It's (almost) Alive!

Status as of quitting time tonight is just over half the stitches are back on the needle for the baptism blankie. Maybe another night or two and they'll all be back on the needles.

As of this evening, I have all the notions for the Saffron Cables afghan. I ordered a 60 inch pair of Knitpicks Option needles. The needles are just a few inches shy of being my height. Since secret pal exchanges, birthdays, and Christmas are looming around the corner, I also got some supplies for making some presents, too. ;) No details here though, except to say that the new Gloss wool and silk sock yarn from Knitpicks feels and looks fab!

Welcome to my Nightmare

Urgh. Here's the photographic evidence of the mess I caused tonight.

Finished trapezoidal blanket, not the look I was going for.

The left (bind off) side of the shawl was a good 6-8 inches longer than the right (cast on) side. Note the ruffling occuring on the left side edge. Why did I not notice that last night as I was binding off??

After attacking the bind off knotted stitch, I cut too deeply and wound up trimming off four rows of the garter stitch edging. Damn... I tried to pick up the remaining stitches, but they kept dropping quicker than I could cram them back onto the needles.

Eventually, I did have the sense to run a lifeline through the live stitches. That would have been smart before I started hacking into the bind off row. >.< I'm painstakingly picking up all the dropped stitches now and slowly getting the project back on the needles. I'm really hating this yarn now, it sticks to itself when I want it to be smooth yet is smooth enough to drop ridiculous amounts of stitches.

You may want to avert your eyes from the "in progress" picture below. You have been warned.


Employing new tools of the trade - blocking pins to keep tension on the laddered rows, backside of a mousepad to cram said blocking pins into, trusty lifeline, and latch hook thingy tool. Thank goodness I saw on the Yarn Harlot's blog how to use blocking pins to keep tension!

27 out of 167 stiches are back on the needles. Maybe sometime this week I'll cram all these stitches back onto the needle.

Oh yeah, my yarn for the Saffron Cables afghan arrived tonight. After tonight's fiasco, I'm positively giddy with the idea of a project using bulky weight yarn instead of little teensy tiny can't-see-dropped-stitches-easily lace weight. :D

I'm Gonna be Sick

Yargh! Last night, I finished the Kimono Shawl. I hurried home from work this evening to start blocking and recording the big event for the blog. Carefully, I laid out the shawl for its pre-blocked picture when I noticed that I had knitted a trapezoid. My cast off edge was WAAAAAAAAAY too tight. Disheartened, I tried to zhuzh it into a square, but it didn't agree with me. Shit!

Next came the scissors.

And lots of cursing.

Tons of dropped stitches.

It's all safely on a lifeline now so no more damage can be done. Only rows of the garter stitch edge were harmed, easy enough to fix.

Damn, it really sucks to see over two months work literally unraveling before your eyes!

*squee!*

The Saffron Cable afghan will be mine! Well, after the yarn arrives and I spend loads of time knitting. Allow me to back up a bit.

In a welcome moment of serendipity, yesterday I received $100 job-well-done reward. That happened on the very next day after falling in love with the Saffron Cable afghan pattern which needs around $100 worth of yarn and supplies to make. I called my mom yesterday evening and told her about the happy circumstance. She brought up that using that reward to get the supplies would make the afghan a reminder of a job well done for me. Oh, how I love it when folks justify my spending :) I ordered the yarn specified in the pattern - 19 skeins of Berkshire Valley Yarn and a 60 inch Options needle from Knitpicks for the project tonight. Hope I don't freak out the UPS guy by watching the front door for the next week impatiently awaiting my packages' arrivals!

After my big growth spurt on the Kimono Shawl this past weekend, my progress has been very sporadic this week. I didn't pick up the needles at all last night since I was NOT in a good frame of mind after waiting for the neighborhood water supply to be turned back on. Tonight, I got in a whole row of progress before falling asleep in my knitting chair. Hopefully, I can crank out the last 24 lace patterned rows this coming weekend.

What's This?

Why I do believe that's proof that I still knit! *gasp* This weekend was the first time in over a week that I have been able to pick up the needles. Over watching a few episodes of the new Doctor Who, Doctor Who Confidential, Kingdom of Heaven, Serenity, Benchwarmers, and the Whole 10 Yards, I was able to crank out over six inches of lace! Wooo!


In Window Progress Shot

It's now just over 28 inches in length and is finally longer than its width. I think I'll knit another 24-row section or two and call this baby done!

Which I suppose that's just in time as I received my fall issue of Interweave Knits and have fallen completely for the Saffron Cables afghan. In another color of course, I'm not much of an orange person as it looks sickly on me :)

No Progress

No knitting progress to report. Check out my personal blog Knotts Burrow to see what Hubs and I have been up to.

Slow Poke

Faced with only a few inches of new lace to show after a weekend full of knitting. I'm resorting to desperate measures to find new ways to photograph the same project over and over. I don't think I've shown Bandit with the Kimono Shawl yet....

It's now around 25 inches in length, only 5 inches short of being a square!

I signed up this weekend for Blockbuster Online thinking that having more DVDs to watch as I knit will help me along on this project. It's been very hard finding motivation to knit even in laceweight merino when the weather has been in the 90s recently.


Awwwwww...isn't he cute? :)

All Work, No Knit.

Ack, what a week! No knitting progress to speak of since it's been very hectic work week. Apparently, not knitting for a few days makes me go a bit nuts, so I wrestled with Bandit tonight after finishing up the work week.

Too cute to not photograph, I snapped the first shot and got onto the floor next to him.


Big mistake. Extreme close-up pics and massive puppy kisses ensued.


Eventually, he realized he had met his match and backed off.


And I realized that I can use the zoom on the digital camera to get a good pic of Bandit's cute little face.

Hopefully I'll have some actual knitting blog fodder this weekend. Kris has an SCA event Saturday, so I'm counting on some quality solo knitting and vegetating time. :)

Diversion

Game night Friday called for a mindless knitting project over a few hours of quality D&D playing. I grabbed the skein of Rowan Denim, looked over the bib pattern in Mason-Dixon Knitting, and knitted most of this in Friday night. Only had the button hole and an inch or so of the second strap to knit on Sunday. The button finally was sewn on tonight after I tore the house apart looking for a sewing needle. Ready for Cosmo Knotts once he's big enough :)

Mason-Dixon Bib in Rowan Denim


I couldn't wrestle Bandit into modeling this handknit, so the top of his doghouse had to do. :)


Close-up of the kyoootest button ever! It's Peter Rabbit!

I haven't been slacking on my larger projects. A decent hunk of time Sunday was devoted to the Kimono Shawl between loads of laundry. I didn't realize how much progress I've made until I measured it tonight - it's 22 inches tall now! I can't wait to block this sucker out to show how it really looks; I just don't seem to be able to photograph it well.


Kimono Shawl progress. I need to take a knitting project photography course or grow a few feet taller. Note my foot on the left edge of the picture that makes the lace lay poorly.

NoooOOOoooo

Friday, I stopped by the Knit Knack store in my hometown to try and get a few spare of these:

No clue what the technical name is of this tool. I call it my hook thingy - very technical term, no?

My mom used to use it when she machine knitted in the 80s and showed me an easy way to work in ends with it. I really like using it to fix dropped stitches and wanted a backup or two for when I eventually lose hers. Alas, no luck. The Knit Knack store was closed last Friday afternoon for a seminar. Their old barn mocked me with the phrase "YARN BARN" emblazoned on its roof, and its doors locked. *sigh*

I didn't have any time to knit this past weekend, so the Kimono Shawl looks exactly as it did late last week. I have to find some knitting time this week!

Lacin' Along

Kimono Shawl Progress

I've been focusing my knitting on the Kimono Shawl; it's up to 12 inches long. Granted, my knitting time has been limited since I've been sick and cleaning house. After reading on Jackie's blog that she's due in a little over 5 weeks, I better get cracking!! I don't want to be held responsible for a missed due date because I haven't finished Cosmo's baptism blankie like the Yarn Harlot has done recently. :)

Stash Enhancing

For once, I actually caught one of the seasonal sales at Mass Ave Knit Shop last Friday. 30-50% off all yarns in the store was more than enough for me to get my sickie self out of bed. Here's my haul:

Purpley superwash merino sock yarn from Artyarns


Katia Ingenua mohair blend which will become a Branching Out scarf for someone for some holiday or birthday. Real specific intentions, no?


Skein of Rowan Denim and a Beatrix Potter button will be a bib from Mason-Dixon Knitting for nephew-to-be, Cosmo Knotts.


Self patterning Lana Grossa sock yarn with "extra strapazierfahig". No clue what strapazierhafig is; hope it's good!


Sage Cascade 220 for a Celtic Cap from Girl from Auntie. Want to give her patterns a try to see if I could knit the Rogue or Eris sweaters anytime in the near future.


Katia Mississippi cotton for the perfect pattern I found to make for my stepmom, Betty, while waiting in the checkout lane. No clue as to if it will be a birthday or Christmas gift yet. :)


Can't forget the cutest haul of all, a black sheep measuring tape from Lantern Moon. These are no longer specialty items in each bag of white sheep measuring tapes; they're shipped as a seperate item now. MAKS had a whole load of them, so I had to adopt one which with Bandit is smitten :)

Fourth

Appropriately named holiday weekend for me; I was able to knit less than a fourth of the time that I had hoped. For the majority of my five-day weekend, I was laid up with a bad bout of bronchitis. Stupid crappy immune system....

The other part of the holiday break was taken up with painting - ugh!

Stupid shed that soaked up nearly 1.5 gallons of paint...


Even stupider, ridiculously heavy, abandoned doghouse. This is as close as Bandit ever gets to it. Pampered pooch.


Last Wednesday on our wedding anniversary, we received a rather terse letter from the local homeowner's association about our unpainted "outbuilding" being a violation. Meh, guess my noveau rustic look because we hate painting and procrastinated for two years didn't fly. Yes, our yard does seem to grow weeds quite well, but grass, not so much.

Eventually, medicine head and paint covered hands aside, I was able to get a few repeats done on the Kimono shawl.


Surely, I can't be the only knit blogger to use my Beatles throw as a background for contrast :)


Up close and too personal, nevermind the red lifeline :)

I have a very bad feeling that I'm going to run out of yarn on this project. *sigh*

Buh??

I've been pondering over this post for over an hour now, and the words just aren't coming to me. No quasi-witty banter tonight. I'll let the stitches speak for themselves.

Progress on the Kimono shawl, thanks to Hubs for snapping the shot while my hands were occupied with tszujing the lace


Progress on the second Hub sock has been made completely away from the house. I never realized how much knitting time I could steal on the road. :) Shot was taken during tonight's episode of Wife Swap, Monday night TV in the summer stinks!

Look for a more content filled post later this week. After a rough, non-sleeping night, my mind's numbed tonight

Quick PSA

Public Service Announcement to Indy area knitters. Mass Avenue Knit Shop has a 30-50% off sale running June 26 - July 2. Convenient timing for my birthday, too :D

New Stuff

This post will be filled with new stuff - new projects, new yarn, and new books with lots of pictures. :)

Friday, after mailing a pile of bills, I treated myself with a trip to Stitches N Scones in Westfield. I spent a good hour or so browsing after getting a new longer set of DPNs for the second Hub sock and a new circular needle. Following some brief internal debate, I nabbed two more skeins of Koigu for a second Clapotis. No plans whether the second will be for me or gifted. :) I stepped up to the counter to pay and realized my debit card was resting peacefully on a mousepad at home. Nooo!!! Much relief was felt when I was able to rattle off my card number from memory and pay for my knitting goodies.

New Koigu for Clappy Numero 2


Koigu up close and personal

Hubs and I went out Friday night. Date nights in our house are pretty odd when there are no movies we want to see in the theaters. We had dinner and went to Barnes and Noble where I picked up The Knitter's Book of Finishing Techniques and Knit Lit 3. :)


New Books

Friday, I also started my newest big project, a modified Kimono Shawl from Folk Shawls. Rather than being a rectangular shawl, this one will be more squarish hopefully. I did the math, so it may wind up being a trapezoid. My goal is to have the Kimono Shawl done in time for Cosmo Knotts' arrival for his baptism. I struggled through a 167 stitch cable cast on. Ugh, lace weight yarn, too tight of a cast on technique, and stubby ended needles were all against me. After toying with modifying the Candle Flame Shawl pattern, I decided to try a bit simpler lace pattern after effectively frying my brain and eyes over a few lunch breaks figuring the changes to be made. I'm only 5 rows into the 20 row garter stitch border currently.


Kimono Shawl looks more like a Kimono shoe string currently


Kimono Shawl bit closer

I started the second Hub Sock Saturday. I will never work with this yarn again after this sock is finished. Yippee!!


Second Hub sock enjoying the sun breaking through the storm clouds tonight

Frakk

Thanks for widening the scope of my cursing vocabulary, Battlestar Galactica! This is the only word for how I'm feeling.

Finished Hub Sock by Arwen's Sword for Scale

The first Hub Sock is completed. Huge grumbles were heard from me last night when he tried it on last night. It's baggy around the top of the foot.

Crap.

I'll try some decreases in the foot of the second sock. It's good length-wise and around the calf, just sucks around the foot. *grumble*

From the Dark Depths of the Unfinished Object Drawer

It’s alive – the Hub sock!

Ginormous Hub Sock Compared to his Feet

Sunday, Hubs and I sat down to watch a few movies we had rented. Being accustomed to knitting during movies, I exasperatedly told Hubs that I had “nothing to knit” as we were settling in for the movies. I quickly received one of those looks as Kris reminded me of the pair of socks I’m making for him that have been languishing for months shoved in the back of a drawer. That has to be a bad sign when even he notices that I’m avoiding a project. Thinking that having some knitting is better than none, I settled in with the Hub sock. I quickly realized why I shoved it in a drawer. Ugh, splitty yarn and too short needles on my most dreaded part of the sock, the gusset. After fishing up many dropped stitches as they popped off the ends of the unused DPNs, I resorted to smooshing all of the needle ends into point protectors and taking them off as needed. A new set of 7 inch long DPNs will be bought before I start the second sock; the point protectors are quite a pain though not as bad as picking up dropped stitches. After much prodding, Hubs did try on the sock in progress last night. I was beginning to worry that the sock was too big, but it fit like a glove :)

Just the Claps!

Saturday night harbored in a new finished object, Clapotis!

Obligatory self portrait in the bathroom mirror

Project Stats
Yarn: Koigu KPPM
Dimensions: 54 inches by 8 1/2 inches (unstretched)
Needles: Crystal Palace US#4 bamboo circulars
Duration: Cast on May 29th, completed June 10th

Need I say it? I loved this pattern and project. It was very easy to get the rhythm of the repeats and soar through rows anticipating the dropped stitches. Oh, the dropped stitches were so much fun! One end was a bit unruly and curly, and the other was stretched into a point. Both were easily remedied with a little light steaming. Which brings me to the yarn, how I loved working with Koigu. It’s wonderfully soft, has beautiful color changes, and not splitty at all. Family, friends, if you like this wrap and want one, let me know, I’m more than willing to knit more! :)


My Stunning Model, Bandit

Can't Blog...Knitting!

Each night this week I've gotten sucked into the Clapotis pattern. I'm hooked and can't put the needles down!

Working on the decrease section

It's just over 3/4 of the way finished. Though, for this project, I'm getting a lot of entertainment from the process of knitting and not focused on the end product. I definitely can forsee that I'll knit this pattern again :)