February 21, 2006
Slip-sliding away
I like variegated yarn, but I thought this Fixation was stripey. I turns out it is tri-colored (peas porridge hot!) , about one row per stripe. To take advantage of that, I wanted to find a slip-stitch pattern that would show it off. It's been a long road since those first picots, but here we are. You'll notice I'm now attempting to put some pointy, picot-like bobbles at the bottom of the cuff to recall the cast-on. I'm having fun with these socks, I hope I can get the damn math to work out. (Psst, these are sockapaloooza socks.) I am going to make a new Boston sock map. I had one all done over a week ago and then Photoshop died and I couldn't face it again.
I am slightly obsessed with slip-stitch patterns now. I love the texture and color possibilities. Have you seen Laura's lovely Esther Williams hat?
I have joyous news. No, Omar isn't back from his blogging hiatus. No, he has not finally upgraded our MT so I'm not drowning in SPAM. But we did find Lopi Mouse. He came through the wash, smaller and smelling more of fabric softener than captnip. He is stuffed with roving, so even his guts shrunk a little. I "ripped him a new one" as the old thread was obscured, and filled him with fresh catnip. Oh, it's just like old times. I swear there was shrinkage. Can you tell?
It's panta-monium! Stop me, I could go on all night. This little hot item was born to the blogging world when some clever chicks on Craftster translated a Finnish pattern. MiMi provided at no extra charge, as she is bound to start her own internet phenomenon, like Limecat. Panta doesn't look like much let, but just you wait. Yes, that's Alpaca Silk, a birthday gift. I love the color, I just want to put a big red flower on it.
Posted by Betsy at 11:15 PM | Comments (2)
February 08, 2006
"Dead" or "Alive"
This is really a huge tragedy in our house. MiMi has lost Lopi Mouse, or rather Lopi Mouse has deserted his post as friend and companion, right after the photos for the mouse post were taken.
If you see this varmit, tell him Sheriff MiMi has her claws out.
Posted by Betsy at 09:33 AM | Comments (3)
Ferry 'cross the Mersey
The title of this post has nothing to do with socks or blankets but it has been stuck in my head every since I read Bill Bryson's account that they actually play that song on the ferry. This has nothing to do with knitting, either, except that maybe you could knit on the ferry.
As you can see from the amount of yarn re-wound around the tidy Cascade Fixation yarn barrel, I made a sizable swatch with this, testing various stitch patterns. I found one I liked, but nothing can rival my adoration of the picot cast-on.
I'm sure I'm not the first, but I modified what I found to my liking:
- Using knitted cast-on, CO 3 stitches.
- BO 1 stitch Return bound-off stitch to left needle, Knit
- Return bound-off stitch to left needle again.
I added knitting of the bound-off stitch because otherwise I didn't find the picots pointy enough! And picots should be pointy!
Black yarn is not the photographer's friend. Please use your imagination to project how hip and sassy this blanket will be when blocked and not bunched on three (!) circular needles. It's now at over 400 stitches. Pinwheel, pinwheel.
I'm usually not much for WIP pictures, but there you go! Lemonade stand in hell today.
Posted by Betsy at 09:22 AM | Comments (4)
February 03, 2006
Stitchin' for a Bitchin'
Many of you have read about Sew Fast, Sew Easy's claim that they own the phrase "Stitch 'n Bitch" that forced many local knitting groups, including SNB Boston, to change their name on yahoo groups. This all went down several weeks ago. But look what I saw on yahoo earlier this week!
Now...
File under, WTF? Walk the walk if you talk the talk.
Posted by Betsy at 04:39 PM | Comments (2)
January 31, 2006
Boston-area Sockapaloooza
If you see yourself on here, leave a comment and I'll add you. The balloons represent zip codes, so there could be more than one person per balloon.
Thanks Alison! :) The Google Earth and Google Map are really cool.
Posted by Betsy at 04:49 PM | Comments (5)
January 30, 2006
Lists, no eye candy
Well, unless you're like that. I organize my life from the inside out. Our physical space is always cluttered, pets, laundry, art and craft projects, I don't know how to really contain it all. But inwardly I try to keep my goals clear. So it goes with knitting. Think not of the huge chest full of bags of yarn and UFOs. Think not of my knitting bag, which is hard to keep under control. The heart of my knitting is my lists, which are carefully maintained.
Current WIP. OMG. It's under 10!
Comments:
- Candycorn socks: I just need to get these finished. I'm to the hell of the second one (top-down)
- Pinwheel Blanket: Is really trucking along, I will probably finish this within the week.
- #4 should read: Rugged Man Fingerless Gloves. I made my dad some fancy fingerless gloves last year out of Baby Ull, and he informed me that what he really wanted was a chunkier pair made out of "rag wool" for fishing. So I need to make these before his fishing trip in June. I am going to use Donegal Tweed left over from Omar's Creel.
- One-hour baby booties: have become one-year baby booties, I just have some finishing work to do on them, and then they should go to the next newborn ASAP, because they are so tiny!
- I'm sort of in project limbo with the gauntlets and the Farmer's market bag. I'm not sure I will really wear the gauntlets. Maybe, but not for sure. The koigu might be better used in socks. The other two (afghan and stole) I consider way back-burner, work as you feel like it projects.
- What's missing? Zaftig. What was I thinking, really? It was sort of fun to knit, but the short rows are a bitch, and I don't think I'd ever, ever use it. I think I have enough of that spray-dyed coral Fixation for knee socks!
Anticipated Knitting
Comments:
- Denim sweater: My mother is a denim fiend. She wears it every day. I think she would love a loose-fitting cardigan in mid-blue denim yarn (Nashville?). I'm debating between Elann Den-M-Nit and Rowan. The Elann is certain way more in my price range. I'm also not sure about the pattern, as the Rowan patterns just aren't nearly big enough.
- Out of the rest of this stuff, what I'm most interested in making next is the Garter Entrelac Vest in Kureyon 154. I bought a bat when it was on sale at WEBS. Inspired by Omar's garter entrelac scarf. It should be pretty straightforward, nice and stretchy with negative ease. As <a href="http://www.grumperina.com/knitblog/">Kathy</a> and I were discussing yesterday, the only tricky bit will be the armhole shaping.
I am participating in a meme-like project, Mission 101. The object is simply to complete 101 preset tasks in 1001 days. I'm really enjoy this. I have a list in Excel sorted by category. Here is my lengthy art/craft category portion of the list. There is a lot of knitting in there, as well as some crochet and sewing.
Thankfully there is some overlap between the current and future knitting project lists and the overall 101 list. :)
Also, I realized I never posted here about my experience teaching knitting (item 2 on above list!) last week. Today is my second class, so I will plan to post tonight or tomorrow with overall impressions, which are favorable!
Posted by Betsy at 11:55 AM | Comments (3)
January 29, 2006
Rodents and feet
I'm trying very hard to not turn this into MiMi's blog. Well, you know, once upon a time there was a boy named Omar who blogged here with me, but for now you're going to have to make do with the cat.
This is important, though. I present the most appreciated, loved, item that I have ever knit for anyone, used daily. Lopi Mouse! MiMi adores Lopi Mouse, which was knit from this pattern with some regular (bulky) Lopi left over from a felting project. I made this while we were waiting for MiMi's adoption to process while she was still at the shelter. I remember thinking "I hope she likes it, just a little." Now I regularly think "Get that damn mouse out of my bed/seat/bathrobe!"
Lopi Mouse was knit on size 5s and felted slightly by hand and stuffed with catnip. I sewed up most of his belly with yarn and sewed a small bit with thread in an easy to see color so I can gut him from time to time to replace the catnip, which I placed in a knotted nylon stocking in case of leaks. This pattern is so cute, all one piece, i-cord tail and bobble ears!
Only slightly less loved are Michelle's Knitty Gritty sockette/ Broadripple hybrids. These were a relatively quick, fun knit from Elann fakey-Fixation. I made a garter stitch strap with two button holes for adjustability.
Rodents and feet, these are a few of my favorite things. Again with the blue color palette!
Posted by Betsy at 09:50 PM | Comments (5)
Cool tones for winter blues
Before we ever thought of getting a cat, I started a Kitty Pi for my friend. We set up a trade: cat bed for cloth menstrual pads. How can it get better than that? Of course, life being what it is, we both got busy and probably over a year later, I am finally done with my end of the bargain. This was a quick but painful knit, as I discovered that I am somewhat allergic to Lamb's Pride and it sheds, well, more than my cat (or my rabbits, for that matter). So this cat bed took a long time to be realized, unlike MiMi's moebius bed, which Omar whipped out within a week of her arrival.
Here is the unfelted bed. I knit about 5 extra rounds and didn't do any decreases. To compensate, I bound off tightly with one strand of worsted Lamb's Pride. I'm really happy with the resulting shape. Unfelted, the bed fits eerily well over our Ikea ottoman. I'd love to knit a cover for it, but not in Lamb's Pride! MiMi, however, loves the fuzz.
Inspected by: Mimsy.
We couldn't find anything that was big enough to stretch the felted bed across, so we blocked it with a vented pizza pan stacked with books under a towel to soak up any remaining moisture. It worked like a charm! I love the result. After blocking, I turned it so that the "right" side was the inside, the most visible side. I also like how reverse blocking gave it an even more prominent bowl shape.
Also, notice the sunburst shape the stitches made in the "bullseye." I like that too. Wow, I like this project infinitely better finished than I did as a UFO.Also recently completed, a simple Seaman's Cap for my mom in an old color of Malabrigo that I ordered online before they made it big. Oh yes, I have my finger on the pulse of the knitting world.
I've been on a finishing kick, there's one more FO to show (also in blues), but the recipient has not delivered her promised photos, ahem!
Posted by Betsy at 09:59 AM | Comments (4)
