Two Hours at Madrona

I can't attend any of the classes at Madrona, but I was free this morning to spend almost two hours at the marketplace. (Insert gleeful dancing around.) While it was very busy right after 8:30, soon most people wandered off to their classes, leaving plenty of browsing room. I walked around and around, trying to settle on just the right few things to buy from amongst the many beautiful options.


Noro Silk Garden, in 6 different colorways for some Christmas scarfs.
I'm starting early this year!


Socks that Rock Merino Wool in "Nodding Violet" for socks for me,
and Crown Mountain Farms Superfine Alpaca in "Smaug's Breath" for a shawl for me.
The sock yarn is greens, blues and purples, and the alpaca is like a sunset of reds, oranges, pinks and purples. The colors are more vibrant than shown.


Yeah, I know! They're glass!

Thanks, Jack

Ah, 24, a show that provides heartpounding excitement, relentless suspense,
and most important to this knitter, a four-hour season premiere.



Calorimetry
from Knitty.com

I used the entire 90 yd ball of Artfibers Cheesecake from San Francisco;
I had to cast off 2 rows early to finish with enough yarn.
This yarn is really nice--very soft and plush.

Snow and Ice + Ditching Work Early =

Ahh, funny how having a few extra hours in my day
doesn't mean the house gets any cleaner.

This is the Mistake Stitch Rib Scarf; except for about a yard, I used the entire 110 yard ball of Satori (Silk, Mohair, and Wool) from San Francisco.

When I first looked up the Mistake Stitch Rib, my source said to cast on a multiple of 4+1. Later, I looked it up another place, and it said 4+3. I think that for a circular item, the first would work, but for a flat piece, the second would be better. My scarf is not quite symmetrical. Oh well! Next time. I do like how the ribbing highlights the light and shiny fibers in the yarn and increases the depth of the darker fibers.

Mistake Stitch Rib: Cast on a multiple of 4+3 (or +1!), and k2, p2 across each row. Of course, you'll end up at the end of each row only knitting or purling 1 stitch, but that's how the "mistake" is created. It's a nice ribbing--try it!!

Progress

I'm about halfway through knitting the Baby Bog.
I had to buy more yarn for this today--my leftovers from the Hat Thing ran out.


I've started a scarf with one of the San Francisco yarns.
After deciding on Mistake Stitch Rib, I cast on what seemed to be a decent width,
and will knit until the yarn is gone.

Finished and Started

Well, I finished the Frankenstein baby surprise jacket. (Don't read that the wrong way!) It has some issues, but it'll work to clothe a baby. The front ended up being a little strange, but washing it helped immensely.




I had to take some fabric at the neck and fold it under.



The start of a baby bog jacket. I'm trying it in stockinette stitch instead of garter. (Pattern by Elizabeth Zimmermann...I'm having fun trying out her baby clothes!)

Souvenir Yarn

You do buy yarn while on vacation, right?

My camera is now full of photos of this famous place:


Not quite as famous, but still a fun find:




From top left, clockwise:
Cheesecake (color #5--pinks, browns, oranges) 30% Silk, 70% extrafine Merino Wool
Carezza (color #1--navy) 30% Silk, 30% Baby Alpaca, 40% extrafine Merino Wool
Satori (color #11--pinky orange) 69% Silk, 25% Super Kid Mohair, 6% extrafine Wool
Sumo (color #5--blues and greens) 66% Silk, 34% Lambswool

These will probably turn into wristwarmers and neckwarmers.

Some Finished Christmas Presents

Happy New Year 2007!
I managed to finish two Christmas presents sometime near December 25th.



A bunny puppet for a child, knit in some leftover pink chenille. Puppets are easy; knit a rectangle, sew up the sides, pick up some stitches at the top for some ears, and embroider on a face. If you're feeling ambitious (and you have time), you can add a tail too. I've made bunnies, puppies and kittens.




This is the kind of hat my husband likes--a simple tube so his ears stay warm. I'll have to find the yarn label, but I know it was wool and knit in garter stitch on #9s. I knit a rectangle long enough to wrap around his head and seamed the edges.

Edited to Add: Ok, the yarn for the HatThing is a mouthful: ONline Trend-Collection Linie 157 Tessa. It's 100% superwash virgin wool; I bought 4 balls and each is 85 meters. Er, I need to convert that to yards: almost 93. Also: 50 grams=1.76ounces. I knit with the yarn doubled, so it's pretty plush and thick. I'm sure I could have gotten away with buying 3 balls, and splitting the 3rd into two, but I didn't know how much I would need and don't mind having the extra.