I needed to drop a needle size. I also dropped a size in the pattern. My husband wanted me to make the 44/46 inch chest pattern, which results in an actual size of 54 inches. After the fiasco of last time, and with a little more logic, we decided on the 40/42 size which results in an actual size of 49 inches. This seemed a little more reasonable.
The second WIP for DH is a pair of socks. He kept stating that he didn’t want a pair, he just wanted his sweater finished, but I knew he really wanted a pair, so I went out and bought some Regia Silk in Dark Blue. When he saw the yarn, he immediately agreed to a pair. I don’t know what it it about knitting for DH, but I guess it just shows how much I love him that I am willing to put so much energy into these projects. I started knitting the socks 2 at time, toe up on 90 stitches ( I forget where I got this number from) and I got about halfway up the foot when I decided to try them on him – he was travelling and unavailable earlier. Of course, wouldn’t you know it, they were too large around. So I frogged! And started again, two at a time, toe up on 80 stitches, and again he was travelling. So, again at about halfway up the foot, I tried them on again, and again (sound familiar?) they were too big. Finally, I decided I was tired of tempting the knitting gods, so I took a careful measurement of his foot – why I didn’t from the start I have no idea, and using the turkish cast-on, I cast on 10 stitches (makes 20 to start), and increased to 72. Luckily DH was in town for the remainder of the foot, and I got it completed with only ripping out the heel twice. I tried a true gusset heel, but that didn’t work (too long) and then went with the eclectic heel (too short). So, I added 4 rows and carried on with the eclectic heel. I would like you to know, that sock one is finished, and fits! 
I took very careful notes, so I could repeat this accomplishment with the second one. The second is at the decreases of the heel, and looking good so far. I just can’t wait to finish this pair. I could probably have made 3 pairs by now with the time I’ve invested in this one pair! You may notice the red thread running up the side – well I kept track of the rows I had knit by weaving it back and forth every 10 rows, I did the same on the foot, once I had finished increasing for the toe. I really like the eclectic heel. 
I like the simplicity of the short row heel, but I have high arches and as such I have a hard time tugging the sock over the bend in my foot. I plan to try this heel on the next pair I make for myself and see if it works.
I have a bunch of sock yarn in the stash that I am anxious to knit up, but I have not decided on a project yet. Although I do like the look of the SWTC Tidal Wave socks for ToFutsies.
Off to get kids off the bus. Hopefully the WIPs will have changed by the next time I blog, and hopefully 4 months wont have passed by then.
well, they actually were socks, (see this post) and they look kinda like socks, but boy were they a learning experience! Like I said in the first post about these socks, I was doing an afterthought heel and an afterthought toe (I did a provisional cast-on) in case I didn’t have enough yarn. Well, it turns out that I really didn’t even have enough yarn to have even thought about this project. I had so little yarn, that I had to make ankle socks. Then I went to one of my LYSs and bought some complimentary purple yarn to finish the toes and heels. I took out my provisional cast on, and started the toe, but forgot to knit a little extra before I started decreasing – oops! 
Then I did the afterthought heel described in this pattern and while they look okay, they really don’t fit my DD well at all. They were a hair too short (due to the mess up with the toes) and the heel just doesn’t seem to flow as well as I would like it too, nor does it seem to fit as well as the other heels I have tried – traditional heel flap, and the short row heel fromWendy of Wendy Knits. They keep scooching down her feet, and no matter how many times I re-did the bind off, it is too tight.
So, I guess these are going to go into the lessons learned pile, and maybe someday I will find a use for them. Hmmm, maybe I can stuff them with catnip and give them to my feline siblings (between my Dad and stepmother, and my Mom and stepfather, I have either 7 or 8 feline siblings).
I have been doing a little sock stash accumulation and I’m sure I can find something I am willing to part with. The only problem is that such little feet only require one ball, and I have two of everything. Maybe I’ll have to go out an just purchase a couple of single balls of sock yarn just for her – oohh! an excuse to go yarn shopping!
I got my new Winter 2006 issue of Interweave Knits today, and while preparing dinner (waffles – I wasn’t very inspired, combined with serious PMS) I paged through about 1/3 of it. I already have pages turned down for about 3 sweaters that I would love to knit – someday. I figure when my subscription runs out, I’ll be okay, because the patterns I am in love with will keep me for a year or too at my pace! Maybe once the youngest child gets into school things will change, but then I will have to go back to work, and oh well…
Yes, that is right, nobody in my family knows (well maybe my Mom, I can’t remember) that I have a blog, much less one that seems to center around knitting.
With three kids, and a husband that works late alot, I don’t have much time, so I’m not even a prolific blogger. During the day I come up with a lot that I want to blog about, but if I even get the time to sit down in front of the computer, I can’t remember what I was going to say.
As an example of my busy schedule, here is what I did last week:
Sat: Took the two girls to swimming lessons, then met my husband and son at the Tae Kwon Do championship that our TKD school participates in. We were there until six, but came home with 5 trophies! My eldest DD won a championship trophy (not in top 3) for board breaking, and a 3rd place trophy for sparring. My DS won a 3rd place trophy for forms, a 2nd place trophy for board breaking, and a 1st place trophy for sparring. For those of you interested, my DD is a red belt, and my son is a high-purple belt. After we returned home, we crammed down some dinner and ran off to the haunted house at our school, to return home at 8:30pm
Sun: We were off to soccer games by 12:45 to be followed by pizza parties. Returned at 3:30 or so to start carving 4 pumpkins – one adult and 3 kids (the youngest is 3) – not recommended! But here is the result:
Mon: Two oldest said they were feeling sick, so I let them stay home, only to realize by 10:00 or so that they couldn’t be feeling that bad, based on their behavior, so I took them into school. I then took the youngest DD and went shopping (I don’t even remember for what) and came home in time to put her down for a nap, and take a snooze myself. I had to go pick the kids up at 3:30 but came home instead of doing our usual afterschool activities (due to “illness” from the morning). I then spent all afternoon, and then after bedtime making cookies for DS’s school party the next day.
Tue (Halloween): Put oldest two on bus, took youngest to preschool. Spent 2 hours knitting and listening to Cast On (episodes 15 & 16 – I’m a bit behind) at Panerra, and drinking a cup of coffee while I waited for the preschool Halloween parade to begin. Went to the parade, then I went home and within 15 minutes of being home got a call from the school nurse that DS was complaining of a stomach ache, was white as a sheet, and needed to be picked up. So…I brought the plate of cookies into school, and went to the nurse to get my son. I came home, and crashed in the recliner while the youngest two watched TV. By 1:15 (the time his party was supposed to begin) DS said “I think I feel good enough to go to school”. I said “too bad!” The day finally ended with neighbors and their 2 kids coming for pizza, and all of us going out trick-or-treating together.
Wed: I went and volunteered in my DS’s classroom all morning, and came home to spend 3 hours working on laundry, preparing dinner, etc. before running out to pick up kids and do afterschool activities that kept me out until 7:45. I put youngest DD to bed, then ran out to do grocery shopping, and got home at 9:15
Thurs: It snowed last night! The kids were out sledding in our backyard at 8:00 am:
Fri: I was mush! I think I got about 3 or 4 loads of laudry washed, and a batch of crock-pot sloppy joes (courtesy of the FlyLady website) going – oh yeah, I also entered in (and reconciled) 5 months worth of checkbook “stuff” into Quicken. I also took about 1 hour out in the middle of the day to go pick my DH up at the car dealership where he had left his car for service. Then I had to leave early to pick the kids up at school, go pick the DH up at work, take him to the dealership, swap the kids to his car, and I went to my Friday night job, while he took the kids to TKD.
Sat: Here I am finally blogging. So, hopefully my weeks will calm down (who am I kidding) or I need to figure out how the prolific bloggers do it while writing a book, getting married, raising a number of kids, while also doing a book tour and knitting like a fiend, like Stephanie Pearl-McPhee! Wow, I wish she would let me in on her secrets!
So, I blog on the QT when I can find a minute here and there, and maybe someday, I’ll let on to my family!
These really are socks! OR more accurately, they will be socks. I am using up some leftover Regia self striping, and making a pair for my 3yo DD. I decided to start at the toes, since I didn’t know how much yarn I had, and could adjust the cuff as necessary. Well, after about 5 starts at the toes, I gave up. I just could not get anything that looked reasonable. I tried the Knitty magic cast on, Wendy’s short row toes, the Knit Picks two at once toes, but nothing worked. But I decided since I was going to do the Knit Picks Two At Once, Toe-Up Sock, which includes an afterthought heel, I would also do an afterthought toe. That way, I could do the toe from the top down (which I can handle) and I could choose a coordinating color if I didn’t have enough yarn.
Well, this is all for the good, becuase little DD is going to have ankle socks, and I am heading off to the LYS today to find a solid color coordinating sock yarn for the heels and toes – my stash only includes patterned sock yarn. Oh well, I was looking for an excuse to get a solid color sock yarn anyway…
On a FO note, I finished my DS’s camo colorway striped socks. He liked them so much he wore them to school the next day with shorts! I tried to tell him that they weren’t really appropriate with shorts, but he didn’t care. I had to draw the line though when he tried to wear them with his Tae Kwon Do uniform and his TKD shoes! I think I have already had to wash them three times, each time I get them clean he wears them immediately! I guess this is a testament to how nice they are – I feel the same way about my one pair.
After I finish this pair for DD#2, I am going to try the Lombard Street Socks for my mom – she brought some sock yarn she had purchased about 4 years ago, and her eyesight is too far gone to knit with such small yarn.
Then, I think I’ll be able to make another pair for myself!
I just realized I didn’t post anything for the whole of September. I finished my Icarus and then got caught up with the kids going to school – I now have 5 hours a week when I have all 3 in school, and I still haven’t gotten much done.
I did finish up a pair of socks for my daughter using the Cherry Tree Hill yarn in Brights. They turned out nicely, but were as much work as making a pair for myself. I thought that making socks for my kids would go faster, but my just barely 8 DD has Size 7 Womens feet. When I bought her new sneaks for school in August, I about fell over when I had to buy her size 7s. I wear a 10, but I didn’t get to that size until near high school. I think this kid will be in 10s by 5th grade at the rate she is going!
I have been having to deal with the fact that my husband feels I should be spending the 5 hours a week I have to myself working on improving the appearance of my house, or getting laundry put away (Hey, I get it washed and folded!), and NOT on knitting. I have to figure out how to get the house stuff done while the kids are around, and save that 5 hours for knitting! In hopes that I accomplish this feat, I have signed up for Soctoberfest 2006.
My mom is coming to visit on the 4th and she is bringing me a bunch of circular needles. She won an Ebay auction for Clover circulars, with all bunches of sizes. She is losing her vision, so the bigger needles are more what she needs, and she is willing to give me the littler sizes. I seem to add more needles to my collection than I do yarn. I have a hard time buying yarn without a specific project in mind, and a knowledge of how much I will need, so my yarn stash is pretty small.
I am working on a pair of socks for my DS (6yo) in a self striping camo colorway from Jawoll. I made one sock, and when he tried it on he complained that it didn’t go up the leg enough, and the foot was too small. So, I started another sock, made the leg part longer, and made the foot part longer – it fits perfectly, and then I ripped out the first one, and am re-knitting that! I am just doing a basic stickinette stitch for these. I thought about doing a 2×2 ribbing down the leg, but bagged on that idea. This pic gives a pretty good idea of the socks. Pardon the flash reflection. I like the appearance againgst the wood, but the reflection is a PIMA.
I have started using the Socks Soar method of two circular needles that Cat Bordhi uses in her book. I love this method, and have started to soar. The second sock was so quick to do. I plan on finishing the second (or is it the first/third?) soon – maybe Monday during my 2.5 hours at gymnastics while two of mine do their stuff.Okay, enough boring stuff. I am off to knit on a very boring baby blanket in not so nice acrylic, that I need to get out of the way before I start my next non-portable project.
Okay, my first pair of socks has been completed. I put them on before washing them, and said to myself – “They’re a little itchy, I don’t know if this will work.” Then I washed them, and put them on and…I was hooked. I love my socks! They felt wonderful.
But then, at the end of the day, I took them off, and they were about twice the size as when I put them on. I was sooo bummed. But, I gave them another chance, washed them again, and voila, they look like new.
I was eyeing the elastic that you can use with yarn to make them more stetchy, and don’t know if it is worth it.
I have been spending some time with my two older kids, teaching them to knit. My 8yoDD already has two projects on the needles: a “purse” and a hat for a baby cousin due in Sept.
My 6yo DS has also created “something.” I cast on 10 stitches for him, and knit the first row so he wouldn’t have to deal with the tension issues of a cast on row. Then I taught him (I thought) how to do the knit stitch. He sat beside me knitting for a couple of rows, and then I let him take off on his own. A couple of days (and about 4 rows) later I took a look, and he somehow had about 18 stitches on his needle. I did some k2tog to reduce it to about 12 sts, and handed it back, with the reminder to only wrap the yarn one time, and to make sure he took the needle out of the stitch and slipped it off the left needle. Well, I think by the time he finished, I cast off about 20 stitches (I was afraid to count). And this is his “square” as he calls it. I am impressed – it was his first attempt, and he only just turned 6 last week. He managed to drop a stitch or two, and at one time I had to tink back where he had used the long tail from the cast on, but overall, not bad.
Since then, there have been a number of false starts, but today we cast on again with some yarn that he picked out at the LYS for $2. So, we might get a scarf yet!
I also got some stuff at the LYS today, but I spent a bit more than $2. But I got my first set of Addi Turbo circulars (size 1 for socks) and I am in love with them. My sock really seems to be cruising along (using the magic loop method). I wanted to get two sets, but they only had one, and since the store is going out of business, I will have to look elsewhere for my other set. I also got some Baby Night yarn from Crystal Palace Yarns that is so soft, and I got some angora for a sweater I decided to make for myself (maybe when I finish my husband’s sweater). I have no pictures of my haul because I had to hide it away before my husband saw it – although my oldest DD ratted me out!
Thanks so all who provided comments about how to harvest/recover used yarn. It has given me, and DH, new hope about using this yarn again for the sweater.
It is funny, this yarn is DK weight, and the first time I knit with it, I thought, wow, this is thin yarn, this is going to take forever. Which is did, but I don’t think that was because of the yarn. When I picked it up two days ago, after finishing Icarus, the yarn felt so thick, I couldn’t believe it. Of course I know that it will still take forever to knit the sweater.
I have finished Icarus! I am so amazed at what the blocking does for the whole process. So is my husband – he just couldn’t see how my big lump of knitting was going to look anything like the photo in the magazine.
I made this for my mom’s birthday, which is today, and I completed it Tues, blocked it Tues, and got it in the mail overnight to her yesterday.
Here is the shawl (no it isn’t huge – it is being modeled by my 8YO DD). I added beads to the edging, like many other people – Thanks Miriam for the directions on how to do this!
I started this project on June 26, and finished on Aug 15. I have to admit I neglected my family as much as they would let me during this last week, and I definitely neglected my house. I used a 80/20 Mohair/Nylon yarn by Filatura Di Crosa in a dark red. It turned out to look great, but was very hard to fix problems because it was so fuzzy and didn’t frog very well.
I am hoping someday to make another one of these for myself. Someday…
I started working on the epic that is my husband’s sweater, I knit about three rows, then decided to measure guage, and boy was it off. So I frogged the 10 or so inches that I had knit of the back. …A little back ground…I made this sweater for my husband 3.5 years ago (at his request), and it was huge. I don’t know if my guage was off, or if he just chose the wrong size, or both (most likely) but it would maybe have fit a 300 lb man, and my husband is only 200 lbs. I spent a year working on this sweater, spent $100 in yarn.
My husband tried to wear it, but finally gave up with instructions to either give it away, or throw it out. I couldn’t do this, so I tried washing it in hot and drying it. I did not know about felting at this point, and the yarn must be superwash, because it didn’t felt. So I frogged the whole thing – I think it was about 23 balls of yarn originally. I started again. I used the same needles, assuming I had guage, because I had the first time (supposedly). Obviously I didn’t.
I now need to decide what to do. The yarn has all the squiggles in it from having remained in a knitted state for so long, and through a wash and dry. I can’t decide whether to wind it into skeins, wet it and dry it with weights so the squiggles will go out, or just to junk the whole thing. I talked to DH last night about it, and he just said “Forget It”. I think he has given up on me and the sweater. Oh well, I’m going to knit a baby blanket in the mean time and stew on this issue.
I have finished Icarus. She/he(?) is blocking right now.
I know the center line is crooked, I fixed it just after I took the photo.
This is for my mom, whose birthday is in two days. I hope that I can get it dry and into the mail (overnight) tomorrow. Otherwise, it will be a day or two late.
I stayed up until 1:30 last night working on this. I finally went to bed when I was halfway done casting off. Then I picked it back up this morning – the casting off went so much faster when I was awake and could focus!
I was really unsure of whether the mohair would look good in this pattern, since it is so fuzzy. But it does. I am still in awe that I was able to create this shawl. I had never knit lace before, and now I am hooked. I am even more in awe of Miriam who designed this shawl! It is an amazing creation.
I have gotten about 4 books from the library on knitting lace and I can’t wait to do more. I plan to do a pair of socks for my oldest DD that will incorporate some lace next.
