Friday, March 23, 2007

Whole Lotta Knittin Goin On

I tried ..... really I did. But, there's just no getting away from the .... ahem .... adult look of these socks when they aren't on your feet. I finished with the first sock with the exception of weaving in the ends, and should finish the second tonight or early tomorrow. They fit like a dream, and I love the cables on the leg. I'll be sure to get a good closeup of them when they are both done ...... on my feet lol.



The second Sanquhar glove is coming along nicely now too. I plan to spend quite a bit of time with it this weekend and hope to have it completed by Monday evening. I guess casting on Paul's next project was just the ticket I needed to motivate me to finish these.



The Mermaid jacket hasn't suffered for all the other projects on my needles either. This photo is a bit dark so it's hard to tell, but I am past the center back and coming perilously close to the second armhole decreases. I don't hold any illusions that she will be finished in March, but the body of the jacket should be. Hopefully I don't lose interest while knitting the sleeves. I've been swatching stash yarn for the Pullover Flair sweater from IK Spring 06 as my next sweater for the Sweater A Month Knitalong, and hope it knits quickly enough to have it done in April.





I did do a few more rounds on Paul's Retro Rib socks. I couldn't help myself. The yarn is just so yummy all I want to do is pet it. I'm really liking the way the colors are pooling in a spiral fashion up the sock. I hope the second does this too.









I mentioned that I had bought some more of the Cider Moon Haiku to make frivolous socks for myself. Since I was so close to finishing the Inside Out socks, I decided to cast on last night and try out the pattern I had picked. This is the very beginning of the Hidden Passion socks from Favorite Socks. Can't quite see yet, but there will be x's and o's in illusion knitting on the top of the foot, and again on the leg of these. Their construction is different from any other sock I have knit before so this will be a fun project.

Monday, March 19, 2007

Warning! Adult Content Ahead .....

Let's ease into this adult content thing k?

Last week was another of those weeks from hell on the job front so not so much blogging. Things should be settling down now though so hopefully I can update more often. I even missed sending my update for the Sweater a Month Knitalong dangit. I'll have to make sure to do that this week since I've made quite a bit of progress on Mermaid. Photos of her later this week.

I spent a good portion of Saturday working on the 2nd Sanquhar glove. Just about done with the thumb gusset. I hope to have these done this weekend. Whew! I feel like I've been knitting on these things forever.



Next up on the needles for Paul are some Retro Rib socks from "Favorite Socks". I finally wound up that Cider Moon Haiku I bought last fall and cast them on to give me incentive to finish those dratted gloves. Can you fall in love with a yarn? If so, I am completely head over heels for this Haiku stuff. So much so that I bought some to make myself a pair of impossibly frivolous socks. You know you're hopelessly addicted when you don't bat an eyelash at spending almost $90 to make yourself some socks! Paul saw the beginning of the socks before going on his 2 week business trip and he really likes the colors. I decided to do these toe up instead of cuff down as the pattern is written so I can make sure to use as much of the yarn as possible.



Friday night brought the finishing of Jen's Scarf. I've converted her! Now she wants me to knit her the Leg Cozies from "Lace Style".





Pattern: Lace Trimmed Scarf, Vogue Knitting Scarves Two on the go!
Yarn: Misti Alpaca
Started: 2/2/2007
Finished: 3/16/2007

And now to that Adult Content. If you are under the age of 18, please close your browser lol.

I mentioned in my last post about March goals that I wanted to knit that Lacy Thong from the Staff Projects of the Spring 07 IK. Only took a couple of American Idol episodes to finish and it will look quite nice with the frilly nightie finished in February.


Pattern: Lacy Thong, Interweave Knits Web Pattern
Yarn: Schachenmayr Catania
Started: 2/27/2007
Finished: 3/17/2007

Earlier this week, Yarn Harlot had the (nope I'm not going to type it, you fill in the blank yourself) to post what I now believe every Rockin' Sock Club member has been thinking. Paul and I had snorted, guffawed, and made tons of bad jokes about the looks of the first sock off the foot. He keeps saying that his new "willy warmer" looks like it will be quite snug LOL.

I kept knitting along, thinking that surely once I got to the heel and started up the leg that this little lookalike thing would fade away .......

Uh ........



...not only did it not fade away, I think it got worse!!

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

A Hole In The Head?

So, what is it that I need like I need a hole in the head?

Why yes, you're right. Another project on the needles!!

I liked the Moss Grid Hand Towel (Mason Dixon Knitting) so much, I decided to make the Chevron Stripes Hand Towel. Not much by way of progress yet, but I only worked on it for a short time this past weekend. I see this as my possible "knitting while playing a computer game with Paul" project. When I got the linen for this towel, I picked up some matching super soft cotton to make washcloths with. My powder rooms will be prissed up for sure!



I received my first Rockin' Sock Club shipment last week. Love love love everything in it! Lots of hoopla going on over at the Club blog regarding the pattern though. Those like me (the freakishly skinny footed ones) are all aflutter about this pattern only being for medium to large circumfrence feet ...... and those with the medium to large circumfrence feet all aflutter over the cable pattern on the leg being too tight for them. After a false start, then some math and deductive reasoning, I have managed to re-engineer the foot of this sock pattern to fit my skinny feet and still keep the integrity of the ribbing/cabling pattern so the sock is still reversible. How cool is that? Reversible socks!!



Sanquhar glove #1 is finished! Big sigh of relief ..... but of course there is #2 to get done. I didn't manage to get through the ribbing like I had hoped this past weekend, but I am almost half done with it now.



Mermaid is not coming along quite as fast as I had hoped. For the most part it is mindless garter stitch, but there is just enough shaping etc in the pattern to keep me from knitting on it while talking to Paul. Never fails. We start gabbing and I lose track of where I am and spend twice as much time figuring it out as I do knitting. Some major progress will be made next week and the week after however, as Paul is going out of town on business.

Friday, March 9, 2007

Bout time I posted an update

I know, I know, I promised an update much earlier this week, but this has been one heck of a week. First the batteries died in the camera. I forgot to charge them while nursing Paul, who had some oral surgery done. Then, I've been putting in quite a bit of overtime at work trying to help on a team with an impossible deadline. Something had to give, and since I wasn't about to abandon my knitting for a whole week, the blog was chosen.

Natalie, over at Keeping Me In Stitches, posted today that I crank out the knits faster than anyone else in the world, and that my blog might make some cry. Isn't that about the sweetest? Check out her blog. There's a nifty link in today's post to turn your blog into a book. I've bookmarked the site for consideration later this year. Quite frankly though, I'm almost afraid of what the cost will be. I can be a bit rambly if you know what I mean.

I've mentioned the scarf I'm making for my daughter, but I think this is the first progress photo I've posted. The teen who "doesn't like knitted stuff" is in love with this scarf. And who wouldn't be? It's a pretty lace pattern worked up in Misti Alpaca Worsted, so it's about the softest thing you've ever laid your hands on. This should be finished up just in time for Spring, when she won't have need of it. That'll teach her to say such blasphemous things as "I don't like knitted stuff". Ha!



Peace Brotha!!

That's what goes through my mind every time I see the state of Paul's glove *snicker*. I was hoping to have this one done and the second worked through the ribbing this weekend, but we'll have to see. It's looking like I might have to work both Saturday and Sunday to help meet the aforementioned impossible deadline.



What can I say about Mermaid? I love this pattern! I'm planning on buying a couple more of the kits later this year. One for my mother for her birthday, and the bright red/pink/orange one for myself.

Sunday, March 4, 2007

Can't wait for warm weather!

I can't wait for the weather to get warm enough to wear my latest FO! I really like the way it turned out. I may add a crochet border to the edges on the neckline to give it a bit of stability, but other than that I think this top is the perfect thing to dress up a casual tank dress this Spring.




Pattern: Cropped Lace Top, Vogue Knitting Holiday 2006
Yarn: Elann Super Kydd
Started: 2/10/2007
Finished: 2/28/2007

For those keeping count along with me, this marks the completion of my 4th sweater for the Sweater A Month Knitalong. It may seem like I'm way ahead of schedule, but the milestones of that schedule will catch up to me during the knitting of my next couple of sweaters. I'm going to need the extra time to complete Mermaid, Ping Pong, and the Dale sweaters I have planned to knit this year.

I've done some work on the Sanquhar mittens and on my daughter's scarf also. I plan to take photos and post on those projects tomorrow :o)