March Roundup

This will be short and sweet, since not much was done. Okay, lots of knitting, just not a lot of finished items.

One balaclava,
one red and black striped sweater,
one pair of grey socks,

which are all bound for Kazakhstan.

The sun has finally come out this week, so here are some pictures of the striped hoodie, or as I like to call it, "what to do while at soccer practice".

Socks are done!

Believe it or not, it is actually less than 24 hours since I last posted. More than that, the socks are done. I guess I wanted to get done, and therefore that's all I worked on. (Don't look at my dishes or the state of my house.)(Okay, it looks like it usually does. Whatever. I still did a whole lot of knitting.)

Proceed with caution: I just updated the post editor--had totally lost the paragraph breaks and had to browse around the blogger forum to see what to do. Hopefully this won't be a problem...


Also, I have lasagna in the oven, but as I took off the foil I ripped off the top layer which was then dangling down onto the oven rack and burning. So if you smell something burnt...


And, if that's not enough mult-tasking, I have a chair upturned in the dining room, where I need to sit in 19 minutes to eat the lasagna, where I'm winding some yarn that I'm going to reuse from a sweater that had a couple of moth holes... But first I have to finish this post.

But back to the subject. What was the subject?

Oh, yeah, the socks are done.

Ta-da!



Hug Me Sock pattern by Terry Liann Morris for Six_Sox_Knitalong. 72 sts in Trekking Sport in a pretty grey. These fit me, but will be heading to Kaz to warm another grad's feet.

The astute among you will notice that I've gotten new sock blockers. Not that I'm actually going to block my socks on a regular basis, but they hold the socks nicely for a picture, don't they? They're from Knitpicks, and since I was ordering my cotton yarn anyway....and needed to reach the $50 free shipping....you know how it goes.

Nice easy pattern, easy to memorize, and soft and cushy.

Full speed ahead

Once every 2 months the 6SoxKAL group releases a new pattern. We then have 2 months before the next pattern. That seems like a long time to complete the pattern, doesn't it?

Well, it is. IF YOU DON'T DAWDLE AROUND FOR THE FIRST MONTH AND A HALF!

Not that I'm really dawdling, I am knitting. Now and then I even knit on the pattern, which for these 2 months is the Hug ME socks. However, it dawned on me about 3 days ago that if I wanted to finish up these socks by the end of the month I'd better get cracking!

This is what I have left to go:



One foot and one toe. If I do half a foot today and half a foot tomorrow, I can finish the toe on Thursday and be done in time.

I have time, I have time. Full speed ahead!

Details, details...

There are a lot of details to finishing a sweater. The hoodie didn't required any sewing of seams, but it did require all of the hiding of the ends.

It took 3 sessions of an hour or more to hid them all. Here's my pile to prove that I did it:




Then I sewed the hood casing around the knitted i-cord. It's my best new idea yet--to knit the i-cord and then sew the casing around it--no threading the cord when I'm done. And, I didn't finish off the end of the i-cord just in case I needed to make it longer or shorter. I even took the time to sew white thread in a basting stitch 6 sts in so I would sew the casing evenly. That is SO worth the extra time. It comes out easily when done and no more guessing whether I was going up or down a stitch and making the casing all wonky.



All that was left was a button...



..and then blocking, which is also done. I'm hoping for some outside pictures later so I can show you it's actually red and not fushia like these pictures suggest.

I think I'll keep him.

It's been 27 years since DH and I got married, and I'd have to say he knows me pretty well. Look what he got me for our anniversary:



That's right, it's a knitting book--the exact one that I've been wanting for weeks now. It's Knitting Nature by Norah Gaughan. I had gotten the same book out of the library and determined to make a sweater.

Guess what came in the mail today:



That's right--yarn to make the sweater that's in the book. This is the sweater called "Swirled Pentagons".



I'm going to make a summer version using Knit Picks Simply Cotton Worsted in Wave Heather. I'm going to leave out the turtleneck and the sleeves (at least most of them). I can't wait to get started.

And my DH? I think I'll keep him.

After the sleeves came the hood...

That's right, the hood! The stripes ended up evenly, as I did the last stripe of only 4 rows (versus 8) and then did a 3 needle bind off. (Take my word for it, I know it's in the sun.)



There's an i-cord to knit. But after that, comes this dreaded task:



Eight rows of each stripe was just too long to carry the yarns. I plan on hiding the ends (etc. ad nauseum) tonight. If I keep it going tonight then I won't have to do it tomorrow.

Sigh. I'm going to need some chocolate.

Happy St. Patrick's Day...

... and check out my new haircut!

...and then there were sleeves

Two of them. Sleeves, that is.



With the combination of stripes and decreases, they moved along pretty quickly. And I didn't have to do any ripping out either, which I would've if I had lost count. Which I didn't. Phew.

The hood is left. Yay!

Then.

Hiding the ends.

Sigh.

Maybe I'll knit some socks instead.

M4A knitting

All my knitting lately has been for M4A.

One of the orphanages in Kaz has a hockey team and they requested warm hats for the team. The group picked out a pattern and a member donated the yarn and several of us made the hats, or rather, the balaclavas.

Here's DS#2 modelling my finished one:



Navy Blue Bernat yarn that seems very warm--just the thing for playing hockey.

This is sweater version #2 for Tanya (the first being too small and was changed over to Olga).



Red and black stripes, 8 rows each. It's almost to the hem part (I'm just deciding if it's really long enough this time).

And, a pair of socks (or rather, this is the first of a pair). This is the "Hug Me" pattern from SixSoxKAL.



The heel has slowed me down, but as soon as I get past the gusset it will go faster. Thse are for Tagir that has a 10" foot that will be easy to get the right size--that's the size I make for me.

He's 14!

What to do when your son has soccer practice on his birthday?

Embarrass him, of course.

Unfortunately, soccer practice was canceled due to massive rain the day before.

Well, there's always next week.

February roundup

It seems like I just wrote January's roundup and it's already time for February's. Crazy.

Here's February at a glance:

DD#2 got her learner's permit (she actually got it mid-Jan., but since I didn't mention it then, I will now.) Things are going well. All the cars (and my sanity) are still in one piece. She's driven at nighttime, in the rain, in the fog, in the wind, but so far not in the snow. (And don't send any our way--I'm not interested. There's always next year.)

Basketball season (DD#2)is done except for varsity playoffs, so not much more knitting time there. But never fear, outdoor soccer practices (DS#2)have begun. And track season (DD#2) starts tomorrow. Phew. I'm glad I'm only doing the running around. There's still lots of knitting time in my future.

I finally finished the hoodie! I've switched the person it's going to, and I think it's going to fit the new grad much better. Blocking helped stretch out the fair isle and get everything into shape. (Thanks, Captain Obvious!)(My asst. manager said that to me last week and it's going to be my new favorite phrase!)

I made the i-cord tie during the last playoff game, and sewed it in over the weekend. I felt very smart doing that way. Usually I sew it up first and then thread the i-cord through the casing. It's sooooo much easier this way. Plus, I took regular thread and basted around as a guideline where to sew, and just pulled it out afterwards. Wow--who knew that basting actually SAVES time!

There are two more pairs of toddler socks done. The pink are 48 sts and the blue are 44 sts.



Another adult pair of socks:



Patons Kroy orange/grey/black stripe. 64 sts on 2s, knit until yarn is used up and add a black toe.

Another pair of toddler socks:



44sts on 1s. Leftovers from a pair that I made for me.

Finally, I've been working on a pattern. One of the items that the M4A group will be sending to Kazakhstan is baby tights, so I've been writing a pattern. And knitting it. Since I'm a "trial and error" kind of gal, I have to knit each piece to see how it looks. But wow, it's been taking up all my brainpower. And, apparently, my blogging time.

Here's my first version (made from Fisherman's wool):



I sent it out to a mama to test drive it on her baby. Even though there was lots of ribbing, it still tended to slide down so I made an elastic waistband option.



There are garter st heels and toes -- my new favorite. Easy to make, nice to look at.



I have a bunch of test knitters trying out my pattern, so hopefully it will be ready to use soon.

And that's February.

January roundup

What? January? Is it already over?

This is what I finished in January:

- a striped scarf out of Noro Chirimen for no purpose other than I wanted to.

- a pair of plain vanilla socks in Kroy Socks FX, clover colors

Guess that it!

Just plain vanilla

I'm not talking about this:




Or this:



(although I might need to make some chocolate sauce to go with this).

Rather, I'm talking about this:



A bunch of plain vanilla socks. That's what I've been working on this week. They are in all stages of completion. As I finish one I start another.

This is an adult pair of socks that are finished:



Yarn: Patons Kroy Socks FX in clover colors, 2 skeins
Size 1 dpns (a bit tight to knit, would be better on 2s. After looking at the ballband, the recommendation is 3s, which might be too loose. Something to keep in mind for the future, though, the whole looking at the ballband thing.)
64 sts, 7" leg, 10.25" foot. Used up all the yarn, plus some black for the toes.


Next up was another adult sized pair using more Patons Kroy. This time I learned my lesson and cast on using 2s. Much better.



Do you see the crochet hook? That dropped stitch is a result of knitting at a basketball game and forgetting to bring my reading glasses. Turns out they're an important item to have even when I'm not really looking at my knitting.


Because there were 3 Bball games this week, I got lots of knitting done. It keeps me busy at home, too, as I try to do the ribbing, heels, and toes at home (and picking up any dropped stitches).

Last night I worked on this sock during the JV game,



and switched over to this one for the Varsity game.



Keeps me from getting bored and keeps me knitting. (and look, no dropped stitches!).

These are pink toddler socks, 48 sts, sz 1 dpns. Great for using up leftovers.

More plain vanillla socks will be worked on this weekend, too, as I see a couple of soccer games in the future.

Just keep knitting

I've never been one to go on a yarn diet. I figure as long as my yarn fits into the allotted space, then I'm good to go. I've also never really counted the number of skeins that I have, but this year I'm giving a half-hearted attempt to count the sock yarn.

Not all the yarn, mind you, just the sock yarn.

These are my full skeins:



32 of them. Most are 100gr but a few are 50 gr. One pair of socks are on the needles, so if you count them (and I'm going to, since they were started after the new year), then I have 34 skeins.

Plus these are my partials:




That's all the counting I'm going to do with that. This is about 2 gal. bags full. I hope to use up some of these bits and pieces.

My goal? I suppose to go down in the amount of yarn that I own. It'll be nice to see how it looks by the end of the year. It might go up, though, if I find a good sale. And that's okay, too, as long as I keep knitting.

Check out our snow that the schools closed 2 hours early for:



We're supposed to get 2-5 inches, but nothing had come by 4:45 when this picture was taken. (Although DS looks good in his hat.) I've actually gotten to prefer it this way than waiting too long and trying to get the kids in a snowy blizzard.

In knitting news, I've still been working on several projects.

The scarf is done:



It's made with 4 skeins of Noro Chirimen which is 60% cotton, 24% silk, and 16% wool. It's soft and pretty and will go in my "save it for when I need it" bin.


I finally sewed the pillow covers from fabric that I got at Spoonflower.



They match my afghan (finally! something that matches in my living room!)


I bought some yarn on clearance (because what's a week without buying yarn, anyway?)




There's been more basketball games to attend, so the hoodie is speeding right along:



It's several inches past the armpits, time to measure it and see when to add the red circle details.


And, of course, I've been knitting on the socks. I've used up all the yarn for the first one and have started the second one.



I think I'm going to make black toes to make them long enough. (And next time, I won't make the leg as long so I have yarn for the toes.) Plain vanilla, 64 sts, sz 1 dpns.


Time to go make dinner (but not clean the house!)

Blogversary!

I totally missed my blogversary, so I'll just publish this and change the day like I remembered... Why should today be any different?

My first post was Jan. 5, 2005, so I've been blogging for 6 years! I didn't have much to say then (Hey! That's just like today!), but who knew I could keep blathering on for 6 years. Some of you have read this from the first day, and some have joined along the way, but to all of you I say a big

"Thank you!"

I appreciate the comments, and the suggestions, and the occasional pattern, (although I'm not sure what I would do with a hat with a beard!)(Wait, DS#2 might want that as he waits for his own to grow in.)(I know, TMI, don't tell him I wrote that, okay?)

The first picture was this poncho for my daughter:

Now she no longer plays with dolls. Sniff, sniff. I no longer knit and sell soakers (although my pattern is still for sale--see sidebar for Rav link), the dog is no longer around, and I rarely paint my nails. Or have nails.

Some things haven't changed, though. I'm still making socks and hats and oven mitts. I still wear my felted clogs, but not my shawl (very much). I still do a lot of knitting for me, but also do some knitting for charity. I haven't made any of these vests



for a long time, and CIC is not doing much collecting anymore, but I'm doing plenty of knitting for M4A.

I still burn dinner while writing these posts, and use them to avoid cleaning the house.

I've stopped changing the colors of the background, but still occasionally change the sidebar. (Have you checked out the Human Calendar? If you click on the daily picture, it takes you to the whole month calendar.)

I still cut and paste code and don't understand it at all, but haven't managed to ruin it beyond repair. (I also changed the month archive to list in backwards order. Don't ask me how... cut and paste, cut and paste.)

Thanks for being around and listening to my blather. (Hey, is that my dinner burning?)

What have I been working on?

Well, let me just show you...

I've been working on 4 different projects. Most days I've been knitting on at least 2 or 3.

I cast on for a new pair of socks. The middle part was done during yesterday's basketball game.





The scarf is about 3/4 done. It went to the basketball game yesterday also, so after I got ready for the heel on the sock, I switched over to the scarf.



The Mirepoix vest is one of my two last big UFOs. Here's what it looked like last February, the last time I worked on it:



Here's what it looks like today:



Enough time went by that I had a really hard time trying to remember what I was doing. Fortunately, I made a note on what sized needles to use.

And finally, here is a new hoodie that I started, appropriately enough, on New Year's Day.



It's a hoodie that will have some red detailing around the waist. The yarn is a normal black, not a shiny black like the picture suggests. It's my first Akkol grad knitting for the year.