FO At Last

Proud participant in FO Friday.

Hedgerow Mitts

Not so proud participant in "no control at the moment over the orientation of the image" Friday.

Unappetizing?

Knitting along with the Capriole mystery KAL.

Love the pattern. Pleasure to knit. Lace pattern is bold and suited to variegated yarn.

Love the yarn. Likewise a pleasure to knit.

But, do I like them together?

The White Patch

Wasn't crazy about the swatch.

Thought the things I didn't like about it would even out in the full-size knit.


What's so hard about putting it down and backing away?

Not like there isn't plenty of yarn to choose from here in Yarnytown. Not like plenty of books don't get tossed after 10 pages of reading here. 

Creamed Violets

So, what's so hard? 

The mystery is in my head, not in the pattern.

Is it like having to eat everything on the plate before you get up from the table even if it is stone-cold creamed spinach?

Succumbed

to Sublimity, a new cowl and cuffs pattern by Sivia Harding. 

Yes, this is a case of startitis, but the beads and the yarn were stashoid.

First Yarn-e-pillar of Spring

Pleasure to find the deck empty of snow and take the picture out of doors in sweatersleeves if not shirtsleeves.

Project should go fast. Worsted weight yarn. Bottom up construction, so there will be decreases. Not a huge number of beads to place.

Couldn't find a crochet hook small enough so am using the dental floss placement method. Yes, dental floss. See for yourself.

Lights, Camera,

Not Much Action. . .

Koncept LED Floor Lamp

Knitter's Chair with Lap Blankie & Lamp

Great lights, though. Without them, my room would be a bat cave.
Without them, there would be no crafting. Without them, there would never, ever be any seaming of black knits.

Even with them, not much seaming of black knits. Too cold for the cotton sweater anyway. 

A bit of progress on the red mitts. A lot of ideas on what to start instead of finishing.

Progress Occurs

Productive weekend. Should be an FO by next Friday. Maybe sooner.

Dueling Mitts

Not sure why they are on two sets of DPN's instead of two circulars, but knit in tandem there will be no second mitt syndrome, and there's a fighting chance they will be the same size.

Easy textured stitch pattern. Easy on the eyes. More importantly, easy on the brain.  

YNEW Friday

Only wish I could uphold the venerable knit-blogger FO Friday tradition.  It's not even Unfinished Object Friday here. It's Yarn Not Even Wound Friday. 

Can't knit fast enough. Couldn't find a sharp sewing needle. Dog ate my yarn. Okay, I don't have a dog.

Imagine:  Hedgerow Mitts by Amy Ripton

Have lots of yarn, including luscious skein of Spirit Trail Fiberworks Sunna. And a request for mitts. You need your mind's eye to see them, though.  

Strange 3

Calculated: based on crocheted swatch of Habu N-91.

Worked: 40 SC, 12 ROWS

Washed. 

Watched it writhe into shape.

Sewed ends together. 

24" circlet

Embellished.

Moving Mud Small Shawl Pin

Fish on a Net

Good use for all the brooches and shawl pins which I never wear.

So, is it a scarf-tini, a scarf-lace, an infinitesimal infinity? The Higgs-Boson On My Shoulder?

Off to play some more with this yarn.

Sew, No!

The Murder Weapon?

Movie Trailer

Sound track: melodramatic music (Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody.)

Camera zooms in on bedroom door as the lyrics proclaim "No escape from reality."

Cut to woman lying on the floor next to a pile of knitting and crocheting. Beside her, a needle, thread, crochet hook, scissors.
Could she be the latest victim of:

The Unsewn! 

Woman stirs, mutters: Why don't I ever remember how much time it takes?  Why can't I learn to love seamless construction? (Sob!)


Amateur Auteur mutters:  Why didn't I remember that the camera records audio, too?

Color? Work!

The sound of the snowplow is heard in the land.  Again.


Desperately seeking spring. The only spring around here comes from the grocery store, five bucks a bunch. Yes, I know that spring doesn't arrive officially for another couple of days. Yes, I know I should be a good crafting sport and tell myself that the good news is there's still plenty of time to crochet thick cowls and knit woolly sweaters. Bah, humbug!
  

Inside

Outside

Equation of Doom

Innumeracy + Wishful Thinking = Lace Knitting Disaster.

How many times did I re-knit rows 3 through 5? More than once?  More than twice?  More than sanity could support? 

No matter how many times I counted, the actual 101 stitches always added up to the desired 102 stitches.  So why was the pattern off in Row 5?

What's that you say? A missing yarnover in Row 2? Oh. Okay. *Rip.  Re-Knit.* Repeat from * to * as many times as you can stand. 

Hm-m-m, still not right.  COuld the problem be in Row 1. Oh. Okay. Rip. Re-knit.

Bonus lameness points: the pattern is my own design. 

No alcohol was involved in this incident.  Not until after it was over.

Wearin' of the green

but not this one, not even on St. Patrick's Day.

Sorry, Pantone.  Makes me queasy just to look at it.

How about this instead?

Cashmere excavated from stash

Or this?

Kiss me, I'm Irish!

Green beer, green bagels, green yarn, green Peeps!
Indulge responsibly.
Have a Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Breathes Upon A Bank of Violets

Mystery Knitalong: Capriole

Love getting marching orders week by week.  
High probability that the item will be completed in a timely fashion instead of sinking into the Morass of Incompletion.

March 8,  bought pattern.

March 10, chose yarn.

Sunshine Yarns Merino Sock, "Violets"

March 12, knit swatch, re-learned a crochet cast-on, learned a new stitch as well. Came up with a poetic name for the project, from Midsummer Night's Dream. Once an English major, always an English major. 

March 27, first clue will arrive.

Take a look. In awe of Remily's productivity and talent.

Sucker for the Strange, 2

The Swatches

Before

Single Crochet, 6 rows, 10 sts, 4''x5"

Stockinette, 20 sts, 10 rows, 8" x3"

Stockinette, 20 sts, 10 rows, 8"x3"
Held with Tilli Tomas Disco Lights (American Beauty)

and after a bath

From top to bottom:  6" 10" 12"

The Secret of the Yarn Habu N-91 Silk Crepe:  Overtwist, will pleat and crinkle as soon as it is washed.

This look like a case for knitting math! Designs to follow. Neckpieces will be easy. Garments? Your guess is as good as mine.



(The first post in this series is here.)

Resuscitated

Dredged up from the UFO Sack of Shame,

April 7, 201 - March 9, 2013

transformed in one day into

12" X 16" & 14" x 14" Cushion Tops

using Stitch Diva's addictive and satisfying 3-Color Tunisian technique, clearly explained in her Stash Buster Blanket pattern.

Awaiting charcoal grey felt to complete the covers. Until it arrives, I will contemplate my procrastination issues.

Stashin' Play

Strict Me:  What's that in the package?

Sneaky Me:  Oh, nothing.  

Strict Me:  Pretty bulgy for "nothing."

Sneaky Me:  Oh, it must be those dish towels I ordered.  I'll just go put them away.

Strict Me:  Why are you going upstairs?  I thought you kept dishtowels in the kitchen?

Sneaky Me:  Oh, I meant to go downstairs.   To the laundry.  You know how towels smell funny until you wash them.

Strict Me:  Hm-m-m-m.  Why don't I believe you?

Sneaky Me:  Alright. It's art. Fiber art. Don't roll your eyes at me. Okay, it's yarn. But it's club yarn. And it's art. It doesn't count as adding to stash.

Spirit Trail Fiberworks

Go see for yourself.

Liar, Liar, Swatch on Fire!

Who stole my gauge?

I swatched for this. Honest, I did.

The final measurements of the finished shawl were close to the pattern. Honest, they were.

Granada Shawl designed by Kathy Merrick

So, Sherlock, how come I ended up using 3 balls of Kidsilk Haze instead of 2?

Snow Day Replay

23 hours after yesterday.

Extended forecast calls for more knitting on the summer sweater and catch-up listening to the Craftlit podcast.

Snow Day

Permission granted to stay inside all day and knit.

Vaganza's Just Another Word

for out-of season knitting.

Actually,the translator bot tells me it is the Maltese word for "vacation." It's also a simple and elegant design by Teresa Dair.  

Well, I hope it will look simple and elegant on me. When it's sleeved and seamed and photographed properly. It's not very promising at the moment, especially in the poor light of winter. More of a schmatta than a sweater.

On the Floor

On the Door

And why oh why am I knitting this instead of the long, warm wool cardigan I promised myself? The one I definitely won't want in August, when the work is draped on my lap like an overheated dog.

Darn or Damn

The sock knitter's existential dilemma.

Otherwise Perfectly Good Sock

Knit in May 2008.  Survived many spins in the washer. Found the leftover yarn right where it ought to have been.  After a two-day hunt, found the darning egg under some plastic resistance (!) bands stuffed in a basket on a shelf.

Are we sensing some ambivalence? Darn the darn thing or turn it into a sock puppet?  a chew toy?  a dust mitt? Compost it like dryer lint? Wring another blog  post out of it? What do you think?