{Yes, I know it's summer}

The 100 degree temperatures are going on their 8th day today I think, and I've been sitting inside all cool... knitting toques and scarves. From wool.  Am I crazy?

Yes.  the answer is yes.

I skeined up my graduation gift yarn  - Madelinetosh Tosh Sport in Robin's Egg and cast on this cute set. First the Pooling Rivulets Stole by Yarn Floozies (obviously without the pooling) and then Hermoine Hearts Ron hat by Christie Aylesworth.  I love how the repeating yarn overs mimic one another so it looks like a set without them matching perfectly.  They both flew by really quickly too, which made for some great  non-investment knitting - exactly what I've been searching for lately.

This whole working-full-time thing has really taken the wind out of my knitterly sails.  I think I always saved my really complex knitting for the summer months so I could concentrate on it for long periods of time. All my big sweaters and shawls have been done during school vacation times!   I'm not sure what I'll do now... have I relegated myself to small projects like these?  We'll have to see, I guess.

Oh speaking of small... does this hat look tiny on my head or is it just me?

{Casting On Advice, Please!}

Starting tomorrow, Friday, Mr. Pie and I are headed to the cabins at Douthat State Park! YAY!  It's the park where we got married, so it's a very special place to us, and it's promising some dark and dreary weather, which is perfect for having a wood fire all day!    Knitting in front of the fire at the cabins may be my very favourite thing ever.

So of course this morning, when I should be worried about getting dressed and getting to school to work on my final paper, instead I'm worrying about what yarn to bring for a new project to cast on!  I'll have lots of knitting this time weekend, (and lots of writing time...hopefully) so I'm excited.

Dark and Stormy is one option - this is what I was thinking of using that Vanna Heathered yarn on:

(c) 2010 Splityarn

  This cardigan is top down with worsted weight yarn, so I wouldn't think it would be too bad for cabin knitting - nothing overly fussy and such, so it holds good possibilities. I would have to buy the pattern today though. $6.50 isn't too bad for a sweater pattern.  I would probably have to fuss with the side seams a bit to put some shaping in, but I've been admiring this sweater for so long!

Maybe a sock pattern?  I have a few sock books kicking around and that killer skein of cashmere sock yarn kicking around that I could probably just cake it and toss it in a bag along with my sock needles and have a pretty easy packing job of it.  I do need to finish the second of Mr. Pie's slipper socks before I cast on for more sock though.  In for a penny, in for a pound?

I also haven't knit a shawl in a while and I have a some pretty lace and sock weight yarns that could be shawls.  Do I want something really complicated?  Usually for cabin knitting it's what i go for since there's no distractions, but if I don't *finish* the project this weekend that means that it'll drag over in to the spring school semester which mean - let's face it - it'll be unfinished until at least May. 

There's IS this one shawl idea that I've had percolating for a while: the Cladonia Shawl pattern in this great colour changing yarn, with maybe a soft grey to stripe it with... 

(c) redpepperquilts

So what do you guys knit when you're getting away?

{Stephen West is a Genius}

Stephen West is a brilliant knitware designer.  I think the brilliance in his designs are how elegance meets simplicity.  When I went searching for a shawl pattern to show off the beautiful stitch definition in the yarn I got from Mr. Pie for Christmas, I found Boneyard.  Definitely simple knitting, but with a touch of interest in the garder ridges every 12 rows.   Then, at the end, I added a whimsical touch by way of another gift: the book Knitting Beyond The Edge.

I'll let you be the judge of their marriage:

I love how this yarn is such a beautiful semi-solid - tones of orange and even red show through subtly in a few places.    What I don't love about this edge technique is how badly it curls, even after a very aggressive wet blocking.  I've considered steam blocking or picking out the cast off edge to continue with a few more rows of garder, or even just picking up stitches on the edge and knitting some more rows with what's left of the yarn.

I'd love your opinion.   Here's to some very successful knitting in 2012!

The deets:
pattern:  Boneyard Shawl by Stephen West  and
            "Lattice Beauty" from Knitting Beyond the Edge by Nicky Epstein
Yarn:     Have you Any Wool Luxe Sport in Truffle

{You May Have Noticed....}

You may have noticed that I've left everyone hanging after my last post.   My camera is acting WAY weird and I need to get photos of my knits.  Pretty much since school got out I've been knitting up a storm!  I'm about 75% of the way through a pair of crazy-colour socks and I'm 95% of the way through my Cromarty Cardigan.  I had to stop on that one because I ran out of yarn with only 1 1/2 repeats left to go on the arm.  It was a WAY bummer, but I've ordered another skein and it's here now, so that's good.  I've also knit a whole Steven West shawl since I blogged last! So yeah...   I need to get the camera up and going. lol

As a way of winding up the year, I've made it a tradition to see all of my year's knitting all at once.  So here it is, in the form of a wonderful Picasa collage:

All details can be seen on my Ravelry Project page, if anyone is interested. :)

I think I've done less knitting this year than any year since I started, which makes sense to me when I remember that it's my last year of college. lol   What I notice though is that I'm happier with the knits that I have done - they're ones that I wear.  I think I've figured out my own knitting "style".  Also, the other thing I notice is that I've knit more for myself this year than maybe any other year.  I've learned who is good to knit for and who appreciates the knitting the most.  Much less disappointment this way.

Next year I'd really love to learn a few new skills.  It's cool looking at all of my year's accomplishments together - I see that pushed myself to master the skills I know more thoroughly - I did more difficult lace shawls (Fiori Di Sole and a pair of Cookie A socks) and more complex fair isle (Selbu) than I had before.  I'd like to learn some entrelac for sure, and maybe some steeking.  Though that last one scares me. lol  I'd also like to make time/money to learn some basic spinning on the spindle I have, though to do that I'll have to get a teacher for it I think.  That's not one I'll be happy with teaching myself I don't think.  There's a lady that teaches it at the local School of the Arts I'm involved in - so maybe a class is in order. :)

Do you have any 2012 crafty goals?  What were your big accomplishments from this year? I'd love to hear them!

I hope everyone has a FABulous New Year's Eve tonight and I'll see everyone in 2012 - with pictures I hope!

{On break, finally.}

Christmas break is finalllllyyyyyy here! yay! I'm not going to lie - this end of semester push was the hardest I have ever had and it nearly drove me insane. By the end I was a mere shell of my former self and it's taken me about 3 days to really comes to grip with the idea that it's over.

Lots of lots of knitting therapy.  Really, even more than the knitting, I think I needed a few days of just doing nothing to get it through my head. lol

I managed to get these bad boys out in just about a week!  They are called the Daina Mittens,by Tuulia Salmela. 

I knit the first thumb in the same pattern as the rest of the body, but there just wasn’t enough room in there for the 3 yarns and my thumb, so I had to rip it back and do it in a single colour. Kinda disappointing.  So instead I did something crazy and made the thumbs two different colours: one's green and one's orange. :)

I'll be back tomorrow to talk about some house decorating!

{Winter Knitting Update}

Man I really wish Winter would hurry up and get here.  The weather outside still feels distinctly of fall and I'm getting antsy for the gray skies and icy mornings.  It can hold the ice until after finals though (10 days from now!).

So yeah... blogging. hehe Recently I was visiting Virginia's Blog called Virginia is for...  and she was asking for volunteers to take her back issues of Interweave Knits.  Since it's my favorite of all magazines I spoke up with a "Yes! Yes! Yes Please!" and she was kind enough to send me all she had along with a very sweet note:

So incredibly cool! I love Interweave and there are  always a couple projects in each magazine that I want to knit.  I had a subscription last year though so now I have doubles of each of the seasons from 2010, Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter.  If anyone would like them I'd be happy to pass them along. :)

Meanwhile, I'm knitting a sweater to prepare, and hopefully to bring good MoJo, for cool weather.  I bought the pattern for Cromarty by Heather Dixon the instant I saw it because I even had yarn for it!

photos from Army of Knitters

Isn't it perfect!  Going to be gorgeous when it's done, but I have some tinking to do first.  I was tired and I blew through about 3 rows of lace when I wasn't paying attention. I'm not sure how I did it since there's lace on EVERY row, but there ya go.  The yarn is pretty big so it shouldn't take too long once I feel like doing it. lol  The pattern is super well written (so totally my fault, not the designer's) and there's even a knit-a-long on Ravelry if you're interested.  The pattern is kinda steep at $9, but since I already had the yarn for it... oh and I also was in LOVE with it, I splurged.  Consequently, when you pay good money for patterns they're usually super well written and easy to follow. Who knew? hehe  This one is no exception to that trend.

Speaking of Interweave, have you looked at the Winter 2011 yet?  I'm kind of obsessed with the Briar Rose Tunic.  Go there and find out why.  I probably wouldn't knit it quite so long, but otherwise i'm all up ons that pattern.  I need to get my hands on that pattern for sure.

I've also finished a project oh about... 2 months ago that I haven't written about yet.  School and all, blah blah blah. lol It's almost done! Then I can be back to blogging regularly! hehe

I called this the Forest for the Trees cowl.  I just made up a pattern of alternating cable and lace and cast on enough stitched to go around.

The colour is a deep pumpkin and I love love love  the yarn, Fluffy DK from Gaia's Colours (discontinued), but to tell you the truth... I'm just not sure cowls are for me.  I can't figure out how to wear it to look right.  I like it under a coat, but I'm struggling to make it look right after the coat comes off.  Do you guys have any hints for wearing cowls?

Well, I think that's it for me. :)  You folks probably won't hear from me again until after finals, about December 10th or so.  Wish me luck!

{Knitting News of All Kinds}

Today I have an FO, an imminent cast on and also knitting patterns to share with you!

First: Patterns! Because the new fall Knitty is out!!  Do you all have your faves picked out? The first one that caught my eye was the Tenney Park Pullover.  I love love love the entralac in the front, especially since it's been on my list to learn for ages now!  I'm imagining my version having a slightly lower neckline and a little less contrast in the colours chosen for the front panel.

 

 The Auguste Pullover is a good style for Mr. Pie I think, though I wish I could see it on some dude other than Mr. Twilight Fanclub  that they have it on. (hehe)  Mr. Pie is pretty boxy and large across the shoulders, so the open neck will work well on him I think.  It's also a fairly small gauge so it wouldn't turn out to be a super heavy sweater, which is important because he's practically a furnace all by himself.

 But for me the one that steals the show is the Vignette Cardigan.  I adore the turquoise with the red buttons! The deep V is perfect for me and I love the detail down the arms.It is knitted in pieces and then seamed though, which might be something to keep me from knitting this particular pattern in stead of just say... using it for inspiration.  I can totally hack that lace pattern, right?

In other news entirely, I finished a languishing UFO! YAY!  In you're interested in seeing it, and you're not family to me, then you can go to my Christmas 2012 page at the top of the blog to see pics and details of the latest gift knitting. :)

So with that one off the needles, I think I want to start a new project!  I've foobarred the lace sweater really good and I need to decide if  I really REALLY want to tink back 5 rows (in the round) to put the waste yarn for the arms at the appropriate place.  While pondering my next project, my friends Anna and Jenny informed me they were both knitting the Brandywine Shawl, so I thought I'd hop on board! It's a Rosemary Hill pattern, so I know I'll love knitting it.  I have a semi-solid with quite a bit of contrast in primarily a very dark brown (almost black) from the Unplanned Peacock, so I'll be using that. :) 

{Cast on: Laverne}

Readers, meet Laverne by Snowden Becker. 

She is a charmingly simple laceweight teeshirt knit in a fuzzy yarn, which in my case is primarily Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud, perhaps with a contrast border in a deep blue from my stash:

It's a pattern I actually paid for, which is pretty uncommon for me.  There are so many free patterns out there that I want to knit, and funds are so strapped right now that I frequently try to not pay for them. This one was only $5 though and I'm delighted to say that it is written very clearly so to be easily understood and the modification for bust shaping and waist shaping go above and beyond other free patterns that I usually deal with.  I think this was money well spent. 

I am SUPER excited about this knit, but gauge is going to be important so I'm trying to take this first part slow so I can do it properly. 

{More Frogging than Anything}

Don't forget to enter the giveaway for a circular knitting needle organizer by commenting on my last post! Entry deadline is Sunday, Aug. 28th!

The last three days have been more frogging than knitting around here it seems.  I can't find just the right project to get my mojo back, but at least I'm trying, right?

I've really been feeling this fall orangey colour that I have an abundance of in my stash and decided I wanted a fabulous cabled cowl.  Something with a lot of intricate weaving cables that would keep my attention.

I started out with the Caera Cowl which I LOVE but after frogging it and recasting on about 3 times, and getting frustrated with the FIRST paragraph of directions, I gave up.  It's these instructions here which do not make sense to me:

"Next row: Begin row 1 of Cable Pattern 1, followed by row 1 of cable pattern 2. 

Work one pattern repeat of 12 rows of cable pattern 1, (followed by two 6 row repeats 

of cable pattern 2. Remember Cable Pattern 2 is half the size of Cable pattern 1 in rows)."

does this mean I do the first row of pattern 1 ALL the way around (for however many repeats of row 1 of the pattern) and then on the next row of my cowl I do row 1 of pattern 2 ALL the way around my cowl, then I flip back and start with pattern 1 again and complete the whole chart?   OR do I do one repeat of pattern1, then 1 repeat of pattern 2, etc....  I tell ya, neither looks right with the picture for me.  If anyone wants to go investigate and let me know what I was missing, I'd be grateful.  The comments all say it's a great "easy to understand" pattern, so maybe I'm making it more difficult than it needs to be. Sounds about right for me. lol

SO - then I cast on for the Cornflower Cowl instead (about 4 times to get the count right) and I'm half way through the first repeat, but I'm just not feeling it.  If you look at the Caera again, then the Cornflower, you'll see there's just no comparison and my heart has been set.   I'm thinking of maybe searching for something in another gauge that I can adapt by doing more repeats or something.  We'll see.

After much frustration, it was the Mailman to the rescue! Sunday I was informed of a surprise package that came in the mail for me!  It's my kit from the Unplanned Peacock yarn that I won AGES ago!! I was so delighted!!

It's Steven West's Daybreak pattern along with two skeins of fingering weight Superwash! YAY!  It was the kick in the pants that I needed.  I'm kind of in love with the colour combination he's wearing in that picture on the front, so I swapped out the golden-yellow colour for (what else) but a coppery orange to go with the deep brown she provided.  I'm in LOVE. :)  

So there's what I'm knitting on right now, between panic attacks about school starting next week. 

{Knitting Updates}

I've had a pretty busy first week at my internship, but I've managed to do quite a bit of knitting as well.  I finished a second From Norway with Love hat, this time a touch bigger so I could wear it!

Also, I've knit the first sock for The Store inside CFSotA.  Have I told you guys about that yet?  There's a new school of the arts around the corner from my house in this tiny town and inside there's a little art supply store that is carrying Unplanned Peacock yarn!!  I offered to knit a sock sample, and here's what I've come up with so far: one Nanner Sock by Wendy Johnson.

I think what I've decided to do is knit two ankle socks out of this 100g skein and then knit a pair of fingerless mitts just to show how far one skein can go instead of knitting one pair of VERY tall socks, ya know?  Is this a good idea or not so much?

And then yesterday I've also cast on for the Lace Saddle Tee out of Interweave Knits Summer 2010.

 

I'm knitting this one in pieces from the bottom up because I think the side seams will actually help support the 100% cotton and keep it from growing too much.  I think I've heard this somewhere... I think I'd rather be knitting it in the round up to the armpits to tell you the truth, but this also keeps too much knitting from sitting in my lap.  I'm knitting it from Estelle Young Touch, which is making a really pretty fabric.  I think I'm going to like this one! Not getting gauge (of course) but when I hold it up to myself it looks like it's going to fit okay, so I'll keep going and pray for the best. lol

I've also got a skirt mostly sewn together on my sewing table and a zipper to go in it, but no zipper foot.  I'm a crossroads here... do I pay for a zipper foot on my little Brother LX-3125 or do I hold out and wait until I upgrade (before the end of the year, I'm thinking) which will most definitely come with a zipper foot.  If I decide to wait, I'll just put elastic in the waist band of this one and keep my eye out for a used or refurbished sewing machine.  Ideas? Advice?

What are you guys up to this summer? :)

{Knitting on Fiori Di Sole is DONE}

and here she is in all her pre-blocked glory:

If you've studied the Fiori Di Sole pattern, you may notice that I opted to skip the fancy crochet bind off.  I made a judgement call based on how much yarn I had left after the last purl row, and boy am I glad I did, because here's what i had left after casting off:

I'm pretty sure if I'd tried the crochet bind off I would have run out of yarn.  Sure, it's true that I have another skein of this lace yarn, but have you ever wound Malabrigo lace? it's a P.I.T.A.  Besides, I think I like just the leaves at the bottom.

Now for blocking.  I don't have wires at the moment... do I wait and see if I can *get* wires somewhere, or I just pin it out as per usual for me?  I'm debating... waffling, you could say. There's a  sink full of water waiting for this shawl right this moment, but I think I've changed my mind yet again.

Opinions?

{For the Love of Collages! (updates)}

So, finals are over and I've survived.  I got A+, an A, and A- and.... a C.  Yes folks, it is my FIRST EVER anything less than a B+, and it is a C.  It has come to me in the form of Multi-Variable Calculus and I worked HARD for it.  With that in mind I should say that I am proud of the grade I got (I PASSED!) but it's still just a teensy bit hard to say.  It bring my 2-year GPA to 3.77. *sigh* 

With the summer plans still hanging in the balance (Hello, Advance Auto? I really REALLY want to intern for you over the summer, preferably paid, but I'll take unpaid.  Call me?)  I've been doing other things to keep busy.

I've been knitting. Are you surprised?  I thought I would attempt Nightsongs , but in a 100% organic worsted cotton on #9 needles to make it a nice quick around-the-neck shawl.  I knit it in 2 days, and now it's blocking:

Soooooo... couple of things.  I really managed to screw up this chart. lol It's one of those free lace patterns that while BEAUTIFUL, you kind of have to know a little about lace knitting in order to be able to figure it out.  It's only two charts, one for the body and one for the edging.  I screwed up the body enough that the edging pattern didn't fit at all.  So I just left it off. lol  Then, when I went to block it, it wouldn't block straight across the neck edge, so I hope it'll wrap okay. Also, it's taking a million years to dry, but I guess that's just the worsted weight cotton talking?  Overall, I'm happy with it I think and I hope that my friend who is graduating on Sunday likes it.  I'm planning another like this in the future for me.

Fiori Del Sole is coming along.  I'm almost 4 repeats done of the main body pattern, then I start the 19 edging charts. hehe I'm just kidding, it's more like 8. But that's still a lot of charts.

Yesterday I had a VERY successful trip to Goodwill!  At Goodwill I either have no luck at all, or all the luck in the world.

Pictured above is a fanTASTIC tulled (tooled?) leather belt with a belt buckle I can replace ($1), a new looking pair of mary-jane style Naturalizers ($2.50) a great 70's style blue dress with an elastic waist, which is the perfect perfect knee length on me ($4) and a very cute knee length skirt ($3.50). This was my one maybe-ish purchase. It's kind of puffy on me, but if I wear a long fitted shirt I think it looks good. Time will tell.  Oh, and also a pair of Adidas track pants for working out in ($3.50?).  THEN, there's the finds I'm particularly fond of:

This floor length dress is made out of pajamas material and i'm in LOVE with it. ($4) I do need to shorten the straps just a bit I think, though. And also,I just realized that maybe i'm wearing the wrong size bra. huh.

AND... la piece de resistance!

A new ceramic lamp!!  Do you see that price tag??  And it WORKS! I don't even need to rewire it! (which I was prepared to do).  She needs a coat of spray paint and a new lamp shade. Stay tuned!!  All in all I spent $25 yesterday at Goodwill.

I also have very exciting other news!  Mr. Pie and I have the next whole week off together!!! I'm so excited!  We couldn't remember the last time we had one whole week with nothing to do except be together.  We have lots of home projects planned, like building library book cases, but weather must cooperate for that to happen.  Our recent weather doesn't leave me entirely too hopeful.

That's HAIL on our front porch!  I hope we have fun pictures to show you soon of home-type projects.  Right now I'm going to go help Mr. Pie plant the veggie garden! YAY!

-this post brought to you by picasa collages

{More Presents??}

The Yarny kind!  I tell ya, the people who love me really know what I love!  This box came from Eat.Sleep.Knit care of Jenny who blogs at Jenny's Blog on Knitting. 

 

 Elizabeth Bennet from Yarn Love in colourway Shiny Penny.  ohmygoodness I LOVE!  It's merino and bamboo. So lovely!

Super Squish Sock from Fiberphile.  So incredibly soft and squishy!  This one is 100% superwash Merino, but it's sayin' hat or shawl or something ot me.  Too soft to wear in my feet I think!

I love them both so so much! I have no real ideas what I'll make with them yet, but I'm looking forward to doing some searching!

In other knitting related news, the knitting on my striped cardigan is done.  I've ordered buttons and I still need to buy grosgrain ribbon for the inside of the button band. The buttons are 1.25 inches so I figure I'll need the stabalizer for sure.  Oh and blocking. Pssht.   I'm wearing it now even without buttons. tee hee! I'll make sure to post pics soon.

One more week of school! YAY! (until next fall. lol)

{Progress is Being Made}

Progress.

{Kai-Mei: Complete}

Kai Mei is another Cookie A pattern that has been fabulously popular on Ravelry.  And really, why wouldn't it be?  They're fabulous!  I knit them in a sock yarn with 10% Cashmere so they are like HEAVEN on my feet. They haven't come off my feet since they've been off the needles yesterday.  Well... except for sleeping.

I decided I'd had enough socks for a while and promptly cast on for  The Lydia Cardigan.  Mine's in cream and white and I'm LOVING it so far.  I think I was jonesin' for a stockinette project. Pictures to come.

{Action Packed Weekend!}

This weekend has been a ton of fun.  Last night Mr. Pie and I got a room down in the BIG CITY of Roanoke and attended the spring dance my school puts on every year.  We got all dolled up and had a great time dancin' and laughin'. :)

(it came out a tad fuzzy, so do yourself a favour and don't make it big. hehe)

The only way we could have had a better time was if the DJ had played more music we were familiar with.  I didn't think I had been out of the loop THAT long, but he really enjoyed mixing and the result was a bunch of music I didn't recognize or particularly enjoy.  But we still had a good time. 

Then this morning we woke up and headed out to the Bedford Fiber Festival.  My first one ever!  The weather didn't want to cooperate so much: 

They managed to get some hay down, but before that I may have ruined a pair of sneakers in the mud. lol  We weren't there very long because it was more of a vendor fair than a festival - but I did meet some fun people!

I met this very lovely lady: Natasha from Unplanned Peacock Studio, a local yarn dyer whose yarn I fell in love with at the LYS in Roanoke called Yarn Explosions.

and I did a little stash enhancing, of course:

some Twisty Sock in a colour called Onyx that Mr. Pie picked out for some dress socks for him.  I'm looking forward to working with it!

I also met Sonya from Studio 43 Pottery , a local pottery maker,  who had some hand built yarn bowls that were to die for.  And of course now I can't find a picture. GAH!  They were $30, and just so so so gorgeous.  She has an etsy store that's linked from her site too but expressed disappointment in it, so it may not be there for long.  She said to contact her directly if you're interested.  I'm definitely interested!  Don't you think a yarn bowl would be a wonderful birthday gift?  muwahahaha  We also saw a decorative platter that captured our heart because it had the most beautiful tree drawn right in to the pottery before firing.  Uhh! Loved it. 

 

I'm exhausted, but content.  I think the rest of the day will be for knitting, but then tomorrow and monday will be nothing but homework!

{A Great Idea plus a WIP}

I was going through my blog roll yesterday when I came across a post from Sachiko about a friend of a friend of hers who currently lives on the coast of Japan.  Here... take a look.

http://www.thesleepytimegal.com/for-the-children-of-ishinomaki-japan/#more-3011

It's the personal stories coming out of that region that really get to me.  For some reason when I hear about a huge tragedy like the tsunami's, earth quakes, and nuclear fallout that are continuing to impact tens of thousands of people, I just can't get my head around it.   But when I hear about one person's personal struggle to help I get super teary.  I'll be sending a box over to the Monk in the link and if anyone else would like to contribute, either some items that you have around your house or would just like to help by chipping in a few dollars to help with shipping that would be greatly appreciated.  I'd like to get that box out in the next week or two.

Okay...  Maybe some knitting now?  I'm really excited about my current work in progress,  a shawl called  Fiori Di Sole by Rosemary Hill.

Having completed the first 4 charts, I'm now beginning the big repeating chart that will make up the majority of the body.  The charts aren't hard to read, there's just a lot of them (10!) but it's such a pretty shawl.  I can't wait! I'm hoping mine is going to work out to be as big as the one in the Rav picture!

I'm knitting it in Malabrigo Lace that's been in my stash forever from when Hope gifted me with a TON of yarn.  It's HEAVEN to knit with, but I wasn't very happy when I found 4 breaks in the skein as I was caking it.  Oh... and the tangling? Is that seriously a problem with EVERY malabrigo skein?  Has everyone else had a horrible time with tangling in their Mal yarns?  It feels so good and the colours are so so pretty but dang.  It's almost not worth it for the amount of cursing that comes out of my mouth as I have to take the yarn OFF the ball winder and feed it through the tangles on my yarn umbrella thingy. grr.

{New Cast-on}

Yes! I started another new project!  Too many gorgeous yarns - I think it might be time for some startitis.    I decided on this one for my Berroco Softtwist in the deep orange colour.  It's called Metro, by Connie Chang Chinchio.  Isn't it lovely?

It's bottom up seamless.  You knit back and forth to the armpits, then divide for the top as you would expect.  The arms are picked up and knit down to the cuff.  Pretty cool!   So I decided to cast on after my first sock was done.  There's 173 stitches in the size I'm making (37") and I thought I'd just dive right in without swatching.  I also decided on an i-cord cast-on because to me it looks like the bottom would roll like crazy.

So I cast on 173 stitches with an i-cord cast on with the suggested size 8 needle, knit about 2" and then checked gauge. I was WAY.  OFF.  It wants it knit at 4.5 stitches to the inch, I was at something like 5.  I tore it out.  Now, I'm typically a tight knitter, so don't ask me why my next swatch (yes, actual swatch) was on a size 7.  I got confused.  This one came out 5.25 stitches per inch.  What?!?  Yeah.  So then I swatched for real with an 8 again, and got more like 4.75 stitches.  Sigh.    I settled on the 8 and started casting on again like regular, figuring I'd do a few rows of garder like some other projects on ravelry because the i-cord cast on is so tedious.

But you see, I suck at gauging how much yarn I need for a cast on.  I tried casting on 173 stitches 4 TIMES and came up short on yarn each time! GAH! The last time I made it 168 before I had to rip it out. This is why I was casting on with the I-cord, because you don't need to guess at how much yarn, you cast on three stitches, and away you go. 

It's all ripped out. Again.  I have no idea what I need to do. Should I go up to a size 9 , do my i-cord cast on again, and just be happy?  I think I need to knit another swatch. Gah.  I hate swatching.  

Meanwhile, I'm back with my Glynis sock.

{Man I Love A Quick Knit!}

Though this project didn't go as quickly as it could have (the previous post explains why), it still only took me a couple of days.  Gorgeous Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk in aran weight, and enormous size 15 needles were the main reason for that, certainly not my concentration and skill!

Here's the black version of the yarn because I cast on with the cream ones before I got a photo.

And here's the finished object!

It wraps twice around my neck, plus some.  I'm still trying to get a handle on the styling.  It is soooo soft though and so warm, even though it's all holey!  I would have taken a picture of me wearing it, but I was in my pj's pretty much all day.  ;)

In other yarn related news, I did manage to pick what to buy and I'll show everyone when the yarns get here.  After picking up the mail, I remembered that I had bought a skein of sock yarn from a destash on Ravelry!  It was only a couple of bucks for this skein of Sock It To Me.  Should be fun!  I'm disappointed in the yardage, which I didn't pay attention to before. Grrr. Hopefully it's enough for two ankle socks.

Thanks for all your help and advice yesterday!  I can't wait for my package of new yarns to get here!! :D

{Yarn! and Knitting!}

How is it you folks do it?  How do you work for 8 or 9 hours a day and still have energy for anything else?  This internship has me worried about my ability to function in the real world.  When I go to school you see there are days where I work from home and I have a chance to cook and tidy the house and even get some knitting in.  It's not like I'm taking easy classes or anything... I'm a Math major, but still.  Now this accounting internship (which I am really enjoying! Surprise to me!) is from 8:30 to 4:30 Monday through Friday, but since I'm an hour away I'm out of the house from about 7:30 until 6.  When I get home I'm not in the mood for anything  except vegging out with a bowl of cereal in front of some blogs or a tv show.  Once the weekend hits, I don't even bother to get dressed unless I have to go out for groceries or something. lol  So I say again... how do you do it!? I know some of you peeps have kids and responsibilities and stuff.  LOL

Needless to say, my knitting has consisted of my stockinette Pipit (details to come) , and a VERY easy lace pattern (K2Tog, Yo) kind of stuff for this pretty cowl/ scarf: The Mustard  Scarf.

I'm knitting mine is some GORGEOUS aran weight Debbie Bliss Alpaca/Silk that my friend at Susie F Handmade gave me as part of her destash!  She gave me two 50g balls of cream and one of black.   I'm using size 15 needles for this! They're so cartoonishly large they are cracking me up laughing! It's like knitting with Tent Pegs! hehehe  That project is not quite done.  I think I'm going to use my large Antler Buttons mom gave me for Christmas LAST year on this one. I'm so excited to wear it!

I'm also excited about buying YARN!  I got a $50 rebate for my recent cell phone purchase and have been given the go ahead to use it JUST for buying yarn! YAY!  But now that I have the opportunity to buy yarn,  I'm so lost in all the choices!  Do I buy two skeins of fantastic sock yarn? (one for a shawl, one for socks of course).  Do I buy more of something less expensive?  I'm always looking to get a great bang for my buck and I want to spend my money somewhere worth while if I'm paying regular retail, ya know?

So here's a few of my options I'm liking:

Lingonberry Jam - SW Merino/nylon sock yarn . $23 + $2.50 shipping from Springtree Road .

 Zen Yarn Garden's Squooshy - $23,50 + unknown shipping.  I've already had a great experience with socks here. They're washing in the machine great! 

I've heard good things about Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock.   The nice thing about these is they're about half the price at about $12!  I might give this a try.  It'd just make my money go so much farther!

 I've knit one pair of socks already with Araucania Rancho, but not the sock version with a bit of Nylon.  Also a good price for the yardage at $15.

These look really pretty from ToPlyFiberArts:

Sea Glass is 80/20 Superwash and Nylon again, a great price at $15.  I like that it's hand dyed by an Etsy artist.  She charges $2.50 for shipping, but then only 75 cents for each additional item... hmmmm.... 

What's your favorite Sock Yarn? Do you dye your own on Etsy? I'd love to see it!  What's your favorite online sock store?  Let's hear it!

Hey, this is kinda Find A Deal Friday, isn't it? Neato!