Complete Set (sort of)

I have finally completed a set of outerwear. Well, sort of. I did finish mitts in my favorite color, Jungle Boogie.





And they do match my previously completed Jungle Boogie Beret and Jungle Boogie Scarf. But...the hat just doesn't fit right. It's beautiful, but too small to really wear (I think I was struck down by my tight knitting). So I think I'm going to rip out the hat and reknit it bigger. At some point. Maybe.

Pooling Woven Scarf

Seeing as my friend Gladys is a pioneer of planned pooling projects, and Wollmeise kept sending me skeins of Grapes for Sheri in my grab bags, I simply had to make a Grapes for Sheri pooling scarf. It was so much fun to make, and it came out beautifully.

I warped the yarn to pool.



And I used MadelineTosh Merino Lace for weft in Duchess, a really dark, almost black purple.

The pooling came out beautifully.




Next time I may not choose to use such thin laceweight for the weft. It did create a warp-faced fabric, but it's so delicate that my scarf is already a bit damaged, from pretty gentle wear.

Mom's Birthday Scarf

My mom was rather taken with my Turning Leaves woven scarf. And so, for her birthday, I picked out a skein of FSM in a shade I thought she'd love, Antilles. My mom's a big fan of jewel tones. Since she was away for her birthday (in Hawaii) I gave this to her over Thanksgiving. I hope she wears it in good health.



Pattern: Standard weave.
Yarn: Sundara Fingering Silky Merino in Antilles

Rhinebeck Sweater

Once again I have made a Rhinebeck sweater. And once again, it did not have all its buttons upon its debut. Ah well, it wouldn't be a Rhinebeck sweater if it was actually complete, right?



This is a Vine Yoke Cardigan by Ysolde Teague. I knit it out of some delicious MCN Worsted custom-dyed by Gherkins Bucket. It is some of the softest, squishiest yarn I've even used. And it's amazing in garter stitch.



I found the pattern rather difficult to follow, which resulted in two sweater fronts twice their intended size. Since I was finishing it up the night before Rhinebeck I decided to rip back one side far enough to compensate for my mistake, resulting in an asymmetrical sweater. I rather like it that way. If I were to make this again (and I wouldn't be surprised if I did), I'd follow some of the mods suggested on Rav for the short rows in the yoke.

Turning Leaves Scarf

I am loving how quickly I can make a scarf on my (well, Gretchen's) loom. Today I finished a scarf I warped on Friday night!

It went from this:


to this:


in two days!

I had a little photo shoot in Central Park on my way to the gym this afternoon.





Yarn: Sundara Fingering Silky Merino in Turning Leaves

This is an under the wire entry to Celebrate Color.

Jungle Boogie Beret

So after swearing for years that I was going to make a whole fall set (a.k.a. hat and gloves) to go with my Japanese Vines scarf, I have finally made progress! Presenting my Jungle Boogie Beret!

 

This may actually be my absolute favorite Sundara colorway. And that's saying a lot (especially considering how much Ruby Port I own). Thankfully I still have enough for a sweater, a pair of gloves, and maybe another small project. :)

Here are some pics of the hat in Central Park. :) This is September in NYC.





Yarn: Sundara Yarn Sock in Jungle Boogie
Pattern: Rustling Leaves Beret from Coastal Knits

This is my first entry for Celebrating Color. I'm also hoping to weave a scarf out of some gorgeous Sundara Fingering Silky Merino in Falling Leaves - a perfect fall colorway.

Limberlost Scarf

Look! I finished my first planned weaving projects! It's a scarf, warp and weft four by four, yellow and purple.


Close up:

Weaving that Doesn't Suck!

For my second weaving project, I bought some yellow and purple worsted weight cotton. The yellow is mercerized, so it has a bit of shine to it, but the purple isn't. I like the contrast. I also really like the color combination of yellow and purple - it reminds me of the end of Girl of the Limberlost, where even the bad girl gets a happy ending. :)

Here's my warp. It's a four by four, beginning and ending on yellow. I made a mistake and warped the loom on the front beam, instead of the back beam. In order to make the whole thing work I cut the warp off the beam and tied it down - so now both sides are tied.


I'm weaving with four by four pattern as well, and I'm carrying the yarn up the sides, catching the non-used yarn after the second row. It's working so far, although my selvedges are still far from perfect. I love the look though.

I have committed weaving!

So, I borrowed a loom from a local knitting friend, and now I'm actually weaving. Crazy, huh?

I mean, I'm weaving badly - but I'm weaving.

WiPs

So, I've had a bit of a...moment, and I've gone back to some rather abandoned projects.

I've knit sleeves on my version of Wendy Bernard's Skinny Empire, so now all I have to do is make the neck ruffle and it'll finally be done.

But more excitingly, I've picked up my Swan Lake shawl - which is probably the project that marked my transition from a casual knitter to a Knitter with a capital K! I've swapped out the Adi Lace needle that was just too catchy for me, and I'm not using some signatures. I can't wait to see this finished.

More Hugs, this time for Me!

And finally, here's a pair of socks I knit for myself! I started these at Discworld Con, and got a pretty fair way into them during all the panels and such. I even worked on them during the lovefest that was the Sir Terry/Neil Gaiman panel on Good Omens. :)



Yarn: Twisted Fiber Arts Playful in Firefly
Pattern: Hug Me Socks by Terry Morris

For my next trick AKA stripey socks

Socks for Terry Pratchett! I've been wanting to make him socks for a long time, and the occasion of the North American Discworld Convention was just too good an excuse to pass up. :)



What makes these socks perfect is that they're knit in a colorway called Octarine, aka The Color of Magic. Sir Terry seemed to like them - he made a joke that they would have come in handy during Monstrous Regiment. :)

Yarn: Twisted Fiber Arts Playful in Octarine
Pattern: Hug Me Socks by Terry Morris

Karina's Socks

I love the way Karina's socks came out. Just love them. The light pink line in the middle of the dark pink, it's just gorgeous. Love. Good thing they're too small for me. :)



Yarn: Biscotte & Cie Felix 80% superwash merino 20% nylon with Sweet Georgia Sock for heel/toes.

Stripey Socks!

So, after a bit of a hiatus from knitting, I am back onboard with stripey socks. I finished birthday socks for Suz (they're awesome - if a bit cat-in-the-hat-ish).





And I've started birthday socks for Karina. I love these so much that if they were my size I'd have some serious problems giving them up. As it stands I'm seriously considering buying another skein of this colorway so I can have a pair of them for myself.



This two-at-a-time thing is great. I think it'll keep me knitting socks for the forseeable future.