Happy Day!!!!

Well I thought I was going to get some knitting done today while watching the Inauguration, but I admit I got a bit sidetracked. I never think of myself as a news junkie, but I was unable to tear myself away from the telly today. I also had the laptop set up in the living room, so I could watch online, as well as tv! Sad.....

I've had some fun chatting with some friends, checking facebook and other networking sites, and I think I might have even gotten caught up on my email! (that's major!)

Obligatory sock content-I finished one of the navy tweed socks last night, and will finish the other one tonight.

Yay!!

I've decided that one of my "resolutions" is to finish something before I start something else. Meaning, I will only have about 10 pairs OTN, and no more than that. LOL

And now I think I'll turn off the news channels.....

Noro Silk Garden scarf

I know....how original.....but they are just so pretty, I couldn't resist making myself one!

Here's the original post/pattern idea: http://brooklyntweed.blogspot.com/2007/04/noro-scarf.html

I did pretty much what Jared suggests: size 7 straight needles, CO 39 stitches. But I used only two colorways of Noro Silk Garden, #264 and #241. I just knit until I ran out of yarn, and it's about 5.5" wide and about 7' long. I haven't blocked it yet, but I don't think it really needs it. I didn't have any trouble with the edges, and they don't seem to be rolling or puckering at all.




I hadn't really used any Noro before, and while it was nice to work with, I was very disappointed in the particular skeins I had. There were quite a few knots, and they weren't careful about joining same colors together! (I've since read online that they have addressed this to some extent.) But with something like this, it wasn't a big deal. There were only a few places where there wasn't much contrast between the skeins, but I think it makes the rest of it pop more. The pictures seem quite a bit lighter than the real thing, but you get the gist.... I enjoyed making it-it was something I could do while watching movies w/o getting too distracted or having to "unknit" anything.

I have some more of this yarn to do another one, and I also bought some Poems (Wisdom Yarns) to do something similar. I bought colors #517 and #557. The yarn itself was fairly reasonable-only about $5 a skein, so this will be far cheaper than the Noro scarf. I think it's discontinued, so perhaps that's why it was so cheap! http://shade.novayarn.com/t/shade-2/1153/

More 2008 projects....

I finished these for my mom the day before she got here for Christmas! She really likes red, so I chose this yarn for her. It's Lana Grosse Multiringel in colorway 5030 reds. She chose yarn for her socks when she was here in the summer and I thought this was what she wanted. HOWEVER.....I just found a skein of some blue/aqua/teal/red that was stashed away in my knitting basket. I think I had that saved back for her and forgot all about it! LOL Oh well, not a biggie, she's called me twice to tell me how much she loves them. And this way, I can do these for her birthday in May.



I made these for my brother for Christmas. When he opened them, I could kind of tell that he wasn't as thrilled as I'd hoped....so.....last pair HE gets! LOL



My DSIL is a big shot at UT (Go Vols!), so I made these to keep her feet warm at football games. Since she's a big shot (Vice Chancellor), she is expected to at least show up for kickoff. They are simply 2x2 rib on the leg and top of foot. When I chose yarn, my brother pointed out that there are several oranges, and if I'd chosen the wrong one, they'd be completely unwearable.....LOL UT orange, Texas Orange, Clemson Orange, Florida Orange....etc, etc. I haven't heard any negative comments on these, so I'm going to assume they are okay. Come to think of it, I haven't heard any positive comments, either, so I'm not sure what to think about that.....



These are mine-from Colinette Jitterbug. I used a basket weave type pattern for the cuff. Again, nothing fancy, but just something from one of those stitch pattern books. There isn't nearly as much yardage in Jitterbug as other yarns, but since I like short socks, it wasn't a problem. I have maybe 10 yards left!

I'm starting out 2009 with several things still OTN: the DH's navy tweed socks, a couple of the flatfeet socks (one is pink, the other is a fall colorway), some offwhite Regia cotton lace socks, some short lace socks out of Regia bamboo/cotton/wool, and a scarf from Oatmeal Cascade 220, an offwhite sport weight lace scarf, and probably others that I can't remember.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! I'm having trouble believing that it's 2009 already.

I am a bit surprised that I haven't updated this for quite some time. I guess I've gotten sidetracked between knitting, uploading photos, etc. I finished quite a few projects in 2008, so I thought I'd share some of them from the second half of the year.



Twin Girs for the boy..... pattern here: http://www.johnnysstew.com/pattern/gir.html

I used some kind of Bernat worsted weight for the body and some aqua and hot pink scraps (again, some sort of acrylic worsted weight, probably RedHeart) for the accents. I used a much smaller needle than what was called for because I didn't want any of the stuffing to poke through the holes. It just seemed too loose when I started. I also made a few itty bitty changes in the pattern, but mainly I knit the eyes separately and then attached them. Since I was knitting it so tightly, it was very difficult to pick up stitches to do the eyes.

The blue one is the regular, non mad Gir and the hot pink one is the mad Gir. I tried to match the colors to a toy...er, I mean "action figure" found in the boy's room. I made these for his birthday and he seemed pleased! I'm seriously considering doing them again out of sock yard. Crazy? Yeah, probably. :P



Socks for the DH. Regia cotton blend. I have started a pair for myself, as this seems like it's very nice, wearable yarn.



Finally finished these "Online" that I started quite a few months ago. They didn't thrill me while I was working on them, but I actually like them quite a lot.



More Regia Cotton for me this time!



Lacy pattern from one of those "1001 Stitches" type books. The yarn is Sock-Ease and it was very nice to work with.

More in the next post!

Next pair?

http://knitty.com/ISSUEsummer08/PATTmuscari.html

The designer Suzi is always helpful and friendly on and off the socknitter list, so I am glad to see her pattern published on Knitty.

Anyway, even though this is a really pretty complicated looking lace pattern, it doesn't look too difficult for me, so I think I might give it a try when I'm ready to CO a new pair.

The BMW socks

The DH has a Bimmer and a Beemer, and if you don't know the difference, well I just don't know what to say. lol Actually my brother, who has had several of each, had to straighten me out on which is which. Bimmer is the car, Beemer is the bike. (like us non BMW types really care..... :P)

Anyway, BMW colors are blue and black, so when he saw this Magic Stripes yarn, he immediately claimed it for his own to "match the BMWs." Well the bike is a black 1982 R65 and the car is a blue green 1998 Z3, so the yarn actually really does match both. If you look closely at the car pic, you'll see the bike's handlebars in the b/g.

Big whoop, eh?

If we continue that line of thinking, those gray stripe Austermann socks must only be worn when I drive my silver car. :P

mitts (repost from March)

Edited to ensure neutrality......A friend at church requested some fingerless mitts/hobo gloves, so here is the result. Regia stretch, one ball is enough for a pair, and you can see I had some left over. I used size 1.5's, CO 44, 2x2 rib for 3", 5 rounds st st, then usual mitt pattern. I have some more Regia stretch in blues that I think I'll use for myself. She has small hands, so I'd CO 48 for myself.

Eegad!

More frakkin sox.........

Cuffed ones for meeeeeee, cow sox for the DH. The cuffed ones were done in my toe up class, and I don't think I really enjoyed that particular technique. They are so long because I just kept knitting the cuffs/legs until I ran out of yarn. "Cow" socks because they look sort of like cows......I have some of that yarn left over, so I think I'll make a cup holder/koozie thingy for my cow lovin' friend Monica!

Yep, you guessed it.....

More socks! lol Lovely yarn, btw. I'd love to buy more (for a sweater!) but it was a bit pricey. Pagewood Farms, Yukon, color name is Crayon. I bought it at Kirkwood Knittery, or whatever the shop is called. Anyway, I did this pair on two circs, size 1's.

More socks!

I finished the blue and purple Magic Stripes socks last night-they are for MEEEEE!!!!!

Same basic pattern-2x2 rib for 4 inches, then stockinette for an inch, short row heel, foot for 5", then toe, then BAM we have sox!!!

I also finished Ned's socks the other day. He wears about a size 10 shoe. I barely had about 10 yards of yarn left. I'd used Jawoll green/brown/blue stripes, CO 72 on 0's. Nice yarn, but next time I think I'll make his a bit shorter. I was sweating it out toward the end there. :D You'll notice the toes are different. I'd unspun a bit in between socks to make them match and that was the left over. Close enough for toes, right? ;)

Color is a lot darker/brighter in person. Now he says he's a professional model since his legs are on the net. lol

Magic Stripes socks and the duckie DPN holders

Hey, I like this yarn! LOL I know there are some yarn snobs out there that will never entertain the idea of using it. I've used this for some fingerless mitts, and it's soft, wears really well, washes and dries really well, and IMHO, gets softer with each wearing/washing.

I'm using one skein per sock, since I have plenty of it, and wanted the stripes to match. I CO 64 and am using 0's. It's a basic sock pattern, 2x2 rib for the cuff, then stockinette for about 1 1/4", then SR heel, then stockinette for the foot. I'll most likely do the toe the same way I did the Austermanns.

A word about my DPN point protectors/holders you see here and in other posts........aren't these the absolutely most adorable thing you've seen in like......I dunno.....forever? LOL Seriously, when I saw them here: http://veganknitter.blogspot.com/2007/09/dpn-project-holder-tutorial.html I just had to make some for myself. I ran right out to Hancock's for some elastic cord (the ditz at jackman's had absolutely NO clue what I was on about....), then bought some of the pencil toppers. You can search for your best deal on these. The regular tan rubber ducks are too big, IMHO. The pencil topper holes are the same size, but the ducks themselves are about 3-4 times bigger than the devil ducks and pirate ducks.

So allow me once more to thank Vegan Knitter for sharing this great idea on her blog. Thank you, Vegan Knitter!!! :D

Online socks

I haven't made much headway on these, and I don't really know why. I think this is very pretty yarn, and it's working up nicely. I CO 70 on 0's and am doing a 3x2 rib on the cuff. Then I'll just a SR heel and stockinette foot. It's Online Supersocke Melange, 974. I bought this yarn at Loopy Ewe in Chicago when I was there for the Genesis concerts in October 2007. I stayed at the downtown Travelodge with Jennifer and her mom, and this shop was about 2 blocks away. For more details on the Genesis shows, see http://ssudio.livejournal.com/.

I also bought some clear clogs at that shop. It was nice to be able to try them on. Ummm, nope, I haven't actually worn them outside the house yet! lol

Ned's socks

Ned wanted some socks, so this is what I've done on his so far. I'm ready to start doing the heel, so I suppose I'm ready to try to figure out how to use that reinforcing thread that came with this yarn. I've never used this before, and nobody can seem to tell me exactly how and where to start using it. LOL So I'll muddle along and hope it works out.

If you can't see the label on this yarn, it's Lang Jawoll color. It seems a bit thinner than the Austermann, so I've gone down to 0's for this and CO 72 st.

Austermann step socks

This is the first time I've used this yarn and I have to say, I really like it. It has aloe vera embedded in the fiber and it's really nice to work with. Nice and easy on the hands. And it works up nicely, too. I just did a regular 2x2 rib for the cuff, then stockinette for the foot. I CO 64 stitches and used 1's and short row heel. I am doing the toes a bit differently than what I've seen in patterns. When I've done most of the foot, I start my decreases normally....every other round. After I get to about 1/2 the stitches on each needle (8 each in this case), I start dec every round. Then I'm left with 4 st on each two needles, and do the Kitchener/graft stitch at that time. The toes end up looking nicer, IMHO, and they don't have those annoying square "ears" like most socks do.

The first shot looks very washed out, and the second is too yellowish. Flash/no flash.



I've since started another pair in the red/black/grey colorway, and am almost done with those. I made them about 2 inches longer.

Even more fingerless mitts!

Yep, you guessed it......

First pair are made from Regia Stretch. When I first started knitting this up, I was very disappointed in that it seemed that the yarn plies were separating from the elastic ply. I was assured they would "bloom" after washing. It took a couple of machine washings and dryings to make them do that to my satisfaction. I'd use this yarn again for socks. I think I used a size 1 for these and I might be happier with 0's for socks.


These are some more of that gorgeous yarn I talked about in November. Yummmy stuff!

These blue/green numbers are Sockotta 6 ply. I bought this at my fave LYS, Heathstone, and I think it was the last skein of it. I sort of had to jigger a bit to get them to match, but they turned out kind of neat, IMHO. I usually wear them over some navy/colonial blue magic stretch gloves, and I feel quite stylish. LOL I used 2's and it's just a 2x2 rib all the way.

Scarf update

My son volunteered me to do scarves for a few select friends of his. I had made him a Cornell scarf-purple and white-for Christmas last year, and several of his friends admired it and wanted one. The kids picked out their colors, and Nathan and I shopped for yarn. I finally finished them so he could take them back to college after Christmas. I was surprised and pleased to get thankyous from nearly all of the kids. I enjoyed making them-very simple pattern, and something that I could do while watching tv-and I think they turned out pretty nice! Here are some of the results. Thanks to Nathan for the pics!

More fingerless mitts!

Yeah, I'm loving these! My hands are cold and I don't like wearing regular gloves when I knit or type on the computer. (well duh, that's why people do these, right?) So I made another pair. (and in a day or two, you'll see yet another pair from Regia Stretch.....another story)

I used the same pattern I used for the Magic Stripes pair from a previous post. But this time I made them a bit smaller. I CO 56 and decreased to 42 after the ribbing. There is plenty for a pair of socks. I don't think I used 1/2 the ball for the mitts. Wondering now if I can get a hat out of the rest of that ball. I guess I'll try measuring it somehow......in my spare time. lol

I love the yarn and I have another ball of it in a different colorway. It's so soft that I kind of thought it might not be a good one for socks. It's hand painted fine merino socks from Lanartus in the turquiose/fuscia/blue/purple/pink/lavender colorway. The next set will be from the same yarn in the variegated blues. And I think I will do the thumb a bit differently. I like the rolled edge, but maybe I'll do one w/o that next time. Maybe a couple of ribbing rounds before the bindoff. They look like they are a bit different in size, but I think it's because one of them was tried on more.

Ooooh I love this yarn! And if it weren't so expensive, I'd be tempted to do a sweater from it.

Did I mention I love this yarn?

Super Easy Fingerless Mitts

Well looks like I haven't been here for some time, but I've been busy. :P I've been working on a lace sampler scarf for a class at my LYS, and it's quite time consuming. We are using Alpaca with a Twist Fino, which is very fine-both ways! Beautiful yarn and very very thin. The yarn is here: http://www.alpacawithatwist.com/index.htm

I don't see the book on the website, perhaps it is only published for class use. But the pattern is here, about 2/3 of the way down the page. http://www.aurora-alpacas.com/2007catalog.pdf

But anyway, the point of my post is that I have finished something-just last night in fact! I've had this thing for fingerless gloves/mitts and usually just whack off the fingers of those cheapo magic gloves that you can buy for a buck. But I decided I was worth more than a buck and since I have this massive amount of sock yarn, thought I'd give some a try.

There were plenty of free patterns on the web, so I tried one that I found on one of those free pattern sites. Well, it was a disaster and I ended up starting over. I used the same yarn, same needles, same gauge and obviously the pattern writer has yooooooge hands! Here's what I finally came up with.

I'm only typing this up here because I had to redo one. LOL I'd bet money the exact same thing is online *somewhere,* just nowhere I could find.

Me wearing 'em and one sitting for its portrait. Ain't they purdy? :D


I used Lion Brand Magic Stripes, I think it's called Spring, but I've been calling it Clown. :P I've had this Magic Stripes stuff forever, and knew I'd probably not use this colorway in socks.

Using size 1.5 (2.5 mm) DPN, cast on 64 stitches. You can use a straight needle and then transfer to your DPNs if you like. You'll find this will be a bit looser than your normal sock gauge. I figured it didn't matter too much because you won't be wearing them in shoes, and they most likely won't wear out as quickly.

Place a marker at the beginning of the round. Do 2x2 (K 2, P2, etc) ribbing for 3 inches. (this will look really huge, but I like a thicker wrist and anyway, I'd already done the cast on for the previous pattern, I didn't want to rip it out. lol) Having a number divisible by 4 will allow you to decrease one stitch on every knit rib. You will end up with 48 stitches and an interesting "design feature" at the end of the ribbing. If you don't want this design feature, then simply cast on 48 and forget the decreases. Next pair I make I will probably make them a bit smaller, maybe cast on 56 and decrease from there to 42. Eh-maybe somewhere in between. I'll have to do the math when I'm fresh. lol

Knit in the round for about an inch, 8-10 rows, then you will start the shaping for your thumb gusset. This is pretty standard, but I'll review that here: knit to within three stitches of your marker, place another marker, increase (I used K in front, then in back of the same stitch), knit one, then increase again. You will have three stitches in between your markers. Knit the next two rounds, then do your increase round again. You will do these three rounds/rows until you have 21 stitches in between your markers. (Note to self-for next pair, stop at 19.) Your next round will complete that row, then you will stop and place the remaining 21 (or 19) stitches on a holder of some sort-dental floss works really well. It's sturdy enough to hold the stitches, but flexible enough to stay out of your way.

Cast on 5-6 stitches on the end of your working needle, join that round, then continue knitting in the round for about an inch. You'll skip the thumb stitches, btw. When you have the length you like, bind off. The original pattern called for knitting every round and then binding off. This will make it roll. I didn't really want that, so I knit for an inch, then repeated my K2, P2 ribbing for an inch, then bound off in pattern.

Thumb was a bit tricky for me. I think because it is such a small space/tube to knit. I picked up the 5-6 stitches from where I cast on the extras, then joined with the gusset stitches on the holder. I decreased at the join until I had 18 (next time I'll stop at 20) stitches, then knit until the length I wanted. I didn't care if this rolled, I can roll it up or down, depending on my mood and level of chill. Then bind off.

If you're using two balls like I did, you can simply start each mitt at the same point in the color pattern. If you're not using two balls, then you could wind off enough yarn at the end of your finger area bind off until you hit that pattern again, and use that wound off yarn for your thumb. Or do both thumbs at the very end so you'll be able to match them, if you want.

Obviously (well that's obvious to some, probably not to me until I did one! lol) you can keep knitting the thumb, then finish like you'd finish the top of a hat-decrease until you have left a few stitches on the needle, then draw your yarn through and close the ends. You can also finish the top of the mitten, by knitting continously until the length you want, then starting your decreases like you would for a toe. Separate your stitches on 4 needles, you will do decreases on every other row. One side you'll do a K2tog decrease, the other side you'll do a slip, knit one, slip knitted stitch over for your decrease. You'll want your decreases to slant in the opposite direction. It won't matter for utility of course, just for "looks." Oh yeah, weave in your ends! ;)

Any questions, just email me-I'm no expert by any means, but will help any way I can.

Enjoy!

More Jiffy Socks!

These are just like the blue ones in a previous post. More "big fuzzy sleep socks" for Christmas. These really do work up quickly, I think I finished this pair in an evening. It's odd how one "pooled" more than the other in some places. I like the way the diagonal stripes ended up on the leg. Very different design than the blue ones, which weren't striped at all.

Lacy Wool Ease Socks from KAL

The Lacy Wool Ease socks. Finished!

This pattern was from a KAL (knit along) on the EasySocks yahoogroup. (an aside here to say what a really, really nice bunch of knitters on that group. I'm on several groups, and this one is really good for beginners with a lot of questions. This group is very helpful and always a pleasure to read. I'm sure that's down to the mods.) The way a KAL works is that your group chooses a pattern and everyone works on that for a certain month. Duh, yeah I know, but I didn't know that before I started this nonsense! lol

Anyway, the pattern was a freebie on the net: http://www.woolworks.org/patterns/linkssox.txt
You know me....I'm always up for the easy way out. I didn't do the pattern on the foot part of the sock. I knew they would be too thick for me, and that my SIL would end up with them for Christmas. I used one of the double stranded colors (not variegated) Wool Ease yarns, and I find out later it's thicker than the single color yarn. I think they turned out pretty nice, though. They do match, I just stuffed one of them with something to show off the "lace" pattern.