Posts Tagged ‘clever knits’

Actually getting somewhere

{ 16 September 2009 @ 11:20 pm } · { knit }
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My Christmas knitting is coming along, although it would help a lot if I could finish a few things rather than continually casting on. I suppose this is why I started in August… I need all the lead time I can get!

I did manage to get one item done. Kaylie’s sweater is

Mabel sweater in Cascade 220 Heathers

It even has a button!

Pewter Celtic Knot button from Clever Knits in Vista, CA

Last night at Knit Night I bought two skeins of white malabrigo sock yarn, which I quite intended to turn into the Willoughby scarf. Alas, after six or seven attempts at getting past the first repeat, the yarn finally got its point across that it didn’t want to be a scarf, it wanted to be socks (hence the name). So, Willoughby has been put on hold until I can find some more cooperative string, and instead the malabrigo is being turned into these:

Fascine Braid Socks by Tiennie in malabrigo Sock yarn (who knew?)

I love how the picot hem turns out, but I really, really hate knitting it. I murmured, “It’s only one row. It’s only one row,” to myself thru the entire ordeal. It was totally worth it.

Check out the braids. Aren’t they clever? The best part is that they’re not cables. And the second best part is that because they’re not cables, this pattern moves really fast. I’m not sure who these are for yet, and I won’t have to make that decision until I get to the foot length, so it’s anyone’s guess, really.

I’m going to spare you more pictures of my uncle’s scarf. Suffice it to say, it’s six feet long, and still not long enough (according to the several big-chested men who indulged me and tried it on). I ordered two more balls of yarn from Knit Picks, which should add another 16-24 inches to the length. If it’s still not long enough at that point, the scarf is going to someone littler, and my uncle is getting a book.

Busy, busy, busy

{ 14 August 2009 @ 9:47 am } · { knit, spinning }
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This week has been crazy busy. I had a bunch of stuff to take care of at work, and the girlies were here so I had to shuttle them from hither to yon, I attended a new knit night out in Vista at Clever Knits, and Max was especially energetic (translation: he wouldn’t go to bed until very, VERY late). All of these events conspired to make writing a blog entry nearly impossible.

However, today is my day. Max is playing, the girls are upstairs (either sleeping or playing on their computers, I can’t tell), so I have time to sit and type.

Here is what I’ve been knitting on this week:

The Irish Hiking Scarf is up to about 3.5 feet in length, and I have 2.5 skeins of yarn left. I find it amusing, in an ironic sort of way, how quickly the first skeins of a scarf knit up and then at the halfway mark progress slows, no matter how much time I dedicate to it. In this photo you can see the front pattern (on the left) and the back pattern (obviously on the right). I really like this pattern, and the resulting “material” is thick and plush. A perfect Wisconsin scarf!

As I said earlier, I’ve also been spinning. Mostly I’ve been trying to get my technique consistently right. I’ve been pretty hit-and-miss with it up to this point. It seems like my singles are too tight, and my plying is even more too tight, so what I end up with is a big squiggly mess. I knit up a swatch of the pink-and-grey yarn I was spinning earlier in the week.

I’m not thrilled with the result as far as the colors go, but the resulting “material” is super soft and smooth. I’m thinking a skinny scarf in a lacy pattern would be ideal, but I’m still debating.

Finally, my friend Sharon asked about the sheep in the picture at the top-right of the page.

Those are some stitch markers I made out of Fimo clay. The funny thing about them is that they glow in the dark. When I bought the clay I grabbed glow in the dark white rather than plain white. I could say that this is a feature, except that it totally freaked me out when I noticed a bunch of little green dots sitting on my kitchen table in the middle of the night. I know… they’re sheep from San Onofre!