Knitting Pharm

In the name of manners

Yesterday, I headed to the city for a meeting.  I decided to bring the last of my charity hats to the Loop, not expecting to feel any temptation.  After all, I'd spent 12 hours there on the weekend and not budged from my yarn diet.

In the light of day, the yarns looked even more beautiful.

Then I got to thinking:  I spent the night there on the weekend, ate their pizza and munchies, occupied a space in the Knit a thon and even took home a door prize.

Wouldn't it be rude not to buy some yarn?

And seriously, with a commitment to produce 52 pairs in the next year, surely I needed some sock yarn.

And with my loyalty card punched, I qualified for 20% off my purchase.

(Disclaimer:  The Lovelies at the Loop did not pressure me to buy a darned thing, and I had enough yarn stashed away for probably the first six months of the plunge, but WHATEVER!)

The bag of sin.

Louet Gems for my Cookie patterns.  Terra Cotta and Sage, both far prettier than my lousy photography expresses. 

Lucy's Celestial Merino, in the hottest pink I've ever seen.

And for good measure, some Opal solids to add to Opal Mountain in my stash room.  1412, which is more purple and less bubble gummy than it appears below.

and 1415, a delicious teal.

It's going to be very hard to wait to use these, but I reallyreallyreally want to use of my others first, and use these as a reward.

Finished objects?

Knee sock #1.  The foot of #2 is done, and I'm a few inches up the leg.  These are super comfy and I am very excited to wear them.

I also cast on a modified French Market Bag in the odd bits of feltable worsted in my stash.  So far the base is done, in shades of pink and red.  Photos to follow.

3 days to the plunge!

All Night Long! (all night)

Well, my friends, the time has come

To knit some hats and have some fun

Throw away the sleep still to come

Let the movies play on (play on, play on)

The Loop was great.  I arrived around 8pm and returned home around the time the sun was rising.  I crawled into bed with Amy for a couple of hours, then got back to the knitting at hand!

While at the Loop, I banged off a Center Square, two lacy hats and about half of another hat.  All were done in Knitpicks Main Line, which is super nice to work with.  It's mostly cotton, so it feels really soft and yummy, a huge bonus for an eleven hour knitting session.

All of the finished hats were left there.  #4 is below.

 

Backpack number eleventeen thousand is done, felted and adorable.

Millicent has hit the frog pond for the time being.  I love the pattern and intend to work it in full in the future.  However, I think the lace top needs a pure solid colour.  I also don't really need more knee socks, as I'm rounding the home stretch on Austermann Step knee sock #1.

The thing that drew me to the Millicent pattern in the first place was the asymmetrical rib pattern on the feet, so I think I'll work a pair just from normal sock leg point down, again in the Cherry Tree Hill Supersock.  That batch of yarn has seen way more than its share of frogging.

In the recent Lime and Violet podcast, the girls discussed an intriguing KAL:

52 pairs of socks from April 1 of this year to the same date next year.  I'm waiting for an e-mail confirming my participation, but will attempt to complete the sock challenge regardless.

Anyone else up for it?

Claptastrophe

Discuss.

Spring cleaning

If my kids sit too still (ha!  not bloody likely!), they're going to be knit into projects.  I am on a stashbusting and project finishing roll.

My useless laceweight is now spun into a delectable light sportweight that I hope to turn into hats sometime over the course of this.

First Sock Club pair are done!  I had left the second one in progress at a friend's last weekend, so I was forced to take a break.  Last night I picked it up, and it was only about a dozen rows short of the gusset increases!  One movie rental, a few taped reruns, et voila!

Just so you don't think I'm being perfectly virtuous, I am still bored and picking away at the straps of the herringbone backpack, the first Austermann knee sock is stuck at the rib despite locating some 2mm dpns, and I just had to start this...

Cookie A's Millicent.  I'm using the much neglected Cherry Tree Hill in my stash.  Not nutty about the pooling, but I'll get past it.  Truly brilliant pattern, with 200+ size combinations.  We should all aspire to write such clear and fantastic patterns.

Off to Sasha's birthday party, then a quick nap before heading to the city.  Have a great weekend, all!

The lure of the spindle

I am not a spinner.

I respect it as an art form in itself, I follow the spinning adventures of others, and I have even taken an intro to drop spindle spinning.

However, I am infinitely satisfied with commercially-available yarns, I have no problem with paying the price for a nicely spun product, and I have yet to find a project for which there was no commercial yarn for my taste.

The Knitpicks lace weight in my stash has been bugging me for some time now, so I thought I'd try to make it into something I might actually use.

With the advice of a Halifax girl, some Googling and a bit of trial and error, I am Navajo plying via drop spindle.  People, I'm plying my ass off!

First hank was a great experiment.  I found myself pulling out frequent and short loops (something about being a reformed crocheter, my own dirty little secret).  The colourway remained largely intact, with a few areas of overlap.

Next time around, I purposely pulled out much longer loops.  Less work and more colour mixing.  By pulling out 12+ inches at a time, I had many areas where all three colours mixed, and relatively few single-shade areas.

First skein:

Helper with second skein:

Unplyed Shimmer on the left, next to my new creation.

 

I suppose it's a light sportweight.  I think it will become hats or other small projects.

In sock club progress, #1 is done, and #2 is coming along.

Le Sock:

Gussets and transition to leg:

Garter stitch heel flap:

 

I added a bit of 1x1 rib for the cuff.  I found myself with a bit of yarn left and wanted to use it all, but I didn't think another pattern repeat would make it over my foot.

I still have the herringbone backpack on the needles.  I dug out some old straights from my late grandmother's stash to work the straps.

Me and straight needles?

 

Still not good.

Fun, free and into everything. Don't tell hubby.

Back from NB again, this time for the long haul.  Huge congrats to my hero, for giving me yet another reason to call her that.  Four cycles of chemo.  Tough lady.

Another knitting binge took place while I was away.  I banged off one of these:

Austermann Step knee sock.  Toe up, k2p1 rib and fitted as I went up the leg.  I am stuck at the ribbing as I wait for the wonderful Knitpicks people to send me a replacement for a circular that pulled from its cord.  Those people truly GET knitters.  Have a problem?  They'll fix it.  I'm seriously considering asking them to take a peek at my creaky garage door, or maybe see if they have any advice for losing a bit of weight.  They are just that helpful.

Next, I made a couple of these:

Thrummed mitts for a work hubby.  I can't imagine wearing sometthing that warm on my hands, but I was eager to try thrumming for some fun.  They're done in Itchy Briggs and Scratchy Little, and they were a blast to do.  Anderson Cooper and I finished the first one at about 3am on Thursday.  He was little help, but he did inspire me to keep going.  (I love him.  It's sick how much I love him.)

In Sock Club action, I knitandfroggedandknitandfroggedand... I think I have a winner.  The short row heel was too shallow for my big feet, so I decided to do flap and gussets.  A combination of gauge, size and pooling issues led to a stockinette foot.  The toe and heel flap are in garter.

I opted to work the increases, start the rib and change to a larger needle, all at the beginning of the leg.  This means a seamless transition and more ease for my canoes feet to fit over the ankle portion of the sock.

I love the result so far.

And if I'm ever looking for some good fibre-related child labour, I think I have a great candidate.

Hey, (more) local (than me) knitters, anyone planning to go to this next weekend?  I'm going to try to go at least for a few hours, likely in the evening.  I'll be there with a bunch of stash and a complete lack of little girls.  Life could be worse.

And the meaning of this post's header?

What kind of knitting needles are you?

You are interchangeable.Fun, free, and into everything, you've got every eventuality covered and every opportunity just has to be taken. Every fiber is wonderful, and every day is a new beginning. You are good at so many things, it's amazing, but you can easily lose your place and forget to show up. They have row counters for people like you!
Take this quiz!

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Post Sock-Club Haze

In all of yesterday's excitement, I completely forgot to share photos of a couple of neglected forgotten back-burnered projects.

Sasha's backpack is done and dry.  I am in love.

 

Herringbone backpack body is done, just awaiting straps, cord and felting.  This will give me something to do during Degrassi:  the Next Generation intellectually-stimulating downtime this afternoon.

First BMFA sock is done to the heel.  I have already worked the heel once and ripped it back, opting to make the foot just a tad longer.  I am accustomed to a reverse heel flap, where I can fix any foot shortcomings by adding a few extra gusset rows.  With the short-row heel, I have to place the heel a bit more accurately.

I figure ripping out is part of the process, and it's worth getting them right.  I just want to do the yarn justice.

I'm using a 2mm needle for the toe and heel, and 2.5mm for the remainder.  This was partly to reflect what was available to me in needles, and partly to control some pooling issues.  With the 2.5mm needle, the colours are spiralling into lovely, even stripey formation.  The tighter-knit heel and toe are just for extra squish.

I just want to hug and pet and love this yarn.  Knit at my tension, this whopper of a skein seems to have more than ample yardage, even for my size 11 feet.  I'm going to weigh the skein as I go, so I can make the longest leg possible.

I need to go be alone with it.  I may have to fight for the yarn, as the Rockin' Sock Club appears to have an aspiring new member.

Swept off my feet

The usual drill, few nights in NB, many socks knit, much-delayed blogging.

I purposely brought some of the less fancy stuff from my stash, wanting to get through it to satisfy my KFYS urges.  Unfortunately, having access to someone else's stash can frig up even the best of de-stashing intentions.

I was a very good girl, finishing off hub's Opal socks.  I believe the Mosaik line was discontinued; I picked it up at deep discount at Baadeck Yarns last fall.  He wanted a slightly longer cuff than what I'd been doing lately, so I went 60 rows plus 24 rows rib for the leg.  I worked a k8, p1 rib to pull them in ever so slightly, and the fit is just about spot on.

Next was a stash dive, but not of the plain variety.   I had a hank of Sea Wool from the great Gaspereau caper, and was enthralled by one of the sock patterns in the new Knitty.  Nathania very kindly posted a photo on her blog, but here are some additional close-ups to show the stitch detail.  Super fun, crazy quick on a 3mm needle, and just plain satisfying.

My only modification was an "up and over" (short row) toe.  Super thumbs up for the pattern, and the Sea Wool was a great sub for the pattern.

Next I dug out some acrylic from my mom's stash.  It was SR Kertzer Marble, left over from a sweater she'd made last year.  Being a DK weight, it was perfect for Cat Bordhi's Flow Motion pattern from the winter Vogue Knitting.  Fun, fun and FAST!

I also started work on a sock in Austermann Step, in an effort to further reduce my stash.

But then?

I came home.

I had a parcel.

I think the rest of the world has received theirs, but just in case, I'll post the photos elsewhere with this link.  Password:  spoilme

I'm off to play with my new yarn some more.  I'm heading back to NB in a couple of days, and may not come up for air between now and then.  Rock those socks!

Quick and dirty de-stashing

Now that it appears the eleventy-billionth version of my new sock design may end up being the charm, I'm feeling a bit socked out.  I'm just past the heel and working my way up the leg, but it took the better part of last week to get there, so I needed to feel productive.

Stash-diving revealed some more felting yarn, so I thought I'd whip off some quick and dirties and actually produce some pieces I could brag blog about.

This will be a felted backpack for our neighbour, Sasha, who is turning three this month.  I used 2 shades of Patons Classic in pink and some red Knitpicks Palette (doubled).  I've got the body done and have picked up and started the straps.  This was my first go-round with the Random Stripe Generator, and I am offically hooked!  This was actually a great de-stash for me, since that old Palette has been kicking around since an old sock project that had only required a teensy bit for contrast.

Here's another backpack-to-be, in Patons Classic Petal Pink and Aran.  I think this will be gorgeous when felted.

Like a zillion other folks worldwide, I am anxiously awaiting my shipment from Blue Moon Fiber Arts.  I have already snuck a peek and am excited beyond words.  Please, Mr. Postman!

In praise of a national treasure

My cancelled cheque in hand, I headed to the neighbourhood theatre to pick up my tickets for the evening's programme.  The sky was an ominous colour, somewhere between denim and charcoal, forecasting a storm before night's end.

Edging past the cultural centre's box office, I headed to the concessions in search of a treat.  Rejecting the doughnuts and pop at the front counter, I ordered a draught beer from the twentysomething server.

I pulled my knitted shawl around my shoulders, thrilled that I had completed it before this evening's outing.  It had been a labour of love, working from washed fibre through the dyeing, spinning and knitting processes.  It provided a woollen history of the recent weeks of my life, and I was tickled that I had fulfilled my promise to finish it before starting more projects.

Can I stop yet, or would it be bad behaviour to leave you hanging?