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 :)

Hey, Remember this?

Yeah, no wonder. It's been languishing for nearly two years now. Sadly waiting for me to be bothered blocking it. Well, no more:

To jog memories, this is the wing portion of Mystery Stole 3, also known as Swan Lake. I had a wedding to attend on Friday last week, and it occurred to me that the beads in the stole (which you admittedly can't see in the pictures would match perfectly with my dress. So here's the result:

These aren't the most flattering pictures of me, but the stole looked amazing. For the record, it is the Swan Lake Stole designed by Melanie at Pink Lemon Twist. It's knit out of an unnamed raw silk dk weight. The beads are I think size 6 and they're a soft coral colour. If I remember correctly, I knit it on size 4.5 mm needles. I've loved this stole from the start, it's merely a result of my hatred for finishing that it has languished for so long.

Moving on. I was on a roll last week. The wedding I attended on Friday was for one of my cousins, and two of her sisters had received handmade afghans as wedding gifts from me. It's become a tradition (To date I've crocheted 4 bridal afghans, and knit two) so I couldn't not make one for her. I've blogged previously the Hex Afghan by Nora Gaughan from Knitting Nature. Here it is blocking:

And posed in my parents' backyard:

This knit up fairly quickly and is the main culprit for the delay in blogging this time. All I had to show was a big brown blob. I think the blob turned out pretty well. I just hope the bride likes it as much as I do. It's knit from Patons Shetland Chunky in Taupe with 5.5 mm needles.

So what else? Elated from having completed so many large objects, I may have had a moment of weakness in a LYS. I've been avoiding buying yarn in preparation to attend Sock Summit. But try as I might I was one of the 30,000 knitters who bombarded the server and consequently was unable to get a spot. I'm disappointed, but that's the way these things go. Maybe they'll put it on again next year. In the meantime, I console myself with yarn:

Arequipa wool/alpaca blend sock yarn. It's a kind of dark picture, but it was the only one that came close to showing off the actual colour of this yarn. The colour is very eloquently called 221. I couldn't resist the washy watercolour feel of it.

Koigu KPPPM in the equally eloquent P40395. I can't seem to even find it on their site. Ah well. I shall fondle it fondly anyway. In the meantime, I have a couple socks on the go which I'll get to in a couple of days, but this post is getting far too long, so you'll just have to wait :)

Sidetracked

So, I've had one full week to myself with no school, and I've been trying to rediscover my life.  I think I had one, and it's nice to see that it hasn't abandoned me entirely.  I've been knitting and I'll get to that, but first I need to own up to a serious distraction:

I found this book in the new materials for the library, and while I don't tend to do a lot of cross stitch, I fell in love with this book.  I promptly ordered it online, and as soon as it was in my hot little hands, bought the materials for the main attraction:

I know, eh?  Looks fantastic!  Okay, so here's what it will look like:

Eventually.  The whole book is stuff related to magic and witchcraft.  Some of it is kitschy like cutesy little fairies and wizards, and the dragon on the cover (which I think is very pretty, just not for me), but then there are images of Father Sun and Mother moon, and this cushion.  The Celtic wheel of the year.  I hope mine comes out looking at least something like the picture from the book.

So enough of that.  This here's supposed to be about knitting, so here's some knitting:

This is going to be one of those projects that looks the same every time.  The Hex Afghan from Nora Gaughan's Knitting Nature.  Maybe I'll mix up the pictures a bit by incorporating things in the background to make it a little more interesting than a neutral taupe afghan.  Case in point: the lovely Rock Band drum kit it's photographed with here :)

I've also been working a little bit on my Double Eyelet Rib Socks:

Not too much to see there, either.  I've finished the heel and am about to work up the leg.  This is a great, simple, easy to memorize pattern that is perfect for mindless television knitting.  If only the afghan above wasn't so time sensitive, I'd be much further along on this.  Ah well, what can you do?

But wait, there's more.  I went to Michael's to get the materials for the embroidery above, and encountered something else.  Who knew there'd be yarn at a crafts store?

   

Well, okay, I knew but in my defense, the Kroy was on sale.  So, as the labels state, this is Patons Kroy Socks and Stretch Socks.  Muslin and Licorice colourways.  The stretch is something I've never tried.  Not sure how that's going to work, but I think it's worth a try.  So anyway, I'm going to cut it off there, and hopefully get some more knitting done.

This just in...

Yay!  There has been success!  I've been fighting with my Internet Explorer for the last little while.  It seems to insist on shutting down every time I close a popup window.  The photo installation window for Blogger, for example.  So now I'm using Safari.  And lo, pictures:

First up, the third section of the Serendipity (aka Mystery 4) stole.  I'm still plugging along on this, very slowly, but I'm determined to finish it before the new year.  Next up:

  

The first of the Mosey legwarmers.  So far, These are turning out pretty well.  I'm actually more than half way finished the second one since this picture was taken, but couldn't be bothered photographing it.  By the next post, theoretically I should be finished them.  Now for the priorities:

This is holiday knitting.  I wasn't going to post it until after the holidays, but I'm sure that the individual who will receive this doesn't read my blog.  I doubt very much that their mother does either :)  So I know it doesn't look like much, but by some miracle, or possibly merely knitting genius:

That weird piece of knitted fabric becomes this.  Elizabeth Zimmerman's brilliant, and always popular Baby Surprise Jacket.  The yarn is Sublime Extra Fine Merino DK, and I used it for a blanket for another expectant mother.  This one is for an as yet gender-determined baby due in the spring.  I still had yarn left over so I thought these would be fun:

Saartje's Bootees.  Also in the same Sublime yarn.  I have knit both, but haven't done the seaming yet.  They are pretty sweet.  Next I need to walk to the notions store and get some buttons for both the jacket and the booties.  I hope she likes them.  I suspect that baby won't care one way or another.  Baby does, however have a big brother, and I can't knit a sweater for one and not the other.  So:

Three balls of Lang Jawoll Silk.  This is planning on being a vintage sweater found in an old Phildar book.  Phildar Mailles Enfants No. 54.  I can't find a date on it, but it screams 1970s.  The sweater is called Reglisse which I think means Licorice.  So the colour is a deep charcoal grey with some lighter grey flecks in it.  I'm done the ribbing at the bottom of the body, and have begun the main body of it.  It's mostly reverse stockingette stitch, and I'm doing it in the round.  I might be insane to knit an entire sweater in purl.  We'll see how it goes.

There may or may not be other stealth knitting going on, but that's all you get for now :)  I did manage to stumble across a great deal on yarn for charity projects.  I don't particularly like working with acrylics, but each one of these bags cost me a whopping $2.09.  I'm seeing lap rugs and possibly hats:

I did some researching in the rest of the yarn section at the Zellers store I was at and determined that the bag on the left (blue and lavender) is TLC Amore, and the three bags on the right are Phentex Chunky.  That's what I've got for now.  I'd better get that holiday knitting out of the way, and then I can think about what I'll do with this.

Progress Report

At the risk of repeating myself, I'm still here. I've been finding that my knitting has been sadly affected by my educational situation. Professors are so rude. They assign papers, and assignments and exams willy nilly with no respect for a person's knitting time. What can you do? I have been finding some time, but not so much for blogging. So if I actually have anybody still with me, here is the payoff :)

Mystery Stole 4 has been named. It will henceforth be known as the Serendipity Stole. And here is my progress:

Clues 1 through 6. That's all of them. This is, however only half of the stole. This has been set aside so I can go back and knit clues 1 through 5 again. Then comes the grafting fun. How bout some shots of this section?

This makes it hard to see the beads, but I like how the stitches pop.

Some diamonds. Cat hair is extra ;)

This makes me think of fish. I don't know if that was the intent, but there could be a seaweed, underwater thing going on with this stole. I love how the edges are all wavy.

So I've finished knitting clue 1 again, and have started on clue 2. Hopefully I'll get through that one by the end of the weekend (2.5 hours of Coronation Street on Sundays are prime knitting time) and can get on to clue 3. I think that's where we left off before, so that's where I'll try and get back to photographing it. I'm hoping that I can get it ready to be worn during the festive season. Crossing fingers. I have two assignments due in November, so we'll see. Knitting is excellent for procrastination.

In other project news, I got nothing. I'm pretty much focused on the Serendipity Stole for now. One project at a time makes for slow blogging, but it's about all I can handle right now. Hasn't stopped me from shopping though:

Tidepool Heather, and Green Tea Heather

Eggplant and Sweet Potato. All Knit Picks Palette. These are planning on being some mittens, gloves and or socks. Someday.

I will admit to some stealth knitting which will get some blogtime in December or the new year. Enough about that for now. Never know who's reading. So. Back to work.