Sleeve Archipelago

I've been trying to satisfy the product knitter side of myself by focusing on the sleeves on my 2 sweater WIP's,


but it's hard to stay motivated and not get some knitting malaise.

Hopefully this totally fun Woolgirl Sock Club kit will help.


And this STR haul definitely will! I was so excited I didn't even bother finding the best lighting out in the yard to take a pic (northern backyard lighting kinda sucks anyway). I even went so far as ordering the same colorway in a different fiber.


And not only did I break this self-imposed rule when buying Blue Moon Fiber Arts yarn once, but I did it twice:


The Luscious Single Silk (LSS) on the left is intended for a Shetland Triangle made famous in knitter blogland by this gorgeous version. Shall I wind and cast on, away from the Sleeve Isles?

SotSii hint 3

Only a week late. Only. But at least hint #4 supposedly goes quickly despite that bit of asymmetry beginning partway through. It should be intriguing 'cept I've been watching too much Project Runway and it just reminds me of a certain designer w/his Flock of Seagulls hair. (Yeah, I am so dating myself now. Like, you know. ;) )

And in case you don't like sock club spoilers (specifically the Woolgirl kind), don't scroll any further. Although my sister can tell you that I have no issues being spoiled. (I tend to read the last few pages of whatever book she's reading and it drives her nuts.) Although once in awhile I won't visit online sites about my favorite tv series so I can remain unspoiled. 'Cause sometimes I don't want to know which major character bites it in a season finale. But when it comes to sock clubs, spoil me away!


So just in time for Valentine's Day, the totally awesome Woolgirl February kit! Loads of way too adorable goodies. I love all the attention Jen pays to loading these kits up. What a joyful sock club to be in.

Only socks

Lenores are done! I was pestering tapmouse to finish her second Lenore yesterday 'cause we were at the same point and she's got smaller feet than me. I used the logic that we can take a pic of our Lenore pairs together, but I don't think that was a strong enough incentive. LOL!

Same as first Lenore sock 'cept I cast on with size 2 (2.75 mm) needles 'cause the cast on edge of my first sock was a wee bit snugger than I want.


I love holiday weekends 'cause that meant I had time to finish my first Wollmeise sock, but second time around with the Firestarter pattern. I love the feel of the Rharbarber sock yarn. Love it. But the gusset took forever to me. In my rush to get the sock done, I kept screwing up my purl increases by either purling on the wrong side or on the wrong row so I'd tink around those stitches to correct them. Ugh.


I'm using my size 1 (2.25 mm) KP circs so I need to finish the second sock before I start my Merlot Vine Lace socks (my current Yarn4Socks club package). I'm using the 72 st count due to the difference in gauge from the pattern. I added 1 cable repeat to the leg. I also went back to my EZ sewn bind off 'cause I didn't like the thicker feel of the doubled yarn bind off on my STR Marbles Firestarter.


I know it's not YPF yet, but T-day is coming and I may not have much knitting time or blog time 'til after. Our Woolgirl sock club package came in this week and it's so, so fun. Unfortunately like the first Woolgirl package, I can't cast on 'til I get through some other sock projects first. I'm planning to knit a pair for my makeup board Secret Santa and a pair of micro monkey socks for Monkey1 using Gilraen's written instructions. I've even charted it out for ease. Now I just need to pull out some yarn:

edited to correct chart legend

Ribby Pulli

C'est fini! The ends are woven in, but no washing and/or blocking done yet. Which probably makes taking modelled shots (in my pajama pants no less) not the wisest thing. But I'll blame this horrid cold which has settled oh so wonderfully in my chest.

Unlike tapmouse, I went for the more fitted Michelin Man look 'cause my gauge tightened up way more than I thought it would despite swatching up 2 needle sizes. But I'm hoping blocking will help a little as I wasn't inclined to frog and start way over. Besides, that would mean I would need to buy more Cascade 220 as I don't have much leftover from the last skein.


Deets:
Ribby Pulli by Bonnie Marie Burns
Size: 37 lower body, 39 uppper body (sleeve count was the same for both)
Needle sizes: size 6 & 7

Modifications (aside from sizing up):
Added 2 inches of length to the body.

Omitted the bind off at the neck before starting the hood because I didn't want to eat up yarn doing it as I was concerned about having a yarn shortage. Luckily, I was proved wrong on the yardage, so I hope I didn't create any structural issues by not binding off the neck before picking up and adding stiches back in for the hood.

Omitted detaching the yarn and re-attaching the yarn after the first picked up row for the hood (again for yarn shortage concerns). I just moved the overlaping stitches onto a spare needle so I could shift the yarn over to the correct position.

Math interpretation challenges:
There was a typo in the sleeve count for the size 39, but no biggy. What I couldn't figure out was why I was 1 stitch extra in the fronts and 2 in the back despite the sleeve count being correct by the time I finished the raglan sleeve decreases & neck shaping. Since Tapmouse also had a count error in her size for the back when she was done with her raglan shaping, either we had interpretation problems with the pattern or there's more math typos. In the end, I decided to stop trying to figure it out and decreased the extra stitches away before doing the hood.

eta: I forgot to say I had plenty of CTH Twister left over for the hood. In fact, I accidently added 1" to the hood length before checking since I mis-remembered what it was supposed to be. The extra 1" made the hood long enough I think, so the leftover yarn will be made into a newborn hat for Hats for Alex. If you have any spare baby hats or want to use up some leftover yarn, consider Trillian's cause.

My first Wool Girl package didn't arrive in time for YPF, but it doesn't matter 'cause it's awesome.

I love extras! The little journal, pen, stitch markers, and the chocolate mint balm all with the Wool Girl label are great. I'll have to give the chocolate mint balm away however. While it's a great flavor in the mouth, the mint does a number outside my lips. Last but not least, the Waterfall yarn and same-named pattern are really lovely. I know tapmouse thanked me for leading her to Wool Girl, but it really should go to Carrie (and eventually Zonda) for introducing me to her in the first place. Awesome online store!


And all this focused knitting means I only have 1 WIP on the needles. A rarity indeed. But not for long. ;) In any case, I'm not sure if I like how the Fleece Artist Sea Wool in Sea Foam is looking in the Siren socks pattern. (The pattern is by Designedly by Kristi for the Yarn4Socks sock club.)

I hate to frog since all those k3togs & k3tbl were such a pain to do, so I'll plug on and see how the rest of the sock goes. The only reason I will frog though is if the sock doesn't fit when I try it on after the heel.