Blah Blah Blah... Where's my Yarn?!

So school has been working its magic on me again, and this here blog is the one who gets ignored the most. I have an exam on Thursday. Guess what I'm doing...

Knitting, mostly, it would seem. Wanna see? Course you do :)

These are Skew:

The pattern is from Knitty (I do love my Knitty). It's from the Winter 09 issue, and was written by Lana Holden. I love how they're turning out, but I can't get them on my feet. So it's going to be frogged imminently and reknit using a larger needle. Maybe even some more stitches. We'll see. I actually knit this while on winter break in Paris. I really wish it fit, for the sake of having another pair of socks knit in Paris. It could become a tradition. Guess I'll have to go back, I'm so hard done by. Anyway, the yarn is Koigu, so must not be wasted. I'll give more info when you see them again.

Next finished object: Sunshine Socks:

These photos are terrible. It's actually a really nice day, but my balcony is not particularly welcoming right now. You can see in the pictures, there's a bit of a mess out there, and I didn't want to expose brand new socks to it too much. Consequently, there's a shadow interfering with the colour. The yarn is All Things Heather sock yarn, in the Sunshine colourway. The pattern is called (go figure) Sunshine, and is from Cookie A.'s book Sock Innovation. Love this book BTW.

Oh, here's why the balcony isn't friendly:

Momma pigeon is giving me the evil eye. I'm perilously close to her nest which currently contains two egglets. I wanted to sweep up the mess they left from the last batch, but discovered I was too late. So she watches me closely, and I avoid the balcony. It's an arrangement.

So what's not finished? How about Evenstar:

I'm soooo clooose... I've finished up to about 12 rounds in on clue six, which is the final clue before the beaded edging. I ordered my beads this past week, and will hopefully have them by the time I get to the end of this clue. It's taking forever, though. There are something between 672 and 570 stitches in a round at this point (I'm sure not counting), and it takes about an hour to knit two rounds. It's Blue Moon Fibre Arts, Silk Thread II in the Winter Solstice colourway, and it's knit on 3.25 mm needles. I can't wait until it's finished, and I can move on to the next project in the LOTR knitalong.

So when it takes forever to knit on the shawl, I need something that has a few less than 600 stitches to a round. Enter the new issue of Knitty:

This is Mystery + Manners by SpillyJane. I cast on the same day I saw the new issue, and have finished the first one (minus the thumb). I loved the peacock feather motif, and I had leftover Tidepool Heather from my NHM #7 mittens (the blue), and some Eggplant waiting to be something else, and knew they were meant to be. The yarn is KnitPicks Essential. The needles are 2.5 mm.

So, yeah. That's all I've got for you right now. I have a scarf that needs ends sewn in, and which I'm avoiding. Maybe I'll be able to show that next time. Mostly, though I'm sitting around waiting rather impatiently for my Mean Girls yarn to turn up. I've been watching the discussion boards on Ravelry, and other people have their yarn, including one hoar in the Netherlands. What's up with that. I might have to take up stalking the mailman... Or Canada Customs. I suspect one of them has my yarnz and I want it. Now! Now! Now! Now! NOW!

The one with Pictures

Okay, so I promised pictures so here they are. There are a lot of them, I have more, but thought I would wait in case I have nothing to report next week.

First up: The yarn purchased at Yarns Etc.

Dream in Color Smooshy in the Ruby River colourway:

And Oceanwind Knits Merino 100

Smooshy I've bought before, but this Oceanwind Knits yarn is new to me. It's a Canadian company, which always makes me happy. It's 100% superwash merino wool in a fingering weight. It's also beautifully soft, and the colour is delicious!

Ahem, enough of that. I also have some finished objects.

Trilobite Socks:

Because it's been so long, I will attempt to recap what these projects are as well. These are the Trilobite Socks by Wendy D. Johnson from her book Socks From the Toe Up. The yarn is Regia Galaxy in the Jupiter Granite colourway. This pattern was really simple, and I managed to mess it up anyway. If you look closely at the two feet, you may be able to discern a difference in the lace pattern in each foot. This is not an optical illusion. On the first sock, I looked at the chart, thought it looked simple enough and started knitting. I neglected to read the whole chart which actually changes midway up. Go figure. Rather than ripping out the whole foot of the sock, though, I decided to leave it be. My brother wears mismatched socks on purpose all the time, why can't I?

Next: NHM #7

I'm pretty happy with how these turned out. I originally bought four colours of yarn intending to make two pairs of stranded two-colour mittens. But I mixed up which colours were supposed to go together, and this combination is the result. The blue was supposed to go with a green, and the orange with a purple. I like this contrast, though. Hopefully I will like the green and purple one as much :) The yarn is Knit Picks Palette in Tidepool Heather and Sweet Potato colourways. The pattern is from the book Selbuvotter: Biography of a Knitting Tradition by Terri Shea. They are from a traditional Norwegian knitting pattern. I love pretty much every pattern in this book, so there could be more turning up here. Someday.

On to what I'm working on now.

This is the almost completely finished Mr Greenjeans cardigan from the fall 2007 issue of Knitty. It's by Amy Swenson, and is being knit from Briggs & Little Tuffy in the Blue Jean colourway. All I have left is a couple more inches of stockinette on the second sleeve, the ribbing on the same sleeve, to find a button, and to sew in my ends. At the rate I'm working on it, I'm hoping to have it done in the next couple weeks. We'll see. I wouldn't hold my breath.

Last for this week, but most definitely not least:

This is my Evenstar Shawl knitalong progress. So far, I've finished up to the increase row at the end of clue 3. Now I'm waiting on some longer needles so that I can double the stitches and be able to see what I'm doing. Maybe with a longer needle, I'll be able to take pictures that don't look like a blob. A darn pretty silvery blob, but kind of amorphous nontheless. The pattern is by Susan Pandorf whose shawls have been tempting me for quite a while. Add in The Lord of the Rings, and I'm hooked. Thanks so much Lime N Violet, you master enablers, you :)

So that's it for this week. I'm hoping to keep on top of this bloggy thing from now on, and think if I give myself a deadline, maybe it'll get done. I'm taking a rather intensive course in U.S. history this summer where the professor has squished an 8 month course into 3, so we'll see how well I do. Now, I'm going to go and convince myself to read a textbook instead of knit. Wish me luck.

Back from the Dead

Hello? Is this thing on?

Erm, it's been a really long time since I posted, as my Mom reminded me this morning. Being chided by your mother on Mother's Day has had the result of lighting a fire under my behind. School really tried to wipe me out this year, and while I've been knitting off and on (gotta stay sane somehow, right?) I have been really bad about documenting it. So I'm going to attempt to give a progress report based on my last posts. I have no recent pictures, though, so you'll have to use your imaginations.

Here goes:

First up: Lenore socks. Almost done. Just need to get the ends sewn in, wash them up and deliver them to the recipient. Hopefully, she'll still want them. I'm feeling the most guilty about these ones.

Next: Trilobite Socks. Finished. Yay! They don't actually match, though because I messed up reading the pattern on the first sock and thought it might be fun to make the second sock properly. Matching unmatched socks.

Another long neglected project was my Mr. Greenjeans cardigan. It had been abandoned with the body completely knit. All it needed was a button band and sleeves. It now has a button band and 1.33333 sleeves. I'm determined to get some UFOs finished.

In the meantime, there has been some increases to my stash. I'll try and get pictures when the sun comes back, but there was a new yarn store that opened locally, and it's really close to where I work downtown. It's called Yarn's Etc. And can be found at 1 Nicholas St. if you happen to live in Ottawa, check it out. It's small, but the owner is really friendly. She carries Lorna's Laces, Berocco, and Dream in Color yarns among other things. Good prices too. I got some Dream in Color Smooshy in Ruby River and some Oceanwind Knits Merino 100 in Razzcherry. (I don't know why the font changed here. Maybe something to do with attempting the hyperlink thingy.)

I've been listening to Lime N Violet. Never a good idea when you're feeling overwhelmed by assignments, but those master enablers have had their way with me twice.

First being the Evenstar Shawl knitalong. Holy crapola! I got a late start on this because I needed to wait until school work had been finished and turned in, consequently I'm only halfway through Clue #2. Clue 7 (the final clue) has just been released. I'm so excited by what I've seem of other people's shawls online. Seriously gorgeous shawl. I hope I can do it justice. I'm knitting it in the exact same yarn as the designer. That being, Blue Moon Fiber Arts Silken Thread II in Winter Solstice. Again pictures soon. I also subscribed to Susan Pandorf's Lord Of the Rings Knitalong for the Fellowship of the Ring. I'm a colossal geek, and the LotR is my favourite book of all time, and I adore the Peter Jackson movies based on them. This is going to be exciting.

Finally, I joined the Mean Girls Yarn Club 2. Also as a result of listening to Lime N Violet when my defenses are down. Curse those master enablers! I can't wait for my first shipment. I promise to make a point of posting about it. If I'm allowed :)

So there's maybe a couple other things, but I'm going to hold onto them until I can get some pictures taken. This has already been a word heavy post without anything interesting to look at, and no links to follow, so I'll leave it at that, and hopefully I'll be back next week.

Baaaaaa...

Yeah, that's how I'm feeling. I just wanna say that I haven't fallen off the face of the planet. I've been distracted by the truly vicious time waster that is Guitar Hero 5. Yeah. Just thankful I didn't get my plastic toy guitar on the new Beatles Rock Band today. Anyway. I have made some progress on the Lenore socks, but due to my inability to ignore the shiny coloured notes on the screen, I have not got a photo to prove it. I am done with the heel and have decreased the gussets and am ready to start on the body of the foot. I swear.

Pictures soon :*)

Quoth the raven...

Nevermore.

A little while back a friend asked me if I would knit a pair of socks for her teenaged daughter. She had seen my blog, and had liked some of what I'd already done. It would have been impossible to say no when a teenager actually expresses an interest in handknits. She thought she'd like something in blacks and purple/burgundy. Enter Socks that Rock in Lenore:

This yarn is very had to photograph. It's primarily black, with a deep pinky/purple washed over it. Then for a pattern, she'd like something gothic inspired. Hmmm, can't think of anything much more gothic than Edgar Allen Poe, whose poem inspired the name of the yarn. Interestingly, both the poem and the yarn inspired a designer:

Lenore socks, by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (aka the Yarn Harlot). I've got a skein destined to be these socks for me too.

So I ordered the yarn, and it arrived late last week. I wound it up right away:

And using a digital scale split it into two equal cakes of yarn. They look different in size, but they weigh the same amount. One is more densely wound than the other. In this picture, on my monitor, you can see the variances in colour better, if not the specific colour. Then I cast on:

This progress is over the last couple of days, and so far, I'm very happy with how they're turning out, and I hope that the young woman in question is too. I'll be trying to post progress shots on these socks every few days or so. Fingers crossed :)

They are not my only project, though. I have a finished object to report:

The Double Eyelet Rib socks are finished. Yay! The pattern is a freebie by Wendy D. Johnson and I used Knit Picks Essential yarn in the Russet Tweed colourway. I used about 1.5 balls of yarn. Someday, I'll come up with a great idea for using up all the leftover sock yarn :)

No rest, though. No second sock syndrome for me. Nuh uh. I cast on the second Trilobite Sock:

I'd messed up the chart on the first sock for the entire foot of the sock. But I decided that I would knit the second sock properly rather than trying to repeat my mistake. So I'll have mismatched socks. My brother would approve.

Incidentally, the Lenore yarn was not the only one I ordered. I might have bought a couple more skeins to justify the shipping.

That's the Lenore in the middle with Fred Flintstone flanking it on the left, and Winter Solstice on the right. My lovely parents also presented me with a glorious gift certificate for Blue Moon for my birthday, so expect to seem more Socks that Rock making appearances in the future. I'd better get knitting.

Shhhhh

More yarn.

So, the final package arrived, and it is glorious! Three skeins of Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock. Haida from the Raven Clan. ST-2 from the Multicolor Wave collection (This is a Sock Summit colour, wahhh!). And Lover's Leap from the Watercolor Wave collection. I'm in love with this yarn. I'm dying to order more. It was a non-customs purchase too, so it will happen. Just have to wait a little while.

In the meantime. I said in my last post that I had knitting content. So here it is:

These shots are of a tank top from a knitting magazine I'd never encountered before. The magazine is called Verena Knitting, and is a UK magazine. The pattern is called Chocolate. I've dubbed my version Turquoise Chocolate, but I need a new name for it. I'm knitting it out of Waikiki, a yarn I picked up on sale when a LYS closed a while back. It's a linen, cotton blend, and I love the colours. I have a suspicion it will be really, really busy. Here's hoping it's wearable.

I also have socks. I finished the first Double Eyelet Rib sock:

And started a Trilobite sock from Wendy D. Johnson's book Socks From the Toe Up.

I'm a real freak, though, and failed to read the pattern properly. I knit along merrily through the toe, up the foot, into the arch shaping, turned the heel, knit the flap, and when I went to start the leg back in pattern, I noticed. I had knit the whole foot only repeating the first half of the chart! So, the leg looks decidedly different from the foot. Notice, I left it as it was. Can't be bothered to fix it. So lazy, am I. Now I need to cast on another sock quick, before I catch the dreaded second sock syndrome. Wish me luck :)

Sockapalooza

Well, sockyarnapalooza would be more appropriate, but it doesn't roll off the tongue as well. There has been an explosion of yarn acquisition chez Lizard. That yarn diet that I was supposedly on leading up to the Sock Summit that never was has definitely disintegrated. Ah well, c'est la vie. Enough with the talky, on to the goodies.

I made three separate orders, experimenting with different online vendors, and two of the three have arrived. First: The Loopy Ewe.

These are: Dye Dreams Dream Sox in the Passion Flower colourway. Soooo Pretty. And Dream in Color Starry in the Wisterious colourway. It's a little difficult to see in the picture, but Starry is spun with a silver filament. Sparkly stuff has been a problem of late. This one spawned the following order. It's so incredibly squishy in the skein that I had to try and get ahold of its sister yarn Smooshy. I was very happy with the service from the Loopy Ewe, I got my package super fast and it had a personalized message from the shopowner in it. Unfortunately for me, there was an issue with customs fees. Not the shop's fault, and I highly recommend it if you live in the U.S. or they have something you have to have and can't get at home. Which they might. Seriously, they have awesome selection.

So in order to get that Smooshy, I turned to a Canadian vendor: The Sweet Sheep.

Dream in Color Smooshy in the Flamingo Pie colorway, Colinette Jitterbug in the Ginger Cinnabar colourway. I can't imagine that pie made from flamingo would be particulary tasty, but the yarn sure is. And the Ginger Cinnabar looks good enough to eat too.

All Things Heather sock yarn in the Sunshine colourway and Malabrigo sock yarn in the Stonechat colourway. I have no idea what a stonechat is, but the colour is fantastic, and the ATH one totally looks like sunshine. This also came super speedily, and no customs fees. Yay! I'll definitely order from the Sweet Sheep again. All of my yarn is gorgeous, and I can't wait to knit with it. I'm thinking I should think about getting a scale so that I can split them up easily. I hate that paranoia as you're halfway through the second sock and aren't sure if you'll have enough yarn left over to finish it.

So, I have one more package winging its way to me and I anticipate its arrival very soon. When it arrives I'll try and get the pics up pretty soon. I also have some new knitting content to post too, but this has been a picture heavy post, so I'll save it for when the next package arrives. Now, somebody needs to lock my credit card up somewhere safe :)