Valentine's Day

Everyone should read The Yarn Harlot's blog today. It's really good.

Sorry, I have not figured out how to put in links the text yet, however you can go to Yarn Harlot on my Links sidebar.

What's New

Here is a pair of socks I just finished. These are knit out of Mountain Colors Bearfoot yarn in the purple mountain colorway. The close up photo is the closest to how they really look. They are very dark blue with little zings of bright purple. This is my basic 2x2 rib cuff with heel flap. I did not try anything fancy with these socks, because the yarn does tend to fuzz and felt when washed. Any detailed patterning gets lost after just a few washes. They are very soft though. They have just a little bit of mohair in them.

In other knit news, I have not done much on either of the shawls that I started. I just have not had the concentration that they take.

I do have two other pairs of socks on the needles.
One is out of the mermaid yarn. This is the fifth
attempt to make socks with this yarn. I think this one just may be it. I will explain more later when I am more sure they are going to work.

The other pair of socks is a plain pair out of a yarn
called TOFUtsies. It is a wool/cotton/soy blend in
a pretty blue and white tweedy sort of colorway.
It's very soft and works up well. Photos later.

Shawls

This is the Faroese shawl that I have been working on. You really can't tell much about it from the photo, hence the picture from the book. This Lorna's Lace Shepherd Worsted. The color is Manzanita, and the photo is pretty close. I like this shawl, because it has fitted shoulders. Hopefully, it will stay on a little better than shawls that are flat.






This is the Icarus shawl from Interweave Knits Summer 2006. Again, it is really hard to see much of what is going on in the photo. I had stopped working on it for a while, because I did not have good needles for this lace. My mother sent me some of her nylon needles that she has had for a long time, and they are working much, much better. I don't know why these needles are longer made. They are smooth, but not slippery, they have a really good join and the points are very sharp. They are my favorite needles to work with for almost any project.

There are also socks on the needles, but I will not bore you with them now. I will bore you with them another time.

Weird Things

So, my daughter tagged me to list 6 weird things about myself. I don't usually do memes, and she should really know how weird I am after living with me for twenty-three years. However, for the sake of daughterly love, I will try to think of 6 weird things about myself. I have been mulling this over for a while now, and I'm still not sure if I can come up with 6 things. My family would really be better at this than I am.

1. I hate to have my ears touched. I have no idea how I got my ears pierced.

2. I don't like some foods because of their slimey texture. Even if the taste is OK, I can't get passed the texture. Boiled okra=yuck!

3. Even though I have lived on the East Coast or the Gulf Coast most all of my life, I am not a big seafood fan. When I lived in Louisiana, no one could understand why I did not LOVE seafood.

4. I HATE spiders. It's an absolute phobia. This is probably not that weird, but my family loves to torment me about this.

5. I eat the same thing for lunch every day. I don't have to; I'm just lazy.

6. I have a hard time following knitting patterns exactly as they are written. I'm always trying to make them "better/easier". This causes major problems at times. Usually, the patterns are written a certain way for a reason. Hence, I frog...... a lot.

There. Six weird or not so weird things about me. If you read my blog, consider yourself tagged.

Surprise in the mail

I was dragging around today, what with the weather still gray, cold and wet. I was really feeling very gloomy. I went out to check the mail, and the mailbox was packed with three days of mail. I went through all the mail, bills, bills, more bills, applications for credit cards, etc. On the bottom of the stack was a big, plain, bubblewrap envelope addressed to me. I could not remember ordering anything, but I opened the envelope, and this is what I found. Poems of Color, Knitting in the Bohus Tradition by Wendy Keele. I had been interested in this book after reading several different blogs about it. I ordered it, and then totally forgot about it! So, now I am happily reading about Bohus knitting. This is a beautiful book. It has cheered me up tremendously. I don't know if I will ever actually try to knit anything in this book, but I love the history behind the designs and the wonderful use of color. Interesting stuff.

Gray Day

It has been a really gray and gloomy day today. It has rained most of the day, and it's cold. My thermometer on my back porch has not gotten over 35 degrees all day. So cold and damp, ick.

I finally took the decorations off the Christmas tree this afternoon. All by myself, Sarah. It went OK until I got to the lights. The lights did not want to come off the tree. After much struggling and detangling of wires under the tree, I finally prevailed. The next Christmas tree is going to be pre-lit. I put all the ornaments and lights into the four new rubbermaid tubs we bought, but I still need one more. Too much stuff.

On that note, I am going to go feed the dog. Then I need to figure out what to have for dinner for the people in the house.

Sock and No Socks

More socks....I finally finished the TrekkingXXL socks that I have been working on for forever. I really like the way they turned out, and they are very, very comfortable.










I also finished the Koigu Sunrise socks I was making for Sarah. She says they are very warm and cozy.











I took the Mermaid socks off the needles, because I was not happy with the way they were going. I still love the yarn; I just need to find another pattern or make them plain. I will restart them at some point.

So....that means there are NO socks on the needles here. Shocking, I know. This is probably the first time in about a year and half that I have not had at least one pair of socks going. This too will pass.

What is on the needles? Shawls. I am working on two shawls right now. I am working on the Icarus shawl from Interweave Knits Summer 2006 and the Fenna Shawl from Stahman's Shawls and Scarves. The Icarus is in a beautiful cobalt blue Fiddlesticks Knitting Zephyr Wool-Silk. The Fenna shawl is Lorna's Laces Shepherd worsted in the Jeans colorway. I am really enjoying both these shawls, although the Icarus does take a lot of concentration. I can only work on it for small periods of time. I will post pictures when I have more to show.

Happy New Year! Be safe out there.

More content later, I promise.

Greetings

Merry Christmas everyone!

More Socks 3

I'm calling these Mermaid socks, because the colors remind me of mermaid scales. This is a new sock yarn for me. It is J. Knits superwash sock yarn in the Columbus colorway. It's 75% superwash wool and 25% nylon. Needles are US 2 bamboo. I really like the way these are working up so far. The yarn is very soft and easy to knit.

More Socks 2

Here is the progress on the Trekking XXL socks. One down, one to go.

More Socks 1

These socks are for Sarah. They are Koigu yarn. I forget the colorway though. This the first time I have worked with Koigu. I like the tightness of the twist and how smooth the fabric is. I am using US 2 Clover bamboo needles.

Frustrated

I have been trying to knit something other than socks. However, things have not been going well. I have a pattern I like, but I cannot get the gauge to come out right. I knit a swatch and think I have it, but when I actually start knitting the object, the gauge is too tight. Arg! I have started this thing twice already. I don't know if I like it enough to try again. I think I'll go do laundry and knit on a sock. Socks are good, right?

Christmas Socks

It's been a slow week for me. I have started several knitting projects, but have ripped them all out as they just were not doing what I wanted, or were not fun. I have lots of more ideas though.

One thing I did get done this week was my Christmas socks. I decided I needed red socks for Christmas. Why not?

These are made out of Mountain Colors Bearfoot yarn in the Ruby River colorway on a US 2 needle. They are my usual Ann Norling pattern with these modifications. I cast on 72 stitches instead of my usual 64 and did a double decrease four times ten rows apart in the cuff. The pattern is a 4 by 2 rib. The toe is from Nancy Bush's Knitting on the Road Conwy sock (no Kitchener stitch). I'm happy with the way they turned out, and they fit very nicely.

Finished Ruana

So here is the Santa Fe ruana finished. Top photo is the ruana blocking. Middle photo is front. Bottom photo is detail of back. I wore it yesterday and today. I like it, but I wish it had more to the back. It does get a little drafty back there. And the front is heavier than the back, so it pulls forward quite a bit. It does keep my shoulders nice and warm though.

Shetland Shawl

Above is unblocked Shetland shawl. One big lumpy mess.
Shawl blocking.
Edge of shawl blocking.
Shetland Shawl blocked.
Close up of shawl after blocking.

As you can see, I finally finished the Shetland Shawl. This is from Wrap Style. The yarn is a mohair/acrylic blend. It was knit on US 6 needles. I added 2 more pattern repeat rows than called for in the book.

Am I happy with the result? Mostly. It is still fairly small. Of course, I am a tall person, so it might be great on a smaller person.

Would I make this shawl again? Yes. However, I would use a different yarn that showed off the pattern better, I would use a solid color and I would use a yarn that was all wool so it blocked better. The pattern itself is pretty easy. It's one that you can establish a rhythm with.

Done

I finished Baby Eliot's sweater this weekend. This is for a friend of Sarah's who had a baby boy in October. The yarn is Rowan Cashsoft. It was wonderful to work with. Now I want to make something out of this yarn for me.

I also finished the Shetland shawl over the weekend, but it is a lumpy, bumpy mess right now. It needs to be severely blocked. I will try to get to that today.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Quiz

For all those people who asked about the American accent quiz yesterday, the web site is:
www.gotoquiz.com/what_american_accent_do_you_have

Have fun!

Quiz

What American accent do you have? Your Result: Philadelphia Your accent is as Philadelphian as a cheesesteak! If you're not from Philadelphia, then you're from someplace near there like south Jersey, Baltimore, or Wilmington. if you've ever journeyed to some far off place where people don't know that Philly has an accent, someone may have thought you talked a little weird even though they didn't have a clue what accent it was they heard.
The Midland
The South
The Inland North
The Northeast
Boston
The West
North Central
What American accent do you have? Take More Quizzes

I was surprised by this, although I shouldn't be. I was born and lived in the Philadelphia area until I was 7. However, I have lived in the south for over 45 years. I thought my yankee accent had been softened. I guess not.