Monday, January 08, 2007
This is a well-fed red chest.
*burp*
Yarn is literally bursting out of the red red drawers that once you manage to wrestle a drawer open, the yarns are like RAAAAAAR IMAGONNAEATCHOO!!! I have more laying around in other cubby holes around the house, and probably still more in bags lurking in some corner of some closet that I've totally forgotten about.
Sometime between Saturday and Sunday, the yarn stash became unacceptable. I toss and turn at night thinking of my treatment of those poor yarns that are constantly being one-upped with newer, more exciting purchases. Sitting there, unloved, depreciating with every second. The madness! It must stop!
So I have deemed 2007 as The Year I Buy 100% No Yarn Ever At All I Mean It. There's that knit-from-your-stash-along going on that has some exceptions built in - sock yarn is ok, new yarns for a knitted gift is ok, etc. But because I am a SUPERHERO with amazing SUPERPOWERS, I can tell the world with full assurance that there will be NO EXCEPTIONS for me. Absolutely no more purchasing yarn in 2007. None. I won't even accept yarn for free.
The path to stash freedom is clear. I am George W Bush. I am Condi Rice. I am possibly very, very stupid. But nothing will shake this resolve. Do you see my hand? How it doesn't quiver, not even in the slightest? I don't even blink! It is because I am strong! I am determined!
(I am going to fail!)
But look, I've already made progress. I picked up a little something-something that has been in the WiP state for over a year. It's about time!
Hi. Remember me?
I can't wait until it's finished, so - yay! -I can move onto the other yummy yarns in my stash!
So this new year will be a good year, full of new socks and sweaters. But no yarn.
None.
Zero.
I mean it.
Really.
Hold me.
Filed Under: General Knitting | Yarn Stash
Monday, January 08, 2007
Pattern: Aran Braid Socks
Yarn: Cherry Tree Hill Supersock in Purple Rain, 1 skein
Needles: US2 dpns
These puppies had places to go, things to do, people to see. They practically flew across the needles and knitted themselves.
Before I knew it I was at the heel. Then I was at the toe. Then they were on Duck's feet. And then, lo and behold, he was dancing the jig!
You can't tell from the photo, but that's two left feet you're seeing there. It takes a lot for the poor little feller to dance, it takes a lot. But thanks to a pair of purpley new handknit socks his feet are as light and fancy as Fred Astaire's! Lalalala! I'm singin in the rain! Maybe.
How I love to work with CTH Supersock. It's vibrant on the eyes, soft to the touch, light on the wallet, and generous on the yardage. I need to start knitting toe-up again so I can gauge my progress and use the yarn to its fullest - I have quite a bit leftover. I could have knitted another 2 inches on both legs and had enough to spare.
And I love the heels. I'll probably be knitting heels this way from now on.
And so, my quota for knitting for Duck is now complete. I can resume knitting for self for another 2 years. No more guilt! Yes more sweaters!
Filed Under: Socks | Aran Braid Socks
Thursday, January 04, 2007
Knitting wise, the biggest surprise of 2006 has been my unbridled love of knitting socks, which as I've mentioned a million times, began as something like unbridled hatred.
I love the yarns, love the little needles, love the portability.
And oh how I love to wear them!!!
My preciousessessss...
I cycle through these four pairs throughout the week, possibly throughout two weeks. Maybe even throughout the month. I wear each pair maybe three, four, five times before I wash them, lately in Soak Wash. My head is still trying to wrap itself around the no-rinse concept.
(Today I'm wearing my own Zephyr socks. They're currently the cleanest pair. Which means I've worn them only twice since the last wash.)
Despite the frequent wear these socks - made with CTH, Koigu, Sundara Yarn and Regia, left to right respectively - are holding up extremely extremely well. Especially the Koigu and Regia. Minimal pilling, still-vibrant colors.
I don't do any rough-housing like go running in them of course, and only once in awhile will wear them out of the house with "real" shoes. But while working at home - just about everyday - I do have them on morning to night, with slippers, and often straight to bed where I will kick them off unceremoniously in my sleep, and there they will lay crumpled under the sheets until the next morning. Or the next. Frankly I'm quite surprised and very impressed that they've held up as well as they have.
Is it gross to wear socks over and over before washing them? My feet don't' get terribly sweaty ;). Not even wool can defrost these icy brittle toes. Need more for 2007!
Damn. When am I ever going to knit a sweater again?
Filed Under: Socks
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
With my parents and aunt and uncle, we had a fabulous Christmas/New Years vacation, which witnessed above average amounts of cribbage, knitting, eating and drinking. Too much drinking. I will be more than OK if all of 2007 involved no drinking. But I'm not prepared to make that an actual resolution.
My aunt and uncle were a last-minute addition on our trip, and even though my family normally doesn't exchange gifts (these were all for the in-laws), I figured it would be fun to give them all a little something-something since it's so rare that we all spend Christmas together. So I had to scramble afterall to get some knitted items finished, and reshuffled the recipient list a bit.
I gave my mom the Mardi Gras gloves, my aunt the Yarntini Jaywalkers, and quickly finished these socks for my uncle, and knitted a simple ribbed hat for Dad.
Merry Christmas knits for everyone!
Over vacation I started the Anemoi mitts.
And abandoned the Anemoi mitts. I did myself and the pattern a real disservice with the colors I chose. Booooo!
So put that aside to be frogged, and started these Aran braid socks:
I was able to finish one sock over a couple of days, even while playing cards and drinking and knitting Anemoi at the same time. I mention that not to impress you with my mad knitting skills (a definite 2007 resolution is to learn to knit continental), but to illustrate how fast and easy knitting socks - even socks with braids! - can be. Especially when you use yarn that you just can't put down. So soft, so vibrant! So CTH!
When these are done, Duck will finally have handknit socks of his very own. Luckily he is secure in his duck manliness that he is nonplussed by the pinks, even as they all conveniently pool at the top of the foot.
Filed Under: Gloves | Socks | Aran Braid Socks
Saturday, December 23, 2006
"And I want more tuna now!!!"
Happy Holidays and see you in 2007!
Filed Under: Cats | Life
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
...there was stamping.
I purchased this whole lot in one go. I was in Seattle on business, all by myself, for months, without the leisure of being able to go home once. Oh it was a sad sad day! I wandered bored out of my hotel to the mall across the street to have a sad sad lunch alone in the food court, after which I meandered aimlessly around the mall feeling very sorry for my lonesome, homesick self.
And then I discovered something I never knew existed. It was a store covered wall-to-wall with stamps, their little wooden backs stacked and glowing like tiny blocks of gold. There was ink in all colors of the rainbow, this wonderful thing called embossing powder, shiny stationery and pretty pretty handstamped wedding invitations and baby announcements and Valentine's Day cards.
Some crazy synapse in my brain fired and came to life, it told me I had found Shangri-La, and so many many hours later I walked out with many many dollars' worth of stamps. And then I took them all back to my hotel and stamped, all weekend. Alone. In my hotel room. With rubber stamps. Hundreds of them.
Thank God for knitting.
Filed Under: Life
Sunday, December 17, 2006
Stage I: Omniscience
Stage II: Doubt
Stage III: Alarm
Stage IV: Vengeance
Filed Under: Cats
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
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