Knit & Nosh

pumpkin patch

behold pumpkin patch

 

Dragon Fibers provided the fiber, colorway Nasturtium.  I decided to try something new and pulled the roving apart at the color changes.  One pile of oranges, one pile of yellow and green.  I sat on the couch, happily pulling the fiber apart.  When I was done I had two big piles of two inch long pieces of fluff.  I needed a drink.  What was I thinking?

Not being one to let a project languish I had another drink and took the piles for a spin.  One bobbin for each pile that were then plyed together.  There was a bit more on one bobbin than the other (isn’t there always?) and I plyed that with some sock reinforcement.

In the end I have a pair of socks that would make the Great Pumpkin proud.

cozies rock

I was sidetracked from my holiday knitting this weekend with a request from Oldest Daughter.  Seems it is getting cold up in The Great White North and she would like a hot water bottle.  There is no way I could give a naked hot water bottle to anyone.  My very first thought was...cozy!  I feel certain you would have done the same thing.   

I used Mountain Colors – Mountain Goat – Chinook, from the stash.  I just love the way the colors pool across the bottom, but not on the turtleneck.  While this is not a colorway Oldest Daughter would choose, she is a lover of all fine colors and should be happy.  She finds it funny that I make cozies for things, especially when I do not have a tea pot cozy.  A tea pot cozy is pretty much a requirement for all knitters who drink tea.

Updates:

Border Patrol Socks are finished.

Fleece Artist 2/6 Merino – Mermaid.  I reinforced the heels and toes.  This is one of the last pairs of 100% Merino socks I will knit.  I figured I would at least try the reinforcement.

 

Shetland Lace is coming along. 

The color change happened the way I anticipated and I am happy with the yarn choice.  Now that I have that information it will probably linger for a while as my attention is on other things.

I have begun a new pair of socks.  It is still dark so I will need to wait for another day to photograph and post  about those beauties.

icarus, done

Here are the promised Icarus pictures.

Because of the size I was not able to block it as aggressively as I would have liked.  The wings are pinned across the diagonal  and down the sides a bit of a queen size bed.  That meant I could only go as far as the corner with the rests of the shawl.

Even without the sharp points it is lovely.  The recipient is going to be VERY happy.

Would I make another Icarus?  I do not know.  Dealing with the length of the rows near the end was practically torture.  If I do make another it will be two repeats shorter.  Even that will make a nice big shawl. 

dingbat

Dear  ISP Executive,

If you decide to change your customers email provider from webmail to gmail, can you please let us know?  A quick email to let us know we need to change settings on our mail programs makes a lot of sense.    Also, if you decide it would be easier to place a notice informing your customers of an email change, it would be smart if you put that notice on the email page.

Thank you, and who should I bill for my past hour of frustration?

Terri

I wonder

Is it possible?

The Knitters’ Review email hit my Inbox and I see there is a discussion about the economy, holidays and stash busting.  As it turns out I have been knitting like crazy for the holidays and 90% of it will come from stash.  I took this thought a bit further and realized that it is probably possible to knit all of my stash by spring.  Yep, this spring.  I wonder if I should?

#6

While trying to figure out what to knit next, I made a hat.

 

The yarn is Sulka, a merino, silk, alpaca blend.  The yarn is softly spun, bulky singles.  SO soft.  In real life the singles are not a solid color, but have many shades of green, making the color very rich.  8 bucks a skein and the hat took 2 skeins.  I will definitely be using it again.

After ripping out the Shetland Triangle I began looking for another shawl pattern to use that beautiful skein of Fleece  Artist Mermaid.  I tried a Spinners Shawl and it was better, but not right.  The yarn is too much for lace, even simple lace.  In the end I followed Gwyneth’s advice and cast on for socks.  Perfect.

I still need a shawl to work on, but the only solid yarn I have is green and I do not want another green shawl right now.  I also do not want to buy yarn unless I have a specific project in mind.  So I guess it is back to socks and Flappies for a bit longer.

Icarus was blocked yesterday.  Pics in the next post.

 

froggy went a courtin'

Last night, after finishing the 10^th lace repeat for the Shetland Triangle, I had to admit that it just was not doing it for me.  Love the pattern, love the yarn, could not make them love each other. 

After ripping out the shawl I picked up the hat for Oldest Daughter.  I had made it through the tricky band and finished the eyelet pattern and was on to the easy knitting.  Knit 2 rows, purl 1 row, decrease to the end.  But again.  Love the pattern, love the yarn, could not make them love each other.  Rip It Good.

Now I have nothing on needles and the Yarn Harlot is in town.  Maybe she will understand and let me knit on her sock?

oh icarus

This week two new books have been released to the kniteratzzi  and I am patiently waiting for my copies to hit town. 

The first is Knitted Lace in Estonia by Nancy Bush.  I was able to see a preview here and can not wait to snuggle up with my own copy.  I have never seen so many nupps in one place!  As someone who has spoken more then a few non-Girl Scout words over nupps in the past, it looks like it is time for me to get over it.  I have ordered a copy through my LYS, too bad UPS does not deliver on weekends.

The second book is It Itches by Franklin Habit.  This one I have ordered through my NBS (neighborhood book store), but it is unclear when it will be received.  This is probably a good thing because I am at a writers’ conference this weekend and will not have time to flop on the couch with new knitting books.

The book links are for Amazon, but please, support your local business people.  They need you now more than ever.

Yesterday was a glorious day.  Why?  I finished Icarus!

Unblocked it measues 80 inches across and 40 inches down the back.  The fabric is vey stretchy, this baby is going to love the blocking.  I still have no idea where I will doing the blocking, it needs to wait until Monday.  This needs to be a stealth blocking and I plan to use steam instead of the normal water bath.  I am thinking about pinning it to a wall.  I think the wall is big enough and it is about to be painted, so there are no worries about ruining the paint.  Have you ever heard of someone trying such a thing?