favourite new thing

i have been striving to match my stash to hat patterns to start my new crop for winter 09-10.

here is the first newcomer of the season!

Green & Twisty
#04 Cabled Beret
designed by Debbie Bliss
published in Debbie Bliss Magazine #01

knit in approx. 3 skeins of Elsebeth Lavold Angora (60% angora, 20% wool, 20% nylon color "lime") on size US 5 and US 7 needles.

started: 08.06.09
finished: 08.08.09

i bought this magazine for this pattern, and i bought this yarn to make this hat. that was last fall, and somehow it never exactly made it to the finish line last hat season. i corrected that after i cleaned and sorted my stash bins and realized my oversight!

this may be the perfect finished hat. it combines most of my favorite things... green, cables, bunny fiber, and a beret shape. if it smelled like coffee and made me look thinner, i would never take it off.

like most Debbie Bliss hats, this one is written to be knitted on two straight needles. i dropped 2 stitches from the cast on and knit it in the round because i am lazy and i admire Elizabeth Zimmerman. i also decided to knit the ribbing in 1x1 rather than 2x2 because berets in a 2x2 rib always seem to stretch out too much for my taste. finally, i knit one or two fewer rows of ribbing to ensure that i not run out of yarn.

i had plenty of yarn, and i realize now that there was no need to work fewer rows because when i dropped the 2 extra "sewing-up" stitches, i worked 124 fewer stitches in the body of my hat than the original. it seems silly, but when i thought about that, it sort of blew me away. working the hat in the round saved me having to sew the seam and saved me knitting 124 more stitches. when i see that in writing, it looks like a lot.

now i need to take more pictures of my newest finished projects!

i have readers?

hi. i know you are still out there. well, at least i do now!

yesterday i saw 3 of my favourite knitters when i dropped into the shop to buy some wool wash. i got the mini-catch-up and they sent me home with wool wash that somehow one of them bought me (i am still trying to determine to which friend i owe a coffee!).

in honor of knitters and knitting friends, this post is all recently completed work. i was on a roll of creating things that have to live in a vacuum until they go to their new owners. after a bit of that, i turned selfish and began to make a few things for me.

first, some crochet!

Autumn Triangle
aka "Floaty Fall Scarf"
designed by Susan Jeffers
published in Crochet Today! Sept/Oct 2009

crocheted in 2 skeins of Koigu PPPM (100% merino wool, color P337) bought at K+S=B, with a size F hook.

started: 08.08.09
finished: 08.10.09

i never buy this magazine. never. i always hate the projects, or i like... one. maybe. this month i bought it for four projects. wow. go Crochet Today! i barely changed the pattern either! i just worked 15 fewer rows to make a smaller scarf with the quantity of yarn i had on hand.

i am on a stash yarn project kick, and i have enough stashed sock yarn to make about 12 pairs of socks. i am not as prolific when it comes to sock knitting as i am when it comes to sock yarn loving. now i am on a mission to find projects in fingering weight yarn to use my sock stash.

this is trickier than it sounds because i like hand painted sock yarns, but i am typically opposed to variegated garments and accessories. this scarf really fit the bill for something that looked good in a variegated yarn, used fingering weight, and is wearable.

i have already worn it! AC in meetings is brutal to me, so this is the perfect. can't wait until fall when i can wear it with my vintage brooch collection.

Licorice Allsorts Cowl
aka "Dragonfly Fire Cowl"
designed by Mia Valcarcel
published at her blog

knit in 2 skeins of Claudia Handpaints Fingering (100% merino wool, color: John B.) on size US 7 needles.

started: 08.11.09
finished: 08.12.09

i have been told that this does not look like red licorice allsorts, and in the picture i would tend to agree. in person that is what the colors remind me of. maybe i am just hungry!

this is incredibly fun. the Claudia's is bouncy and sproingy and doubled up and knit on a larger needle, the yarn is even more yummy. and soft! and it is a cowl! what more can one desire in life?

this was another project for stashed sock yarn. i like the doubling of this yarn because it blends the colors more than the yarn worked single. big bonus in my non-variegated book.

Eyelet Spiral Socks
aka Anastasia Socks
designed by MintyFresh
published at pepperknit.com

knit in 2 skeins of ShibuiKnits Sock (100% merino, color "Orchid")purchased at K+S=B, on size US 0 (zero) addi tubro circular needles.

started: Christmas 2007
finished 08.18.09

this is officially my longest running WIP. i have completed 98 other projects since i started this pair of socks. among those other projects are another pair of socks, two pairs of slippers, and two pairs of bootees. obviously it was not that i opposed knitting for feet. these just got off track.

i put them down (1st sock done, 2nd sock being imagined) when my cousin announced her pregnancy. i then knit a lot of her little boy, christmas gifts, blah blah blah. it gets harder to pick up a 2nd sock when you have had too many reasons to knit gifts instead.

last quarter i knit a different pair of socks on the train to the school. i decided this quarter i had to knit the 2nd of this pair, and my work commute is perfect. because the Red Line has had so many issues and delays, the 2nd sock was my saving grace. it proved a fine companion when i was in a day-long professional development session last week.

now the question becomes, more commuter socks? i am considering these.

coming soon: more sedately colored projects.

crack

updating. i can do it.
after my garden was attacked by deer, i have had little desire to write about it. i can't write bout most of my knitting because it is stealth, and rW has been busy with a show, so we have not gone out and taken pictures of our shenanigans.

but!
rW did take me to his show and rewarded my willingness to drive to Frederick with a gelati at Rita's, mexican food, and a trip to a yarn shop. we also hit an antique store that had some mid century and bought a magazine rack.

i think Mad Men is making affordable mid century hard to find. the rack was a sweet deal.

however!
we came home to leaking ceiling that just got worse and worse. this was supposed to be repaired while we were on vacation. clearly i am now irritated. i already hated our kitchen. this does nothing to help.

my pots and pans are all out of the cupboard. everything from the counter top is stacked on our dining table. i have piles of smelly damp towels everywhere, and these little insects have invaded us. boo!

failing to have created good news to report, i will share some older pictures. i finally sorted and uploaded the pictures we took on vacation and when we picked blackberries and peaches. rW has a radical hair change from one album to the next!

Vacation July 2009

blackberries and peaches 2009