Playing Catch Up

February turned into an insanely busy month with Stitches West and a family cruise vacation, not to mention a couple secret test knitting projects I volunteered for.  Right now I can only share one of them since Stitches West has passed.



First off, a pair (I swear, but I didn't get tapmouse to take a pic of them on me) of mitts for Pico Accuardi's booth at Stitches West.  Deb Accuardi and Stevanie Pico (with the help of Terri) are a delightful team and I hope more knitters will discover their hand-dyed yarn, much of it with natural dyes. 

Yarn: Pico Accuardi's Stevie Sparkles dyed with indigo.  No label so I don't know if it has a colorway name
Pattern: Snake in the (Sweet)Grass
needles: Uh, I think it was a 2.5 mm (US 1.5), not a US 2.5 (3.0 mm).  I'll have to double-check my notes.  I have a bad habit of not paying attention to the 2.5 mm vs US 2.5 sizing on Ravelry's drop down menu.

No mods since it's a sample.  I've got a beautiful turquoise skein of Stevie Sparkles, so I'm hoping to make my own pair later. 

I've realized I'm not a snap-happy Stitches West attendee despite the XRX lifting the photo-taking ban this year.  All I've got to show for it is one pic of my new KCLWoods shell-inlaid spindle (Ken & his wife are so kind & adorable!) and a couple pretty Sunshine Yarns fibers from her booth.  It is possible to find a pic of me with a few other Sunshine Yarnies in her booth in the relevant Ravelry group thread.  But I'm going to be lazy and not post the link. 

And while I've been good this year at not buying too much yarn (only 4 skeins at the BMFA booth!), I did kinda make up for it with the buying of project bags and other accessories (cough*Namaste*cough).  The project bags are technically for Monkey1 who like any good young knitter, recognizes when she's at her limit skill-wise. 

Monkey1 fell in love with a sample of an On Line Solo 194 ribbon-ruffle scarf at Fashion Knit in Walnut Creek and thought she could handle it once I showed her how.  Turns out that she decided (and rightly so) that knitting with ribbon yarn is actually too fiddly.  So, being a sucker of a knitting mom, I took it over.  I agree that it is a fiddly knit, but I managed to finish it on a one-week cruise to the Mexican Riviera.  My knitting time was helped greatly when we ended up with an extra day at sea due to an emergency detour to Ensanada to drop of an ill passenger, causing us to miss one of the 2 days planned for Cabo San Lucas.  As the captain said, sometimes that's the way it goes.  DH did not like the changes to Cabo since he last went 20 years ago, so I don't think he minded as much.  He loved the old fishing village charm of it which has been replaced with very American touristy stuff combined with the agressive hawking by the vendors.

Sometime in the past month, I also managed to knit Monkey1 a new slouchy hat so I could get my Wesley beret back.  It's such a cute pattern that I'll probably knit another one in the designer's bulky weight version (inspired by a Taylor Swift beret).

Pattern: Diamond Slouch Beanie
Yarn: Cascade 220 Superwash Paints
needle: KP 7 Harmony circs

Just one modification in which I used Ysolda's 2x2 tubular cast on.  Love this cast on.



Once I finished Monkey1's ruffle scarf towards the tail end of the cruise, I finally cast on for my second acid green Koigu sock in which I used the C2B cable pattern from Ann Hanson's Fine Cabled Mitts pattern.  I'm so happy this is pair is finally done.  It's been six months since I knit the first one and probably longer than that when I knit the original first sock that was too small.

Sockober done for now

I need to switch over to some non-sock gift & sample knitting, so while I have a pair and a half to go, I'm done with Socktober. 

pattern: Rib and Cable socks by Ann Budd
yarn: Koigu KPM in "Raspberry"
needles: 2.50 mm KP nickel-plated dpns
mods: Same as the acid green pair.  Both partners have the same shoe size. 

I'm late to last quarter's Socks that Rawk KAL, but I'm done!

pattern: Blackberry Brambles by Irishgirlieknits

yarn: STR medium weight in Tanzanite - I had to dig for this as I own only a handful of medium weight STR.  Most of my STR stash is lightweight

needles: 2.50 mm KP nickel-plated dpns

only mod: one less decrease for less pointy toes

I've been randomly knitting baby stuff while I waited for my sister and a family friend to find out what sex their babies will be.  They're both boys, so I'll probably put aside the yellow Lucky sweater (& coordinating hat & booties) aside.  The seafoam blue hat is appropriate, but I only had the one orphan skein in the clearance section of a lys.  I have to figure out if I have coordinating colors in my stash to make some type of layette set with the hat. 

The blanket would've been a good gift, but I failed to read the care section of this acrylic yarn.  Unfortunately my assumption that all acrylic yarns can be thrown in the washer & dryer was wrong.  The care label says hand wash.  Not good for a new mom.  I've gone too far along with the blanket to frog, so it will go to my Monkeys.  While a blanket is nice mindless knittig for the monkeys soccer practice (& sometimes games), I may not make an easier care one  and stick to sweaters instead.  Baby sweaters are so much faster. 

Socktober

Just in time for the next RSC shipment, I finished my Dusty Corners by Linda Welch.

yarn: STR lightweight in Firecracker
pattern size: med
needles: 2.25 mm KP dpns
mods: longer heel flap to balance out snug leg.  I probably should've re-started on larger needles, but I really like how the yarn was knitting up in the pattern. 

And to assuage my guilt in finishing my own pair of socks, I started on a second pair of Rib & Cable Socks in a raspberry Koigu KPM to be gifted to the partner of the acid green Koigu KPM.

Part of that guilt was that I had cast on for Carrie's Blackberry Brambles  first 'cause I had this yarn & pattern at a lunchtime knitting session, but not the gift sock pattern.  I had finally got around to digging up my Tanzanite rather belately for the Socks that Rawk Rav group quarterly KAL.  My mediumweight stash can be counted on one hand, so my options are limited outside of the RSC.

Speaking of the RSC, I love our September kit.  Stephen had told us he was the designer for this installment awhile ago when we had a mini-RSC Sock Camp reunion at A Verb for Keeping Warm, so it was an exercise in a lot of self-control not to blurt it out.

Love the colorway & the patterns. I'll be knitting up Stephen's pattern in his honor & saving Meg Swansen's for stash STR. It's pretty much in keeping with how I've chosen this year's RSC patterns, except for 2. I chose Cascadia 'cause it didn't have bobbles & I'm debating if I should save Sweet Pea for baby stuff as there will be 2 more March babies among my family & friends.

Monkeying around

But first, I re-did the sock I tried to improvise earlier this summer based on the cable pattern in Anne Hanson's Fine Cabled mitts pattern. This time I cast on 72 sts for the leg & decreased back down to 64 sts for the foot.

It's much better fitting this time, but I've still decided to keep this for myself and knit a matching pair of Rib and Cable socks in a different Koigu colorway for my friend's partner.

But before I do that, I got sidetracked into knitting the larger Funky Monkey, reversing the colors from the smaller one I knit for Monkey2 awhile back. I had forgotten how fast this was, considering that's a lot of tube knitting for the tail, legs & arms.

Pattern: Funky Monkey
yarn: STR heavyweight in Harlotty (body) and Typhoon Tina (extremities)
needles: size 4 & 6 KP circs

mods:
- The accidental one was to knit the mouth, butt & tail on size 4 needles that I grabbed inadvertently. I did like the fabric, so I knit the legs & arms with the smaller needles as well.
- Also with the smaller needles I didn't need to double the yarn for the legs.
- Another accidental mod was to forget the one round of decreases before closing the feet. But since it didn't seem like it mattered, I left them.
- My only intentional mod was to pick up & knit the arms on, as I had learned at Sock Camp with the mini funky monkeys.

Just in time for our September Rockin' Sock Club kit to get here soon, I finished my first July RSC sock. I chose Linda's Dusty Corners in support of the lovely designer who I met at Sock Camp a couple years back. I figure I can knit Anne Hanson's pattern in another berry-ish STR colorway anytime.

The leg's a little snug, so I knit the heel flap a tad longer to help get the sock on. I loved how the colorway knitted up in the pattern that I was reticent to frog & start over on larger needles (2.50 mm instead of 2.25 mm) or in the next size up (large).

It's a tad too warm to take a photo of the sock modelled on a human foot, so I'll try to do that when I'm done w/the pair.

Gre-e-e-e-een. Green, green, green...

My FO's seem to accidently have a green colored theme.


Rib and Cable socks by Ann Budd (Interweave Knits 2005) - sorry, Ravelry link
Koigu KPM in acid green
size 2.50 mm KP dpns

mods:
- CO 70 sts
- skipped the fake seam stitch in the heel
- a regular wedge-type toe


It's a good thing I don't have this friend online so I can share. I am still debating on fixing the other acid green Koigu sock where I tried to carry over the cable pattern from Anne Hanson's Fine Cabled mitts pattern. I'm trying to decide if her partner should have a coordinating pair in the same colorway or if I should do a second pair of the Rib & Cable socks in a different color like red (still in Koigu) or blue (not Koigu).


For no one in particular, so I'm adding to the gift stash. I wanted to give the Stitch Nation yarns a try. It helps when they provide a single skein pattern.

All Day Beret
Stitch Nation Bamboo Ewe in Eucalyptus
size 6 & 9 KP circs

I still need to wash & block it, so I don't know how much this will grow yet.


And for Team Twilight, something like the hat Bella wears in the Eclipse movie. The yarn was on sale at a local yarn store & I like these colors together even though they were not an exact match to the movie hat.

Eclipse Hat
Queensland Collection Kathmandu Aran in 126 (Sea Green?) & 151 (Oatmeal)
size 8 & 9 KP circs
mods:
- CO 88 sts like the Rachel Bearse version for a larger size
- tubular cast on in the round

WIP Wednesday

I haven't done a WIP post in a long time, but it seems my WIP's have been slow going recently.


Basic Chic Hoodie
Dream In Color Classy Midnight Derby

I mis-informed myself into thinking that this top-down, mostly St st cardigan would go quickly. After all, the last 2 Chic Knits sweaters I've knit were done roughly in a month and their construction would imply longer durations of work. I started this before I even started my second February Sweater and I'm still working on this. I suppose if I gave this as much focused attention as my previous sweaters I'd be done by now.


One of my distractions had been a pair of bright socks for a friend of mine. I wanted to match the cable pattern on the Fine Cabled mitts I had already made her. However, in another mis-calculation, I didn't check if the entire leg would go over my heel easily before I knit all the way through the foot. While I would be fine w/the slight tugging it would need to go over my heel, I am concerned that my non-knitting friend will find it too snug to even put on.

In conferring with tapmouse, I first decided that I would not rip back to either cast on w/more stitches or re-design w/less cables & more ribbing. Instead I had though I would finish this pair for myself and knit another pair from some similarly bright green yarn in either a plain vanilla pattern or a re-design. However, it would ruin the matchy-matchy theme I want w/the mitts. So, I am now leaning towards ripping the whole thing and start over, but this time have one swatch be w/more stitches and the other w/more ribbing or St st and less cables. For now this is on hold.

eta: In perfect timing, I found that Article Pract had the Koigu on sale and they had the chartreuse in stock! So this partial sock has gotten a reprieve from the frog pond. I'll finish this pair for myself & knit a new much less snug pair for my friend.

In the meantime, I also whipped up:


a Sun Hat - newborn size
Lion Brand Cotton Ease in Almond
size 5 & 7 KP circs

This was originally intended for one of my team members in a class I was taking at work who had a baby girl, but I waited too long to start. I was going to finish the night before the last day of class, but that was the Lost episode that I got mad at and all planned knitting during or after that episode didn't happen. I'm no longer po'd at the Lost writers (who I'm sure knew they were going to get a bunch of reactions similar to mine), but until the series finale, no knitting is going to happen on Tuesday nights between 9 and 10 pm.

On the plus side, I've started a stash of baby knits for Monkey2's teacher who is due at the end of the summer.

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.