TKGA Yarn Haul

Yarn for my SP11 pal :

Argosy Lotus Blossom (merino/cashmere blend) - Grape Juice

Fleece Artist Nova Socks (100% merino) - Amethyst with the Tilting Blocks pattern

Pacific Meadows Alpacas Fingering Weight (100% alpaca) - Charcoal

Yarn for me:

Argosy Luxury Yarns Zen 4 Ply - Martha's Vineyard

Koigu KPM 1160 - a plummy shade

Koigu KPM - 1150 Hot pink (This is another one that caught my eye from across the room.)

Royale Hare Fingering Weight Superwash Merino - Calistoga Calypso - my favorite colorway of theirs

Sheep City USA Eco Wool - I saw this yarn, walked into their booth and said I'll take this, please. (The color isn't accurate here - it's much brighter pink!)

White Lies Madeline Sweater Kit with Treasure Island cotton in pink

TKGA show

I went to the TKGA show in Oakland today, just to go to the marketplace. It was a tad picked over by this morning, but at least I stayed within my budget. I bought Koigu (2 singles, I'm not sure if they are for socks or a scarf yet, but will require colorwork either), a skein of cashmere for a scarf, 2 skeins of fingering alpaca for my SP11 pal, rainbow colored sock yarn, a hand-dyed merino/cashmere blend for my SP11 pal, a skein of Fleece Artist Nova Sock with pattern for my SP11 pal, a White Lies sweater kit, a huge skein of gorgeous hand-dyed bulky wool, and a mitered shawl pattern. I like going to yarn shows when I have a pal to spoil - I get to buy more yarn that way!

I wouldn't have bought so much, but I'm celebrating. I've decided that I need to go on a yarn diet until Stitches West in February. I may not make it, but I'm going to try.

I'll post pictures later. It seems that we are having power problems, and my UPS isn't kicking in, and I don't want to take any chances with my computer.

That's a lot of yarn!

I finished updating my stash on Ravelry and I'm awed by the total. I have 26 miles of yarn on Ravelry. That doesn't count the 2 dozen Noro Kureyon singles I'm not going to bother putting in, or the other yarns I can't be bothered to add for one reason or another. I'd better stop shopping and get knitting!

No wonder I had that terrible nightmare last night that somebody stole my yarn. And there wasn't any more to be had anywhere! In particular, I was trying to replace a merino wool with long, Noro-like color changes. Believe it or not, it had been discontinued. I was relieved that it was all a dream, although somewhat disappointed that the magical yarn didn't exist. Mmm, Noro + merino. Yummy!

I want!

I so want KnitPicks new Harmony needles. I am resisting buying them only because, well, I'm trying to live within my budget. That, and I don't really need another set of interchangeable needles. However, I think that these may make my Denise set obsolete. Decisions, decisions! I may buy a set of the 0 circulars, just because.

I've been working on my SP11 project a little bit each day. Now that we're moving into knitting weather, I'm sure I'll be knitting more and more. I have to finish my second sock, too. Once the SP11 project and the sock are done, I need to start on the Forest Canopy shawl. I also need to start the master socks from Cat Bordhi's book.

I heard from my SP11 secret pal today! :waves:

Sock picture

Here is a picture of the completed, but unblocked, sock. As you can see, even on 0 needles, my gauge is still pretty loose. I'm going to find an 000 Addi Turbo, and see if I can get sock gauge on that. If not, I guess I'll be using sport weight to make socks. Which is a pity, since I splurged on sock yarn. I suppose I could double the fingering weight up and make more anklets. Maybe I'll be making a number of lace scarves or some mitts, since a looser gauge won't matter as much on mitts as it does on socks.

As a bonus, a picture of part of my SP11 project. Isn't it pretty?

One sock down...

One to go. No, I haven't cast on for the second sock yet. I will have a pair, though. They will be anklets, since I was bored with going round and round in circles. :) I can't cast on for any of the Cat Bordhi master socks until I finish the second sock, so that's my motivation to avoid Second Sock Syndrome.

I've started on a secret project for my SP11 pal. Finding just the right yarn and color took a week. Then it was time to swatch. I finally came up with a pattern that I like. I should have taken a picture of the Swatch Thing before I frogged it, it was very artistic, if you're into free-form knitting. The actual project is much tidier and fun to knit. The pattern was very easy to memorize.

The Swatch Thing inspired a second project that is much larger, and in a different color. It still needs to be swatched, and then I'll need to chart it. There's no way I will be able to do that one without a chart.

The Dragon sleeps

I pulled the dragon scale scarf out to frog it, and I just. couldn't. do it. It's much too beautiful to frog. However, I'm not very interested in continuing on it at the moment, so it's going into the UFO pile. I'll pick it back up later.

The Lady of the Forest does need to be frogged, but she's hiding from me at the moment.

I got my Ravelry invitation last night (id: Linnet) and promptly went nuts adding stash, books, projects, etc. I'm beginning to be frightened by my stash and I've barely skimmed the surface of it. (9 miles of yarn so far and that's just what was in easy reach...)

I'm going round and round up the leg of my sock now. I'm not sure how long I actually want it to be, so I guess I'll just eyeball it. I thought the foot was going to be a touch small, but it actually fits perfectly. I'm not sure I'll end up with a matching set of socks, but there will be two of them.

Gusset increases!

I'm finally to the gusset increases on the sock. Hurray! It took less than 2 weeks to get here, too. :) I'm having fun knitting again! After knitting and frogging and swatching and frogging, it's nice to be getting somewhere on a project. Of course, there's always a second sock, but I won't think about that right now.

I can't believe that summer's almost over. Actually, it's just now starting to feel like summer around here, which is fine with me, isn't that why we pay outrageous prices for everything? I'm more than happy to skip 3 digit temperatures.

I think the dragon scale scarf is headed back to the frog pond. I'm just not liking the way it's turning out. I love the scaly effect, but I don't care for the garter border. Of course, I had to wait until it was 3 feet long to decide this...I've set it aside for the time being. After a suitable amount of time, I'll decide whether it needs to go ribbit, ribbit.

SP 11, sock progress

I've heard from both my upstream and downstream pals for SP 11. Yay! I'm really looking forward to it. Since my downstream pal is in Finland, I'll have to really think about what I want to send. International postage is really expensive! $37 flat rate for up to 20 lbs, and that's the least expensive option I've found so far.

I'm almost to the gusset increases on my sock. It's actually not quite that bright and the pooling isn't as obvious in real life. It's a toe up, magic loop sock, my first for both. Magic loop is working much better for me than DPNs did, although I have discovered that 4 DPNs are easier to work with than 3.

I frogged my Malabrigo dropstitch scarf. I just wasn't liking it. The color, Applewood, just isn't me, either. Maybe it will eventually tell me what it wants to be, or perhaps it wants to go live with someone else. I also frogged both Touch Me scarves, wincing as I did so. Chenille doesn't survive frogging well, but it had to be done. The red one was started when I had a much tighter tension, and there was no way I could match it, even by switching needles. The Vintage Velvet in purple Touch Me Due wasn't working, since the horizontal stripes were clashing with the vertical cables. So I frogged 'em.

I only have one UFO left, the Karaoke Lady Eleanor. I love the colors and the pattern is nice and mindless once you get going, but I'm tempted to just sell the remaining 9 balls of it and frog the rest, because I just don't like the yarn.

My WIPs are just the sock above and the dragon scale scarf, which I am determined to finish by Labor Day. I'm over halfway done, that shouldn't be a problem.

Why didn't anyone tell me how much fun this is?

I'm making good progress on my sock from this weekend. It's not perfect, but I'm pretty proud of it, considering that it's my first toe-up, magic loop sock ever. Plus, short rows, which I am terrible at. But still, it's fun! I knew sock knitting was supposed to be fun, not wrestling with an octopus. I'm using STR Fire on the Mountain, in what was supposed to be beaded rib, but is something else. It's pretty, whatever stitch it is. I haven't decided what kind of heel I'm going to use, but it's coming up soon. How can a sock knit on size 0 needles, in fingering weight, knit up faster than worsted on size 5 needles?

I went to one of my LYS yesterday, but didn't purchase anything. I was definitely tempted by all the Claudia hand paints - I'll take one of each, please, but I nobly resisted. My bank account thanks me. I also had an idea percolating in my head when I saw the new Noro yarn, Hotaru, but I couldn't find the right yarn to go with it, and the project didn't fully materialize, so I put it back. I have enough projects in the stash already! I'm supposed to be on a yarn diet, anyway.

Non-knitting content:
I'm still employed. I finally reached my recruiter yesterday, and she said that the client loves me, and in fact, have requested more people like me. The recruiter and I agreed that I only need to stay until the end of this assignment in mid-September, and that I won't be shuffled to another assignment within this particular client. That was yesterday. Today, my manager at the client called and wants to have a meeting tomorrow, to discuss "switching things around." I have a feeling I'll be talking with my recruiter again after that meeting, but I'll see how it goes.

SP 11 Questionnaire

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?

I love knitting with wool. I find most other natural fiber yarns itchy, including alpaca, llama, angora, and especially mohair. I don't like knitting with most acrylics, although there are some man-made fibers I appreciate, like tencel.

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?

It depends. Most of them are in WIPs! :) I primarily use interchangeable circulars, so they stay in their cases when not in use.

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?

I've been knitting since 11/05. I'd consider myself an advanced beginner.

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?

No

5. What's your favorite scent?

I like citrus-y or "clean" scents.

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?

I like licorice a lot, as well as mint and ginger. I don't care for chocolate.

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?

I also crochet occasionally. I don't spin. Yet.

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)

Mostly country/folk, with some other stuff for variety.

9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand?

I like jewel tones, both bright and muted. I love hot pink. I don't like orange (unless it's with the hot pink) or yellow.

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?

Single, two middle aged cats.

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?

I wear scarves occasionally, but no hats, mittens, or ponchos.

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?

Right now it seems to be things destined for the frog pond! I don't think I have a favorite item to knit yet.

13. What are you knitting right now?

My first toe up socks, a dragon scale scarf, and some other WIPs that are probably UFOs at this point.

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?

Yes.

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?

Circular needles, all types have their uses.

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?

Yes to both.

17. How old is your oldest UFO?

About 1.5 years old. It needs to be frogged, since my gauge has changed dramatically, but I haven't seen it in a while.

18. What is your favorite holiday?

Halloween. I love the costumes.

19. Is there anything that you collect?

I collect various types of dragons. Dragons are always welcome in my home!

20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?

I can't think of any off the top of my head. No subscriptions at the moment, I prefer to see the magazine in person before purchasing it.

21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?

Fair Isle or intarsia are on my someday list. I'm currently practicing lace techniques.

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?

Well, I'm knitting my second sock ever, so sort of. Foot circumference: 8.5", length of foot 9.5".

23. When is your birthday?

June 12.

24. Are you on Ravelry? If so, what's your ID?

No.

I have decided on socks

Socks will be my project this weekend. Since I all I do is knit and frog these days, there is no guarantee that there will be anything sock-like here on Sunday night, but I'm going to try. I'm also easily distracted - ooh, shiny! - so who knows what I will have to show for the weekend.

I've also decided that I have enough yarn for any possible project I could want to make - socks, bags, shawls - lace or not, sweaters, scarves, an afghan or two, and dishclothes, if I count the Sugar 'n Cream which I keep on hand for waste yarn. I even have crochet thread, so I could make doilies if I felt so inclined. Which is a long-winded way of saying that I'm going on a yarn fast. Stitches West is six months away, in February, so I'm saving my yarn money for that.

Bacon!

My biggest regret on becoming a vegetarian over 15 years ago was giving up bacon. (And corn dogs, but there's a satisfactory replacement for those.) Fakin' Bacon? I hope you like tempeh. I sure don't. Smart Bacon? Ew, no. Morningstar Farms Bacon Strips? They've been justifiably accused of tasting like bacon-flavored Fritos. Not that there's anything wrong with bacon-flavored Fritos. But now, there's bacon salt! It really does taste like bacon, and it's vegetarian and kosher-certified. No actual bacon is involved. It comes in 3 flavors, original, hickory, and peppered, and all are tasty. Bacon! It's what's for breakfast, lunch, dinner....Ok, it's salt, so it's not health food, but still, bacon flavor without guilt or fat! I've even heard it's possible to make a respectable BLT by salting the tomato. I'm currently pondering how to use it to make a tofu rub. Or real corn chowder, substituting the bacon salt for the bacon. Mmmm.

Lovely, yummy stuff!

Look at what was waiting for me when I got home today:
Hand Maiden Tussah or Two Four Silk in Sangria:
Fleece Artist Sea Wool in Tiger. I was born in the year of the tiger, and besides dragons, tigers are my favorite animal.
And for everyone who gets optic nerve damage from most of my color choices, Fleece Artist Suri Blue (50% Suri Alpaca/50% Blue Face Leicester) in Stone. It's as yummy as it looks. Given Skunk's extreme fondness for alpaca, I'd better put it away quickly before he discovers it.

The good news is that I know what the Sea Wool and Suri Blue are going to be: respectively, socks, possibly the Bordello pattern, and Evelyn Clark's Spirit of the Southwest shawl. The bad news is that I forgot what I wanted the Tussah Silk for. I'm sure I'll think of something. Wait! Now I remember! Elann's Sun Ray shawl.

Vroom Vroom!

The cars are blasting around the track right now. We saw Paul Newman! OK, we saw his car. It's quite noisy out there today. In here, too. I think almost everyone has left the office for the day now.

I brought my sleeve in to work on at lunch time. Unfortunately, I got the ball band gauge, not the pattern gauge. So I ripped it out and will begin again when I find larger DPNs. I think I have 8s at home, somewhere. I really need to get all my DPNs in one place. I did notice that the sleeve was huge, and that was both before I started the increases and at a tighter gauge than the pattern calls for. I liked the fabric, and thought it was pretty loose for a sweater as it was. I'm not sure that I'm going to like it any looser.

It's totally quiet this afternoon, perfect for knitting. And I have...the unraveled sleeve in my knitting bag. I should have brought a second project. Oh, well, 3 more hours and I can go home.

My project for the weekend is to find all my UFOs, match up yarns and patterns for those "someday" projects, and then decide on a plan of attack. Maybe I'll start de-stashing, too.

Grand Prix Madness

Today is the beginning of Grand Prix madness in downtown San Jose. Actually, it started much earlier, when the grandstands went up around the 4th of July, but today is the day the streets are closed. Last year, I worked just outside the perimeter of the track, but I've since changed jobs, so I'm actually on the track this year. In fact, it's right outside my window at work. Practice doesn't start until tomorrow, thankfully. However, since I'm a contractor, I'm grateful that I don't need to stay home today and tomorrow, like unlucky people who work inside the track.

I admit that it is kind of fun to drive, sedately, down a race track, with the barriers up and the empty grandstands, but it can be a little confusing at the lights, since the barriers make it hard to judge distances. But still, the cars make satisfactory Vrooom! noises against the barriers, even my 10 year old Pontiac.

On to knitting! I did something bad to my lace scarf, I'm still not sure what. Anyway, it looks rather sad at the moment, and I am frustrated. I seem to have lost four stitches, out of 36! And I can't figure out where, probably because I'm frustrated. So I've set it aside. I was going to work on one of my UFOs tonight, but they're all so hot. So I cast on for a sleeve of Curvalicious, for a KAL I was supposed to be working since May. I'm using Rowan Calmer and it's very pleasant to work with, even though I want to stick the wooden needles in a pencil sharpener. At least I had dpns in 7.

Well, so much for *that*!

So, the aran handbag. It's kaput. The wandering cables were one thing, but when I managed to slip my fingers through the double moss stitch, well, that was something else entirely. I had to face the reality that my gauge was suitable for a sweater, but wasn't going to be a particularly useful handbag. The yarn calls for US 11, the pattern for US 10.5, and I should have used US 10, at least. There was no gauge given on the pattern, which should have been a hint. I think I was in knitterly denial - it'll be fine, I'll just line it. Right. I've knitted purses to be felted that were tighter. So I'm going to re-design the pattern to replace those braided cables that I don't like with a wandering "cable" that doesn't cross, use moss stitch instead of double moss stitch, and maybe make a few other minor changes.

Last night, I swatched my Socks That Rock. I got a whopping 7 stitches/inch. On 0's. It's a nice fabric, but I'm not sure it will be sturdy enough for socks. Am I doomed to knit socks in sport weight, just because that's the only way I'll be able to find needles small enough? I really don't want to contemplate knitting socks on delicate 00's, 0's feel dainty enough as it is.

I also went shopping at Colorsong Yarns, one of my favorite online yarn shops. I refrained from this, although I really, really want some. Luckily, someone finally bought out the Paris colorway, which was my favorite. Because really, what would I do with a single skein of hand-spun, hand-dyed cashmere? Besides drool on it, I mean. Buying more than one skein was out of the question, but I certainly envy those lucky people who ended up with 7 or 10 skeins of their favorite colorway.

Waiting for Harry...

I managed to do something bad to my left hand (that would be my dominant hand), so I really haven't been knitting too much, except for the 4 rows a day (but not every day) on the aran handbag. I have managed to mangle the cables but good in one place - how do you choke a cable? There really are two stitches there, but it looks like one. I must have done a double-twist there. I've also mis-crossed, well, actually, not crossed a couple of times on the braided cable, so it looks particularly snake-like in those sections. It's been a fun knit, overall, and continuing on past the mistakes has taken some work on my part. Yes, cables are easy to fix, and I certainly could have ripped back, but I'm finding the mistakes interesting, a real change for She Who Has To Do Everything Perfectly, So Often Does Nothing Or Gives Up In Disgust.


My next project is the Forest Canopy Shoulder Shawl, using Blue Moon Twisted! in Sherbet that I bought at Stitches in February. Here's a pic of it wound and ready to go:
I believe I've mentioned in the past my disdain for "dull" and "boring" colors? Well, this may be a bit bright, even for me. It reminds me of that rainbow stripe bubblegum I used to get when I was a kid. It didn't look that bright in the skein, really. See? Er, maybe it was. I wonder what an aran pattern would look like in Toasty Toes Las Vegas Brights?
Ow, stop hitting! :)

(Harry Potter has still not arrived, and I'm still waiting! Hurry it up, already!)

To frog or not to frog

So, I've been knitting a dragon scale scarf in a pretty hand-painted yarn on my lunch breaks at work when I don't have to run errands. It takes half an hour to do one repeat, and I'm 1/3 of the way through. But I'm thinking that the yarn is too busy for the pattern.
What do you think? Too busy? Of course, it's not blocked yet, but I'm not sure blocking will help in this case.

So there I was, cabling along...

And, whoops, hey, where'd all those stitches come from. Ack! Way back there, I skipped a cable. Sigh. Back I go, tink, tink, tink. Uncabling isn't any fun, either, especially since I'm on the line that has 6 cables, with 4 different cables. Whew, I made it. Back on the wrong side row. Uh-oh. Why do I have an extra stitch right here at the end. Nooooo! Peer at knitting. It appears that when I went back to that cable, I picked up an additional stitch. All the other cables and stitches are in the correct place, so, k2tog in the seed stitch! I'm going to end up ripping this, too, aren't I? Because there's still that row where I knit when I should have purled in the RS p1, k1, p1, WS k1, p1, k1. Maybe I'll drop down and pick those stitches up. Whimper. I know! It's an interpretation of the design!

Here's a pic: