Blog Catch Up

I knew it had been awhile since I blogged, but hadn't realized it's been 4 months. I knew that aside from my secret sample knitting, I hadn't been knitting very much so didn't have much to share 'til now. The secret sample knitting however, are still secret.

The STR charity blanket is finally done! After starting this 4 years ago(!) for our knitting group at work I finally finished it.  When I signed up for this I didn't realize that our knitting group would decrease all the way down to a mere 1 or 2 of us.  So I finally decided that I would finish it all myself.  The blanket has been washed/blocked and mailed to Blue Moon Fiber Arts (BMFA) for Tina to send to her favorite charity.

Pattern: Knitting for Love by Cookie A & Nathania Apple for BMFA (not listed in Ravelry or BMFA's site - contact Cookie A or Nathania for the pattern)
Yarn provided by BFMA: Socks that Rock Heavyweight in Jade (center square & throughout), Count Cluckula, Mr Green Jeans & Thistle - what little was left was also mailed back to BMFA.
Needes: US Size 6 circulars
Dimensions: Roughly 41"x41" 

Also done & blocked over the summer is a darling shawlette that was part of our March 2012 Rockin' Sock Club kit.

Pattern: Perennial by Debbie Stone (aka Cockeye the Sockateer)
Yarn: STR medium weight in Budding Twig
Needles: US Size 5 & 6 KP Harmony circs

Intended for my toddler nephew, but I'm not sure if his face is securely sewn on, so I may reinforce it before mailing it off.

Pattern: Tony the Toy Box Monster
Yarn: Lion Brand Cotton Ease
Needles:  US Size 6

I also finally got around to knitting a baby hat to coordinate with the Lilianna cardigan shown in my last post.

I also made a moss stitch/seed stitch baby beret to coordinate with the Lucky baby cardigan I knit a couple years back.  These will be gifts for the next family or friend who has a baby girl.

Pattern: Moss Stitch Hat by Debbie Bliss
Yarn: Rowan All Seasons Cotton
Needles: size  5 & 6 circs

Last for now, but not least, is a hat/scarf combo that I started while my monkeys were rehearsing for their big dance recital last month.  Monkey2 put it to good use this weekend as we got more than a smattering of snow at our cabin.

Pattern: Comet Tail Hat (free Lion Brand pattern)
Yarn: Lion Brand Amazing in Pink Sands
Needles: size 9 KP circs

Erin's Cowl

I love test knitting for my friends, so I said of course when Cockeyed asked me to test knit a cowl in one of her design series.

pattern: Erin's Cowl - Available as a separate pattern or in a 3-pattern set (the cowl, Erin's hat, and Erin's mittens)

yarn: BMFA Socks that Rock heavyweight in Spruced

needles: size 6 Knit Picks Harmony circulars

mods: none since it was a test knit

Closing Ceremonies

Finished on Wednesday with time to spare!


Pattern: Shawl that Jazz
Yarn: BMFA Luscious Single Silk in Beached (almost 2 skeins)
needle: size 9 & 10.5 (bind off only) KP circs - my 8's were tied up on WIP's
mod: the extra ruffled version


top: BFL mix in Bleeding Hearts
l-to-r: Tumbleweed, Lenka (nicely out of my comfort zone), Rabia, ValenTINA, Vancouver Violet

I'm glad I finished early since I got to cruise through the Stitches West Market in a relaxed mode. I spent most of the time looking at lots & lots of fiber, testing spindles, and just enjoying the atmosphere. Aside from a smaller budget, the time spent meant I was a little more thoughtful about what I should buy. My final BMFA buys were nicely restrainted with just some lightweight STR and only one BFL mix roving. I already had some BFL & Polwarth from a Verb from Keeping Warm after my beginning spin class, so I felt I didn't need to get more yet.

After such an exciting end to my February knitting, I can go back to my usual schedule.

Ravelympics update

Halfway through the 17 days of the 2010 Winter Olympics, I am more than halfway through my Blue Moon Fiber Arts Luscious Single Silk (LSS) Beached Shawl that Jazz.


Since the LSS yardage is a little shorter than the pattern calls for with the regular ruffled edge, I'm not going to even attempt to try the extra ruffled version. I might've been further ahead on this Ravelympics project, but I haven't exactly been faithful to all it's garter stitch glory.


Instead, I managed to finish Monkey2's little pair of Fetchings. She loves them so much she asked me to make 2 more pairs...for her 2 BFF's. In the exact same color. LOL! But that's not going to happen.

Cascade 220 in a bright turquoise color
size 6 KP circs
mod: CO 40 stitches


I also messed around with my sister's second pair of Bella's mittens. This time she requested the convertible version that she saw somewhere so she won't need to take a mitten off when she texts on her phone while commuting on mass transit to work. The first one is done 'cept for the convertible part. I probaby won't do the button & button loop though.

Multi-themed weekend

It's been quite busy with the usual President's Day holiday weekend being combined with Valentine's Day, the Lunar New Year, the start of the Winter Olympics, & NASCAR season. The number of knitting projects I've got going seems to match this weekend's multiple events too.


For the Ravelympics which is scheduled for the Winter Olympics, I cast on for my second Shawl that Jazz in the Beached LSS I bought at Sock Camp last year. I decided that I wanted a bit of meditative garter stitch so I could watch the Olympics with ease.


But before that, I finally joined in on our mini-STR February Lady Sweater KAL at work with Tapmouse2 and Calafia. They're practically done, while I'm struggling to not make more errors on my second FLS. This time it's in heavyweight STR in Korppi.

My first set of errors were not doing all my increases in the increase row while watching the premiere of Lost's last season. I should know better than to knit anything that requires even the remotest of attention when Lost is on. My second set of errors was repeating the wrong right side row of the gull lace pattern. With alternating skeins, it's a pain to rip back a couple rows to fix. Then there's the botched garter stitch edge in one little section that I worsened in an attempt to correct it. Apparently, familiarity breeds errors and not just contempt.


The only new pattern I've been working on is the Raven Swirl sock. I won't even start my 2010 RSC sock until this is done. I love this sock, but it would also go much faster if I devoted more time to it. As it is, I get a row or 2 in here & there. But I do love how it's knitting up.


On my quick, but distracting, pile is Monkey2's new K&K Cap. The first 2 were getting too small, so I knit up the medium size. Fortunately or unfortunately, I didn't swatch, so the hat's a little big, but that means she's got room to grow. It's in a turquoise Cascade 220 colorway that she would not let go of the last time we went to visit Purlescence Yarns.

I may need to knit up a second hat as Monkey1 decided to attach her freeform crocheted "snowflake" to the hat. It's very cute, but Monkey2 wants her hat plain.


Of course, the hat wouldn't be complete without a set of mitts to match. I'm almost done with a child-sized version of the Fetching fingerless mitts. I kept the row counts the same mostly, but CO 40 sts instead of the pattern's 45. Fits her great.

And that's not even all. Not pictured are Monkey1's second Regia Flusi das sockenmonster sock on which I'm practicing my lever knitting and my sister's second Bella's Mittens, this time as a convertible pair.

The good, the bad, the ugly

The good: from the Once in a Blue Moon Rare Gems sale at BMFA -


All lightweight, one in each category (Earth, Fire, Air, and Water), not necessarily in that order since I think Tina & her dyers based the categories on what dyes and overdyes were used, not necessarily what the end result was. I love them all, but if I had to pick favorites, they are the 2 intensely deep ones on the left.

Also good: The first Knetted sock I cast on for the Blue Moon Cast On -


Sept RSC kit
medium weight STR in River Rocked
pattern size: medium-ish
size 2.50 mm KP circs
mod: foot decreased to 54 sts, 1 extra diamond repeat on the leg, but I bet if I weigh this sock & the remaining skein, I could've gotten on more diamond repeat on the leg.

The good & the bad:


pattern: Jasmine fingerless mitts by Adrienne Fong
yarn: Crystal Palace Mini Mochi in Neptune Rainbow
needle size: 2.50 mm KP Harmony circ
mod: extra lace repeat since Monkey1 wanted it longer

When we got back from vacation, I realized that the light turquoise was very sparse to almost non-existent in the second skein. The second half of the first skein & most of the second skein had a royal blue instead of the turquoise, so I punted the idea of getting both mitts to match color progression at all.

I do like the pattern & the colorway though, so that's good. The bad however was the yarn. It's splitty, the single ply is underspun in spots & I had to spit-splice it together many times, and it behaves like sticky mohair when attempting to frog or tink back a bit (looks mohair-ish too w/its halo). Maybe if I knit my Noro sock or sample Malabrigo sock, I would feel differently. Or even if I got a second generation of the mini-mochi instead of the first? Who knows, but it'll be awhile before I knit up the second skein.

It's just bad:


It used to be a completed Brioche Hat for DH. Then he asked me to extend it - several months after it sat in a dresser drawer in our cabin upon completion.

The bad part's not that I started slowly frogging it from the top even though I don't remember much on how a brioche stitch in progress looks like after several months. It's the stitch that snagged on something in the drawer he kept it in. It's to the right of the orange stitch marker, an inch from the cast on row that is currently causing me much angst. So, to fix that somehow (duplicate stitch for 2 inches on each side of it?) or to frog entirely & start over? That is my dilemma.

The ugly, though I could call it a swatch since I intend to frog & start over, but probably in a different pattern, maybe something stripey instead:


pattern: Beginner's Fair Isle Headband
size 7 KP circs
yarn: Nashua Handknits Grand Opera in Teal & Silver

Sometimes I should say no to Monkey1's requests when I feel it probably won't work. It was a bad combination of needle size, gauge, yarn and pattern. I didn't bring my entire needle set when we were vacationing, I had limits but tried it anyway. I did like the initial pattern & yarn combo on size 5 dpns, but that made the headband infant-sized and too stiff to work as a headband. I probably should've started a stripey scarf instead, which is what was intended for the leftover yarn. Knitting on size 7 circs Magic Loop style made the colorwork look really crappy and made keeping the floats even at the transition halves w/this yarn difficult.

Hopefully next time I tell Monkey1 it won't work, she (and I) will believe it and I won't need to "swatch" to prove my point. But then, that's par for the course in the parent/child experience.

Back from vacation

We got a little bit of snow. Just enough for a little snow angel & snowman-making.


After what seemed like an infinite amount of 2x2 ribbing, I am done with my mother-in-law's belated holiday gift:


Seamingly Simple Vest
Cherry Tree Hill Twister in Waters Potluck (assuming it's the same base yarn as BMFA's Twisted) - I think this is discontinued by CTH
size 10 KP Harmony circs
size: to the waist as my m-i-l is a petite lady


Finished 2 pairs of gift mitts and half of Monkey1's mitts , mainly because I forgot to bring the second ball of yarn to match up the color progression per Monkey1's request. All in need of a wash & block, though I did steam block one of the Evenstar fingerless mitts just to see.

On the left:
Fine Cabled Mitts by Anne Hanson
Koigu KPM in a blinding chartreuse - I have no idea what to set my camera to so it doesn't fuzz out
size 3.00 mm KP Harmony dpns
small/med size

In the middle:
Evenstar Gloves
Shekinah's Alpacas 100% alpaca 2-ply sport - bought from Piedmont Yarns booth at Stitches West 2009 (IIRC)
size 3.25 mm KP Harmony dpns

On the right:
Jasmine fingerless mitts by Adrienne Fong
Crystal Palace mini-mochi in Neptune Rainbow
size 2.50 mm KP Harmony circs (need to double check)
mod: extra lace repeat in total to make cuff/arm length a little longer


And on New Year's Eve for the Blue Moon Fiber Arts Blue Moon Cast On, I took a picture of what the blue moon looked liked up in the Sierras and I cast on the only BMFA skein I had with me:


Rockin Sock Club 2009 Sept yarn & pattern
pattern: Knetted by Cat Bordhi
yarn: BMFA STR medwgt in River Rocked
needles: 2.50 mm KP nickel-placed circs
mod so far: added an extra diamond to the leg to make it slightly longer

Hope everyone had a Happy New Year's weekend and best wishes for the upcoming year and new decade.

Testing how it can Sway

Pardon the craptastic ancient digital camera shots, but it's dying a horrible death and half my pics, including uber cute ones of Monkey2's dance recital that I really wanted, came out looking like the BSOD (Black Screen of Death). Guess what's on my birthday list this year. Well, it was also on my birthday & x-mas list last year, so here's hoping.


Yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts Peru in Bleck 1.18 skeins = ~ 590 yds
needle size: size 8 KP Harmony circs plus a couple extra cables


With the time change, I've been missing valuable good sunlight, so some of my earlier pics were done indoors & on my valuable Madame Folding Chair. She did such a great job w/my first Ulmus, I thought she would work well for this shawl too.


Pattern Designer: Samantha Roshak
Pattern name: Sway
Pattern release date: somewhere around the weekend of Knot Hysteria Knitting Retreat


Thanks to Monkey2 who was patient enough to do quick modelling duties rather than ride her bike when the digital camera wouldn't work for her while I tried to model the shawl.

I was killing time

'til I got my test knit assignment, aside from slowly working on birthday brother's cardigan.


pattern: Hermione's Cable & Eyelet Hat
yarn: Paton's Classic Wool in Grey Mix
needle size: 7 KP circs
hat size: adult

Larger needles meant larger row gauge and so only had to do 1 more pattern repeat for the adult size and I also kept the same cast on number. Also replaced the k2tog's in the crown decrease for ssk's like I did with Monkey2's version. I found this suggestion to keep decrease slant the same as the cable crossings cruising through the myriad of finished Hermione hats in Ravelry. I'll have to dig through this list again to figure out who I copied that idea from.


Pattern: Who?
yarn: Patons Classic Merino Wool in Dark Grey Mix
needle size: 7 KP circs
hat size: adult

No mods. Still needs to have 1 or 2 pairs of button eyes sewn in.

I knit the hats with no one in mind to give them to and am wondering if I should keep them since I didn't choose a machine-washable yarn. If no one else, the Monkeys can always wear them.


So for awhile, I'll have nothing exciting to show yet 'cept for the BMFA Peru (oops! Thought I had bought BFL. My bad.)in Bleck I'll be using for Samro's test knit.


Oh, and one more thing. I almost forgot this was arriving. From Woolgirl, the Hello Kitty Halloween kit. Jen never fails to delight.

Jubilant Shawl

I finished the shawl on Mother's Day, but didn't get around to blocking it 'til the next day. Monkey1 decided to be the model rather than the photographer, so scale the shawl against a 4'9" grade school child.


Shawl that Jazz by Samro, one of the loveliest knitters around
BMFA BFL Sport in Jubilation - ~1.35 skeins
size 9 & 11 KP Harmony circs
version: the rufflier one


I was initially concerned about a slight difference between the 2 skeins I had bought at Sock Camp. (Pic immediately below.) Since it was a last minute buy (as in the last day before BMFA packed up), I rushed through and didn't check carefully. With the shaping involving short rows, it would've been a total PITA to alternate the 2 skeins, so I took a chance and started with just one.

It didn't matter at the end because I didn't need to start the second skein 'til the edging. (Obviously, gauge came to the rescue 'cause I knit a little tighter than the pattern spec.)


What it look like unblocked:


And as a Mother's Day gift to myself I got another Namaste Laguna in Eggplant from Woolgirl's Mother's Day sale. I was definitely in a color-coordinating mood.


One of these days, I will knit a matching pair of socks in the Jubilation mill end that I got at Stitches West the month before Sock Camp which matches so well. Sometimes it's more surprising when hand dyed yarns actually do match across fibers and dye lots.

Now back to my sock WIP's which haven't moved forward very quickly and to a new shawl KAL. Ulmus, here I come.

Singing the Blues

Rockin' Sock Club 2009 kit in da house! As usual, don't scroll past the second pic of my project below:


Moebius for Peace


yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts Luscious Single Silk in Moody Blues
pattern: Cat Bordhi's moebius scarf from knitty gritty
needles: US size 10.5 KP nickel-plated circs

I love how Moody Blues knit up, even in its unblocked state. I have 129 g of the LSS skein leftover. Plenty for a second moebius (moebii to spare?) or a pair of Toasts/Toastys. I haven't decided yet.


A nice way to end an interesting month.


I love the colorway (so me!) and am definitely in my Blue Heaven. Queen of Beads, however, I am not. As for my ballband bluesy singer, I got Lucinda Williams. Off to hear a sampling of her music online.

Circles Never End

I didn't think much about Cat's nifty moebius concept since I bought her book & the skein of LSS at Sock Camp last April 'til tapmouse suggested I join in Tina's KAL. After the sucky start of my new year, I figured I too needed a little peace and decided to join in. The only thing I won't be doing though is dragging this WIP out for 4 years. Maybe I'll do one a year. And instead of for 4 years, hopefully 8 like Carole suggested in the comments.


yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts Luscious Single Silk in Moody Blues
pattern: Cat Bordhi's moebius scarf from knitty gritty
needles: US size 10.5 KP nickel-plated circs

While I started working the main pattern yesterday during the inaugural ceremonies, I cast on earlier last week. It took me a few tries. While Cat's tutorial is awesome in how easy the cast on is, I had issues in 1) casting on the correct number of stitches for the pattern, and 2) prevent myself from adding in extras crossings/twists while knitting the first round, all at the same time. It probably didn't help that I tried to learn another new cast on during the same week.


Yup, I started DH's forest green & tan vertically striped hat. It took several aborted attempts on dpns & KP circs magic loop style before I remembered I still had my old Boyes Interchangeable set that would allow me to have a 16" circular. A total doh moment! So much easier to keep the cast on stitches aligned straight while joining the 2-color tubular cast on in the round. It was an absolute PITA on dpns or a much longer circular needle.

It was so frustrating that I cast on what I thought would be a suitable alternate hat for DH in the meantime.


The Other Hat that Rocks
Knit Picks Swish Bulky in Squirrel Heather
size 9 & 10.5 Knit Picks Harmony circs
pattern size large

After checking to make sure that he also didn't think cables are "girly" (guess who Monkey1 got that idea from), I cast on & finished in 2 days! Even in between boring chores & tasks. Then DH tells me "It's not green. Or tan." So. Now it looks like that co-worker that half-jokingly asks for a hand-knit item now has one. Or at least he will have one next holiday season.