13 days

I’m not reading your blog…

not because I don’t want to! I do, really, and I want to comment too - but the next 15 days (and the ones preceding it) are going to be some of my busiest @ school yet. Once these are all crossed off I’ll return to the land of blog - really!

But I did finish one thing before the madness ensues, my ISE 6 scarf, ready to be shipped off to its far off local tomorrow

Pattern: Bias Knit Garter Rib Scarf (ravelry link), about 5′ long
Yarn: My handspun - silk/merino blend from Abi’s Web
Color: silvery-green
Needles: KP Options US 7, then blocked the hell out of it

Last, but not least, Happy Mother’s day Mum! Thanks for everything you do, I hope to be as good a mom as you. 

over/through the wall

Well, after embracing the fraternal-twin/2nd cousin nature of my garter rib socks - I finished them quickly. I learned a good lesson about knitting - you just have to push through sometimes! If I had done that back in December…I would have had these socks to wear all winter - ok, lesson learned!

Name: Sandra Dee & Rizzo Socks
Pattern: Garter-Rib Socks from Sensational Knitted Socks, about 0.8 skeins
Yarn: Spunky Eclectic - Skinny Socks, from Maine Fiber Frolic 2007
Color: Hot Rod
Needles: Knit Picks 32″ circs, size 2

It felt good to finish both these and my ISE 6 hand-spun scarf, which is now blocking - it will get its moment in the sun soon!

I got to see Yarn Harlot/Webs madness last weekend (not like I took any pictures, glad Bethe did!)- coming away with a healthy bag of yarn to make some of these designs.  Webs was overwhelming - I am glad I went with a list!

April vacation

April vacation is coming to a close - where does the time go? It has been a good vacation filled with light (mystery) reading: Aunt Dimity’s Good Deed, Aunt and The Duke, Aunt Dimity Digs in, and The Green Mill Murder and a bit of knitting - still working on my fraternal twin (actually  they look more like second cousins) garter rib socks, my ISE 6 scarf, and Baby sweater on two needles.

I had hoped for a bit more fancy pattern for this swap scarf - but garter stitch really is what makes handspun shine. So, I started another bias-knit scarf while @ SnB on Wednesday night - Ah, so nice to knit with such great people. I hope my swapee like it - while it isn’t the fanciest of knits - it has quite a bit of work in it - so it makes me happy.

The fiber came from Rhinebeck - and it was a bit of ambitious pick for a newbie spinner, silk & merino blend that just said “take me home…” but just like new knitters are seduced by the siren song of pretty yarns - as was I with this 8 oz. of squishy-goodness. The green color marled with yellows, silvers, and reds - really beautifully blended. I got two good hanks out of most of the braid, but then wasn’t paying attention to the last little bits and spun one bobbin clockwise, the other counterclockwise - you can guess what happened when I tried to ply them, yeah, yarn mess! So, I salveged what I could by splitting each bobbin into two little balls an plied them to their match. So I squeaked out another 20 yards. I just *hate* to waste any fiber!

Colors

There are certain colors that must remind me of people. Sage , I think of my husband; olive green reminds me of my dad, my mom is ocean sky blue or deep reds. My MIL is deep turquoise. Maryse had a fantastic knit-a-square contest to help out a friends’ dad. And I won a LOVELY skein of Tess Silk&Wool (thanks Maryse!)- it didn’t even make it into the ravelry stash before I wound it and started to knit up a belated birthday present for my MIL.

Pattern: Superlong Wrap (ravelry link) - adapted to scarf width & length, from Knitting to Go Deck by Kris Percival
Yarn: Tess’ Designer Yarn Silk&Wool, 250 yd.
Color: ummm blue? (didn’t say on the ball band)
Needles: KP Options  US 10.5

Adaptations - I cast on 39 stitches (the wrap calls for 84), knit until I didn’t have any more yarn.

I like this pattern for a few reasons - it shows off simple yarns in a beautiful way without being too fiddle-y. And it took 4 days to knit, 1 day to block - a plus in my book! Now if I can just get the hang of self-portraiture…

H is for…

The house that became a Home

We’ve been living here just under a year, but it was a l-o-n-g time coming. We started looking at house plans before we were engaged, bought the land in 2005, and moved in August of 2007. Building a custom home is not for the faint of heart - even though we weren’t pounding the nails, it was quite a bit of work.

J spent most of 2006-7 overseeing our G.C. (thank goodness) on top of running his business - which made for long nights and short weekends. But, the hard-work/stress/decision-making paid off and we now get to live here. Yay!

Because no baby should have a 30″ head

reason 1500 why you should check your gage, after making a Sweet Baby Cap with light sport/dk yarn I thought that I could blithely cast on with an aran weight and create a slightly* bigger cap…After working the pattern for about an hour I realized that this hat would fit…the baby when he was in graduate school! The hat had circumference of about 30″…way too big for any baby noggin!

Recast on to do a simple cap in a more manageable size…

Pattern: My own
Yarn: Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran tweed
Needles: Size 5 circs/dpns

Yep that gauge thing ain’t no joke!

April showers…

Bring FOs! Well, one anyways!

Pattern: Sweet Baby Cap
Yarn: Spunky Eclectic - Supernova: Riverwalk
Needles: Size 3, knitpicks circular, magic loop
Mods: none

A quick knit - I started it in the car on the way to my friend Erin’s twins’ 3rd birthday party, and finished it on Wednesday @ Knit night. A very nice pattern that paired very well with the great yarn from Spunky. I got this at the Maine Fiber Frolic last year (the same time I got the Hot Rod sock yarn that is giving me a run for my money right now). It is a great festival and one I will return to hopefully this year.

What made me happiest about this project was getting to practice right-twist/left-twist M1 for the increases.

Another nice part of the week was a wee prize from CurlyKnitter’s contest - Thanks Erin!

Yay, fiber!

G is for…

Glasses & the Geek

I have been wearing glasses for the better part of 20 years - both my parents wear them, so I knew it was inevitable. This pair is my favorite so far - they are a good shape and size, and with a hint of blue to them - perfect.

I am in my 6th year of teaching Physics - one of my two college majors (the other was Geology) and while I do make a living doing a traditionally female job, I try to show that women can teach and participate in any aspect of science and engineering that sparks their imaginations.

Knitting Confessional: Socks

After hearing about the annual sock burning ritual in Maryland, I thought it was about frustrated sock knitters tossing their sock UFOs onto the pyre - alas, no (and on second thought, good too because sock yarn should never be wasted!) I thought of the 3 pairs of socks that I have started, actually of the 15 individual socks that I have started, and the one finished pair that I have to show for all that effort.

I have been stymied as of late on my simple garter rib socks - great pattern + lovely yarn = utter frustration. I have not been able to get the striping right yet. I am on my 4th sock and it isn’t looking good. I have one sock that looks awesome (finished) and 3 attempts to match it has failed. I am not sure what to do - to finish the sock regardless of the striping and move on? Not sure.

I’ve frogged the Lorna’s Laces Black Purl: Embossed Leaves socks because of the striping/pooling issues. (Not a good pairing of pattern and socks - both are great, just not together) And a toe-up attempt on a Jaywalker with Lucy Neatby’s Celesital sock yarn.

Methinks it is analogous to trying to run up a steep a hill, in a pair of heels, in the rain, without my glasses, at night….

::Deep Breath::

I think I should take inspiration from my first successful pair of socks (Colinette Jitterbug: Toscana) that I have knit - (proving to myself that I can)

Ok, I am putting on my glasses and some sensible (but cute!) shoes, taking my umbrella, and going for a hike with a simple pattern with some semi-solid, subtly variegated, yarns. Wish me luck!