sock porn for knitting voyeurs.

Monday, November 27, 2006

all over the place

happy thanksgiving? sure... too much food, too little family. mom got teary saying her twice yearly blessing over dinner, i ate all of the cranberries and the inside of my mouth was in a state of perpetual pucker, and my son just slapped his spoon in the potatoes and had about half a roll for dinner. good times :)

spent the day spinning outside with the too-alone-for-their-ages neighbor kids watching (started out well... "my grandma must have done that. cos she didn't have tv before we were born" but slowly degenerated into bickering and death threats amongst each other... they're only 6 and 3! oy...)

h2g2
final skein of h2g2 roving, top right (appox 200yd)

the hitchhiker's guide yarn ended up shorter than the previous and without any yellow (one of my singles was much longer than the other), but... no knots! i think i'm learning, which is the point :) these will make their way to laurie in maine as soon as i can wedge myself out the door.

alpacasilk
baby alpaca & silk roving in fawn
from mataharispinnery.com

my soft loose love is now a big squishy pile of yarn. if only everything were this simple. i started spinning this very fine as it seems i'm now accustomed to doing, but i didn't like the result... a little too wiry and definitely not the soft poof of the roving. so i tried to spin it thick in order to 2-ply it into an even thicker result-- it worked, even though it varied from dk to heavy worsted. not sure what i'll do with it, but its soft :) since i started spinning the roving very thin, i had a large bit of that single left over i navajo plied into a similarly weighted yarn. i've changed my mind, i like 2-plying better :) i think i may pick up a lazy kate and more bobbins to attempt 3+ plying... fun fun.

after thanksgiving, i had a sudden surprise... i decided that i will go to see my family this coming weekend (!!!) which of course sent me into a panic-- i am only about 1/4 of the way thru my uncle's scarf...

uncle
cable and rib scarf from knitspot
finished celtic cap from girl from auntie (november 21)
both in patons classic merino wool, grey mix

and still had many other gifts to finish for family i'll see then... of course i went into immediate panic mode and decided i'd just knit 18 hours day and finish everything by this weekend. after sleeping on that, i decided to relax and work on something else instead...

sherwoodbody
sherwood sweater from fall knitty 2006
brown sheep cotton fleece, wild orange
size 2, us 5 (3.75mm), addi 24" circular

sherwood, that i had set down when i started my holiday knitting. laying in bed, agonizing over the yet-to-be-knit gifts and what my son and i would be wearing to the holiday blowout, i realized it would be really silly to go buy him a new sweater when sherwood was aching to be finished. it just needs arms and a collar after marathoning it thru this weekend.

i realized that i had been knitting it incorrectly-- i had been knitting each cable cross, instead of following the pattern (either knit or purl). this probably resulted in the "sloppy" looking cables i had complained about-- now that i have fixed my mistake, they look more defined and flat. its not so bad i felt i had to frog though... :)

i'm hoping to finish the sweater and a pair of unfelted fuzzy feet for my dad this week (i'll be able to custom felt them for him when i see him this weekend, better than trying to mold them to my feet and hoping they fit his.) anything else done this week will just be gravy.

other definitions of gravy...

thirdhypo
hypotenuse from knitspot
started: november 13, 2006 (?)
blue sky alpaca, alpaca silk dk in #123 (ruby) ... color's not correct
us 7 (4.5mm), addi

so.nice. i put in a few rows on this every once in a while, when i'm feeling selfish and need some "me" time :) the yarn is amazing and soft, way light and i love the color (its not correct in my photos.) i quickly memorized the pattern so its just a delight for me to zen out with late at nite, alone, dreaming in red. this is about a full skein of the alpaca silk (i bought 3)... i'm debating on adding a 4th when i get there for a really long scarf. how long are scarves supposed to be, anyway?

dpnholder
my new double pointed needle protectors holder from three owls knitting
front: ryc cashcotton, us 1.5 (2.5mm) in sugar (pink)
back: interlacements tiny toes, us 1 (2.25mm) in chairman of the board

i totally fell in love with sherry's dpn protector holders when she put her tek up, but i never got around to making any of my own (even though i kept finding needles poking out of my sock bags!) so i squealed with delight to find she had opened up an etsy shop and was selling them, and had added some beautiful beads to them as well. she cut down a set for me so i have a 6" set that fits my knit picks options dpns (which i like btw, if they made "regular" us sizing they'd probably be my needle of choice) and a 7" set that fit all of the other dpns i own. i'm holding myself back from ordering another set, i think there was enough gluttony over the turkey day weekend :)

wish me luck with sherwood, my family, life the universe and everything...

19 comments:

lexa said...

Wow -- you are busy! I'd like to make Sherwoods for my boys. Maybe after the Christmas craze is over with. I have tried to vow not to knit anything else except the gifts I need to make. That cashmere sock yarn in the closet is calling to me, though. It says it needs to be Boyfriend socks. I keep telling it that it has to wait awhile yet, but it's impatient.

Anonymous said...

One of the general guidelines that I've heard about scarf length is that it should be equal in length to the height of the wearer. That usually works pretty well for me, unless I'm using really expensive yarn--in that case 2 feet suits me just fine, thankyouverymuch :)

Anonymous said...

I love all of your current projects. I think that scarves are usually supposed to be about 5 to 6 feet but I suppose that it depends on the preferences of the wearer.

Kirsten said...

I love that Sherwood! I wish I had someone small to make one for.
The hat and scarf are wonderful too.

HPNY KNITS said...

sherwood is looking very handsome, but even with 18 hr days- when do you have time?? woo!

Anonymous said...

Oh I have been patiently waiting for your updates LOL. I LOVE all your projects, I bet the Sherwood is going to be FABULOUSO!!! Your hypotenuise looks great. I also like your spinng, it's really pretty. I am intrigued now by Navaho Plying, I have never tried it, maybe I will heehee. Happy Knitting

Anonymous said...

Do you ever sleep?

I opened the blog page and the sight of the h2g2 spun up grabbed my attention. What an excellent job you did spinning it. The colors totally pop...I'm a fan of barberpoling in handspun (sorry...but it's true).

And you still find time to knit and stuff.

I'm in awe.

Sherry W said...

Oh no dear, it looks like I didn't cut down the DPN holders for the 6" needles enough! I fear the cord is too slack and won't hold the ends on. I emailed you about fixing them for you!

Dave said...

You're a regular little knitting machine!! :-)

That cable rib scarf is coming along nicely -- it's a great relaxing knit.

Those are great needle holder thingys. Hmmm. ;-)

Jennifer said...

I'm dizzy from all the lovely fibery goodness you've been up to! My your fingers be fast and accurate to get all the family knitting done!

Vera said...

Everything is fabulous! You've really been busy.

Jeanne said...

Wow - you've been busy! The h2g2 is gorgeous!

Stacey said...

You've been busy busy busy!!! I love the hypotenuse...I've been eyeing that one for a bit....

The spinning looks great - even plying and everything!

I'd make a nice long scarf that will wrap around your neck a few times. Too many are just too darn short for me!

Rhonda the Stitchingnut said...

Wow, you're amazing me "all over the place" ... and some people think I'm a crazy prolific knitter. I've got to point them to your Blog! Everything you do looks fantastic!

laurie in maine said...

h2g2 is a thing of beauty! That it's soon to find me here in Maine has me barely controlling the urge to jump up & down doing happy dance: MINE. ALL MINE!!!
And talk about INSANE. KNITTING. MACHINES?
You have one don'tcha?!? ;)

Carolyn said...

I'm exhausted just reading about all the projects you're working on ;) Puts me to shame!

Sherwood is lovely, you chose a great colour.

soapy said...

Ohhh lovley yarn.. Sound like a nice day! I think the litle ones get a little overwelhemed with all the extra foods, so they play with it...heeheee My little ones ate their rolls....lol
That alpaca silk I bet would make some nice fingerless mitts!

Jerry & Maxy said...

Good luck with everything! Although I'm not convinced you need luck for any of it :)

Gorgeous projects - all of them!

Chris said...

You have such lovely projects going right now! Good luck on getting everything done.

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