Sit, Sip & Knit

Pet peeve: yarn skeins that are carelessly tied and are therefore NIGHTMARISH to wind into a ball because some of the individual strands double back on themselves. And, no, this is not a case of careless placement onto the swift; I was oh so careful. Plan was to quickly wind this lovely harvest-y colorway of Schaefer Yarns "Anne" to take it with to the Sunday's meet-up with Tonni and Catherine so I could start a lace project (for a change) while around Tonni's lacy expertise, but there's no winding this yarn quickly. Grrr...



So I grabbed some sock yarn (Trampoline from Skacel) from the stash and cast on for some toe-ups (yawn). The yarn is aptly named though - lots of bounce in it.






But on a much happier note, Catherine's split poncho/ruana/wrap is complete and in the possesion of its owner. Doesn't she look just look chic? (This is her Paris Hilton over-the-shoulder look, by the way.) This became a collaborative project; Catherine crocheted the varigated side and about a quarter of the solid side, and I knitted the rest of the solid side and seamed them together. The design is from an old Design Source booklet for Manos del Uruguay, adjusted for the much smaller gauge of the Jojoland Melody (varigated) and Louet Gems (solid) yarn Catherine picked out.

Never say never...

At some point I swore I'd NEVER knit bouclé yarn into anything other than scarves, and then ONLY on double digit needles. Love how the yarn feels - hate how the yarn acts. Well, I had two skeins of Touch Exclusive bouclé yarn staring at me for weeks and weeks, and the thought of making two more "one skein wonder" mini-Clapotis just wasn't doing it for me. So then either a muse or an evil spirit put some size 13 circulars in my hands, and there I was, knitting away at a top down something. The final object depended on how far the yarn went. And this is what appeared (edited picture 15-Oct-08, colors are still a little off, not quite so pink in person):I thought the colors were unpromising together when I held the two skeins next to each other, but knit up they go quite well. The morning after I had started this, I found a fallen leaf from a maple tree with these same colors, so I took that as a sign - Mother Nature isn't wrong!

Nothing in this sweater is planned; it just happened. The technical specs, such as they are, for this are two skeins of Touch Exclusive Bouclé (approx. 185 yards each) and US 13 needles. Cast on 48 stitches (8 for each front, 8 for each shoulder, 16 for the back), knit a basic top-down raglan alternating colors whenever you feel like it until you run out of yarn.

The next challenge is to figure out how to finish it up. I have no yarn left at all, nothing to trim out the neckline, make a button band or other closure, etc. The edges need something though. Hmm...

Oh, and I also am puzzling over naming it. Some possibilities:

• "Carrie" (from the movie, because of the color, in honor of Halloween)
• something with "Maple" - "October Maple", "Maple Leaf" (because of the color inspiration)
• "Cherry Red" (from an old Lou Gramm song that kept rattling around in my brain while I worked on this "...it's either cherry red or midnight blue...")

End of an era

The day has come to say good-bye to some faithful companions. They've been in every kitchen since the time when "cooking" meant pouring milk over my cereal in the morning. Making them may even have been my first semi-fibery project, but thirty years later, I have to admit that my favorite potholders are done for.

So I dig out the potholder "loom" kit from the bottom of the craft closet this afternoon and make up some new ones. It was 'way more fun when I was 9 or 10, by the way. I don't remember the loops jumping off on their own volition, nor do I remember having a hard time finding loops that would actually stretch enough to fit the loom. Maybe those are all the things parents handle...

Anyway, I now have a new pair, all bright and shiny and unscathed. I've been afraid to wash the old ones for a few years now, they were getting that fragile. I figured they were getting heat sterilized with use anyway. (Germophobes, I really don't want to hear about it.)

Or am I perhaps carrying sentimentality just a wee bit too far?

Socks, socks and more socks

Here are the latest ones:
From left to right, they are Waving Lace Socks (Mountain Colors Bearfoot in Rosehip) and Diagonal Cross-Rib Socks (Dream In Color Smooshy in Blue Lagoon), both from Interweave's "Favorite Socks", and then some basic 2x2 ribbed socks (Regia Jacquard Color in a denim-y colorway).















They all are part of last month trip to Farm Country to help out during my mother's post-surgical recovery. The Bearfoot socks were intended as my sanity project; I brought the last treasured skein of this, my favorite, sock yarn specifically for that. I had no idea what to expect, so naturally I expected the worst. Happily, things went well with her recovery. The Smooshy socks are from my foray to the LYS (such a friendly place!) near the physical therapist's. The self-stripers I made for my step dad for the rare occasion when he wears socks - he's a barefoot and Chaco sandals kind of guy.

Pleased as I am with the results - come on, how can one not be pleased with having more handknit socks?!!? - I'm getting a bit antsy with just doing small projects. In the last few months it's been almost all small stuff: socks, scarves and hats for a friend's shop, coffee cup cozies for a Breast Cancer Awareness Month fundraiser (I forgot to photograph them before I dropped them off - doh!).

I did make one sleeveless sweater on commission, but I don't count that as "mine". The pattern, color and yarn choices were all someone else's; my participation was merely in the execution of someone else's ideas. Don't get me wrong; I have nothing against commissions. They just don't particularly scratch the creative itch.

I do have a top-down cardi parked on the needles for about two months now. I had this lovely lovely yarn in the stash (picked up on super sale a few years ago), and I made it into an assymetrical cardi first. HATED the end result, so rippity-rip, and started over. This one is based on a Marianne Isager design in her book "Stricken a la carte". I bought the book in Germany last summer; I don't think it's available in English yet. I suspected from the beginning that I might not have enough yarn, and I was right. Getting more wasn't a problem, other than the obvious one of the new yarn not matching the old. I know what I need to do - rip back a ways and alternate rows of old and new skeins - I just haven't been able to grit my teeth and go to it. It's bugged me so much that I don't even want to photograph the thing as a WIP until I get over that particular hump.