Yarn Intercept

Updated 'Favorite Blogs' List

The new year is about making improvements, right? I've neglected my 'Favorite Blogs' list (in the left sidebar) for far too long. I read so many more blogs than the 5 or 6 that were listed. Some are well known knit bloggers, while others may be new to you. Here are the blogs that I've added to my list:

Zarzuela Knits and Crochets - The Summer of Socks maven.

Z Knits...and Sews - Zonda has the ultimate blog roll!

Turtlegirl's Bloggy Thing - A great knitter/designer, plus you can't miss Tabby Tuesdays.

tentenknits - Another fabulous knitter and a great photographer!

PhotoKnitDog - Adorable dogs. Plus the photography is fabulous!

pdxknitterati - More great photography and a terrific knitter/designer.

Knitters Anonymous - It's Cookie A. and Kristi's blog. No explanation needed.

Knit Witch - I've linked to Brittany many times, but her blog finally shows up in my list!

JeshKnits - One of my favorite new blogs. Jesh knits beautifully and her pictures are amazing!

Fiber Farm - A fascinating look at life on a sheep farm!

Crazy Aunt Purl - What's not to love? Laurie is a wonderful writer! Plus, cats.

Anna's Flying Needles - More amazing knitting and designing. She designed Ruby Red - a beautiful sweater from Knitty.

In knitting news, I've cast on the January Mystery sock:

In Tiger news:

He'll get back to you.

Happy New Year!

I Love New Stuff

Christmas may have been weird this year - what with the great Christmas Eve blizzard that dumped 14 inches of snow on Oklahoma City - but I received some lovely things including some fabulous knitting related gifts!

First, Mike gave me a yarn bowl from The Knit Witch! It is so lovely with a gorgeous blue/green color inside and a nice neutral on the outside. It is so classy and very smooth so no snagging of yarn!

Next, Amanda bought me a Namaste Buddy case to go with my Namaste bag I got for my birthday a few years ago.

It's the perfect size for scissors, stitch markers, and other notions. Also, one side is magnetic for holding stray needles. Plus, it has a flap that fits snugly on one side so your stuff doesn't go flying everywhere when you open it.

Then, I received a gift certificate to my LYS. It didn't last long...I went shopping yesterday and picked up some Claudia Handpainted sock yarn in this beautiful Crushed Velvet colorway. I don't think I could have matched my new sweater from Amanda any better!

I "needed" another solid-ish yarn for the January mystery sock for the Sock Knitters Anonymous group on Ravelry. I'm going to add beads too! It'll be the first time to use beads in my knitting. I've got a few more days to get over to the bead store and find something that would look good. The question is, matching beads or contrasting? I could go with a fuschia pink or maybe something like hematite (shiny black) or possibly just some clear crystal beads. Hmm. It's an interesting question.

Obviously, Tiger doesn't think so.

Blue and White

Now that I've finished my only Christmas present (see last post), I've started a new project and picked up an old one.

New Project:

This is Popped by Hunter Hammersen. There are a LOT of twisted stitches in this, but Hunter provides two charts. One with more twists and one with fewer. I'm knitting the one with fewer. It's a very easy knit and isn't the color fabulous? The yarn is Malabrigo sock. Laura, Bethany? Can you guess the color? Bethany is our resident Malabrigo expert and Laura seems to know the colorways of ALL yarn! We'll pick up something and she'll say, "Oh, that's Cherry Blossom - or - that's Gingerbread." How she does it, I don't know! 

Old Project:

This isn't that old of a project, but I put it aside to knit Cleopatra. I originally intended Whispering Pines for the recipient of Cleopatra, but that didn't work out. I picked it up yesterday and have knit several rows. I'm scared to count how many stitches are on each row now, but it's A LOT, so doing several rows is an accomplishment. 

A close up:

You can see the lumpiness...I can't wait to block this out!

Tiger jumped in my lap because he heard "a noise" outside.

He's a sensitive kitty and doesn't like noises.

 

 

 

Finished Cleopatra

Like a typical knitter, I finished a knitted gift at the very last minute! I had only planned to knit one gift this year - the Cleopatra Wrap for a colleague at school. The faculty draws names for our Christmas exchange at the beginning of the year so I've had this planned for quite some time. The Christmas party is tonight and the wrap just finished drying after knitting the last 10 rows this morning and grafting....

119 stitches!

I thought I knew what torture was (applied icord) but it has since been replaced by grafting over 100 stitches! I like grafting - it's easy and I do it frequently to finish up the toe of a sock, but 12 stitches v. 119 stitches? Ouch! 

I know I could have done a better job with the grafting- it's a little tight at the beginning - but only a knitter would find it so I'm not worrying.

Here it is!

Pattern: Cleopatra Wrap by Miriam Felton - from Sensual Knits

Yarn: Studioloo Bamboo Lace, 100% bamboo. 725 yards. Grape colorway.

Needles: US size 2, 3mm, Knit Picks nickel circulars.

Cast On: November 12, 2009

Finished: December 20, 2009

Modifications: I knit the wrap in two halves and grafted in the center instead of grafting at one end near the lace edging. I probably didn't knit as many repeats as suggested because I ran out of time! I followed everything else to the letter. Be sure to check the Ravelry page for errata - there are a few errors in the book.

Thoughts: I loved the pattern! It was very easy to memorize the main repeats. I needed to focus on the edging more, but it was over quickly. It became fairly mindless but the time crunch spurred me on. The yarn is very nice and lustrous. and oh, so soft. I was a little disappointed by how much dye was lost when I washed it. It took forever to get the water to run clear. I think it's good now though as there was no bleeding onto the towels when I blocked it.

Here's a close up of the edging:

Here's Tiger joining in our Scrabble game - or rather, preventing it!

(and, yes, those are my tiles - with the 10 point Q!)

Further Along

Thanks to a 5 day break from school, I am now at 27 inches on the Cleopatra wrap! That's close enough to halfway if you ask me. I plan on making this about 70 inches long and expect to gain about 8-10 inches when blocked. (I blocked it at 20 inches and got 3 extra inches.) That means I need to knit to about 63 inches (60 inches plus the three I've already blocked in.)

It's even long enough now to be "carelessly" draped over the arm of the couch.

I'm also diligently working on my latest pattern, Watching Hawks. I'm loving how the Prism Saki is behaving so well! There is NO pooling - not even at the gusset. And look at the sole - stripes!

Speaking of stripes, I caught Tiger in an upside down repose where my "three favorite stripes" are quite visible:

Here's an extreme close-up:

I love to pet his paw. right. there.

Best Laid Plans

...go oft awry. At least that is what John Steinbeck says, and isn't it true for knitters sometimes?

Back in October, I posted about making the Whispering Pines shawl by Anne Hanson for a colleague. I was pretty excited about the project, but knew I'd have to get knitting on it. Well, one day at lunch, this particular colleague was good naturedly ribbing me for knitting - she thinks knitters should be little ole ladies - and so I said, "Okay, fine! See if I knit you anything if I ever draw your name for Secret Santa gifts!" (which I had, of course - and I was this far already on the shawl.)

Colleague says in reply, "That's okay. I'm allergic to wool anyway!"

Me, with a horrified grin on my face says, "Oh? Really?", all the while thinking, 'ALLERGIC TO WOOL!!!! WHY DIDN'T YOU MENTION THIS BEFORE!!!!'

So, back to the drawing board. I know some of you will say that people SAY they are allergic to wool when really it's just commercial crummy wool they don't like and if they were confronted with merino or alpaca or cashmere, they would be just fine. And probably a 50/50 wool/silk blend would be just fine too. But...I am NOT going to knit Whispering Pines only to find out that she really IS allergic. No thank you. The shawl will now be mine...someday. In the meantime, I bought this:

 

It's 100% bamboo lace yarn from Studioloo. It's a very pretty lavender/purply color and is so shiny!! I started the Cleopatra Wrap (rav link) by Miriam Felton from Sensual Knits. So far, I am here:

Once I block it, there will be points on the edge. Not very far, am I? I've got until December 19th too. No problem!

Tiger isn't so sure.

Ribby Cardi - Closer

What you see here, is my Ribby Cardi blocking! Wow. I started this sweater in February of 2008. Of course, ti still isn't done, but all the major pieces are knit! Now, I just need to seam, knit the edging on the front and the collar, and sew in the zipper. I think I'm going to go with a regular collar (not the rolled one). Also, I plan to knit the edging along the zipper to be in the contrasting green yarn. Then, I'll buy a zipper to match the green. I've seen several examples on Ravelry that have a contrasting zipper and I think they look pretty snazzy!

I am very pleased with the color change. Here's another close-up of the contrast between the rusty orange and the olive green.

 

I've also got some socks on the go. I started these as part of the Sock Knitters Anonymous group on Ravelry. The challenge this month is either mosaic knitting or patterns with slipped stitches. I doodled up a design with slipped stitches that are then crossed. It is super easy and I memorized it quickly. I will eventually provide this as a free pattern! The yarn I'm using is Prism Saki in the Oklahoma colorway. It is supposed to resemble the Oklahoma flag. They have revamped the yarn since I bought this. The new skeins have more yellow. Personally, I like this better!

 

 

 

I am calling this pattern "Watching Hawks". If you don't know why, click here.

FYI: Cats can find a comfortable spot to sleep anywhere.

He was asleep, but I turned on the light to take the picture!

Determined

That is, to finish my Ribbi Cardi once and for all! I've had it on the go since February of 2008. That's almost 2 years ago! Ridiculous for such a simple knit. My notes say that I cast on February 24, 2008 and finished the back on March 6th. I also cast on the left front on March 7th. I don't know what happened when from there as I have no more notes, but I do know that I completed the right front at some point and knit an entire sleeve as well. It sat in time out for awhile because I'd decided the color of the sleeve just didn't look good with the body. I bought two colors of Cascade 220...a very nice burnt orange and a sage green. The green just seemed washed out up next to the body and I didn't think I'd like wearing it. See?

I stopped by Gourmet Yarn one day a few months ago and spent an agonizing 30-45 minutes deciding which color to buy to make the sleeves with. I had some help from Margaret and a few customers. I settled on a much deeper forest/moss green that I felt had the same saturation (?) as the orange. Unfortunately, she only had one skein, so I had to wait a week or so for a new shipment of Cascade. Then, it sat in my knitting basket until last weekend when I finally cast on for the first sleeve. (At the Knit In at GYC!) It's finished now and I think the difference is striking. I like this SO much better!
(I wonder what it looks like on YOUR montior? We only have laptops and the orange is much deeper and richer than these pics.)

Now, I just need to come up with something to do with the two skeins of the sage green yarn! Scarf? Hat? Tiger says he'll sleep on it and come up with something.

New Projects - Again

Yes, it's been awhile. I know.

I've started a few new projects recently. I'm making the Whispering Pines shawl by Anne Hanson for a colleague. It's going to be beautiful! I can't wait to finish it, but I'm going to have to get pretty busy to have this done by Christmas. I'm on chart C and the charts go up to K. Yikes! That's a long way to go. I have snowflakes though!

I am using Zephyr Silk. I wound this off a cone at my LYS, so I don't know the name of the color, but it is a natural white. The pattern looks daunting with all the charts, but everything is pretty straight forward. There is a knitted on edging, which will be a first for me as well as a section with patterning on both sides - also a first. It's a beautiful pattern - but what else do you expect from Anne? She's a master!

I also cast on a new sock. Aquaphobia was turning out too big so I gave up on it. Now, I am working on Devon by Cookie A. (another master) It's a pretty easy pattern, but requires just enough attention to keep you interested. I don't remember the name of the yarn - I just know it has real silver spun into it. You can kind of see the silver strands sticking out.

We recenly moved (part of what explains my blog silence), but before we moved, Tiger spotted his buddy, Murphy, from next door sitting on our porch outside.

"Bye, Murphy! I'll miss you!"

Slow Going

I have begun a few new projects lately. One is the Aquaphobia socks using Yarn Love's Juliet yarn in the colorway Winter Deep. I finally got a halfway decent picture:

These socks will be very warm and toasty. The pattern is essentially the same the eye of partridge stitch usually used for heels. It's got lots of slip stitches which breaks up the colors pretty well. I am getting a striping effect, but it looks good I think! Let's hope that shows up on the second sock too. Also,this yarn is pretty wooly and rustic feeling. I hope it wears well and doesn't pill too much!

I wanted to make another summer top before summer was over so I went searching Ravelry for something made out of Knit Picks Shine sport. I had 9 skeins so plenty for most anything I could find. I came across Rosalind by A Mingled Yarn. It was exactly what I was looking for so I cast on right away! I'm about halfway done with the back:

The color is Hydrangea which is a lot bluer and shinier than this photo suggests. It looks so dull and gray, but is really a very cheery color. I like how the lace panels create a scallop-like hem. Very feminine! I will be leaving off the ribbon at the empire waist though.

Turtlegirl suggested I get a cat to draw more people to my blog. (Posting more often would help too!) I told her I did have a cat, but needed to take advantage of him. So, here you go - Tiger is crashed under my desk. I love how he curls his paw under like this!