(Running a bit behind on the blogging, I'm going to pretend that it's still Nov. 30th...)
In November, I mailed out 22 pairs of socks for Mittens for Akkol which are going to Kazakhstan for their New Year's party. (Nanci, the coordinator and organizer extraordinaire is over there right now with all the socks, collecting the other supplies for the party.)
A baby seamless kimono sweater, sadly pictureless.
Faggotting Ribs Sox for me. For summer. For next summer, and not the previous one. I'm sure that was my plan, after all.
Myrtille sweater for me. (Hmm, do I have a theme going on? memememe)
Brambles Beret for DD#2 (Will show pics tomorrow, but trust me, I really did finish this in November.)
Denim Toddler socks (again with the reassurance that it was completed at least a couple of hours before December.)
That's it. Now it's time to really start working on the Christmas projects (and to stop adding things to the list.)
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Sunday, November 28, 2010
The state of my coffee table
Most knitters have a favorite spot where they like to knit. For me, it's on the couch downstairs. The coffee table in front is the collection/storage place for all my knitting projects, WIPS or otherwise.
It currently looks like this:
The projects change from week to week, but the mess tends to stay at the same level. If I straighten it up and can actually see a piece of the table, I feel like it's very clean. Until the next day, when it gets back to the usual state.
Working from left to right, let me describe what's on my table...
1. Today I've been working on the Brambles beret for DD#2. Not sure if it's a Christmas project yet; if we get snow she might request it sooner (assuming that it's done, that is.) I'm using Wool-ease since she doesn't like wool at all, but the downside is that there not much stitch definition.
2. I started another hat. This one is the Snowboarder Hat that Rocks. The purpose? I liked the pattern. The problem? I'm running out of yarn. It's Plymouth Outback bulky yarn that I'm using double-stranded. I'll have to rip it out, and then use one Outback strand and one regular brown strand.
That'll have to wait, though, as my Christmas knitting list keeps growing. DD#1 came home the other day and made a couple of requests. Her friends really liked the hats I made last year, and one requested another hat and one said to tell me that she also really likes scarves. And, DD wouldn't mind getting another hat, too.
Since you do a lot of charity knitting anyway, she explained, just consider this a charity of knitting for poor college students.
Okay, they got added to my list.
3. If you look very closely, my coffee table also contains a pair of toddler charity socks. The materials were bought when I needed something for sitting in a doctor's office and I wasn't going home first. The metal dpns are really quite pointy and I don't have a blue set yet, so that was a worthwhile purchase.
They've been abandoned, though, since there's no time constraint and there's Christmas knitting pressing.
4. Here are the completed, soon-to-be-ripped-out gift socks. I haven't gotten up the nerve to frog them yet, so they're still in timeout.
5. I bought a beading storage case that I'm using for all my little gadgets and tools. It's really coming in useful and I'm using my stitch markers now rather than whatever bit of a circle I can find in my sight.
6. These are the socks for me that I started when the gift socks went into timeout. I had made it down to the heel on the first sock when I noticed a dropped stitch way back at the ribbing. I hardly ever drop stitches (especially without knowing about them), so it's just a little disturbing to do it twice within the same week. These ones were ripped back and reknit.
7. And finally, here is some neon green yarn, dyed and getting ready to be a hat for DS#2.
This is a Christmas present, even though he knows about it.
And that's it.
What does your knitting corner look like?
It currently looks like this:
The projects change from week to week, but the mess tends to stay at the same level. If I straighten it up and can actually see a piece of the table, I feel like it's very clean. Until the next day, when it gets back to the usual state.
Working from left to right, let me describe what's on my table...
1. Today I've been working on the Brambles beret for DD#2. Not sure if it's a Christmas project yet; if we get snow she might request it sooner (assuming that it's done, that is.) I'm using Wool-ease since she doesn't like wool at all, but the downside is that there not much stitch definition.
2. I started another hat. This one is the Snowboarder Hat that Rocks. The purpose? I liked the pattern. The problem? I'm running out of yarn. It's Plymouth Outback bulky yarn that I'm using double-stranded. I'll have to rip it out, and then use one Outback strand and one regular brown strand.
That'll have to wait, though, as my Christmas knitting list keeps growing. DD#1 came home the other day and made a couple of requests. Her friends really liked the hats I made last year, and one requested another hat and one said to tell me that she also really likes scarves. And, DD wouldn't mind getting another hat, too.
Since you do a lot of charity knitting anyway, she explained, just consider this a charity of knitting for poor college students.
Okay, they got added to my list.
3. If you look very closely, my coffee table also contains a pair of toddler charity socks. The materials were bought when I needed something for sitting in a doctor's office and I wasn't going home first. The metal dpns are really quite pointy and I don't have a blue set yet, so that was a worthwhile purchase.
They've been abandoned, though, since there's no time constraint and there's Christmas knitting pressing.
4. Here are the completed, soon-to-be-ripped-out gift socks. I haven't gotten up the nerve to frog them yet, so they're still in timeout.
5. I bought a beading storage case that I'm using for all my little gadgets and tools. It's really coming in useful and I'm using my stitch markers now rather than whatever bit of a circle I can find in my sight.
6. These are the socks for me that I started when the gift socks went into timeout. I had made it down to the heel on the first sock when I noticed a dropped stitch way back at the ribbing. I hardly ever drop stitches (especially without knowing about them), so it's just a little disturbing to do it twice within the same week. These ones were ripped back and reknit.
7. And finally, here is some neon green yarn, dyed and getting ready to be a hat for DS#2.
This is a Christmas present, even though he knows about it.
And that's it.
What does your knitting corner look like?
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Socks not done
Moving quickly from one sport to the next, in the past week we (meaning DD#2) have covered a field hockey "banquet", basketball tryouts, three practices, and a scrimmage. That all means lots of knitting time, which means I finished a pair of socks, or so I thought.
They're just plain vanilla, 64 sts on 1s, so...just a pair of ordinary socks. However, the first time done I made them 11 inches long (for a recipient who wears size 8.5 shoes--what was I thinking?). The next time I made the toe too pointy. The last time I made the it just right.
Except for this:
That's right, that's a dropped stitch.
In my defense, I noticed that I was missing a stitch, looked around a bit, and then decided I just decreased one too many during the gusset and moved on.
And it occurs before the heel, which means I have half a sock to reknit.
Will I then run out of yarn since I had already hidden the end? Most likely, unless I either
a) knit tighter or
b) make it one row shorter.
I think I'll choose b.
Even though I'm knitting socks all the time, I just couldn't redo this right away. It needs time to sit and think about what happened, and promise to be good from here on out.
In the meantime?
I cast on for a new sock.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Sweater is done
And finally... some pictures of another UFO. (That's right, I did just start the whole blog post with the word "And". It's my post, and I can be grammatically incorrect if I want to. And I do.)
I started this sweater in March, so from start to finish it only took me 8 months.
The last time I worked on it, though, was May 29th.
So really, I only worked on it for 4 months.
It was in timeout because of the armholes. There's extra bulk in the armhole area and I didn't know what I wanted to do about it. When I picked it back up, I decided that it was okay and I just left it alone, sewed in the other sleeve, and called it a day.
Was that the right decision?
I'm not so sure.
But considering that it's not so noticiable in pictures, anyway, unless I do poses like this:
I will most likely leave it alone.
I like the waistline detail alot. So much so that I did an extra repeat of the Bellflower Rib (getting carried away....) and then just left it in (laziness). But I like it that way anyway.
The buttons were found at Joann's, and don't show up very much when buttoned, but I like them anyway. (The pics colors are un-retouched, so the difference in color is just standing in the light or in the shadow. The actual color is somewhere in-between.)
Patons Classic wool 6.5 skeins of worn denim, size 4 and 6 needles, 5 buttons rather than 3, 1 extra repeat of Bellflower ribbing, Ladies size Large.
And ta-da! A new sweater to add to my collection!
I started this sweater in March, so from start to finish it only took me 8 months.
The last time I worked on it, though, was May 29th.
So really, I only worked on it for 4 months.
It was in timeout because of the armholes. There's extra bulk in the armhole area and I didn't know what I wanted to do about it. When I picked it back up, I decided that it was okay and I just left it alone, sewed in the other sleeve, and called it a day.
Was that the right decision?
I'm not so sure.
But considering that it's not so noticiable in pictures, anyway, unless I do poses like this:
I will most likely leave it alone.
I like the waistline detail alot. So much so that I did an extra repeat of the Bellflower Rib (getting carried away....) and then just left it in (laziness). But I like it that way anyway.
The buttons were found at Joann's, and don't show up very much when buttoned, but I like them anyway. (The pics colors are un-retouched, so the difference in color is just standing in the light or in the shadow. The actual color is somewhere in-between.)
Patons Classic wool 6.5 skeins of worn denim, size 4 and 6 needles, 5 buttons rather than 3, 1 extra repeat of Bellflower ribbing, Ladies size Large.
And ta-da! A new sweater to add to my collection!
Friday, November 19, 2010
Socks and Awards
My summer socks are done! The second sock seemed much easier than the first (even the beading part).
Since they're too late for this summer (even too late for Indian Summer), they can just hang around and anxiously await next summer.
Pattern: Faggotting Ribs Sox from 6SoxKAL
Size: smaller, for my rather large feet. They were done with 60 sts on size 1 dpns and seem to fit just right. The lace makes it looser and I wouldn't want the larger size on the cuff or it would just flop around. (I'm going to have to hid that bunny ear on the toe, though.)
Earlier this week, I attended DD#2's annual fall sports "banquet" (where there's no food.) We were there for 3 hours, 2 and 1/2 of which was just for the field hockey awards. A first-year mom was commenting that she'd like to be home in time for Survivor. Not a chance, I replied. And I was right.
It was a special night, though, remembering a former player on the 25 year anniversary of her untimely death. There was a scholarship set up in her name, one to be given each year since and many of the recipients were there. It was very touching. And the 3 hours didn't seem quite as long as last year. (Maybe I'm getting resigned to the fact that it will last that long whether I want it to or not.)
As always, I came prepared. With a sock.
I did the ribbing at home, but did the rest at the "banquet". In-between pausing to clap or to stretch my hands.
Stripey, stripey. This will a Christmas present. And it's the second sock. And it's still November. Maybe I should get an award?
Since they're too late for this summer (even too late for Indian Summer), they can just hang around and anxiously await next summer.
Pattern: Faggotting Ribs Sox from 6SoxKAL
Size: smaller, for my rather large feet. They were done with 60 sts on size 1 dpns and seem to fit just right. The lace makes it looser and I wouldn't want the larger size on the cuff or it would just flop around. (I'm going to have to hid that bunny ear on the toe, though.)
Earlier this week, I attended DD#2's annual fall sports "banquet" (where there's no food.) We were there for 3 hours, 2 and 1/2 of which was just for the field hockey awards. A first-year mom was commenting that she'd like to be home in time for Survivor. Not a chance, I replied. And I was right.
It was a special night, though, remembering a former player on the 25 year anniversary of her untimely death. There was a scholarship set up in her name, one to be given each year since and many of the recipients were there. It was very touching. And the 3 hours didn't seem quite as long as last year. (Maybe I'm getting resigned to the fact that it will last that long whether I want it to or not.)
As always, I came prepared. With a sock.
I did the ribbing at home, but did the rest at the "banquet". In-between pausing to clap or to stretch my hands.
Stripey, stripey. This will a Christmas present. And it's the second sock. And it's still November. Maybe I should get an award?
Monday, November 15, 2010
Socks?
I made another seamless kimono sweater.
--insert photo here--
Oh, that's right, I forgot to take a photo.
Well then, let me describe it (because that's as interesting as a picture). I used the same green and pink Berocco Vintage yarns, this time with a green bodice and a pink and green striped bottom. The sleeves were half green and then pink with 4 green flowers on each sleeve. It worked out well (see the above pic)(nevermind, just take my word for it) and almost completely used up the yarn.
The good news is the sweater reached its baby girl less than 1 month after she was born. Good chance of fitting into it!
In my on-going effort to catch on my UFOs, I've been working on my Faggoting Ribs Sox. You know, the socks that were to be my summer socks that I could wear during the summer. Yes, the summer that is completely over and done.
The socks, while not done, have been making progress.
One is complete, and one is done with the hard part (beading--my first try).
The second sock has really gone much faster. The ribbing is easy to memorize and the beading portion was done within 24 hours.
Yarn: Online supersocke cotton (and that's all I can read--the rest is in a different language. It could be color Sortierung 95. Or color # 1037)
Size 1 dpns
pattern: smaller size (I think I did that by accident since I circled the bigger numbers but then found myself on the smaller size halfway through the first sock. I guess my brain rebelled at casting on 180 sts for the cuff and chose 150 as the easy way out.)
--insert photo here--
Oh, that's right, I forgot to take a photo.
Well then, let me describe it (because that's as interesting as a picture). I used the same green and pink Berocco Vintage yarns, this time with a green bodice and a pink and green striped bottom. The sleeves were half green and then pink with 4 green flowers on each sleeve. It worked out well (see the above pic)(nevermind, just take my word for it) and almost completely used up the yarn.
The good news is the sweater reached its baby girl less than 1 month after she was born. Good chance of fitting into it!
In my on-going effort to catch on my UFOs, I've been working on my Faggoting Ribs Sox. You know, the socks that were to be my summer socks that I could wear during the summer. Yes, the summer that is completely over and done.
The socks, while not done, have been making progress.
One is complete, and one is done with the hard part (beading--my first try).
The second sock has really gone much faster. The ribbing is easy to memorize and the beading portion was done within 24 hours.
Yarn: Online supersocke cotton (and that's all I can read--the rest is in a different language. It could be color Sortierung 95. Or color # 1037)
Size 1 dpns
pattern: smaller size (I think I did that by accident since I circled the bigger numbers but then found myself on the smaller size halfway through the first sock. I guess my brain rebelled at casting on 180 sts for the cuff and chose 150 as the easy way out.)
Saturday, November 13, 2010
M4A socks mailed!
The deadline for mailing the Mittens-4-Akkol socks for the sock challenge was yesterday. And I got them in the mail yesterday. Phew!
I had full intentions of mailing them at the beginning of the week, but it didn't happen. (Possible food poisoning, no box the right size, oops--holiday.)
Also, I saved the note writing until the very end. There were 22 of them and they needed to be simple for the Kaz kids to read (or have someone translate), but different since they might compare notes.
I enlisted my family to give suggestions. The person with the "Go Redskins" suggestion had to think until he came up with a better one. We tried Bible verses, but since this is not a religious group we gave that up. In the end they were all a variation on the theme "I hope you enjoy wearing them as much as I enjoyed making them".
Would writing them as I was knitting them work out better? I don't know, but I'll keep it in mind for next year.
I had full intentions of mailing them at the beginning of the week, but it didn't happen. (Possible food poisoning, no box the right size, oops--holiday.)
Also, I saved the note writing until the very end. There were 22 of them and they needed to be simple for the Kaz kids to read (or have someone translate), but different since they might compare notes.
I enlisted my family to give suggestions. The person with the "Go Redskins" suggestion had to think until he came up with a better one. We tried Bible verses, but since this is not a religious group we gave that up. In the end they were all a variation on the theme "I hope you enjoy wearing them as much as I enjoyed making them".
Would writing them as I was knitting them work out better? I don't know, but I'll keep it in mind for next year.
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