Knitting Pharm

Sock Speak

Despite what a certain blog has been suggesting, I have actually been both busy and knitting.  Lots and lots of socks were produced as the family and I whipped through New England on our yearly road trip.

Marilinda from Cookie A., worked in Opal solid.  Love this pattern.

Another Cookie A. pattern, Monkey, worked with Cat Bordhi's Riverbed architecture.  These ones are in Colinette Jitterbug, slightly beyond ankle length.

Broad Spiral Ribbed socks from More Sensational Knitted Socks.  Done toe-up in Estelle Arequipa.  The second photo shows the patterned heel flap I seem to be stuck on working lately.

A Cat Bordhi/Charlene Schurch hybrid here, Tall Tibetan Coriolis with a Garter Rib leg.  The yarn is from the road trip and is Seacoast Handpainted Panda.  It's a yummy, soft bamboo blend I'm glad I had the sense to buy more than one of.

In not socks, I snatched a ball of Marvel from my mum's stash on the way through to the States and made a super-quick scarf for Jen at work.  (She's been eying Lou's like a ravenous tiger, so this is to keep conflict at bay...)

Just simple garter, 14 sts on the largest needle from the Denise set.  At this gauge and stitch count, the thick and thin pooled into nifty little patches that also gave the scarf a bit of a scalloped edge.  I'm more pleased with it than I should be.

And Jen placed an order for a hat/mitts/scarf set, so I found her some nice Rowanspun and did Le Slouch to test the waters with the yarn.

Late to the game as always, a wonderful gal at Halcyon Yarn led me to Jared's blog and the Hemlock Ring blanket, which I'm working in smaller gauge but larger stitch count.

Not bad for a daft cow, yes?

Previously, on a very special Lazy Knitter

When last the Lazy Knitter reported, the retained armhole stitches were waiting to become sleeves.  Today I have 2 sleeve caps that each look like this:

[pretty freaking perfect, if you ask me.]

I joined on and worked each stitch (concealing wraps as in Cat Bordhi's latest book) and picking up stitches to a total of 106 (the final stitch count for my size).  I then worked in short rows, starting with 32 centre stitches, increasing one on each row until all stitches had been incorporated.  Now it's just a matter of working in the round to the wrist, reversing the shapings.  I love this method and its effect.

The only change I would have made would be to centre the pattern on the body of the sweater.  It's not written this way, as the intent is for a row of Os in the pattern to serve as buttonholes.  Once I opted to add a button band instead of doing this, having Os on the buttonhole edge became less important.  The knits of half-cable on the edges would have made a cleaner canvas for picking up stitches, but I think I did pretty darned well with the purl background.

Speaking of facings and buttons and all good things, check these out:

I.  Love.  Them.

True to form, once the hardest parts of the sweater were done, I set it aside to work some other projects.  Lots of them.

A felted purse for my niece:

The beginnings of a pair of socks for my nephew:

More clogs, just because they're quick and fun...

And a completed and blocked Swallowtail for a draw prize at an upcoming charity luncheon.  (Click for bigger.)

I'm Toronto-bound in the morning, hoping to do a run-by visit at Lettuce Knit for Knit Night before having a sleepover with a dear, dear friend.  Have a happy hump day!

An unoriginal week

Obsessive much?  Me too.  Once I get a project into my head and I like it, I want to work it over and over.  So I did.  The Harlot's Unoriginal hat is the perfect pattern for instant gratification without mind-numbing boredom.

First I wiped out my odds and ends of Lamb's Pride.

Next came the Patons Classic.

Twice.

Then a parcel arrived lightning fast from a fellow Raveler, with a yummy hank of Leticia expressly for this purpose.

In the same parcel came a couple of hanks of deliciousness.  Sea Silk.  Pumpkin colourway.  Destined to become a Tuscany shawl.

[Are you drooling yet?]

And while I've otherwise avoided enhancing my stash of yarn, I can't say the same for patterns.  Since patterns help to use up stash, they're negative stash, right?  I thought so.

[half price from Mary Maxim!  Squeeeeeeee!]

[from the Loop in Halifax, along with a decidedly non-photogenic but highly useful and functional set of blocking wires.]

Cables and Os has finally passed the great divide of fronts and backs.  What a relief to ditch the 320-stitch rows!

The fronts are done, the back is almost there, and here are a bunch of photos.  I'll have a Lazy Knitter post regarding this one before too long.  Anywhere you see stitches on holders, they've been retained for later steps, in lieu of binding off and picking back up.  Click for bigger.

And, for the road, a shot of that scrumptious stitch pattern.

Now I'm knee-deep in a deadline project that I haven't been told I can share with the blogiverse, so I'll keep it under my hat for now.

Out from under my hat comes the newest issue of Alpacas magazine, where my first print pattern will appear any day!  I'll post it to the blog at some point, just waiting for my electronic copy of the pages.

Happy Hump Day!

Simply a Show and Tell

  With so many finished objects and so little time to share them, I bring you March:  the first week.  You'll find this post completely devoid of wit, wisdom and humour.  You've been warned.

First off, I inadvertently over-formatted my last post to the point that I can't re-edit it.  Missing from last month's head to toe is the mother and daughter clogs I worked for a coworker and her little girl.  I forgot to photograph the finished pairs and deleted the progress photos, so if you're not on Ravelry to look me up, just imagine clogs, just like the other eleventy thousand pairs I've done in the last year.

The diaper bag for the mum of little Lauren is now done, and really cute.  Toothache cute.  Diabetes-inducing cute.  I think you get the picture, so here are a few more you can click for a larger view.

 

 

The Cashmiracle sweater, AKA the 4-day sweater, has been worn several times already.  The fit is customized to the point that it makes me giddy with glee to don it in the morning.  I'm just that simple.  Click for bigger.

 

I started a Swallowtail Shawl for a charity event, and while I have very little done, I'm still excited to see it taking shape.  Yarn is Schaefer Anne, and I love it so.

I worked another Urchin, this one with a matching scarf, and it really made me think of a certain coworker, so I gifted it as a highly random, very early and very late birthday present.  (Hi Lou!  This one's for you!)

There's more, much more.  Perhaps I'll bang off another post when the wee ones get to bed.  See you soon!

Nine days without blogging make Jack...

something clever.  More clever than something I can come up with on the fly.

I've been working.  Knitting and working and knitting at work, but still working.  Apologies for the delay, but I bring the gift of a zillion finished stitches.

First off Bayerische, which I can't seem to stop photographing from every angle.  These are like knitted art to me.  I will work them again, but the tiny, twisty cables are as hard on the hands as they are on the brain, so I will need a break before I tackle another pair.  Click for bigger.

   

  

Wee Koigu t-shirt got its finishing touches, and I got the KPPPM monkey off my back.

Soy Raglan got done too, including some fun details.  I made puff sleeves by adding a box pleat and applied i-cord to each sleeve.  I love the effect, and I also love the lacy body.

Amy suckered me into another pair of socks, and I got to try another of Cat Bordhi's sockitectures.  These are the Cedar Dancing Socks from New Pathways, worked to kid size by using finer yarn and smaller needle.  She loves them, and my Cherry Tree Hill Supersock from last spring's Portland trip has now been depleted.

Ms. Yes came last weekend with kids in tow and a Branching Out on the needles.  She also brought me a nifty knit pouch she made, no doubt inspired by the horrifying sight of me dragging skeins around on my kitchen floor.

Sunny yellow goodness...

and by the weekend, I had a Branching Out of my own, in Alchemy Bamboo.

[cute on her, but she can't have it!]

A skein of Plymouth Sockotta magically became a pair of Cables and Corrugations, also from Cat's New Pathways book.  I may just end up knitting the entire book by the end of 2008!

[lousy photo of great socks]

Cables and Os is 4 skeins (of 16-18) in and measures about 10 inches now.  The pattern is addictive and fun and effective and kind of perfect.  I'll post a photo once I get to shapings, but take my word for it, you need both the pattern and the yarn!

I'm also working one more (still unphotographed) pair of socks from New Pathways, the Sunrise socks, in double-stranded Tofutsies.  If you find the Tofutsies a bit on the thin side, you may like the added squish from double stranding it.

With tomorrow comes a yarn trek to Tangled Skeins (with Happy and Yes, to pester Extremities), a play date with Yes and family and hopefully enough caffeine to sink a battleship.  Have a great weekend!

First things first

Please take a minute and pay a visit to the divine Miz Happy, who is having a birthday today.  Steph, I hope Henry and Mr. H. are good to you today.  And I sincerely hope there's cake.  Lots of cake.  Happy birthday!

I've been sticking to my rules, only raiding the stash room to continue my ongoing projects.  First is the Bayerische socks, which are delicious and fabulous and a ton of fun to work.  I just wish that I'd bought enough yarn to make these ones as knee socks.  Oh well, next time!

[mmm, twisty...]

I've also allowed myself to raid the room to grab additional balls of CotLin for the Cables and Os sweater I started last week.  I've just joined on the third ball of this birthday yarn, and I'm really loving it.  I have to watch it carefully due to twisted stitches and very slight splitty tendencies, but it's very much worth the effort.

I'll be working some lazy knitter tricks for this one, so stay tuned.

Blue Moon's January club socks are done, and I love them.  Once again, they've broadened my horizons with a colourway I wouldn't have chosen on my own, which I appreciate.  Pattern is Serendipity by Adrienne Fong, colourway is Dragon Dance, to honour Chinese New Year.

Gung hay fat choy!

Also sitting in my project buckets was a 3/4 skein of Handmaiden Sea Silk.  I purchased this for an undetermined project last summer, then used a bit to do some slippers.  In the spirit of February's rules, I banged off a sweet scarf from what was left.  The pattern is Strangling Vines from Nicole Hindes, and I can't wait to work another one.

West Coast Sarah will have a new sweater, just as soon as I get it mailed out to her.  These raglans are a major addiction for me right now!

And what to do with a half skein of Socks that Rock?

 

[a new hat, natch!]

Amy and I continued to work on the felted bag, and got it done over the weekend.  She's a bit proud of it.

Looking heartbreakingly mature, no?  Perhaps fitting for a little girl who REGISTERED FOR SCHOOL THIS WEEK!

And the nutty thick-n-thin yarn from the beside-the-computer basket became Urchin hats for the girls.  Love this pattern, and love that Ravelry suggested it for the yarn.  (Send money to Ravelry, please.)

And since, in my world, another day brings another pregnancy announcement (I call my circle of friends the Breedy McHumpalots; please don't tell them), stash is most useful for little sweaters.  Here are two more:

[Koigu KPPPM and Cherry Tree Hill Supersock]

[Bernat Naturals Soy]

Lots of pictures and few words today, so I'll leave it at that.  I'll be fighting the urge to enter the stash room, but haven't changed my mind yet.

Happy VD, one day early!

Where the yarn lives, or the forbidden land

I have stash.  Much stash.  Tucked away in a few places, popping out of a few corners, randomly appearing as if from nowhere.

Down a long hall...

Last door on the left...

The mudroom.  And the yarn room.

Yarn lives here.  Yarn up top:

And yarn below.

This is the storage area, where I attempt to delude myself with statements like,  "I don't have that much!"  Stuff lives here when it's not even reached the swatching stage.  This is the overstock of my world.

I'm cutting myself off from access to the stash room.

My new goal is to use up the yarns that I have in the other hiding places of my house.  In my family room is my favourite knitting chair, my brown leather recliner.

But there's a secret next to the chair.  My WIP buckets!

and they're loaded.  Always.

Next to the computer is another basket, for yarns that have been frogged, swatched,  or just brought out for photography.

There's yarn in them there baskets, and it's going to be used first!

After today (and yes, I raided it yesterday), the stash room is officially off limits.  The one exception is to grab the final ball for my socks in progress.  Other than that, it's family room yarn only.

Until I change my mind.

Cake can undo any ill

Thank you for all of the birthday wishes and comments.  I had a wonderful, cake-filled, butter-frosted day, despite a few changes in plans.  Nothing like a birthday to bring out the Febrile UpChucking Kid.  (capitalization intended; look a little closer, and know that I'm not nearly as upset as the flowery language may imply.)

With my sweet Laurel in her sad state, I opted to stay home with the people I love last night.  We oinked on nachos with the best guac I've ever tasted, cake and chocolate.  Not a glamourous evening by any stretch, but a ton of fun.

Amy, at 4 1/2, is starting to get interested in knitting, so I figured no time like the present.  I have a knit-in-round stockinette project going on a large needle, which seemed perfect for her beginning fingers.  She took to it like a duck to water!

It warms my heart to see her so excited about it, and I'm certain Laurel will follow in her footsteps in no time at all.

The sweater for little West Coast Sarah is coming along, with just the sleeves left.  I worked a 3x3 brioche rib a la Grumperina's Roza's socks pattern on the bottom edge, and will do the same on the sleeves.

Sort-of-secret baby project is now finished.  Kindly avoid my Ravelry notebook if you're presently with child.  You likely know who you are.

Rounding out my month of sweaters is another pair of socks, Becca "Anticraft" Compton's Vinnland.  My only mods so far were to work gussets and a heel flap, adding the fun and addictive stitch pattern to the flap.  I love the effect.

I'm using some Koigu I purchased in Toronto last fall, and I got yet another joint-laden yarn skein!  My mom suggested, and I think she's right, that I don't get more joins per skein than the average person, I just go through far more skeins.  In any case, with the short yardage of Koigu, I didn't have the luxury of not using the wee yarn bits, so there will be lots of working in ends.

Looking at those photos, I think I'd prefer for the front surface of the toe to be ribbed.  Much frogging may ensue.

In 3.....2.....1.....

Come on in, the sweaters are fine

When I let my blogging go as long as I did this time, I always wonder where to begin.  This time, I'll dispense with the excuses and dive right in!

The finishing of Thermal sent me into a sweater frenzy that has yet to abate.  With about eleventy thousand friends "up the stump" (thanks Dad, for the charming, I suspect British, reference to pregnancy) and many neglected little folk in my circle of friends, I started with the small sweaters and just kept going.

Amy's Cascade 220 sweater was the first one done, and she loves it.

The whole point of this sweater was for her to have buttons to match the ones on my Thermal, so I made a twisted rib faux placket (look ma, no buttonholes!) as I worked the upper body.

BFF Nancy's son Charlie has turned two, and has also not received a holiday present from Aunt Fun, so a lil' letterman sweater was in order for him.

[I can't wait to see him in it.]

Wee Tyler will be 3 in the spring, just after his baby brother or sister arrives, so he gets to be a letterman too.

Both of the sweaters are worked in Sirdar Denim Tweed DK from a bargain bin.  Nice to work with, and a bit of cotton content, so it makes a nice, soft fabric.  I worked the two sweaters in different gauge and actually preferred the firmer gauge of the 3.5 mm needle I used for Tyler's.

Next was the fulfillment of a request from a dear old friend who will welcome her second child, a baby girl, in the spring.  Little Lauren will look just ducky in this.  I especially like the little fairy buttons.

[Yarn is Bernat Naturals Soy.  Surprisingly pleasant knit.]

Little Sarah was born last year, but she lives on the opposite coast, so I rarely get to see her parents.  (Mum is a high school friend.)  This has put me terribly behind on kid knitting, so this is a toddler sweater that I hope will fit her in the fall.  The yarn is Cherry Tree Hill Supersock and I'll post a more up-to-date progress photo in the next day or 2.  For now, you get this:

[Solid colour is Navy, variegated is Dusk.]

One last sweater is a secret, and I've set a crazy deadline for it, so there will hopefully be photos on my next post.

To round things out, I finished Jason's socks.  I'm not in the mood for socks these days, but I think he'll like them.

So, the magic formula for the sweaters, beyond blind obsession, is my persistent tinkering with the top-down raglan formula I've used many times before.  I've made a major change to the method:  when casting on for the neckline, I cast on the stitches prescribed within the worksheet PLUS one stitch for every row that will be worked before changing to the round PLUS the stitches that are intended to be cast on at centre front to complete the circle.

I join in the round immediately after casting on, work the neckband, then work short rows to shape the neck's front.  Instead of increasing at the end of each row, I work one more stitch than on the previous row, wrap and turn.  This creates a clean neckline, no raw edges, and one less step, as the sweater grows from a completed neckband.  Does this make sense in the least?

Tomorrow I'll be busy turning 36, celebrating today's surgeon visit, my resulting clean bill of health, and my weather permitting return to KOL.  My wish is for a healthy year, a comment from each lurker who reads this post, and 100 public Bloglines subscribers by the end of January.  Little help?

Thermalicious

With a gentle nudge from my pal Wendy to both finish the sweater and to blog it, I am pleased to present my finished Thermal, aka The Nicest Piece I've Ever Handknitted For Myself.

Click for bigger versions of the teeny ones.

  

[Apologies for the dorky photo.]

This is the best fitting, most squishy-soft, comfy piece ever.  I love everything about it, even the cutesy buttons I've been reclaiming from garments ever since the original sweater purchase of 1996.  (Those buttons are a very well-traveled bunch.)

The photos don't do it justice at all.  The set-in sleeves, the deep, scoopy neck, the just-right sleeve length and abundant twisted rib...

All of this has set me into sweater mode.  I've already started and finished one for BFF Nancy's son for his 2nd birthday / late holiday gift.  I'll post photos once I remember to take some in daylight.

Next sweater is for DD Amy in Cascade 220, a top-down raglan that I'll also post photos of later on.  It's really flying off the needles, and she's sure to wear it by month's end.  After that will be another one in the same colour for DD Laurel.  (They haven't yet rebelled against the matchy-matchy clothing, so I still indulge in it more than occasionally.)

In other knits, I cast on a bag so I'd have some plain knitting to do at the theatre while I watched the best new movie I've seen in years.  The yarn is the Bernat felting stuff, which isn't too bad, very Lopi-like.

Also, the first handknitted socks for my BIL, whose wife has had her holiday socks on every day and is making him very jealous.  These are in SR Kertzer On Your Toes, the sock yarn with a smidge of aloe.  It's an awful yarn, very scratchy for one with aloe.  It also had a very, very awkward join, where the patterning actually reversed!  After much winding I managed to salvage enough for the pair, but I'm quite annoyed and won't bother with the yarn again.

And socks for the other BIL are done and awaiting their postal trip west.

And just one more,a  secret project that went off in the mail to the States today.

Yesterday I had a wonderful visit from Ms. Yes and her littlest kids.  She was sporting the most awesome pair of Back to Basics socks, and we caffeinated, kvetched and, of course, knitted.  Now I'm dying to get my hands on some CotLin from Knitpicks so I can work a Tussie Mussie just like hers!

The girls (my 2, her 1) had a great play and got along famously.  Wee Gabriel?  Maybe it was the yarn fumes.  Maybe it was the lure of the squishy bean bag chair.

   

Or maybe, just maybe, he was just bored.