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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

So as the door closes on 2007, I wanted to take a moment and review what I’ve accomplished, fiber arts wise, over the year. Since I only started blogging in late April, I’m afraid that’s as far back as my record goes. I know I knit prior to that, but frankly, I’m having trouble remembering the specifics. I know there were some socks and other small items, but for the life of me, I couldn’t tell you without checking out the sock drawer if my life depended on it. So…

Since April I have completed 32 knit items, not counting a couple dishcloths that didn’t quite make it onto the blog. Eleven of these came in the form of socks, including my first hand spun socks, 2 (of 6) of the Rockin’ Sock Club kits for 2007, Math Whiz socks for my Sockapalooza Pal (I also got a great pair of socks from my upstream Pal) and assorted other socks as a yarn or pattern struck a chord with me. I also designed and published my first sock pattern (hopefully not my last), and so far the reception has been very favorable.

I also knit four pair of fingerless mitts and a pair of fingerless gloves. All of them were different, and I loved making each of them. All but one pair now belong with various loved ones, and I hope they help keep them warm through the winter months.

Several long smoldering UFO’s got finished over the year. Some were part of the crazy 5-day-in-a-row FO marathon in June (what was I thinking?), but the one I’m proudest of is the christening blanket. Not for nothing did my friend Christine rename it “monster lace.”

I made two shells and a winter sweater over the course of the year (I know I didn’t manage a sweater before April). There was a flurry of Christmas knitting. I chose to stick with accessories and other little knits for Christmas presents, and everyone loved what I made them.

All in all it was a good year for knitting for me. The spinning… I am not, and doubt I will ever be, a production spinner. My output in finished yarn is sporadic at best. That being said, I do think my spinning has improved dramatically over the last year, and I have taken on some challanges and big projects on the spinning front. I am pleased with my progress as a spinner.

Coming up tomorrow, my fiber plans for the New Year.

Hope you all had a very Merry. I had a good one hanging out with Lucy and the rest of the family. The hand knit gifts got a very good reception. I think the biggest hits were the sweater for Lucy and Patrick’ s pirate hat.

Lucy wore her sweater all day, and seemed to like it rather well. (If she doesn’t like a sweater, she will rub and roll and pull until she gets someone to take it off.) Patrick wore his hat for a while during the day as well, but it was too hot to wear indoors for very long. While I think it could have been a tad longer, Lucy didn’t seem to mind its slightly cropped nature one bit.

Isn’t she a character? My sister keeps talking about maybe getting a second dog, but I’m not sure how Lucy would feel about that. She is used to her pampered lifestyle and tends not to play well with others (dogs). So far, Marie has resisted the urge, but I think every time she goes to the local pet store and sees the adoption dogs, she is tempted.

I finished my Merino Lace Socks on Wednesday night, then stupidly forgot my camera to do a lunchtime (daylight) photo session at work yesterday. The joke was on me, because it rained buckets today, so I had to do indoor photos anyway. Not that I’m complaining. We so desperately need the rain, it can rain as much as it wants to.

My favorite feature is (still) the heel, with the lace patterning extending down the flap. I’m not sure how it will do in shoes with backs, though, so these might need to be reserved for clogs and other backless shoes. These were fun to knit, and not hard at all once the lace patterning was established. These will almost certainly be my last FO of the year, as I don’t see completing any of my other OTN projects in the next few days.

I cast on these socks once I finished grafting the others. This is Meilenweit Colortweed – the yarn was a gift. This is my first time using it. The colors are not my typical colors, but they are working up nicely. I did a picot hem at the top à la Claudia. Otherwise I am doing a simple stockinette stitch sock. Will probably do the usual heel and toes, but I’ve been wanting to try a band heel for a while, so maybe I’ll do that instead.

Thermal is back in rotation, with the sleeves growing a fair bit early in the week. I’ve done 11 increase rounds of 17, so maybe about 2/3 of the way to the underarm divide. The tape measure agrees, as I’ve got ~13 inches out of a recommended 19.5. I think my modifications for row gauge are working out swimmingly so far. I think the real test will be the sleeve cap shaping, though, so I’m not celebrating too much yet.

I wasn’t sure how easy it would be to jump back into this project at this stage after being dormant so long, but thanks to good notes and markers (note the safety pins up the side of one sleeve) it didn’t take long at all to find my way again.

Alas, my poor Bee Fields hasn’t had a stitch worked in recent memory. Maybe this weekend, or New Year’s Day. I’m off to Atlanta to visit friends this weekend. See you all on the other side!

I did manage to finish up Ice Queen for my Mom on Tuesday and gave it a gentle blocking. My love for this pattern remains strong, and I highly recommend it. I will be making more in the future.

Here’s a (slightly blurry) mirror shot. It can be worn around the neck, like I’m doing here, or pulled up around the face like a hood.

I especially like the beaded bind off around the bottom. This really gives the edge zing.

I cast on for Lucy’s sweater on Friday evening. (I didn’t knit more than a couple rounds on my current Sock-in-Progress in the interim) . This is where it was last night, just before placing the leg holes.

I finished it this evening, although I still have a few ends to weave in. It is an original design I came up with on the fly. It includes a central braided cable, flanked by two OXOX cables. There is a simple 4 stitch cable running down the chest. The sides are in reverse stockinette. It is pretty similar in basic construction to the one I made her last year, but I changed the cables. I chose to do this since last year’s sweater fits her so well.

One of my favorite touches is a small opening at the back of the neck, just big enough to slip a leash clasp through.

I braved the mall yesterday to get some last minute shopping done. I don’t actually mind being in the mall, even with all the crowds. The part I object to is the parking. I wouldn’t even care about hiking in from the back of beyond, but getting any parking space at our local mall this time of year is next to impossible. I literally had to circle a good section of the lot for a good 20 minutes before I found a space at all.

Once in, I got the necessary shopping done, then decided to do a bit of shopping for me. I needed a nice outfit for some upcoming functions. I tried on lots of pants and skirts along with tops and a few suits, and was about to give up on finding something that I loved, in favor of something that would do, when I found a great pant suit. It fits well, and is flattering, and suits my needs perfectly. And it was a roaring bargain at 65% off. The only downside is that the suit required the addition of new shoes to the wardrobe, as nothing I had would work quite right with it.

I wandered over to the shoe department and picked out these. They work fantastic with the suit, and I love, love, love them. I’ve always had a thing for Mary Janes, which I can’t entirely explain. I have no vivid childhood memory of wearing them, or of wanting and not getting them.

These are basically very grown up Mary Janes. (Those are the pants from the suit in the photo too). They are surprisingly comfortable, given the height of the heel, especially since I rarely wear heels over about an inch and a half. They were deeply discounted as well, although not quite as deeply as the suit. All in all a great shopping excursion for someone who is often ambivalent about shopping in general.

I doubt I’ll be posting over the next couple days, so I hope that those of you who celebrate it have a very Merry Christmas.

Shortly before Thanksgiving of last year, an older couple brought a young puppy into my office because they were concerned that his eyes had not opened.  He was 4 weeks old at the time and not much more than a little ball of fluff.  When I checked him out, I could tell that while his eyelids had opened, he did not have anything resembling normal eyes behind those lids.  He was blind, and would be for life.  The couple immediately wanted to put him to sleep, but I convinced them to let us have the puppy and try to find him a home.

As the weeks went on, he grew as puppies are prone to do.  We (I) named him Bear and showered him with love.  While he occasionally bumped into things, he got really good at finding his way around.  He could be a bit clumsy, but so are a lot of sighted puppies at that age.  Since he was blind from birth, he knew no different.  (Dogs that lose sight later in life adapt very well also.)  He went home with one client for a week, only to be returned when she decided that raising him was more of a challange than she wanted to take on.

He was vaccinated at the appropriate times and made as ready as possible for placement.  As time went on, I began to think that we wouldn’t find a home for him, and he would probably come home with me.  (The local rescue organization I work with was no help.)  I am generally particular about the homes I place animals in, but in Bear’s case, I was especially so.  Since he is blind, he needed to be an inside dog, and when outside on a leash or in a fence.  But I didn’t want him to be a yard dog, even in a fenced yard.

Shortly after Valentine’s Day, a couple came in our office, asking if we knew of any kittens for adoption.  We gave them a couple contacts for kittens.  Then as our usual, we let them know that we were looking for a home for this blind puppy (the more people knew about him, the more likely someone would know someone that would give him a good home).  It turns out they had recently (6 months earlier) lost a dog of similar bloodlines to Bear (we suspect he comes from German Shepherd and Collie).  They immediately fell in love with him, and took him home.  He came back for neutering and has been in a couple times for boarding.  They take him to work with them on a daily basis and shower him with love.  I could not have imagined a better home for him.

He is staying with us this week while his owners are out of town.  At just over a year, Bear is a normal happy dog.  He is still totally blind, although his “eyes” don’t appear abnormal unless you look really close.  He is able to navigate our yard with ease, including a fairly steep set of steps out the back door, and rarely bumps into anything.  He feels with his nose and also throws forward his front feet if he is unsure about his environment.  He loves to have his  neck and chest scratched.

Bear will always have a special place in my heart.  I could wax lyrical about animals not needing to be perfect to be good pets, or being more accepting of deformities and physical problems than people.   But instead, I think I’ll leave you with my all time favorite picture of Bear, taken by his owners at about 6 months of age.

The clogs were finished Friday night. At least the knitting was finished. Before felting they looked like this (my size 8 foot added for scale):

After about 20 minutes in the washing machine, they had shrunk down to the proper size:

These are the Felt Clogs from Fiber Trends that practically everyone and their brother has knit (at least it seems like practically everyone in the knit blogosphere has knit them at least once or twice). These are quick and easy and come out just great. That Bev Galeskas, she’s a genius, I tell you.

These are for my Dad. I was going to give the bottoms a non-stick treatment, but I think I’ll wait and make sure they don’t need to be felted down a bit more before doing so. I erred on the side of possibly being a smidge too big on the theory that they could always be shrunk down a bit more if need be.

Then on Saturday, I started a pair of Dashing mitts for my brother-in-law. These are a quick and easy knit, and look so nice. They are knit out in Moda Dea Washable Wool in Taupe. I shortened the cuff by a cable repeat (10 rounds) as I felt the length of the cuff as written wouldn’t appeal to the recipient.

I made a dog sweater out of this yarn last year and was surprised by how much I liked it. It has a soft hand, a nice drape, and holds up fairly well. The cabled construction makes stitch work show up very well. And machine washability is an important consideration in my sister’s household. Big thanks to Khebhin for his input on color and letting me use his arm for sizing on Saturday.

At my fiber guild meeting on Sunday, I started the second bobbin for my merino tencel lace weight. (This is the yarn I’m spinning for Spun Stitches, if you’re new or don’t remember.) I enjoyed the break I took from it, but I’m looking forward to getting this yarn done. This is how much I managed to spin over the course of the three hour guild meeting. I haven’t managed to spin any more. Hopefully I will make more progress over the weekend. However, no matter how much I want to finish, I still have a ways to go for this. I am not a production spinner in general, but spinning this fine takes extra care and attention and the first bobbin felt like it took forever. Here’s hoping I can get the second one done more quickly.

A bit of stash diving turned up some lovely grey Alpaca Cloud and I found some nice beads to pair with it. They are clear, but black lined and although I’m not sure they look as good in the picture as in person, they look so great with this yarn. I have lots more of this yarn and might have to use this yarn/bead combination again. On Tuesday night I cast on Ice Queen for my Mom.

She is almost done. I’m adding a bit of extra length (16 rounds) as she seemed a bit short when I had completed the main part as instructed. I know she’ll grow once blocked, but I’d rather have her a bit on the long side than too short. I am making the garter stitch version, mostly because I like the bead placement better for that one. When I make one for myself, I might make the stockinette stitch version, but use the bead placement from the garter stitch one.

Here’s a close up of the beads on the lace. It’s a simple feather and fan pattern and it has gone pretty fast. I love this pattern to an embarrassing degree and could see making several more down the road.

Once Ice Queen is done, I will have only one more item remaining in my Christmas knitting queue – a sweater for my sister’s family dog, a Jack Russell named Lucy.

This is Lucy modeling last year’s Christmas sweater (the one made with the Washable Wool) I make her a sweater every year for Christmas, of original design. I started several years ago when Marie commented on how difficult it is to find sweaters or coats to fit her. Typical of her breed, she has a very deep chest relative to her length. Sweaters that fit her chest tend to be too long, while those that fit her length tend to be too tight. This one was a big hit with both Lucy and the family. I have some more of this yarn in Raspberry for this year’s sweater, but I haven’t even begun to think about what I want to do with it. Oh well, I have a bit over a week to figure it out and get something worked up.

Then it’s back to my neglected Thermal and Bee Fields. They have been patiently waiting their turns to come around again. Soon, my pretties… soon.