hey meg! your eunice socks look so nice! and they inspired me to post pictures of my own just-finished socks:
toe-up knee highs, knit using the provisional cast-on toe and short row heel detailed in wendy’s generic toe-up sock recipe, and even though i knit them one at a time, these seriously flew right by. i think the variation in the noro made them a lot more visually compelling than the average sock.
crucial info: i used noro silk garden sock, and some plymouth yarns happy feet that i hand-dyed a sort of muted teal color and size 2 double pointed needles. i kept these so simple – i didn’t even bother with jogless stripes, i just made sure the color changes were on the inside of the calf. did a few rows of increases for the calf, then decreased for the ribbing and finished with a decrease bind-off to keep ‘em flexible. so fun, so fast. and seriously, so stripey!
the days are going to get steadily warmer here in providence (up to 61 degrees on friday?!) so these aren’t going to be in steady rotation just yet. but they are going to make riding to work so much more pleasant when the weather does actually get cold. i secretly can’t wait!
it feels good to be up and with a fresh pot of coffee before 7 am. it’s rainy outside but i am nice and toasty and ready for a morning of peaceful solitude, reading and knitting. i wouldn’t say that these moments are rare, necessarily. over the years i have trained myself to be a morning person more or less because i want days exactly like this to be more frequent. but i still have the odd day where i think i just appreciate it more, and today is one of those.
the picture above? those are some socks and a slouchy hat for an old friend i recently got back in touch with. i’ve done that with a few old and dear friends lately (well, more accurately, they’ve gotten in touch with me, and i’m just really glad that they have). hopefully this one likes the hat and socks, and i know i like the feeling of sending them off and waiting to hear what she thinks. and in the meantime i have lots and lots of works in progress to occupy my rainy day time.
here’s hoping everyone else has a nice day, rainy or otherwise. and also that soon i will have lots and lots of finished objects to share!
granted, my main priority right now is holiday knitting. but it doesn’t mean that i’m not still peripherally aware of the massive destash that i promise will happen…after christmas. still, for the moment, it may be helpful to some of us to learn from the wisdom and experience of others. so:
from twist collective: ask the problem ladies: jostled by stash. no “stash only” yarn diets – i love this advice!
and a few projects that actually really make me want to dig deep into my suitcase of yarn:
this knit banana. of course. also, this womb.
as discussed at a knitting night a few weeks ago, this hot water bottle cozy is kind of amazing. i do not actually own a hot water bottle, but this pattern makes me want to. a hot water bottle and knit cozy would also make a really nice winter holiday present, just sayin’.
i am also considering making some of these little hearts to attach to my christmas present wrapping. (um if i haven’t mentioned that i LOVE christmas, consider yourself warned. i love it so much. it’s my favorite time of year. i will talk about it nonstop until january first.) you might suggest to me that these are more appropriate for valentine’s day, but i say nonsense. or, i say that i will use them for both.
french press cozy. i have a french press. so why not?
and these are called bunny nuggets. i think the word ‘nuggets’ is a little sick, and that alone makes me weirdly want to knit these. also, they are cute.
you might be noticing that these are all sort of ‘novelty knits.’ here is my logic: when i think about things that i am going to wear, even one-skein projects like a hat or cowl, this is when i get excited about buying new and exciting yarn. it is not a time when i get psyched about the idea of using a leftover half skein of wool-ease. a french press cozy and a banana are knits that i don’t really want to invest money in, and therefore make a lot more sense for stashbusting.
enjoy your monday! be good!
sunday was rainy and gross from start to finish. so basically, it was perfect for digging into my christmas knitting without feeling guilty for not being outside enjoying awesome fall weather. this year i am being perhaps overly ambitious in my gift-giving. so overly ambitious that i cannot even reveal my full list to you at this point, because i am afraid of feeling ashamed if i can’t do it. so you will learn about my christmas projects only when i have substantial progress or finished objects to share.
and since it’s going to be more than a little while before i have actual finished objects to share, for now i will just revel in something i finished last march.
colder weather means that i finally get to wear this sweater again. and i realized that i’d never shared pictures of it after sewing the eyes on, and i really think the beads made it look a lot more finished. everything about this sweater makes me happy. i love the yarn (cascade ecological wool), the fit is pretty much perfect, and it’s covered in little owls. remembering that i knit this in a mere four days also serves as good gift knitting inspiration.
goodbye for now! my yarn is purchased, my netflix queue is ready, my apartment is well-stocked with coffee and soy milk. if you need me, come and see me. this will be occupying most of my evenings and weekends from this point on. maybe i’m acting like i don’t love the stress of this kind of challenge. that’s a lot of crap. i kind of thrive on this kind of pressure. i kind of love this in a sick, sick way.
add to that list of projects to-do: one baby kimono for the new baby cousin i will have as of thanksgiving this year.
at least baby knitting is tiny!
but fortunately this will also count as destash, as just left of the center of this disgustingly large suitcase full of yarn, there happens to be some light aqua baby yarn. why do i even own that? all signs point to having a serious problem.
today is the birthday of two of my favorite people back in pittsburgh. i hope they’re having a really excellent day. in providence, it’s drizzling and cold and exactly the kind of day i prefer knitting in bed with felane to biking half an hour in said drizzle to get to work, but that is what i did. i was, however, rewarded with a seasonal treat at my office. pumpkin scones! just a little reminder that i love this time of year, regardless of drizzly commutes.
fall is always most productive for me in terms of knitting. i’ve been bundling up in the living room with the windows open so i can enjoy the fall air, drinking hot apple cider (sometimes adult hot apple cider), marathoning tv shows on netflix instant queue (so far: 30 rock, this american life and weeds), and crafting my little heart out. my progress: i finished one of the halloween costumes i was commissioned to help out with, and i’m halfway through the pair of socks that i mentioned in my last post. i’m starting to feel tempted to take a break from everything to knit myself some new gloves now that it’s cooling off, but that might just be my knitting add kicking in.
over the weekend nicole and i went to the mermaid’s purl in wickford. i had never been to wickford before, and it was really charming. the mermaid’s purl was packed with very tempting yarn treats, but i actually was really responsible and only bought the yarn i needed for my little sister’s christmas sweater. i ended up buying this:
it’s berroco ultra alpaca, which i think will make for a super cozy and soft sweater. and i think the color is perfect for the banana tree pattern, and it’s a color my sister will actually wear. she’s just like i was at eleven, which is to say, extremely particular about things. even though she picked out the sweater pattern, and i’m using one of her favorite colors, i’m still terrified that something about the finished product will be ever so slightly off and she won’t like it. does anyone else have this problem with knitting for preteens? i’m scared!
other than tackling my list, worrying about my sister’s tastes, and drinking so much hot apple cider, i’ve been playing around with my spinning wheel a bit. i spun up a quick skein of singles with the batts i bought at craftland this summer. there’s a lot of amazingly glittery angelina in this, so it was hard to get a picture where the color was totally accurate. but this is pretty close:
it ranges from very skinny to maybe worsted weight, and for the most part there’s almost no overtwist. the colors are really pretty, but i have to say i’m still not 100% psyched on the end result. i think because it’s one of those skeins that looks nice as a skein but i just can’t imagine what it will look like knit. only one way to find out though.
agh. current priorities: purple socks, brown/green hat, squid suit, gloves. expect some serious FO posts soon. enjoy your octobers, everyone!
i know i have talked about my yarn stash before. i know i have talked about it almost obsessively. i have taken pictures of smaller fractions of it. (never of the huge suitcase full of yarn in my closet. even i have a point at which it becomes too embarrassing to own up to.) but i’m going to continue talking about it. and look, here’s another one of those suggestive photos:
but i promise you this time i am really trying to tackle my stash problem head-on. i am going to get this under control. i have been organizing my yarn, winding it into neat, stackable cakes when possible, and trying to actually think about what i can realistically knit with it. i am also considering photographing each yarn and adding it to my stash on ravelry. here is a question: do any of you find that to be helpful in making sure all that yarn gets used up? i’m wondering if i add the yarns to my online stash, will it a) publicly shame me into using up said yarn, b) remind me about my yarn situation while i’m browsing patterns, thus motivating me to choose patterns that will use up the yarn i already own, or c) at the very least, satisfy my weird compulsive organizing tendencies?
here is my current crafting situation: i have just used up most of a skein of sheep shop company’s sheep one to make a pair of mittens. these will be photographed and put on etsy soon. stashbusting! i am also using two skeins of sock yarn from my stash to knit myself these legwarmers. i also just received an etsy order for a pair of socks and a hat from a dear friend from high school. i am also helping two people with the sewing of their halloween costumes, and still knitting my own halloween squid suit. this sounds like a lot, huh? it kind of is, but i’m staying pretty well on top of it.
and of course, even as i type this, i am planning to go yarn shopping not once but twice in the next two days. this is because i am knitting this sweater for my brother and this sweater for my sister. christmas knitting! but of course, i do not already have the appropriate yarns for these sweaters, and i cannot let my siblings down, so i really HAVE to buy more yarn. but then i am really committing myself to the elimination of so much of my yarn. really really really. this is so out of control that it can’t wait to be a new year’s resolution, and will have to be an october 8 resolution instead. feel free to make an october 8 resolution for yourself as well. after all, it’s almost the weekend, and almost a three-day weekend (if you get columbus day off, which i do), so i can’t really think of a better time to get started on a new resolution.
i like these days when i feel about two steps away from taking over the world. good good things.
quickly before i go to sleep (i mean, it’s after 11 pm, so it’s past my bedtime) i want to let crafty friends, especially crafty friends in rhode island know that i’m going to be helping out and running the stitch and bitch on thursday nights from 6 to 9 at waste not want not in providence.
you can bring whatever projects you like – knitting, embroidery, alterations, anything. there is a $3-$6 donation for use of the space and supplies (you can root through scrap fabrics, etc to use in your work). come craft, enjoy some tea or baked goods, maybe do some shopping, whatev. if you don’t knit already but would like to learn, i’m also happy to help out with that. i’ll be there weekly, and it’s really nice to meet new people, and also to see people i already know and love, so come hang out!
the other really important piece of knitting news i have is that i have (finally) started my halloween costume.
it’s a squid. you can tell, right? i just started this week and obviously i’m making this up as i go, due to a surprising lack of squid suit patterns out there, but i think i can pull this off. i’m starting with the body and working down through the tentacles. then i’ll pick up stitches and knit the hood/headpiece last. i’m using the caron pound of wool, and while the color is good i think, the feeling of this yarn isn’t so much. but i think it’ll do the job, and if i end up wrestling any whales on halloween, i won’t be damaging fancy wool. anyway, expect some more interesting squid suit updates as i get to the more exciting parts of the costume construction. and keep your fingers crossed for me!
i finished up this cardigan over the weekend while i was visiting my family in pennsylvania. i’m seriously psyched on the finished product. i had a few issues with sizing early on because i was knitting in a smaller gauge than the pattern called for. i couldn’t tell if i should move up to the large or stick with the medium. in the end, i knit the medium and i think it turned out perfectly, although for the life of me i could not take a picture today that didn’t feature backlighting worthy of either jesus or bret michaels. regardless, here it is:
i mentioned before that i made a few mods to the pattern. i changed the hem, neck and cuffs to 1×1 ribbing, and added a few rows of seed stitch in the middle of the lace chart. a few other knitters on ravelry did this, and their versions were really the ones that sold me on this pattern. anyway, i’m happy with the end result.
my brother and sister and my brother’s girlfriend went out with me to buy buttons. we decided on really plain ones; the lace on the sweater is really pretty and i kind of wanted to let that be the most noticeable part. ravelry details are here if you want ‘em. i have two skeins of this cascade 220 heathers left over and i’m already brainstorming good uses for it. i’m so into this color.
also, probably no one really cares about my new shoes, but i love them, so now you get to look at them:
i’m so happy to finally have chilly fall weather. it’s nice to be able to wear sweaters and drink hot toddies comfortably. lots of projects coming up. and this is the year that i really start my christmas knitting early. as in now. because both of my siblings want sweaters, and i’m over the last-minute holiday frenzy.
be good!
as predicted, the end of my sock-knitting project left me with a void. a void that can only be filled by knitting things for myself. therefore:
i am knitting myself a sweater. sweaters can be complicated, for me at least. i need a sweater that is fun to knit, but that is also very wearable. i happen to like wearing things that are fairly plain. this translates to: lots of stockinette. i know that a lot of knitters dread this, but i will say that i find stockinette if not enjoyable, then at least benign.
(more enjoyable for me if it’s in the round – i hate purling! hate!)
i enjoy a basic fitted raglan or cardigan with a stockinette bod (yes, bod) and a more elaborate yoke pattern. i don’t mean that this is the only kind of sweater that i like, but i think that for me it’s incredibly wearable, but not incredibly boring to make. the stockinette can be kind of meditative, and the yoke patterns give me something fun to think about. the owls sweater i knit in february or march is a perfect example, and definitely my favorite sweater that i’ve knit so far.
keeping this in mind, i decided to cast on this drops design cardigan to use up the gold cascade 220 heathered yarn i’d bought on sale at webs a while back. i’m making a few changes to the pattern. my gauge is smaller, for one. i’m using worst weight yarn instead of aran, and size 6 needles instead of size 7. i’m also doing what a few other ravelers have done and knitting a 1×1 ribbed border instead of the moss and garter stitch suggested. my end result is hopefully also going to be less a jacket and more a fitted cardigan. let’s see how it goes – i’m about 2/3 done with the body, and then i’ll knit the sleeves two-at-a-time using magic loop (who knew i would love the magic loop so much?!) and then it’s on to the lace chart. i’m ready!
this is my first time knitting a drops design, and i have to say, i’m kind of into some of their other patterns. i’ve passed over them on ravelry plenty of times without paying much attention, but once i scanned through some of the project galleries, i realized that what may be turning me off is the a-line or bulky shaping that a lot of them have. but with a little modification, the patterns are actually right up my alley. a few more that i’m definitely interested in knitting: the 88-17 cardigan and the 116-1 cardigan and socks. you should probably just go browse their designs on ravelry. 63 PAGES of patterns. all so nordic and wintry. it’s pretty irresistible and kind of makes me forget that it is currently late august and 84 degrees outside.
