Simple Knitted Bodice

I took these mirror pics this morning prior to doing my mu & hair, so they've got the obligatory cropped off head look.

Pattern - Simple Knitted Bodice by Stephanie Japel
needles - size 1 & 7 KP circs
Yarn - Brooks Farm Four Play (wool/silk) in Brown C (color not online)
mods -
Started w/the medium size but had to add another increase repeat to get the thing to fit over the shoulders & armholes which resulted in ending up in the large size at the arm separation point. Not a big deal as it would give me more arm room. So while I added length & short row shaping in the bodice section, I decreased the sides down so I only had 3 sts to decrease for the lace section, bringing me back to the medium size again. I fiddled around w/the neckline shaping when I finished the short rows, so it's not quite the same as the pattern.

And for some reason, I decided that I wanted Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Sarah Michelle Gellar) length sleeves. I suppose that if the impractical length really bugs me, I can always undo the bind off and take off some length later.

As I stated in a previous post, I forgot the last 5 rows of the neckline hem, but it does make it match the other hems better, and moved the lace panel on the sleeves down to be approximately the same level as the one on the sweater body.

Notice the transition from the first skein of the Brooks Farm Four Play into the next? Lame me didn't notice this 'til I finished the body. Was so not going to rip the darn thing again and alternate skeins. H-E-double hocky sticks-no. Just frickin' no.

So while I'm waiting for my first Rockin' Sock Club package (still working on my BFF sock though), I practiced the toe-up sock method w/tapmouse's leftover STR med wgt Fairgrounds. For one toddler sock I used Judy's magic cast on, a short row heel using misocrafty's tutorial, and the EZ sewn bind off. The other sock I used the short row toe & heel (but using a regular method like in Nancy Wiseman's Finishing Techniques book) and a regular bind off so I could compare different techniques. So, yup, the EZ sewn bind off is definitely stretchier. I'll probably undo the regular bind off sock & try the Russian or crocheted bind off.

All I can say at this point is that if I do the toe up method on an adult pair of socks, I'll probably want to do Judy's magic cast on and a reverse heel flap. I'm not too thrilled at the way my short rows look and it still doesn't eliminate the need to pick up an extra stitch to close the hole made at the heel.


Last month on my trip to Sacramento, I stopped by the Twisted Stitch & picked up a ball of Tofutsies. I had a hard time believing this thin yarn would knit up on size 2 (2.75 mm) needles and not be too loose 'til I saw a bunch of their sock samples at Stitches West. So off I swatched and I'll be darned! It's actually pretty nice on size 2's. However, I'm going to wait to knit these 'til SWTC releases their sock patterns (free?) on their website sometime after this week to see what they've got though I've seen some samples on their blog & in blogland.

And lastly, monkey1 and I are debating the color selection for her Modella Guiditta. This is what she wants, but I'm having heartburn over the Carribean Sea (blue) and Holly Green (all Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece) next to each other. I've tried subbing in other colors for the Carribean Blue from my Cotton Fleece stash, but it's hard to get agreement since I don't have every single color of theirs nor does she like what little leftover I have in the same gauge in other yarns in my stash. Then again, she did tell me she's the one wearing it, not me. :P Out of the mouth of babes...

Stitches West = SABLE (Stash Aquisition Beyond Life Expectancy)

But hey, I'm done knitting my Simple Knitted Bodice! It definitely needs to be washed and blocked as the double purl ridge hems are wanting to curl right at the transition. I'll post a modeled shot later when I can get Monkey1 to snap a pic.

Dets:
Pattern - Simple Knitted Bodice by Stephanie Japel
needles - size 1 & 7 KP circs
sweater size - a combo of the large & medium size as I have broad shoulders & other curves
mods/comments - short row shaping for the bust, mistakenly forgot 5 rows of the neckline hem, but it does make it match the other hems better, and moved the lace panel on the sleeves down to be approximately the same level as the one on the sweater body.

With the sweater done and my auto insurance deductible reimbursed, I was really ready for Stitches West! So, here's a peek at some of the stuff I bought:

I was a bad enabler and failed to convince tapmouse to hit Stitches West (SW) with me, but she did commission me to buy her Cookie A's pattern & hand-dyed yarn. (This obviously doesn't count towards my haul.)

And I can't buy her any Cookie A stuff w/o buying myself something. I had hit the BMFA booth first so by the time I hit the Bay Area Knitting Co-op booth, there were only 4 skeins of Cookie's hand-dyed left (Louet Gems Pearl base, BTW) and her Twisted Flower sock pattern was sold out 'til 4 pm (but I so could not stay that long!). I appeased myself w/a mostly green w/pink & mauve yarn and 2 of Cookie A's patterns.

And of course, I had to get other yarn (not just sock!) too. So in the pic below (in case I forget to bring it in to show tapmouse), the yarns are -

top: Shelridge Farms Peacock fingerling yarn
left to right: Brooks Farm Yarn Acero (wool, silk, viscose) in 2 different colors slated for shawls or scarves, Lisa Souza's new hardtwist merino yarn in Mardi Gras (though that's not what I picture Mardi Gras colors to be), Mountain Colors Weaver Wool Quarters in Painted Rocks (Wool-Gatherers LLC's sock yarn sale), and Baywood Yarns superwash merino in Aurora Borealis, a local dyer's product sold at Nine Rubies in San Mateo.

And now, most of my BMFA Socks that Rock haul:
Patterns: Cookie A's shawl(ette?) pattern in Bambu and a new STR sock pattern
Left to right all lightweight: Little Bunny Foo Foo, Footzey-Foo, new to me Smokey Blue, Tide Pool (but you can see this on flickr.com & the Rockin' Sock Club blog), and Algae.

BMFA didn't have very much medium weight 'cept in the fair isle sets and in a basket of sock club extra skeins (Pink Granite & Fairgrounds). Kaci told me they were low in stock on their medium weight base yarn. They also had heavyweight, Seduction (mmmm!), Geisha (more mmmmm!), the other fuzzy lace yarn that I forget the name of, the twist yarn and Bambu. I was good and didn't buy any Seduction & Bambu which was hard 'cause they had 2 colors unfamiliar to me (Rock Creek and Dark Horse) that wasn't in the light or heavyweight sock yarns. Sigh. And Spring Fling looked so, so cute in Bambu. But I did manage to stay close enough to my BMFA budgeted amount.

Truth be told, my prep for Stitches West started a wee bit early. Last weekend I headed over to Full Thread Ahead in Los Altos (place of the Bay Area Yarn Harlot signing) after e-mailing Hollis back and forth about her having the Fleece Artist Merino in Seashore. I've been wanting Seashore for awhile, especially when the one I got from an online store looked way more like Hercules. Hollis told me she also had Seashore in the new Sea Wool as well. Well, we didn't find the Seashore in merino, but Hollis was kind enough to sell the Sea Wool to me early and I'm glad she did. When I stopped by their booth today, there was precious little of the Sea Wool left and definitely none of the Seashore. This stuff feels yummy!


So my yarn buying itch has been sufficiently scratched and I will be good for awhile. Mainly 'cause I need to shift my yarn money over in my budget to help a couple family members w/things.

Now off to knit a bunch of swatches so I figure out which slew of socks and things to knit next!

Project Spectrum Feb update

My 2 Noro Kochoran skeins have been all used up! Now to figure out who I'll give these to.

Feather & Fan Scarf from the Little Box of Scarves
Less than 2 skeins
size 10.5 needles
unblocked = 6"x83"


Because whoever I might give the scarf to may be okay w/a long scarf, but not a super long one, I knitted a Calorimetry from the other end. Since my first Calorimetry was too loose and the Kochoran being thicker than the Silk Garden, I cast on only 80 sts per discussions on the knitty board and repeated row 5 about 9 times more I think. I have basic black button to sew on still. The scarf is still plenty long as the Calorimetry took a lot less yarn than I had hoped it would, but I didn't feel like knitting a 3rd one.

Both Noro pieces will get washed & blocked when the weather dries & warms back up again. The wash is more to get any twiggy bits out I may have missed than it is to soften it up. The Kochoran is a lot softer than the Silk Garden I had used for my Clapotis, but it wouldn't hurt to give them a wash before they get gifted out.

My other PS knit has been rather neglected, so I hope to get to these BFF socks next, especially now that I've finished one sleeve on my SKB and started the other. I hope I can finish my SKB by the time I hit Stitches West on Friday. If I get the SKB done, I'll only have 1 project on the needles before my first Rockin' Sock Club package. After Stitches West, I can then figure out what my 3rd project will be, but it may most likely be that kiddie capelet thingie in Feb Magknits that I can't spell, much less pronounce.

Ready for Christmas 2007?

Not! But my Retro Rib socks in STR Christmas Balls are. Whee!


Pattern: Retro Ribs - Interweave Knits (IK) Winter 2004 (& now the IK Favorite Socks book)
Yarn: Socks that Rock Christmas Balls
Needle size: KP size 1 (2.50 mm) dpn's & circs

Notes/Comments:
The cuff/leg has been modified to be 6" vs the 8" in the pattern. The left foot is looser than the right because I screwed up and didn't reduce down the last 2 stitches for the gusset, so I reduced them in the toe area which is when I discovered my error. I'm going to try to wear them for a day w/the bigger one on the left foot since it's bigger and see if I can live w/it. Otherwise, it will be a PITA to frog back all the way to the gusset.

And now that I've got the size 1 circs free, I can continue on w/the sleeve of my SKB. Nothing more motivating than to free up my needles to knit up sweater sleeves. I so don't want to be stuck in sleeve purgatory from the lack of the right needle size & length.

And here's 1 skein of Noro Kochoran #21 in the Feather & Fan scarf (roughly 54" already), one of my Feb/Mar Project Spectrum projects. I was duly warned that 2 skeins would make for a really long scarf, but I really want to get rid of this yarn. I may try to knit up all of the second skein if the itching doesn't drive me mad so I can gift this away to someone who not only likes angora, but also likes really long scarves. I hope to finish this by the end of the week. Not only do I want to make room for stuff I'll get from Stitches West, but I would like to get things off the needle in preparation for my first STR Club package.

ETA: Doh! Calorimetry! Heh, it took 2 discussions w/my knitter friends at work to realize that I can stop the scarf when I think it's long enough (74"?). I can then knit up a Calorimetry w/maybe 94 or 90 sts w/the remaining Kochoran. My 108 st Silk Garden one's a little loose so hopefully a shorter one will work. Plus, I'll have 2 gifts to give away instead of one. Now I'm content w/the solution.

Four projects on the needles was one too many for me, so I'm glad the socks are done. Hopefully the scarf will be next and then the SKB.

I'm still having fun w/the Polar Sea socks because its my first cable project. I'm using Cookie A's BFF pattern. And gee, now I understand why knitters prefer cabling w/o a cabling needle. It's a PITA to handle 4-5 dpns plus a cabling needle. So much hardware I had no room for my fingers!

Yarn regret?

Not sure if I should laugh about this or cry, but last summer, my friend L & I made several trips to Article Pract to ponder what sale yarns to get, especially the Noro. I fell in total love w/colorway #21. 'Cept in the Iro, not the Kochoran. I don't remember my rationale other than I didn't want something so bulky as Iro to knit into whatever, so I chose the thinner Kochoran in the same colorway. Sure, the royal blue portion wasn't the same in Kochoran as it was in Iro, but I thought, eh, close enough. Little did I know that when I started knitting the Kochoran, the angora would annoy the heck out of me. I suppose I should be grateful it's only making my exposed arms itch and not inducing my asthma, but I am bummed that this scarf I had intended for myself will be gifted away to someone who does like angora. Next sale, I'm going to follow my initial feeling, and go for the Iro.


And in other ambivalent knitting news, I've finally made it through the cheveron lace section and bookin' through the hip shaping on my SKB. I think I won't need to add to the 5 rows of straight knitting in bottom portion before I finish off w/the purl border as I think it'll be long enough. Apparently the majority of my torso length is above the bust line, not below it, proportionally speaking.

The photo monkey1 took of me makes the sweater look like it fits okay, but it's hard to tell w/the neckline curling in. After all the drama I generated in adjusting the bodice portion, it feels a little loose. And nothing like getting the Michelin Man effect in having the chevron lace section highlight my muffin belly (I've been slacking on the gym time mightily). Of course, I shouldn't be surprised that knitting a light worsted weight yarn on size 1 needles would give a corset effect. I probably won't do that again as it's not good for the wrists either, even with a nice yarn.

It's a "collection"

So, the knitty.com article got me thinking, why are knitters concerned about the stash we accumulate when others think nothing of their CD/music collection, their electronic games, or other "stuff." Is it simply because most knitters are of the female gender? But then, look at Imelda Marcos w/her shoes or women w/a closet-full of designer handbags. Or for that matter, me pre-knitting, with my Stila and Nars collection. Did I angst over having too much makeup? Hell no!

The only thing I had angst about was that I didn't use up certain favorite lipsticks or lipglosses before they went bad (ie dry up, get funky smelling, change color). But did I beat myself up for it? Hell no again! Instead, I and other mu addicts on certain mu boards lamented how certain brands couldn't manufacture their lipsticks/lippies from going bad too quickly. And if that dc'd blush or e/s still worked after more than 2 years, more power to that mu item.

So I've gotten a personal resolve never ever to feel guilt over my stash unless it's the guilt of not having enough time to knit with them. That said, after Stitches West at the end of this month and all my BMFA's orders (not even mentioning the sock club, but that's 1 skein every 2 months), I should be good for awhile (ie a vaguely defined amount of time that seems long enough).

Anyway, because I couldn't decide on what my next order from BMFA's website would be (I knew it would be Barney Rubble, but not in med weight 'cause they said the dye for some reason didn't look good in that yarn :p, Thistle, and GRocks 'cept I couldn't decide on what weight for either), I ended up ordering some medium weight from The Fold to knit at least one of them into Cookie A's Monkey socks. L to R: Citrine ('cause I love tapmouse's), Pisgah (an interesting combo of my color preferences), and Peacock, which ended up being more teal and burgundy that I anticipated, but still good.

And finally I finished my first STR Christmas Balls Retro Rib sock. I cast on for the second one along w/the blue (Polar Sea?) Fleece Artist merino for Project Spectrum (it is February after all). I hope to finish the second Retro Rib sock much faster if I don't get too sidetracked w/Project Spectrum.
And there's still my darn SKB. After 3 misfires, I'm well on my way into the chevron lace panel. After the first misfire, I did swatch another skein of the Brooks Farm yarn on KP size 1 & 2 circs because I was concerned about the abuse the yarn took from being moved over the join on my Boyes circs and that I wasn't really getting the pattern gauge I originally got on my swatch. The KP size 2 (3.00 mm) was of course, a tad too big, but the KP size 1 (2.50 mm) on 32" circs (bought in case I want to try the Magic Loop method for socks) worked really well. But now the only issue is that my row gauge is so small that I've got to add quite a few more rows to make the 3" panel. On the plus side, it'll make me think the rest of the sweater back on size 7's will go really, really fast.

'Cause it's YPF

l to r: Velvet Moon, Blue Brick Wall, Pixie Park (all lightweight)

While talking to BMFA's to re-pay my sock club fee, I somehow got into special ordering a few colors. Little did tapmouse know what a sock-knitting-STR-hoarding fool I would become. And little did I know how out of control my yarn stash would get once I got into sock yarn. I've been relatively good on buying yarn for non-sock projects 'cause I need a pattern to motivate me to buy yarn, even if it's good yarn at a good sale price, but apparently, buying sock yarn is like buying lip gloss or green e/s for me and I have no control. ('Cept makeup's smaller & easier to hide and I buy less of it 'cause Nars 'aint cheap.)


But I am trying to knit my stash away, even my STR. I finally got to the heel & past it (barely) on my STR Christmas Balls Retro Rib sock this week. At 6", this is the longest/cuff leg for me yet (and that's 2" short of the pattern's called for 8"). The slowness of this knit probably wasn't helped by the fact that I couldn't make up my mind if I wanted to do these socks w/dpn's or circs. I started w/dpn's, switched to circs when I got my order (for the exercise), thought it took too long (hah!), switched back to dpn's for a couple rows, decided my gauge was too loose on dpn's to match the circs and I actually liked the circs better for this pattern, so I switched again. My second sock is so not going to match the first 'cause I played the needle switcheroo game too much on the first one.

And look! I'm slowly moving forward on my SKB. I finished the short row shaping and made a better 2nd attempt at reducing the sides (at least it looks marginally better). I have 4 more rows of the body to do before I join in the round and switch to my Boyes size 2 (2.75 mm) interchangeable circs for the lace section. Ugh, I'm not looking forward to sliding the yarn past the joins on my Boyes. Even if I swatched to see if I could get gauge on KP size 2's (3.oo mm), I don't have KP size 2 circs that are long enough (they were bought for socks after all). We'll see how much I'll regret not having a large needle stash.

A short detour back into crochet

By persistent and numerous requests:
Pattern: Crochet Mary Jane Slippers
Yarn: Knitpicks Swish Superwash Red Pepper (under 1 skein)
Hook size: K
Mods: add extra rows to the foot area to fit monkey1's foot

Comments:
I originally started with a copy of the pattern that was printed in my 2006 Crochet a Day calendar and found 1 typo and massive confusion about the strap. I found the designer's blog but no errata in very, very brief search. Deciding it would take me longer to find it online than to figure it out myself, I went ahead with the strap. It took me 2 tries before I figured what the error in the pattern was. Talk about rusty w/my crochet skills!


And here's one of my Project Spectrum projects for Feb/March. The yarn's Noro Kochoran #21. There's a hint of lilac-y pink in there, but it's mostly blue & gray. I originally intended to do the Mistake Rib scarf from Last Minute Knitted Gifts 'cept I saw one on a blog somewhere and decided it was way too narrow and that I wasn't in the mood to widen it or knit my Kochoran into a rib pattern.

As for my SKB, I finally added in my short rows and did an on-the-fly attempt at shaping the sides at the same time to get back down to the medium size past the bodice. The short rows went well. The side shaping did not. It looks like crap 'cause I didn't work it out beforehand. I should rip back and do the side shaping properly, but I so want to move forward and just get it over with. I even started the lace pattern section, but I should really listen to myself and stop. Which is probably why I made monkey1's slippers, so I could get my FO itch scratched.

So back to socks it is til I motivate myself to do the SKB properly. But it won't be the toe-up STR Fairgrounds for awhile. It looks like I won't have enough for monkey1's size, so I'll have to frog it and make monkey2 a pair. I'll still do toe up, but I'll try provisional on one and Judy's magic cast on w/the other. Both heels will be short row, but there are 2 slightly varying methods I' want to try. It's not like my younger monkey is going to care.

Pretty in pink

Pattern: Girl's Anklet Socks in Vogue Knitting on the Go Socks Two
Yarn: Louet Gems Opal Pink Panther from Yarn's (in Alameda) closing sale
Needle size: KP size 1 (2.50 mm) dpns

A very cute, girly, quick pair of socks to make. Monkey1 has already outgrown her Dublin Bay socks, so I need to undo the toes and add another 0.5-1.0 in to the foot w/a second skein of Claudia's Handpainted. So much for trying to stick to one skein!

I do need to get back to my STR x-mas ball Retro Rib socks, but I've been sidetracked in trying up the toe-up method using Judy's magic cast on and tapmouse's left-over STR Fairgrounds (med wgt) from the STR Sock Club. I initially tried this method w/a set of dpn's and it was ugly and went nowhere fast. Then I did try again w/a provisional cast on, but messed up on the size, so ripped back again.

I'm knitting socks for monkey1 'cept she doesn't like this colorway!!!! I suppose I could rip back & size it down for monkey2, but I simply don't feel like it. I'll probably finish and save them for when monkey2 does grow big enough for them.

But I love the Fairgrounds color so much I got the lightweight for one of my April/May Project Spectrum projects. By that point I'll have figured out what pattern to use as I don't want to use the STR Sock Club Rock and Weave pattern since that's done w/the medium weight. It's a cute pattern though.

Two fish...

2 fish, originally uploaded by crochet_chick.

now I have a pair of blue fish! (Apologies to Dr. Seuss.)

Pattern: Pomatomus by Cookie A published in knitty.com
Yarn: Colinette Jitterbug in Jay, 1 skein, 100 g/294 yd
Needles: KP size 1 (2.50 mm) dpns
Mod: omitted last repeat of Chart A (leg)

I finally finished these socks w/a little bit of yarn to spare. I was definitely nervous about running out of yarn halfway through knitting the second sock. I was starting to knit tighter on the second sock because of it, but not too much as there's negligible difference in feel between the two socks.

I'm glad I chose to finally knit these socks in the yarn tapmouse gifted me as it reminds me of our Thanksgiving visit to Hawaii, especially our trip to the Maui Ocean Center.

Next up - back to the STR Christmas Balls Retro Rib sock that I started x-mas day, monkey2's second pink sock from a pattern in the second little Vogue sock book, and my darn SKB that I need to calculate and knit my darts into. :P I am so tempted to cast on another sock, but I can't decide what yarn in my stash to play with.

I've got the blues...

Will I make it? Will I need to buy another skein of Colinette Jitterbug in Jay? Hopefully the moment of truth will happen this weekend. And hopefully, in a good way.

eta: Hoping these are good signs -
While waiting at the dentist's as she cleaned monkey1's teeth, I of course, pulled out my Pomatomus to work on it. She was duly impressed as she's been knitting for years, but has stayed at the scarf-knitter stage.

Then, while we were waiting at the rental car company for them to drive us back to the auto body shop, I of course, pulled out the Pomatomus again. Another renter (a male) glanced over and exclaimed how impressed he was that I was knitting a SOCK! Apparently he thought knitters only knit scarves. (What's up w/that?!?) But in any case, I was really excited that I met 2 people (1 muggle + 1 knitter) that loved the sock. Too bad BMFA's bank wasn't as impressed w/the STR sock club. Apparently some muggles think sock knitting=scam. Doofuses. At least the awesome ladies at BMFA's have solved that issue, at least for all the sock club members.

I've been admiring the Project Spectrum KAL from last year and joined this year. Feb/Mar's color theme will be blue/white/gray so I'll be knitting something from that part of my stash hopefully. Not sure what I'll be making though. The Regia cotton on the right will obviously be socks as will the Polar Sea (I think) Fleece Artist on top, both from Yarn in Alameda's closing sale. The little 1/2 skein balls of KP Palette are from a sampler order I split w/a knitty board member. (Oops, I put black in there instead of gray. My bad!) Of course, I have no idea what I'll be making with these. Maybe a log cabin square and add in the other monthly colors to make a little, thin blanket? Will need to pull out the rest of the colors and see.

I also forgot to pull out my KP Shine Worsted in Bachelor Button. That stash was initially slated for a matching Debbie Bliss Molly shrug to monkey1's Snapdragon color version, but I didn't care for the pattern after I did it once. Then I started a Haiku sweater, but my garter stitch gauge wouldn't stay consistent and that drove me up the wall so I frogged that. What I'll probably end up doing is split the skeins up into a bunch of little hats and boy baby stuff since a few friends and family members are having boys now.

And one of these days, I'll find the spool of white ribbon monkey1 ran off with so I can put it on monkey2's lace up cardigan which I'll have her wear when it's not quite so frosty.

The SKB is still on hold as I have to estimate out my dart shaping which I think I'll need with a little help from the Fall 2006 issue of INKnitters magazine that tapmouse so graciously loaned me. (It's got a cute preview pattern for the next Barefoot Knits book that I think monkey1 will like.) I'll probably also stick w/the wrap & turn method as I understand it much more easily and seems less fiddly w/o having to use the safety pin/stitch holder.

One fish,...

One Pomatomus sock done, one to go. The Colinette Jitterbug yarn in Jay is awesome in this pattern. My only concern now is that the label on this 100 g yarn says it's 267 m or 294 yards. Although the second half of the skein feels like it's enough, I didn't get to weigh it. (Well, I didn't get the darn USPS scale to work is more like it. :P) I've omitted last repeat of chart A, so I hope that helps along w/not matching the color progression for the start of the second sock, so I don't waste any yarn in case I really do need it.

SKB - I did one more repeat of increases before splitting off the sleeves and it fits now. But since my row gauge is short (7 rows/in vs 6 rows/in), I like many other knitters, need to lengthen the bodice portion before I get to the empire waist lace section. I think I will follow one of the knitter's on the Craftster kal and continue the bodice increasing for the front 'til I hit the right point, but I'm debating if I'll also need to do some short row shaping, which I'll probably need to do. And even though I did some Japanese short rows on my Lotus Blossom Tank, it was simply by following the directions line by line. This time I will actually have to learn it and apply it.

I'm just a lemming

Pattern: Calorimetry from knitty.com
Yarn: Noro Silk Garden #233 butchered remnants from my Clapotis
Needle size: US #8
Mods: Thanks to all the knitty board posters recommendations, I cast on 108 sts & did 8 instead of the 15 additional repeats of row 5 stated in the pattern.

Since I forgot to bring any knitting books or magazine w/me when I knit this over the New Year's holiday weekend, I didn't wrap & turn the short rows. I didn't feel like trying to do it from memory. The Silk Garden isn't consistantly spun, so I figured the holes caused by not wrapping wouldn't be very obvious. As much as I love this colorway in my Clapotis, it's pretty darn obnoxious as a headband. I wonder if anyone I know is a Dead Head.

And my Pomatomus socks in Colinette Jitterbug Jay is progressing well enough, though my picked up stitches on one side of the gusset looks like crap. No amount of Grumperina's picking up stitches the pretty way was going to help since the slipped stitches to be "picked up" were horribly uneven. The scaley lace pattern is actually rather rhythmic & simple, so I was thrown when the heel flap was giving me grief. It's not like I don't know how to purl through the back loop (ptbl) since I learned that knitting my Clapotis, so I don't know what was up w/my knitting karma. My only concern now that I've gotten through the heel flap & gusset stitches is that the yarn's pooling now w/the darker blues showing up on the top and the lighter shades under the foot. I hope the colors shift over as I move down the foot.

In between wrestling w/my Pomatomus heel flap & gusset, I played w/my STR Christmas Balls Retro Rib socks. It's turning out to be a really fun looking sock. I hope my second sock turns out so well.

As for my SKB, I'm at a momentary impasse. Since a lot of knitters discovered the SKB was a tad too wide for their size, I went down a size per all their recommendations. Unfortunately, I forgot to account for my broad shoulders and the bugger is a bit small. I'm going to knit one more round of repeats and see what happens then. If it still doesn't fit, I may need to start over going back up a size and maybe reduce the stitches down when I get to the lace portion.

P.S. Can you tell I've switched over to the new Blogger? Still playing around w/my templates.

Squeezing in some knitting stress relief

For just having 1-2 people over Christmas Day, I'm surprisingly wiped out, mostly mentally. However, it probably didn't help that I'm starting to catch a cold. I hope everyone had a wonderful and safe Christmas Day.


Pattern: Broadripple socks from knitty.com
Yarn: Socks that Rock (STR) Sock Candy in Hurricane
Needles: Size 2 (3.00 mm) Addi bamboos
Mod: 4-5" cuff/leg
Comments:
These socks are a great example on how to get a fraternal pair of socks from 2 skeins of handpainted yarn. The sock on the right was started on vacation last month in balmy tropical weather. The sock on the left was knit during the week before x-mas. My tension is all over the place on the second sock. But still, I'm happy w/how they turned out. Now the test on how these cotton blend socks will wear over time begins.

I couldn't decide on what to make for my next sock, so I'm kinda/sorta swatching away. The top swatch is the Seacoast Handpainted sock yarn in Butte I got from yarn4socks. I was too lazy to knit the swatch in the round but my flat sock swatches are usually are 1/2 stitch looser so I have a good idea what pattern size will work. Now I need to figure out what pattern to make w/this yarn. The second swatch is actually the cuff of Cookie's famous (or infamous) Pomatomus socks done in the new Colinette Jitterbug sock yarn tapmouse gave me. I want to see how far I get to determine if the Jay color is right for the pattern. And the last swatch is the cuff of the Retro Rib socks from Winter 04 IK done w/my new STR X-mas Balls yarn. Heh, when I go for color, I go for color. Not sure about this yet either as it's definitely too early to tell.

In the meantime, I'm slowly chugging along w/my Simple Knitted Bodice in Brooks Farm Four Play in Brown C. I hope this turns out well as it's such a nice yarn to work with.

Trying to maintain some holiday sanity

There's nothing so soothing as knitting a simple little sweater for one's little monkey, 'cept trying to seam a garter border to the sleeves & back. I'm almost done w/this little project 'cept to tweak the seam in a couple spots, block this puppy and get a ribbon or do an i-cord tie to finish it off.

Pattern: Barefoot Knits Lace Up Cardigan
Yarn: Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in Nymph
Size: 2
Needle size: US 6
Modifications: absolutely none. Way too lazy to convert the pattern to knitting in the round or to adjust the collar (mainly 'cause I didn't read the pattern all the way through and so didn't realize I'd have to knit a garter strip & then seam it to the sleeves & back. Ack.)

In the really, really minor miracle department, I found my Addi bamboos! So now I can finish my STR sock candy Broadripple socks. Now if I can only find that little mu gift I hid from the monkeys for one of my mu addict friends...

And so I don't forget, I'm sending a really big holiday hug to tapmouse for my wonderful x-mas gift! It's Colinette's new sock yarn called Jitterbug in the color "Jay." It's got absolutely divinely dark stormy sea colors. Apparently it's close to Koigu in weight. Can't wait to wind it up and test it out.

Christmas knitting? What x-mas knitting?

Last year when I was newbie knitter for only a month, I made the insane decision to knit an insane amount of eyelash scarves as gifts. I vowed never again to do any x-mas knitting, especially those remotely related to eyelash scarves. So what have I been doing? I've finished most of monkey2's Barefoot Knits Lace Up Cardigan and am in the midst of seaming it up so I can knit & seam the back collar. And I've finally started my Simple Knitted Bodice - 2 very non-sock type projects. Pics of these later.


On the sock front, I finished the Infant Fancy Silk Socks from Nancy Bush's Knitting Vintage Socks book. But now that I'm done, I realize I should've done a more normal heel decrease instead of the one in Vintage Socks for my toddler. While the heel decrease as written is great for newborns w/narrow heels, it's not so good for toddlers that as extremely mobile and have more "normal" looking heels. A good lesson learned for me. And Monkey2 loves wearing them, so all is not lost.

My STR Hurricane Broadripple sock #2 alas is in trouble. I somehow misplaced my Addi bamboo #2's and so I started knitting the second sock w/the KP #2 dpn's, since they're technically the same diameter, but of course, I'm getting a tighter gauge on the KP dpn's. They're 'causing a not-unpleasant slanted striping, but there's no matching the first sock. Sigh. So I'm afraid I've hit second sock syndrome on this pair 'til I find my Addi's or buy a new set. :( At least they're a cotton blend yarn, so I can wait on wearing them.

On a happier STR front, Purlescence Yarns got their next shipment in from BMFA and I'm now a happy owner of (l to r): Harlotty, Rocktober, Christmas Balls, and not shown: Moonlight Revel (tough decision between this and Rolling Stone) and Fire on the Mountain (which I think sold out in the first 15 min of Purlescence grand opening). Obviously my x-mas gift to myself.

A pair of vacation socks

Well, I didn't say they'd be matching. ;)

STR Hurricane Sock Candy
size 2 (3.00 mm) Addi bamboos
Broadripple pattern from knitty.com


Lorna's Laces Shepard Sock Somerset
Size 0 Susan Bates sock set
Nancy Bush Vintage Socks Child's Fancy Silk Sock
modifications:
1.5" cuff & leg
4.5" foot to fit monkey2's toddler feet

Currently in sleeve purgatory for monkey2's Barefoot Knits cardigan. I hope to finish the sweater by the end of the week making it my first non-sock project since I finished my Kyoto back in October.

Aloha Friday!

I've started working on monkey2's sock again last night and it seems to be going better. For quite awhile I'm been feeling ambivalent about this sock and I'm not sure why. The pattern is cute (though I upped the needle size from a 00 to a 0), the yarn colors are cute, and knitting w/the yarn is fine. The pooling's not too bad as it looks like really fat stripes on the cuff/leg turning into skinny stripes into the heel, gusset & foot. It seems like it'll fit too as I got it on monkey2 w/o it seeming too tight or too loose. I don't know.

And a snapshot of some b-day gifts I got from HI - Mom found the Easy Knitting book in Costco which has an amusing section called Vintage to Vogue where the yarn brands "update" a few of their vintage patterns. The craft basket is also from mom who bought it from one of her innumerable friends. The eyelash lei on the right & the scarf on the left were made by my sister's ex-bf's mom who we all still talk to. (The ex-bf, not so much. Heh.) And a new Hawaiian HK doll which I like to get on each visit home. Now I just need to keep the monkeys from stealing her all the time. ;)

Missing from the pic, but not forgotten is a lovely skein of Schaeffer Anne that tapmouse gave me before my trip. Now to figure out what pattern to knit it into.

And in honor of Eye Candy Friday, I'll end w/a Wailea, Maui sunset.

Home in the Islands in the middle of the sea

where the only good Hurricane is the STR kind. (Broadripple socks pattern by Rob Matyska in knitty.com)

Can you tell how much knitting I got done in 2 weeks? Obviously not much, though I did turn the heel on monkey2's Infant Fancy Silk Sock (Nancy Bush Vintage Socks) in Lorna's Laces Somerset. Pic of that later after I unpack and slog through all my work and personal e-mails.

Oh, and the Grand Wailea Spa is 2die4! OMG. Totally extravagant but what the heck! It's not like I go spa-ing all the time. Besides, I hit my "40 is the new 30"th birthday. Hence the trip back home to visit the family and to spend way too much money on Maui.