Firestarters

Finished! Pretty.

I made progress on my Something Green at yesterday's Stitch 'n Bitch and ended up leaving when my left pointer finger started to look a bit raw (I tension pretty tightly and consistently over the same area and with this cotton yarn my finger gets pretty unhappy). I'm past my last increases and just need to keep knitting until I'm happy with the length. And I'm almost at my hip already, so hopefully I'll be able to get the body done soon. And then I can tackle those sleeves. And the button band. Oh dear.

Aarrrrggggghhhhhhh! Alternatively: Thank Heavens for Lifelines

So yesterday I finally got off my tush and deided to play with my Options needles. So I transfered my Adamas shawl from the Addis I had been using (and hating) to my options. And everything was going swimmingly. The stitches were moving much more easily over the needle and join, the points were pointer and just lovely. Once I finished the pattern repeat I placed a lifeline (my first of this shawl) and put the shawl down for the day.

This morning I worked on the shawl for a bit and got halfway through a repeat. All was well. After dinner I sat down again and started to knit. And then something weird happened. The stitches became hard to manipulate, the the ones on the row below the one I was working were all bunched up and odd. It took me a couple minutes to figure out what way wrong. I realized it when I saw a whisp of unspun silk. My yarn had ripped. It had caught on something, and that something was the join of the options. Dude. Not good. I ripped back to the lifeline, tightened up the joins (which I had neglected to do) and starting picking up stitches. I just finished.

Now I'm going to have to join the broken edges - to Eunny's blog I go. I really hope this doesn't happen again, cause I really don't want to give up my Options. Although, if it does there's a simple solution. I'll just go buy some fixed circs from KnitPicks.

I finished my Baudelaires last night at Fiber Night (btw - I can't even express how happy it makes me to hang out with other knitters, this is a really great group and I'm going to miss them when I move in the fall) and I love them. They are beautiful and comfortable and fit great. Happiness.



And so, since I have bound-off my last January socks I'm thinking of casting on another pair of February socks. I'm going to use January's Yarn Pirate yarn (it's called Calamata and it is green and brown and purple and gorgeous) and I think I'm going to make Firestarters. In my current financial panic I'm uncertain whether I should continue to be part of Yarn Pirate's sock club - so I've decided that I should actually see how the yarn knits up in order to make my decision. It's certainly very soft and pretty. Now I just have to wind a 480 yard skein into a ball from the amazing skein of my knees. Wish me luck.

I'm fulfilling my second resolution for the year. I am doing colorwork! I'm making Cookie A's Red Herring socks in Cocoa and Woodland Sage. The brown is a little lighter than I prefer, but I think the contrast is working well. I was expecting to have to keep ripping back and redoing, but aside from a bit of a tension issue (that I'm hoping will work itself out in blocking) it's going pretty well.

Project Updates

I have finished my first pair of Sockdown: January socks (Hedera) and they came out beautifully.



I'm about 1/3 done with my second Baudelaire, but it's been abandoned for the time being.

I have reached the first set of ribbing increases on my Something Green, so I feel like I'm actually accomplishing something there.

I really need to replace the Addi that I'm using for Ali's afghan with KP options so I start working on it again.

I'm about to cast on for the Red Herring socks, which I'm doing in brown and teal instead of the originally intended brown and red. But first I must shower, and wind the yarn. Oh, and printing out the pattern might help too.

Green Sleeves

Ok, I know it's an awful pun, but that's just who I am.

The sleeves on my Something Green are way too big. Fourteen stitches too big. On a sweater whose gauge is 18 stitches to four inches. Um, oops. I'm going to try to do double decreases on either side of the center of the sleeve every four rows three times and then do three instead of two sets of decreases when the pattern calls for them. And I'm going to be willing to rip out the sleeve if it's funky. I really can't wait to get this sweater done. I've barely started on the body ribbing but I have a whole lot more to do. I really want this to be a wearable sweater - not least because I don't think I'll ever knit with this yarn again.

In other fibery news I have borrowed a wheel (Louet SD10 DT) and just got my pound of fiber last night. I alternate between thinking I'll actually be able to use the undyed yarn for a Tam from Knitty's winter '07 issue to a fear of yarn barf up the wazoo. I guess we'll see.

Addendum to an earlier post.

In my second ever post on this blog I commented that I needed to learn to read while knitting. My Grandmother did it, I should be able to as well.

I'm just adding this as a note to say that I have learned to read and knit at the same time. It's much easier on the internet (and it requires a pattern that is simple or already memorized) but I can manage it with a hardcover, given sufficient items to weight down the pages. And knitting while reading slows down both activities. But I do it all the time.

Go me!

I am making progress on my resolutions. I have ordered a set of KnitPicks Options and financed them by selling off some Addi needles I hated. I have bought roving (it's on its way) and will be borrowing a wheel (starting tomorrow) on which to practice my spinning. I'm really excited about dyeing the roving too, I'm going to experiment with koolaid and hope it works out to something crazy and pretty and not crazy and hideous.

And perhaps most importantly, I have returned to my Something Green sweater. I did enough today that it looks almost sweater shaped. I'm a bit worried that the sleeves are huge (I know I made a mistake, but I'm not about to go back and rip it out, it's hard enough to get me to work on this in the first place - stupid sweater fear) but I'm going to consult everyone at tomorrow's Stitch 'n Bitch and see what they think. I think a few decreases more than written into the pattern will get me back to me-sized sleeves.



I am failing miserably at keeping the couch clear (it currently houses two projects, patterns for said projects, a packet from school, my camera, my camera cord, two remotes, a packet of ginger chews and my yarn pirate club yarn).

I am also failing miserably at buying yarn without guilt. I've actually halted my yarn buying for the time being. My finances are freaking me out. I hate being a student. I just keep looking ahead to next year when I have a job and will have money and will be able to spend money on yarn and roving without feelings of guilt and panic. If I like spinning as much as I think I will I may make a wheel a present for myself after my first paycheck (or two, I don't think I'm going to get over my money issues that quickly). Luckily I've built up a nice little stash (practically non-existant in the eyes of many on Ravelry, but enough to keep me in socks for a while) so I won't need to buy yarn.

In which I swear I'm going to be a good blogger and start using photos!

Well, my plan to get a lot of knitting done in Israel was a bust. Not only did I lose my Felici socks, I got sick on New Year's day and ended up having to come home. And then I caught a cold on Wednesday. Not exactly the break I'd been looking for. December's Felici socks are gone. So are my Eleanoras. I realized yesterday that I'd done one of the motifs twice and instead of ripping back and going on I just frogged the whole thing. I'll make them some other time, they're beautiful, but too much for me in my current sneezy, dizzy state.

I am making progress on other fronts though. I picked up the Hemlock afghan last night and made a bit of progress. I think I'm nearing the end of the motif, and I'll be starting the feather and fan soon. At that point it'll make good TV knitting, if I ever start watching TV again.

The Adamas shawl has been progressing nicely, but is currently on hold pending the arrival of my KnitPicks Options. My Addis were driving me nuts because the yarn just would not slide on them. I can't wait to work on it more though, it's just so pretty and I adore the yarn.



I've finished one of my Hedera socks and I love the way it's turning out. I always though Hedera looked boring, but in person it's just lovely. The colors are gorgeous too.



I also just cast-on another pair of Baudelaire in Burgandy Gloss. This is the skein I ordered to make the Red Herring socks with, but I decided that the Cocoa looked better with Woodland Sage. The other skein of Burgandy is one its way (along with another skein of Woodland Sage and Felici and size 1 DPNs to replace the ones I lost in Israel).

I have cast on my traveling socks for my trip to Israel. I'm making them as plain as possible (2X2 ribbed cuff, stockinette and slip stitched heel flap) to show off Felici's fun stripes. I love the stripes. And the yarn is so soft, I'm definitely getting more. They should be fun photographing at various points on my trip. They'll definitely be great as bus knitting. I'm not sure if I'm going to get them on the plane - I think security flying into Israel may be a bit more stringent than regular flights, so I'll ask before checking my luggage. I hope I can bring them, but I'm going to try to sleep on the flight anyway, so it won't be a huge deal.

I've made progress on my Adamas shawl for my aunt. I'm really loving it. The subtly tonal color of the yarn is really playing well with the simple pattern. Plus the yarn is super fun to knit with. I've finished my fifth of 14 repeats, but each one is going to take longer and longer since each repeat adds stitches. Even so, I shouldn't have any trouble finishing the shawl for my Aunt's birthday in early August. Even with the afghan I should be working on for Ali's wedding.

I stopped in at the doctor today to ask about the wierd shooting feeling (no pain, but it feels like a shock) that I occasionally get in my right ring finger. Apparently I have some early symptoms of carpal tunnel. So she gave me a brace for the night, which should definitely help, because I sleep with my hands in the weirdest most contorted positions immaginable. And what did I do with my diagnosis of carpal tunnel? I bought yarn, of course!

I bought yarn for Eunny Jang's Tangled Yoke Cardigan. I got eight skeins of Elspeth Lavold's Silky Tweed (my just in case skein is on order) in a really nice burgandy, tweedy red. Plus it was on sale! What could be better? I'm clearly making an attempt at fulfilling resolutions 1 and 8. I'm going to swatch (and wash the swatch) and hopefully start a sleeve today. I am super excited.

New Year's Knitting Resolutions

1. Make a sweater! Really, I just need to throw myself in headfirst and make a darn sweater. And finish it!

2. Learn colorwork - specifically Fair Isle.

3. Play with dyeing yarn - you don't have to be good, you should just have fun.

4. Learn to spin...better. Maybe borrow a wheel to play with. My last attempt failed miserably - my yarn broke over and over and I lost it about halfway through trying to ply but I don't want to give up because roving makes me yearn.

5. Buy necessary accessories - specifically a swift and ball winder and some KnitPicks Options.

6. Organize stash and accessories. It's no fun to be always looking for a darning needle.

7. Keep the couch absolutely clear, and try to limit the number of projects that are in the living room to a reasonable number.

8. Buy good yarn and don't feel guilty about it! Although looking for bargain prices is encouraged.

I have put the drop in drop spindle!

I learned to spin (badly) a month or two ago, but I had to be holding on to the spindle the whole time. I haven't touched my spinning since I made a huge mess out of an attempt to Andean Ply it (and I hadn't been spinning for a while previous to that attempt) so I figured I should give it another go. Ok, mostly I'm giving it another go because I really, really want to buy some pretty roving in pretty colors nad make pretty yarn. And this time I actually let go of the spindle and let it drop down while spinning. The spinning goes way faster that way. I'm still having trouble drafting evenly, so the yarn is thick/thin (actually it's thin/thinner) but I may be getting better. I may not be. It's hard to tell.

I just hit myself in the head several times in an attempt to remove the desire to cast on for Icarus just this minute. Some background. I have six projects on the needles. Three for me, three are gifts. Two are holiday knitting and need to get done soon (though that shouldn't be much of a problem). One (for me) is a lace shawl (mystery stole). I do not need to cast on another project. I've promised myself that I won't cast on another lace project until after I finish my stole. But I just had a brief exchange with Miriam Felton - designer of Icarus - and now I really, really, really want to cast on. I must be strong.

Let me describe the items on my needles. In cast on order.

1) I have the previously mentioned mystery stole which hasn't been touched since I frogged the start of the wing. Luckily the lifeline prevented too much damage. I love this project, and I really need to start working on it again.

2) Something Red (well, green, since I'm making it in green), my first sweater. I stopped working on this a while ago. I think it's my fear of making a sweater combined with the worsted cotten which is a bit hard on my hands. I really just need to push through and get this done. I really want to be able to knit sweaters, but this requires me to actually knit sweaters.

3) Ali's wedding afghan. Bought the yarn (Lorna's Laces Shephards Worsted in Cranberry - love) last Saturday on my way back from Thanksgiving. Cast on the next day. Haven't touched it in a week. It's going to be super pretty though, and I can't wait until I have time enough to work on it. I'm planning a little break at Loop (my LYS) on Tuesday so I can finish the central motif, and then it's feather and fan til I drop.

4) Mom's scarf. I was not planning on knitting my mother anything for Hannukah. I really, really wasn't. But I saw this yarn (Tilli Thomas's Salt + Pepper - 100% silk with beads) and I couldn't resist. My mom loves silk, my mom wants beaded knitting. This is both, plus it's worsted and easy and in a really pretty blue (though I had wanted to burgandy, but the blue with green beads was lovely and in stock) so I bought it and cast on for the easiest scarf ever. Which is moving along quickly and creating the biggest callus known to man on my left middle finger. It's really hard to keep any sort of tension on stiches that keep getting caught on beads. But it's pretty. And has to be done in a week.

5) Maze hat. I am doing my first (fake) colorwork on a hat for a swap (it's mosaic, so only one color per row, but slip stiches give it the colorwork look) and I'm really liking it. I cast on yesterday and I'm already almost through one repeat. I think my row gauge is seriously off, so I'm going to do more of the motif that you're supposed to and hope it fits a human sized person. I have been inspired to do colorwork and will be buying some Louet Gems Pearl to make Eunny Jan's Endpaper Mitts next week.

6) Monkey socks. I'm in SKA I have to have a sock on the needles at all times, and I finished my last pair on Tuesday. I've practically been in a panic! I cast on (and knit one row and one row only) Monkey socks in my Thank Ewe Macintosh colorway. My gauge was slightly off, but I like a snug fit and a thicker fabric so I hope this isn't a huge folly. Well, if it is I can always gift them I guess.

So you see, I really can't cast on Icarus tonight. I have many good reasons. And that's without mentioning the seminar paper I have due on Monday.