Monday, June 30, 2008
Pattern: My own
Yarn: Sundara Yarn Sock in Limited Edition Peacock and Purple
Needles: US1 dpns
I modified a pattern found in my trusty Japanese stitch dictionary. It's basically a pattern of a pair of leaves, mirror-imaged at the "stems." I changed it to be mirror-imaged at the leaves (petals are back to back) (does that make any sense) and suddenly the stitch pattern looked like feathers to me, like a great plume you might see on a Vegas showgirl's headpiece.
The leaf/feather pair were then separated at the heel, with one half continuing down the foot. Threw in a stockinette runner so the beautiful colorway of the yarn wouldn't be completely obscured with complicated patterns, and some gutters in garter-stitch instead of the usual purl-stitch.
I won't lie: I mirrored the pattern after the Loksins knit for me last year by my Sockapalooza pal. I. Love. Those. Socks. Perfect color. Perfect fit. Perfect combination of yarn and pattern. I went through that stitch dictionary like a madman hoping to duplicate such a successful pairing for the Peacock and Purple colorway. Not sure if the stitch I came up with is totally successful...I'm thinking Pomatomus would have worked better...but then Pomatomus always works, Pomatomus looks great in all weather conditions, even humid ones, and besides I've filled my knitting quota on those. Very happy with these nonetheless. And you really can't go wrong with anything knit in Sundara Yarn, am I right? Right.
Filed Under: Completed Projects | Socks
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
I made Chevron Scarf - in the same fashion as the first one - for a friend's birthday, using the remainders of Sundara Yarn's Bartlett Pear (made entrelac socks with it), and a skein of this Koigu in a colorway that is both beautiful and craptastic, depending how far you stand. I really am not sure whether my friend is going to like the color combo. Us knitting insiders know that for the Chevron Scarf, the more the colors clash, the better (er right? I think?)...but will she feel the same way?
Lookit all the pretty colors.
I asked Bunny, always the most willing and photogenic fashion rabbit, to model it for me.
I think it'll do. As soon as I remove all the cat hairs.
Filed Under: Cats | Chevron Scarf | Completed Projects
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Pattern: Pomatomus
Yarn: Sundara Yarn, Ltd Edition Aqua Over Lilac
Needles: US1 dpns
I decreased the shell pattern to a 10-stitch repeat, giving a total of 60 stitches overall.
* Also, you omit rows 10, 11, 12, and 13 of both charts. The pattern is now a 10-stitch by 18-row repeat.
Aside from a pair of socks, it's been a really unproductive week. I mean really. un. productive. I've had this stupid itchy dry cough that peaks between midnight and 5am, despite the barrage of syrups and pills. I'm all bloodshot, drugged up and still coughing. I don't understand the reflex of coughing when you have nothing to cough up. By the way, have scientist figured out why we yawn? And isn't it weird that cats do it too? Yawn, that is. But they don't cough. Now why is that. If you've ever seen a coughing cat please let me know.
PS Rambing Rose cardigan remains in a heap in the corner, waiting for me to just take the 30 minutes already to finish the button bands. I'm still not in the mood for it. I'm visiting my parents this week in ATL, so I might pawn the job off to my mother.
Filed Under: Completed Projects | Socks | Pomatomus
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
I finished something! And oh my god they're not socks!
What: Tunic sweater avec turtleneck, pattern is my own
Yarn: Malabrigo worsted in Azul Profundo #150, less than 3.5 skeins
Needles: US8 and 7 circulars and dpn's
There's this sweater I got for cheaps at H&M that I have been wearing to the ground. It's black, made of soft squishy acrylic, the length of which hits just past the hips. It's body-hugging and has a large cowl-neck that could be stretched and draped over both shoulders, revealing the collarbone, or slouched just to one side, revealing just a tantalizing snippet of a neck. It is a totally simple sweater but when I wear it, I feel like if I opened my mouth to speak my voice would be husky, I might even purr, and everything I said would be witty and charming because it would also be in French.
My version of that sweater is a little less Euro and a lot more...BLUE. I cannot tell you how intense the blue really is. I used just over 3 skeins of Malabrigo and it turns out they were all pretty much consistent in color, except for that one lone skein which of course appears smack dab in the middle of the sweater. Whatever. I'm fine with it.
Because I didn't follow a pattern and I wanted it to fit a certain way, I actually swatched before starting this sweater. This is a first. I never swatch. I get lazy. Most of the time it works out, sometimes it doesn't. But in true me fashion, I've misplaced all my algebraic scribbling and notes so I can't tell you the gauge I came up with. It wasn't rocket science anyways. Basically I wanted a sweater that was about 30 inches around, using US8 needles. I also put in waist shaping in the form of darts: instead of decreasing/increasing at the end of each side, I did it about 2 inches in from each side.
I yoked the upper body part: when reaching the armpits, I bound of maybe 10 stitches for the armpits on each side, set the body aside and started knitting the sleeves separately, in the round on US7 dpns. When I was satisfied with the length (up to armpit), I bound off for the armpit and joined the sleeves with the body, and continued in the round. Standard yoke stuff. Decreased every other row for raglan sleeves, and then continued in the round for the turtleneck. This was supposed to be a cowlneck but I had decreased too much, so a turtleneck it was.
Added some cables at the raglan decreases for fun.
Soft like a bunny against my neck! I love you Malabrigo. I love you.
And that's all! Easy as pie. My first sweater since March 2006, yikes. I'll have to do this more often.
Filed Under: Completed Projects | Tunic Sweater
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
Pattern: Entrelac Socks by Eunny Jang, from Interweave Knits Spring 2007
Yarn: 1 skein Koigu in brilliant blue (lost the band so don't have the exact info) & half skein Sundara Yarn in Bartlett Pear
These are brilliant. Entrelac in the round is so easy to do, and the colors! The colors! I am so in love with both these colors, especially together. If I had another skein of the Koigu I would have had the brilliant blue as the main color - I really love how that sock turned out - but I thought I'd play it safe do one in the blue and one in the pear. The results are very jolly and court jestery.
I kept these at average leg length, and also didn't go for the tassles. Although maybe I should have attached little bells.
After knitting the first sock (Bartlett Pear main color) in size 1 dpn's, I switched to 0's because the 1's were running kind of big. The 0's run a little small, but I'd rather them snug than otherwise. When I make these again I'll probably go back to size 1 needles, but knit 5-stitch blocks instead of 6, giving a total of 60 sts in the round. That's a good number for me.
Update: To answer some people's questions about whether the bumps on the inside of the sock are uncomfortable during wear, the answer is no! Not for me anyway. The bumps are soft, and in fact I really like the texture and the way the bumps squish against the skin.
Make sure you follow Eunny's suggestion of weaving the old color as you're picking up stitches in the new color at the beginning of every new round of blocks. (That barely made sense. Read her instructions.) I would imagine having to cut and to weave in yarn at every round would be a pain, and those bumps would not be comfortable to wear.
OK so now I am on a mission to redecorate our bedroom in these colors. I've been keeping an eye out for bedding, preferrably duvet covers, in exactly that shade of blue but haven't had any luck so far. Once I have that as the anchor, I'll really begin decorating in earnest.
Love these socks!
Filed Under: Completed Projects | Socks | Entrelac
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
I finished the Marina Piccola socks some weeks ago.
Not particularly happy with these as they are probably THE sloppiest socks I've ever made. I don't know what happened but my gauge for the second sock was so off that the leg is more than an inch longer than the first, the heel and foot is loose, and as a result I ran out of yarn just as I was getting to the toe.
Yuck. Bleh. I wasn't even going to post about them but then last night Duck took this shot as I was lounging on the couch watching baseball and since it contains all the ingredients for a crowd-pleaser - some new handknits, some older handknits, some handknits in progress, plus bonus! a fat cat - I thought I'd share.
Don't we all look comfy, with our animals and our yarns? I am wearing the aubergine bolero - celebrating it's 2nd birthday! - and knitting the entrelac socks. Try to disregard the fact that the soles of my socks look like the underside of a Swiffer cloth.
Veebs is not usually a lap cat but lately he's been feelin' the love. Meanwhile, as he spreads out luxuriously along the length of my legs and purrs that gentle, bumblebee purr of his, my little kneecaps are slowly being turned inside out.
Filed Under: Completed Projects | Socks | Marina Piccola
Monday, June 25, 2007
Pattern: My own! I have christened thee Swarm Drunken Bees.
Yarn: Socks That Rock lightweight in Midsummer's Night
Needles: US1 dpns I finished them!
And then I sat for hours and hours more trying to think of a good name for them. Everything that I came up with was bee-themed, because I think the zigzag pattern looks drunk yet curiously deliberate, bzzzz like a bee in flight bzzzz, and the mini-cables on the side resemble honeycombs.
So I came up with
1. Bumblebee (too cutesy)
2. Honeybee (way too cutesy)
3. Worker Bee (too slavish)
4. Royal Jelly (too weird)
5. Beehive (maybe)
6. Swarm (hmm)
Yessss, swarm...I see a swarm of stitches swirling in and around each other. It's not the prettiest sounding word though, unfortunately. But a quick run through the thesaurus in my head came up with lovely words that conjured up such lovely pictures, such as locusts, plague, infestation...So back to Swarm it was.
Now I name you Drunken Bees! Back from a long day's work, intoxicated with nectar, buzzing and teetering and bouncing off each other just outside your honeycombed nest!
Close-up of heel: Slip stitch at the center, flanked by honeycombs which continue down from the leg, and purl gutter, and bordered by more slip stitches. Finished with a square heel.
At some point I will write up a pattern for these, probably after we
move (3 more weeks!). When I do it will most likely be a pseudo-pattern: more of a general
overview rather than stitch-by-stitch instructions. Really all you need
to know is the stitch pattern, and if you know how to knit a sock, you
can do the rest without explicit instruction, and use your favorite methods of constructing the heel, the toe, up or down...I just hate telling people what to do, especially when there's no right way or wrong way about it!
Bzzzzz!
Filed Under: Completed Projects | Socks | Drunken Bees
Sunday, June 10, 2007
 Pattern: Vestee, hoodie version| Knitty Spring 07 | smallest size
Yarn: Koigu Kersti, 4 skeins (maybe?)
Needles: US5 (I think?)
Modifications: I knit garter rib for the cuffs only, and the rest of the body in stockinette. Dude. I completely forgot that I hadn't finished this. It's been awhile since I've done any seaming, and it wasn't much. Upper part of the body was knit in the round, and it's peanut-sized. But. I think I really hate seaming.
I'll be mailing it out ASAP to its intended recipient who luckily is still very much a baby. Charlie will be going too. The poor thing has been has been folded in a fetal position for months now. Oops. 
PS I loved working with the Kersti yarn. Soft like a bunny!
Filed Under: Completed Projects | Vestee
Thursday, June 07, 2007
Pattern: Twisted Flower Socks by Ms. Cookie A. As if I had to remind anyone.
Yarn: Cherry Tree Hill Supersock in Burgundy, one skein
Needles: US1
For: My Sockapalooza pal xoxoxo
Modifications: I have a favorite toe thanks to knitting Meida's Socks by Nancy Bush - decrease at each side of the foot every other row until you have a total of 32 stitches (or 8 sts on 4 needles), then decrease every row until there are a total of 8 stitches (or 2 sts on 4 needles), then cut the yarn, take a tapestry needle, thread the yarn through and tighten the hole. I find this makes for a very natural fit that curves nicely over the toes, much better than the straight edge produced when grafting.
So after posting about these last week I immediately ripped the first sock up past the heel so they would match what I did with the second sock, which was to follow the lovely heel pattern as written and extend the foot by another leaf pattern repeat.
We match now.
If you were to take a peek at this pattern, at the heel and foot chart, every single row of them meticulously laid out from bottom to top, all those twisted cables, traveling in a precise direction, where the tiniest of missteps would derail the whole effect, you'd probably want to rip your eyes out before having to start over again.
But it really didn't pain me to do this. I was so zen. It had to be done. I hardly demand perfection for myself; in fact I practically revel in my own knitting disheveledness. But for Sock Pal, for someone whom I will probably not meet in person? My socks will be my proxy. They will be my Goodwill Ambassadors. And like Angelina J0lie they will have to be perfect.
(Maybe I will name my socks Angelina J0lies. They are beautiful, they are complicated, and Br@dPitt would want a piece if he met them.)
And in any case, I just really enjoyed knitting these socks. No second sock syndrome in the slightest. They went by so quickly, despite all the slow-downs of cabling and having to refer to the chart. I'm not normally this patient, but I think having that entire chart for the foot written out that you could tick off, row by row as you finished, kept me focused and paced so that I wasn't constantly badgering myself with Are we there yet? How much longer? Can we go now?
I'm really glad I picked to do these socks. Sock Pal definitely made things easy for me by specifying semisolid to solid colored yarns. Picking the right yarn out of a whole universe of lovely yarns would overload my processes, but when you can disregard the variegateds (ie the hardest ones to resist), the patterns to choose from for strictly solids become obvious. Twisted Flower was obvious. And not only did I have a great time knitting, I was able to do it in confidence, without worrying whether or not my Sock Pal will like them.
Unless of course she thinks Angelina J0lie is ugly.
The only problem I have is to not mail these off right now. I hope I don't misplace them in the moving shuffle!
Filed Under: Completed Projects | Socks | Sockapalooza | Twisted Flower
Friday, May 11, 2007
Pattern: Meida's Socks from IK's Favorite Socks. Pattern by Nancy Bush.
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Poppy, just under one skein
Needles: US size 1 Phew. I got a pair of socks with barely a skein of Poppy at my disposal. I actually decreased the stitch count by 2 for each pattern repeat, resulting in a pair of very small socks. They're too small for me (you can't see in this photo, but when I wear these the heel of the sock is practically at the soles of my feet), but just right for a certain diminutive mother whose feet are the size of a pixie's. I sent these off in the beginning of the week, and she's already received them, just in time for Mother's Day.
E-mail from her this morning: You are something, the gift is so marvelous, can't believe you have so much patient! Heh heh. So much patient.
And so much pink! Socks and spring are marvelous!
Dutch tulips from the garden
Flowering apple trees, Boston Public Garden
Pink blossom overload, Boston Public Garden
Meida's Socks, for Mom
Filed Under: Completed Projects | Life | Socks | Meida's
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
In between a little bit of this and a little bit of that, I finished up another pair socks.
Pattern: Child's First Socks from Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush
Yarn: Curious Yarns in Ocean, one skein. It came with Dottie. Thank you Hazel!
Needles: US1 dpns
These were originally intended for my BFF but halfway through the first sock I changed my mind, and now I'm giving these to my SIL. Baby blue is her favorite color (I think). These came out really tight but since the yarn has a 25% nylon component to it, I'm not too worried about it.
Just love this pattern. It knits up so quickly.
***********
Lately I've been thinking that I really need to change the url for this knitblog. When I first set it up I wasn't exactly thinking long-term, so I simply created a subdirectory under this existing domain, which I have used as an online photo album since 2001, and named it Clog.
I rather regret that choice.
It's supposed to stand for "Cat log." Weblog by Cat. When I see that clog in the url, or type it in, that's what I say in my head, and it's what a picture. Me, Cat, writing a log. Mew mew mew! Type type type!
But unfortunately that's just me and I alone have access to my brain, so for you, when you see the word clog, your mind's eye is probably conjuring something less savory.
A very unhappy toilet, perhaps? A drainage system gone awry? Arteries?
Dutch windmills?
Or maybe I'm overthinking this.
I do want to set up a dedicated knitblog domain though, if only to keep my original photo album site completely separated from this knitting one. A handful of personal friends and family have found this blog when they were googling for the other and hi if you are one of those people for the love of God please don't tell me that you're reading this. A good friend recently told me while we were socializing pleasantly at another friend's wedding that he had found this blog on G00gle, and suddenly it got real hot and my dress ripped off and there I was sipping my cocktail in the nude.
I have no problems being read (judged) by total strangers but in no way can I handle being read (judged) by people I know. (Unless of course you also knit. Then it's totally OK.) I feel completely open and vulnerable. The way I portray myself in this virtual universe is in many many ways completely antithetical to the way I am in real life, so having them collude out in the open is just all kinds of wrong. It would be like seeing Jerrica and Jem in the same room! Clark Kent and Superman hanging out! It just can't happen!
I know this makes little sense if any, but that is how I must live my blogging life in order to function properly in this universe.
Anyway. I'm thinking of possible domain names, and the obvious one is of course domesticat.com. Unfortunately it's already taken (and worse, it's not even being used) .net is also taken, and I don't want .org.
What name to choose, what name to use...I'll have to think about it more.
Filed Under: Completed Projects | Socks | Child's First
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
The squirrels and the Chevron Scarves have come out to play.
Pattern: None really. Used a chevron stitch pattern, details here.
Yarn: 1 skein Sundara Yarn in Troubador and 1 skein Gems Pearl in Willow
Needles: US3
This is a fresh and skinny scarf, perfect for spring. It measures about 5 1/2 feet long. I could have kept going but decided it was long enough. I'll use the remaining yarn I have for sock toes and cuffs.
Both squirrel and scarf are courtesy of cynicthelamb, who just might have produced an award-winning praying mantis. Love him! I might need one of those too!
Dottie cozying up to her new friend.
Filed Under: Chevron Scarf | Completed Projects | Postcards from Dottie
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Pattern: None, just a 54-stitch stockinette sock with gusset heel and wedge toe
Yarn: Yarntini self-striping in Pure Fall
Needles: US2 for the top half of the leg, US1 for the rest
I just rediscovered these shoes while cleaning out the closet. Oh my god do I have a lot of shoes. Anyway I bought these four years ago in a San Francisco boutique for 75% off. Ah the thrill of a good sale! But strangely I have not worn these as much as I should have. I mean how does one just forget that she owns awesome tomato-red pointy-toed shoes with cylinder heels like these?!
Especially ones that go so good with new stripey socks, no?
Filed Under: Completed Projects | Socks
Friday, March 02, 2007
Pattern: Monkey socks
Yarn: Fleece Artist merino sock yarn in Autumn, one skein
Needles: Size 2 dpns
It is damn near impossible to decently photograph so much red, and in such dismal, rain-drizzled lighting it's that much trickier. I tried every setting on my camera but each time the reds came out super-saturated, so much that it obscured the pattten. At the same time the poor lighting muted the surrounding colors. Wacky combination! I ended up desaturating in Photoshop to subdue the reds.
This was a very fast knit, despite the fact that I haven't been knitting much in the last couple of weeks. I'll be honest, at first glance I wasn't really excited about this pattern, but it is very flattering knitted up and looks much prettier in person.
That Cookie. That mad genius of a Cookie. It is almost unholy the things she comes up with.
Some mods:
1) 2-stitch garter stitch gutter on either side of the heels.
I think I might start doing that with all my heels. It's pretty.
2) Very long toes.
Not intentional, until I decided to leave it the way it is. I tried a more rounded toe instead of the usual wedge toe by decreasing every 4th row for a couple of rows, then decreasing every 3rd row for a couple of rows, then every other row until there were 16 stitches total left. The result of that was a very long toe. The sock still fits just fine - it just looks a little goofy with the toe starting so early. But since my BFF is even less of a perfectionist than I am (right?), I'm OK with leaving the them the way they are. No sleep lost over that!
3) Cat-hair infused yarn.
Creates a lovely, soft halo around the socks.
A quick Soak and a dry, and off to NYC they go!
Filed Under: Completed Projects | Socks
Friday, January 19, 2007
My last sock for this week, anyway.
Pattern: Child's First Socks from Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in poppy; just over 1 skein.
Needles: US1 dpns
I cannot believe how quickly these finished. 5 days of off-and-on knitting! I speak in the passive tense only because I hestitate to say that *I* finished these quickly. I mean did I? Or should credit be given to the Unseen Voodoo Sock Fairy living under my seat?
 Do you see? Do you see the mirror-imaged shells? For the second sock I read the pattern chart from left to right, instead of right to left, and changed all left-leaning decreases to right-leaning decreases.
But what charts, you ask? Because there were no charts in the instructions. WHY that is I will never understand. I drew out the chart myself because trying to read them as text made my eyes go numb. I will never ever understand why people insist on writing out patterns in text when a simple chart is so much clearer and more efficient, and less prone to mistakes.
Like, why write out sl1, k1, psso - which at first glance appears to be 3 whole stitches to work - only to have a time lag as your brain realizes, Oh wait that's a decrease, when you can just have one lowly symbol to represent it? All that's needed to comprehend is a quick glance. No mental translation necessary!
ANYway, the socks are not for me. It turns out I wasn't done with my Christmas knitting afterall, even though I kind of sort of gloated that I had. I know! Christmas is now way over! But because I was traveling over Xmas with my family, I didn't get a chance to give out the presents to the inlaws, and I also ended up shuffling the original line-up by giving some stuff to my immediate family that was intended for the inlaws.
At the end of the day I had the Pomatomus anklets to give to my SIL...but the more I looked at them the more I disliked them. I knit these things back in the summer when anklets seemed like a good idea. But who wants to wear anklets in the middle of winter? What's the point? One of the best parts about wearing handknit socks is pulling them up over your legs. Mmmm...scrumptious, warm socks all over. I thought it was a waste of a good pattern and good yarn, and that it wasn't good enough to be gifted.
So I tossed those silly anklets out, and with a few weeks extra buffer I was able to start something new. I definitely feel good about gifting these.
OK no more knitting socks for awhile. I mean it.
Filed Under: Completed Projects | Socks | Child's First
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Pattern: My own
Yarn: Koigu, 1 skein. I've lost the band so I don't know what colorway it is, but if I were to give it a name, I'd call it Mardi Gras.
Needles: Size1 dpns
These gloves were a quick and satisfying knit, taking up just a mere skein of yarn, with a couple of yards leftover. I did make these super small, casting on 52 stitches which yielded about 3.25 inches across the knuckles (when measured unworn). It fits great, and I'm going to put it to good use around the house when it really starts getting chilly inside.
So I kind of made these up as I went along, but the pattern is pretty vanilla and are the simplest things ever. First I knit 3.5 inches of 2x2 ribbing for the wrist (including a little cuff in a dash of leftover yarn from these socks), then began increasing stitches at the start of the round for the thumb gusset, knitting that and the rest of the hand in simple stockinette stitch.
Then I knit the fingers like so...
Left: After completing the thumb gusset, I place its stitches on scrap yarn, cast on a couple more stitches, then join the round for the rest of the hand, thereby closing the circle for the thumb. I continue knitting the hand until it reaches the base of my index finger.
Middle: After the hand is complete, I place the stitches on scrap yarn to make it easier to work with. Knitting fingers with dpns is fiddly enough without having other needles on the hand poking at you. I place stitches for the index finger on two needles, about equal numbers (I did 7) from the front and back part of the hand, and knit to desired length. (For each finger I rearrange the stitches and knit with 3 needles for more flexibility). As I'm knitting the first round, I cast on 2 stitches in the "crotch" of this finger and the next (in this case, the yet-to-be-made middle finger).
Right: After finishing the finger, I cast off loosely and cut the yarn, leaving a few inches to weave in with later. I begin the next (middle finger here) by picking up the two stitches I had cast on for the index finger, and then picking up from the scrap yarn 7 stitches for the front, and doing the same for the back. As I'm knitting the first round, I cast 2 stitches again in the crotch as I did for the index finger. These stitches will be picked up when knitting the ring finger. You won't be casting on these crotch stitches for the pinky, as it's the last finger. Picking up stitches this way closes up the holes between fingers quite nicely.
When I go back to finish knitting the thumb, I also pick up the couple stitches I had casted on when I finished the thumb gusset. All fingers are knit to desired length; just keep trying them on as you go along!
After receiving emails asking which pattern I used, I poked around the web for a concrete example to offer and I found these Cigar gloves on Knitty.com. Construction-wise I knitted these gloves - and the Mermaid Gloves - very similarly.
Oh Bunny, why do you always come out looking so possessed in photographs?
Dude. I love Koigu. Which is why it hurts me so bad to see that their website looks nothing like their yarns. Hurts my eyes, hurts my teeth, and hurts whatever marketing sensibilities I have. I'm no branding guru, but everyone can see that they can do better. Oh that splash page! That craggly 3D logo! How my heart bleeds! I have half a mind to cold call them and ask if they would consider having their website redesigned. And offer my services for free yarn. Just a few skeins of KPM is all I need. But cripes, it's so in dire need of an overhaul that I'd be just as willing to pay them to do it!
Filed Under: Completed Projects | Gloves
Monday, December 11, 2006
Behold. My Christmas knitting, actually completely and totally finished before Christmas! It's a Christmas miracle!
From top: Pomatomus anklets in Koigu
Jaywalkers in Yarntini
Red Sox in Baby Cashmerino
Cable Twist Socks in Socks That Rock
Since the Cable Twist Socks have not been given their official debut, here they are.
Then there's this, Ms. Clapotis, finished months ago...
No idea how to wear this, so hopefully my mother-in-law can figure it out! And wear it!
And I'm gifting the Mermaid Gloves as well.
Along with some other non-knitterly items, I am on time, on schedule, and 100% done with Christmas shopping. And I didn't step foot in a mall once! Let's dance! Or take more pictures!
Cleeeck!
From this post forward (actually from yesterday's post forward), all photos on this site shall be courtesy of my very advanced, rather heavy but TOTALLY AWESOME new camera and lens. Thanks - or no thanks! I'm broke! - to Kathy for getting this ball rolling. And many many thanks to brooklyn tweed for answering all my incessant emails with great info and advise. I've wanted a dSLR forever and ever but not too long ago they were for people who were either very rich or who were actual photographers. I wasn't any of those things, I'm still neither of those things. However technology keeps getting cheaper - and better - by the minute. And one of the funny side effects of knit blogging is the desire to not only become a better knitter, or even a better writer, but a better photographer as well. I don't know what's in store for 2007, perhaps not better knitting or better writing, but by Jove there will be better photos!
There will be!
Filed Under: Clapotis | Completed Projects | General Knitting | Life | Socks
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Pattern: My own, inspired by Steph's Mermaid Gloves which were inspiried by Cookie's Pomatomus stitch pattern. For one of the gloves I flipped Chart A in order to get mirror-imaged scallops.
Yarn: Koigu KPM, 2 skein, and Sundara Yarn in Plum over Slate for the cuff.
Needles: US1 dpns
Couldn't be more pleased with these gloves. Well, maybe if they were in a different color, like the lovely bluish variety that Steph used. Those Koigu semi-solids are hard to come by. But no matter, I'm so glad I attempted them because they are just divine. And so easy to make! Really!
Filed Under: Completed Projects | Gloves | Mermaid
Monday, November 06, 2006
Pattern: "Zephyr" socks, my own pattern HEE HEE!
Yarn: Cherry Tree Hill supersock in Emerald City, one skein. Love love LOVE this yarn.
Needles: US2 dpns
I started these right before we hit the road, wound the yarn myself into an apple-shaped center-pull ball. The colors in this yarn are so gorgeous I could bite into it.
And then I had 2,500 miles to knit and complete a pair of socks.
I love the stitch pattern, it swirls and sways, churns one way and then the other like a wave, a breeze. I found the stitch pattern in one of my Japanese stitch dictionaries, but modified it a little bit. It's fast, fun and easy to remember, a great and productive way to pass the endless hours in a car.
There are some modifications to be made I think, one to the toe (don't decrease down so much), and one to the length, and maybe gauge. This stitch pulls both in horizontally and vertically, which annoys me a little because I don't want to be pulling up my socks so much. I can either go down a needle size, but I think increasing the length of the leg will do the trick, so it will hug the calf. Or maybe an elastic band would help.
The pattern fits perfectly around the feet though.
Pattern to come when I have |