Moving – But Not Too Far

I’m leaving Amazonminknits behind – and moving to Rambling Repository. Please follow me over there!

Election Day

I just got back in from voting. YAY!

I’m blessed to live in a country where I can walk the three blocks to the polling place without a male escort. I’m blessed to live in a country where there are multiple choices on the ballot. I’m blessed to live in a country where I was taught to read so I can read the choices on the ballot. I am blessed to live in a country where my vote is private.

Go. Vote.

(Now, I’m going to ignore the internet until tonight, when we find out the results.)

Abbey Socks

I’m working on a pair of socks for my friend M. We were at Maryland Sheep & Wool earlier this year, and we wandered into the Tsock Tsarina booth. She had quite a few kits, and the Abbey kit caught M’s eye. She is more of a complicated-Niebling-lace-shawl knitter, so I told her that if she bought the kit, I would knit them for her for Christmas. I cast these on last week, and I’m a bit further than the pictures below. I should finish the first sock tomorrow, when there is more light and my eyes aren’t as tired.

 

M has teeny feet, so the foot is rather small, and the Daisy stitch patterning makes it nice and snug.

I really like the heel construction on these socks.

The heel flap and gusset is GENIUS.

I’m so pleased with how tidy the cabled details are turning out. These socks are just fiddly enough for my brain to be happy.

Biscornu Swap Part 2

My swap partner made me a pretty biscornu. It’s BLACK and PINK!

And soap!

She milked the goat that provided the milk for the soap. It smells like raspberries and summer.

Biscornu Swap

In October, I participated in a biscornu swap in one of the groups on Ravelry. My swap partner has already received her biscornu, so I can post pictures here without spoiling her.

Some more information about biscornus, from Biscornu Basics:

A biscornu is an interesting little eight-sided pincushion that has become very popular in recent months. … Regardless, biscornu are basically made from two embroidered squares sewn together on point; the corner of one square meets the middle of the other as the two pieces are whip-stitched together and stuffed, creating the a quirky, skewed pillow. Additionally, many are finished off with a button in the center of the design top and bottom.

I used black Aida, two colors of blue, green, and BEADS. I used the Rhodes Butterfly Biscornu pattern from Kincavel Krosses. I learned a new stitch! I liked making both the Rhodes Butterfly (of which there are many variants) and the Rhodes square.

Img from LlwynogBach

Rhinebeck 2012

RHINEBECK!

This year, the weather was perfect – cool and cloudy, without any rain. I got to see Anne Hanson of Knitspot, Carin from Round the Twist, Leslie and Laura of The Knitgirllls, Stephen West, Ysolda Teague, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, and many more. Some of my favorite vendors were there, and I managed to [mostly] stick to my list AND my budget.

SWAG!

This year, the Rhinebeck swag t-shirts came in v-neck and crew neck. I ended up with a v-neck, and I hope that other vendors pick up on it, too. I’m a busty girl, and crew neck is not my best look.

I’ve been eyeing getting a pattern protector for a while now. I usually keep my paper patterns in a plastic sleeve, but because of how my knitting has been going the past few years, I thought an actual protector might save me some of the heart ache of trying to remember where I was in my pattern because of the highlighter tape fell off. This one is from go Monkey designs. I have a few of her magnetic pattern holders, and the big bags she had this year were FABULOUS. I’m really looking forward to using this.

Matt convinced me to buy theses carbon double point needles because I am hard on the ones I own. The bamboo needles break and splinter, and I have actually broken/snapped a set of Addi double points. I have little more luck with small circulars. I’m not a particularly tight knitter, but my hands get very warm, and it makes the needles bend. The vendor [who was very nice, by the by, and I was able to spend some time talking with her] said that she’s had a lot of success with the carbon not bending or breaking. As you can see, the ends are not the pointiest ends ever, but I think I can use a bit of fine grain sand paper to sort that out.

I don’t think that really needs a lot of explanation, no? [It was a toss up between this one, and the on that said “I’d rather be hooking”. Ahem.]

My favorite thing from Rhinebeck, however, is the Tsock Tsarina kit for the Vintage Socks. I’ve been hemming and hawing over getting this kit ever since the Yarn Harlot knit it in 2008. They had it in my size AND in purple, so into my bag it went. I have to finish the socks I’m knitting now, and a pair of socks as a Christmas gift for a friend, and then these, these are mine.

I really hope that I get the opportunity to go again [it usually falls on my wedding anniversary, and funnily enough, Matt doesn’t want to do only a fibre show] sometime in the future. Rhinebeck really is my favorite festival out of all the ones I attend.

A Heel!

I’m slowly picking away at my latest pair of plain socks for me. I’m picking up speed though – I want to knit ALL OF THE SOCKS. I picked up a kit at Rhinebeck this weekend (more on that later) and I have all of these stripey yarns, and yarns for Matt socks.

So, I need to finish these first. I’m knitting my usual stockinette stock with a few twists: a twisted garter stitch cuff, and a different heel treatment. I really love how the yarn striped on the heel turn. I’m hoping to finish these this week, so I can start on a new pair. (Sorry, bad phone picture is bad.)

Will Not | Will

I will not ignore all of the things I’m knitting and cast on socks with this yarn:

 

 

I will finish the socks for G’s dad. No matter how uninteresting they are to knit. I will finish them today, so I can knit on socks for me.

Mousie

A lot of the projects I have on the needles right now are Big Long Projects:

• My Dad’s Sweater (I’ll finish it someday. No. Really.)
• A crocheted afghan for a friend. (I crocheted all of what I thought were hexagons. 5=/=6)
• Snowflakes in Cedar Woods Shawl
• The long version of the Betty Mouat Cowl

 

I was having a Bad Day in August, and was feeling stuck with the knitting, so  I needed to knit something small, cute, and satisfying.

Cue Cheddar, by Heather Ordover of the CraftLit podcast.

I would have finished this sooner, if I had actually grabbed the stuffing for it. I finished it yesterday, on another Bad Day, and it instantly cheered me up.

 

 

Yes, the mousie really is That Pink (Socks that Rock Lightweight, in Psycho Barbie), with wee purple eyes and an evil purple moustache. I think I’m going to have to knit a cape.

The nose bit is  a little fiddly, and I knit the arms separately and sewed them on, as that was easier for me than picking up and knitting. However, a very well written pattern, fast, and adorable. I am going to have to knit more.

Aeslin Mice anyone?

 

WIPS

Giant Pink Knee High Socks

Last year at Rhinebeck, I bought two skeins of Socks that Rock Lightweight by Blue Moon Fiber Arts in Psycho Barbie, with the intention of knitting a pair of knee high socks.

I wanted to use my standard sock pattern, which is a top down, and I don’t like knitting socks from the toe up. I had a great idea in the shower when I was in Rhinebeck on how I could execute the socks in a way that would make me happy.

It’s probably overly complicated, but so far, I’m pretty happy with how they are coming out.

I cast on 64 stitches using a crochet provisional cast on. I knit an 8 inch cuff, a 32 row heel flap, turned the heel, decreased back down to 64 stitches, ran down the foot, and decreased and kitchenered the toe.

I picked up all of the stitches on both socks, and am using a long needle to magic loop both socks at the same time, and am doing lifted increases at the back of the leg with a 2 stitch distance between them. Every inch or so I’m trying them on and increasing as needed. (I’m being smart and doing it at the same time so that they match. I don’t want to rip out.) I’m hoping to have these finished soon.

Sheepy Baby Blanket

My cousin A’s son was due at the end of May, so I had picked out a pattern my friend M uses all the time for baby blankets in March, thinking I had plenty of time to knit the blanket. Then Little L came about 10 weeks early.

I’ve cast on and am about 3/5 of the way done with the blanket. I love the fabric and the 3-D sheep with the little ears for baby fingers to fondle.

I got the yarn at 30% off at Old Town Needleworks in Manassas, and I think I’m going to end up using all 10 skeins. I can only knit a little bit of this at a time, because the cotton hurts my hands. I need to get working on this, since Little L should be out of the hospital soon and home, and I want him to have something lovely and snuggly to have when he gets there.

Dad’s Sweater

Dad’s sweater is back in the rotation. I took it down about a month ago to make sure it fit (AND IT DID. PRAISE THE YARN GODDESS. HAIL FITTING SWEATER!), and have put it back on the needles with a new cord (the last one broke). I’ve looked at it a lot, and need to put it into rotation. I want to get this done this year.

Spinning!

I’m working on the fibre that I got in Colorado the second to last time that I went to visit my grandmother before she passed. I’ve been thinking about her a lot, so when I finished the mohair/silk blend that I was spinning, I put this on the wheel. I wanted something with color!

I’m fractal spinning it, and am working on the long repeat part now. I’ve spun about 5.5 ounces so far, mostly while watching Castle with my husband on Monday nights. The last night that I was working on it, the flyer on my Ashford Traveller split the rest of the way, so I need to glue it back together before I can keep working on this particular piece. After I’m done with this, I’m going to go back to the 100% mohair I have from Giant Cricket Farms so that it can be done and I can start a vest for Matt.

Upcoming Things

I’m planning on casting on Lyttleton and BMC by Kate Davies after I finish one more project, probably the socks. I’m going to do some secret knitting for a family member, and then work on some secret knitting for a friend. Then, THEN, I will knit more for me. I want to cast on a big shawl, probably the [peacock something] in Wollmeise. Yes, my pretty, Wollmeise.