Its magic

I had no idea that all I have to do is mention something on the blog and *poof* I'll get it done. I don't know if it works all the time but I'm glad it did.

After I turned off my computer I sat on my comfy couch and glanced over at my craft corner. I thought to myself "just grab the friggin darning needle and get the darn thing done" and I did.

I closed up the top of my hat and wove in the ends.


Basic formula is that I made a swatch, multiplied the stitch count by like 19 inches, casted on magic loop, two by two ribbing for an inch or so then mistake rib stitch until the length looked right, decrease 8 times evenly spaced every other round. The yarn was spun from Spunky Club by the way.

I was so motivated after that that I grabbed my socks and finished them off using EZ's sewn bind off while watching my housewives (don't judge me).


Basic formula is that I magic casted on 8 stitches for the toe (two at a time) and increased until it fit my foot. I was at a barbeque at the time and Bean helped me work out the cable pattern. I used the heel from that Two at at a Time socks book but the toe up one. I knit until I started to run out of yarn and ribbed until I got bored. The yarn is Socks that Rock in the Beryl colorway (I think)

I'm going to go out on a limb and try to challenge myself to blog this whole week (gasp). Lets see if the magic from this blog hasn't faded just yet.

A bit of randomness

Is blogging like riding a bike? I was just sitting here going through my blog reader wondering why I haven't posted anything in a while. To tell the truth, there really is no reason. I just kept on making excuses in my head but that doesn't explain where my blog writing avoidance stems from. I'm kinda thinking aloud here so this may seem very random although it may make perfect sense to me. I think aloud, you could say I talk to myself but this is the way that helps me have a better understanding of a situation. It just bugs me that I enjoy reading craft blogs (even if they don't have pictures) but I can't seem to find the same pleasure in writing one. My nature is to seek logic and this situation makes no sense to me. Maybe it has something to do with me being my worst critic. I avoid things that I don't excel at and expressing myself in written word form is certainly one of them. but on the other hand, when I suck at something, I like to work on it until I have mastered it, then start chasing the next windmill. In all honesty, I partly started this blog so that I would have no choice but to work on my writing so at this point, I'm refusing to give up. Maybe I can use this blog in a theraputic way to help me get over myself. All I know is that I'm not ready to give up this blog until I have this thing figured out.

Sorry for going off on a tangent but inspiration hit and I just figured I'd go with the flow. I don't really have anything crafty to show but its been so long I forget what's been showcased already and what hasn't.

Knitting
Right now I'm working on knitting a pair of Leyburn socks (ravelry link) in some Yarn Pirate sock yarn from the stash. Its really, really thin but nice. I just finished the heel and I'm working my way up the cuff.

I'm also working a labor of love which is a saddle shoulder sweater for my son. I'm trying to work through my stash so I figured I'd knit something for the little one. I'm fashioning it the same dimensions as a sweater that he already owns. I had to do it this way because I'm using the "instructions" from Barbara Walkers Knitting from the Top. I didn't use the word pattern because the book basically gives you the recipe and you have to customize it yourself. I love the way this is working out because I can make certain style descisions as I go along. So far I've done the body and I'm still deciding what I want to do with the hem. I can't decide between ribbing or a folded hem. I'll probably decide by this weekend.

Thats about it for knitting although I have taken a vow to finish my Primavera (ravelry link) by the end of Primavera. I only have the last step to do which is to pick up a gazillion stitches around and knit a cute, lacy border. I just need to knock it out so that I can wear it before summer hits.

This post is already long enough, so I'll end it here. Hopefully it won't take me so long to post again.

Peace

Party over here!

Poor, poor neglected blog. I blame ravelry, only because I want to deflect the blame off of myself. Yes, bad, bad ravelry indeed. I haven't been on Ravelry much lately either....well then I'll blame laziness, yup, thats who dunnit!

I kid, I kid but I have been keeping my crafty self busy but first lets start with the big shindig Sahara and I hosted this past weekend. I'm speaking of our 3rd annual Sistah Friends Knitta-que. We got booted out of our regular spot on St Nicholas Ave so we scooted the party down a block or so. We still had a grand ole time and I think everybody left there a couple of pound heavier ( I know I did).
Sahara & Kim scoping out the location.....
Kimmie & her Frickie gearing up for some impromtu lessons
Veronica maxin' & relaxin'Grill shotMy little one playing with his Transformer waiting for the other kids to arrive
The two kewlest dudes I know!Sherrin showing off her remixed Juliet (fabulous!)
Shameka icing up some sinfully delicious red velvet cupcakes (yum) Tawana, her mini me & SherrinThe littlest (and cutest by far) barbequerXenobia catching a bite

Last but not least, Sahara, the brainchild behind this entire event. If she hadn't of dreamt this idea up 3 years ago, then we wouldn't have had a chance to connect and celebrate with our knitting cyber 'friends in our heads'. I thank you for that and all the energy and resources you put into making this event happen. Big ups!

I thought I had a picture of Veronica but I guess I was too busy talking her ear off to pull out my camera. I appreciate all the sistahfriends that came out to represent, thank you for trekking all the way to Harlem in the name of Sistahhood. I must say that I am disappointed in all the no shows. I'm not gonna rant but the lack of consideration did get to me a bit. Anyhoo, thats about it as far as the event went. We're already brainstorming for next years event!

Now on the the WIP's & FO's, Knitting & Crocheting, Spinning & Sewing. Actually there hasn't been any sewing, I was just trying to go with the flow. I'm working on two project right now, a stay at home project and a travel project. I've been working on my home project for a while now [goes to check ravelry], since June! Its a shrug I'm planning on rocking this fall called Primavera. The pattern is by the very talented (and friend in my head) Rosi G. When I first saw this pattern, I knew I had to have it. I casted on immediately and knit on it with a passion until it got to big to travel with. Hopefully I'll have it done by September. Here's my progress so far.

My travel project is of course a pair of socks. I've gotten comfortable with doing them one at time. The trick to beating second sock syndrome is to cast on for the second sock immediately after finishing the first. I mean you can't even delay for a minute, believe me it works. The pattern is the Riverbed master pattern from Cat Bordhi's sock book. The leaf stitch pattern is #169 from the Japanese book Knitting Pattern Book 300. I'm love the pattern, love the yarn, love this sock. I should be done soon and on to the next thing.

In between working on the shrug and starting these socks, I got a little obsessed with making .....washcloths. When I say obsessed, I mean, I made 4 in 4 days. Here's they all are but they may look a little beat up because my family and I have already started using them. I'm planning on making some more soon.

This post is pretty long already so I'll save the spinning & crocheting for the next time I post. Hopefully that will be sooner rather than later. Till then, be breezy!

Neglected

I've been writing posts in my head for the longest but I think the title explains the state of this here blog to the T. I've also neglected other recreational items in my life such as picture taking and commenting on blogs. I think thats about all I'll spend on that subject so lets move things along and I'm going to try my best not to make this into a marathon post.

In the meantime & in between time I've been dippin and dabbin in a bit of quilting, knitting and spinning. You ever have a project that gets you so frustrated that you just want to scream but you refuse to give up? Thats how I feel about The Quilt. It currently sits in a corner, fully pin basted waiting for further instruction. I'll try and keep it brief but what had happened was I intended to finish said quilt in time to gift to my Nana for mothers day. Next thing I know, mothers day is right around the corner and I haven't done a thing on it since having basted it. So I try and hand quilt one of the squares and it took my like 2 hours (no lie). I figured that wouldn't work but I'm too cheap right now to buy a quilting (even feed) foot so my regular presser foot should work right? NO! I'm getting upset all over again just thinking about it so I'll just say, I'm not planning on picking that project back up anytime soon.

Knittings been a bit slow go. Rather I've been crocheting up some baby things for some impromptu baby showers which you can view in my ravelry. Other than that, I started seeming up The Sweater. If you don't know which sweater I'm talking about then check the archives like back to January 2007 (yeah 2007!). I have the shoulders and one sleeve connected and I'm halfway through the second belt. Hopefully I'll be able to wear it to Rhinebeck this year. I started another sweater but its not doing it for me as much right now. I finished the back, and both fronts in three days. I'm doing both sleeves at the same time and I kinda lost steam. eh. Other than that I knit a some socks.

Oh yes, the socks. because I hate to feel like I'm missing something, I once again joined the sock swap for my Sit n Knit group (again, I'll try and keep it brief). My partner stated that she liked Argyle so I was oh so happy to oblige. only problem is that I don't have that much experience with fair isle/intarsia but what the hey. I knew from the start that I would do fair isle rather then the traditional argyle technique. I tried to write a pattern myself but I spent like 2 weeks just wasting time cause I ended up not liking any of them. I then bumped into my blogger bingo buddy Glenna at the Yarn Harlots book signing. I go to her ravelry page to make her a friend and I see that she designed a pair of fair isle knee highs. I harass her for the pattern and she was gracious enough to send the info my way. I tried it with Glennas chart but it was too puckery because I'm such a neophyte (one of my words of the day and I actually got to use it!) at fair isle. So I ended up using the chart from Eunny's site. Glennas pattern was so easy to follow but there is bit of number crunching to do. I flew through the pattern but I still was only able to knit just one sock :-(. I ended up giving my partner (Lyni) the yarn so she could finish the second one if she wished.

I felt so bad about not handing her a finished pair that I ended up making her a pair of anklets out of koigu. The pattern is the Feet First knitalong pattern from the Spring Simply Knitting Magazine. I also made her a simple drawstring bag but of course I forgot to take a picture of it.

My current commuter knitting is the Vinnland sock pattern in some mystery sock yarn I received in a swap. Sure is pretty though.

I've talked enough for one post so I'll show off the spinning next time. As far as my prize winners, I'll try an get those things out to you guys this weekend. I've been kinda lazy but I'm trying to nip that in the bud. Later kiddies.

In Progress

I had a couple of minutes to myself so I figured I'd put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard depending on how you look at it ) and write a little sumthin sumthin.

Well I've been suffering hard from Knitters ADD. I've been having serious gauge issues lately which seems to fuel my project polygamy. I think its true when they say that your knitting is directly related to your mood. I've been wanting to blog for the longest just to get some thought out of my head but my mind feels like its being pulled off in fifty million directions. I just don't feel centered on one thing and I'm thinking its the holidays that have me feeling like an erratic mad woman. So I apologize if this post seems like I'm off somewhere else (because I am). Anyway, on with the show.

UGhhhh

Here are the mishaps that have had my knickers in a bunch (dontcha just love that expression).

First off is the bog jacket I planned for Little Boy Blue. I love Elizabeth Zimmermans patterns but being the impatient person that I am I didn't read the whole unpattern through properly before writing up my notes. I was OK with the sweater until I got the shoulders. I had planned to put all the bells and whistles on this jacket including the longer sleeves, shoulder shaping and back neck shaping. My downfall came from placing the shoulder shaping in the wrong spot. You can clearly see in this photo that there is no way to correct this without ripping out the whole top of the sweater and frankly thats not going to happen (please pay no attention to my mess in the background) I'm not a big fan of garter stitch so I can't see myself starting this pattern all over right now. I just have to take an L on this one and wash my hands of it.

Next up in the Ugh category is a project that was more than a year in the making. In August of 2006 I made a feeble attempt to make a fair isle mitten. All I managed to knit since then was about an inch of ribbing. Fair isle still seems to intrigue me but I have yet to finish one project that I've started using stranded knitting (case in point). So I decided to suck it up and try and bring this thing back into my knitting rotation. I already had about an inch of ribbing done on size 000 dpns so it took me about an hour to finish up the rest of the ribbing for the cuff. After that I got into the fair isle pattern and I was a giddy little knitter watching the pattern form. Then something told me that this looked kind of small. SO I tried it on and lo & behold, it was too small. Again, I do not wish to start ALL over again so this will sit in the corner until I know what the heck I want to do with it.

Instant Gratification Knitting

In between those mishaps, I've done a little knitting to get my mind off of the failures. The first one was out of necessity. Little boy blue needed some mittens so of course his mama had to make some for him.
These are the Target Mittens from the Knitting Nature book but I used the pattern in last years winter interweave knits. I used Plymouth Encour DK and you can find all the stats here on Ravelry.

DJ (my significant other) has been bugging me for a while now to make him a hat like the Marvin Gaye reminiscent one Eddie Murphy wore in Dreamgirls. I practically sat with picture in my lap while I crocheted the hat using odd balls of acrylic yarn. He loved it even though I took so long to make it. I even made him another one the very next day. I think they go great with his locs.

In Progress

Right now I'm working on some socks as travel knitting. I'm using the sock hop blogged about here on size 1's. I'm not really happy with this project but it gets me through the commute. The pattern is one of the rib ones from the More Sensational Knitted Socks book.

Next up is a vest that I started while at Rosi's post Thanksgiving get together. I scored this chunky yarn at Rhinebeck this year and I knew I wanted to make a nice V neck vest to go over a button down shirt. My inspiration is from my Traditional Fair Isle Knitting book and I'm using my Handy Dandy Notebook for the vest part. I'm using 2 three row patterns alternating with a 9 row and 13 row pattern in between. I may be about half way done and I'm hoping that the wonkiness will subside with some aggressive blocking.

Lastly I just started a new winter set starting with a hat. Right now I'm using my hat, scarf and mittens from last year and it just won't due. What kind of knitter would I be if I can't supply myself with a coordinating hat and scarf. Come on. Anyway, the yarn is some Caron brushed acrylic that I scored at Smileys a while ago. Of course I'm using my Handy Dandy Notebook for the pattern. I'm planning on alternating rows of stockinette, reverse stockinette and seed stitch for this hat. Once the hat is done I'm planning on knitting a Bainbridge scarf to match.

Thats about it. I am working on a detailed sheep to shawl project right now but I'll save that for another post. I also joined the WOW sock club. I'm using that in conjunction with Margene's earlier idea of wrapping them up to make it more of a surprise. Well until next time and if I don't have the chance to tell you hope you all have a wonderful Holiday.

Remarkable Feats in Spinning

Favorite Quote from the TV Show Martin:

If I say a duck could pull a truck, then shut up and hook the sucka up!

-Jerome

That quote loosely translates to “If I tell you something to be true, then take my word for it”.

I accomplished my own remarkable feat this evening that I had to come out of blog hibernation to share it. Drum roll please………I SPUN 4 OUNCES OF FIBER ALL ON ONE SINGLE LOUET BOBBIN!(and the crowd goes wild, yaay!) It may not seem like anything out of the ordinary to the mere mortal but this is a great accomplishment for me. I spun the singles on one bobbin, then wound it into a center pull ball. I then took an extra step and wound the two ends together into a two ply ball (using an empty tp roll). Tonight I plied it and I was so determined to get this whole thing onto one bobbin so I wouldn’t have to split up the skein. Well I'll let the picture speak for itself.

I haven’t taken any stats as of yet but this is the fiber I started spinning at the sistahfriends knitta-que. I started out with 4 ounces of Crown Mountain Farms Superwash Merino roving in the Happy Together colorway. I’ll have more details once it’s had a good washing. As you can see it’s roughly 20 w.p.i (sock yarn, woo hoo!) but that will slightly change once it’s gone for a dunk .

Since I’m already blogging, here’s my last FO.

I made these socks with yarn I won on Nikki’s blog. The yarn is Elann Esprit which is a cotton and elastic mix. I believe it’s comparable to Cascade Fixation but I may be mistaken. I used the seeded rib pattern from the Second Sensational Knitted Socks Book, toe up of course. I fittingly call them my Pink Zebra socks. Dare I say that the color pink is really starting to grow on me (I’ll deny I ever said that later). I think this marks my second pair of socks knit for the Summer of Socks. See, I not only slack on blogging but on sock knitting also, I'm well rounded that way.

Well I’m off to catch Tim Gunns' new show but I couldn’t resist tooting my own horn if you know what I mean.

Happy Spinning!

Where did July go?

I don’t have any clever excuses why I’ve been MIA lately. Well, there was the bout with tonsillitis again but my hands were still in working order so that’s hardly a valid excuse. I just haven’t been in the mood to do anything crafty lately. I actually took a whole week off of knitting if you can believe that. Yeah, I know. I didn’t knit a stitch or draft some wool or crimp any wire for a whole week. Weird huh? I seem to be edging myself back into a full diagnosis of my usual cantkeephandstillitis. I apologize to all you guys about the sidewinder stitch markers. I just haven’t had the time or the energy to make them but I made a partial set last night so there will be some available soon. To get over my guilt and because Nona gave me a kewl shout out, I’m going to give away a set of Sidewinder stitch markers (or markers of your choice). Do I even need to make the ubiquitous “leave a comment” or “random number generator” statements? Ya’ll know the deal right? I'll pick a winner by my next post whenever that may be.

My Sidewinders are about 80% done. I'm using Maia’s method, magic loop style so I won’t have to graft the toe. The only down side is that the rows are sooooo long but I reworked the numbers anyway to accommodate my medium weight wool so it’s not that bad. Basically I magic casted on 77 stitches, separated them accordingly, did my heel and toe increases , knit plain for a while threw some short rows up in that mug and now I’m back to decreasing to my original 77 stitches. Sorry for the suckie flashy picture but it’s kinda hard to straighten it all out on 32” circs.

Side A

Side B

I was (emphasis on the word “was”) a member of the Tour de Fleece but all I managed to spin was this bit I was working on before the spin-a-long even started. I’ll have to dig around for the stats but all I can tell you off the top of my head’s that it was spun from one of Abbys Luxury Batts in the Easter color way. I spun three separate bobbins for a 3 ply and here is half of it. Again, sorry for the flashy picture.

This is how much I have left and once it’s all gone through a wash and set, I’ll give it a proper photo shoot.

Well that’s all for now. By the way, I finished The Book in 1 day and you all know what book I’m talking about. Thanks Maribel, Nancy and Tisha for making it a fun event. Nancy, tell Injury I’d pay him double to baby-sit for me anytime.

Sock On

Well I Told Yall I Was Gonna Knit Like This

Sorry, I got Kelly Rowland’s new song in my head right now. Dare I say that I kinda like her better than her former Destiny’s Child counter part (shut yo mouf). Anyhoo, this is a knitting blog so lets get down to the knitty gritty (pun totally intended).

Since this is the Summer of Socks and all, I have no choice but to bombard you guys with multiple pics of socks, socks and more socks. Although this pair didn’t qualify for the SOS, here’s my finished Jaywalkers.

Started: May 25, 2007

Finished: June 22, 2007

Pattern: Jaywalkers by Grumperina

Size: Smallest size

Needle: Inox size 2.25mm / US1

Yarn: Regia 4ply Patch Antik color# 5753

Comments: Of course I knit these toe up with a reverse heel flap/gusset. This was my first time doing this pattern and using this yarn and I would definitely use them both again, no doubt.

Now moving right along to my first pair of Summer Socks

There is a story behind these. I had been drooling over Scouts handpainted yarns for a while so I finally came up with an excuse a good reason to order some. I wanted to make a pair of socks for my dad so I ordered some of her sport weight custom dyed in New York Giants colors. Needles to say, I ended up using a different yarn to make my dads socks so the yarn just sat in my stash for a while. Then the idea hit me that I should make a pair for the upcoming holiday because the colors are so similar to the American flag. So here are my July 4^th socks finished just in time.

Started: June 23, 2007

Finished: June 27, 2007

Pattern: Made it up as I went. It’s 6 eyelets that move across the fabric with either k2tog, YO or YO, ssk.

Size: 56 stitches for my size 8 feet.

Needle: Addi Turbo size 3.25mm / US3

Yarn: Scouts Swag sportweight superwash merino, custom dyed in NY Giants colorway

Comments: These were knit toe up, magic looped two at a time. I absolutely loath short rows but I had knit too far to do a gusset/flap and I wasn’t froggin so I had no choice but to do it. Of course this was knit toe up and other than that it was a pleasant knit.

I had a bit of yarn left over so I made a pair of shorties for my shorty (that was funny)

Started: June 28, 2007

Finished: July 1, 2007

Pattern: Loosely based on the Thuja pattern although you can’t really tell.

Size: Around 48 stitches around for his size 12’s

Needle: Addi Turbo size 3.25mm / US3

Yarn: See above

Comments: Really quick knit. I was rushing a bit so the toe is a bit pointy and I refused to rip back. And the good news is that I always thought he was allergic to wool but these didn’t make his feet bust out in hives. Maybe the superwashness has something to do with it.

I started my new sock pattern as part of a knit-along with my meetup group and guess what? I’m actually jumping on the bandwagon kinda early on this one. No, I’m knitting Monkey’s (I’ll get to those some time next year), I’m knitting Nona’s Sidewinders. Again here are the specs because I’m just too lazy to make it all fit nicely into a well worded paragraph.

Started: July 1, 2007

Pattern: Sidewinders, a Perpensockular Pattern by NonaKnits

Size: 7/8 Wide

Needle: Addi Turbo size 3.25mm / US3

Yarn: Socks That Rock Mediumweight in the Lucy colorway

Comments: I’m actually knitting these at a different gauge so I’m making the calculations as I go along. I could’ve went down to a US2 and probably gotten gauge but I think the fabric would have been a bit too tight for me. (and yes Hila I did the short rows)

And here’s a closeup of the markers I made just in case you can’t see them in the pic above. After I do the toe, I’ll make some that also say LEG and FOOT.

Well that’s all for sock news right now. I have been spinning a bit but I’m waiting for this upcoming weekend so I can have a whole post devoted to spinning. You know the whole Tour De Fleece thing. Did I forget to mention that I’m a part of that knit-along also? Star did it last year but I was just learning so I jumped at the chance to join this year. I’m going to attempt to spin a little every day so wish me luck.

Sock on people!

P.S. You do know I’m addicted to swapping right? Well I started a new fiber swap on swapbot here in case anyone’s interested.