Woohoo!

As expected, I completed the right front of Hey, Teach last night. I didn't get a chance to work the buttonbands, but I'm about to start on those.

I did realize that I made one minor mistake. I was supposed to put the neckline stitches on a holder, and instead, I bound them off. No big deal, though. I'll either pick up stitches for the neckline (and do the same on the back so it'll be consistent) or I'll snip a stitch and undo the bindoff. Either way, it'll be pretty simple. I'm not worried about that.

I'm thinking that binding off would look better, because I have to pick up stitches along the vertical edges anyway and it would be more consistent. BUT I think using live stitches would be more comfortable: no potentially uncomfortable seam across my chest/back.

Any suggestions or opinions? They are, as always, very welcome.

And now, for today's photo. This is, what, Day 13? Doesn't look like I'll make it in 2 weeks. But it won't be much longer than that. I can deal with that.



I really hope I can finish the buttonbands today so I can block these tonight. I'm ridiculously excited to see how it looks all blocked and sewn together. I just hope that blocking it so it looks really good doesn't make it too big. It shouldn't, but I'm a worrier.

By the way, I know the pattern says to block, sew the shoulder seams, do the neckline ribbing and THEN do the button bands. I'm choosing not to do all that. I think it'll look better if the neckline ribbing goes across the top of the button bands, as well as the rest of the sweater, which means the button bands have to be completed before the neckline ribbing. And the only reason for the blocking and sewing is that those are prerequisites for the neckline ribbing, so those can also wait.

I do have to go find and buy buttons at some point soon though. I haven't picked those up yet, and I'll need them once I start putting this together. I'll probably end up with something pretty similar to those shown in the model photo on the pattern. I like the wood, and I've seen some very similar ones at Wal-Mart. Which is good, because Wal-Mart is pretty much the only option I have. Well, or Hancock Fabric, if I wanna wait till the weekend. I don't want to wait.

Closing in

I'm closing in on the final stages of Hey, Teach. Last night I finished the stockinette portion of the second front half. Nothing left now but the center ribbing, lace, button bands, blocking, sewing together, neckline ribbing, weaving in ends and final wash/block. It sounds like a lot when I list it, but that's all small stuff.

And I expect to finish this half today. In fact, I'm so sure of it, I'm going to go ahead and change the progress bar on the left sidebar to reflect its completion.

Here's where it was as of last night:



Expect to see a photo of it completed tomorrow. And maybe, depending on how well today goes, the button bands too.

I need to find my camera so I can get good pictures of the finished object! And I need to find it soon, because I have a feeling this project will be completed very soon. Yay!

I also bought fabric yesterday to make a skirt...I think they'll be cute together. If I'm right, I'll post a photo of the whole outfit once I finish it all.

Image heavy to make up for my blogging failure

I am a bad blogger! Not only did I skip posting this weekend -- that's excusable, because I was really tired -- yesterday, I forgot to take a picture of Saturday's progress before I started knitting again. *hangs head in shame* I know, I know. I was doing so well, too!

But! All is not lost. I remember where I was at when I stopped Saturday night, and I'll explain both with words and a diagram.

First things first. Friday (Day 9) progress:

I completed the left front. There seems to be an error in the pattern. The armhole shaping seems to be on the wrong side. Either that, or I'm crazy. But I made it work (by following the armhole shpaing instructions for the right side), so even if I'm crazy, I'm obviously not THAT crazy.

Also, it's only the left front to people looking at it. It goes on the right side of the body. But that's not a problem, because the other side (what they have marked as "Right Front") is the opposite, so it works out fine.

Also on Friday, I knitted the first of two sleeves. I decided I'd go ahead and get the small stuff out of the way. It didn't take long at all, being very tiny and lacy.

Day 9 progress:





On Day 10 (Saturday) I didn't get much done. I was busy all day long, and only managed to snag some knitting time while I was in a pavilion at a public lake listening to 50s and 60s music. (My dad, who runs a karaoke and dj business, had to do a "sock hop" at Diamond Lake Resort.) But the thing didn't start until 7 p.m., so I didn't get to knit for long before it got too dark to see what I was doing. I started the second sleeve but didn't get too far. I might've kept going if I was knitting stockinette, but not lacy sleeves with shaping. Therefore, I stopped after the ribbing and half of one repeat of the lace pattern.

See? My stopping point is marked here. (Lovely little Paint diagram...)



I showed Dad's friend Dave the finished sleeve. He looked at it, then held it up to himself (upside down) like a fig leaf. Yep.

And, as you can tell, yesterday (Day 11) I finished that sleeve off. I also started the right front and got through the ribbing before I got too tired to continue.



So, to review, I have now completed the back, both sleeves, the drawstring, the left front and a small portion of the right front, all of which are shown here in this not-very-good, blurry, angled, too-bright picture that I worked hard to get (had to pick up the laptop and hold it in just the right spot, at just the right angle, while pushing the button):



(Back with drawstring threaded through it, "left" front, both sleeves and "right" front in progress)

I tried editing the picture with Picnik. I'm not sure how much it helped. I don't have Photoshop working on this computer yet. I turned the sharpness way up so you could at least see the laciness a little bit. It still kinda looks like crap, though, at least on this computer. I promise, the sweater looks MUCH better than the picture of the sweater does.

What all of this means is that once I finish this right front I'm working on, which shouldn't take long, all I have left to knit are the button bands. Then blocking, sewing, weaving in ends and possibly another blocking to make sure it looks as good as possible and it'll be ready for wear. Oh, and the neckline ribbing. I keep forgetting about that. It's only 2 rows, though.

The end is in sight!

-Amie

day 9

day 9: i finished the sweater half and found a slight error in the pattern. i also knit the first sleeve.

but no picture or details tonight, because i'm tired. i'll post those tomorrow along with day 10's progress.

-amie

Day 8, and the knittin' is good

The sweater fronts are going pretty quickly. One more repeat of the lace pattern and I'll already be up to the armhole shaping. It's not too much of a stretch to imagine that I'll be able to finish the left front today. That'll just leave the right front, sleeves, button bands and finishing, which just involves sewing the 5 pieces (back, left front, right front and sleeves) together, weaving in ends and washing/blocking.

I'm still pretty happy with how it's turning out.



Added bonus: you get to see my lovely Green River Firefighters Association hat, which they gave me because they like me (it's mutual) and the tropical surf scene Jacqueline drew on my dry-erase board. You can't tell in this picture, because the knitting covered it up, but there's a shark in the lower left corner of that picture. And the surfer is saying, "Whoa." Like Joey Lawrence.

(By the way, I look annoyed in the picture. I wasn't. I was smiling the whole time, except, apparently, the minute I pushed the camera button.)

Back in action

Since this is a slow work week, I had time to knit yesterday. After nearly killing or embarrassing myself to show the finished back (don't ask), I kept going. I decided I didn't want to start a new ball of yarn without finishing the old one, and I didn't want to join new yarn in the middle of a piece unless I had to, so I worked on the drawstring instead.

45 inches of 3-stitch i-cord:



I hate knitting i-cord. But at least it's done. I originally intended to knit 36", but then decided it was too short. And I had yarn left anyway, so I kept going. I thought maybe I'd knit to 48" but I ran out of yarn first. Oh well. 45" is good enough. And since this is 100% cotton, it's liable to stretch, anyway.

Then I started the left front. I got through the bottom ribbing and 32 (of 44) rows of the bottom stockinette. Just 12 more rows of stockinette, decreases, center ribbing (which will be the trickiest part yet, because I have to space the eyelets correctly and hopefully end up with the correct number in the end) and then the top lace pattern.

I got a little goofy/silly taking this picture. It reminded me of a veil. You know the ones.

Or a ninja scarf/bandana/handkerchief/thing. Either way.



I really do love this pattern so far. And I've barely made any mods at all, which is unheard of for me, as you know.

Day 6 for real

Since I didn't get to knit for several days, thanks to medical issues of various sorts, this is the real day 6 of Hey Teach. I'm not counting the days I didn't get to knit.

I finished the back!



Ignore the fact that it's bunched up and is sticking out in weird places and just general sits awkwardly. That's only because of the extreme discomfort I experienced trying to take a picture that showed how it was fitting me. (It was paper-clipped to the straps of my tank top, which was then flipped around backward, choking me in the process, and I obviously turned my back to the webcam and reached behind me to click the button. Yes. Difficult.)

I'm pretty happy with how it's fitting. When I first finished the back and looked at it, I thought it was going to be way too long and there was no way the ribbing was going to fall at the right spot on my ribcage. But it had just gotten stretched out lengthwise during knitting. I tugged on the side edges to make it fit around me correctly and that corrected the length problem as well. Yay!

Oh, and the back took less than 2 balls of yarn. I probably have enough yarn left from the second ball for one sleeve or for the drawstring. And I still have 5 balls that I haven't touched yet. (Jess, how many did I give you? How much of this yarn did I have anyway?! I'd already used part of it, and I know I gave you some, and I still had 7 balls left!)

Now to start the front pieces. I'm estimating 6 days for both of those, since that's how long the back took, but obviously it depends on the amount of knitting time I have. Then the sleeves, the i-cord drawstring, the buttonbands and the finishing.

I can't wait to finish and wear it.

Technically Day 6...

No progress picture of Hey, Teach today because I made absolutely no progress yesterday. I didn't knit. At all. Other stuff got in the way...long story. I can't guarantee there will be any knitting time today either. Oh well. At least it's a no-deadline project, so I don't have to feel stressed and guilty when more important things keep me from working on it.

-Amie

Work. Meh.

Work is getting in the way of my knitting, and I don't like it! I was hardly able to get any knitting done yesterday (again) because I had to do newspaper work instead. Bleh. I was only able to work 6 rows yesterday, from the beginning of the armhole shaping to the end of the actual shaping. Now I have to work even until the armholes are big enough, do the back neckline shaping and the shoulders and the back piece will be finished. Unfortunately, I have to work late again tonight (high school graduation) so I probably won't get to do much today either.

I don't like that. But, alas, the adult world requires it of me.

Since I haven't made much progress and it probably wouldn't show up in a large picture, today I opted for a close-up that shows the armhole shaping. Voila:



There is very little armhole shaping; all the pattern has you do is bind off 4 and dec 4 on each side over a total of 6 rows. Then you just work even the rest of the way up the armhole. That doesn't seem like much to me, but I'm going to trust the pattern and hope I don't have to frog anymore.

And hopefully I'll be able to get more knitting time this weekend!

-Amie

Day 4!

I didn't get a lot of knitting done last night, because I was preoccupied with bringing the blog up-to-date and giving it a more sophistocated look. So today's picture looks very similar to yesterday's. But is there progress, I promise! I finished that 2nd repeat of the lace pattern I mentioned yesterday, and now I'm about to begin the armhole shaping. I forced myself to not knit any on it today until I'd photo-documented my progress from yesterday, so here I am.

(I'll be honest, I'd rather be knitting, but I don't want to slip into the bad habit of not blogging my progress.)

But I am gonna make this short so I can get to the fun knitting part! So, without further ado, day 4's progress:



Off to knit armholes now!

Moving right along

Day 3 of Hey, Teach. I didn't get as much done last night as I would have liked. I finished the center ribbing, checked the pattern for the next row and quickly realized I left something out: the decreases that are supposed to be done before starting the ribbing. I toyed around with a few ideas (dropping stitches and picking back up as decreases, working a decrease row after the ribbing, etc.) but I didn't think any would look right. So I bit the bullet and ripped back. It was only 6 rows anyway, but I hate frogging, and I hate knitting 1x1 ribbing. Oh well. I decided 9 rows of ribbing was too many, anyway. So I redid it with decreases and only 7 rows of ribbing. I'm much more satisfied with that.

I'm 1.5 repeats into the bodice. I think I'll finish the 2nd repeat before I need to start the armhole shaping. That's only 6 rows, though. I'm getting close to finishing the back! If only I can keep from screwing up again, it'll be good.

Today's photo:



Also, because I can't remember if I ever posted this anywhere or not (probably not), I knit CanaryKnits' Anne Elliot Spencer last summer. I'm wearing it today. I love this little sweater. I never got around to sewing the buttons on, but I think it looks cute with a ribbon laced through. And you can't even tell the buttonholes are only on one side.

Photo!



I know I've said this before, but it is so good to be knitting again.

Hey, Teach Progress: Day 2

I really intend to keep better track of my projects, and this is the best way to do it. Plus, with the handy built-in webcam on my laptop, there's really no reason for me not to post pictures. (But I promise I'll take higher-quality shots of the finished objects.)

So, here's Day 2 of my Hey, Teach project. It doesn't look too terribly different from Day 1, except that you can see I've started the ribbing that goes just under the bust. I also took this shot with the piece held up to me so you can see the size and fit better. I know this is only the back piece of the cardigan, but it still seems like I'm flying through this project. That's the way I like it, though; I hate working forever on a project and not getting anywhere. I just hope the lace doesn't slow me down too badly.

Oh, you can't really tell in the picture, but I decided to add the eyelets for the drawstring. I'm doing an extra row of ribbing (to make a total of 9) so the eyelets will fall directly in the center, vertically. That's the last row I knit before bed last night.

Enough rambling; on to the picture!



This picture is also a lot more flattering to me. Hehe. In the last one, I was sitting in bed and had to lean way back at a weird angle to get the shot. In this one, I was able to put the laptop on my desk at work and just stand in front of it.

-Amie

Hello world!

I'm back! Now that I have a working computer (and a nice shiny laptop at that), a camera, an easy way to upload things and time to knit those things, I actually get to post here again! It feels great.

WARNING: Long post ahead! I've been gone a while, and I have a lot to say!

I just finished Hew, but I haven't taken any good pictures of it yet, so I won't post those yet. I've also done some other stuff in my absence from blogging, but nothing major and nothing I have pictures of. I didn't get a lot of knitting time when I was working two jobs. Everything's coming together now though. (It feels better than you can even imagine.) I'll have to remember to get pictures of Hew. And my version of the Baroness Beret (PDF link), which turned out more like a slightly loose beanie than a beret, but I'm really happy with it. I've also been working on-and-off on Bayerische during lulls between projects, and I actually have good pictures of my progress on that, but I'm not sure where they're hiding at the moment so they'll have to wait a while.

Oh, I also knit a black hat for a Wal-Mart coworker, but it was kind of a nightmare to get the sizing right on that one and we just won't talk about it.

I think that's pretty much all I've done, except for a basic baby beanie and booties. And part of a baby sweater that got lost and wasn't found until after the birth, so it's now been set aside to wait for the next boy baby. Except not really the next, because the next one gets something extra-special. The sweater's made of baby blue acrylic, anyway...I can do better than that for special little boys that are born to special knitter friends. ;)

Anyway, in the meantime, here's stats on the Hew and the beret.

Hew
Yarn: Elsebeth Lavold Classic AL, color 05: Aged Wine
Needles: Size 4 bamboo unknown brand (whatever it was I purchased at Knit during my honeymoon in Charleston!)
Started/Finished: completely unsure; this was my go-to project for several weeks whenever I had a few spare minutes to knit between phone calls and meetings and proofing pages at work
Comments: I love this sweater/shrug/bolero/mini-sweater/boobholder. I hated knitting the thing. First of all, my gauge was off. I don't remember exactly how much, but it was off. Also, the pattern was too large and had to be sized down, just like most things I knit for myself. So I figured out the necessary math and got started. I knit and knit and knit and never seemed to get anywhere. It was the never-ending sweater. Then I finally got to where nothing was left but the ties and the neckband...and promptly ran out of yarn. I found a girl (lifesaver) on Ravelry with one skein in the same colorway/dyelot that she didn't plan to use and was willing to sell me for the original purchase price. So I got it and got back to work, only to get barely more than halfway through the neckband and run out of yarn again. No way was I buying more yarn; this was supposed to be a stash-busting project. So I ripped the entire neckband and reknit a smaller one. I didn't have enough yarn to go all the way around the back, so I just knit the neckband to the top of the sleeves and sewed it to the back of the sweater. It poofs up a little on the shoulders, but it doesn't look bad. Kinda like a design feature, actually. Plus, I'm pretty sure it'll settle down once I finally get around to blocking the sweater. Incidentally, I think there would've been too much fabric bunched up around my shoulders if I had knit the neckband all the way around, so...well, let's just say the entire sweater was a learning experience. And a real pain in the butt.

Baroness Beret
Yarn: Misti Alpaca sport/fingering in cream; I don't remember the yarn's exact weight or colorway because it was originally purchased for use as a Christmas gift. (I didn't skimp on the gift. I just decided to use rose-colored yarn instead.)
Needles: I think size 3 metal dpns...they've kinda been the needles of choice lately for anything that will work at all on them
Start/Finish: No idea; it's been a while. It didn't take long to knit, I know that. And I guess it had to be some time in January, because I know I didn't start until after Christmas, and I wore the hat during the infamous ice storm of late January/early February 2009.
Comments: Unlike Hew, the hat was a completely enjoyable knit and I love the finished product. I had doubts when I first started knitting. I didn't think I'd like the beret shape on me. And, to be honest, this hat turned out more like a beanie. But I love it. The slight fuzziness, the color, the lace pattern, the size, it's all perfect. I would like to say that I'll definitely knit the pattern again, but I can't think of any other color that would work as well with it and with my clothes and complexion, so maybe I won't. But I'd definitely recommend the pattern to others. And I may end up knitting it for other people, as well, just for the sheer pleasure of knitting it again.

So, enough FOs...now time for a WIP. I've been seriously knitting-deprived lately, so I picked a new project pretty much as soon as I finished weaving in ends on Hew. Now I'm working on Hey, Teach from Knitty from stashed Pakucho organic cotton yarn. I've loved that sweater ever since the pattern was released, but I wasn't sure where my stashed Pakucho was, and I didn't have a shirt I wanted to wear under it anyway. Long story short, I got a shirt and found the yarn, and voila. I swatched this afternoon, cast on tonight and am about 6" into the back piece. So far I'm pretty happy with how it's working out. I'm knitting the smallest size, as written for once, with size 7 Clover bamboo circs. The smallest size, even though it's an XS, is a little bit too big for me, and the modeled sweater looks like it has just a wee bit too much ease for my taste, so I'm knitting at a slightly smaller gauge than called-for (4.69 sts per inch instead of the called-for 4.25 stitches per inch). I did some preliminary math, and it seems like that should fit me pretty much perfectly, so here's hoping. If all else fails...blocking works wonders, especially on lace.

Oh, one modification. I'm thinking about knitting eyelets in the center ribbing and running an i-cord drawstring through, as suggested in the pattern. I haven't decided for sure yet, though. Opinions?

And, just because I can ... a picture! I didn't feel like running out to the car for the real camera, so it's just a webcam shot. But still, my first picture in months!



It's really tan, not a barely-brownish white, like it looks in the picture. Lighting is bad in here, especially without a quality camera.

I have 12 more rows of stockinette before the center ribbing.

It feels great to be back in the land of the living!

-Amie

FO update

A little catch up. I've been knitting. But not sharing as much as I should. I've also been spinning, but I'll save that for another post (tomorrow perhaps). These are a few things that I've finished lately. I really should try harder not to let things pile up between blogging. A couple of these were actually started before the dino sweater I already blogged about. But the dino sweater I'm still VERY proud of and I couldn't help sharing that one right away. anyways... here are a few projects.



Pattern: SKA March 2009 Mystery Sock Pattern
Yarn: Plymouth Yarn Rockin' Sox
needles: US 0 (2mm)
started: March 3, 2009
finished: March 23, 2009
notes: a KAL with SKA on ravelry. mystery socks are a lot of fun. You get a clue each week and at the end of the month you have a pair of socks (well as long as you knit each clue twice each week). These are destined for a friend, but still haven't made it into the mail. Having fun putting together some other goodies to go with them. The yarn has been renamed sockin sox. It was fantastic for the price (100g for $12), but not sure I'll work with it again. Will wait and see how they hold up to wear and washing.


Pattern: Cables & Corrugations by Cat Bordhi
Yarn: Fleece Artist Somoko in Blush
needles: 2.25mm (us 1)
Started: March 2, 2009
Finished: April 14, 2009
notes: these are my favorite toe up socks to date. I'm not a big fan of toe up knits. But these fit perfectly and were fun to knit. Cat Bordhi keeps things interesting. and even tho this yarn has a bit of mohair in it, I find it very soft and squishy and nice. I'm not a big fan of mohair, but I do like this yarn. Will give further review after washing.


Pattern: variation on "Miss Dashwood" and "organic cotton knit booties"
Yarn: Lion Brand cotton-ease (original) in bubblegum
Needles: us 6 (4.0mm)
Started: April 8, 2009
Finished: April 10, 2009
notes: knit for a swap. I swapped out the bobbles on miss dashwood with eyelets and ran a ribbon thru. On the booties I did sort of the same thing. Changing the cuff to add eyelets for a ribbon to be used. Was a very quick knit.

Nathan's Dino Sweater

Pattern: "Steggie by Julia Farwell-Clay"
Yarn: 3 balls of Ella Rae Classic in green (29)
about 13yds of KnitPicks Wool of the Andes in tomato (red)
about 13 yds of Plymouth Yarn Galway Worsted in blue (11)
needles: US 6 and 7
started: March 12, 2009
finished: March 16, 2009

When I saw this pattern in Knitty on March 11th I knew immediately I HAD to knit it for Nathan. I started contemplating yarn right away. I looked online, thought about ordering. Then I just went to the yarn store with Nathan and came home with a green he was happy with. I had blue and red in stash (Nathan decided it had to be just like the boys on knitty...). I started knitting it the next day after measuring him several times. The body worked up fast. I went to get the red and blue for the sleeves and realized I didn't have "the blue". Another trip to the yarn store. I came home with a blue and finished up the sweater. My first time with intarsia, and I must say a lot easier than I was fearing myself into thinking. 4 days for a sweater which included having to run to the yarn store for more yarn, and a day blocking so I could seam it properly. I'm pretty proud of this one. It came together very nicely and quickly. Nathan says it needs a zipper, which I'm having no luck finding local so I'll order it. no big deal to make him happy. But he also says its not a sweater but a costume. I'm pretty sure he thinks its Halloween only... but I did manage to talk him into wearing it today out and about. Several people commented on how cute it was. And then off to the knitting group to show it off. :)

Another Tulip Baby Sweater

Pattern: "Tulip Baby Cardigan from Dream in Color"
Yarn: Jo-Ann Sensations Tesoro in white, pink, purple, and blue (its discontinued)
needles: US 5 and 7
started: Feb 24, 2009
finished: March 5, 2009

This one is for a dear friends little girl. Would have finished this faster but I ran out of blue yarn and since its discontinued took me a bit to track some down. I love this pattern. Its so cute and such a fast easy knit. I'd recommend it to anyone and will most likely knit several more up before I'm finished with it. I still love this yarn too. So sad that its discontinued. Its such a nice squishy soft superwash wool. Perfect for little baby knits.

little brother blankie

Pattern: Tender Blankie by Wendy Bernard
Yarn: Peru Naturtex Partners Pakucho Organic Cotton in vicuna and natural
needles: us 7 (4.5mm)
started: February 25 2009
finished: March 1 2009
Notes: Totally can't tell that I used 2 colors but they are both there. Its washed and wonderfully soft. But I'm not 100% thrilled with it. I dont care for how I joined the yarn (I haven't found a fantastic invisable cotton join). And the seams aren't perfect. The yarn was about the best cotton I've ever worked with tho. I used a tiny bit over 6 balls to complete the blanket, which measures about 30 inches square.

Spring Forward socks

Pattern: "Spring Forward by Linda Welch"
Yarn: Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Merino in Spring Frost
needles: 2.0mm
started: Jan 16 2009
finished: Feb 21 2009(felted on the 17th)
Notes: Regular k1p1 ribbing instead of the twisted ribbing. I'm just not a fan of the twisted rib. Worked over 77 stitches instead of 66. did a modified short row heel. And a round toe.


finally I finished these socks. They took me way longer than they should have. The pattern is easy to memorize. But kinda boring at the same time. I started them because they were suppose to be a fast knit. But I got bored with them quickly. I'm also still iffy about this yarn. I've used it before. Really disliked working with it the first time. But love LOVE how this washes up. So soft. This time the knitting wasn't as bad (well other than being bored with the pattern), but its just not my favorite to work with. I knit it up on 2.0mm needles, normal for me with socks (with this yarn I got about 9st/inch). But I feel like it should have been knit at a tighter gauge. Only to knit tighter would have killed my hands and been VERY unenjoyable. They just dont feel right on the bottoms of my feet when I walk tho. Hopefully washing will change that. But the last pair doesn't quite "feel" right either. I can already tell that these will wash up just as nice as last time I used the yarn. I at first did a wedge toe then when I frogged and reknit you could already tell the yarn was "broken" in and nicer. I got this yarn in a trade (thanks "Cheryl"!). I had purple (already knit), black (got really cheap, then traded off for something better), and pink (still in stash); I honestly dont see myself buying this yarn again. Its a really great price and comes in some gorgeous colors. But I just can't get past knitting with it. Maybe if I had a sock machine. Because they really do wash up amazingly soft. and so far hold up really well. I can't see a lick of wear on the other pair I have with this yarn. Its a love/hate relationship at this point. Not horrible to knit with, just not my favorite. Perhaps next time I should try washing before I knit. See if that makes me change my mind about the yarn.

In other news after knitting mojo came back and I picked these socks back up. I broke my first dpn. This is one of my size 2.0mm harmony needles that I snapped while knitting this sock.



I'm still really happy with this needle set and would buy them again. Luckily right now I dont have to. I already had 2 sets in this size, since its my most common size to knit with. That and after this many years of knitting, perhaps it was time that I broke a needle. I know it happens to some knitters way more often than this.

The Big Reveal!

This was delivered to my house yesterday.









I took the picture of the open box then failed to get another picture until it was all unpacked. I just got excited. Then when we put it together same thing happened. Will have to work on this picture blogging thing, hehe.

After the fiber festival last fall I started saving up my pennies for another wheel. I got about half of what I needed and hit a roadblock (also known as christmas). Then with tax return money we were able to order my wheel. I talked to a couple dealers in NZ. Because of the exchange rate right now you can get them cheaper if you order from NZ or in my case from "Wolly Designs" in Colorado. Tracy the owner lets his rates float with the exchange rate. I saved about $200 over what other us dealers were asking for the wheel. Tracy was even able to quote me about $50 less than other NZ dealers. So I ordered the wheel and 3 extra bobbins. YAY!

My Majacraft Rose spinning wheel.
which has these features (taken from maja's website)
- includes the Rose Carrier which can be used as a 3-bobbin lazy kate. The carrier has rubber feet, a convenient carry handle, whorl holding pin and a magnet to store the whorl allen key
- has a normal and fast whorl, two flyers with delta and fine fibre orifice
- ratios extend from 4.25 to 19.5 using the whorls supplied
- includes four bobbins
- the handle folds to allow easy handling
- the handle and head position are adjustable so you can achieve the most comfortable spinning position
- suits both left and right handed spinners
- the Rose uses the dependable scotch tension for smooth and easy spinning.

Nathan's slippers II

Needed a project to take my mind off the mittens. This worked perfectly. A quick project that I could finish with one days work.



Pattern: "Children's Felt Clogs (CH-38)"
Yarn: Knit Picks Wool of the Andes in Firecracker heather
needles: US 13
started: Feb 16 2009
finished: Feb 16 2009(felted on the 17th)
Notes: A tiny bit big, but I’m sure he’ll grow into them. I’m not a fan of how fuzzy this yarn got when felted. IMO patons does much nicer



When I was going to get info on the clogs that's when I realized "hey I never blogged the first pair". So here are the first pair.


Pattern: "Children's Felt Clogs (CH-38)"
Yarn: Patons classic merino in grey and forest green (from stash)
needles: us 13
started: Dec 20 2008
finished: Dec 21 2008
notes: love this pattern. so quick and easy and they are cute.

I like the two color version much better. Since making 2 pair Justin has requested a pair. I have the adult pattern (had it longer than the childrens). So I guess I'll cast on him a pair soon. If he cares for any of the yarn upstairs. If not he will have to go shopping first. I much prefer the way patons classic merino felts to how the KP did. The KP got a lot fuzzier than the patons. Which I guess some people like. It might be a design feature for certain patterns. Not sure it is for these tho. when I make them again I'll stick with the patons. Although I also have some of the ella rae classic leftover from CPH maybe I'll swatch and see how that felts up.

I also realized a couple other projects I failed to blog. I might make an update projects blog tomorrow. Well see how inspired I am once I wake up (hehe).