Me Knits?

I've not a lot of time before my head hits the keyboard in a full-on sleep, however, I really wanted to post a couple of "me knits" (no longer are they to be called selfish knits in the Schrodinger household, there's already enough guilt involved in being a Mum without the guilt of 'selfish' knitting). Both took very little time to knock out, both were a pleasure to knit (hence the speedy knitting) and both are going to get great use.

First of all we have the Ilean cowl. I had some malabrigo and had started a cabled hat of my own design, it turned out too small, so I ripped and gave up, and then decided that I didn't actually need another cabled hat, I needed a cowl instead. I adapted this to add a button band and buttons, just to make things easier on putting it on or off when wearing headphones :) Details on Ravelry.

After seeing Maya's stunningly beautiful FLS, a bunch of spiders have decided to jump on the February Lady Sweater bandwagon by doing a little, unofficial knitalong. I was not for it at first, stating that I just didn't "have the time" but then kept seeing FLS's in progress, and I caved. Out came a webs gift certificate and before I knew it, I had an FLS (according to ravelry, this knit only took me 20 days).


Like so many people before me, I adore this sweater, I love the color and fit and style. I'm thinking I will feel even more comfortable if/when my "lady bits" decrease a little in size.


I'm too lazy to post details here when I already pumped them into ravelry, so you'll need to go there if you want that info.

200 posts and still going.

Well, I have a great many WIPS going on, so the basket is getting some good use :) It's basically like this, "oh, I really want to try Sandra's sock pattern" (see below), "ooh, I really want to knit up that habu silk [that I had just bought] into a shawl/stole", "oooh, I finally have yarn to make the hourglass sweater I've been wanting to knit forever", "oh yes, and I must make the mother/daughter socks for my wonderful co-worker moving back to Ireland next month". And guess what? I'm still looking beyond the basket to think about the other projects I want to get my hands on. I don't think that I've ever been this ADD with my knitting before - or maybe I forget?

At the back of my mind there 2 balls of Trekking XXL that I bought in a little sale at the Point last week - they want to be on the needles, right NOW. And to top it off, this landed in my mailbox yesterday:

Isn't it pretty? It's 5% cashmere, 95% Australian Merino. A laceweight called Gentle, in "Soft Aqua Blue" from Yarn Place. This was a prize that I won from Redheadskydiver a little while back. Isn't it pretty? Now it's tickling my brain, what lace project should it be? The card made me smile too. Thanks Redheadskydiver!!! It's soft and lovely. Yes, apparently I'm on a lucky streak - maybe it's time to buy my first lotto ticket?

As a result of all this distraction, I don't really have much in the way of FO's to show, just this one sock:



Now this sock - or was it the yarn? Pissed me off on Thursday. There I was on the train, happily knitting away, and out of the blue, the damn thing decides to tell me that maybe, just maybe, it wants to try being a different sock, perhaps a Monkey...

Now you can understand the reasoning behind this thinking, while in progress, it's really hard to see the great tweed-ish pattern - kind of a confused charade. So the yarn starts to worry, it wants to be seen in it's best light after all. But then. I try it on. No, the yarn was wrong, Charade was the right pattern after all - phew! all is good again (it's true that I still have a nagging doubt, however, I'm choosing to ignore it).

Oh, and there have been some requests for apartment pictures. There is still plenty to be done here in our humble abode, but I thought I would oblige. So, here's a couple of shots of the living room to tide you over:





And my crafting space - as you can see , this is still a work in progress - AND (with Mr B there for scale) it's obvious that my stash is a reasonably small size... right?




I'm going to have go now to get ready to go out to celebrate the Mets win :)

Progress

First of all, I want to say thank you to everyone who left lovely comments about "the incident". I really do appreciate all the kind words and suggestions. I'm afraid my action with the sweater will inaction at this time. I cannot face it, I don't want to disappoint any of you, but I can't pretend.

As I promised in my last post, I do have additional pictures of things I've been up to. First up is a Boyfriend Sock. One is done, knit using knitpicks superwash fingering weight, dyed by yours truly. Mr. B. liked the color, so I thought it was time for him get a new pair of socks - he was such a good boy after all.


Second up, thanks to Sandra for reviving my interest in these mitts, I've started the Pirate Mittens. I dunno though, I've ripped these out once already, and I'm trying my best to stretch out the knitting a couple of times a row the second time, but I still have puckering. What the #!@$ am I doing wrong? Suggestions gratefully received.


Finally, some spinning I did while Mr. B. was taken away from me by the in-laws. This is Multicolor Colonial Navy. 100% Corriedale Wool. From Carolina Homespun. There's only 4 ozs though, so not sure what I will make with it...

PJ Day

Time to get the violins out, cos I'm feeling poorly - the taking the day off work, watching junk telly, wearing PJ's, feeling sorry for myself kind of poorly. However, the good news is that I caught up with some blog photos (yes, it's actually daylight in my apartment while I'm at home!).

Firstly, some of you may be wondering what happened to the Natucket Jacket I was knitting from the 2006 winter Interweave knits. Did I manage to fix it? Does it fit now? Where the hell is it? Honestly, I've been putting off posting about it, it still makes me sad now (5 weeks after, what shall be referred to as "the incident"). Anyway, here is a quick look at the result of "the incident".



I never did get to plan c (re-seaming) - plan b involved some water and a tumble dryer, one of the sleeves got a little too damp the felted result of which you can see on the right. There are other parts of the cardigan that are felted, and yet it still remains a lot too wide and a little too short, it is not savable, not even slightly. The cardigan resides in the back of the closet now, until I finally have the heart to throw it out.

On to a brighter note, I finished something else, which actually fits, and I'm totally in love with it. I think that these are my most favorite socks ever (aren't the latest pair always?). I went a bit nuts taking photographs of the socks, I won't bore you with all of them.



Yarn: 1 skein of Brooklyn Handspun's stunning Signature Yarn in "Rose Mocha" - man do I love this yarn, it's soft, the colors are gorgeous, apparently it fluffs up great after washing [can't wait to wash them] AND it's superwash.
Needles: 32" Addis, US #2.
Pattern: "Ripple Weave Socks" from the Fall 2006 issue of Vogue Knitting.
Adaptations: I opted for a garter stitch short row heel, thanks to gleek for her version. I also added a p1, k1tbl at the beginning of the k row of the sole, and k1tbl, p1 at the end of that row. This helped the pattern 'pop' and gave a little symmetry for me.





Close-up of the garter stitch short row heel, isn't it great?

There are more pictures (sock, mitten and spinning) to share, but I will save them. Just so you know, the Nantucket jacket has ensured that my future includes only small projects - socks, mitts/glitts, hats etc.

Defeat and Joy.

Okay, the Thanksgiving deadline drew closer and closer and I gradually came to realize that Mr. B's zipped raglan would not be done (I had finished it - AGAIN - but the collar needed frogging and re-thinking). My sweater still had hope, until my social life became hopelessly busy, and before I knew it, I'd seamed only one side and BAMM! my family had landed. It was the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and I, sadly, admitted it could not be done, all blog reading and posting stopped (well, almost all) and I was 'indisposed' I have the day off today, but they're still here until Wednesday. On the bright side, both items are so close to completion, it won't be long before I have some FO's to share with you all.

I had a wonderful surprise for me the day after Thanksgiving, a package from Alyson, not just any package, but a prize-winning package, and I mean this in more ways than one. I won the goodies just by commenting on her blog, which is no hardship, I love it, it makes me smile, and she has some pretty pictures (esp. now she's taken up spinning, they get yummier). If you don't read her blog, you should definitely check it out. The Haiku is fantastic.


Anyway, on to the what was in that pretty little package.

Number 1, Malabrigo in "Velvet Grapes". I nearly deafened Mr. B. when I opened this. I then had to see, touch and smell it - have you sniffed Malabrigo? Yum! The color is stunning, the texture is soft as a babies, you know. I'm already wondering what kind of knitter I am to have never even touched this stuff. This could be a dangerous affair beginning.


Number 2. Elann's Baby Silk in "Oxblood", a soft, beautifully colored 80% baby Alpaca, 20% silk yarn. If I wasn't sure about Elann.com before, I am sure now, I love this yarn, it's love and luscious.


Last, but not least, number 3. Noro Cash Iroha (in color 16). I do believe I am one lucky, lucky knitter. Thank you Alyson, you really spoiled me.


Just one last look at the prettiness all together. Excuse me now, while I go and play :)

Sweat shop.

The Bloglines plumber has been in and clearly fudged things up - trying to tell me I had 100+ posts to read this morning, eh? Ha! They lie!

Anyway, I've got some pictures for ya! First of all, the love of my knitting life right now, the Nantucket Jacket. The back is complete, and have started the right front - no pics of that since it's just a smaller version of the back ;) I'm making the jacket longer in the body, since I like longer tops. I'm going to make the sleeves longer though. I just haven't decided between 3/4 length, or just going full length - ideas? opinions?


Now the neglected, but definitely not forgotten Man's Zipped Raglan from LMKG. Can you see in the picture that I partly blocked the right front? I'm posting a photograph of it here is to make me feel the urge to finish the damn thing (again!).


My goal (dream?) is to finish both of these for Thanksgiving - am I being too ambitious? Considering I've never knit a sweater before, it's quite possible that I am, but that's not going to stop me. I better be off to get some knitting done...

Endings and Beginnings

Those of you with bloglines will probably be told that there are two new posts for this blog. I updated my list of FO's (I added pictures). So that's the endings.

As for the beginnings, here's a quick progress shot of the Natucket Jacket from this winters Interweave knits - I'm loving the pattern so far, but am a little concerned about the amount of seaming ahead of me...



Have a great week.

GARGHHHHHH!

Okay, I'm more than slightly pissed today. They say that you should never go to bed angry - that was really tough advice to follow last night after Mr. B tried on the, almost complete zipped Raglan (from LMKG), good Lord the damned thing does not f*cking fit - it's far too small, he looks comical in it. Had I not spent so long knitting the thing I might have seen the funny side. But not today, cos today I have to frog and find some more of this yarn. I fully planned to take a picture to show you all, but I just don't have the heart. I decided to swallow the pride and actually show the top, and how it doesn't fit.

Doesn't look so bad at the back.


Until you see the front and decide that this thing needs to be zipped up - errrrr....


Here's the sweater now - sad huh?

On a lighter note, the Wyvern socks are coming along nicely, I'm 1 & 1/3 of the way through, they are looking great, and I love the look of the ribbed sole - even if I'm not exactly loving knitting it ;) Now the color of these socks is super hard to capture, because they never look the same color in different lights. At the Point, for example, the yarn is almost a blinding red/orange, but it's not that bright really - honest.



Oh! And my tee-shirt arrived (Addis are still on the way):


Excuse me now, I have to go to elann.com to order some more Ravenna Cotton.

We interrupt this spinning...

Look to the left of your screen, no down a bit, down a bit more, just below those free patterns. See it? I'm now a proud button owner and new member of the wonder group known as the Spiders! Serious as sh*t! I was thrilled when I got the email from gleek. Mr. B. has smiled politely, trying to appreciate my happiness - but bless him and his little cotton socks (yeah, he claims to have a "wool allergy") I'm not sure he does.

Other news, well Mr. B's Zipped Raglan Sweater in [you've guessed it] cotton now has sleeves, ready to be attached, but that requires more thought than my brain is capable of this evening. I have spun and plied another bobbin of the silk merino and have decided that I'm not a particularly good spinner - time to think about lessons, or at least a decent video or book on the subject. Despite this, I still want to finish spinning what I have left and attempt to knit a Clapotis and have moved my mind towards colours. I'm thinking warm reds/plums/purples/browns and possible oranges. I selected a few pictures to show you guys, but it was just an ulterior motive to have a picture on this post. Instead, I will post a picture of a couple of things coming to me:


You know them, you may love them, I decided it was high time I actually tried them (esp. at the bargain price I bought them for - but more about that later).


Yup, it's the Recycling Tee from Threadless. They have some pretty cool tees, I'm sad that I had to wait a little extra time for them to move warehouses, it's coming soon though, it must be, they promised me.

Okay, that post seemed far too long to me... time for bed.

Pictures.

I debated about posting this, but finally decided to. This was the view from our roof last night. It was a strange and emotional day, but the tribute in lights is a beautiful and touching tribute.






On a lighter note, come and have a looksie at the yarnmail I got last week:

Some cotton, for a secret pattern.

Some gorgeous cotton by Lana Grossa for a gorgeous Phildar Cami, probably will be complete just in time for the cold weather :)

Finally, some black cotton/acrylic (pretty soft and nice) for the Men's Zipped Raglan from "Last Minute Knitted Gifts" [YAWN] for Mr. B.

Anyone seen the new Knitty issue? I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised. You should check it out.