working the cowl

This week, I got to a point in the cowl where it will fit and go over a head. I decided to put it aside temporarily and make some fingerless mitts with the other skein of that yarn. When the mitts are done, I'll use the rest of the yarn to finish the cowl. How smart is that??

I'm thinking about doing an afghan/blankie for the couch. The one that's there has seen a few doggies, and it's nice to have something to throw over your feet when you 're knitting. I really like the cabled look, and may attempt to make my own pattern with my stitch books. We'll see......

I'll leave you with a cut kitty pic.......just because.

it's going to b e a cowl

I know, I've said I'm not much of a cowl person, but I rooted this yarn out of the stash and it just wanted to be one. It'll be a gift for my sister, who goes out and walks every day, rain or shine. I think she'll appreciate the squishy warmth it will give her.

It started life as a cabled scarf, but that's just not what it wanted to be, so a cowl it is. the yarn is much more green and plum than it looks in this pic.

I'm not sure how much knitting content there's going to be for a while, unless it rains. In about a half hour, I'm headed outside again to get busy. It's just THAT time of year.

finished the fremont

well, this week it rained quite a bit, so I was able to finish the vintage fremont shawl I was working on.
I think it turned out pretty good. (y'all know I love a good gradient)

 

The bag is still in time out, and I haven't even thought about a next project. I think I'll just close my eyes and stick my hand in the stash to see what I come out with. Could be interesting.

 

This is the time of year where knitting takes a back seat to gardening (as long as the weather holds) There's some kind of gardening "thing" every week now.

Off to spread bark!

I just needed some spring!

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you know what a sucker I am for a gradient, especially a GREEN gradient....
so, this week, I found myself needing a bit of spring to manage the insufferable ugly rain that was happening outside. Off to the stash!
This is a black trillium pebble sock gradient and the pattern is vintage fremont. It's a fun, easy, knit, with just enough interest as to not fall asleep.
Love it!

The sipalu bag is still a project....just in time out for now.
This week, the weather is supposed to be nicer, so it'll be outside for me. I'll probably finish this, though.

missing vogue....

I'm kinda sad because I'm missing VKL. I feel like the cool kids have left me behind. I know it doesn't make sense economically for this one.....$ for gas, $ for parking, $ to shop, (I kind of have a problem with that one), plus a whole day gone to get there, shop, and get back....that will buy a LOT of yarn...still makes me kind of sad to miss it. Maybe next year......

This week, the weather was nice, so not a LOT of knitting. I did start on the sipalu bag, and got the edge and a bit of one panel done. No guarantees for this week, either, if the weather is nice, it's outside for me!

 

 

photosynthesis....all done

This week it rained.....and rained.....and rained.....like, 6 inches of rain, seriously.
That left LOTS of knitting time, so I took the opportunity to finish photosynthesis.....

it was a fun knit....lots of beads, and I think it turned out pretty darned good. It's blocking right now, and then it'll be ready to go.

Yesterday, after blocking the shawl, it was STILL raining, like, an inch and a half just yesterday....so I dug out my new project from the stash...a sipalu bag. I've had this colorwork bag in there for a while and it seemed like a good challenge for a rainy day. This one is going to take a while, and that's just fine by me.

half a million beads

The work continues on the beaded leaf shawl. It's now too big for pics to mean anything....you know how lace is before it's blocked. I'll probably make some good progress on it this week, since it's supposed to rain all week, and I'm babysitting a boxer with a bunch of stitches from her surgery.

It's hard to keep her from licking them....may have to get out the cone of shame. She's got another 10 days or so before the staples come out.

I've been cruising ravelry for my next project....not sure what it's going to be, but I might still have to get out the knitpicks stuff I'm trying to work through. That bee shawl is calling my name, though.

I'll also be skipping vogue knitting seattle. I just can't bring myself to pay to shop, no matter HOW wonderful the marketplace is. I'd love to go, but when you add gas, parking, and the price of the marketplace, I can buy some really nice yarn for just that......too bad, if it was free to shop (which in my opinion it SHOULD be), I'd probably be all over it.

beads....lots and lots of beads

A LONG time ago.....I purchased the yarn and pattern for the photosynthesis shawl. It's a pretty, beaded leaf pattern with a laceweight and about half a million beads. It sat in my stash until this week, when I was inspired to do something about it, since it was raining buckets!
So.....here's my progress on photosynthesis.....

I know, lace is hard to photograph before it's been blocked, but, take my word for it....this is 13 of the 16 rows of leaves in the first pattern, and I'm happy with how it's turning out......

This week, more of the same, just bigger.....

Miss kitty approves

yes, she got in there all by herself

I got nuthin'

This week was a bust.....pretty much everything and everyone got cancelled for one reason or another, which was just fine by me, since I wasn't feeling perfectly good anyway. Nothing serious, just some crummy sinus thing that made me run out of gas completely about 10am and hang on the couch the rest of the day. Not even any knitting to show for it.

I did finish the points on the sunflower. No pics, though. Right now, it's a balled up mess of lace in a baggie. Too big to block until I can do it out on the deck on a sunny day.

I also went to Madrona.....maybe I've just been going for too long, or maybe their emphasis has changed a bit, but it seemed to be more spinning stuff than knitting. As much as I'd love to learn to spin, I just don't NEED one more thing......(or the stash that goes with it). I ended up shopping a bit and coming home empty handed. Nothing really called out to me.

This week, I'll be digging at the stash again....I think I have something in mind.
We'll see what mood strikes me.

working the sunflower

This week, it was painfully cold. So cold that the only going outside was for dog potties. So, there was a great deal of progress on the sunflower. I'm up to the tips now. I didn't realize it when I started, but each of the petals is knit individually by attaching the yarn and casting off. That's a LOT of end weaving.....just sayin'

since we woke up to this today.....

I'll probably be making more progress....
It's going to have to wait to be blocked, though. It's a big piece and there's no place to do it in the house.
Next up.....I'm working my KP stash, so I think it'll be the dogwood sweater kit I have. That ought to be a good challenge.

This week....MADRONA. No classes this time, but I can't resist the call of the marketplace. I'll probably be shopping on sat am, with a little side trip to a couple of Tacoma nurseries.....After all, this snow WILL melt eventually, and it'll be back to gardening!

sunflower....

This week, my excessive spring fever took over. When digging through the stash, I found this little project from knitpicks....it's a sunflower shawl (or in this case, table runner).

I know, it doesn't look like much right now, but you can see where it's going.....The center is done, and I'm working on the petals. This is a long, kind of complicated, lace project, so it'll keep me busy for a while. I was a little tired of socks, so......

My next destash mission is to work through all the knitpicks yarn I have hanging around. They're all kits, so the patterns are chosen. I have a colorwork sweater, and a couple of the sipalu bag kits.

Madrona in 2 weeks!!!!!!!
just sayin'                   

not much knitting content....

I'm afraid that's going to be the case as long as the weather is good. Too much yard work, too many projects......

I did make some progress on the sock yarn blankie.

as you can see, it's growing. It's a fun, easy project and I can add a square here and there when time allows. It'll be ongoing for quite a while, so.....there ya go.

I rooted through the stash this week too.....nothing really caught my eye, but I did dig out my sipalu bag kits. I'm thinking this colorwork bag will be my next project (or two). It's one of those patterns that looks REALLY complicated, and that makes it hard to start. I'm sure once I get going, though, it will be fine, and I'll be cranking it out like crazy. It's supposed to rain this week, so we'll see......

Looking forward to madrona in less than a month. Only shopping this time. Maybe something special will catch my eye. After digging through the stash a few times, whatever I find will have to be REALLY special, just sayin'.

I know, I was MIA last week

bad me!!
I have been working on things, though, in spite of the depressingly foggy and cold weather.....
good time for knitting, I guess.
I finished my astral shawl. It's blocking as we speak. Just can't seem to do the colors justice, but I do like the way it turned out.

 

It's much more blue and purple than this picture lets on.

 

I also rooted in the stash and came up with some wild purple and pink self striping. It was part of a "Cheshire cat" kit a while ago that didn't come with a pattern. I had seen this pattern on ravelry (and it was free), and thought it would be perfect for this skein. So, without further ado.....

valentines socks

One of them still needs a bit of a toe and the ends woven in. This yarn was much heavier than I thought, which actually worked out to be a pretty nice pair of socks. Some fun self-striping, a little intarsia practice and wala! Socks in two days (or so).

 

Now, I'm back to the stash to see what catches my eye. I've been doing pretty good so far just rooting around, but........Madrona IS coming up. I might have to break my rule just a little bit. After all, those are indie dyers you can't find ANYWHERE else, right?????

 

new year, new knitting

Fresh blog look too....
Every year, I try to set myself at least one knitting goal and one new technique to learn. Last year, my challenge was to tackle double knitting, and I did that with a great craftsy class that really helped me (finally) understand it.

This year, my technique of choice is brioche knitting.....another year, another class. Just so happens, there's a craftsy class on brioche, and it was even on sale. Merry Christmas to me!

Another one of my "goals" is to knit down the stash. Although I'm not quite to SABLE, it's close.....
I'd like to reduce the stash by half by the end of the year. We'll see how that goes......

In my "knit from the stash" theme....I've been working on the astral shawl.
You can see miss kitty is helping as well. The pic just don't do the colors justice, they're actually much more blue/purple, in a really kinda cool blue/ purple kind of way.

I'll keep plugging away at this one, and my sock yarn blankie. Up next....I'm thinking I'm going to dig out that Cheshire cat kit from a while ago. It's two kinds of stripey pink, great socks, with a little twist.
;)

into the stash!

yet again.......

Back in September, I succumbed to a nice little loopy ewe kit. It was the astral shawl and a skein of blurple malabrigio. After my sock disappointment (I have somehow lost half the pattern), I needed a new project and this surfaced.

I've cast it on, and it's just a tiny little thing right now....so no pics, patience....

As you can see, miss kitty was unimpressed....

socks....DONE!

just in time.....
finished the green socks.

I'm not really sure what'll happen next.....I have a couple of sock things in the stash I might work on, or maybe a shawl, could it be a colorwork sweater kit that's been in there forever, or something beaded?????

Gotta go dig and see what strikes my fancy........

still knitting socks.....

one is finshed, one at the heel, so it'll be finished this week. They take a long time, because they're BIG. One more pair to go. The next one should be easier, though, worsted weight on size 7's. WAHOOO!

After that, it's back to the stash......

Also looking forward to madrona. (and the flower show). Neither are that far away - first part of feb. Gives one some hope in the crummy winter.......

workin' the socks

This week, it was all about the socks, for ME!
After seeing this self-striping yarn on a popular blog, I just had to have it. It's been a long time since I've knit with self-striping, and I loved the colors. So, off to ebay, the only place it was available.
It arrived last Saturday, and I cast on right away for some simple toe-up, plain-Jane socks. These will be nice and warm, since it's currently 17 degrees here. They went pretty fast, and they're all done. No second sock syndrome here.

 

I also rooted through the stash a bit and found some knitpicks sock yarn I've been hoarding for a while. They'll make a good pair of man-socks, and one is already half way done.

 

I have to say, my experiment with lorna's laces solemate was a complete fail. The yarn is not as thick as I'd like, so it really doesn't keep you warm, and both projects turned out really small, even though they seemed the right size while they were being made. Not sure what happened there, but I don't think I'd use it again for socks or gloves, maybe a shawl if I liked the colors. DH says his socks feel "plasticey", not sure what that means, but I don't think it's good.

just sayin here......

 

 

This week, more socks and more stash knitting.  It's supposed to MAYBE snow again. The difference this time is that the ground is completely frozen, so, snow or rain, it's going to make a HUGE mess for a couple of days until everything thaws out.

 

working the stash (and other things)

So, after finishing the man-sock, I decided I needed a little treat. I rooted through the stash (don't ask me how long that took), and found this little scarf kit that had been in there, well, a while.
It was a fun little knit, and finished in a week......Madtosh sock, special loopy ewe color, the pattern is nefertem. It's more purple than it looks here, bad lighting

 

I also succumbed to my yarn desires this week and bought this fun self-striping goodie off of ebay. Yes, it's the same color that the harlot used to knit her socks. Fell in love with it when I saw it on her blog and couldn't help myself. I divided it equally in half and I'm working on a toe-up plane jane  sock, and it's going very quickly......

Also a bit off on the color.....

 

When this is done, it's back to the stash. I found some worsted that I bought for slipper socks last year, a knitpicks sock kit, and another dark green potential sock.

 

Don't worry, I'll have PLENTY to do, even if it does snow this week.......Have I said how much I hate snow????/

 

Ok, sucked it up

and finished the man Christmas sock.....
no pics, it IS a present after all....but they're BOTH done and put away.
YEAH!!

It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be....it never is.

Next up.....after rooting through the stash a bit, I found a cute little shawl made with some nice, squishy mad tosh. I think I deserve some nice mad tosh knitting after that......

I'll leave you with  a pic of miss kitty, who has entered her rebellious teen aged phase, and woke me up at 4am by standing on my head. Anyone need an extra cat??