Knitting mail call, and a teeny contest...

I love my mailman!

I gave him some blue squares for Justin... (click the link! Cynthia needs more squares! :))



...and he gave me...


Schaefer Anne in orange, black, grey, brown... (yay!). Picked up from a stash reduction. I keep hoarding Schaefer Anne and haven't knit a single thing from it yet, but I'm just drawn to it. I think I should actually use it one of these days.


8 balls of Rowan Cork in Delight (orange).

I am *so* thrilled with this... I have been eyeing this yarn on ebay for forever (discontinued yarn), for this...


(Robin Hood Jacket from Adorable Knits for Tots by Zoe Mellor)

but I just couldn't bring myself to pay that much for it, and I didn't really think a sub was that great of an idea since the yarn is unique in weight/composition/gauge. I was able to swap for it though, *and* in the color I wanted!! :) Thanks Mandy for a great swap, she made my year with this stuff. I won't be able to knit it up til the next cold season, but there's more than enough yarn there for even the biggest size of the pattern if boogerbear hits a growth spurt. And, did you notice? Orange!!! :)

My poor kid.

And the coup de grâce? Also known as, I am the luckiest blogger around lately?


I won a $20 gift certificate to Knit Picks from Heide! Crazy is as crazy does, she won one of the Lisa Souza sock yarns I gave away in my last contest :)

I love the blog contests... so here's a little, tiny one for yall. The prize?



4 oz, about 560 yards, of Henry's Attic Kona Superwash lightweight fingering yarn that I reviewed in my last post; the half left from what I'll use for my dyeorama buddy. Also, 4 paas easter egg dye packets, and one of those wire eggy bobber things. (I used a wire thing to pull solid skeins from the dye last time I used the easter egg dye on yarn, surprisingly helpful!) This is a new one of course :) You'll just need some white vinegar to dye up a storm! Or, sock yarn!

Told you it was little! :)

So, to win you ask?

Guess what I ordered from Knit Picks with my GC from Heide, of course :) Contest ends when I receive the item(s), most specifically correct guess wins. You can guess quantities, colors, etc. One entry/guess per person-- leave all guesses in the comments of this post please, and no broad/non-descriptive $1 price is right hedge bets ("yarn," "needle," "book," "bag...") please :)

Hints...
1) I paid for shipping.
2) I bought one item-- one or multiples of the same item. (So, 7 Butterfly Kisses *or* 1 row counter, but not 1 Sparkles *and* 1 Port a Pocket).

Winner is the one who gets the closest, color/quantity etc first... If no one surmises the nose, everyone who hazards a guess will be entered into a random number generator for the prize. Sound fun? (Kinda?)

Happy weekend!

Squares, socks, sari silk... alliteration twitterpation.

(Are you looking for the sock yarn contest? Link here... Please leave couplets on *that* post's comments and *note* they are supposed to flow from the choka in progress! Read more on ChokaOnIt... and if you've already entered, thanks! I'm having a blast reading them, and think I should run contests more often!)

***

Aside from reading couplets, I finished up knitting my 5x5 squares for Warming Grace...


Clockwise from top left:
Sock/dk handpainted superwash, loop rib stitch
Henry's Attic Kona Superwash dyed with easter egg dyes, fountain stitch
Henry's Attic Kona Superwash dyed with easter egg dyes, Irish moss diamond stitch


Clockwise from top left:
Henry's Attic Kona Superwash dyed with easter egg dye-- doubled, mistake stitch I "discovered" :)
Santa Cruz Handspun "Prancer" 100% wool, fisherman's rib stitch
Rowan Calmer, openwork slip stitch


Clockwise from top left:
Santa Cruz Handspun "Prancer" 100% wool, stockinette stitch
Santa Cruz Handspun "Prancer" 100% wool, "Branching Out" pattern from Knitty
Santa Cruz Handspun "Prancer" 100% wool, "Clapotis" pattern from Knitty

Isn't Grace's yarn (from Santa Cruz Handspun) beautiful? :) It was perfect for the Warming Grace project, and it was super nice to knit it into something that will be precious to someone like the final blankets will be. I already have more yarn on order from Santa Cruz Handspun, and haven't even photographed 2 skeins that still are hanging out on my desk, waiting for inspiration to strike... (I had a pic of the Prancer skein but accidentally deleted it...)

These squares were fun, but the most fun was after they had been blocked and dried; my son had *the* best time playing with them on the tabletop as I was packaging them up for Canadia... its inspired me to be on the lookout for afghan/knitted block books to make an afghan for him. (Barbara Walker's Learn to Knit Afghan Book? I saw a couple of great squares on Jason's blog... any other recs for afghan/knitted squares in books?) It'll be one of those ongoing projects, a sqaure or two at a time-- can I sew them together at different times? Cos I know babybear will lose them if I let him play with squares for too long a time.

I think I'm going to use the Merino Worsted from Interlacements I bought at the Knit and Crochet Show for the afghan squares. I have 2 lbs of it incl. the variegated 8 oz skeins, but I think the BW Learn to Knit book calls for like, 5 lbs... I don't want to make a big afghan, but something the kid can drag around and I can put into the wash, so it may work...

I also sent in a skein of Brooks Farm Fourplay for the Warming Grace drawing... (same kind of yarn I used for my Odessa hat #2)



Aside from the squares, I've worked pretty much just on the Sunburst Sling bag...


Sunburst Sling bag, almost 10 triangles (almost complete, one side)


Up close

The sari silk is so hairy. I don't not like it, but can see myself knitting this in .. banana silk? Something else in the future. Great pattern.

I haven't worked on the "step above" entrelac socks from Knitter's Magazine, Summer 2004 since my last entry about them... It is a fun pattern, will look great when done, but... it doesn't *feel* like I'm knitting a sock! Silly I know, but true. I'll finish them, but in the meantime I cast on for another sock...



Basketcase Socks
pattern compliments of Dave
started: April 28, 2006
Henry's Attic Kona Superwash, dyed with easter egg dyes
US 2's, 7 sts/inch

I couldn't get 7 sts/inch on US 2's when I knit the Wyverns, but now do. Weird, but good...

The start date is correct, too (yesterday!). I just have powered thru them, and it felt great. As nice as knitting the squares and the sari silk purse was, I missed knitting socks. I'm already thru the gusset decreases, and just have the length of the foot to complete. The cuff is a little longer than my usual fare (7" or so to top of heel), but I'm digging my Child's Shell socks with their long cuffs, so maybe it'll be a new thing for me.

I have knit the instep with the pattern all the way across the 30 sts, where Dave only uses 18 sts in patt on the top of the foot (I meant to follow the pattern to the letter, oops)... My instep worked out like this

row 1 & 2: k2, p2, (k10, p2) twice, k2
row 3 & 4: k2, p2, (k2, p6, k2, p2) twice, k2
row 5 & 6: k2, p2, (k10, p2) twice, k2
row 7 & 8: k8, p2, k6, k4, p2, k8
row 9 & 10: (p6, k2, p2, k2) twice, p6
row 11 & 12: k8, p2, k 10, p2, k8

Otherwise, pattern is followed exactly :)

I like the color of the yarn, but I don't think I necessarily like them together like this... don't know. I *do* really like the Kona Superwash again-- what fast knit socks! Anyone else have dk weight pattern recommendations (aside from Sensational knitted socks)? I just have a ball knitting them and finishing a pair so soon.

I taught myself "combined knitting" for this pattern to help make my ribbing look better, with all of the knit/purl action going on. Combined knitting or combination knitting (how I'm using it in the round) is worked on purl stitches-- instead of wrapping the yarn counterclockwise once the needle is inserted thru the front loop as usual, the yarn is wrapped clockwise (I wrap it, Annie "scoops" it) and the resulting purl stitch uses less yarn, and makes ribbing look much neater and less wonky when the purl meets the knit stitches. It creates a twisted stitch, so on the next round you knit/purl (whichever is called for in the pattern) tbl... and if its a purl st you'll be purling tbl while wrapping the yarn clockwise again :)

It sounds weird, and took several rows to get used to, but I can totally see a difference in my ribbing. Here's an up close pic-- the 1st 5-7 rows were my regular knit/purl, afterwards is the combined knitting in action (about after the 1st orange row).



You can see near the top where the ribbing is wonky. It would clear up in blocking or in the wash, but the difference (to me) is noticeable in the lower rows, no weird knit stitches previous to purl stitches. (I admit I photog'd the worst example I could find in the ribbing.) Basketcase is a cool pattern to practice combined knitting on, since you're not always purling/knitting in a column so its more interesting than straight rib and I think it definitely looks good.


Look ma, no holes!

Compliments of C. Schurch's advice in Sensational Knitted Socks for picking up extra sts at the gusset to eliminate any holes. I dig the look of different textures here.

One more pic (I promise)...



Joann's having a knitting and crochet needle 40% sale, and they sent a 50% off coupon I used on the book... The super tiny crochet hook is to learn how to get beads on yarn without prestringing them (I can get this hook thru 8/0 and 6/0 beads, but haven't tried hooking yarn with it yet), and I gave away all of the other hooks I had to Building Futures with Women and Children before realizing how handy they come for picking up dropped stitches... The dpns pretty much complete my collection-- now I've got to find a dpn and circ needle organizing solution other than stuffing them in gallon sized ziplocs. There's great stuff over at etsy and I just can't decide what I want (or come to terms that I want all of it!) :)

Phew. Back to the sock, been away too long!

Not so much entrelac, Warming Grace, Bay Area yarn donations...

Not much progress on the "A Step Above" socks...



I'm a tier/triangle short of adding on the waste yarn for the afterthought heel. I haven't done one before, but it shouldn't be that bad... I'd also read recommendations to knit a few stst rows before and after the waste yarn, I've got to google more about it.

I've been working on a few knitted squares for Warming Grace:





I'd seen the buttons but hadn't read about it til yesterday. It just gets to me... anything that has to do with kids do that now, ever since I became preggo with my mayor of munchkinland-- I can't help but have my heart call out to sick kids and their parents. I think its terribly sweet, so I've put down the sock for now and am going to try and bang out more squares to send by midweek. Cynthia's in Canadia so I've got to allow for more time for the post... I'm also going to send a hank of Brooks Farms Fourplay yarn for the draw, too... maybe some (gasp) sock yarn.

I have a dearth of pink yarn in the stash, the pink/purple pictured above and a bit of Rowan Calmer that as been thusfar "claimed" and walked about the house for the past hour...



So I ordered some (more) handspun from Grace @ Santa Cruz Handspun... (she also has a new "seafoam" lot for sale that would be great for a seafoam stitch scarf... five times fast!) but I already have some (more) handspun in the wings, patiently waiting for me to forget about socks so we can elope in vegas, and one has only so much space on the desk for yarn to hang out and wait for me to tire of tiny needles.

In other, almost knitting news, I've culled my stash significantly and found a great place to donate it to.


(He "lost" his pants between this and the previous photo.)

Mostly dk weight wool/alpaca, a few bags of patons (grace, fresco), a bag of bernat satin that was supposed to be a pinwheel blanket, and (gasp) sock yarns that I knew wouldn't be knit up any time soon... Straight bamboo needles, a few duplicate circulars, crochet hooks, a few pattern books, etc too.

Building Futures with Women and Children is looking for knitting and crochet supplies for their children's shelter program... many of their residents are women and children, some fleeing domestic violence situations. They advertised on Craigslist and I was happy to find a group that could put yarn to use... if you're in the Bay Area (California), their contact info is below (and more info about their program in the link above):

Liz Nickels, M.A. Psy.D.
Associate Program Director
Building Futures with Women and Children
1395 Bancroft Avenue
San Leandro, CA 94577
510/357-0205; ext 112
lnickels@bfwc.org

Original Craigslist post *here*.

Even better, they're going to come pick it up. Getting anywhere is usually a production around here, so its super great to be able to box it up and have them drop by.

Since this is a random post, a pic I managed to take earlier (with pants and everything!)...



:)

...ps, thanks for all of the comments on my photos recently! There's no trick really, I rely on my camera's (Canon s410) macro setting, no flash-- I take several since many tend to blur as I don't use a tripod, and just reduce down to 25% which makes them look sharper than they actually/probably are. As my little boy pics above can attest to, its much easier to take photos of non-moving (aka yarn) things than redblooded boy things.

Back to wrestling the Calmer away from monkichi...