New Projects

I'm still not quite done with those socks (need to perfect my toe-weaving technique on something heavier than sock yarn) but I have 2 more projects underway.
I'm using the Farmhouse Yarns Bonnie's Bamboo that I bought at Heavenly Socks last month to make a narrower version of Veronik Avery's Lace Ribbons Scarf:





It's coming along well, thanks to the encouragement of my Ravelry friends.

My other new project is a new pair of socks:





in Crystal Palace's Panda Cotton from Unique One, using a free CP pattern: Mehehune Cobblestones

Almost done

Here is my sock progress:

The color in the photo is a little off--too pink. The last bit is what I'm dreading: weaving the second toe. The first one is wearable but not something I'd want to show off! I'm getting the point of toe-up sock knitting!

Catching up

I've been slow to take photos and some how I got correspondingly behind on blogging as well.
My latest knitting update is that I've started Anna Bell's Cherry, a short-sleeved cardigan. The pattern calls for Jo Sharp Soho Summer DK Cotton, which means I can actually use the original yarn, and it was on sale! The color I have is called Rockpool, a deep green.
In sock news, I'm struggling along on my second sock using the Berocco Comfort Sock yarn. I like using bamboo or wooden sock needles but was disappointed that one wooden needle broke.

Sox!

The first 3 photos show the Ridged top down pattern from More Sensational Knitted Socks, knitted in Kollage Luscious. Turning the heel was a wonderful revelation of my own three dimensionality in concrete detail. However, the cotton yarn and not-so-stretchy pattern left me with a slightly slack fit around the ankle.










This last photo shows my first toe-up sock in progress. It's based on another pattern in More Sensational Knitted Socks, knitted in Cascade Fixation. The stretchy yarn and the use of Heel Stitch on the flap combine to give the heel and ankle a better fit,

Quick update

Travel has kept me away from blogging for a while but not away from knitting. Or shopping. Midcoast Maine's LYS owners are friendly and helpful!
A quick visit to Heavenly Socks Yarns in Belfast got me started on sock knitting, using Charlotte Schurch's lucidly written More Sensational Socks. My first pair used some previously purchased Kollage Luscious, variegated in purple, green, and gold. They are comfy but a bit loose in the heel. I'm not sure I'll use it for socks again, or perhaps it just needs less ease and a ribbier stitch. I've started pair number two using Cascade Fixation in purple, toe up for (I hope) a precise fit.
Circumstances kept me from getting back to Belfast for the remainder of the trip, but I did manage two visits to Camden's Unique One, where on impulse I got 3 skeins of Schaefer's Laurel in the Empress Wu Zhao colorway. I'm hoping to find a comparable yarn in a solid to add structure to the randomness. In addition, still thinking of socks, I got 2 skeins of Berrocco Comfort Sock.
Photos later.

Photos at last

Here is the comfortable and cozy Emerald Cardigan at last:



I made the collar bigger, added a second button, and skipped the eyelets (yarn overs) along the raglan shaping. The yarn (an unlabeled acrylic as far as I can tell) shaded nicely.

And here is my version of Jared Flood's Turn a Square hat:


The colors are off. The green is too yellow and the blue is too bright. I used Lion Brand Vanna's Choice Sweet Pea and Dusty Blue. Not Mr. Flood's style as to color or choice of yarn, but fun to knit and nice to wear under the hood of my similarly green parka on extra cold days.

Starting 2009

In the spirit of the little stash down contest going on with some knitting pals, I'm starting the new year on a productive note of projects completed or decisively abandoned. This will be the year of finishing things, I think.
I'm way behind on photos, but here's an update:

• My Emerald cardigan is finished! I made the collar wider with extra short rows, and I gave it 2 buttons instead of just 1.


• My turquoise hat (using Creamy) was just too frustrating, so I gave up. It's nice yarn for something--lace, perhaps--but not for a hat. Knitting with it doubled was like knitting with 2 strands of crochet cotton--no give, no loft, and ready to slip off the needles at a moment's notice. It's a nice enough pattern, but not for that yarn.


• I just finished my take on Jared Flood's Turn a Square hat, only instead of using a classic wool I used Vanna's Choice acrylic in a sort of lime-to-pea-soup green with muted blue stripes.I did it partly to learn how to do the Jogless Join when knitting stripes in the round, so as to be able to apply this approach to my striped pullover, which was not looking the way I had hoped. It worked out well! There was a difficult moment when I realized I had made the hat an inch too long, but by (gasp) cutting off 2 inches, bravely picking up and ribbing down for an inch, I rescued it. It's in the washing machine now so I can see how VC washes before I whip up a baby blanket.