Monday, March 31, 2008

Recent knits...

I've been remiss about knitting-related posts lately, so here's an update on some recent projects...

A shrug I made for myself out of Sublime cashmere merino silk aran...

I snagged a bag of 10 balls of this yummy yarn at half off, which, at less than 100 yds. a ball, was not enough to make a full sweater for myself, but I was bound and determined to make something for me with it because it is so soft and lovely. I don't generally wear croppy things, because I do not have a crop-friendly body, but I had a vision in my mind of a shrug that I might not look so bad in. Thus, I knit this from my vision...and this looks pretty much nothing like my original vision. I made a calculation error in stitch numbers for my fronts, but I didn't realize it until I was too far in that ripping wasn't an option. So, I revised the design on the fly into this wrap-like look...and it's ok. I doubt I'll make another just because I'm not all that comfortable wearing something so short, even with a longer top underneath. Everyone at work seemed to like it, though, so...eh. Whatever. I'm mostly happy with the design itself, even if it wasn't what I started out aiming for. I'm always happy with myself with I knit from a vision and not a pattern and it comes out wearable. LOL

My March charity hat...


A baby blanket for my daughter-in-law's sister's baby, who was just born last weekend...


They are doing a Penn State theme for the baby's room, thus the dark blue as opposed to baby blue. I have two crocheted chevron afghans -- one Kevin's aunt made us for our wedding, and one my grandmother made and I have fond memories of snuggling in when I was little. I love these blankets and have wanted to knit a chevron afghan for ages now. This has been a good practice project, small as it is.

The Lace Ribbon Scarf from the Spring 2008 Knitty patterns...


I'm not usually a big lace knitter...I don't have the attention span and charts make me crazy...but I've had this yarn for over a year now, and for most of that time it has been relegated to a bag on the back of a shelf in my yarn room, in the equivalent of Yarn Siberia. It is Ellyn Cooper Fine Merino, and it is bea-u-ti-ful. I bought three hanks of it. The first I wound into a ball, no problem. The second, however, appeared to have been wound into a hank by Ellyn Cooper's feral cat...good gawd, but it was a freakin' MESS inside, and it will probably never, ever be completely untangled. I lost a lot of momentum trying to untangle and wind it, and then I gave up. After enough time passed for the pain of that frustration to be a distant memory, I tried using it for several smaller projects than the one originally intended, but I have never been happy with any of them. It's a very densely spun yarn, smooth yarn and it has a lot of spring to it, which I find makes it tricky to work well with. However, inspired by Amy Singer's Liberate Your Laceweight campaign, I decided to give this yarn another try, this time in a (relatively) easy lace scarf. (Amy said fingering weight qualifies for this campaign, so go me!) And -- yeay! I like it! I've made probably a half dozen mistakes in the pattern already, and while I'm employing a life line, I will not be ripping back to it unless I muck it up so badly that it really looks like crap. And if I rip too much, I know I'll get frustrated and the yarn will just end up back in Siberia, and that would be sad.

Lastly, a sock...Trekking XXL yarn...absolutely gorgeous colorway...


I'm teaching my friend Peggy how to knit socks, so this is my teaching sock. Thus, I'm not moving on it as quickly as I usually do, because I'm letting her catch up so I can keep showing her the next step. She came over this afternoon and we successfully turned heels. She was indeed impressed with the sudden appearance of the heel (and really, who isn't? it's like magic every time!), but I don't think she is particularly enjoying the sock knitting process in general. Of course, I kind of remember wondering, "What do people see in this???" when I was doing my first sock too, so maybe it's just a first sock thing. :}

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