Knitting Distraction!!

I didn't think it was possible for me to find something that would distract me from my knitting these days, but I did.  My dh and I got not one, but two new Macs for the family this weekend.  This is our first move to the mac world and I think we are going to like it.

The Macbook as pictured above, is primarily going to be mine.  I have spent all day getting it set up.  It basically comes out of the box ready to go, but I've been copying over iTunes files, photos, etc.  It has been really easy, but time consuming.

Unfortunately the knitting and my many blog comments will have to wait.

FO: Oak Ribbed Socks

I have been participating in the Ravelry Sockdown since last August. The Feb project I chose was a new heel that I hadn't done before. I used the pattern, Oak Ribbed Socks from Nancy Bush's Knitting Vintage Socks. This pattern included a French heel, which was new to me. It also had a round toe, which I don't believe I've done before. However, it is similar to how I have finished off some mittens in the past.




The yarn was Ranco Multi by Arauncia. I ended up liking the colorway more than I thought I would. I liked that the colors are very well blended. No striping or pooling whatsover. I am wearing the socks right now and they look pretty good with my jeans.

I liked the pattern. Heel didn't seem to different from ones that I have done before. Here is what it looks like:


I wasn't sure how I would like wearing the socks with the round toe. However, they feel fine. This is actually a great toe shaping if you don't like to kitchener. You just knit until there are 8 stitches left and they pull the leftover yarn through and you are done! This is what it looks like:

FO Frenzy Interrupted

Just as I was starting to make some progress on all of my WIPs, I got sidetracked by a package from Knit Picks. I had ordered some lace blocking wires. Then in order to get the free shipping I added some yarn to make the Cozy shawl from knitty.com -- 8 balls of Andean Silk in the Cinnamon colorway.


So instead of working on my WIPs on Friday, I cast on for the shawl. It took a little while to get going because I was surprised to discover that I don't have any size 8 circular needles, other than those from my Denise set. My current size 8s were being used for a scarf that I am trying to finish. So instead of patiently waiting for me to finish the scarf, I used the ends in the Denise set to put the scarf on hold and cast on for the shawl.

I honestly thought this was going to be a project that I had to slug through, but I was pleasantly surprised that I really like the pattern and the yarn as well. I decided the project would be even better if I bought some Addi lace needles to use. I rationalized the investment since I only have the Denise size 8s and I plan on doing a lot of worsted weight scarf knitting in the future. Plus these are my new favorite needles. So on Saturday I made my way to the LYS and bought some needles and only needles, even though I was tempted by all the new sock yarn at my LYS.

By Sunday I had gone through one and a half balls of the eight that I have for the project. Hopefully this will be a quick knit. I am planning on using this as an everyday "blankie" for myself -- something not so bulky as an afghan, but will work to keep the chill off of me as I am sitting around the house.

Valentine thoughts

Happy Valentine's Day. Over the years I seemed to have lost my enthusiasm for this holiday. I think the reason is that since I've had kids it is a lot more work than it used to be. I need to help them get ready for their big parties at school, buy/send cards to the grandparents as well as get something for the kids and dh as well. My husband usually remembers me with a little something. The picture above is of the flowers he bought me last night for today. I only got him a box of chocolates, which makes me feel a little guilty, but I'm too tired to worry about it.

This year I am especially bummed because I spent time getting my 4 yo son ready for his daycare parties and he has been sick with a fever all week. I am trying to work at home in between his cries of "Mommy I've got a booger", at which point I need to rush to the couch and wipe his nose or take away a used tissue. The valentines that I prepared for his party are sitting in a bag on the counter. Since I doubt he will be going back to school until next week, I'll probably end up tossing them. Oh well.

The good news is that I can get a little sock knitting in on the side while I wait for my files to download on my work computer. I hope to finish my "chewy socks" sometime today and I'm already planning on what the replacement sock project will be and which of my stashed yarns to use. This is definitely the highlight of my day for now -- if my Knitpicks package arrives in the mail today it would cheer me up even more.

FO Frenzy

I have decided that I am going to get my FO's out of the way once and for all. A quick finish to my Malabrigo sweater did it for me a few weeks ago.

There was another project that was languishing in my knitting bag as well. I called it my brown scarf. I finished that last Friday too. I will publish additional details once I take pictures of it post blocking. It is in the picture of above.

There are three big projects left. My Tangled Yoke Cardigan, the Trellis Scarf and a plain scarf I am making for myself with yarn my DH surprisingly gifted me for Christmas. These could be quite the challenge as they do take awhile to complete.



It seems like I always have two pairs of socks on the needles as well and they seem to get most of my attention.

One Benefit of Subzero Temperatures

Last Friday I was settling in for a long cold weekend when I remembered that there was a sweater that I had made last winter that was still sitting in my room waiting to be sewn together. I had done the shoulder seams and wasn't too crazy about how the thing was looking, so I never bothered to finish it.

Given that we were not going to see temperatures north of 0 this weekend and I was in the mood for warm comfy clothes, I decided to work on it a bit. Surprisingly, I was able to sew everything up in one evening. I always dread the moment of truth when I put on a newly finished garment and look in the mirror. So often things just don't measure up to what my visions had been while I was knitting it up. So this time when I went to check it out I was not expecting much. However when I saw my reflection, a "wow this looks good" escaped from my lips.

I like it so much I wore it the next morning when I took my daughter to swimming lessons in 10 below weather. It did keep my toasty and comfy warm all day.

The yarn is Malabrigo and the pattern is one that I improvised using Sweater Wizard. I added cables to the ribbing for a little variety to the plain pattern. Here are some of the results:


A full length shot of the sweater. I thought the arms were going to be way too short. They are just barely the right length. The sweater is also a couple of inches longer than I would have liked, but that won't stop me from wearing it.



Above is a close up shot of the neckline. I borrowed the neck shaping from a vest I made by Veronik Avery. This picture also brings out the color of the yarn as well.



Here is the simple cable pattern I did on the ribbing for the sleeves and body. I wanted to show off the yarn, so I didn't want a distracting pattern throughout the body. The cables give just a little bit of interest to the otherwise boring pattern.

One last note -- I had made a sweater out of Malabrigo before and just knit one skein at a time. The end result was so horrible that I couldn't wear the sweater out of the house. This time I would knit two rows with one skein and then two rows from another. I even went so far as to rotate balls from all the different skeins so there wouldn't be any goofing color problems. I think it turned out just fine.

Frozen Insanity

This is the time of year where I truly wonder why I live here and start dreaming about retiring somewhere warm. I'm not sure if the high temperature this weekend got above zero or not.

It is inevitable that Minnesota gets at least one of these spells each year and whenever it happens, I pull out all my old winter standards, the gigantic puffy super warm coat, the polartec hat and gloves. (I wear my ubiquitous handmade wool socks daily from October to April, so that step is not necessary).

This year when I started digging through the hall closet, I came to the crazy realization that I have no handmade scarves, hats or gloves -- only a well worn pair of fingerless Fetchings. I have been knitting for most of my adult life (40+ years) and I don't have a single scarf to show for it!!! I have many hats for family, but nothing for myself.

This is not for lack of trying. I actually have two on the needles right now. Last night I dusted off a lace scarf I had started last year and not touched for months. The lace pattern seemed kind of cumbersome when I worked on it before. However, since I last worked on it I successfully completed my first real lace project and now the pattern seems not so bad. Hopefully my renewed energy will continue and I will get it done before the snow melts.

Here is a picture of the lace scarf that had been sitting one of my knitting bags before being resurrected last night. It is Black Bunny Fibers sock yarn.





On another note
After many ill-fated attempts before, I am going to attempt to start a blog again. I have tried it in the past, but it never really got going --due to a lack of "Knot Enough Time". Hopefully I won't put too much pressure on myself and will be able to keep it up this time.