Noro Socks

I made some socks that I just love (I know these pictures are similar, I couldn't decide which one I liked best!):

Montreal Socks (because I started them in Montreal)

Noro Kureyon Sock, alternating from each end of a center pull ball every other row
Basic Sock Recipe from Knitting Rules
US 1.5 Needles

I was quite excited when I first found out there was a Noro sock yarn, and I thought a lot about which sock pattern to use. Inspired by the Noro Scarf, I first knit these alternating colors every 4th row. Looked OK, but the stripes were striping a bit and it just didn't look as sharp. The drawback with changing colors every other row is that that is a bit of a jog, so I ran it down the medial side/inside of each sock:

I manipulated the colors to get solid areas on the cuffs, heels, and toes. I decided not to match the socks, mainly because of the yarn. It tangled easily, and pulling from both ends of the ball was a hassle enough (I probably should have wound it into 2 balls, but didn't). The yarn felt scratchy when knitting, but the finished sock isn't scratchy or uncomfortable to wear. I only had one knot in the ball.

I love the color combinations in the stripes. I had a hard time putting these down because of those stripes: what would the next combination be? This led to late nights. And then got me thinking about color, and what colors to use for these mittens (which I have been admiring for sometime now and the pattern just became available), and my LYS was having a sale on the recommended yarn (Harris Tweed), and ... another project I can't put down:

Fiddlehead Mittens by Adrian Bizilla!

You'll see, the colors are going to be similar to the socks. This knitting is wrecking havoc on my life: My apartment is a mess, I am not getting ready for the big trip I am taking next week, the plants need watering...help!

Internet Classics

Besides the suprised comment: "you knit, really?", one of the things that most surprises people (non-knitters) about knitting today is how online it is. The blogging, the organizational/social wundersite Ravelry, the thriving e commerce, and that there are internet magazines of knitting patterns. Here are two of the most popular patterns from 2 popular internet sites:

Clapotis by Kate Gilbert in Knitty
Sheep Shop #3 - 2 skeins
US 8 needles

This took a while to knit (July-March); dropping the stitches was fun, but when each row is 100+ stitches and its a lot of stockinette ... easy to put down and not pick up again. This is nothing against the pattern - I can see why so many (Ravelry link) have knit this. Its a beautiful shawl, although I will most likely wear it more as a scarf. Despite being quite big (see the armspan?), its really light and not at all bulky to wear. The yarn - perfect for me. I had wanted to knit this for awhile, and was really not sure what yarn to use. I wanted it to be colorful, soft but warm, and without pooling. This yarn is part silk and has short color repeats. But, there was significant skein variation. Drat! But, you really couldn't tell once the stitches were dropped (I can, knowing how bad it was before - you can too, look closely at the armspan picture). I did end up blocking this, but because I totally ran out of yarn - so I ripped back a lot, and ran out again. Well, this time I was closer to the end, so ripped back a bit and then knit 3 together (insted of 2) and made it. And blocking made this unnoticeable as well!

Jaywalker Socks by Grumperina in Magknits
Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Poppy Stripe from Purl Soho
US 1.5 needles

Again, no surprise why this is so popular. I thought a lot about what yarn to use for these as well, I really wanted perfect striping. The repeat of this colorway is almost every row, so perfect! I love the way they look with my black sneakers.



Notice the snow in the Jaywalker pictures? And how I am only wearing a light jacket in the Clapotis pictures. Well, March was in like a lamb with temps near 70 this past week but then this past weekend...

...20 inches and a blizzard! I love winter! (Really, I do, I was getting a little sad about it being over - This past winter in Columbus was much milder than my beloved Cleveland winters). Thankfully, I wasn't working, so I was stranded at my parents with the dogs and ample supplies. After 48 hours, I got a little stir crazy (we were completely snowed in). But it stopped, the driveway got plowed, and an hour later I found myself aimlessly wandering around the grocery store getting provisions with which to watch the final episode of The Wire. SUCH A GOOD SHOW, I had heard this for a while too, but it wasn't until the Sopranos was over that I felt the need to fill the void. And its so much better! And I loved the Sopranos! I am excited and sad to see the final episode.

Just one more thing, I am sitting looking out the window at a ton of snow, and watching 60 minutes, and its light out! Anyone else thrown off (more than usual) by daylight savings time this year?

Iceland

Iceland is done:

Iceland by Stephanie White from Rowan 42
Rowan Cocoon in Scree - between 6-7 skeins
US 10.5 needles

My only modification was to knit the bottom ribbing in the round, sans buttons. The pattern is written out instead of using a chart, which (for me) made it seem more complicated than it really was, but after 1-2 repeat I didn't need the instructions. I blocked the sweater before adding the bottom part, which really gave this sweater its shape and opened up the lace pattern. The pattern is simple, you knit the front and back, then sew them together and add the band on the bottom. I think that I had my hopes up for a bulky pattern, thinking it would take like 2 days to knit (even though it is 800+ yards worth of yarn! What is wrong with me?), and it ended up taking almost 2 months (although, I was doing other knitting in this time - it was a big project, so no that portable on trips/to work). But it was a fun knit, and I enjoyed knitting it. And I love the finished product! I feel like its fashionable and it fits well too. Its warm, but not stiffling because of the open lace pattern and arms. I had been afraid that this would be "weird" and that it would look awkward on, but its not. Its a great sweater, perfect for these cold days, lounging at home or going out! The Coccon yarn was a bit fuzzy and did shed a bit, but its soft works well with this pattern. I had a hard time deciding which color, it comes in beautiful neutral colors. I am trying to decide what hat to make with the leftovers now - I think I have enough for a bulky, fitted hat - maybe this or the Cardor hat also from Rowan 42 (aren't there so many great patterns in this magazine?)

Must blog....

...I have been thinking that for a while now, but its been a vicious cycle: I don't have enough time, there is too much to blog about ... 1 week ... okay, I still don't have time, and there is more to blog about ... OK! Well, I may be a little rushed to work today (I should leave in about an hour and still have to shower and eat....), but its time!

First off...

Montreal. My sister and I try to take trips on our birthdays every year. This year it was Montreal.

We had a great time, its a beautiful and cool (literally) city and there is something surreal about how different of a feel there is there yet it is only a short plane ride. We just enjoyed the city by walking around, shopping, eating well, watching the Canadiens on TV in French (is it Canada or that is was in French, it seemed so much more a suspenseful game there ... on tv!), and getting cold!

Cold ... but you can walk everywhere underground ... Cool!

Yes, it was my birthday, #31. Kind of a blah year. So, I had to treat myself to spice it up a bit!

A splurge from The Loopy Ewe. I've never bought anything from her before, although I have done a lot of browsing on the site. I felt so special when this arrived today, the cute stickers, how nicely everything was wrapped in tissue paper, the needle inventory....

Of course, it didn't stop there. After buying, I checked out Sheri's blog, and saw this.
I resisted. But then later (that day!) I found myself again on the site, during a Sneak Up and, well, not good (I got some Posh sock yarn and DIC classy in Beach Fog). I consider it birthday aftermath (plus, its soooo cold here, cashmere socks and a new wool sweater are needs now!), so this lapse of impulse control has been reconciled. I am going to finally knit an Hourglass sweater from LMKG with the DIC.

And, a FO:

Uptown Boot Socks from Favorite Socks
Trekking XXL
US 1.5 needles

I love the cables, I think they work nicely with the Trekking ... subtle cables and subtle striping.

Finally, I have finished Iceland and will blog about it when I have more time. But a question, this is what is left:

Is it enough for a hat, specifically, this one? I know the answer, but I need someone to tell me so that I don't learn the hard way.

I'll be back soon with pics of my Iceland sweater, promise!

Two steps forward, one step...

So, two of my single socks now have mates:

Soltice Slip and Lenore Socks from my sock club
Socks that Rock Lightweight in Firebird and Lenore
US 1 needles

I liked both of these kits. The Lenores are a beautiful black with red, and I like cables so that Soltice Slip socks are very nice (they also have a garter stitch short row heel, similar to a previous kit that I find really pleasing). No real pooling on either. That makes 4/6 sock kits finished for the 2007 Rockin Sock Club, really its 4/5 because I JUST received the final shipment last week (when everyone else was getting the first shipment of 2008, I haven't received it yet of course, here we go again...). My first shipment was lost in the mail, and I had to be patient with all of the problems they had with shipping around Christmas, and then they had to dye more skeins, and I get stuff so slowly through the mail...They really were very nice throughout it all. It must be a nightmare dealing with the post office, I am sure. Anyway, I fully appreciate what a spoiler is now, I am going to be much more aware of that from now on and hopefully not contribute.

So, I had to reward myself, and what better than a nice Malabrigo hat?

A Simple Hat from Cables Untangled by Melissa Leapman
Malabrigo merino worsted in Golden Ochre, less than 1 skein
US 6 needles

I love this hat! I don't know about you, but knitting cables really make me feel like a good knitter, like I really know what I am doing. I love that these are braided, although my hands were a little sore after knitting this. And, MalabrIgo, wonderful as usual. This is hat # 3 for me with it, the colors are beautiful, and it makes a soft, warm, and just slightly fuzzy hat. The golden ochre did threaten to pool at the top of the hat, but I don't think its too bad.

Now, its a beautiful hat that will get used. But, what I should have been doing ... While I do not do well with deadlines, something that I love to do is to knit something for vacation in order to get excited for the trip. Really, this is how I got back into knitting almost 2 years ago: I took a trip across Canada on the train (great trip, my first time in the Canadian Rockies and Vancouver - both beautiful places, and then Toronto is such a cool city), and I was at Borders looking for travel books when I came across a Knit1, their travel issue. I made socks, a passport cover, and a luggage tag, and enjoyed them on the trip, and just kept knitting once I returned! So, I am taking a trip to Montreal with my sister for our birthdays this year in a little over 2 weeks, and I decided that I must knit an Iceland sweater from Rowan 42 for this trip. Montreal, February, cold, Iceland...
Anyway, here is where I am:

1 skein.
But it is a bulky knit on big needles and the first skein is learning the pattern so it takes longer, right? We will see....

Here we go 2008!

Its my first FO of 2008! My unoriginal (but only 45 yard) hat:

An Unoriginal Hat by the Yarn Harlot
Blue Sky Alpacas Bulky Naturals, ONE SKEIN!!!! (thats 45 yards)
US 15 and 10.5 needles
Blue Sky

Yes, I am very proud that I knit this out of one skein, and a very small skein that has been sitting in my stash forever because I only had one skein of it and didn't know what to make! The original unoriginal hat (see above) was made out of variegated yarn and very nice, but I am really happy with the plain yarn: I love the stitch definition, and the cables really stand out this way.

So, the modifications: I only cast on 42 stitches (1 less pattern repeat around) and used size 15 (US) needles. I planned to use 15s the whole way, but ran out at the decreases. So, I ripped back, and did the decreases on 10.5 needles, skipping the non-decrease row in the decreases. And it fits! I like a hat that sits over my ears, and this does, but barely. I may try to block it to make it longer, but I wore it out tonight (and it was cold out there) and I think it will work as is.

Now, I have to work on some of my single socks. They are starting to get out of control and unfortunately I added one this week:

Its a Pomatomus from Knitty. I am using some old Koigu (also from the stash) and am very happy with these so far: the colors are working perfectly with the pattern (and a little aquatic I think), and the pattern is so cool! In my defense for casting on another pair of socks (I had 6, now 7 socks awaiting mates) these were my vacation socks, for my trip to Florida last week. I saw it as a perfect Florida project because of the pattern (water-themed) and colors (teal, purples, oranges). I wanted to pack light but have enough to knit for the 5 days I was there so I had to start a new pair!

End of the year organizing...and blogging...and a new FO!

This blog is in need of both! Its been a while since I blogged, and a few things on this blog have gotten out of date. Its been driving me a bit crazy, and causing a vicious cycle of not wanting to deal with it so not blogging, things getting even more behind, and so on.

And, as I love the end of the year recaps on the news channels....
...here is my year of knitting (finished projects):

(from L to R, by rows, not all of these were blogged about (I'm not a year yet!), so I put details in where needed)
1. Mitered Mittens (see below), 2. Huckleberry Ascot, 3. Fetching, 4. Koolhaas Hat, 5. Central Park Hoodie, 6. New York Hat (from Magnits, Jan 2007), 7. Eyelet Cardigan, 8. Foilage Hat, 9. Chunky Ribs and Ruffles Scarf (free pattern from Misti Alpaca, here, made with Misti Alpaca Chunky), 10. Grasshopper Socks (Kit #2 from the Sock Club, using Socks that Rock Silkie in Walking on the Wild Tide), 11. Fitted Tank, 12. Cropped Poncho #4 (from Rebecca 32), 13. Fingerless Mitts from Loop, 14. Clementine Shawlette, 15. Calla Tank, 16. Monkey Socks, 17. Inside Out socks, 18. Shedir hat (from Knitty's Fall 2004 Surprise, Rowan Calmer), 19. Calorimetry (from Knitty, Winter 2006, in leftovers from the thrummed mitts) 20. Fleece Artist Thrummed Mittens (from this kit, in Fleece Artist Blue Face Aran and roving).

Observations? My favorite finished knit is the Misti Scarf, its soft and long and keeps me warm but I like the way it looks worn loosely draped inside as well. I probably wear the Shedir hat the most, its cotton so not the warmest, but I love the fit and cables. My most significant project was the Central Park Hoodie, and I am starting to wear it more as it gets cold. I have a pitiful showing for the Rockin Sock Club, just 2/6 socks finished (although, pout, I haven't recieved the Dec shipment yet, they shipped it 2 weeks ago but I guess with the holidays there have been problems and I have to sit tight for now. I have one sock done on another shipment, and a start on another shipment, I am going to make something else with the Summer of Love shipment - at least all of the yarn is accounted for!)

And, since I haven't blogged for over a month, I have a FO to report:

Mitered Mittens from Elizabeth Zimmerman's Knitters Almanac, May Pattern
Yarn: Noro Kureyon color 154, 2 skeins, but only because I wanted to match the colors - I made these with long cuffs, you could make shorter ones and definitely use just one skein)
Neeldes: US 8 DPNs

I love the color for the winter:

I like to wear black coats, and its dreary enough in the winter (those Cleveland winters were worse for the lack of sunlight than the cold and snow) so these brighten up the outfit. Its an afterthought thumb (scary!), so I used the part of the skein that would come next after the mitten tip and I got happy orange thumbs! It also shows how different these mitts could have looked if I started at a different part in the skein.

This was an easy pattern, of course well written, quick, and I didn't make any modifications except to make an extra long cuff. And, as you can see, its finally cold here! (I love winter) and I just love wearing these!

Thanks for reading, and I wish you all a happy New Year!

An Ascot

I finished an ascot! (I wasn't really sure what one was prior to knitting this and reading about it)

Huckleberry Ascot by Kat Coyle
Interweave Knits Holiday 2007
Fleece Artist Kid Silk 3 ply rose, 1 skein
US 7 needles

Not to whine, but I really didn't enjoy knitting the bobbles, at all. I seriously thought about just making a ruffle like in this scarf, but then I already knit that and what fun would that be? They do look nice now that I am done with them. This really is a last minute pattern for those of you making holiday gifts - I pretty much knit it in an afternoon (I am not this year, after the disasterous NaKniSweMo, I just didn't have the confidence to take on multiple projects with a deadline). I love the way it looks with my dressy black coat, but it also looks quite good with just a t-shirt. My second winner from this magazine too (heres the first)! And there is more I want to knit too...

Defeat

Well, I have finally admitted to myself, NaKniSweMo is not going to happen for me. Except for the completely impulsive lone Marigold sock, I have a bit of knitting blah right now, and just haven't been knitting much the past few weeks. I don't know why at all, you would think now that winter is upon us, I would want to knit sweaters, other warm things. But I guess more than anything, I've just been feeling lazy, maybe because I am spending too much time at home with Chief:

My cat, Chief. Very lazy.

Even yesterday, I said to myself, there is still time for Marseilles (my November sweater) (!!!It only took me 3 hours to knit the first cable repeat!) Marseilles is going to be a project. I found it requires A LOT of concentration, frequent use of the crochet hook for fixing mistakes, and I guess I am just slowing down as winter comes on (less sunlight, less time outside=overall less activity) so this isn't the right project for me right now. Its funny, I picked that pattern because I wanted a challenge, but the challenging part of it was what kept me from picking it up. Its going to sit in the basket for a while now, maybe I will do a repeat here and there, but now I really want to crack into my latest Rowan ... lots of bulky yarn projects!! (Right now I am between (warning, Ravelry links): Petersburg, Iceland, and the Alpine Shrug - any opinions out there?)

Procrastination

I have a pitiful start on my Nokniswemo, (Marseilles, if you are curious here it is on my Flickr). Why? I really don't know why I decided to cast on for another pair of socks.

I became involved with these:

Marigold Socks by Pamela Wynne

This is a really fun pattern to knit, part of why it wasn't painful to rip back 3 times! First, I tried to reincarnate my Chevron Scarf, but switching colors every 8th row (the pattern repeat) didn't look right. Then, I tried repeating the colors every other row, but I didn't like this either. Then I tried with a more colorful Koigu (here), but it just looked a little crazy with all of those colors and the ridges of the purl rows in the pattern. So, I re-cast on with the current yarn (Koigu KPPM color P812) and finally I am happy (very happy - these are great socks, I highly recommend impulsively casting on like I did).

Have a nice weekend - I can't believe Thanksgiving is next week already! (It is a week early this year I guess)

November is for sweaters

NaKniSweMo - How fun! And I needed an excuse to cast on for this: Marseilles! OK, I said it, I'm committed now, it has to be done by the end of this month! All of a sudden this seems like a big task for one month. This pattern jumped out at me the first time I flipped through the magazine - early in my knitting adventures. I loved it, but didn't think there was any chance that I could knit it. That was over a year ago, isn't it nice to see yourself getting better at something? There are beautiful FOs on Ravelry. I am so excited to cast on.
I am using Patons Classic Merino in "bright red." It really is, I hope not too much so. I had originally bought it awhile ago for Cheesylove which has fallen out of favor with me, I don't know why.

Speaking of stash ... look what I made from leftovers from my Foilage and Koolhaas hats:

Fetching from Knitty, Summer 2006 in Malabrigro Frosted Grapes and ?Blue Worsted.
I had a hard time getting good pictures of these, and I'm still not happy with the pics. I love these colors together. Maybe the stripes take away from the cables a bit, but in person its not as bad as in the pictures. And so soft. Its a really cute pattern too that can be knit quickly. I didn't make any modifications to the pattern, just alternating colors every other row. I really like these.

I'd better start working on my sweater!

Mmmmm.....Grapes

I couldn't resist....


Koolhaas Hat by Jared Flood in Interweave Knits Holiday 2007
Less than one skein of Malabrigo Worsted Frosted Grapes
US 6 (ribbing) and 8 needles

I've never been a part of Fiberlicious before, but I just had to become a member after knitting this. The yarn is so beautiful - the colors really are that of frosted grapes, don't you think? I was a little worried that this was going to pool, or take away from the pattern but I think that it works. Great pattern too. Of course, cabled without a cable needle. (I hated cabling before learning how to do this). I have about 1/3 of a skein left, and I also have about the same left over from my Foilage Hat - This hat is a present for my mom and I was thinking of making some coordinating mitts with the two, maybe these? I'm not sure if I have enough yarn. I could definitely make some fingerless-type mitts.

I also got the new Interweave Knits in the mail ... I'm not so sure about this one. The models are kindof freaking me out a bit ... I was reading the Interweave forum at Ravelry and I guess I am not the only one. There are a few projects that I like, but there aren't as many in previous magazines, I feel like the style of the patterns is much different in this issue. Or maybe I have just really liked the previous magazines (thats definitely true), so this is just a relative let down. Also doesn't look like there is a November Magknits, is there any pattern of which months will have one? I always look forward to checking for one at the beginning of each month.

Happy November!

Its still too hot!

I really had wanted this to be done earlier, so that I could enjoy the cool fall weather in it, but I was sweating taking pictures of this ... and its almost NOVEMBER!

At least the leaves are still pretty. And I'm not complaining about the weather, it was beautiful today, but I love the cool cripsness of fall and it just hasn't really happened yet!

(Ilse and I seriously thinking about jumping in to cool off)
OK, the sweater, here are the details:
Pattern: Central Park Hoodie by Heather Lodinsky, in the Fall, 2006 Knitscene magazine
Yarn: Cascade 220 Heathers, a green-blue gray, about 4.5 skeins
Needles: US 8s

Verdict:

hmmm...I guess I look a little stern there, not as happy as I should be looking because I really like the finished sweater and I really enjoyed this knitting. I pretty much followed the pattern exactly, and it worked out just fine, but if I were to do it again I would probably knit it in the round (body and arms). There was a lot of seaming, which I didn't enjoy (mainly, because I suck at it!). Luckily, I got some help from the Ravelry Central Park Hoodie KAL. Darn, I don't mean to be negative - I liked this project! It was fun to knit, went fairly quickly, and the pattern was well written. I love the components: the cables, the hood, that its a cardigan. And it fits (the ultimate sign of a good pattern)! Well, a modification, it fits now - it was a little snug right off the needles, so I soaked it in some soak (I'm a fan of Aquae), then pinned it to the floor (I have carpet now, making blocking much easier!) (and with a clean garbage bag underneath to prevent mildewey eueew) according to the measurements in the pattern and voila:

Now it fits!

Modifications:

The main/only modification was that I didn't seam the hood, I grafted (My favorite Kitchner Stitch link) it. I'm not great at grafting either, as you can tell, but I am getting better! And, this definitely looks neater than a big seam, right?

OK, now confession. I can't pay attention. I had issues with one of the arms and had to rip it out because I wasn't following the increases. And the cables. Remember my back cable mistake early in the project? Well, I didn't fix it and it ended up OK because the hood covered up the nastiness nicely:

But, then I went and did it again, in a noticeable area: the arm. Yes, the same arm that I had already ripped out once. And I was about 20 rows up by the time I noticed this:

Of course, this had to be fixed ... but ripping?
Nope. Someone linked me to this tip from the Yarn Harlot, and I think that the quick and dirty worked out pretty well:

You can tell, but this became less noticeable after washing. And its not a mis-crossed cable now. But I can see how this could bother a person. It just didn't bother me enough to justify ripping out the arm a second time.

One more thing, because buttons really are hard to find and it took me a bit to find these:

Buttons from JoAnn's. Blah, I know, but I got lucky and they were 40% off, randomly, so it was $5.35 for 6 buttons and peanut M+Ms (I don't do that often, I had missed lunch due to all of that seaming!). And, I liked these.

I can't wait to wear this ... I think its going to be in the LOWER 60s later this week, maybe it will be overcast t00 and I really will need a warm sweater! If not, I am sure winter is coming soon enough, I just hope that there is a little bit of autumn in the meantime.

Phew - I hope that you made it to here, and that all of the pictures loaded OK. Thanks for reading!