Spring Snow

This is all the yarn that is left from the 2 balls. A closeup of the fabric.

#6 finished. Ribbed socks knit on size #1 needles holding 2 yarns together. To be a gift.

This morning the rain, ice, and snow storm was over and I woke up to this.

Pear trees covered in ice and snow. The white snow on the white blossoms is very pretty.

It never got very cold in here so we didn't get the snow amount forecasted. But because of that my apartment didn't fall below 59F and I was able to keep the heat off. The sun is out today and my place is toasty again.

#7 and 8. Ok, so I forgot to take photos of finished #7. It's the top down raglan that I showed last time. It's finished and sent on to it's new home. Size 12 months. This, #8, I knitted out of the leftovers. Top down circle yoke sized newborn. Yarn Lorna's Laces worsted weight yarn knit on #3 for a dense fabric. It's machine washable merino but I think the dense fabric helps it wear and wash better.

#9 mittens. I'm running out of yarn and will have to make choices. Anyway, it's hand spun yarn from fiber I dyed. Leftovers from knitting a hat, now lost. I'm thinking that all the joy I'm going to get from this yarn has been gathered and it's time to just let it go.

3,4,5

#3 the green Perri Klass socks are finished.

The brown socks are going well. I love the pebbled texture in the color. Too bad it doesn't photograph well. These are the cushiest socks ever.
#4 a newborn sized vest made out of recycled Sari Silk and a button from the button jar. Pattern made up as I went. I knit it one night I couldn't sleep. It's already been through the washing machine once and I love how it held it.
#5 Legwarmers. One strand of aran weight black wool held together with one strand of lace weight purple mohair. Knit in a day while teaching a friend to knit.

Swap Yarn

I did a little yarn swap at knitting. This opportunity came up the day that I was going to post that I only had 20 more projects to go until my goal of half of my stash was knit. The offer was fantastic and at no cost to me so I just changed the number from 20 to 25 when I wrote the post. Then after posting a very nice email hit my inbox about a big sale and didn't I want to buy a few dozen sweaters worth of yarn?

I have spent a week trying to find ways to buy that yarn. I think it a bit much when knitters hide their yarn purchases from their partners. There is no need to rub their faces into it but strait out lying doesn't seem good either. So I can't buy it and just not say. But could I send a very big box to a friends house and not pick it up until my goal was met? Or could I knit like crazy, flunking out of my classes, and be finished before the yarn I wanted was sold out? With this thought I realized that the universe was having a big laugh at my expense and I had hit a new level of crazy. So as sad as it is no sale yarn for me.

Back to the swap. I am swapping knitting for yarn. This is the yarn I am to knit. A pair of socks and a baby sweater. The swap was suposed to be just for the socks. But since I was going to be turning the other yarn into a baby sweater anyway and I had no babys to give it too and she had just had a grand baby that week. Well it seemed right.

This is the yarn I knit.

This is the yarn I get to keep. I love the glitter in the Fortissima Disco. OnLine sock yarn in bright colors. And a DK weight yarn that maybe superwash. The lable is missing but it is a fancy hand dyed.
Baby sweater on it's way.

Fixing My Knitting

Laundry day was not a happy day this week. Look what I pulled out of the washer. Koigu socks only 3 years old. They must have had a run in with a zipper. When I first see the hole I think they aren't worth saving but I look the sock over and see that the foot of the sock is still in good shape with little wear on the heel and toe.

I go get my bag with the leftovers of every sock I have ever knit.I find the yarn. Wow, was the sock that bright when I knit it? Shame on me for using stain lifting detergent on hand dyed sock yarn. Still, I'm not going to stop.Picking up the stitches was easier than I thought it would be. It turns out that the yarn broke cleanly at one stitch.
The repair is invisible except that one purl bump I made. And the color match is good too, maybe the socks weren't that bright when knit after all. Grafting a damp sock wasn't a nice time. Still ,I wasn't sure I would have gotten back to it if I had left it long enough to dry. And done is done. I'm expecting several more years out of this sock now.

Christmas Sweaters

First, I turned my heat off two days ago. Someone at knitting asked if I was going to and I was unconvinced. This semester has been tough and I didn't really feel like being cold too. But it was a short walk over to the heater so I did it. It's off until the first day of summer or until my apartment reaches 93F. 93 is when it turns from warm to hot.

So I promised Christmas sweaters photos. 2008's theme was Native American in remembrance of a trip to the Grand Canyon. Also 4 of the 5 kids claim native American bloodlines. Never mind that they all look more Irish than Indian. Since I only knit for the 5 and under crowd this was the last year for 2 of the kids and I wanted to make it good.

For the one girl of the bunch.

She loves horses so I duplicated stitched an Indian Pony onto a doeskin tunic inspired sweater. Perfect for any Indian Princess.


Her brother received this little sweater.

The zig zag arrows are a Native American symbol for lightning I think suited for a toddlers energy.


The hand is a common theme in all primitive art. It represents the hand of the maker and I think ownership too. The hand covered all the rock art rocks I saw on my trip.

This sweater also has rock art embroidered on it. But more than that, this sweater represents the painted desert. The Thunder Bird is taken right from the photos I took of newspaper rock. The colors and stripes are for the brightly colored stripped hills of the badlands and the painted desert we saw that day.
front
back


This Indian Brave is the same age at the Indian Princess and he too got clothing inspired sweater.

The shape is reminiscent of a buckskin tunic. The triangle designs taken from the beading.

All of the sweaters are knit out of Berroco Comfort. The yarn is very soft and gets softer with washing. However it was very splity to knit so I don't think I will use it again.

Count Down

I need to knit 25 projects to hit 50% of my stash. This morning it was 20 but I worked out a trade. I'll tell more about that later. Anyway, It's time to start my count down.#1 socks. Online sock yarn bought at The Studio last spring. Knitted as a gift. Cast on 60 stitches onto 000 needles. A bit of 2/2 ribbing goes down the leg and foot for a better fit. #2 Child's Bolero. Pattern from Knitting Pure and Simple. I added short rows to the back of the collar for a better fold. I used the leftover balls of Berroco Comfort from the Christmas Sweaters. Oh, that's right, they are done and I haven't posted photos. I'll get them next time.

I love this button and I got it from my button jar. As a child I loved my Grandma's button jar and I still do. She has a large jar.

This one is mine. It's so tiny.

Even so, it had just the right buttons in it. A fantastic sweater done, all made by using up what I already have. Priceless.

It's Spring

Spring socks that I have been working on forever are almost done. Those are leaves in the lace, they really are.

Spring socks that are done. Knit Picks Imagination sock yarn in Pixie Dust the pattern is Synesthesia Socks. Modified just a little to make the socks smaller. I took out one purl stitch in each pattern repeat so I could cast on 64 instead of 68.

It maybe a week until spring and my plants are ready now. Many are showing their excitement by blooming.

Sweet Potato plant ready to bloom.

Margarium looking sick from the lack of sun. She's not just wishing for spring but wishing for summer.
Streptocarpus in bloom. Look at her go.
Snapdragon in bloom. The snapdragons went to seed last summer and there she is. Sprouted in Jan with all of her siblings. All the others are still 1/4" sprouts but she is a blooming plant.
Sage and Mint. Not in bloom but still alive. Go me. No black thumb this year.
Rosemary in bloom. They are supposed to bloom in the fall and she did. Does she think it's fall again? Whatever. I'm glad she is still alive. I can keep rosemary alive until Feb and then they keel over. Not this year. The secret is in the pot. Rosemary need a very deep pot. I didn't know that before. Please, Please, don't keel over now. You can go back outside in a month.

Petunias also sprouted in Jan from last summer's seed. Sharing a pot with some Lemon Thyme. Look at them go.
Oregano is my favorite plant. It's impossible to kill. Cute as a cockroach she is. Look at how lush and green. All of those tiny new leaves are so cute.
Lavender. I'm on a roll. She hasn't grown at all. It's like she is holding her breath until winter is over but she is still alive. I'm a known Lavender killer so this is huge.
Geranium. Such big happy blooms on such a sickly plant. But Geraniums are tough. Almost as tough as oregano. She will perk right up when she can get full sun outside. The healthy greenery in the photo is Snapdragon. Geranium has the one leaf that is peeking out and about 2 more that can't be seen. She is a trouper.

All of them are counting the days until they can get full sun again. I have been starving them behind window glass all winter. Except the Streptocarpus she likes the shade and I think the AC too. She will stay inside. The rest are dieing to get outdoors again. Notice none of them are house plants. They have fought tooth and nail, or root and leaf, to stay alive inside and under my black thumb care too. I am proud of them.

The Best Book Signing Evahhhh

This last Friday Perri Klass had a book signing at The Studio. I canceled my plans and went. It was fantastic. I took sock knitting because I knew that the finishing I normally do at their table would be too big and unwieldy for a book signing.

I used the time for a pair of gift socks that I had been avoiding. While Perri read to us I cast on the cuff, knit it, pulled it out and started over again, knit the cuff a second time, knit the leg, and the heel. Fat sock yarn knits up very fast. I find it terrifying. That was $10 of sock yarn knitted in just a few hours. I like my sock yarn money to last. I can't be blowing through my yarn money like that. I just can't.

Socks Knit Out of Louet Gems Opal in a sage green on size 1 needles. Cast on 40. K1 P1 cuff. K3 P1 leg. Eye of The Partridge Heel. Neither photo is close to the right color.
And with those heavy weight gift socks I really need to knit a second pair of heavyweight socks. I have no other heavy weight washable wool in my stash. But that doesn't matter. My favorite way to knit thick socks is to hold 2 strands of thin sock yarn together.

I have these 2 balls in my stash. Both came from a sale bin back in 2006 from one of the yarn stores walking distance from work. They will work great for this project.

This is hands down my favorite sock yarn ever. I have only seen it in 2 stores in all of my years of yarn buying and the one time was the clearance bin. I have knitted 2 socks from it so far. I have this odd ball that is enough to make one sock, and I have pair of sock worth left in my stash. I hope that I find more some day.

This is why it is so great. Each ball comes with reinforcing thread to knit into the heels and toes. I love it. The Studio sells the reinforcing thread separately and I never bother to buy it. But it makes me happy to see it tucked into the ball band. I love it. Wait, I already said that.

Not so happy news. I finally got this mitten going after some starts and stops cause by my too tired brain not being able to read directions. Everything looked great, was going swimmingly even. But I forgot to put in the thumb. I have to pull out all the patterned area and do it over. I'm putting it into time out instead.