Forest Hideaway

These green socks have been finished for a while and I think they came out quite well.

I improvised the pattern.  I thought it would be nice to do a travelling rib but then I got bored and went back to stockinette. I continued 3 ribs down each leg to make an angled path though. How they came out two different shades of green I haven't quite figured out yet.  The yarn was in the stash for a few years before the perfect project came along, maybe the outside got a little bleached.

It rained a bit overnight and the sky has been full of interesting clouds today.  Blue sky and sunshine can, in fact, be boring.

Galen (the 17 year old cat) is still with us.  He takes up most of my time and attention thse days with medication, fluids, special diet. and his general love of being petted.  It sucks that he is getting old and infirm but it must be worse to be him (this evening was another where he ate dinner then puked it all back up).  He is extra soft today after getting fluids last night .

Feb 13 2016 

My August Creation

I meant to write, I really did, but every spare moment was tied up making this.

I finished at 10:30 pm 8/31... 90 minutes before the cutoff time. Whew.

Today's Pick: Brooklet Cowl

All finished!  This is my Camp Loopy project & also my Quidditch project for the final round.

Brooklet project page.

My Affection

The "Tailchaser's Shawl" is all done.  I still miss my kitty.

Spreading my Affection

Last weekend Janet & I went to The Getty Villa for the afternoon and had a nice visit.  There was plenty to see: twisty canyon roads, ocean view, shore birds, sea gulls, oh and a roman villa to boot. We had yummy lunch, looked at some art (educational [1]) and sat to knit.  I even managed to picture my shawl among the lavender.

I was only one repeat from the end of the penultimate section here; in the last week I have moved on to the border and the end is in sight.  Unfortunately each row is taking 30 minutes so it feels a little like Zeno's shawl.  Or was it Xeno?  I should look that up.

Previous progress:

Glamp Loopy

It is time for Camp Loopy again and I am all prepared. Our theme is to pick a project that is based on a book or movie (or TV series) and which uses about 400 yards.  I have also been mulling over what project to make to remember Fritti Kitty.  They and a well-timed birthday gift certificate converged and I will make a Tailchaser's Affection.   The hard part now is waiting for the cast on date (6/1)

There is plenty else to do while I am waiting, however.  I have been making lots of blanket squares for the Steampunk Blanket and the end of that project is in sight after two years.  The red socks for Martha passed the last fitting and now I can knit with impunity.  I would like to get the spinning wheel(s) spruced up and ready for the Tour de Fleece and I also have quite a pile of half finished projects staring at me.  Dogkin, Juno Regina, Irtfa'a, and CeCe for starters.

A processed polwarth fleece found a new home with me and I realised that it would make a nice 3 ply for a Sky Ladder blanket... it could be a busy spinning/ knitting summer.

Malted

It's all done!

Malted Me

Still knittin'

Finish Line

Dew Drops - done
 

Color Affection - done

Catkin - 25%

Storm Warning

My little shawl made it in under the wire yesterday for Camp Loopy. 

This was a super fiddly pattern, although clearly written. My downfall was taking this project (with beads, lace AND cables concurrently) to events that I was trying to watch, like baseball games. 

I LOVE it.

Camp Loopy

I cast on yesterday for my Camp Loopy project 1 - "Storm Warning" by Liz Corke.  It is going well, although I also discovered the show "Mad Men" yesterday and did rather more watching than knitting.  But there have been no major mistakes or need to rip back and start over.

The yarn is a blue faced leicester blend.  It is one of my favorite breeds but a bit scratchier than the merinos & mink I have been working with lately.  I still love it beyond all reason.

End of the Line

My first Camp Loopy project is done! It is pinned out on my bed, blocking and drying. First I gave it a good soak and rinse and put fresh sheets on the bed. Bingo is my self appointed sheet monitor, and made sure everything was ready for me to begin pinning out the damp shawl.

Drying as fast as the fan will go. It is very tiny, but very pretty. I could definitely make this again (in a larger size). I might even go wild and use the needles the pattern asks for!

Into the Final Lap

I have managed to make good progress on my Iron Horse shawl this afternoon, although I spent much of the day playing around online. It goes fast when I knit it. I had some minor mistakes but am just *cough*fixing*cough* them as I go along instead of ripping out rows and rows and rows. For some reason the lace seems to go faster than the stockinette rows did; perhaps I am paying more attention. Or maybe it is all those K2tog and SKP stitches eating up the mileage.

The illegal fireworks are really starting to pick up now and the younger dog is hiding under the desk. The older one surely can't hear the booms and bangs over the sound of her own snoring. The doors and windows are secured anyway. Not 20 minutes ago I saw a pitbull flying up the middle of the 7 lane street in front of my house; running away from the noise, I assume. Hmm, I should turn on the light in the birdroom so they are less distressed by the noise.

The new Camp Loopy project is socks or mittens or gloves with cables and the cast on date it 7/15. I found a free pattern for some cute socks with owls on them and have resolved to use some more stash yarn, although I have not gone stash diving in search of the perfect skein. I wavered for a moment (I still have some Christmas Present Credit at The Loopy Ewe), but managed to come to my senses when the cat sneezed on my arm. His vet trip comes before new yarn.

I signed up for the Tour de Fleece, but as I have have now missed the first 3 days entirely, I am giving up. Stick to my knitting, that is the plan.

Whew. The house is starting to release all the heat it soaked up during the day. It might be time for another dip in the tub *brrrr*

Oops

I was reading the pattern for my current shawl project and realized that the needle size bears no relation to the size the pattern recommends. Fabulous. I could have used needles that I already had instead of going bonkers that I needed new ones AND it would be the proper size instead of suspiciously small.

I will just block the holy hell out of it.

More Progress

I have hit the long slog of the stockinette portion of Iron Horse. It is also starting to get heavy and hurt my hands; the 90 minute knitting session last night made my thumb numb. I remembered that pain was one reason I curtailed my knitting so drastically a couple years ago.

But here we are, at repeat 21 of 26 sets of stripes...

...and it still looks like a blob. It is going to be too big to photograph soon... I am about maxed out on needle room. It is month end at work this week and I am catsitting, but I think I can get to the lace portion by Sunday. The due date is 7/15 or before, so I should have plenty of time.

Pulling into the Station

My Iron Horse shawl is coming along nicely. The picture isn't very good, but the project is pleasant and the yarn is heavenly.

I couldn't get much knitting done this weekend due to an overnight trip to Ramona and a day working in the garden, but I really turned up the energy today and have made great progress. I am still concerned about a yarn shortage, but then I remember that lace gets blocked.

I have been keeping up with the Cabin 3 posts on Ravelry and it has been great fun to see what everyone else is up to.

Knitting on the Iron Horse

Quite good progress for a morning's knitting today. It feels good to have yarn in the hands again. Techniques are coming back to me slowly, so I am glad ths is an easy and forgiving project. My major success was working out / remembering how to carry the off color yarn up the side of the work. I wasn't too sure about pink and green together (I keep having flashbacks to 1987), but I think they are working really well. They are also slightly variegated, which adds a lot of visual interest.

I seriously despair that I will have enough yarn, but I always feel that way at the beginning of a lace project.

Break time is over - back to the salt mines!

Camping - the Knitterly Way

I am signing up to participate in Camp Loopy this summer and getting excited about knitting again. Interestingly, my aunt requested a shawl to take to Mass to ward off the air conditioning so now I have might have a new home for my Camp project already lined up!I purchased this yarn a couple years ago for a different project (sorry Karen) but I think it will work well for the challenge - a two color project. I was surprised to find three skeins, and I am sure I can do a lot more with 555 yards than I could have with 370.

I am still mulling over my project options. Stripes seem boring, but I haven't found a pretty pattern that is also free. The one I truly adore, Catkin, is $6. That is a perfectly reasonable price, but I will have to wait a bit before I can justify it.

I washed and blocked the alpaca scarf today (pictures when it is fully dry and finished), wove off the last of the huck lace warp, will wet finish that tonight and am knitting washcloths furiously to restock the soap booth supply box. I am nearly out of my favorite yarn; I will have to "interview" new cotton yarns and find a steady supplier. I remembered this morning that I work 3 miles from one of the largest yarn stores in a two county area and will make a pilgrimage there next week.