Finished (and unfinished) Woolly Goodness

The LuniSolar legwarmers are getting there. But they've taken a backseat to a few other projects.


Like this hat.


A note on the silhouettes - the couple on the left are my grandparents, and the toddler on the right is yours truly.

How lovely is this hat? It looks delightful with the green trench coat I wear in spring.


I recently finished the colorwork turtleneck.

As a result, I'm increasingly grateful to designers for thinking out nitsy details like sleeve and neck circumference. These are the things that caught me off guard, since this project was the knitting equivalent to a solo jam-session.

I haven't taken it off since I finished it last week....


And why should I? It looks awesome.


Since I don't feel right unless there's a sweater on the needles, I started this modular sweater. Each pentagon is created separately, and knit from the outside in.



Someone at knitting made the comment that it was like book chapters, creating a natural place to stop at the end of an evening. I agree, but it still doesn't keep me from knitting past my bedtime.

It probably doesn't make sense to show it laid out like this, but it's a sweater, I swear.

Happy New Year!

In celebration of the Chinese New Year, the universe thrust some lovely red Madeline Tosh merino yarn in front of me and I did not ignore it.


I finished my dove grey legwarmers tonight, and love them so much that I decided to go ahead and knit another pair (I do attend two, sometimes three, yoga classes a week). Both pair come from my current pattern book of choice, Knitted Socks East and West.

So I will meditate on the coming year as I knit and send thought of luck, love, and abundance to all those I know and love.

Acute Startitis

Between the cold, the snow and the basement full of yarn, I developed a wicked case of knitting startitis. Instead of blithely working through to the end of a project, you find yourself casting on one thing after another, forgetting the truth that an idea does not a finished project make.

The most recent manifestation.
Legwarmers.


That's right.
Legwarmers.

I walk to yoga after work and I hate that I've not been able to wear my capri-length pants without looking like a fool or freezing.

So, legwarmers.
They'll look like knee-high socks, and I'm using an interesting pattern that I've modified for worsted weight yarn.

I've gotten fairly far on the new colorwork sweater. I have no idea what came over me to start something else, but I don't think it's worth analyzing. Either way, parts of me will be warm and stylish.


See.
Warm AND Stylish.


Dig those pink plaid pants.

And the lovely cashmere top that's been eclipsed by a riot of color, lace and distraction.


Sorry - I'm come back to you.

I promise.

Sick Day Knitting

Caught a nasty cold, stayed home yesterday: drinking soup, knitting, sneezing, more sneezing, some weezing and snuffling, more knitting and even more sneezing.

Aces.

Forecast: Quick and dirty is relative.

So this pattern has been in my Ravelry queue for ages. After finishing the Urban Mandarin, I needed a quick and dirty sweater. When I added it to the queue, it seemed terribly daunting... the bobbles, the cable, the dramatic sleeve decrease, the all purled construction. (sneer)

I started it December 12, finished it on January 2nd.
Not too shabby.



Picked out some vintage buttons from my stash, 10 that turned to 9 when one was sacrificed to that place where things that you swear you just had mysteriously disappear.



I mentioned in my last post that I got red glasses and provided no visual evidence.
So this is that.

See, red glasses. And a model train over my shoulder - there, to the right.

Knitting is very serious business.
Look how very serious I am about my knitting.


Or maybe I'm about to throw down.
I can't tell.
It's a bit unnerving, really.


Here's what it would look like if it were a vest.


Not that that was an option, but the light in that bathroom was just really good.

A pretty good week overall...

I finished the lion's share of the Urban Mandarin Sweater.

It's been a hell of a slog... through Spring's upset, Summer's uncertainty, Autumn's changes and now that Winter is settling in, I'm eager to face 2011 with a sweater born of persistence and patience.

And even a little destruction. See, you have to steek it, or cut it, before you finish it.
Scary business, steeking.


In other news, I weighed in today and learned I was a mere 3 oz short of my first goal - losing 5% of my starting body weight. I won't share what that actually was (a lady has to keep some things to herself).

To wrap up, this week there is 5% less of me, but at least 5% more of the sweater.
And I think that's an excellent trade off.

June - or - Where has this month gone?

To a small succulent garden on a recently tidied up backporch.



To a collage of ferns on that same porch.



To a cotton sweater whipped up in 3 days.



And to the coolest pair of socks I've ever made.



Seriously, how cool is that lace?



I got a book that marries western knitting with Japanese techniques - Knitted Socks East and West - and I'm making my way through the patterns. Each one is like a small puzzle - and I love the challenge.

Also this month:
Birthday.
Back to yoga.
Playing happy homemaker making strawberry jam and fresh rolls.
Actively changing the direction of my career.
Phew.

Knit Knit Knit

I finished loads of knitting in the past few months.

The St. Louise Spring Switchback Socks.


These quickly became my favorite spring socks, this fresh spring green color is fast taking over my wardrobe and I don't mind a bit.
The downside of these socks is that the yarn was unknown to me, and I since learned that it tends to felt easily. So I wash them in a Tupperware bowl with a lid, shaking the bezeezus out of it... whilst doing this last time, I had a vision of myself doing most of my wash this way - in a plastic bowl with a good lid. I imagine that when I take the off-the-grid plunge, that will be the best way to clean my undernothings, so I best get practice now.

My Lovely Lavender Cape!


Ok, so there is nothing remotely cape-like about this, but the way it's supposed to be worn renders the wearer truly triangular. If I were unfortunate enough to be transported to Flatland, my appearance in this sweater as designed would label me as one just recently removed from serfdom.
So I changed it up a bit and now it's a great wrappable vest-like thing.

And finally, the DRESS!


I love my dress. The blue yarn is cotton/cashmere and the brown is wool/silk.
I haven't yet worn this, as I cannot find my white short-sleeved blouse to wear under it - but I may need to take it out for a wear anyway.

I love it.

It makes my eyes bluer - and since I'm walking around aware that I knit A DRESS...
~no, wait~
...a dress with the most complicated lace I could ever imagine ~
...out of cotton spun with cashmere ~
...that my eyes sparkle with such accomplishment and grace that one cannot begin to imagine that I have ever felt a twinge of disappointment or imbibed anything but clouds and sunshine and true love.

Picking up the pieces

Break-ups are never easy - even more so when some outdated cultural nonsense is to blame.

So, what's a girl to do?

Knit.


Yarn - Lorna's Laces from my stash (via Laura's stash).
Pattern - modified ridge stitch from the Reader's Digest Complete Guide to Needlework (pilfered from my parent's house.)



And sew.
Fabric - Hobby Lobby in Kent (!?!)


Just to indulge in some serious self-pity, I celebrated the fruit of other people's successes to soothe (or maybe revel in) my current state of loss.

But with wickedly cute results....

Behold, I jumped on the appliqued onesie bandwagon!



Lots of nods to Mommy's love of argyle and turtles, and Daddy's businessman lifestyle.

Creativity: Brought to you by loss and frustration since 3,000 BC.

Some random knitting

(see, I have been up to something all this time.)

Some stranding...


Some baby gifts...


Some socks... (see the St. Louis Arch there in the background - more pics of that trip to come)


And just for fun.
I house-sit regularly and they have a blanket I snuggle up with on cool nights.
I caught the tag out of the corner of my eye and almost spat out my tea with giggles.



That's right -
Virgin ACRYLIC.

I have also finished a dress, started another pair of socks, presented at a conference on a subject I am just getting to know to a group I never belonged to and I think I may be single again.

Foster yarn: part II

Pretty quickly after learning how to knit, I realized how expensive a good yarn can be.
A good sock yarn can fetch $20 a skein, and often that's just enough for one sock.

I wasn't sure how I felt about that, so I took to taking in yarns that friends were destashing - or offering as a reward from detangling - or some other challenge - that would result in the ownership of some yarn I couldn't imagine myself buying, but was all too happy to play with.

Those days are (somewhat) gone. I'm less appalled by the price of yarn - although I'm still sensitive to budgetary constraints. But I can honestly admit that I spend more on yarn than I do on food, electricity or gas on a monthly basis.

That said, my favorite foster yarn is finally knit up into something wearable! Socks!


And they come with a drawn out story that few will care to hear, but many will be forced to endure.

It started on a cool September day in 2008.
That's right.
2008.
(This is history, folks.)

Anyway, Ms. Affiknitty got some lovely Koigu and decided to double strand it into a cowl, creating the infamous Color of Disappointment cowl.

Time went on and she offered me the yarn if I was willing to frog and rewind the yarn.

So I did.
And I considered many a sock pattern for this yarn.
Hemmed and hawed.
Finally, I settled on Spring Forward.
Easy lace - sweet - if done correctly, a pogo stick would soon be my mode of transport (as the picture indicates).

I blogged about it then.

Look how far I got!
But I succumbed to the terrible urge to put them down and poof...
I lost my place.
I tried to start again, but there were too many problems.
So I frogged them.

I rewound the yarn in December and decided I needed to try again - this time the Synesthesia sock.

Again, toe up, two at a time.

And... crap. I forgot that it was toe up and was working them like the ankle so the bottoms weren't flat, but lace, and gah!
I got 3 inches in before I realized it.

Frog.
Swear.
Rip.
Swear more.

So I started again. And I got kinda far - to the heel.
Put it down, but picked it back up again.
Got through the heel, but put it down (STOP PUTTING IT DOWN!)
Finally, this weekend I took it and only it to River Colors, determined to finish these socks. Not to be distracted by colorwork or stash or some crazy yarn I stumbled on in a moment of weakness.With Bob as my witness, I will finish these socks!


And I did!

Squee!

Yup - Knitting

A stranded cowl...


A leafy shrug..


A stripey weekend v-neck...


A dress for spring...


The thickest, warmest sweater I'll ever wear...



Oh - and some origami too.

The Owl and the Pussy-cat went to sea
In a beautiful pea green boat,
They took some honey, and plenty of money,
Wrapped up in a five pound note.
The Owl looked up to the stars above,
And sang to a small guitar,
'O lovely Pussy! O Pussy my love,
What a beautiful Pussy you are,
You are,
You are!
What a beautiful Pussy you are!'

***

They dined on mince, and slices of quince,
Which they ate with a runcible spoon;
And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand,
They danced by the light of the moon,
The moon,
The moon,
They danced by the light of the moon.

Yoga, work and knitting

That pretty well sums up the last month or so.

I can't show off the yoga, but I can share the knitting,
(Like I would miss the chance to do that!)

Some mittens for me...



And a sweater, too...



A bag for my smaller knits...




A cashmere cowl for Mom...


and convertible mitts for Dad...



Just for fun...


Updated with deep red top-stitching to keep my toes toasty in a more fashionable manner...


Time to get back to knitting - so much more to do!