Proof of sleeves

See....I really am working on Mom's sleeves. I keep reminding myself that it is over 200 stitches now to work my way across 1 row of both sleeves....and it will keep getting longer for awhile. No wonder it seems to take forever.

I'm thinking about changing my UFOlympics challenge - I was going to work on my Tina Shawl, but work is just going to get busier & busier this month in the run-up to our audit. A much more do-able project would be to complete my Einstein coat. How hard is miles of garter stitch? All I have to remember is to decrease in the center of the row every so often (I'm working....er, not working....on the sleeves).

I must finish Mom's sweater first, though!

(uh oh....when do the Olympics start?)

more sock

I know, I know - you've all just been dying to see the progress on my socks.

This pattern is a lot of fun to knit, although it's amazing how often I can totally mess it up. The second yarnover of the Citron pattern just doesn't want to happen sometimes. I'm doing frequent reality checks (aka stitch counts). Now that I've loosened the death grip on the size ones it's a little easier to go back a fix a mistake - the stitches aren't quite as tight.

I made pretty good progress on Mom's sweater sleeves this weekend - another 30 rows and then I start decreasing for the sleeve cap. Makes me glad I'm doing both at once.

Can't wait to start using my Denise Interchangeable Circulars - gift from Mom & Dad. Can't wait to play with my Sweater Wizard software - gift from husband.
Am not waiting - already using the gift from my sister - a PurseBrite organizer with pockets & a light that fits into my knitting bag. All my knitting stuff (and I have an incredible amount of knitting stuff) fits into the little pockets and keeps from cluttering the bottom of the bag. Of course that means that I can clutter the bottom of the bag with more yarn and books!
Had other great non-knitting gifts too - a George Foreman grill (I'll be grilling chicken tonight) & a gift certificate to HalfPrice Books (must go at lunch sometime this week-not sure I can wait 'til the weekend). It was a very happy birthday.

Still life - with sock

This is what a sock looks like after you completely rip it out and start over......beautiful and intriguing lace pattern, no? Diaper knitting - what is diaper knitting you ask? Apparently, diaper knitting is like triple moss stitch - k1,p1 three rounds, then p1,k1 three rounds. Did they actually knit diapers using this stitch? It makes a nice sock background.

It's amazing how much sock knitting can happen while waiting in the commercial banking drive-through.

Sleeves for Mom's gansey continue to happen. I'm pleased with my progress, I'm just ready for it to be done.

How to fix a knitting mistake

1. Observe that you have missed the second yarnover in the first repeat of the first round of the lace pattern of your current sock project. Of course, you are on round two before you notice.

2. Cheerfully pull size one needles out of knitting and proceed to pull out knitting 'til you get back to before the mistake.

3. Cheerfully expect to be able to pick up itsy-bitsy sock yarn stitches including a healthy amount of k1 p1 ribbing without screaming. (where's that Baileys Irish Cream I bought at Christmas?)

4. Not so cheerfully use itsy-bitsy crochet hook to fix all those k1 p1 ribbing stitches that decided to run down several rows before stopping. (do I really need another pair of socks?)

5. Patiently turn all the backwards stitches around (after all we were just trying to get them back on needles, not get them back on needles the right way around). (should I just rip out the whole thing and start over?)

See, that was easy, wasn't it?

Of course, you could have fixed that yarnover in the next round (just add another yarnover or M1, for goodness sake). It's a sock - no one is going to see your mistake unless they have a sock fetish and are really, really close.

Or you could have had a lifeline every 5 rows or so - after all this is a new pattern and smaller needles than you usually use. (Lifelines? we don't need no stinking lifelines!)

I think I better go back to sleeves for awhile......

they're in the mail

Here's the red scarf for orphan.org. Again, taking good pictures of cables is a frustrating exercise. I took it over to Einstein's Bagels this morning (they've got a drop-off box). Mine is the first one they have received. At this rate, it may be the only one - the deadline is next Monday or Tuesday. There's is a knitting store right around the corner from this place....where are all those knitters?

Dad-in-law's socks went into the mail this morning also - I love the self-service kiosk at the Post Office.

New Project! Of course, I couldn't resist starting another one - all those UFOs are too big to haul around. I've cast on for the Child's French Sock in Citron Pattern and Diaper Knitting from Nancy Bush's Knitting Vintage Socks. I'm using Fortissima Socka yarn in a tealish blue with size 1US dpns. It's got a nice little lacy pattern running down the front and sides. Despite the title this is a woman's sock. Nancy re-wrote most of these old patterns for adults. Progress photos when there is enough to actually see (a blue ring of yarn is not terribly exciting to look at).

I'm a teacher! Well, I will be starting next Wednesday. I'm teaching some of my co-workers the basics of knitting during our lunch hour. The traditional garter stitch scarf will be our first project. I figure that if they get hooked, I'll have someone to go with me to the yarn store!

WIP progress report - sleeves. just sleeves. sleeves a little longer than they were yesterday. Perhaps I should go ahead and join the front and back at the shoulders, knit in the placket button bands and the collar? But then there would still be ...... sleeves.

Finally, a decent WIP picture

Ok, I swear it's not orange in person. Red, definitely red. But at least the cables show up nicely even though the central tree-of-life motif doesn't show very well.

Tunic-style long-sleeve sweater (or least it will eventually have long sleeves). Double moss stitch ground with mirror cables on each side of a knit-purl tree-of-life motif. It will have a buttonup placket and a stand-up collar. Design by me, with some help from the Knitter's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns.

Mother specified the general type of sweater she wanted - no ribbing at the bottom, the placket & stand-up collar, long-sleeves - I went from there. The Debbie Bliss Cathay is wonderful for texture work; it really shows the cables well.

This is my only WIP right now and I normally have two projects going at once - should I start another pair of socks? I've got a felted messenger bag pattern & yarn waiting in the wings. Should I pick up one of my UFOs? All of my UFOs are large projects, nothing easy to haul around. Decisions, decisions....

Did I mention I love sock knitting?

I love sock knitting! I love the fact that they're so darn portable. When I wear a pair of hand-knitted socks, it's like I've got a secret - underneath the slacks and shoes, I'm wearing something special. I'm always impressed when the heel turns and the toe decreases and the kitchener stitch actually works.

My dad-in-law's socks are finished - off they go....
His birthday is next Monday, so there should be plenty of time to get them there.

This is a simple ribbed sock knit from the top down. It's got a slightly higher heel/instep than usual, 'cause I like it like that, and a slightly pointed grafted toe. The cuffs are turned down in the picture; they're actually about 7 inches long. I generally keep a pair of socks on the needles at all times. Next pair will be out of Nancy Bush's Knitting Vintage Socks, a Christmas gift from my DH.

Let the rain commence!

It has finally happened! After weeks of no moisture at all, we have that wet stuff falling out of the sky! Not torrential, not heavy - just steady, wonderful rain. We should all go out there today and do a rain dance of thankfulness to whatever deity did us this favor.

I was going to try for outdoor pictures of the completed red scarf and progress pictures of Mom's sweater, but that may have to wait until tomorrow. My indoors pictures are horrible.

WIP progress
1. Mom's sweater - haven't worked on it much this week, trying to finish things with deadlines
2. Dad-in-law's socks - just turned the heel of the second sock, must finish by end of week
3. Red scarf charity - finished & blocked. Need to get this puppy over to the Einstein's drop-off this week. I was there this morning, but really wanted to get that picture before I send it out into the world.

Sigh.....now back to work!

What I'm working on

I inventoried my projects the other day. (and even partially inventoried my stash!) It's not as bad as I thought.....most things I start do get finished.

WIP's
1. Mom's gansey - my own design in Debbie Bliss Cathay (red), size 4us needles. Front & back done - working on both sleeves at once so I don't get stalled (second sleeve syndrome).

2. Basic ribbed socks - my own design in Regia (a blue stripe), size 2us dps. This pair is for my father-in-law (he told me the other day how much he liked hand-knit socks....I think it was a hint....). His birthday is at the end of the month, the first sock is done and 1/2 of the ribbing for the second sock, I'll probably have these finished in time to mail them off.

3. Red cabled scarf - my own design in Plymouth Encore (red, of course). This is for the orphan.org red scarf project, so I'll need to finish it and get it to Einstein's Bagels for the drop-off by Jan 30th. I'm using two strands of worsted and size 13 us needles so it's going pretty quick.

UFO's

1. Tina shawl - from http://www.fiddlesticksknitting.com/TinaDetails.html in mushroom-colored lace-wt yarn - for me! I'll be working on this during the UFOlympics sponsored by Natalie B at http://knitting.xaviermusketeer.com/. I'm through the center panel and about round 8 of the border, though I may need to rip back a bit(this may be part of the reason I stopped working on this)

2. Fearless FairIsle - from WendyKnits.net. I'm doing the brown colorway in Jamieson & Smith Shetland wool and steeking it for a cardigan. Not likely to need a 100% wool pullover in Texas, but a cardigan will be great for the over-airconditioned office. I'm about two design repeats into this and loving it. Just had to stop to finish Christmas knitting.

3. Einstein coat - from Sally Melville's book The Knit Stitch. Frankly, I got bored. The front and back are done and I'm stalled on the first sleeve. One can only handle so much garter stitch in dark brown (I'm using the yarn called for in the pattern - same color and everthing).

Of course, this doesn't include all those projects for which I have either yarn, patterns, roving or unprocessed fleece. (We'll go into all those later)

Hmmmm....Do I find it significant that my own designs are the ones being worked on? Maybe, maybe not. The only one I stopped working on from boredom was the Einstein coat. I'm going to transfer it to circular needles (I started with straights). It was getting so heavy that it was hard to work on.

I love the Fearless FairIsle - my first stranded colorwork. I'll definitely start on it again as soon as I finish Mother's sweater.

The Tina is wonderful (my second lace project) and I stopped working on it last summer mainly because I started having eye issues - lace-wt yarn doesn't help when big blurry spots drift across your field of vision. I still have the spots, but am learning to live with them.

What surprised me was the list of finished objects.....I re-started knitting in Fall of 2003. Since then I've finished 47 projects. Six sweaters, 11 pairs of socks, 2 prayer shawls, 5 chemo hats, and lots of other hats, scarfs, fingerless mitts, cat beds, purses, wraps, and a teddybear sweater. It really helps sometimes to take stock and see what your accomplishments are!

Progress photos tomorrow of my mom's sweater......

Emy - evil genius

Introducing our pride & joy - Emy! She's a former feral and has been making our lives joyful for a year now. She's FLV positive (feline leukemia), so will be our only kitty.

around n round she goes

Well, I've joined the herd (flock?, gaggle?) of people blogging online. This will be my space to write about knitting, spinning, playing the violin, quilting, playing with the cat, or anything fun. My hobbies tend to rotate every few years so I'm not making this too specific. (gee, do you think that's where I got the title?)

I'll try not to write about work but it may creep in - like a disease - every now and then. I'm an accountant (so that's where I got the title - the work never ends, it just goes round and round).

As soon as I get myself organized, ha!, I'll post some pictures of my current projects, my UFO's and my waiting list of projects.