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

Back with the crafting...mostly

Another pair of Socks that Rock are done! Part of the Ravelry Socks that Rawk Quarterly KAL.

Pattern: Breaking Hearts by Turtlegirl76
Yarn: Socks that Rock lightweight in Rabia
Needles: size US 1.5 (2.50 mm) Knit Picks nickel-plated dpns
mod: 6" leg instead of the 6.5" spec'd in the pattern

Love how the colorway knit up.

Still playing with my Cricket loom, this time making a little washcloth out of some kitchen cotton, Sugar'N Cream in Violet Stripes. I still need to wash the washcloth (heh) and trim the fringe to a much shorter length.

I also had a great mail weekend when I received a few goodies.  I got my prize yarn for Irish Girlie Knits Design Spring KAL.  It's Chameleon in Ballerina by Dubai Knits, aka Jhocy, who moderates Irishgirlieknits' Ravelry group. And speaking of Irishgirlieknits, I also bought her cute canvas bag to use the next time I'm knitting up an Irishgirlieknits pattern.

On the beauty side, I received my order from Nolan Roberts Cosmetics. For those who enjoy competitive reality tv, Nolan Maka'awa'awa was the winner of the Blush makeup artist show.  The show originally aired when I didn't own a dvr, so I never watched it.  It was a fellow makeup addict friend of mine who recommended I check out his make up. He has ties to Hawaii as I do, so I figured I would show a little support and try a few of his items. He has a small collection so by the time I finally got around to ordering from him, some of the items I wanted to try were out-of-stock.

He's got bonus points from me for his beautiful packaging for shipment, but here they are out of the wrapping. Going clockwise from the top are his Dream Cream (an oil-free, paraben-free, non-fragranced moisturizer w/subtle champagne shimmer), Valley Girl lipgloss, Pretty Woman shimmer powder blush, and Cafe matte eyeshadow.

They're swatched on my arm in the following order: Cafe e/s, Pretty Woman blush, Valley Girl lip gloss, and Dream Cream  unblended.  I don't have a face-of-the-day pic with them all on since I've got all the colors mixed in with other brands.  I will say however, that his items are very long-lasting (I believe he gears his formulations for those who work out & dance).  His gloss especially is really long-lasting but doesn't get that tight dry feeling. I love the fact that his Dream Cream is paraben-free for those who have issues with parabens.  It still absorbs really well & isn't at all tacky-feeling or too filmy-feeling which can happen with creams that have silicone in it.  Also, the shimmer is really subtle so I don't have to worry about being all vampire-sparkle-y.  (I will warn you though Nolan has a fun Twilight Edward tutorial video up.)

So thumbs up so far and I'm looking forward to when he re-stocks his permanent items as well as some new summer items he's got planned. 

STR Binge

After a long dry spell, I'm finally back to my usual Socks That Rock knitting.

Pattern: Northampton Beat Socks by a dear friend Knittinggolfer
yarn: STR lightweight in Seastone
needle: size US 1.5 KP nickel-plated dpns & size US 1 Signature Stiletto dpns
only mod: longer heel flap for my higher instep

Pattern: Sweet Home by the sweet Irishgirlieknits
yarn: STR lightweight in I Love What You're Wearing
needles: US 1.5 KP nickel-plated circs - I went on vacation with this project

March RSC kit
pattern: Intrepid Traveler by Gail Marracci
yarn: STR lightweight in Kool Aid Acid Test
needles: US size 2 & 1.5 KP dpns & circs

I started off the sock on dpn’s for the cuff & first 5 repeats of the leg. But in anticipation of traveling by plane for a visit to see  my family in HI, I switched to circs (KP Harmony). The switch was to reduce my klutzy likelihood of dropping a needle & losing it somewhere during my trip. The needle material switch was to keep gauge since while I am normally tighter on circs, I am looser on wood wrt metal.

As I was putting my circulars away until I needed them for the 2nd sock, I measured what I thought was my second 2.75 mm KP Harmony circ & found it to be a 2.50 mm circ. I checked all my other Harmony circs just in case I mis-filed it & didn’t find one. I wonder if KP’s manufacturer mis-labeled the circ or their tolerance was way off. If so that explains why I got the pooling in the leg when I switched from dpns to circs - inadvertently knitting the rest of the leg half on 2.50 mm & half on 2.75 mm.

I also finished Monkey1's blankie in Crystal Palace Mochi Plus.  I was short on the main color, but when we went to Purlescence to buy 2 more skeins, Monkey 1 opted for a contrasting solid border color instead of the matching pastel.  We're both happy with how it came it, so much so Monkey1 won't let me have it back to wash & block it yet. 

Pattern: Parquet Squares blanket
yarn: Crystal Palace Mochi Plus in Baby Face (main color) & Purple Rain (border)
needle: size 9 KP Harmony circs

Pattern: Jayne Cobb Hat - There are so many free ones I had to double-check which one I used
yarn: Cascade 128 Superwash in 3shades centered around the red
size: medium - I'm not sure if it's large enough so I may knit a second

This is a gift in reds instead of the original oranges, but I'm contemplating making a second with the colors in a different order and in the large size 'cause I'm unsure of this one.

And I'll leave off with a view on the Kaneohe side of the Ko'olau Range on Oahu from my trip.  It's a little less common to have a clear view as most of the time the rain clouds obscure the tops of the mountain range.  This is not your typical tourist view as it's mostly locals who see this when they visit their loved ones at one of the memorial parks in Kaneohe. 

knit.sock.love

I'm so excited that Cookie A has her new book out on her website available for hard copy pre-order and pdf download. I knit one sample pair and test knit another:

new pattern: Wedge

yarn: Socks that Rock lightweight in Mr Greenjeans

size 2.50 mm KP circs

I loved how Mr Greenjeans knit up so much in this pattern that I saved my own skein of Mr Greenjeans for my own pair.  I'll be digging this out of my stash & winding this up to knit ASAP.

Also in her book are 12 (I think) previously published patterns that were re-written for more sizes and different presentation.  In some cases, like the Thelonious sock pattern that I test knit, Cookie improved the charts so they're much easier to read.  I bought the original Thelonious when it was first released, but never got around to it since I wanted to find a good copier that could increase the chart size w/o losing print integrity.  The charts had all the sizes on it & were hard to read in their original size. 

However, my caveat is that attention to marker placement is a must for Thelonious and also Strikken, based on a few comments by other test knitters working on Strikken concurrently with us Thelonious test knitters.

While I've only taken pics of the first sock for the test knit, the pair is completed.

pattern: Thelonious (knit.sock.love version)

yarn: Shelridge Farms Soft Touch Heather in Highland Mist

size: medium

needles: 2.25 mm Signature Stilletto dpns

mods: none since I was test-knitting

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.

Inspiration Point

Winter here is my favorite time, but Yosemite never ever ceases to amaze me.


I can just feel the weight of these granite cliffs.


Lightened by the dance of water falling from the snowmelt higher up the mountains.


It was a little too warm for me to be comfortable spinning on my spindle, but I did get a little bit of knitting done. But not on the road to Yosemite! I had forgotten how very windy & high up certain parts of the road are.


One of two buttonhead hats I've been knitting. This one out of my very first handspun in avfkw superwash BFL in No. 9.


Just in time for the next Rockin Sock Club kit to arrive in the mail once it's off vacation hold, I finally finished the January kit. I had to rip back sock one though 'cause I realized not only did I do one round of cable decrease lefts wrong, but all the others were wrong. But in an entirely different way. I still have to knit up the May kit, but at least I've got half the kits from this year done.


yarn: STR lightweight in Happy Go Lucky
pattern: Cascadia in the medium size
needles: 2.25 mm KP circs - I always prefer to do toe up socks on circs
mods: none
bind off: Jenny's surprisingly stretchy bind off - fun!

Sew Knit

I finally caught up with my work knitting friends on our February Lady Sweater KAL.


yarn: BMFA Socks that Rock Heavyweight in Korppi
needles: size 8 KP circs


Comments:
Not much to say, especially since this is my second time around with the pattern. Because the violet in one skein was brighter than the other 2, I alternated the skeins. Pardon the back shot, but the color is truer in this pic. I have Monkey1 trained well as she made sure to ask if I wanted my head cut off or not before taking the pics.

Love the colorway and since it's a favorite pattern already, it'll probably get as much wear as my first.


pattern: Lush-ious Swirl Cowl (though there are other free scroll lace cowl patterns out there, especially on Ravelry)
yarn: Malabrigo Twist test skein when it was called Gusanito
test skein yardage: 130 yds (as compared to the current 150 yds)
colorway: Azul Seco
needles: size 10 KP circs

mods:
- CO 100 sts
- Extra purl & knit round after the cast on round & extra purl round before the bind off round.


The yarn was a x-mas gift from tapmouse a couple Christmases ago and I had been ruminating what to knit with it since. Due to the shorter yardage, I stuck to a cowl pattern.

I had actually knit this completely the first time around exactly as written on size 9 needles. I decided that the thicker parts of the yarn were a little too stiff and wanted a slightly looser cowl. With 17 g leftover the first time, I took a chance that I would have enough if I cast on one more repeat on larger needles. So off I frogged & re-knit. Since it took me one day while home with a sick Monkey or 2, the frogging was totally worth it.


In honor of Monkey2's birthday over the weekend, I made her a dress in fabric and ribbon she picked out. Because she was sick the entire weekend (and then some), it took dinner and a dose of kids tylenol before she was in a good enough mood to model it for me. That pic is on Facebook, but here the dress itself (and the little matching bag) will do.

Dippers

The pics with the pair modelled on my feet this morning were lame, so I'm going to be even lamer and post some pics I took earlier.


pattern: Dippers by Hunter as part of the Socks that Rawk Ravelry group 3rd quarter KAL
yarn: Socks that Rock lightweight in Lunasea
needle sizes: 2.50 mm & 2.75 mm KP circs


mods:
- Used the larger needles for the 1st 2 repeats of the pattern on the leg, the smaller for the rest of the socks.
- Foot decreased down to 64 sts instead of 66.
- Less decreases on toes for slightly less pointy look.
- Extra wrap on Dipper stitch 'cause I am a tight knitter.


I should be starting my Sept RSC socks or the Socks that Rawk KAL socks next, but first I've been plugging away at the endless ribbing of my "birthday brother's" Morris cardigan 'cause I decided to do the back & sleeves first. The front requires a little more planning as he wants pockets and a zippered rather than buttoned front. But I have either 'til our birthday next month or when he supposedly retires by the end of the calendar year to finish.


But the main reason I've been slow on his cardie is that I've been jamming on my own Marilyn's Not-So-Shrunken-Cardigan (Ravelry link since I can't find it on Wendy's blog - soon to be re-released?):


I'm actually further along than this old pic as all I need to do is to buy buttons, knit up the buttonhole band, and crochet the ruffles. Everything else including the sleeves are knit up & hemmed. I really should go button shopping, but I've been jonesing to start on a few hats, especially with the few days of cool weather we've had here and there. So we'll see.

Feeling a little behind

All my knitting friends and non-knitting friends (but they're all still really crafty!) are scoffing right now at that title. Maybe it's just cause RL is busy with visits from old college friends and general summer activities with the Monkeys. Or maybe it's when the summer fog comes in and hovers around that makes me feel all emo and not very zen. Who knows.


But see, I am behind on blocking my second Ulmus! One bed is unavailable since my sister is staying with me 'til she gets settled in after her move up here. And I just need to find the time to clear off the other bed to have the space to do it. So very briefly:

yarn: Socks That Rock lightweight in Potomac & Falcon's Eye (love this combo too!)
pattern size: "large"
needles size: US 5 KP circs


As Tapmouse says, you can't just have one (pair) when it comes to the Cottys. Lovely written pattern & definitely a quick knit.


pattern: Cotty by the every lovely Irishgirlieknits
yarn: Socks that Rock lightweight in Plankton Ooze
needle size: 2.50 mm KP nickel-plated dpns
mods: none 'cept less pointy toe


Also moving along, though much more slowly as I'm on the traveling lace panel portion, is my first Kai Mei sock. The Pigeonroof Studios Siren Two sock yarn (superwash merino/cashmere/nylon) is so scrumptious.