Woo-hoo!

I was meeting with KK yesrterday afternoon, showing her the stuff she missed last Wednesday. I had tossed my felted alpaca mittens in too. Lots of ooo's and oohhs.

The bonus happened when Favorite Children's Librarian came over, saw the stuff and offered to pay me for teh mittens and a scarf for Soon-to-be-Retired-Librarian! Woo-hoo!

I want to knit a new mitten seeing as how the ones I have on hand are not the same size. And the scarf will be a snap.

FCL also hinted broadly enough for me to catch it that she would like a recycled sari yarn scarf. I dunno if she'll offer money for that, but who cares at this point. With what she offered for the mittens and scarf, I'll recoup the cost of the alpaca.

6 skeins paid for. Oh to count what I have left to go makes my head spin......

Woo-hoo! New camera works great! Here's some pics of the latest projects:

Socks using a K2, P2 ribbing in Knitpicks Essential in Peacock Multi. I cast on more for the leg and decreased every 10 rows. It is fanning out more than I would like. My next pair, I only added 8 sts for the leg. We'll see if that makes a difference. They are fuzzing up a little fter a wash, but then I was warned about that.

Next are the felted bowls . I used Paton's Merino Wool in Harvest with 2 strands as one. I needle knitted the third one using the One Skein pattern. It felted nicely. But of course, I want to see what the Knifty Knitter can do. I used the yellow, red and blue. The fourth one was from the red loom, I think. It has a great spiral coloring to it. Next time I make these I will only knit up about 5 inches worth of bowl. I like the squattier ones better. It took two cycles in the wash to get the textures I wanted. Oh, I'll also use Lion Brand wool for the next set. Different colors, brighter.

Next are the alpaca felted mittens using the Vogue Gloves and Mittens book. The camera makes them look way more purply than they really are. I used alpaca from a company that is closing down. *sigh* Three strands as one. They knitted up very close to size. The felted seemed to only break the fleece down, not shrink the mittens too much. I cast on a little too tight. And no, they are not the same size. I bungled the second one somehow. Or maybe the first one. I forget. Anyway, the first one I tried to get all fancy and Kitchener the hand and oof! So the second one I knitted to spec. But now the second one looks a wee bit nipply on the hand and thumb. Oh, and I used the felted measurements but the basic mittens instructions so the mittens would be interchangeable.

Ah yes, our last entry is the Jayne Cobb hat. I sed Red Heart acrylic. My Brown Coat Friend felt that Mrs. Cobb would have used cheap yarn. And since it was what I had on hand, then so be it.

Anyway, the pattern is from yarndemon. I used two strands as one and discovered it was thivker than the bulky yarn specifed in the pattern. But I used the measurements as listed. I like the depth of the hat but the ear flaps are too long for my happiness. She tosses in some short rows in the ear flap to help with the flip out. That was cool. She also has the forehead in stockinette. I don't know if I'll go with that next time. But the pattern was well and clearly written.

And no one else in the family will wear it. I'll ask my Brown Coat Friend.....

New Yarn and a new Camera

Whoo-hoo! My Valentine's Day present from Himself was delivered today! KnitPicks yarn and a tape measure. Here's a list of what I got.

Daffodil Wool of the Andes
Pumpkin Wool of the Andes
Firecracker Heather WotA
Meteor Twist Essential
Russet Essential Tweed
Clematis Heather Palette
Red Palette
Verdant Heather Palette
Spring Tape Measure
Shoreline Twist Essential
Purple Palette

Yes, mostly sock yarn. But some for a Jayne Cobb Hat. Yeah!

I've started the cable sock again. Much better when the cables go the way they are supposed to. The next pair will be a four-st garter rib. I'll even try two socks on 2 circs. ooooOOOOoooo, AHHHHHhhhhh.

OH! The camera. Yes, Himself spent a chunk of the tax refund on a new digital camera. The battery needed charging. I'll see waht pics I can snap and post this weekend.

A-felting we will go

I was sick yesterday. (I almost typed "in bed all day," and it being Valentine's and all, but that's not why I was in bed.....)

The Girl watched Redwall over and over again. I got to knit. I finished my mittens and they are felting right now. They knitted up close to size so maybe alpaca doesn't shrink as much as wool does.

I am also felting 4 wool bowls. I think I have a loom knitting pattern for them too. Pretty wasy, though. The felting would be the new territory covered in the pattern.

Maybe I'll get a new camera with the tax refund. Or I could post a wanted on Freecycle.

I also frogged the pair of socks I had started. I cabled the wrong way on the first repeat and decided I didn't like it. I also don't like the way my leg decreases went. So, I'll redo it all.

I am about halfway done on Katybug's prayer shawl. It's gonna be big. I hope she like blue....

I think my camera is dead *sigh*

It is freaking out as I turn it on. Maybe, just maybe it's the batteries. I hope it is not dead. My tax refund is slated for beaucoup gobs of other things..... like yarn.

I finished a pair of socks using Knit Picks Essential Peacock Multi. I used a K3P2 rib and heel flap and all that stuff.

I thought the socks looked big, but they are comfortable. The cotton/elastic blend socks I made are a little small. So i guess I have to figure out what my ideal fit is.

I again cast on 20 more than the pattern asked for and decreased 2 sts every 5 rows until I got to the pattern's required number of sts.

I took a stab at the heel turn on my own and it turned out wonky. Too many sts on one end. I didn't want it frog the second one, so I know it's wonky and will strive to not point it out. "Hey! I made these socks, but the heel is wonky." Nope, not gonna so it.

At Wed night's knitting circle (welcome to Debbie, our newest member), I asked Knitting Kathy what the deal was. She explained the general idea of knitting/purling over a number of sts and when you turn your work, you want to go that number back but need to include the sts on the end in your count. She even drew me a picture I'll glue in my sock book to help me pull my head out when I brain-cramp.

Now I have to choose which pattern and which yarn to use next. *sigh* decisions, decisions.

I made 15 rows' progress on Katybug's prayer shawl. The kids were around for part of it and then my husband brought up the sore subject of baseball, so there may be a couple of rows I'll need to re-charge before I am done.

It looks like this'll be a 3 skein project. It'll be long, it's already wide. I am hesitant to add fringe to it. The Lion Brand Homespun doesn't hold up well with a cut end.

Next time I do a prayer shawl, I'll use a KK long loom. Maybe it'll go faster. Or maybe I'll have better focus.

Then there's the mittens. No real progress on that.

And the felted bowls are coming along. I knit one using the One Skein pattern, That went well, until I realized I don't have two #11 circs. Thanks to Knitting Kathy who suggested I use a 10 and an 11. It's all going to be felted anyway.

Then I switched to the red KK, using a slightly modified drawstring cast-on. It knitted up well. So I took it to the blue and then the yellow KKs.

The project from the Blue has a cool broad color spiral. The one from the yellow also has a spiral going, but it is much thinner as the yarn is covering a significantly larger area.

When I have enough laundry that'll hold up to a hot wash (hm, maybe it *is* time to do the towels), I'll felt them all.

I would like to get a pic of them though.

*sigh*

It helps to have frends in the library

Wednesday night knitting group unreaveled early tonight. The coffee shop we descended upon claosed at 7! After my bad day with the kids (you can go to my LiveJournal entry for that part), I didn't want to go home. I headed over to Border's bought clearance stuff and knitted.

At least the knitting group was impressed with the felted bag. And a friend of mine in Texas wants one too!

I did frog what I had of my peacock multi sock. I was trying to be cute on leg decreases and they looked horrible. Then there were the odd added/dropped stitches. Even I couldn't blow them off. This new edtion is much better.

My knitting friends work at the library. They are wonderful. They brought me two of Cat Bordhi's books. I am jazzed about her Moebius technique. My wedding band is a Moebius strip. ooooOOOOOooooo. So I want to make a hat and maybe some baskets or mukluks with that.

I just want to sit in the tub and knit.

Seems to be a color pattern

Here's my first attempt at felting. And I must say I am really happy with it. It's the Messenger Bag pattern from Knitting for Peace. I used Knit Picks Wool of the Andes Shamrock in Callahan. So it was this cool purply blue with a strand of pink through it.

This pic is of the bag before felting. I followed the directions - mostly. I knit the bottom according to spec and the sides and flap to spec. The strap was the the asked for 44". I used all 10 skeins of yarn I had purchased and was *this close* tp ordering more. Of course, if I ordered more, it would have been another batch of a bazillion balls. I really like the yarn.

And here is the bag just after I pulled it from the wash. OK, well, almost as soon as I pulled it out of the washer. I swped one of Himself's storage show boxes and coered it with a Tarjay bag to help it shape up. I ran it twice through the cycle. The fabric is solid. I had to stretch the flap a bit to get it to cover the bag. But it wasn't any major problem. The strap is perfect for me. One i use it a bit, I'll decide if I'll line it all to help stop any stretching out from usage.

Even my friend WhiskeyJack was impressed. Well, not impressed but she did like the result.


These are the coks I knitted up for the Girl. I made myself a pair using Cascade Yarns Fascination. Stretchy cotton, what a concept. It's a blue, purple and teal color scheme. (Yes, I do like the cooler colors. Wat 'til I finish my next pair of socks......)

Anyway, I made myself a pair of sock with a larger than asked for leg section because of my firm well-developed (GRRR!) calves. I cast on what? 66? then decreased by two every 10 rows to get to 56. I was using the Sensational Knitted Socks 4-stitch pattern chart. I made them both with a K2P2 ribbing.

I finished mine with 2 partial balls and a whole ball left. I thought, "Sure I knit up a pair for the Girl." She agreed, but wanted knee socks. Man, it was tense on the second sock. I knit so tightly on that one just to make sure I had enough yarn left, the sock is smaller than the first one. I did have yarn left - about a yard. The second toe is all messed up. Never parent two 4 - 5 yos while you are working the Kitchener stitch.

My next projects are:
- a Jayne Hat on a Knifty Knitter. I'll use my leftover acrylic on that.
- 2 prayer shawls. I have started one ofr my friend, Katy in TN. I am using Lion Homespun in Colonial for those. And any others until I use up the on sale 10 skein batch I bought a while back.
- more socks. This first pair will be with KP's Essential in Peacock Multi. Then another in Risata. That'll be a cable sock. And another in another multi color scheme that I don't remember.
- and any more of those messenger bags.
- More Jayne hats in proper wool if I let WJ have her way
- dishcloths as I feel like it and soap bags.

Hm, I'm not bored, that's for sure.....