The Knitting Dork

I have noticed that when I go from a purl to a knit, my next knit stitch tends to be loose. Does anyone have any tips for alleviating this?

Tonight I pulled out the Gull Stitch Cardigan to resume finishing. This is a sad tale, people. The only thing left to do on this thing was put in the zipper and seam it up, and it has been sitting for months. Now I have my heart set on making the cabled hoodie from Vogue Knitting Fall 2008 (pattern 28 if you’re looking at a copy). I figured it might not be a good idea to start on a new sweater when I haven’t finished the last one, so I pulled it out tonight and began finishing. I put in the zipper, which took forever. I did the reverse single chain crochet edging on the neckline, which took me forever to figure out, and I’m still not certain it’s right. Then I started seaming the armholes to the body…and I looked at the picture and realized I had done the zipper wrong. I put it in aligned with the bottom edge instead of near the neck edge. GAH. So I ripped out the zipper and put it away for tonight. My eyes are fuzzy and I am liable to make another mistake if I continue on today.

In happier news, tonight I ordered some Malabrigo Chunky in Burgundy from Webs. My cabled hoodie will be pretty and soft. I’ve never worked with Malabrigo but I’ve fondled everyone else’s so I’m really looking forward to it.

Last weekend I took a sock design class at Nature’s Yarns, taught by Cookie A. I really enjoyed the class and got a lot of good pointers and ideas. We started a sock while in the workshop, and I’m about ready to do the heel on the first of the pair. I knitted too much this week and had to take a break from it because my left hand was aching. Hopefully in the next two weeks or so I’ll have something to show. I’m using the Brooklyn Handspun I picked up at Maryland Sheep and Wool, and so far it is lookin’ good.

Well, I finally finished Wisp. This was such an easy knit that I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to do it again. I started on it on 26 May 2008, finished knitting it on 5 September and blocked it on 6 September. This project ended up being my ‘mindless’ knitting project, the one I took with me on Thursday’s to Starbucks. Those were pretty much the only times I worked on it until about a week ago, when I decided that I just wanted to finish it. So I spent about 30 minutes a day for a week and I was done.

Details
Pattern: Wisp
Yarn: Knit One Crochet Too Douceur et Soie
Fiber: 70% baby mohair, 30% silk
Needles: Size 8 Knitpicks Harmony; worked on circ.
Mods: Did six extra repeats because I didn’t think it was long enough. This is intended to be a scarf rather than a wrap, though the pattern was written to allow for both.

Pictures! For the last two pictures shown here, I used the auto-correct feature to brighten it up; however, the coloring in the first few pictures is more accurate. The yarn is a true white, but it’s not a bright, bleached white.

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I decided to use the KPPPM for a pair of socks. Because I do not want any of this yarn to go to waste, I’ve decided to try my hand at toe-up socks. I’m using Wendy’s Generic Toe-up Sock Pattern. I had a hell of a time with the provisional cast on, and I don’t know why because I know I’ve done one before without issue. Maybe I was using a different set of instructions last time? Anyway, I don’t know if I like the process for creating the toe. I’m going to do both socks and see how I like it. Maybe I’ll try another toe-up sock later if I still don’t like this one after a second go.
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I won’t be at Starbucks for a couple of months, woe is me. I decided to take a graduate class (Project Management), and the only section offered was on Thursday nights. BOO! I am really bummed about that but I want to take this class so I gotta make the sacrifice.

I’ve been looking for a new knitting tote for a few months. I’ve been looking in stores and at Etsy, and today I found something I wanted, so I ordered it. Woohoo!

Yay for new knitting bag! I am really looking forward to the arrival!

Purchased from seller Camille Star Handcrafted Bags & Accessories.

I have two hanks of KPPPM. I have heard many, many good things about it and I’m looking forward to working with it, and I’d like to do an informal poll. If you had this yarn, would you make socks, fingerless mitts, or something else? I’m leaning towards fingerless mitts at the moment but I’ve had a few people tell me that you haven’t lived until you’ve worn Koigu socks, so I want more opinions on the matter.

The mystery shawl is coming along. I’ve slowed down a lot since beginning the 4th section. It’s requiring more undivided attention so it’s getting less knitting time. I haven’t had a lot of time for ‘undivided attention knitting’ the past two weeks or so. It’s looking good though, and I’m halfway contemplating doing a second one using different chart options as a gift for a friend. But only halfway.

My boyfriend was nice enough to help me out by taking a few pictures for me. Actually he took way too many of me, not enough of the shawl. Maybe he didn’t realize the shawl was off center…but the pictures came out good anyway. So here they are!

Here’s the shawl spread out. Adam said I looked like a bat. Click the picture for a larger version.

Resting.

Hiding.

The eyebrow (Adam sees this face a lot).

The yarn is Three Waters Farm Merino Tencel. It’s a fingering weight/4 ply that I picked up at the Montpelier Fiber Festival several years ago. I went back and forth trying to decide if I was going to do this shawl or Ene’s Scarf from Scarf Style, and settled on this one. I’m glad I did…but I may still do Ene’s some day.

The pattern called for lace weight yarn on size 4 needles, and had blocked measurements of 49″ across and 23″ down the center. My blocked measurements are 60″ across and 31″ down the center. I’m really glad it turned out that way because if it I had used lace weight and ended up with those measurements I might have been disappointed. I used my newly acquired blocking wires. What a great purchase. Next, I need to invest in a blocking board.

I kept track of the total time spent on this project, but I am missing the first page of notes. My notes pick up on 19 February 2007, at which point I had finished the 3rd repeat of the second Budding Lace pattern. From that point, it took me about 40 hours to finish. I started on it at some point in February 2007, worked on it for about a month, left it for about two months, worked on it for another 3 weeks or so, then I got to a tangled mess of yarn barf that couldn’t be remedied. I ended up having to cut the yarn to keep going. Then I made a mistake and couldn’t figure out what I did so I got pissed and put it in ‘time-out’. That was on 21 June 2007. I picked it up again on 12 May 2008 and worked on it fairly steadily until it was finished. When I picked it back up last month, my goal was to have it completely finished before the Goddess Knits Anniversary Mystery Shawl began, and I succeed. I know there are some mistakes on it but overall I am pleased with the results and happy to have it finished.

This is still blocking. I will post details later when I have pictures of the shawl ‘in action’, but I was too excited to wait to post this!

I wore them to work today, hooray!

I liked working with this pattern. Despite the 11 row repeat it’s actually really easy to memorize. Also, as you can see, it works great with multi-colored yarn! I used Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock. The colorway is 48 Purple Iris. I did the socks on size 2 birch needles. I have other things to work on but it’s taking me a bit of restraint not to cast on for another pair of socks.

I’ve sort of abandoned my “no new projects” resolution. I have made progress in that direction; however, holding myself to such strict guidelines was taking some of the fun out of things, and what is knitting supposed to be, if not fun? Here’s where I stand with that list:

Finished or Ripped

Classy Slip-Up Socks - finished 5 April 2008

Scarf-size Clapotis - ripped - don’t remember when

Unfinished

Gull Stitch Cardigan - I have the zipper and all I need to do with it now is to install the zipper and finish seaming. What’s the delay? Well, the warmer weather, as well as the fact that I know it will be too small on me, have dampened my motivation.

Cable and Rib socks - no change. All that needs done with these is to rip out the toe of ONE of the socks, do another repeat or two of the cable pattern, and finish the toe. I just really don’t want to rip those out…

Backyard Leaves - no change

Ombre Alpaca Blanket - no change - I’m thinking Shannon will get this sometime before her 5th wedding anniversary at this point…

Kittyville Hat - no change

Swallowtail Shawl - no change yet, but I’m going to pick this up after I finish my Monkey socks tonight. I’m hoping I can finish it before my next big thing, which will be…

The Goddess Knits Anniversary Mystery Shawl
A few weeks ago, a couple of gals were talking about this at knit night, and it really interested me. I’ve been wanting to complete a large shawl and decided this was my opportunity. I’m really looking forward to it. I went to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival looking for a yarn to use for this project, which I did find…

Maryland Sheep and Wool
I had a great time! I got there early, stayed almost all day, and ran into both Richmond and Northern Virginia knitting folks! I was especially happy to run into Amanda very shortly after arriving. Unlike last year, this year I did not make it out without a few purchases. I bought a little String Doll, which I do not have pictures of because it is at work guarding my desk. I also got YARN. Not as much as most people, but enough for me.

I decided to get a semi-solid sock yarn, and found a green I absolutely loved. From Brooklyn Handspun I present Brooklyn Handspun Signature in colorway Hopping! Approximately 480 yards of superwash merino goodness.

I also successfully procured a yarn for the Mystery Shawl. This yarn is from Chewy Spaghetti. The colorway is called Lucky and it is approximately 1250 yards of lovely 50/50 merino/silk laceweight.

I am really excited and ready to jump in using this yarn for the shawl. Woohoo!

There was also a booth with the art of Conni Togel which involved lots of adorable sheep. I brought home this print. TOO CUTE!

A little detour from all my other stuff, I made this yesterday.

Pattern: Soft Drawstring Pouch from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts
Needles: Size 7
Yarn: Karabella Aurora 8 in black