Birthday loots!

It was my birthday, and I gots presents!


The book, 2-at-a-time Socks, was a gift from my mother. She doesn't knit, but she very much appreciates it that I do. I sense that this is a hint! Since I'm a die-hard DPN fan, I probably won't use the two-at-a-time method, but the patterns are really cute.

The other gifts are from the wonderful Aspen. I've already stowed all my notions in the bag (which is AWESOME), and a beautiful beaded stitch marker (not pictured) is on my latest Mindless Sock. The yarn is a breathtaking silk laceweight from Redfish. (And a little sample skein of sock yarn from Miss Babs *Squee*

Yay birthdays!

Holiday knitting inc

For those of you who don't game, "inc!" is short for "monsters incoming . . . and they don't look friendly." So holiday knitting is definitely inc around here.

Here's the current list, just to keep myself organized:

1) A birthday present for a friend--this is already late. I just hope it's worth it.
2) Socks for my newest cousin (recipient of the Baby's First Tattoo)--and her older brother, of course, so he won't feel left out.
3) Socks for R3's girlfriend, J. I have just the yarn picked out . . .
4) A scarf for R3--he's such a good sport to tolerate my knitting whims, he deserves something in return.
5) Scarves for my housemates. All of them will have to be suitably masculine.

And this is for starters . . . I'm sure I'll think of more.

Socks: final destination

Here are the hibiscus socks, complete at last.


Pattern: Embossed Leaves Socks from Favorite Socks

Yarn: Great Adirondack Yarn Company Silky Sock (70/20/10 merino/silk/nylon), colorway Hibiscus. Size 0/2mm needles (down from the 2/2.75mm called for in the pattern).

These are now on their way to celebrate a dear friend's birthday--many more, Ms. Wiz!

I have to say, although it made pretty socks, I was disappointed in this yarn. There were tons of silk slubs and those little whatchamacallits where extraneous fibers get wrapped around the strand and have to be cut off--not the quality I expect for the price I paid. I also didn't much care for the way the colors fell against one another in the plain stockinette portions. Fortunately, the leaves broke them up really beautifully--a reason I like lace patterns for some variegated yarns. On the positive side, I think the socks will wear very well, between the fiber content and the really high twist of the yarn.


Thoughts on the pattern: as always with Interweave, the directions were crystal-clear and well-formatted. I always like a nice alternative toe, too. Maybe it's just my crankiness coming out, but I hate fussy cuffs. Twisted rib looks nice, but it doesn't look nice enough to justify how slow and tedious it is to knit, in my humble opinion. (Also, I think the cast-on was stupid. But I think every cast-on besides long-tail is stupid, so I probably shouldn't be listened to on that front.)

I am such a dork

I literally just announced to myself, as I sat down at my computer: "let's knit it ON."

Will the sock madness never stop?

The answer is no.

Here are the latest Mindless Socks.


Yarn: Regia Silk (55/25/20 merino/polyamide/silk--unfortunately discontinued), colorways Nairobi and, um, plain white? The number is something boring like 0002.

Pattern is mindless socks, of course, done with 52 stitches on size 1/2.25mm needles. That creates a very fine, thin sock that could easily be worn with everyday shoes.

I really like this combination of yarns--it satisfies both my frugality and my aesthetics. You'll be seeing similar socks as I work through the remainders of previous projects. I'm also on a yarn diet, so I can't buy any new sock materials for the foreseeable future. *sadface*

Blood, sweater, and tears

The Endless Sweater is complete! *tah-dah* (Please ignore how awful I look in this photo. This was the best picture of the sweater. See how I suffer for my art.)


Pattern: Boyfriend Sweater from Hip to Knit (52" size). Yarn: Bemidji Woolen Mills Original Homespun (225 yds/skein), 4.75 skeins oatmeal heather, 0.5 skein natural, for about 1150 yards total. (Way less than the estimated 1500, by the way; I have two full skeins of the oatmeal leftover.)


These pictures were taken by my friend R3, who was getting a little revenge for the time I forced him to model a scarf. That's sparkling cider, not champagne. That didn't stop us, of course.


Modifications: I moved the cables seven stitches in toward the neck on both sides. They'd have been in my armpits if I'd knit them as written--as it is, I could have moved them a little further still. I omitted the patch pockets over the cables and instead left gaps in the side seams for pockets there.

Here's a close-up I took of the buttons, which are incredible handmade glass I got at my LYS. They remind me of dried apricots, only less edible and more beautiful.


Notes on the pattern: it was a relatively quick and easy knit. Most of the measurements were accurate (I got stitch gauge but not row gauge); however, the sleeves were far too long at the 21" called for. I removed the cuffs, ripped some, and knit shorter cuffs. The sleeves are still a bit oversized, exactly what I wanted.

All in all, a very satisfactory knit. I've been wearing it around all week, and it's just perfect for early fall.

*squee*

So I got a very nice thing in the mail the other day:


The lovely Nyx sent me some beads, some chocolate, a little J. Knits Lace-a-licious (in "Boston") . . . and some of her very own handpainted laceweight.

Seriously, this stuff is so gorgeous. The picture can't do it justice; it's much more subtle and purpley in person. Right now it's on the corner of my desk so I can pet it as desired--I don't remember the fiber content off the top of my head, but I think there's some cashmere in there. Whatever it is, it's wonderful. <3 Nyx.

Erm . . .

So, here's the deal. The sweater was done, complete, finis. And then I decided the sleeves were too long.

I realize that I perhaps should have paid attention to this before I finished knitting them, or before I sewed them into the sweater. But anyway.

This meant I had to remove the cuffs, ravel a few inches of sleeve, and reknit to my satisfaction. I did this, but the doing of this meant that I couldn't get any pictures taken. Furthermore, I haven't been knitting much else because, sweater.

I promise the next post will have not only more content but be substantially more interesting.