29 December 2007

Old Year Resolution

My knitting goal to finish out 2007 is to finish a few more Christmas gifts. This past year I've finished five little neckwarmers, but have one more to go. I won't see the gift recipients for a couple more weeks, but I'd still like to finish these up so I can start something new January 1st. Here are the five, finished except for end-sewing-in and a wash.


And the last one...


Each of these is a different ball of Noro Silk Garden. I hope my friends all get the colors they like!

Here's another present I can show you, now that Mr. Wonderland has opened it for Christmas! I'll post the completed scarf photos soon. More Noro Silk Garden, basically two different colors, alternating between the two for the stripes.

25 October 2007

Third Place


Well, none of my photos of my entries at the fair turned out very well, so instead, here is a photo of the fair after dark. It was really fun to look at the other knitting entries; I saw a few patterns I recognized. There was a Lizard Ridge Blanket, the Tarten Jacket from Interweave Knits (Fall 2004), and an Elizabeth Zimmermann Tomten Jacket. (The links are just to show you what was there--photos are not the exact items entered.)

My tall, lacy socks were awarded third place in the socks division, and my shawl only merited a participation ribbon. I wish the judging comment card had more information; it only lists the scores for the different elements. I'd like to know what they didn't like about the execution. Oh, well. I like it!

05 September 2007

Fair Thee Well



The 2007 Puyallup Fair opens this weekend and runs through September 23rd. Go and enjoy some elephant ears!

I've entered my knee-high lacy socks and a flower basket shawl I finished awhile ago. More info on that one when I pull all the photos together!

29 August 2007

Like That's Going to Work!


Maybe sorting through patterns and winding up yarn aren't the best things to be doing when the goal is not to knit.


I just couldn't help it.




One Baby Surprise Jacket (Elizabeth Zimmermann) out of about 1.5 balls of the Fall-colored Fancy Image Wool I bought at the Puyallup Fair last year.

I'm sorry the colors are so wacky--I'd say the first is the closest. A bit of 70s browns and golds, with some blues and teals too. When I get the buttons put on, I'll take a better photo outside.

25 August 2007

Where Did Summer Go?

Well, while I have been knitting, the computer has not seen my face lately.
So now it's catch-up time!

What do you do when your knitting elbow hurts? When mine hurt earlier this summer, I decided to go through some of my yarn boxes to see what I had and do a bit of organizing. I even got out the ball winder and wound up a bunch of it.
The following photos are of yarn I bought in September of 2006 at the Puyallup Fair.

Kingston Colors Sock Yarn from The Artful Ewe based in Kingston, WA. There are two balls, 250 yards each. 75% Superwash Wool, 25% Nylon. I think I will make socks out of them.



Two different colorways of Hand-dyed Merino Wool from Fancy Image Yarn based in Shelton, WA. One ball, 250 yards, of Spring Rainbowy colors and two balls of Fall Rainbowy colors.


Lincoln Wool from Willow Creek Farm in Roy, WA.
320 yards--I hope to have enough to do a vest this winter.
This yarn is really interesting--beautiful red browns and silvery greys.


This 50% Silk, 50% Wool yarn is a bit disappointing: One hank made all those balls. I guess I just assume that if it's one hank, it's all one piece of yarn!

Here are some other ideas I thought of to do while suffering a knitting injury:

Sort through knitting books and magazines, perhaps deciding to sell or donate some.

Plan out a project.

Make notes on a finished project.

Decide whether to rip out or continue some long-lost unfinished projects.

Discover and read the many interesting knitting blogs out there and make notes of any projects that entice.

Don't do yardwork--that hurts the elbow too, and the goal is to get back to knitting as quickly as possible!!

29 June 2007

Second Sock, Same as the First


I am eager for this one to be completed; unfortunately, it's not very exciting to work on. I may put it away for a little while and pick it up later; it doesn't need to be finished until mid-August, when I enter it in The Fair.

26 June 2007

Part 2 of a pair


Well, the only way to actually get a pair of socks is to knit a second sock. There's just no getting around it. So as much as I'd like to start something else...anything else, I've cast on for the second lacy sock. No second sock syndrome for me!!

13 June 2007

Some Shopping



From the Puyallup Spring Fair, 480 yards of Silver Grey Bulky Romney Wool from Spring Hill Farm. I wish I had thought to take a photo of their sheep while I was there, but here's a photo from their site. I think I'll knit myself a vest with it.



A 1-lb cone of cotton. (840 yards in color Seabreeze.)
The only colors on the cone I can get from my local store are natural, green with white, and blue with white, so I was happy to pick this up at Shuttles, Spindles and Skeins in Boulder, CO.


Also from Shuttles, 2 hanks of Mountain Colors Bearfoot in the color Ruby River. I'm also thinking a vest from this. I took several photos of this yarn, and this is the only one that seemed remotely close. Very vibrant, deep reds.

11 June 2007

Er...Oops.

Ahem. So I finished the little red, white and purple posies, but forgot to take a photo. Then I made a Calorimetry head wrap for my sister with the yarn she picked out for it back in February (the purple alpaca you've seen before from my Recently-Acquired-Yarn Bag)....but I forgot to take a photo. What! I can't believe it. I did cast on fewer stitches than for mine, because mine is really too big.

So, just to give you something to see, here are three scarves I've finished so far using the Noro Silk Garden bought in January in Tacoma.

Mistake Stitch Rib, 1 ball each.

30 May 2007

Two Socks!




My first finished pair of socks! Yes, one is taller.
One of the balls must have had more yardage; I wish I had weighed them before starting. I guess that's a good lesson--don't trust the ball band! Oh well, pants will hide the tops.

08 May 2007

04 May 2007

Sidetracked


I did finish one lacy sock; I just haven't managed a good photo yet. Before I start the second sock, I need to work on a few things for some upcoming events. First, some little flowers for a bridal shower. These are from the book Designs for Kids, by Lucinda Guy. The red and white flowers are Jo Sharp DK Wool; the purple flower is leftover Noro.

20 April 2007

Sock Progress



I have about 20 grams of yarn left out of 80 for this sock; it's enough to make it pretty tall, but probably not enough to make it a knee-high. I'm picturing some eyelets at the top with a little ribbon. Oh, it started to get a bit tight around my calf, so I switched from size 2s to 3s. It's kind of tight at my ankle, so on the next sock, I'm going to go up a needle size for an inch or two there too.

13 April 2007

Too Big...Rip...Just Right!



Well, I was wrong about the gauge, especially after throwing in the pattern. My first attempt at this sock was too big. I reduced it from 50 stitches around (my initial gauge of 7 stitches an inch) to 42 stitches around (real gauge of 6 stitches an inch).

I had an easier time with the short-row toe using this yarn over the rainbow yarn. Maybe I've learned to loosen up my wraps a bit. I do think this yarn is more tightly spun, so it's harder to split.

11 April 2007

Shell Socks


I think I'm going to try this "Little Shell" pattern I found in my Harmony Guide of Knitting Stitches. All the action takes place on one row, with three rows of plain knitting in between. Like the rainbow socks, I'll be using the template from the toe-up socks at Knitty, but adding the pattern on the top of the foot and around the leg. Since I'm still using my size 1 dpns for the rainbow socks, I'll be working the shell socks on size 2s. The gauge looks very close.

Nodding Violet in the Vinca


Since things are going swimmingly with the second rainbow sock and the cherry blossom shawl, I've pulled out something else from the Recently-Acquired Yarn Bag--my Socks that Rock yarn.
This week the Socks that Rock gang over at Blue Moon Fiber Arts is holding a knitting camp on a beautiful island in Puget Sound, WA. I can't go, but thought I'd start a pair of socks with their yarn. So far, I've wound the yarn into two equal weight balls. Now I need to figure out a pattern!

09 April 2007

Cherry Blossom and Rainbow Sock Progress



The title today pretty much says it all.
I've worked a little bit on the shawl, and a little bit on the second sock.

Do you see the way the different colors on the shawl are not mixing together? I'm not sure I like this, but will keep knitting to see what happens. It looks like this particular section is going to continue with the colors pooling, but soon I'll increase to double the number of stitches--that should throw them out of whack.

03 April 2007

Too Many Little Pointy Sticks


Whew, I am glad to be finished with the double-pointed needles on the Cherry Blossom Shawl.
The stitches just barely fit around my 12" circular needle, but using the dpns felt so flimsy--I switched as soon as I could.

02 April 2007

That was fun!



Hey, that wasn't so bad! I was worried that a sock would take forever because of the little needles and small gauge. In fact, knitting my first sock was fun. I've already cast on the mate, so I hope to avoid the second-sock syndrome.
It's all stockinette, and not the easiest to get over my heel. Next time I'll have to do some ribbing or some other stretchy pattern on the leg. You can see that the cuff is slightly rolled--I just did a sewn bindoff. I like it.

29 March 2007

It's almost a sock!!


I think I should be able to finish this soon.

23 March 2007

Knit Until the Yarn Runs Out



I made it around the heel!
This is my first sock; I like that I can try it on as I go.
The pattern is from knitty.com.
I didn't really like working the short-row toe or heel, so I'm eager to try something different on my next pair.

19 March 2007

The Stash Plan, Part 1

Meet the Recently-Acquired-Yarn Bag.
I'd like to make a dent in my yarn stash, and I'm going to start using the most recently acquired yarn first.
Why not, right? It was all the yarn on top of the pile.

So, what's in the bag?




From a trip to New Orleans, 109 yards of Classic Elite Inca Alpaca in a blue-purple.


Also from New Orleans, 175 yards of of Koigu Painter's Palette Premium Merino Wool. The colors remind me of all the Mardi Gras decorations that were up.



You've seen these two before--from the San Francisco Artfibers store, 265 yards of silk/alpaca/wool in navy, and 83 yards of silk/lambswool in blues and greens.


From the Madrona Fiber Arts Winter Retreat in Tacoma, 380 yards of Socks That Rock merino wool in Nodding Violet. Beautiful!


Don't you love getting yarn for Christmas? Me too! This lovely gift is 270 yards of Berroco Europa Superwash Wool/Cotton. I've started some toe-up socks from Knitty.


Something else from Tacoma--1,240 yards of hand-dyed superfine alpaca from Crown Mountain Farms. With it, I've started the Cherry Blossom Shawl by Kristin Spurkland.


This is from the Spring 2002 Interweave Knits.

As I work through all this yarn, I'll add things to the bag from the stash, grabbing yarn from further and further (farther and farther?) back in time.