Friday, July 31, 2009

Fair isle fun

I forgot how much fun stranded knitting is!

Finally, the Fair Isle bag got under way. It is a lot of fun and moving along pretty fast.

I really like how this is turning out. In the meantime the Fair Isle fun got to the fish too.

Fish #3. Noro Kureyon and Manos del Uruguay.


The re-siding of the house is also moving along. The back is just about done.


The front still looks naked with just the house wrap on. Hopefully it will be done this weekend.

Looking really good.

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Two at a time

I have to stop.

This is too addictive. The second fish is Noro Kureyon. I made his tail and flippers a little bigger. It's time to take them swimming. Or do I need number three?

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Yes there is a knitting fairy

I got bitten by the felting bug.

I was moving right along with the Lucy bag when suddenly it occurred to me this is not exactly what I was looking for. I want a tote bag for knitting stuff to carry around. The Lucy bag has a fold-over strap that makes it cumbersume to reach in and out. It would make a perfect purse, but that is not what I want.

I frogged the whole thing.

I still wanted a felted bag. I went into Ravelry and started browsing around. Then I came across this:


Yes!

More importantly, I have this pattern! Somewhere in the house. I remember saving this when I was weeding out old magazines and organizing my patterns. Yes there it was. There is the knitting fairy and she is with me today. Now, what yarn? I am determined to knit from stash and have been very good at that. As a matter of fact, except for three skeins of sock yarn (which doesn't count as stash) I have not bought new yarn this year! I know I have a bunch of odd-ball Manos. Surely I must be able to put together something.

Yes, there is a knitting fairy.


Just out of curiosity I went into Ravelry to see what people have done with this pattern. I was browsing through "felted bags" catagory when all of a sudden this picture popped up:


Felted fish by Linda Taylor.


I MUST HAVE ONE. Or two. Or a whole school of them.

Pattern. Pattern. Where can I get a copy of Knitter's Stash? Right, now.


A quick trip to the Fairfax County public library web site found one on the shelf at my library.


Yes there is a knitting fairy.

Another dive through the stash came up with a couple of balls of Diakeito Diamusee. I have no idea why I have this yarn! But it is perfect for my first fish.

Whoopee!!

I can't wait to felt him. He needs the eyes first.
I have a few odd balls of Noro Kureyon as well. I 'll just have to make sure I knit the body a little shorter. The Diamusee has 100 yards and I went over a ball. I want to keep it within one skein of Kureyon.

Let's go fishing!

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

In progress

Actually, not much. The two socks are triggering along. In the meantime I got a felting bug after Runty's bed. So I started the Lucy bag.

At first I was using Noro Kureyon alone. But as I was reaching the 120-stich point and starting to come up the side of the bag I realized it was going to be way too small. I was knitting it on size 10 needle and I got the size I want unfelted. Frogged. Started over with Kureyon held with Cascade 220 on #13 needles. It gives me a tweedy effect while maintaing the self-striping pattern Kureyon is famous for. It will be interesting to see how it turns out felted.

The garden is also moving along. The tomatoes are turning.

The squirrel got the first ripe tomato, unfortunately. Those pesky critters are also tearing up part of my newly-sodded lawn. I might have to resort to some serious squirrel repelling measures soon.

The house is also getting a facelift.

I am getting new siding! Yeah!! It will look really nice once it is done. It is on hold for a couple of days right now because they delivered the wrong style of siding. They just started putting it on when it struck me. I had it taken down and now will have to wait for the right siding to be delivered. Story of my life. Another WIP!

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Toe-ups, cuff-downs

I love them both!


Left is Boyfriend socks; right is Baudelaire.

Yeah!!

Monday, July 20, 2009

Monday morning

I was quite busy this weekend so didn't get much knitting done.

I managed, however, the finish Runty's bed and felted it.


He approves!


Friday, July 17, 2009

Friday Update


Runty's kitty bed is moving right along. I threw in stripes in Manos Del Uruguay. I have just one skein of this rust color yarn laying around so decided to add it to the blue bag. I will have to get some eyelash yarn for the trim as well. In all I should finish the knitting this weekend and try felting it first in my front-loading machine. Will see how it felts.

The boyfriend socks are also progressing nicely. I am on the heel flaps now. However, this might turn out to be the girlfriend socks -- namely mine. They look awfully small. I am doing a medium.


The combination ribbing and cabling makes them very narrow. They are quite strechy, though. We'll see if they end up in whose drawer.

Pair number five of the Summer of Socks 2009 also got underway.

Just started, but these will be Baudelaire. My third pair of toe-ups. The yean is very pretty Ella Rae Merino Lace. It's called merino lace but it is fingering weight. Very pretty colorway called Seven Seas.
They are working on my new roof today. I am also getting new sidings next week. The house is going to be so beautiful!
Have a nice weekend.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Stash knitting

I have been really good.

Except for three skeins of sock yarn (which doesn't count as stash), I have not bought any yarn this year! Instead I have been digging into my stash and found out that I have a lot of really very very nice yarn. Redoing the basement helped a lot. All the yarn is now in one room waiting to be sorted while the big room is being painted. I actually found it fun going through what I have and trying to match the yarn with the pattern.

So what am I knitting from stash?

This it the start of Kitty Pi for Runty. I cannot believe I had not come across this pattern and knitted it for Runty before! The yarn is Debbie Bliss Soho. I got the yarn a while back. It will be an experiment in felting too. I have a top-loading high effiency washing machine, which I heard doesn't do well felting. We shall see. I might have to go to a friend and borrow her washing machine.

This glob is my February Lady sweater.

This is Rowan Summer Tweed. Obviously I need a longer cable! I just finished the garter stich part and now am starting the lace part. This Summer Tweed has gone through a couple of frogging in previous projects yet it is holding up very well. I need to get a longer circular and pick it up again.

In the meantime pair #4 for Summer of Socks is on the way. This is Boyfriend socks.

Cascade heritage handpaint. A very generous yardage at 437 yards. Hopefully I can get longer legs out of this yarn. The pattern is written for toe-ups, but I am doing them cuff-down. I know, I know. I think I still prefer the heel-and gusset construction and look of the cuff-downs. I will knit socks toe-up though. In fact I have Baudelaire in mind as the next pair.

I need more knitting time!

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Toe-ups take two

My second attempt at knitting socks toe-up was a big success!


Diagonal lace socks by Wendy Johnson. Toe-up two-at-a-time on Magic Loop with Mini Mochi. I used the Turkish cast-on. This second pair turned out much, much better especially on the heel construction. I like the gusset increase and slipped stich heels. They look just like the cuff-down construction. And they fit better too.

Even though I still prefer the cuff-down method, I am glad I tried the toe-ups. Now I am no longer antimidated by toe-up patterns and will not need to turn the patterns upside-down anymore.

Toe-up or cuff-down, sock-knitting still rocks!

Thursday, July 09, 2009

I'M back!!!

YEAH!!!

Back from the brink!!

Not that I have not been knitting. Just that I have not been blogging. But summer is here and I promise myself I will be better at blogging.

Just a start I signed up for Summer of Socks on Ravelry.

So far, so good. This is the first year I participate and the theme is no stress, no pressure. My kind of knitting. My first pair was done while on a trip to North Carolina. A lot of car knitting. This is Twinkleberry with Socks that Rock. Don't remember the colorway.

One of the goals of the SOS participation for me was to try to knit the socks toe-up, which I did in the second pair.



I used Judy's Magic Cast-on method and short-row heel. I finished them but am not too thrilled. The toes aren't neat and I definitely do not like the short-row heels. They are also too big for me. I wasn't figuring out quite right yet the measurement of toe-up socks. Anyway, here they are. Roccoco with Claudia Handpaint.

I am not giving up on toe-ups, though.

My second attempt is Wendy Johnson's Diagonal Lace socks.

I used the Turkish cast-on this time and like it a whole lot more. The yarn is Mini Mochi. While the color saturation is great and it is very soft knitted up, the yarn is extremely splitty and is a pain in the neck to knit. I won't knit with it again.

Other summer-related stuff is also going great.

The house looks beautiful with all the flowers in bloom.


I love the purple coneflowers.

And the garden. Oh boy, the garden!


It is starting to produce now. Check this out!
And this
And this


Aren't they beautiful?

It is going to be a great summer! I am happy. So is Runty. All the while he is peering out from inside the house.