Blog Hiatus

My new sweater has continued to grow. After the fine gauge of Thermal (no, I still haven’t seamed Thermal), this one is flying off the needles. I don’t think I mentioned before, but it is the Elizabeth Bennet Cardigan (Ravelry link) from Fitted Knits. I saw this pattern and knew I had to make it.  Atypically, for me, I am making it in the yarn called for in the pattern, albeit in a different color.  I found this yarn deeply discounted in closeout colors from Webs.  It looks like I am going to need much less yarn than the pattern calls for, though.  From what I can determine, this has been a common experience with this sweater.

Here you can see the start of the waist cables.  I am knitting this pattern with much less ease than is my usual, and if I have gone too small, the problem will be in the waist.  I think it will be fine once the button bands have been added, but I am a bit nervous about the fit on this one….

My Lenore socks have grown bit by bit.  This yarn is hard to photograph well, but this picture does the best job of capturing the colors of any I’ve taken so far.  It is very dark red and black.  I was a bit concerned about the different sized eyelets before and after the double decreases, until I looked back at the pattern and saw the same thing in Stephanie’s sample socks.  I think this is just the nature of this arrangement of stitches.  It still bothers me a little (the perfectionist in me wants to make them match!) but I  can accept that this is just the way it is and move on.

I am getting close to the heel, and will need to decide soon whether to do the flap and gusset heel in the pattern or do my usual short row heel substitution.  Up until now, I have been knitting the Rockin’ Sock Club patterns as written, in part to stretch my skills and explore new techniques.  But this heel is a simple flap and gusset heel, nothing unusual.  My short row heel tend to fit me much better.  I probably won’t decide until I get there.

Now for my big and exciting news: I’m changing jobs and moving in the near future! I have been increasingly unhappy in my current job lately and started sending out resumes several months ago. For a while it looked like I wasn’t going to turn anything up that suited, but I’ve found a clinic in the Atlanta area that looks like it will be a good fit for me. The main reason I haven’t been posting very regularly the last several is that I’ve been running up and down the road for interviews and making arrangements.

So, now I have to get my house packed up and ready to move. This means I will have even less time for blogging. Also less time for knitting. So until I am moved and somewhat settled, I am planning to put the blog on hiatus. I will be back, probably in about a month, give or take.  I will miss you all, but hope to have lots of exciting stuff to share with you when I return.

We Have A Winner!

The Colortweed socks won the race to become the first FO of 2008.   Mostly because I haven’t had the time and energy to sew the sleeves into Thermal, let alone go button shopping.

 

Here’s Thermal in it’s current sad state.  It only lacks shoulder seams, buttons, and weaving ends.  And a wee bath will improve it tremendously, I’m sure.  I’ll get around to finishing it soon-ish.  I promise.

What I have had time and patience for is fairly mindless knitting- something I can pick up and put down without worrying about losing my place.   It’s amazing to me how much quicker this is knitting up.  I know, larger gauge.  I will soon be at the point of dividing the sleeves from the body, and shortly after it will lose its dead simple quality, as all the detail (which I love) happens at the lower body and sleeve.  But I love it so far.

There must, of course, be a pair of socks going, so I cast on these on Friday.   I thought briefly about starting Thelonious or another CookieA sock, or something else more complicated, but again, the need for dead simple right now.  It looks complex so far, but after about this point, the patterning becomes much simpler.  These are Lenore socks, from the Rockin’ Sock Club (Oct 2007) and they were designed by La Harlot.  The yarn is part of the Raven series, and I may have to try some of the other colors if they’re still available when I allow myself to buy yarn again.

I’m off to catch up on some lost sleep before I go dashing off again.

Full Confession

Remember how I said the other day that I want to continue to knit mostly from my stash? Well, I went to my (favorite) LYS today with a friend as she is having her twice annual store wide sale right now. I did buy some yarn, but I was fairly restrained and almost all of the yarn that came home with me already has designated projects. I know I’m rationalizing a bit, but I also have spent so little on yarn in recent months, I felt a little splurge wasn’t unreasonable. No sweater quantities of yarn followed me home, and I spent a fraction of what I did in July.

At Christmas, my nephew Patrick asked me if I would make him slippers, and I of course agreed. We discussed color choices, and his only request was for green. Not green and a neutral shade, but all green. I went stash diving, but was unable to come up with 2 different feltable yarns in coordinating shades of green that would work. This is the combo I came up with today.

I want to do another Pirate Hat, this time for me, and this yarn worked so well the last time, I went back for more. It is the right weight, fairly inexpensive, and works up well, It is a bit scratchy to work with, but softens up nicely in the wash.

I loved working with the self striping Regia Silk, and the socks I’ve made with this yarn is really holding up well. I’ve been wanting to try the solid color version ever since. I don’t have a specific sock pattern in mind for this one, but I’m thinking something lacy that will really pop in this yarn.

This yarn just begs to be knit up into Thelonious, to me.   This might be the next socks to jump on the needles, when the current ones are done.

This yarn kept calling to me, and as hard as I tried to resist, putting it back on the shelf three separate times, it wanted to come home with me.   I’ve been looking through the stash for yarn for a Koolhaas hat, but nothing seems quite right.  Either it’s too variegated, or it’s a solid that I can’t wear near my face, or I have too little, or it’s the wrong gauge, or another project it’s earmarked for… you get the idea.  This yarn will make a very nice Koolhaas, I think.  The tonal variegation is enough to add interest, but not so much as to fight the stitch pattern.

So that was it.  I spent a bit over half of the maximum I had allowed for myself, and I think I done good.  Now I’m not buying yarn again in the near future.  How long?  Dunno.  I haven’t made a firm commitment not to buy yarn for X period of time.  I just want to only buy yarn if there is nothing appropriate in the stash, and making knitting with stashed yarns a priority.

The Colortweed socks and Thermal are neck and neck at the moment to see who will be the first FO for 2008.  Colortweed seems to be eeking ahead.  (I didn’t take another picture of the Thermal sleeves – they don’t look that different)  I have more actual knitting left to do on Thermal, but I’m focusing on that project more also, so it’s anyone’s guess.  I’m about half way through the sleeve caps, but I still have the neckline and placket to do as well.  I’m hoping to have the sleeves off the needles tonight.

Bee Fields continues to languish in the bottom of the knitting bag, but I promise to concentrate on this once Thermal is done.

I’ve managed to spin for 4 out of the last 5 days, for at least 30 minutes a day, and have made progress on my lace weight yarn.  I still have a ways to go before I’m ready to ply, but I’m making noticeable progress and if I continue at this rate, I’ll have no problem finishing this yarn by the end of the month.  Since pictures of slightly fuller bobbins don’t make for exciting blogging, don’t be surprised if you don’t see much more of this until I’m ready to ply.

WIP it good

Talk of future knits is all well and good, but it’s the current WIP’s that I’ve been focusing my energies on.  The Thermal sleeves are nearing completion: I started shaping the sleeve caps this morning.  The shaping adjustments I made still seem to be working out, so I’m not too worried about it anymore.  I am looking forward to getting this one done so I can wear it.

The Colortweed socks are practically flying off the needles.  I tried a band heel, and when I got to the pick up part, either my math was wonky, or I did something wrong, because I had more slipped stitches on each side than I was supposed to pick up.  This would have left me with too many stitches or holes if I skipped some on my pick up.  I pulled it out and worked my usual short row heel.  Maybe I’ll try this heel again later, but I just couldn’t face reworking it at that time.

Looking Ahead

Happy New Year!

I hope you all had a good and safe New Year. Mine was quiet, and I was asleep before the ball dropped last night. Yes, I know I’m lame.

I never really make any big resolutions at New Year’s, but try to implement ideas and changes as they come upon me. So my plans for the start 2008 is to continue on with things I’ve been doing for a while now. I’ve lost about 20 pounds over the last few months, simply by cutting back on what I eat. I’d like to continue this trend.

On the fiber front, I am adopting much the same attitude. Knitting from my stash will continue for the foreseeable future. I don’t follow strict rules, and if I find myself needing yarn for a project that nothing in my stash is quite right for, I’ll go buy it. (My nephew has asked for felted slippers, and while I have one of the colors we discussed in my stash, I will probably have to shop outside my stash to coordinate a second color.) However as I decided this fall, my stash is (still) far too large, and full of very good yarns just waiting their turn. Buying more right now is unnecessary.

Socks will certainly continue in the rotation. I opted not to join Rockin’ Sock Club for 2008, in part because I still have 4 of my 2007 kits untouched. One of these might be next after the current sock. Likewise, I dropped out of Yarn Pirate’s Booty Club after the December shipment. The yarns are beautiful, but I have not managed to knit with a single one yet. Fear not for my sock knitting, however, as I believe I have more than enough sock yarn to see me through the year even if I don’t buy a single skein, which is doubtful. I have a Kitri sock kit waiting in the wings. I was hoping to do another pair of Math Whiz socks, this time for me, as well as knitting another pair of Rococo to replace the pair that felted, and a couple other of Anne’s sock patterns I haven’t worked with yet. There are other patterns and ideas kicking around in there, including a few design ideas.

Lace will certainly be featured in 2008 as well. I have some handspun yarn just waiting to be turned into a Swallowtail Shawl. I have a deep love for Juno Regina and Icarus, neither of which I’ve knitted yet. And from Anne, I have Twinings and Irtfa’a and Cluaranach, and I could go on and I know she will have released 2-3 new patterns I love by the time I’ve managed to get one of these done.

On the sweater front, I do have a couple patterns picked out to follow my Thermal. Next up will probably be the Elizabeth Bennet Cardigan from Fitted Knits. This sweater called to me the first time I saw it, and I’ve already swatched it up. Also ready to go is a T-twist Tee as well as a tank top from Knitting Nature, but these will probably wait for warmer weather to get started. I also want to do a Rogue, and I think I have yarn in my stash that will work for it. I like Sesame, but the yarn I want to use is thicker than what’s called for. I might try to re-work the pattern for the yarn I have. I have several stashed yarns in shell to sweater quantities that I just need to find or create patterns for.

I’m sure there will be small projects and other ideas along the way as well. I’m not sure how many of these projects I’ll actually get around to, but these are the ones that I’m tossing around in the back of my mind at the moment.

On the spinning front, I joined NaSpiMoMo (National Spin More Month) which kicked off today. My goals are to spin every day, even if only for a little bit some days, and finish my lace weight yarn for Spun Stitches. Anything I get done beyond that in January is a bonus. Beyond that, I don’t have specific plans, as I tend to just pick out something from the stash that appeal to me at the time and work on that. Overall, I would like to spin more often, and learn some new techniques (long draw especially). And I’d like to do more spinning with intention – ie. with a clearer idea of what qualities I want in a yarn rather that seeing what I get and deciding what to do with it based on that. And on that note, I’m off to spin for tonight.