WIP: Vanilla Commuter Socks

Well, that was an unexpected break. I looked down for a few minutes and it turned into a month; where does the time go? Honestly, there has been a ton of knitting happening but I can't share some of it until...next year-ish. That's not at all fun for you all so I do have a project I can share with you - more stripey socks! 

I cast on my usual 64-stitch vanilla socks on a US #1 (2.25 mm) hiya hiya needle and knit about an inch of 2x2 ribbing. I'm using waste yarn to mark my afterthought heel placement and I'm using my Zombie Hello Kitty socks as my guide since I'm using the same yarn. 

The yarn is Canon Hand Dyes Charles Self-Striping Sock in "I am all astonishment", a  Pride & Prejudice colorway that Jessica picked up for me at Madrona this spring. I love this yarn base and Amy's colors are totally great. Early in the summer I decided to knit up the self-striping yarns from my stash by the end of the year and this is the second of those pairs. I'm fairly certain I have three (maybe four) more skeins of self-striping yarn so I'm not sure I'll get them all done by the end of the year but I'm going to try!

WIP: Prussian Glitter Cardigan

A couple of weeks ago I was experiencing a bit of knitting ennui. I was between projects and wasn't quite sure what to start next. My Ravelry queue seemed a bit lackluster so I decided to take a different approach and start with the yarn and work the other way round. Guess what? It worked! I dug out four skeins of Malabrigo Arroyo - three in Prussian Blue and one in Glitter - and swatched my little heart out. 

I used a US #4 Hiya Hiya Interchangeable and loved my stitches! See? That little bit of knitting isn't even blocked and it's so beautiful! After washing and blocking my swatch I went back to my Ravelry queue and nothing quite fit the bill. I knew I wanted a cardigan with a contrast yoke and maybe a teeny bit of color work for interest. Could I find it? Nope. I sketched out a cardigan idea and pulled out all of my knitting reference books and decided to go rogue. 

And looky there! That's the right front of my cardigan all done and ready for the rest of the sweater. A few details about my Prussian Glitter Cardi: it's knit in pieces, has four rows of colorwork, is all in stockinette stitch, uses the same needle throughout, and has 1x1 twisted ribbing at the edges. 

I decided to knit the sweater in pieces because superwash yarns seem to behave themselves better when they're given some structure, especially in larger projects like sweaters. The sleeves are picked up around the armhole and knit down toward the cuff with a little bit of colorwork just before the ribbing starts. I'm incredibly happy with how my sweater design project is coming out and I have tentative plans to grade the sweater and release it as a published pattern. Woot! This whole working backwards from the yarn to the pattern is working out pretty well, I'll have to do it again!

WIP: Sock Hat

I'm taking a brief break from some slightly complicated knitting I have going on to knit  a nice simple sock hat. I grabbed a US #3 (3.25 mm) and three coordinating balls of leftover sock yarn and cast on. 

 The yellow is Lichen in Hazel Knits Piquant Lite, the variegated is Leading Men Fiber Arts Show Stealer in Anne's Story, and the lavender is BMFA STR Light in Bleck.

This is a great project for resting my brain from complicated projects and wonderful for social knitting. 

I chose a random stripe sequence to break up the variegated yarn and I really like how it's turning out. My color palette reads fall and that's probably a direct reflection of the warm weather we're having in Seattle at the moment; in the 80s most days. Fall is my favorite time of year and summer always seems to linger longer and longer just to spite my love of crisp, frosty mornings and my ability to wear wool sweaters again. This is definitely a wishful thinking kind of project.

WIP: Tambourine

You may have noticed that I took a little vacation from the blog for a couple of weeks. I was sorting out plans for the Summer and getting my feet back under me from a busy month, not to mention sending Little A down to my mom's for a week for some quality time with Nana. But I've been knitting my bit every evening despite the warm weather and working on writing up a few patterns for release this Fall. My WIP du jour is Tambourine. 

You might notice that my stitches look a little wonky and that's because I'm a terrible knitter and didn't wash this yarn after liberating it from the previous project - Aislinn. Aislinn was pretty but I wore it twice and was never quite happy with the fit so I decided to repurpose the yarn, which is Miss Babs Yowza! Whatta Skein in French Marigold.

Tambourine is a cardigan by Julia Farwell-Clay from the Spring 2015 issue of Pompom Quarterly. The construction is bottom up in one piece and has little circles of nupps along the fronts. The buttonbands are knit concurrently with the body of the sweater and there's quite a bit of twisted ribbing at the hem of the sweater and the cuffs of the sleeves. You can see that I've made pretty good progress even though I'm knitting this at a dk gauge (22x32 over 4 inches) which is different than the pattern. This gauge change means that I'm getting an extra little circle of nupps along the fronts but I'm okay with that. This is the sweater I'm knitting as part of my OAL goal with Andi of Untangling Knots and Lauren of Lladybird. I hope to have the body finished by the end of the weekend and sleeves started this week.

WIP: Oh, theeese socks

Years ago, I purchased two skeins of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Chocolate and Devon to knit a pair of socks with contrasting cuffs, heels, and toes. I took the yarn home, wound it into balls, and it sat in my project box waiting to be cast on.

During my annual New Year's Day stash overhaul, I found the two little cakes in the bottom of my cedar chest and decided that this was the year that these socks would materialize. They're the perfect project for social knitting - a plain vanilla sock with a little bit of interest  - and I'm very happy with how they're turning out. The last few weeks they've been on the back burner as I complete a couple of test knits but I'm eager to get back to them and finally have these socks on my feet rather in than in my stash.

WIP: Migee

Say hello to Migee. I started this wrap back in December but it languished a bit as I worked on a couple of last minute gifts and obligation knits. I got a sudden hankering for garter stitch the other day and rooted it out of my wip basket to work on.

The sample uses a Black Trillium Fibres Gradient Kit in the Pebble Sock base in the Smoke color but I just happened to have a gradient kit from the same dyer in the Water color. Realistically, I think I put this down for two reasons: 1) garter stitch isn't my favorite thing to knit 2) I wasn't sure what color to use as the contrast. My first impulse was to grab a bright green, but that immediately reads Seahawks to a lot of Seattleites (not my bag). I decided to go with a neutral and picked a long-languishing skein of Miss Babs Yummy 2-ply in the Oyster color out of my stash. The color is a light gray with beige undertones and will look great against all the shades of blue, not to mention my charcoal winter coat. I'm plugging right along now that I've reached the straight knitting section and it's the perfect thing to knit while watching movies.

WIP Wednesday: Rolling Thunder Gloves

 I started with something of a problem. Variegated yarn. Some people love it and some people hate it and I tend to be somewhat ambivalent about the stuff. It's difficult to find the right pattern for whatever it is your variegated yarn is doing. I think I found the perfect pattern for this particular yarn, which is Leading Men Fiber Arts Show Stealer in the Anne's Story color. I ordered the yarn from Little Skein in the Big Wool as a companion to my Anne of Green Gables kit (more on that soon). As you can see, it has beads.

 I've already finished the first glove...

and my project has a home in my new Chubby Cloud project bag that I purchased at KnitFit! this last weekend. 

The pattern is Rolling Thunder Gloves by Sivia Harding and it's available as a free Ravelry download. Sivia based the pattern on her Rolling Thunder Socks (found at knitty.com) and you'll need the chart and instructions for the beaded bits from the socks to knit the gloves. I'm using clear copper-lined beads that I had on hand and the effect is a little like rain drops on Fall foliage. The combination of purls, knits, beads, and garter rib is perfect for this autumnal yarn.

WIPs!

I have knitting to share with you! My last few posts have been sewing heavy - the newer craft is the sexier craft - but I've been doing a lot of knitting, too!

This is Happy Street by Veera Valimaki. The pattern was gifted to me by my lovely friend, Sonia, last year when I was having a bit of a difficult time. I love this pattern. The yarns are: Colorful Yarn in Steel, Hazel Knits Entice in Queen of the Night, and Hazel Knits Piquant Lite in Lichen. All the yarns are slightly different in texture and weight but the garter stitch showcases each yarn wonderfully well.

This is Myrna, the sweater component of my OAL entry. If I were knitting this cropped the body of the sweater would be done and I'd be cruising along on the sleeves. I did try this on once I hit the specified length (over my dress, even) and just didn't feel comfortable with the length. I've decided to make it a high hip length so it'll be more versatile with the rest of my wardrobe. The yarn is good old Cascade 220 in color 2409 and I have more than enough of it to lengthen my cardi.

WIP: CustomFit Pullover

 Sweater progress!

Things have been a little sparse on the personal knitting front the past couple of weeks. I was working on a large sample knitting project and only had time to knit on my own projects during my commute to and from work. I finished my sample last weekend (sans blocking) and picked up my CustomFit pullover in ToshDK. The pieces are all done and blocking and I'm super-excited to get them sewn together so I can see how well CustomFit, well, custom fits. By next weekend I'll have a finished sweater!

WIP Wednesday

I had a really busy weekend and the rest of March looks like more of the same. Between the social happenings and work and enrolling Little A in elementary school (say, what?) I feel like everything has been go go go for a couple of weeks now. My body seems to think so, too, since I now have some vague illness lodged in my throat making me incredibly tired and rather cranky. What's a knitter to do? I called out sick Tuesday so I could sleep as much as I was able and then lay around on the sofa between doing loads of handwash and shooting chloraseptic spray down my throat. Ick. But it also means that while I was lolling around I did quite a bit of knitting.

 This is most of a pair of Ruru mitts for Little A. I pulled a ball of sock yarn scraps out of my scrap bag and measured it - 20 grams exactly! I think I made the top part of the first mitt a little too long since I don't have enough yardage for the second one. I'll knit as far as I can on the second mitt and then pull out some of the first mitt so they're even. It's my first time knitting the owl cable and it's pretty cute.

This is Antarktis that I cast on last weekend in a fit of knitting ennui. I was given this yarn at Stitches to review on my podcast and since I don't knit with variegated yarns very often I thought that the garter stitch and eyelets would help break up the colors and create a nice harmony between colors. This is exactly the right kind of knitting for me at this moment and I think it would make a good project for social knitting, too.

WIP: Hi-Lite of my life socks

 When I volunteered at Knit Fit! last weekend I picked up a couple of presents for myself. My new favorite Indie Dyer, Intrepid Otter, had a small but lovely collection of self-striping yarns at her booth. I snatched up a ball of "Highlight of my Life" and cast on the next morning at the registration table.

I think they're perfect. I cast on 64 stitches on a US #1 (2.25 mm) and am knitting plain vanilla socks.

In Praise of WIPs

I don't know about you but I feel as if Summer is flying by. I'm feeling the passage of time acutely as I'm two weeks away from the first of two teaching credential tests, working on studying for two midterms, and marking off items on my grad school application (not quickly enough!). 

How does this all relate to my knitting? Stress. Stress and startitis are friends. They have nights out, drink bottles of wine in one sitting, and text each other relentlessly. Most of the time stress and startitis include their buddy, procrastination, in their shenanigans. See?

 

My Green Gables (aka Traveler's Socks) had practically no knitting love until I realized that my West-B is in two weeks. Blammo! Just about to start the heel flap on the first sock as of this morning.

 

And these? Not really even a thing until my mid-terms loomed on the horizon. My first ever afterthought heel socks in some Knit Picks Felici. The color is called Fizz. I marked the heel with some scrap yarn and am cruising through the foot.

This might be construed as complaining about how my WIPs multiply with the number of ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY tasks listed on my calendar. It is - a little. But it's also a marker of taking time out to relax, to enjoy knitting, to play with yarn a teeny bit while I ponder the problems of phonology, the IPA, and teaching minority language children. Controlled bursts of creativity that help me buckle down and get work done. WIPs are good. I just wonder how many there will be by the time October rolls around.

On a roll...

You may or may not know that I've been doing sample knitting for a couple of different designers lately. This is exciting because I get to try out new yarns and patterns at absolutely no monetary cost to me, just my knitting time. But my knitting time? It never seems long enough! As of Tuesday evening I finished up a large-ish sample and will be sending it off to the designer and that means that I'll soon be finishing up my own large project - Aislinn. 

Half a sleeve down and one sleeve to go! Minimal finishing and a good wash and block and I'll have a spankin' new sweater to wear. 

Mr. B's socks are finally finished after a long-ago failed May 6th deadline. Can you believe how fast this year is flying by? That may be why I don't feel like these socks were on the needles for so long - I also happened to lose them for a week and then run out of yarn. Oops.

Aaaaand, I'm plugging away on my stripey socks during lunch time and short breaks between any, and every, day-time activity that requires my attention.

Imma what?

My knitting life has been quite unexciting as of late. I have two large projects nearing completion and am feeling the itch to start new things. I'm mainly a monogamous knitter so when I get to feeling this way my cure is to knit faster on my current projects so I can cast on something new!

 

I may have jumped the gun on this one by a few days! I needed social knitting of the not top secret kind so I dug out one of my two precious skeins of GothSocks and cast on a simple pair of stripey socks. This is the Laudanum base which is an 80/10/10 mix of merino, cashmere, and nylon. Yum! The color is Imma Bitch (ha!) and alternates between four-row stripes of black and semi-solid red. The heel treatment is still under contemplation - I prefer a heel flap and gusset construction but haven't tried any of the afterthought heel treatments available. Suggestions?

WIP: Cadence Socks

Sometimes all you need is the right combination.

My first ever purchase from the lovely Miss Babs (made in 2007 or 2008) is finally making its way into some socks. The color is a nice minty green, named Coventry, that looks silvery in lights but mostly makes me think that Spring is finally arriving. This is the first sock completed through the gusset and I'm knitting my way toward the toe. If you'd like a pair for yourself the pattern is Cadence Socks by VeryBusyMonkey and it's free via Ravelry.

WIP: Audrey in Unst

Last Wednesday I pulled out some Rowan Felted Tweed DK purchased in the great sweater yarn accumulation of 2009* and cast on Audrey in Unst.

 

 One week later and here we are. As soon as I got past the 1x1 twisted rib at the bottom of the sweater the knitting was smooth sailing and I just couldn't stop. The BIG PLAN is to finish this in time for Vogue Knitting Live so I can wear it when the Shetland Trader herself, Gudrun Johnston, will be doing a book signing at the Fiber Gallery booth where I'll be working. Overachiever? Yes. Kiss-ass? Possibly. It just took three years for this particular sweater and yarn combination to come to fruition so why shouldn't I gloat?

*Also known as Nakniswemodo, or the National Knit Twelve Adult Sweaters in a Year thereby driving yourself insane KAL. Before 2009 I had zero sweater quantities of yarn in my stash and that KAL ended that trend, seemingly forever.

WIP: Flowing Lines

I'm not sure that I've posted this before. I know that I complained about it to my knitting group, on my podcast, in my notes on Ravelry. This somewhat PITA is coming close to completion so I thought I'd boost my urge to knit on it by posting it here.

Pattern: Flowing Lines by Veera Valimaki

Yarn: Tosh Vintage in Saffron

This is a top-down pullover with a twisted stitch texture pattern on a reverse stockinette background. I don't recommend it for folks that hate the purl stitch. I was close to frogging the whole darn thing after several attempts to get the boatneck joined properly and the short rows for the sleeves to the correct stitch count. My gauge was off once I started the texture pattern so I had to rip back and go up a needle size. So many issues! A diagram would have been useful for joining the strips for the boatneck since that alone took about an hour of my knitting time and was also quite irritating to knit - it's very easy to twist the panels after getting them joined. The end is in sight and I'm excited for the FO since the knitting was not my favorite.

WIP: Tiny Rocky Coast

Tiny Rocky Coast Cardigan

yarma
Originally uploaded by ErinBirnel

There are a lot of people in my life who are expecting babies this Spring. While baby things are thankfully quite tiny and make quick knits the sheer number in my list is a little overwhelming. I cast on this little cardigan over the weekend. Tiny Rocky Coast cardigan by Hannah Fettig from the Coastal Kids Collection. It's knit in a very nice fingering weight - Dream in Color Smooshy with Cashmere in the color 'Ponder Dusk'. I'm knitting the 12 month size to try and use as much yarn as possible.

2012 In Retrospect, 2013 Inspiration

Hello, there! Happy New Year! I've spent the last week or so cleaning up the debris of Christmas or sick in bed so my obligatory 2012-2013 post about what I've achieved and what goals I have for the new year are a bit late. Let's just say it gave me more time to think about both those ideas and the year ahead, okay?

What did I achieve in 2012?

I graduated from college with a BA in English and a BA in Humanities. I'm very proud of graduating since the last couple years saw me returning to work full time (or more than full time) and going back to school. That's a very full plate in addition to having familial obligations like raising my daughter and spending time with my husband and my friends.

I continued my podcast and made some great new friends online and in real life. My knitting friends continue to be a source of inspiration and strength for me and I don't think I could have made it through the last year without them. My besty came back from 2+ years abroad and spent the holiday with me and I'm so extremely happy that she's back in the U.S. and that we share a time zone.

I didn't keep track of my knitting yardage from last year but I'm pretty sure it still tracked pretty high. Maybe not in the 30k yard range as in previous years but still quite high, nonetheless. I may have had some resolutions from the beginning of the year but I'm pretty happy with my knitting and where it is right now.

How about 2013?

As far as my education goes I'm still planning on attending graduate school at the UW. My application is due in October and I'll find out in December whether or not I've been admitted to the program. I have a lot of work to do for my application so I'd like to work on it over the course of the next 6 months so I don't have to rush any part of the application process. This is the biggie on my to-do list for this year.

The podcast is still going strong (Doubleknit Podcast with my co-host, Jessica) and we're hosting a year-long Deep Stash KAL to focus on older stashed yarns and show them some knitting love. My personal stash outgrew it's confines this last year due to retail therapy and I'm trying to get it back to a comfortable level this year. If you are a member of Ravelry you can join us in the Doubleknit Podcast Fans group and knit your stash down, too!

I'm trying to be a more mindful consumer this year and really pay attention to what I purchase and how I purchase. I'm an emotional shopper and am rather impulsive when it comes to seeing items that are a good bargain. I'd really like to reduce the amount of clutter in my home (took 3 boxes to Goodwill today!) and be happy with the things I already own. Part of this is budgetary since I'm looking at looming school debt but also examining the why and how I think about my life and the stuff that is in it. 

WIP: Gentleman's Sock in Railway Stitch

These are one of my last gifts to knit for the holiday season and I'm a little embarrassed to say they've been lingering on the needles since other things are calling to me and I'm trying to wrap up my school quarter. All week long I've been fighting off some kind of sick* and it finally caught up with me yesterday. I had to miss a birthday celebration and will probably miss another outing tomorrow but the upside is that I finally picked these up again. As of this morning I've turned the heel and am almost done with the gusset decreases. Actually, I turned the heel twice since the first time I failed to read any sort of directions based on my actual stitch count. Note to self, cold medicine and improvisation don't make for well-turned heels.

*I sound like Barry White and can hear out of only one ear.