KnittinK

It never fails that just when I think to myself “I really have more than enough yarn,” I end up going on a yarn binge shortly thereafter. I was prompted by books becoming eligable for the Webs discount and picked up Folk Shawls, 2nd Barbara Walker, some Kauni, Dream in Color Smooshy, and some closeout Noro. Now I should be set for another couple years. Must start knitting more to use up existing stash.

So it took me a looooooooooooooonnnnng time to learn how to crochet. Margene was super-patient about teaching me how to make a granny square during the course of several weeks at Stitch-n-Bitch.

I’m enjoying all the color combinations. I’m using the same number of colors in the original pattern, although I do enjoy the way some of the limited color palette Babettes look.

I think I’ll be able to get back to using my left hand more fully in a week or so, but I’m glad I finally learned how to crochet!

Some recent yarn purchases:

A bunch of louet gems fingering weight, and a couple skeins of artyarns ultramerino 4. These are destined for a babette blanket. I already have an alarming amount of koigu in my stash, so I’m planning on mixing yarn types. Now I just need to learn how to make granny squares, which I will have to do in the next couple weeks because I’m having minor hand surgery at the end of the month and my left hand might be out of commission for a few days.

At the same time I bought this Zauberball sock yarn in cranberry shades. I think it looks quite intriguing.

And then, almost solely because the name of the colorway was “Hairdresser on Fire,” some Lotus Yarns Aura:

I am almost done with a couple baby blankets I started before my twins were born. One is done and I need to weave in the ends, and I’ve got a little more to knit on the last one.

I have finally managed to finish a pair of socks. I have two or three partial socks that I started and abandoned, but I am quite happy to have finally finished a pair. This is the basic sock pattern from the Yarn Harlot’s Knitting Rules. I did a star toe because horrible mangly things happened when I attempted to kitchener.

I’m quite happy with the results even though there are a few ladders up the sides, I need to get the trick of maintaining tension better when working with dpns, I guess. I made these from a skein of Cherry Tree Hill Supersock that I bought a long time ago. I had quite a bit leftover, so I could have made these much longer. Hopefully I’ll continue to knit socks and I’ll get a better sense of how much sock I can get out of a skein of yarn.

Here’s my first finished project of the new year, the Habu Kusha Kusha scarf.

It was a bit of a slog doing all of that mindless stockinette, but since I’m easily distracted and don’t have much time to knit it was a really good project for me. It felted up nicely in the sink, and I like the way the fabric produced turns the curling edges of stockinette into a design feature. There’s a lot of play value to the scarf, if you scrunch it the stainless steel yarn retains the texture. The merino in my kit was a grey and the silk/stainless steel was a dark blue that looks black but is obviously blue in bright light. I was thinking that when I was done with this I wouldn’t want to knit another one but after wearing it a whole day I started contemplating having another Kusha Kusha scarf in a different color. Maybe in a year or so I might want to knit another one.

I was fortunate enough to receive a bunch of yarn, one of my favorite presents since I don’t tend to go yarn shopping very much any more (stash too big).

My mother-in-law gave me a skein of Shibui worsted (I’m thinking of making a hat or cowl) and Zimmerman’s Knitting Workshop. My husband decided to randomly drive by Blazing Needles and uttered some dangerous words, “Buy whatever you want.” So I picked up a couple skeins of koigu in a dark plummy shade and some Schaeffer Anne in a mix of purple, gold, and green.

I actually have been knitting, I have around 10 inches left on the Kusha Kusha scarf. I also made my sons goofy pointy hats, because I figure I have a limited window of opportunity to make them wear goofy hats.

I wonder if I actually blog a little bit, if it will inspire me to finish a project? I just bought a Habu kit for the Kusha Kusha scarf from a new yarn store (Blazing Needles). The fabric produced by this kit is interesting, since you knit with a fine merino and a silk/stainless steel blend.

You can look at some pictures of yarn taken with a super magnifying camera.

I’m juggling a few projects right now - a mini Dr. Who scarf, a pair of Cherry Tree Hill socks, the ubiquitous Noro Silk Garden striped scarf, and the Moderne Baby Blanket. Here are a couple pics:

This blanket is a bit of a slog. I really need to just set aside some time and resign myself to all the garter stitch. It is a little too big to be very portable though, so I can’t knit it when I go out to the movies. I need to make another one for my other son too. I’m guessing that the twins will be toddlers by the time I’m done with them

I’m exactly halfway done with this scarf. I was able to sneak in some time working on it last weekend, when I went out to the movies a couple times.

My husband got me Koigu for Valentine’s Day!

Well, I finished the basic noro/lamb’s pride scarf I was working on earlier:

And I cast on for another:

This is the chevron scarf from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. I’m doubling some baby alpaca lace weight (the dark forest green yarn) and some Knit Pics merino lace in a variegated green. It is going well so far, except I think I’m slightly allergic to the alpaca, so I can only knit a few rows at a time.

I was quite psyched to get some Noro Sock Yarn today. That’s color #184 (olive, magenta, and teal) on the top and #95 (lime green, magenta, peach, and orange) on the bottom. The yarn does feel a bit like twine, so it’ll be interesting to see how it softens up. I’m wanting to make something with a pattern to show off the colorways, maybe Pomatomus? Since I have only knit 3 partial socks before though, I think I’m going to use the Noro sock yarn as a bribe for finishing some simple socks knit from something else.

This is another scarf that is destined to be a gift. I’m trying to be a much better person about knitting from stash, so I’m using around a ball and a half of Noro Kureyon I had left over from my Lady Eleanor Scarf and some purple Lamb’s Pride Worsted. This is a simple K1 P1 rib scarf, alternating two rows of each yarn. Unfortunately I’m running low on the Kureyon, and the recipient wants a very long scarf. So I’ve decided that asymmetry will be a design feature. I’m going to knit the rest of it just in the Lamb’s Pride and finish it off with a couple stripes of Kureyon at the end.

A couple spiral hats I made as presents for a couple of my friends:

It is tough to see any detail in the navy one, but this blobby thing is a nice hat, I swear:

This was made with some Berroco Uxbridge Tweed I had in my stash.

Another stash hat, this time with some Noro Silk Garden:

This was a nice pattern, the spiral rib made it a little more interesting to knit and hats are quick and easy, which is always good for holiday knitting!

I am on ravelry, somewhat sporadically:

http://www.ravelry.com/people/gnat/

I’m enjoying the stash cataloging aspect. If I had time, I’d start uploading pictures of my yarn. Unfortunately there are a limited number of hours in a day!

Here are two baby sweaters my twins will never wear:

These are baby yoda sweaters that I made out of Mission Falls cotton. I started working on them before the twins were born, and after they arrived it took me too long to finish them, because the babies’ arms are now far too chubby for the sweaters. I think at some point I will frog the sweaters and use the yarn to make some hats. Alas! I think if I try to make baby sweaters again, I’ll try to make something in a 1-2 year size that is much more blocky, maybe a Baby Surprise Jacket?

In other news, I got some knitpicks harmony needles:

They are very pretty. Since I spent over 30$ on the sock needle set, I am determined to actually knit and finish a pair of socks. I’ve knit partial single socks before, and I’ve decided that this is the year I will finally break through my mental block about knitting socks.

Well this is a note to remind myself to start posting here again - I actually have been knitting a few things, and need to start taking some pictures and blogging. Having two babies to knit for is nice, but so far I’ve managed to knit two baby sweaters that no longer fit their chubby arms

I decided to make an investment in yarn with part of my state tax refund. Here’s a couple skeins of Sea Silk, one in Blackberry and one in Renaissance.

The Blackberry is actually a larger than normal hank, so I might be able to get a shawl out of it!

Here are some sweater parts, made out of Mission Falls 1824 cotton. I really like the nubby texture of this yarn! I have some more sweater parts to make for another matching sweater, and then I’m going to sew both up at once.

Take a gander at this knit dress. I think the disembodied hands clutching the knitting needles make it extra spooky.