Documentation for the Whole World to See

Perhaps I need to finish something. My WIP basket is running over. Actually it has run over, there's about six other projects in other places in the house. Note that on the left is a back and a front to the BWP. Only about three more inches on the first sleeve! Also in the picture, there's a box on top: my new swift. It is anxiously awaiting some yarn to test it out. Hurry up mail! Thanks for the nice comments on the Heart-Motif Sweater. I had to put it down for a few days since the cotton was starting to hurt my hands. I was kinda bummed out last night. The Arts and Crafts Studio on post just started a knitting group on Thursdays. I found out last week and promptly told my husband to expect me to be missing this coming week. Well, he tried his hardest to get home on time, but things always seem to "just happen". So, by the time he got here, there wasn't even enough time for me to run down and just say hi. But, I think that it was worth it in the end. Please witness: Yes! This is Royd cooking! A first in years except for when he makes Buffalo Wings(his rock). Funny, he used to cook at a restaurant and he wasn't half bad. Please excuse the obvious mess in the back. All three boys are sick and I'm a bit behind in the housework. *added later* to other blogger users: does it also drive you batty that what you see in "compose" isn't what you see in "preview" or even what is published?

Doing the Twist

This is what I've been up to this past week: This is the sweater I settled on for my new cousin, Sarah. It's the Heart-Motif Cardigan from Zoe Mellor's Adorable Knits for Tots. I would have been much farther along, but I had to frog the entire back. I had been tempted to try to carry the yarn at the color changes across the back. The result was puffy hearts, which I didn't like. So, this time I'm using a seperate ball of blue yarn between each heart. Lots of ends to weave in. I'm having a blast knitting this up. Who knew that insartia could be so much fun. Usually I run from complicated patterns, but I want to stop doing this. My knitting needs to be more exciting! The Basket Weave Pullover is making progress too. I've finished the back and am just about ready to start the neck shaping on the front. I'm trying to get as much of this done as I can. I have yarn on it's way to knit the Flower Basket Shawl and I know that once it's here, BWP is on indefinite hold. Yesterday we had a great day. No major tantrums; just happy kids all around. Here's the boys clowning around on the couch. These two are hilarious together. All Reilly has to do is look at Connor, and Connor's laughing his little butt off. I have a feeling that once he's mobile, I'm going to have my hands seriously full.

Can I Keep Them?

I mean really, look at them. I have to say that I'm impressed. Of course they're a present, so they had to come out perfect. Not one mistake (that I noticed) and they would fit me too. No, I guess I'll give them away as planned. Besides, they need to put in the mail this week so that she gets them in ample time. I think I may have found my next sock project though. I have been searching for just the right pattern to fit the latest batch of Kool Aid yarn. I found the Broken Cable Rib Socks on the Interweave Knits website this afternoon. I may be crazy though. The thought of all those little cables on 3 mm needles kinda makes me cringe, but I do believe the end result will be worth it. We'll see.

Necessary Distractions

Here's my pathetic progress on the BWP (Basket Weave Pullover). I'm about an inch from the armhole shaping and can't seem to get there. I'd like to. I know that once I bind off a few inches, it'll start to go quicker. Yet, I can't. See, the thing is that I'm bored. The thrill of the pattern has worn off and I am no longer amused by it. What to do, what to do. I tell you what I did: casted on for Branching Out. Yup, you can see it right there, laying on top of BWP. Almost as if saying "Nyah nyah. She likes me better than you." The truth be told, I'm falling out of enchantment with this too. Sure, it's beautiful, but a bit repetive. I will finish her and move on back to the grey blob. That is, until I get bored again and find something else to occupy my mind. In other news, I did a little bit more dyeing on Friday. I absolutely, positively love how this yarn turned out. It may just be me, but I adore how variegated yarn looks all wrapped up like this. The colors pop out and you can get a good sense of how well they work (or not) together. It's already been wound into ball, though, waiting patiently for me to turn it into a wonderful pair of socks. It may not have to wait long.

Stripes

I finally found some time (I kinda stole it) to experiment with dyeing. I know that in order to do stripes, they say to wind an extremely long skein. Well, I don't have that kind of room in my house! So, I thought up of another way to do it. First, I wound the yarn in thirds. I wrapped the yarn around the back of each chair in increments of six(plus or minus one or a few). I kept the yarn going in the same order each time, but there's no rules. Next, I dipped each third in the dye pot separetly for each color. Note: colors will not appear "right" if using a black pot. I will mix the dye in a clear bowl prior to putting it in the pot next time. This is what I ended up with. Three different colors, albeit much darker that what I was hoping for. Here you can see the color joins are a bit messy. The green did not run as much as I thought it would and the purple ran too much. I haven't rewound the yarn yet, so I have no idea what it looks like knit up. I'll be doing this technique again, with some lessons learned. Yesterday I picked up varying shades of pinks Kool Aid. I'm going to try to do some yellow, pink and orange variegated this time.

Knit Faster!

Do you ever feel like there's so much to knit and not enough time? Of course, we all do. Perhaps I'm overextending myself lately. Lots of projects in various states of doneness are laying around. Okay, I'll admit it-I'm not a finisher; I have a problem with following through. There, I said it. This is what I need to do: green and blue raglan-cut neck opening and reknit blue sweater-seam, knit collar and weave ends maroon mittens-knit the thumbs black cowl neck-undo an inch of cowl and redo Estivale-block, seam and do collar Pretty Petals socks-knit its' friend Sarah Ann's sweater-waiting for yarn Basketweave Pullover-get knittin' Then there's what I haven't started yet and really want to Flower Basket Shawl for Royd's Nanny-need to find yarn Royd's mittens and scarf Aran sweater for Connor-yarn ordered hooded pullover for Connor Harvard Square for Connor a cabled pullover for Reilly red cabled turtleneck for myself Branching Out This is only a partial list, I could go on forever. And forever and ever... Notice I'm planning alot of things for Connor? Well, cute little boys need cute little sweaters.

5910 Yards

Well, it certainly isn't Camilla's train. It's what I got in the mail today. 30 balls of grey and black Woolease from Discount Yarn Sale. The grey's for the Basketweave Pullover with plenty left over for a sweater for Reilly. The black is for a hat and mittens for Royd. Yes, I'm aware that there'll be tons left over, but I know it will get used in the future. I may be able to get a wrap out of it. Hmmm... That reminds me, I just love the new issue of Knitty. I Do and Susan's Branching Out scream "KNIT ME!" I Do would be a perfect cover-up for a Ball I may be attending next month. We're waiting to see if someone can babysit or not. My lonely skein of Silky Wool has just found it's home. Thanks Susan! Since I'm not in the mood for seaming, I started a pair of socks for Mother's Day. I think the color is fabulous and the pattern, Pretty Petals from the Townsend Sock Knit Along, is a breeze to knit up. I sure hope she likes lace socks! I'm also aware that this is the second post in two days. No, aliens did not take my children or husband. I realize I've been quite slacking in updating lately, not for a lack of things to say, just a bit of laziness and apparent time vortexes.

Koolaid Mis-Adventures

I finished these socks a few days ago from some sock yarn I had dyed with Koolaid last fall. It was my second attempt with it and wanted to see how it knitted up. I have now learned the importance of equal skein lengths. As you can see, one pooled and one striped. I find both attractive and will wear then regardless of their mismatchedness. A few weeks ago I tried to paint some yarn. Ick! I hated how the colors turned out. So I dumped the entire thing into some purple and overdyed it. I've got alot of ides about color combinations for other sock yarns flying around in my head. All week I've been attempting to dye some large stripes of colors. I just need a good whole hour to wind the yarn appropriately and do the dyeing. An hour of alone time has not been happening lately. Don't get me wrong, I love my husband, but he really requires ALOT of attention! In other knitting news, I am still making children's sweater for charity. The pink striped sweater's sleeves have been lengthened and looks much better now. I finished the green and brown raglan too. Almost. The neck opening turned out a bit on the small side. Since this is the cast on edge, I see cutting in my near future. That is, when I get the nerves to take a scissor out. While I'm avoiding doing this, I started another sweater...

Pink Is In

The charity knitting is going very well. I haven't strayed as of yet. Not to say I haven't been tempted at all, I'm just sticking to my guns for now. First up is the afghan (aka the Pink Monster) I made for Afghans for Afghans. Finally!!! All that needed to be done was the light pink border around each panel and then the burgandy final border. It may seem like not much but it took three days. I hadn't thought through how I was going to finish it off, so I ended up frogging the borders a few times until I got something that I liked. So glad to be done with this one. Next up are two sweaters that I'm making for the Dulaan Project. The light pink was done using a modified drop from the Knitters Handy Book of Sweater Patterns. This only took two days thanks to a 30" chest and 3 spi. The striped sweater was done using a top down seamless yoke pattern. I loved that there weren't any seams, but I didn't like the way the increases pucker. I also am not sure that the sleeves are long enough. My measurements add up, they just seem a bit short so I'm thinking that I'll probably undo the ribbing and add another inch or so. Next up is a top down raglan in green and brown. I'm still fudging with it, so no pictures today. In other news I forgot to mention that my sock pal got her socks and reports that she liked them. I knitted for Angela, who is coincidentally only about two to three hours from me. That was part of the reason I had such a hard time finding sock yarn for her. The selection of yarn over here isn't vast like it is in the States and many stores carry the same stuff. I had wanted to make her something she wouldn't have had LYS access to. I'm just glad that she liked them and that they fit. Now that the anticipation is over, I can say that it was alot of fun to knit for another knitter.