Hot off the Needles!

MY FIRST PAIR OF SOCKS!!



I am so happy to finally be done with these socks. These socks were just about the bane of my existence. I started the first sock on dpn's, and had such a problem with laddering, that I put them aside, and thought I probably just didnt have the knack for sock knitting. Until a lady at my knitting group taught me to knit socks on 2 circular needles. So much nicer, for me at least. I know there are a lot of people who knit with dpn's with good luck, and yet others that utilize the Magic Loop method. As long as we keep making beautiful socks, the I say go with what works!! I will definitely be sticking with the 2 circular needles!

These socks were worked on US 2 needles, 64 stitches with Austermann Step superwash wool. I threw away the ball band, so I am not sure of the color way, sorry. I used the Basic Sock Pattern from "Knitting Rules" using seed stitch instead of stockinette. I am really excited to wear these socks, but not today or tomorrow, as it is still supposed to be in the 80s!! Where is fall?? You can also see these on the Sock a Month KAL.

I have decided to cast on my next sock with the Knit Picks Memories in Hawaii in the pattern of Monkey from knitty.com, but first, I need to get the second short row toe started for Dad's Socks. I will be knitting these socks 2 at a time on 2 circular needles, and with them being knit out of worsted weight on size 5 needles, they should be a fairly quick knit.

OK, I am off to take a nap, I think. It has been a pretty trying week for me in my personal life, and I am physically and mentally exhausted. Have a great weekend!

TMI??

I don't think that this will be too much information for ya...but just a warning, I've got a lot to talk about tonight! First, a couple of updates...

1. I mentioned in a previous post about going on a date with a boy...Well, let's just say that there was not a long lasting connection made, unfortunately. He was great, really nice, and we had a nice time, but the chemistry just wasn't there, so we will probably not be going out again. Ah, such is life, and I'm not too torn up about it! Many more fish in the sea!

2. The Bold and Bulky Cardigan and I have made amends, and she is out of timeout. I frogged her back to the new yarn join, and found one of my remaining skeins with a more consistent color that matched the upper portion of the cardigan. Now she looks good. I was a little worried about the size being a little snug on my, and almost frogged the whole thing to re-knit in the next size up. After some careful consideration, and studying the pattern and the width of the button bands, I think I will be ok. I have to knit the sleeves and the contrast color and button band, and she will be done. I think that is a later in the week or weekend goal.

3. This week I have to focus on finishing my first pair of socks! I am just past the gusset decreases on the second sock, and think that it will go pretty quickly. I want to finish so that I can make the September goal for the Sock a Month KAL 4.

4. I am ashamed. The Tiffany Mittens have come to a complete standstill, and probably changed from WIP to UFO in my knitting que. I make a pledge, and a promise, here in KnitterLand online that once the BB Mini Cardigan is done, Tiffany will be back in my life.

OK, so I think that is all for the "old business". On to "new business"...and lots of pics!!

I am making socks for Christmas for my mom and dad. Because I am part of the SAM KAL(see link above) I think this will help to motivate me to finish them on time! I started my Dad's socks this weekend. I am using Knit Picks Swish to knit some old fashioned looking wool hunting socks, you know the kind that are grey, with the red cuff, heel and toe. I am a little worried about running out of yarn (he's a men's size 12 for heaven's sake!) so I have decided to try to do a toe up sock to maximize the amount of yarn I have. This is my 2nd pair of socks, and first toe up. Here is my first short row toe!! Also notice the size difference between a women's size 9 (me) and the toe of a men's size 12!!

With my new found desire to knit socks, I found this tutorial online. I have wanted sock blockers to display my socks on, but have found that one set is pretty costly. Here is the solution! It's so great, and super easy. It took me just about 45 minutes to do these, with the most time being drawing my template.

(L-R)

1. I used flexible cutting boards from Target (about $6 for a set of 4).

2. My template. First, I simply traced around my foot as it was laying on it's side on the paper. Then, following a picture of socks on blockers, tried to emulate the shape of bought blockers. It was kind of a challenge, especially trying to keep the length of the foot correct.

3. Sadly, two blockers would not come out of one cutting board, but at $6 for a set of 4, if you wanted matching colors, it's still super affordable!

4. My finished pair of women's size 9 sock blockers!!

I think this tutorial is great, especially if you give socks as gifts. I think that giving socks on a blocker is much more attractive than not, in my humble opinion!! Thanks so much MaryAnn at Little Sesame Knits!

Here is my almost finished first pair of socks modeling the new blockers!! They look GREAT!

Now that my first socks are almost done, and I am on a sock knitting tear, I am looking forward to my next socks. October is dedicated to knitting Dad's socks for the KAL, and November is for Mom's socks (also size 9, so much easier for me to knit true to size!!), but I want to knit more socks for me too! (Selfish much?!) So here's my quandry...

I am a little torn as to what to knit next. Mind you, all of these will be knit sometime in the (hopefully near) future, but my instant gratification side is deterring my decision making skills!

Option 1: Sidewinders from NonaKnits in Knit Picks Dancing, they look like a lot of fun, and definitely something different!

Option 2: The ever popular Monkey socks in either Hawaii or SMores from Knit Picks Memories

Option 3: The Basic Sock Pattern from the Harlot's Knitting Rules in either Regia's Kaffe Fasset designer series, or Cascade Fixation Pink Lemonade.

I would love to cast on for each and evey pair listed, but unfortunately, cannot. Can you help me?? Thanks!

Whew, well, this was a lengthy post, lots of pics, and definitely borderline TMI. I have worked up an appetite, so I am off to make some homemade chicken salad, eat some dinner, and knit away on my sock! Thanks for reading, and I look forward to your comments!

Ravelry Update:

You signed up on September 11, 2007
You are #32304 on the list.
14550 people are ahead of you in line.
3905 people are behind you in line.
48% of the list has been invited so far

Waiting (Im)Patiently

So, I have heard tons and tons on the web about Ravelry and how great it was, so I decided to check it out. Holy crap!!! I want a piece of that, and I want it now! Too bad, though...there is a huge waiting list, which all of Internet land knows, but me. So I go to sign up, am then told, "you are on the waiting list." So I am waiting, for about a week, thinking that like some other KAL's and blogrings, this will happen fairly quickly, and I will be with the "in" crowd over at Ravelry in no time. No such luck...I just checked my status...

You signed up on September 11, 2007
You are #32304 on the list.
16601 people are ahead of you in line.
2350 people are behind you in line.

This does not bode well...for you already veterans of Ravelry...about how long did you have to wait to get your invite? Are the people ahead of me in line already members, or are they waiting too? Seeing as how the number of people ahead of me in line is about 8 times the number of people behind me in line, I am way at the end, and will probably be invited the day before (or after, knowing my luck) the whole thing goes live for public consumption! So I will continue to wait patiently...or impatiently...depending on the day and hope that I get the happy email telling me I have been invited...In the meantime...read this blog entry...she does a great job of telling us all what we're missing out on! (Thursday Sept 20 entry).

Not sure what to do...

So I am working on the Bold and Bulky Mini Cardigan from Fitted Knits. I am lengthening the bodice to make it less of a bolero, and more of a full length to slightly cropped cardigan. I am working to the end of the skein/ball of yarn, and then will begin on the sleeves. I haven't bought the yarn for the CC yet, so I will do all of that at the very end, when I am generally happy with the length of everything.

I am really happy with the yarn I chose, and how it is knitting up. Except for what I noticed tonight. All of the yarn has a slightly varigated look as it is hand dyed. I am ok with that until I got to the middle of this last skein. I am noticing a huge area of pooling in the last few inches. It is not super noticable on the pictures I am noticing, but in "real life" it is pretty significant.

The areas I am talking about are both sides of the cardigan, right in the middle (kind of above the needles) on the front...You can also see how varigated the ball of yarn is, too....

And again, at the bottom, middle, right above my fingers....
These are my remaining hanks of yarn...also pretty varigated...
I don't think that I mind, but on the other hand, I really like the blending of the top portion of the cardigan much better than the bottom portion. I am just afraid that the other skeins will do the same in the sleeves. I might frog to just a few rows after I added this skein, add another, and knit with 2 skeins changing every few rows to try and blend it out a little more...

Hrumpf....and I was just about ready to move onto the sleeves....well, I want to love this cardigan, so it will be worth it!

Edit Wednesday Sept 19, 12:25 pm...I didn't want to make a whole brand new post for this, so I thought I would just give an update...after sleeping on it, and looking at the pictures several more times...I think that the best decision for me at this time is to....GULP....FROG back to just after the new skein join, and alternate rows...it is sad to frog, and usually a little nerve wracking, but I know that I will be much happier with it this way. I am going to place a life line of sorts so I do not lose/drop any stitches. I do believe that this is going to have to wait until the weekend...so time out my lovely cardigan...I am not angry, just a little disappointed. We will meet again, and all will be resolved very soon.

T.G.I.F.....but is it over yet?

Oh, I do believe that I am doing the taboo thing today...blogging at work! I am insanely slow at my job today, and the fact that it is almost 5:30 on a Friday afternoon/evening, and I go to Knit Night right after work on Fridays, things are dragging along....S....L....O....W....L....Y.......

On the upside, I can usually puruse the knitting blogs, and site with no one looking over my shoulder. I am also looking quite forward to the weekend. I work in the medical field and my clinic is open until 7 pm every night, and in the mornings on Saturday. I have taken this Saturday morning off, first, in honor of my birthday, and second due to a function that will eventually put me on track for how I want to continue in my career. Sorry for the cryptic statement, it is just not the right time for me to go into detail on this...as there are some people out there who aren't aware of what's going on. Thirdly, I am meeting a boy tomorrow, I think.

A little history lesson on Jen: I met a boy at grad school...Jen and boy "fell in love"....boy moved half way across the country to be with Jen....boy and Jen moved to Chicago together to build new life....Jen "fell out of love" with boy for many different reasons....Jen moved out to new apartment, and started living single again....Jen gets lonely, but not for boy.....Jen has been online dating (a little scary)....new boy asked if Jen would like to get together this weekend....Jen said yes....and hasn't heard from boy yet...but that's ok. So, history in a nut shell....I have been having not such good luck with the online thing...but I have been emailing with people, and that is definitely low stress...until they want to meet! Then, the stress level goes up a notch....I have the firm belief that it has to do with the apparel we wear when emailing (usually pajamas) vs. what we wear to go out (NOT pajamas!)...the emailing clothes lend to a more comfortable feeling in general, so I think that it expresses itself in the email. Then comes all the stress of getting dressed in "meeting" clothes, you have to look your best, hair, makeup, the whole kit 'n' caboodle! I definitely try to make things less stressful for myself anyway. I go into the meetings, I don't like to call them dates, with the feeling that if things progress from there, great, and if not, well, then I got to spend my night in the company of someone new, and might possibly make at least a friend out of it. So we will see...

Monday is my birthday....so I will be taking it easy this weekend in anticipation of my birthday...not that there is anything too exciting going on. I live about 8 hours from my family, so I celebrated early when my sister was here to visit. I requested a DQ ice cream cake for the office lunch on Monday, so that will be fun...not to mention yummy!

I started this post at about 5:25pm, and am finishing at about 6:10 pm...had to stop in between to take care of patients...so have a great weekend all...T-minus 20-30 minutes until quittin' time...then off to Knit Nite!

We're Making Progress

So I have pretty much recovered from my nasty chest cold. I still have a bit of a cough, but it's nothing compared to where I was one week ago! Much news on the knitting front therefore! I have made some progress on the Tiffany Mittens.

I was getting a little concerned when I tried them on last night, and they were pretty tight! I know that fair isle knitting can be a little less stretchy than regular one color knitting. This is my first fair isle knitting project, so it is definitely a learning process. I have gotten some really great advice about spreading the stitches out when bringing the floating yarn along the back, and how the mittens will fit differently once the afterthought thumb is placed and knitted. I have been trying it on my left hand, but will try it on my right, and which ever one is looser will be the mitten that I knit!

I have also started a new project, which I probably shouldn't have since I still have much Christmas knitting to accomplish. This pattern though is knit with big yarn on big needles, and has been going pretty quickly. I am doing the Bold and Bulky Mini Cardigan from Fitted Knits, by Stephanie Japel. When I first browsed this book at the bookstore, I was a little unimpressed, until I looked at the KAL page and saw all the great interpretations of the patterns. I immediately fell in love with the book! I have borrowed it from the library, looked at it about 52 times, and have picked half a dozen patterns that I want to knit! What a pleasant surprise this was! I will be purchasing this book very, very soon! Here is my progress:

I had a difficult time with the yarn, though. The pattern calls for Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick and Quick. Now, I am not a huge fan of this yarn, and wanted something that would be lovely to knit with and would be something that I would cherish for years to come. I am making some modifications to the original pattern, like lengthening the body so it is less like a bolero, and because I have a fairly long torso. I am also planning on making the sleeves a little longer, and depending on how much yarn I have, full length. I went to my LYS and spent about an hour and a half with the proprieter, Deb, who helped me pick out a wonderful, beautiful, makes me want to crawl inside and sleep yarn. It is Araucania Yarns, Limari Semi Solids. It is a merino, alpaca, silk blend and is like butter! I walked around the store for about 30 minutes petting the yarn without even realizing it! It is wonderful. It is a little pricey, and when I realized just how much I was spending, I almost went for the Wool-Ease! However, knowing the quality of this yarn, I will definitely cherish this piece of knitting for years! Definitely worth it!! I am super excited for the fall air to come and stay so that I can wear this piece at least weekly! Sorry to my co-workers in advance to see one outfit all fall and winter!! HAHA!

I have also been doing some lurking on other really great knitting blogs. I have joined a couple of online KALs, and love looking at other people's work just about as much as I love knitting my own!

Qutecowgirl, Jill, Crafty Pancakes, The Half-Assed Knit Blog, of course the Harlot, and there are so many more that I can't remember, or find...I really need to start bookmarking them immediately when I come across them!! I will start a running list of blogs I come across so that you too can enjoy the world of the fellow knitter! I have also put my name on the list for Ravelry!! Geez...this could become a real problem. I think I waste time at work now browsing and lurking knitting blogs and sites, but a whole huge community with links and links and links dealing with knitting could be trouble!! Oh well...my co-worker is obsessed with running, so to each their own! On a side note about the Yarn Harlot...she posted yesterday and today about a garter stitch jacket that she loves, and going to the link, I think I agree...they are all enablers, the whole lot of them!!

Well, my link happy post is done for now, I think! Also, if you look to the side...I have finally learned to do the whole button thing!! Go me!! Knitter I am....Computer genius I am not!

I feel Yucky...

Oh what a week it has been. Labor Day weekend was a nice and much welcomed day off to catch up on many things, including knitting. I finished a major project, to which I am thrilled. I also cast on for the Tiffany Mittens and made some pretty good progress on Monday.

I am really happy with this progress, and love the fact that I am actually doing a Fair Isle project, which I have been super scared of since I started knitting. But the problem herein lies...I have not made any more progress through this entire week!

I started to feel a little scratchy in my throat Sunday night, and it was a little more pronounced on Monday. I was thinking that I was having a bit of an allergy attack, and thought that a little rest, and avoidance of the outdoors would help. Not so much! Tuesday things just progressively got worse, and by Tuesday night, I was resigned to the fact that it wasn't my allergies, but a nasty chest cold rearing its ugly head. Wednesday I went home from work sick, and couldn't even bring myself to knit a simple no patterned sock. I have not picked up my knitting since Monday, and I miss it!! I am starting to feel better, but still have a lingering cough that has made my abdomen feel like I just went through sit up boot camp! I am hoping to make some progress on things this weekend as I hole up...yet again...and get myself well again!

I am also feeling the desparate need to get going on my Christmas knitting. I have one project just over halfway done, and the finishing will be the most complicated with some lining and embroidery work. I also need to knit 2 pairs of socks, to which I have joined the Sock A Month KAL 4 in the hopes that it will motivate me to knit, knit, knit!! Then my sister's boyfriend has thrown a whole cog in the wheel by possibly being at the family Christmas this year. So I think that I am going to be knitting him a scarf. Probably a simple chunky ribbed scarf with a black tweed yarn of some sort. My LYS has a nice Noro tweed, but maybe something out of a Knit Picks bulky yarn. I haven't really decided yet.

So, I have decided, no more sick days allowed! Or sick weeks for that matter! At least until Christmas is over and I can focus on nice casual knitting projects!

Marlo

Marlo from Black Purl Knits is finally finished! This sweater took me so much longer than I had anticipated, but I am happy with the final results. I am hoping for a few days of Indian Summer to allow me to wear this a few times before long sleeve sweater season is upon us. I am realizing in my early knitting hobby, that one needs to knit for the opposite season! At least for me, who it takes a little longer to make a project! I started on a sweater last winter, before Christmas, and didn't finish it until May! By that time, sweater weather was over, so I had to put it away right away. I am pretty excited to wear it this winter, though. Here is a picture of the finished Marlo, she's blocking right now...

She fits pretty well, but if I were to make it again, I would do the collar in 2x2 ribbing like the bottom rather than in stockinette. I am afraid that even after blocking, the collar will roll. The top of the collar is done in three rows of garter stitch, but that didn't help when I tried it on after finishing last night. Oh well, I still really like it!

I have finally started the Tiffany Mittens but am having issues getting the charts printed out. I changed all the charts to match my color selection. I have an old printer that my mom and dad gave to me a while back. They also gave me some of their old speakers for the computer, but seeing as I have a laptop, I don't really have need for them. So my sister took the speakers back to my mom and dad's when she was out to visit. Well, I didn't realize until yesterday when I was getting ready to set up the printer that the plug in cord and USB cord for the printer was in the same box as the speakers, which are now 9 hours away at my parents house! So I need to go to Office Depot or somewhere with the charts on a disk to get them printed out! I have the first 11 rows of the mittens knit up and am ready to get started...so off I go to get those charts printed out so I can continue trying to catch up to my fellow knitters who are so much further than I am! Hi Jill and Qutecowgirl!!

I will post my progress pics very soon!!