January 9, 2006
Hands and Feet
This weekend was lovely - the weather was crap, but I got a lot done. I got caught up around the house after two weekends of being gone. It still amazes me how much laundry two people can generate in such a short amount of time. I think it has something to do with the multiple layers Travis has to wear to keep warm in this lovely climate, but whatever it is - all our laundry was done at one point this weekend (but in the true nature of laundry, there was more before I had the last load folded). Christmas decorations are put away and the tree is out of the living room. Taking down the tree made me really sad because it was still in really good shape - not dry at all - and it just seems wasteful, but I guess it was time to get everything back to normal.
I finished the second Sock after three tries at grafting the toe. I don't know what my problem was but I couldn't seem to concentrate and kept losing track of where I was.
Disregard the lovely rolled pants look - I was too lazy to change my clothes for the photo shoot.
Project Specs:
Pattern - Ellen's Birthday Socks
Yarn - Mountain Colors Weaver's Wool Quarter in Sierra
Needles - Size 2 Addi Natura dpns (can I just tell you that I love these needles)
Modifications - I made the legs shorter than the pattern (7" rather than 9") because I was worried I would run out of yarn - as it turned out I could have added at least an inch to each leg, but I don't think they're too short as they are. I didn't worry about my gauge and I'm glad I used a size 2 rather than a size 3 needles. As they are, the socks are snug and comfortable.
Next up: Ombre (of course) and the Nordic Mittens.
Yesterday morning I sat down with some scap yarn and my Philosopher's Wool dvd and tried to figure out how the heck to do this two-handed fair isle business. Let me digress for just one moment and ask how the heck you knit with your right hand? I am completely uncoordinated and can not keep anything resembling control of the yarn - the tension is mostly really loose, but it seems that the stitches are tight - explain that one to me. It is not pretty. Trust me. However, the weaving seems to be working ok. I do notice that even on the rows where I knit with just the yarn in my left hand, the stitches where the other yarn is woven in look funny. What do ya think?
Please tell me this tension/wonky stitch thing will get better. Please (but if it won't just tell me now - let's just rip that band aid off right now). Despite the struggles with this two-handed stuff, I'm enjoying two color knitting. It's so fun to see the pattern emerge. I had a hard time putting it down yesterday so I could take down my Christmas stuff. All I wanted to do was just knit one more row. I believe I may be in trouble.
January 6, 2006
Not Much Progress
I haven't made as much progress on my sock as I had hoped. Last night was karate. (Remind me never to take 2 weeks off again. I'm so freakin' sore I can barely lift my arms and my hand is swollen from punching. Not good). Karate night means that I didn't get much knitting time. I did get the heel stitches picked up and started the gusset, but I really wanted to finish the sock today so I could start on the Nordic mittens this weekend.
Even with a large chunk of time tonight I seriously doubt I can get the whole foot knit. Maybe tomorrow. I should have some good knitting time. The satelite tv installer is coming tomorrow (yes, we're finally entering the 21st century - we'll have more than 5 channels) somewhere between 8 and noon - I should be able to knit while I'm waiting for him. I know I should be working on Ombre, but I need a commuting project for next week and I won't have time during the week to figure out the whole 2-handed knitting thing. So, that's my justification.
It's finally Friday. Have a good weekend.
Posted by Stephanie at 10:10 AM | Comments (11)December 30, 2005
Makin' Progress
While the weather, and as a result Travis' mood, sucks, I've been making significant progress on my knitting and I'm feeling kinda smug about it. I hesitate to say as much because the knitting gods are easily angered and if they think I'm cocky, things will go right into the toilet. So, let's just say I'm pleasantly surprised at the progress I'm making on my 2 outstanding projects.
First up is the long-standing Ombre. Ombre is looking quite lovely, as she now has eight completed stripes.
For those of you playing along at home, that's 8 down, 3 to go. Personally, I couldn't be happier about that because while I obviously love my mom and am pleased with how the blanket is turning out, I'm really tired of this project. There really should be a warning label on all blanket patterns - "Warning. Make really sure you love this pattern and are willing to dedicate months of your life and a bit of your sanity to it before you begin." And by the way, Joelle Hoverson wasn't kidding around when she said this pattern would take over 8 hours. Ya think? While I was aware it would be a long term commitment, I didn't realize it was going to be a 3 month commitment. Anywho, I'm almost done and can hopefully get at least one more stripe done this weekend. If the gods are on my side, maybe one and a half.
Next up are the Sport Rib Socks. I finished the first one yesterday by grafting my very first ever toe. I had a bit of a problem yesterday because I got all of the decreases done and tried the sock on. Apparently I was under the impression my foot had grown 2 inches between the last pair of socks and these because the toe was 2 inches too long. Hello? So, I ripped out the toe and back a couple of inches into the foot and started over. I briefly considered taking a picture and then decided my stupidity really didn't need to be documented to that extent. You're just gonna have to trust me - it was stupid. However, despite my brief lapse, the first sock is finished.
This weekend we're headed to my in-laws for Christmas with them and my mother-in-law wants to learn to knit socks. We should have a grand time with that. I hope to work on Ombre as much as possible and let's all keep our fingers crossed for another completed stripe. Oh, for any of you who have Loop-d-Loop, what do you think of the Corrugated Rib Hat? I can't really find a picture online (except for one posted in a comment on Claudia's Blog) and I'm thinking I might want to make it. I'd have to order the book, so I'd love your opinions on it before I go and do that.
Here's a picture of the sunrise on my way to work this morning.
Have a wonderful weekend and Happy New Year. See you in 2006!
December 27, 2005
A Happy Holiday
Travis and I had a lovely holiday, but now it's back to work, and boy that doesn't excite me at all. Santa, and my family was, as always, extremely generous. Travis bought me a lovely work table made out of recycled hundred year old pine - and it is awesome. So, I'm in the process of picking out some paint and converting my office into a craft room. I'm really excited to have a nice big place to spread all my stuff out without making a mess in the rest of the house. My mom bought me a kit for Mermaid! I'm really excited but it's down on the list a bit - Butterfly is first. My dad and step-mom bought me a pot rack, which I've wanted since last year. I can hardly wait to get it up and free up some cupboard space. And my sister, well, she's so sweet. She bought me an i-Pod Nano. And she had it engraved. It says, "Chance made us Sisters hearts made us friends!" Isn't that just the sweetest thing?
Good news on the knitting front. Ronnie fit perfectly and my sister loved it. She wore it on Christmas! Isn't that great? My mom loved Ombre, even though it wasn't done. She was very understanding, but said that I couldn't start Mermaid until I finished her blanket. Which I wouldn't, even if Mermaid is very tempting. We had a nice long drive to my dad's, so I got a lot of knitting done. I'm almost through the eighth stripe on Ombre and expect to have that stripe completely before we leave for Travis' parents' house this weekend. I knit a bit on Christmas, but worked on the Sport Rib Sock more than Ombre because it's a lot more portable and my dad was really intrigued by the sock knitting thing. I'll have to make him some socks one of these days. So, I turned the heel and finished the gusset shaping:
The yarn has behaved very well, the only pooling is around the heel when the rows were longer. It doesn't even bother me, but I'm glad that the rest has turned out to be stipey.
Have a wonderful day, and happy knitting.
Posted by Stephanie at 9:23 AM | Comments (11)December 8, 2005
Calm In The Storm
Christmas Knitting Update
1) I cast on for the second Thrum and have begun the thrumming. I'll continue to work on it over lunch and on my commute when possible.
2) I seamed one side of Ronnie last night, one side left. It took a lot longer to seam than I thought it would, but I was trying to be really careful and make it as close to perfect as I could get it. Seaming really made the waist shaping noticable and I think this is going to be a cute sweater.
3) No work on Ombre yet this week. I'm putting it off until Ronnie is finished because the sweater needs to be mailed off next week. I should have a bit of time this weekend to work on Ombre. Hopefully.
Now, yesterday I mentioned some socks. I know, I didn't tell you I was working on socks, but I am. A friend asked me to teach her to knit socks. She's a beginning knitter, but has had some success with a couple of hats and some scarves. But, she really wanted to know how to knit socks. So, I told her I'd teach her when she was ready. I found a simple pattern that uses sport weight yarn and I ordered myself some yummy Mountain Colors Weavers Wool to use and then I waited until Ann was ready. Well, she was ready last weekend. I know, I totally don't have time to spend knitting socks when I have all this Christmas knitting to do, but darn it, she asked and I wanted to see if I could teach anyone to knit worth a darn. So I went to her house on Sunday and spent about 2 1/2 hours knitting and drinking tea and having a great time. I've knit a couple of rows since then - like when I'm waiting for dinner to cook or in the five minutes before I go to bed - and they're coming along nicely.
I'm not in any hurry on these, which in itself is a welcome change, and I can't really go any further than the start of the heel flap until Ann's ready. So, there you have it. That's my sock story.
We're having a heat wave here today - somewhere around 10 above! Have a great day. Happy knitting.
Posted by Stephanie at 9:38 AM | Comments (12)October 31, 2005
Sock Yarn
This weekend was mostly filled with construction projects (Trav's adding on to the barn) so there was a lot of post hole digging and tamping and measuring going on and not a lot of knitting, but I got yarn in the mail! And boy is it yummy.
Sock yarn - both sport weight for the pattern I'm going to use to show some friends how to knit socks.
First, we have some Mountain Colors Weaver's Wool in Sierra
100% wool and very soft. I think this yarn will make a nice thick pair of ribbed socks.
Next, we have some Icelandic Sport-Weight sock yarn from Tongue River Farm
There are 600 yards or so in this skein and I plan to use some of it to knit Travis a pair of warm winter socks. Something simple, but durable to keep his toes warm while he works outside all winter.
I manged to work a bit on the Ombre Blanket and finished the first color (5 1/2 inches equals 40 rows in case you were wondering). I'm still working in the dark brown color range (now one stand of the dark brown and one heathered brown) and since we didn't have much sun this weekend, all the pictures look like a big brown blob. I'll try to get a better picture to share with you. I'm still working with the addi turbos because I haven't found anything that works better. The Boye needle should be in today, so we'll give that a whirl and see what happens, but I think I'm getting used to the addis.
Happy Halloween.
Posted by Stephanie at 9:43 AM | Comments (8)
