not dead!

   I am not dead.  I've just been exhausted, busy, and excited about new things!  I have a couple of finishes to catch you all up on over the next few days.  But in the meantime, here's what I'm currently working on.

Pattern: Fancy Feet Anklets base pattern, subbing a different lace pattern

Yarn: Knit Picks Comfy Fingering

Colorway: Lilac

   Just a simple pair of anklet socks, based on a pattern I have used many times in the past.  This time, however, I substituted another lace pattern in for one of the options provided by the pattern.  Yesterday morning I finished up the cuff and BO on the first sock and knit the toe of the second while enjoying a couple cups of coffee and watching the birds.  It was a fantastic weekend with fantastic weather!

   I've got big knitting plans for the summer which involve only my existing stash.  If all goes according to plan, three months of knitting projects will cost me around $11.00.  The cost being only for pattern purchases.

  My big project will be a pair of Apirka Socks.  I've had this Knit Picks kit for a while (since cyber monday maybe?) but have not had the nerve to attempt another pair of stranded socks.  The reviews on the pattern are not so hot, but the socks are gorgeous.  I'm prepared to do some tinkering with the pattern gauge to get a good fit.  So, these should be a challenge to say the least.

And I even swatched! In the round! Now I'm not anxious about this project. Well, anxious to CO, not anxious about knitting the pattern.

As for sweaters, I'm ready to cast on Uma in this Mirasol Sawya in black that I bought a while back.

   I'm also waiting for the release of Windswept from Tin Can Knits.  I think this blue T'ika would be fantastic knit up as an easy, casual pullover.  Hopefully the pattern is released soon, but not so soon that it distracts me from the projects above before they are finished.

   So here's hoping I can stay on track and on the sheep this summer.  

Weekly WIP Report 4.14.13

   This isn't exactly a weekly report; more like bi-monthly.  Things have been busy as ever the last couple of weeks in addition to me getting a cold and generally feeling like crap for the last several days (nothing a couple of lazy days and lots of knitting time couldn't fix).  I'm starting to feel a lot better.

   Here's what I accomplished.

   This was the update photo I was going to share with all of you on Thursday, but that didn't happen.  Since, Thursday however, Miriam has come a long way.  Here's what she looks like as of today.

   I managed to knit the sleeves and begin the raglan shaping.  It's a relief that my rows are getting shorter as I work my way up to the neckline, but I know that I'll have to knit the garter stitch neckline and that will be an ordeal.  I knit the sleeves two at a time.  Not my favorite method, but I knew it would be much easier to get them both done at the same time so I could move on to the exciting bits.  So far, I've used 6.5 balls of simply cotton sport.  I think I need to give my wrists a break before I attach the 7th ball.  Maybe I'll get started on seaming the sleeves up or get a start on the next chart of Santa's Village.   

   Now that the low temperatures are consistently above freezing for several days at a time, I've been wearing my cotton socks instead of my usual wool and boots combo.  So I thought I'd work another pair of anklet socks.  The pattern I'm using for the pair above is based on the Fancy Feet Anklets Kit from Knit Picks, but I sort of do my own thing until I get to the heel.  This particular lace pattern is not included in the kit.  I swapped in one from a stitch dictionary for something a bit different.

overloaded

   This week I've been especially productive at work and overall on top of my game (working out in the mornings and going to bed at a decent hour).  This means that during the couple of hours I get to work on a project at the end of the day, it needs to be something extremely uncomplicated.  No lace.  No cables.  No colorwork.  Nothing that actually involves my brain to be present at all.  Which is why I'm glad I happened to cast on a new cardigan late last week.  Lately I haven't kept to my WIP or stash rules, but I think for now, I should work on whatever makes me happy at the moment.  As long as I'm working on something, my stash is shrinking.

       That there is Miriam, a sport weight cardigan that is nothing but garter stitch and stockinette.  The perfect mindless knit.  I'm using Knit Picks Simply Cotton Sport (now discontinued) in Haze Heather, a sort of heathered lavender color, that looks a bit more grown up than the lavender my teenaged self chose as the wall color for my bedroom in my parents house.  I think this piece will be a welcome simple layering piece in my wardrobe.

   I've been knitting for about 4 years now and I've knit many sweaters over that time, but this is my first sweater knit in a smaller gauge yarn than DK.  I'm easily amused by how much drape I'm getting in this fabric simply because of the lighter weight yarn.  

   However, knitting in sport weight is slow going.  Especially, since I have to be careful to not overdo it with the cotton to save my wrists some pain.  That 3 1/2 inch band of garter stitch at the bottom took me 3 days to knit!  I'm not really a fan of knitting garter stitch anyway (I'm a rare purling lover), but I do love how thick and squishy the fabric is.    

   Overall, I love everything about this yarn with one huge caveat. Why must they make the ends so hard to find!  This is a failed attempt to fish the end out of center of the ball.  Instead of finding the end, I managed to make a huge knot somewhere in the center and had to resort to pulling from the outside.  We'll see what kind of mess awaits me when I knit down to the center.  

Mrs. Claus

  Mrs. Claus now has her very own cookie shop in my Santa's Village piece.  I have to admit that I slacked a bit on stitching this one and didn't finish stitching until last night!  I took the photos this morning since I missed the last of the daylight yesterday.  I was still stitching!  I just barely made it on schedule and officially finished stitching Mrs. Claus' Cookie Shop March 31st.

Mrs. Claus finishes the first row of Santa's Village.  From L to R:

Santa's House

Poinsettia Place

North Pole Post Office

Mrs. Claus' Cookie Shop

Floss: all DMC as charted

Fabric: Wichelt Amber Linen (32 count, 2 over 2)

(please excuse my wrinkled fabric)

:)

  I'm waiting to get the next chart in the mail.  For the next row, I may omit the red and white striped border along the top of the houses, but I'm still deciding.

Weekly WIP Report 3.31.13

   Happy Easter Everyone!  Today is a gorgeous day in Nebraska and I intend to put it to good use.

   This week has been hectic as usual, but I did get in some good crafting time.  Gemma is slowly growing.  I've got yet another increase row to go on the yoke, so it is slow going until I can split the sleeves and body.

   In fact, I've already started to cheat a bit on Gemma with some sport weight cotton.

   But I'll be spending most of today trying to finish this...

I've slacked a lot on this month's Santa's Village chart.  So hopefully, I can get this one done today and stay on track.

swatching

   I've been swatching with my new yarn and making some decisions.  I knit both of the following swatches on US 5 needles and got the same gauge post-blocking; however, these are two very different fabrics.

   The blue swatch is Mirasol Yarn T'ika (a 100% Pima Cotton dk weight) and the grey swatch is Cascade 220 Superwash (a very light worsted weight wool).  I originally intended, the cotton to be a Gemma Cardigan, but knit at this gauge, the fabric of my swatch is very stiff and I don't think the cotton will wear well in a fairly structured cardigan meant for everyday wear.  I do however, think that knit at a looser gauge, this yarn would be perfect for a garment with a bit more drape.  I've been considering something like Olive Basket for this yarn. 

   The Cascade swatch was a bit stiff before blocking, but after a soak it softened up nicely.  Thanks to the ambiguous definition on this yarn's weight, knitting it as a dk weight should help restrict the characteristic superwash growth especially since I hate having to machine dry anything hand knit. Although, superwash in general is a bit unpredictable for me.

   I chose to cast on Gemma using the Cascade 220 superwash and so far, so good.  Here's hoping my yarn choices are getting better with experience.  

stash enhancement

   I might have fallen off the wagon a bit.  Not only did I place an order at elann.com last week, I also visited my LYS this weekend.  I was good for a whole 115 days before this little slip up.  The damage is done.   At least no MadelineTosh made it home with me.

  I picked up 14 skeins, then another 2 skeins (when I thought better of the yardage) of Mirasol Yarn T'ika in blue.  This yarn was billed as navy blue, but it is really a royal blue.  I think it might make a nice Olive Basket Cardigan.

   I also couldn't resist a couple of skeins of Manos del Uruguay Wool Clasica in Cirrus, an icy blue color.  I have no idea what these two skeins want to be, but I'm thinking a chunky cowl is never a bad idea.

  Lastly, I decided that I need some quality basics in my closet.  So I dropped by my LYS for yarn for a daily staple cardigan, and came home with 6 balls of Cascade 220 superwash.

   This should keep me busy for a while.