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Which is two days after the pattern giveaway closed! And we have a winner! Congratulations to commenter number five, Lorraine! Look for my email so I can get that pattern to you!
If you didn’t win, don’t fret too much–I’ll definitely be hosting another pattern giveaway soon. : )
In other knitting news, I’m still working on my Sassy Ribs socks. They currently look like this:
I still have about a plum-sized ball (2 inch diameter) of yarn to go on both socks (I’m trying to use up allt he yarn). I’m not crazy about the colors in the yarn, but it was super cheap (like $6.50 for the pair) and they’ll be nice and warm for winter. And they’ll be mostly hidden in my shoes/under my jeans anyway.
I’ve made a good bit of progress on them mostly because I took them with me to Busch Gardens on Monday and knit on them in line. I stuffed them into a fanny pack, so I could take my “loose object” in line for roller coasters and such.
Busch Gardens, by the way, has sheep. Scottish Blackface Sheep, to be exact. They’re over by the Clydesdales and the sheep dogs and the park does Sheep Dog/Herding demonstrations every couple of hours. I didn’t get to watch one, unfortunately. I think it would have been pretty cool.
So I mentioned last time that I was working on another pair of socks. Ribbed socks, two at a time, out of Cascade Sassy Stripes. Here’s what they look like:
Okay, they’re a bit farther along than that since I took this picture yesterday afternoon. But you get the picture. (Pun mostly not intended.)
I’ve also been receiving various swap things. I’m going to wait and post things as a group, but I joined a bookmark swap on Craftster. I haven’t started mine yet (gonna wait til I get back to school and have more space and access to my crafting supplies as currently, they’re mostly packed), but I’ve received two (totally awesome ones) so far. I’m also waiting on some OWS stuff (a surprise and some fabric).
Also, speaking of returning to school, I should mention that I’m moving back to Fredericksburg either Saturday or Sunday of this week. The blog will probably be pretty quiet for a couple of days around that time as I’ll need to be seriously packing (as opposed to the sort of packing I’ve been doing so far) and then I’ll be settling into my apartment and starting classes.
One last thing: the giveaway for a free copy of any one of my patterns ends tonight at midnight! If you haven’t already entered, you definitely should as there aren’t that many entries and odds are good!
Pattern: Crocus Socks by Wendy Johnson (from Toe Up Socks for Every Body)
Yarn: Premiere Yarns Serenity Sock in Lavender Topaz (one skein)
Needles: Knit Picks US 1 circular
Mods: Well, they’re shorter but other than that, none.
So I really like these. I know I say that about a lot of the things that I knit, but I really do. The pattern is great, the yarn is… serviceable, and the socks are comfortable and pretty. I followed the pattern more or less exactly, complete with flap/gusset heel. Except when worked toe-up, there’s no actual…flap. I don’t know if Wendy Johnson invented the toe-up flap heel herself, but it really is ingenious. It looks just like a flap heel worked from the top down. I’ll definitely keep the heel in mind for future socks.
Speaking of future socks, I’ve started a new pair. 3×1 ribbed, toe-up, two at a time with Cascade Sassy Stripes. Probably will do the gusset/flap heel again so I can really see how it works (so I can adjust it for different stitch counts). But more on that later.
Sorry for the accidental week-long radio silence, people! I am currently in DC, as I mentioned last time, and haven’t gotten to the computer as much as usual. I’d have vacation-type photos to show you, except this week has been extremely relaxing–the vast majority of it has been spent curled up with the boyfriend and Buffy the Vampire Slayer (to which, I might add, I am totally and completely hooked. Damn you, Joss Whedon!). I’ve also, rather uncharacteristically, not been doing as much knitting as I usually would (I am oddly content to simply curl up on the couch with the show instead of needing something to do with my hands as I usually do).
I have been knitting though. The lace ribbon scarf I’ve been working on is nearing completion and looks like this:
It’s approximately five feet tall (I lay down on the floor next to it and was almost the same length) and the remaining yarn ball is about the size of a small plum. So almost done then.
I also started a pair of socks in the car on the way up to DC:
The pattern is Wendy Johnson’s Dainty Anklets (from Toe Up Socks for Every Body), but obviously sized up to fit my feet. I haven’t really been working on them because I’ve been working on the scarf (also the not really knitting thing mentioned above). I suspect I’ll be focusing on them more soon anyway since I’m taking the train home from DC so that’s four or five hours of knitting time.
I’ll be home sometime on Monday evening, and after that, the posting schedule will return to somewhat normal.
Or: THEY’RE DONE THEY’RE DONE THEY’RE DONE!!
Pattern: Lakeside Socks from Knotions
Yarn: Fleece Artist Nyoni
Needles: US 1
Mods: None? Maybe made them a tick longer? I think I mostly knit them as written.
Holy crap, these socks took so long. But they are DONE. I actually really enjoyed knitting them–the pattern was simple and easy to memorize, and the shaping was pretty intuitive. I’m still not sure how much I like knitting socks cuff down as opposed to toe up, but these actually went by pretty quickly, even though Ravelry tells me they’ve been a wip for about a month. But now they are done! And I can knit other things! Like the other WWFY trade I’m working on. : )
As for the yarn: I did enjoy working with the Nyoni. It’s a little think/thin, but it’s pretty squishy. I don’t know how much I’d like it for knee socks (it’s a little itchy on my calves, but who knows, that may come out in the wash). The colorway is GORGEOUS though, and I love it a lot.
Currently, as I mentioned, I am working on another WWFY trade: a lace ribbon scarf in Malabrigo lace (LOVE). I have some Mal lace in my stash from my trip to Fiber Space that will eventually become a Featherweight cardigan, but it’s nice to get a feel for the Mal in something smaller first. : ) I’ll show you pictures of the scarf a little later, but it’s looking great so far.
Nothing much new to report on the crafting front, I’m afraid. I’m still plugging away at the Lakeside socks (I just finished the calf decreases and am now working on the rest of the leg), but there’s a ways to go yet. Here’s a bad picture of the second sock so far:
I’m getting my wisdom teeth removed tomorrow, so wish me luck for my surgery tomorrow. I don’t know how lucid/willing to blog I’ll be for the next couple of days, but I do suspect I’ll be able to knock out the rest of the socks–I won’t be about to do much else but knit tomorrow and the next day.
I’m also going back into DC later this week. I’m leaving early Thursday morning and I don’t know yet whether I’ll be back on Friday afternoon for a couple of days or if I’m staying through the week. Either way, I’ll try to blog as things happen but no promises. : )
So I received in the mail today possibly the most awesome knitting-related thing ever:
It’s a book of stuffed dinosaur patterns. AND THEY ARE AWESOME. It includes a pattern for a 15-inch high Parasaurolophus:
I discovered the booklet while browsing for stuffed animal patterns to make for Sarah for her cousin. I put out a quick note on the ISO/Destash books forum and within a couple hours, I had a reply from someone who had a copy, so I bought it from them. And, to reiterate, it is AWESOME. Much dino knitting will be happening.
In other news, I’ve been knitting. As I mentioned before, I finished the first Lakeside sock:
I also started another swap project, a Ribbon Lace Scarf in Malabrigo Lace (which is hella soft and wonderful):
I’m also working on stuff for another swap, but I’ll tell you about that when it’s all finished. : )
So I tried to sew a blouse.
It’s really hard to find cute blouses that A, fit me and B, don’t cost a billion dollars. These things are difficult cause I have a really long torso plus am a huge cheapskate when it comes to clothes so… Yeah. So I bought some white cotton fabric and downloaded the JJ pattern from BurdaStyle. I prewashed the fabric. I measured. I even pressed all my seams. And yet, it still came out looking like this:
Yeah. Don’t be fooled by the innocuous floor shot–it’s bad. It doesn’t have buttons or button holes (cause why take all the time for a shirt I’m sure I’ll never wear on its own?). It’s way too big, there’s no shaping to speak of, and the directions are unclear and impossible to understand. Yeah. Not a good experience. It looks okay under a vest though I guess:
On the whole, I don’t like sewing from patterns. I don’t especially care for sewing clothes in general, mostly because I’m not very precise so things don’t hang or fit well. I can sew a pretty bitchin’ totebag cause there’s a lot of wiggle room so I don’t actually have to measure. It’s unfortunate because I love sewing. Just not clothes. I wish I did, but the problem with sewing clothes from patterns is that I am almost always smaller than the smallest size listed and once I cut everything out and sew it all together, it’s not like I can just take it out and redo it, like I can with knitting.
Speaking of knitting, my Lakeside swap socks currently look like this:
I’m almost through the calf shaping, which is good cause I am SO READY to turn the heel on the sucker.
PS: Want a pair of pretty earrings? There’s a giveaway! Open until Friday, July 2 at midnight!
If you’ve followed me here from The Adulterous Whores Club, welcome! I hope you’ll stick around! To start things off on the right foot with the new blog here, here’s a short post about some socks:
Pattern: It’s a 40 st. toe-up sock with a garter stitch short row heel.
Yarn: Cascade Fixation
Needles: US 3/2.75 mm dpns
I love knitting socks out of Fixation. The turn around time is amazingly fast–I knit these almost entirely today on the train from DC to Virginia Beach (though I started the toe of the first one yesterday on the Metro). They’re thick, cushy, and comfortable and great for wearing in the spring and fall. Love ’em. I have at least another ball in red and another ball in purple, so I’ll probably be making more. : )
I have two more finished knits that I’ll be showing off soon, and an interesting challenge/contest that I’ll be talking about later. : ) Stay tuned!
I finished the Monkey socks I was knitting for a swap. : )
Pattern: Monkey by Cookie A.
Yarn: True Love Fibers merino superwash sock yarn in “Further Under the Sea”
Needles: US 1
Mods: None!
Okay. Guys. I’ll talk about the patttern and the socks in a sec, but first: This yarn? AMAZING. Holy crap I loved knitting this yarn. Squooshy and plump and wonderful. And soft! I generally think socks in 100% merino are a bad idea (cause that’ll wear through in a hot second) but this yarn is so wonderful and lovely. I’m so happy I have more to knit (I received a skein in a reddish pink in return for knitting the socks.
Sadly, these are currently en route to their owner and not in my sock drawer. Sad. Because they’re lovely. The pattern is great too–this is the first of Cookie A’s patterns that I’ve knit, and it was great. The pattern was simple and easy to memorize and these socks flew by. I love ’em. Sadly… not for me.
These socks were my first top-down and my first flap/gusset heel. It went pretty smoothly. I can’t say I really like the plain stockinette heel (I think I’d just continue my pattern down the heel flap) or the way the heel turn fits, but I may be able to fine tune that. I don’t really knit top-down socks that often, but I’d love to find a good tutorial on how to knit a flap heel toe-up, if for no other reason than to play with fit issues.
Anyway, if you’re reading this, I’m hopefully on my way to DC. : ) On Tuesday I’ll have a post about some swap crafts and after that? Who knows….
Stitch, Brinn, Stitch! 