Something old is new

New: Popknits online magazine

I love free patterns but I don't think I'd knit any of these ones. The design of this site is just spectacular!

Old: What caught my eye was the article about vintage patterns. And the great link to the Antique Pattern Library.

The Knitting Girl. William-Adolphe Bouguereau. 1869.

My perfect sock recipe (possibly) - Widdershins

I've had these socks on the needles for way too long. I almost had a complete set but then I realized the toe and the heel were off centre from each other and I wasn't happy with heel - I dispise wrapping and turning.

My first attempt was with Austermann Step Yarn and it looked ok. I actually have a picture of the Yarn Harlot holding it on my Ravelry project page (more on the Harlot sighting later). In a raging fit I ripped that sock out soon after. It was great satisfication. I really like frogging in front of non-knitting friends. I feel like I'm having a 'watch my pierce my own ear with a thumbtack' moment. After I manually got it wound into a ball I figured out how to use my second hand ball winder. I've had the ball winder since early spring. It came with the knitting machine I inherited (more on that later). I was confused because the silver/metal piece that you thread the yarn through moves around the ball of yarn you create whereas the ones I looked at on the net were stationary. When I got ready to rip out the second sock I was able to just rip it right onto the ball winder. It makes such a cute little yarn cake. I had to carry it around in my knitting bag to show people who couldn't care less.

The newest version of my Widdershins is done in Regia Canadian Colours Ontario Colourway #4736 (these are MY colours) and I'm modifying the heel as in this post at K2Karen's blog. I get to use my pretty stitch markers (I think most of my problem in v. 1 of these socks was due to my inability to count) and I'll be doing a yarn over method of short rows instead of the dreaded w&t. ha!

Summer of socks - my way

Hahaha

So this was funny. I had anticipated having lots of free time this summer. And knowing that I have an overflowing basket of sock yarn I thought I'd do something a little similar to Summer of Socks without all the signing up business. I was just going to knit as many socks as I could during the summer. Sounds easy. Right?

Well one thing happened after another, time escaped from me, I had a bit of a knitting funk. And well, I didn't even finish one sock! In fact I ripped out one complete sock and one sock that only needed a toe. At the Stitch n Pitch game in Toronto (more on this later) this summer I got about the first 6" done on my Widdershins. I'm so glad I didn't make any specific goals about how many socks I'd finish, would my face ever be red right now.

You wanna know what I did instead of knitting socks? I got qualified to be a school librarian. And can happily report that I am still an A student. I love school but it sure gets in the way of knitting.

I managed to start a pair of Norwegian stockings (see my Ravelry project page), which I wasn't going to count towards my summer of socks total because they are a major project of their own. So I have a cuff and about 2" of the 2 colour stockings done. I kinda figured they would be my fall project but I can see I'll be lucky if I finish them by next fall, lol. They are very slow going, it's my first 2 colour project and it requires con-cen-tra-tion. It's definitely one of those projects that I use as an example of how knitting is NOT like yoga - sometimes it's damn challenging and that's the way I like it.

A fun photo meme

Fun photo meme borrowed from Skrilla Knits.

The rules:

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker).

The questions:

1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One Word to describe you.
12. Your flickr name.



1. Amy Butler Patchwork Bag, 2. good poutine in NYC? (Pommes Frites), 3. A demostration of the VISM general aviation flight simulator, Ottawa, 2008.03.04, 4. Pawnee Pink Sherbert Sunset, 5. Eric Dane - Grey's Anatomy, 6. Wasted away in Margaritaville, 7. Sting Ray City Sandbar, 8. Librarians After Dark, 9. special brownies, 10. I guess this is love, 11. disneyland reflections, 12. Duncan stretched out

The Wedding Shawl

The cardigan I made when I should have been knitting a wedding shawl

Pattern: Juliet from Zephyrstyle.com
Size: XS
Needles: 6.5mm
Yarn: Lion Brand Vanna's Choice, 143-Antique Rose, 3 balls

This is preblocked. I have just finished steaming the crap out of the edges to stop it from rolling and I'm cutting a piece of ribbon to tie it closed. It was such a fun, quick knit. It's unreal how cute this sweater is. This is what my brother gave me for Christmas, well... it started out as a Micheal's gift certificate ;)

Back to shawl knitting...

Wedding knitting

A very good friend of mine is getting married in May (hi Meg!) and I am knitting her a shawl to wear on her wedding day. I have wanted to knit this shawl since I saw the pattern in 2006, but since it didn't seem very wearable with my everyday wardrobe I just kept it marked with a little sticky note.
The sticky note is still there, along with photocopies of the pattern, enlargements of all the charts, more sticky notes so I don't lose my place, and notes about the pattern that I've picked up from different websites. There is a knitalong for the shawl here. I also joined a group on Ravelry (And you know what's so cool about that - the designer answered my first burning question about the shawl. How cool is that?!)
I love the internet. I love Meg. I love this shawl. And yes, I'm a teensy bit crazy for trying to get this done by May 24, 2008. It's going to be so beautiful when it's done. I'm anticipating separation anxiety.
I purchased my first Addi Turbo Lace needles from Wool Tyme in Kingston but couldn't get the yarn there as it was on back order and wouldn't come in until the middle of March. I looked around on the internet for another source and found Yarn Forward in Kanata. I ordered the yarn on Friday and received it on Monday!

This is what the shawl looks like after finish the set up rows and chart 1.
I'm using those little ouchless hair elastics for stitchmarkers and the dental floss for lifelines.



Pattern: Icarus Shawl by Miriam Felton, Interweave Knits Summer 2006
Yarn: Misti Alpaca Laceweight, 100% baby alpaca
Needles: Addi Turbo Lace circular 3.5mm

The tree jacket that didn't make the December deadline

I love this sweater! The photo, not so much (it's really hard to take photos of yourself). It's comfortable and extremely wearable, I want one in every colour. I would love to see how this knits up with different yarn. Sizing for this sweater worried me, usually I'm right between two sizes and when I try to refigure the pattern I just make a big mess of everything. I took a leap of faith and made the XS with no alterations. There are things that could be different, but I love it the way it is. And I've already worn it 3 times in 5 days.

Pattern: Tree Jacket by Zephyr Style
Yarn: Lion Brand Cotton Ease, taupe
Needles: 4mm Denise circs

My yummy chocolate Tree Jacket

I love how this is turning out so far. I'd really like to have it finished by Friday. I'm onto the lace section now. Yippee!

Pattern: Tree Jacket from Zephyrstyle.com size xs
Yarn: Lion Brand Cotton Ease Taupe
Needles: 4mm circs

frecklegirl has invited you to Ravelry!

Yeah! I'm in Ravelry. There are heaps of beautiful photos on the site, patterns in all different yarns, colours and sizes. It's so cool.
I'm aduncan365 over there.

Riiiiiippp

The sock in the beautiful berry Fleece Artist is just too big. My mistake. It would fit some of my friends perfectly, but this delicious yarn is mine, all mine. I have to rip it out and start again.
It's a heavier weight than my normal sock yarn, so I used larger needles but didn't change my normal cast on by enough stitches I guess. Off to do more knitting math.

Odds and ends

I have 2 half socks done, they look like this:







I am also turning this beauty:







into my first toe ups with heel flaps (a la Widdershins from Knitty) on dpns. The pattern that comes with this Fleece Artist Merino is for shorter socks than I like so I hope that with the toe up pattern I can use every bit of yarn to make them go farther up my leg.
This yarn is so beautiful to knit up. It was purchased at Log Cabin Yarns and Music near Cloyne.









On my most recent trip to the library I found a goodie, that will help me figure out what to do with the onesies that somehow get into the stash:







That Wool Ease might become a shrug, the Silken a shawlette or scarf, the cream handspun will hopefully make a cowl/neckwarmer. I'm still looking for ideas for the grey mohair-like stuff (I think there's enough to make a sweater actually).

And it looks like I'll soon be on Ravelry:

You signed up on August 27, 2007
You are #29102 on the list.
2239 people are ahead of you in line.
13432 people are behind you in line.
60% of the list has been invited so far

Yep, I'm getting antsy

I'm on the Ravelry waiting list. I don't check the list everday. I think I can wait it out. There are less people in front of me than behind me. I like being in front of a lot of people. It was very sad when it said 0 people are behind you. That was a lonely, lonely feeling.

You signed up on August 27, 2007
You are #29102 on the list.
7885 people are ahead of you in line.
9099 people are behind you in line.
55% of the list has been invited so far

Socktoberfest all month long

It all started for me on September 22 when I watched the Oktoberfest parade (quite accidentally) in Pembroke. For an instant all I could think about was beer and sausages, then I remembered Lolly's Socktoberfest. I was in a bit of a knitting funk that weekend and this lovely memory was the swift kick in the pants I needed. On the way home from an awesome visit with one of my best girls I stopped at a yarn shop and purchased some Fleece Artist merino wool for socks. I am happily knitting again.
I currently have 2 pairs of socks on the go, my goals for this month long celebration of socks is to knit as many socks as I can.

The socks currently OTN:
Jaywalkers in Supersox black, gray and white stripes on 5 DPN (i sock done)
Plain vanilla in Supersox pink, green and orange faux fair aisle going toe up on magic loop (by the end of tonight I'll have 2 half socks done, I like to do the heels at the same time so I don't get confused)

Happy sock knitting!

Finished Dropped Stitch Cardi

It's done and way too hot to wear. Or model. But I sure did anyway. It turned out like crap. Not the sweater. It's ok. The photo shoot I did by myself. Anyhow you see how it fits.


It doesn't have a zipper yet. I can't decide if I want to put one in. An alternative could be frog closures/clasps (I think that's what they're called).

I had 3 extra balls of the yarn left over. I took two back to Michael's and kept one because I'm thinking of lengthening the sleeves. I just can't seem to get those right. And I'd like to redo the bind off on the collar. It's stiff and curls as it is but the sewn bind off would be much better. I have no idea why I didn't think of it earlier. This sweater should have been so simple.

Pattern: Interweave Knits Fall 05, by Amy King
Yarn: Patons Shetland Chunky Tweeds in Blue Ice
72% acrylic, 25% wool, 3% viscose, almost 7 balls
Needles: 5mm Denise
Size: 35" bust
Mods: No dropped stitches, sadly

WIP

The Dropped Stitch Cardigan from Interweave. Just see if you can find those dropped stitches, lol. If I'd have left them in, trust me, you would see them. The dropped stitches made the sleeves bell out tremendously. I'm talking about 26" across the cuff. I was so disappointed. I'm blaming poor yarn choice. I've seen others on the internet with dropped stitches that look beautiful and not baggy. The yarn I'm using is Patons Shetland Chunky Tweeds in Sea Ice. It's 72% acrylic, 25% wool and 3% viscose. The yarn called for in the pattern is 100% wool. Depending on how this fits I may try it again in nothing but wool and see if the elasticity of the wool keeps the dropped stitches closer together.


As you can tell the sleeve and side seams have yet to be done. I was going to do that the other night but I started watching Narnia and the freaking wolves got me distracted. I still don't know about the fit of this sweater. I have a feeling it's gonna be tight.


I've also cast on this beauty. My two knitting buddies want to knit this too so I'm putting it on hold until they free up some needles. It's the beginning of a Sidewinder! Go check it out at http://www.nonaknits.typepad.com/. I have been searching for an interesting way to use this sock yarn from the Knitting Nimrod. There are long sections of purple and red and the changes are quite abrupt, I was expecting something more gradual. That's what's been making choosing a pattern difficult. This seems perfect though. It looks like I should end up with long vertical stripes of purple and red. Can't wait to get back at this, I'm finally using my stitch markers from Pink Wool from Pink Sheep. I've got a close up:



Lastly, I'm working on another pair of Grumperina's Jaywalkers. I'm using some Super Soxx from Lang 75% wool, 25% polyamid. This colourway should be quite arresting, I'm about to start the leg.

Getting back in the groove

I have been knitting. Lately. Those few months of non-knitting were something else. And that's all I have to say about that.
The dropped stitch cardi I was working on has no dropped stithes because it looked horrible. Poor yarn choice maybe. One sleeve has been attached. Waiting for the right time to finish that job. I'll have pics to show very soon. Finished my mom's socks, stuffed up on the pattern a bit so I had some fudging to do. And the heels. Agghh. I don't even wanna think about those right now. They were supposed to be her birthday present in December. Then they were supposed to be her Mother's day present. She received them a couple weeks after that. We have to get together for a photo shoot. While I've been having a knitting breakdown, Mom has been a marathon knitter! When we do the photo shoot of her Anastasia socks I'll show you what she's been up to as well.
I've cast on for several new projects, tell you about all that later. I promise. And I don't mean 5 months from now, really.

Uh oh spaghettiOs!

I always fear when I wear my very own hand knit sweater. There are several things to get anxious about when you're wearing something you made. My number one fear is not that it will fall apart. My number one fear is exactly what happened yesterday.
I was in a grade 1/2 class, I was heating up their lunches. I'm a bit of a weakling. When I finally wrestled the lid off the thermos container I knew what was coming. SpaghettiOs all over the right sleeve from cuff to upper arm and all over my right front! The biggest surprise of the day is that I didn't swear, not even one little bit.
And I haven't shed a tear either... yet.

All the pieces of my dropped stitch cardigan are done and it's being blocked. Soon I'll do I-cord edging and the collar and show what it looks like.

Get your own resolution

In the year 2007 I resolve to: To get a carnivorous fish. Get your resolution here.

Happy Holidays

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!

Toe ups totally rock

I started these socks way back in October and finished them in early November. I'm so glad I learned how to do toe up socks. I used the magic loop technique and my Addi Turbo needle (my new best friend). With this new technique I'll be able to crank out socks in no time. Well, except for when other 'life' stuff is going on :) The other sock looks exactly like this one, all the stripes match!

Pattern: Knitingbasic toe-up socks using the magic loop circular method

Other help: Knitty's magic cast on

Knitty's universal toe up short row heel sock formula I used this mainly for the short row instructions, the heel in the first pattern confused me

The magic loop technique

EZ sewn bind off

Yarn: Schoeller & Stahl Fortissima Colori

Needle: Addi Turbo 2.5mm 100cm long

Size: Ladies 6

also posted over at My First Toe Ups KAL

Progress

In the new year the first thing I'm doing to this blog is getting rid of those progress bars. They stress me out and I don't have time for them. For now they remain a disappointment. Some of those things will never get finished, haha. Yet others have been done and used many, many times.

Anyways, just figured out how to do something and it's quite fast so thought I'd share it.
Oh and these are Christmas presents so there's no details yet.


Inner truth scarf from Magknits in Malabrigo

Anastasia socks from Pepperknit.com/patterns/anastasia.html in Koigu

Oh and this is for me, a swatch of Patons Shetland Tweed for my Drop Stitch Cardigan. I had about 8" of the back done before I realized it might be too small.

The scanner worked well but as you can see I need some practice putting things on it and maybe stretching out the knitting so you can see the pattern. All in good time.

If I'm not back before the holidays (lol!) Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!

Knitting is so cool it hurts

Last night I had a wonderful time meeting up with a new knitblogging friend [hi Ann-Marie!], recognizing a classmate from elementary school (hi Kerri!) and seeing what other knitters in Kingston were knitting up, all while listening to and laughing with Stephanie Pearl-McPhee. I laughed so much it hurt. I was hurting in a totally different way when I realized I'd left my camera on during the whole talk and my replacement batteries were at home in the charger. Ann-Marie and Stephanie to the rescue! Mom used Stephanie's camera and Ann-Marie snapped a pic of me, the Yarn Harlot, the sock and the shawl Go see it over there on her blog.
I'm still laughing about fibre festivals and MacGyver arts festivals.

Yarn Harlot Tomorrow!

Chapters on Princess St Kingston 7-9pm
You'll see me there, as well as my knit blog friend Ann-Marie who is abandoning her children and husband for the night, LOL... I would too if I had them ;) I'll be motoring on down there to get a good seat, also must get a copy of the new Interweave Knits. See the preview. I'm in love with the Equestrian blazer but I'm not making one until someone else does first.

Oh and don't be surprised if you see a few posts for October popping up sometime soon. Yay, I figured out how to change the posting date :p I'm just gonna play a little catch-up. Soon. Really.

Seeing stars

They tell me I look like these people below. But I've never really been told I look like someone. Seeing Delta Goodrem makes me miss Neighbours so much.

Who's got cheap Addis?

Yippee! I do. I heard over on the Knittyboard there was a site in the UK selling cheap Addi Turbos. How cheap? Go check it out yerself. I was skeptical, you know, too good to be true? This is all real. I got 3 for the price of 1! That's all I'm saying cuz you should go over there right now.

http://www.kangaroo.uk.com/catalogue/needle_detail.php?stId=129&tId=17

So now I'm off to try magic loop.

I'm such a joiner

And this time I helped a couple other people join up: my mom, MommaD and our friend Lynnie.


Who doesn't like making socks? We all do. And I think we always have a pair on the go. I'll have a foot parade on here someday showing off all our socks.

Only the best friends

know how to spoil a knitter. I got a white hooded zip up sweater as a birthday pressie with a skull and knitting needles! Have a look at the Born 2 Knit stuff.
What swag will I score next? I'm currently coveting the "Don't you wish your girlfriend could knit like me?" tee. heehee.

I got mail on a rainy day

Nothing made me happier than seeing 2 big envelopes poking out of the mailbox today as I was getting ready for a walk in the rain.
I hurriedly brought them in, threw off my raincoat, made a cuppa, and got down to business.
In the first package clearly marked from Mary Maxim were my new Denise needles!!!
And the surprises in the second package were swap goodies from Lisa on the Knittyboard. Go check out her blog and see why she knows the exact measurements of a newborn foot.
I'll insert fab foto here when I get digicam some new batteries.
She *made* me some beautiful stitch markers and also spoiled me with handspun merino and Cascade Fixation. The clear project bag they were all in is perfect for holding all my stuff for the Branching Out scarf. Thanks Lisa!
Fyi, I did not proceed with the walk in the rain but switched my scarf over to the new needles and happily knit away all the rainy night long.

There's a new button over there on the side

I found a neat little exchange to sign up for. Go check out the International Scarf Exchange.
And for my partner who lives in the U.S. I'll be knitting a lace scarf.
The options are:

Branching Out

Tiger Eye Scarf

Little Leaf Scarf

Cherry Leaf Scarf

I like the Branching Out the best because I can picture it in red (my pal's fave colour) and because if I need help there is a kal for it. Isn't it gorgeous?!
The other patterns might become gifts. Notice how I said "might"? I'm not good with deadline knitting. The sweater for the boy who turned 2 in July - only have the back done, yes, I will get to work on it soon.

To find the perfect yarn, the one called for in the pattern I went to Wool Tyme. They had every colour but red. So I bought green anyways - just like in the pattern. But it wasn't as joyous as I had anticipated. I really wanted to send my pal a red scarf cuz I know she'll like the colour. Plus I'd wanted to send something red anyway as a symbol of my country, this being the International scarf exchange and all. I thought about ordering it online and waiting for the red to show up in the mail. Then I had a brainwave, there is another yarn store in Kingston, the Gwin Gryffon Winery. I guess I should say store that sells yarn, because besides the wine they do needlepoint as well, and they carry a lot of fancy yarns I've only ever seen in magazines. I called them up and asked if they carried Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool and they said yes! So then I asked do you have red? Sadly the answer was no. But they had burgundy. I was disheartened but decided to go to Ktown anyway to get out of the house. Am I ever glad I did because that Silky Wool they had (red/burgundy whatev!) was exactly the colour I was looking for! Yay!
I'm starting it later tonight. After I decode the lace chart with the help of some coloured pencils.

Falling for my booga bag

What a fast knit. Except for trying to match up the stripes. This is the only time I've ever wanted to do that. I used up all 2 skeins of Noro Kureyon. I nearly had a panic attack when I went to start the 5 or 6 feet of i-cord for the handle and could only find one tiny little scrap of yarn leftover. Then I remembered that I had to cut it up in order to have matchy match stripes so I once I found the other remains it was all good.
I'm knitting this as a knitalong project with MommaD and Lynnie. Then we're all gonna felt them together cuz none have felted. Lynnie's got 2 bags done already! We're just waiting for MommaD to finish up some other projects and find the time to make hers. Both Lynnie and I were surprised at how many knots there are in the Kureyon. I didn't bother to do anything about it since it's just a bag and it's gonna get felted. I hope they all stay to the backside of the knitting. I'm gonna hafta figure out what to do with the knots I encounter when I start my Mavis sweater. I could cut the knots out and then weave in ends or learn how to splice I guess.
I'll add some pics later. Camera is a serious battery hog.