ZEKs LITE

Sheep and Wolf

That's what L calls the Maryland Sheep and Wool festival.  We arrived early enough to get good parking and to enjoy the place before it got too crowded.

The Sheep-to-Shawl competition was in full swing.  Everyone had a role -- the carders, spinners, weavers and all.

Folks were wearing their knitted things, and their dyed things, and they dyed themselves as well.

Some very strange new knitting fibers are out these days.  I can't exactly call this yarn, but you can knit it.

Lace and shawls were capturing us this year.  Many glorious stitches!

Many wonderful colors!

Some time with good friends, some funny faces (little E was good as gold for several hours, what a trouper!).

I left with a bag of yarn for knitting a fat cabled sweater.

 

Silly thing

It is possible to felt things in a front-loading washing machine. 
I have been putting off that experiment for some time, but finally gave it a try. 

Felting is not my favorite in terms of the actual knitting, but the process itself is interesting. This bowl will be a bed for some guinea pigs who live far away.

If I'd been so inclined, I could have shaped this into a royal-looking hat.

Look at all my color cards

They were laughing at me, E and Z.  "She can't stop!"  It's a form of affection, I'm sure.

Today was Design group, and we had to bring in our study project for Color Interplay.   

I needed to show how colors change relative to where you put them.  This is useful, because I have many mitts to knit, and I spend way too much time choosing colors. 

It's hard - colors in large skeins of yarn change when when broken down into stripes.  In Design we learned that's due to "optical mixing."  So what if I make up striped color cards and then mix and match?

Oh the fun.  The art ladies did exactly as expected: they lept upon the pile and began combining colors and comparing the effects of one upon another:

"This blue looks warm when paired with this color, but cool when paired with this color."  "This red looks pink next to the green and orange next to the blue." 

This is only one third of all my colors.  There are so many more cards to make...

 

Yarnies!

Another year at
the HomeSpun
Yarn Party at Savage Mill. 

There's something festive and friendly about it. 

The converted old mill is a wonderful place, full of artsy shops, a good bakery and a pub with a live band.  The last weekend in March, it's for the yarnies.

Folks from the fiber arts guild and the knitting group came out to see the local products by local dyers, alpaca and sheep farmers, soap makers, etc.

The yarn party is a place to see colorful fibers and colorful people.

It's where everyone wears their shawls. 

In her amazing green and yellow shawl and hat (and matching socks), N was easy to spot in the crowd.

She donated many hats to the charity knitting/crochet group. I knit a few rows on a hat.

It's OK to be brightly colored here.

It's OK to dress like you're at Ren Fest. Or wear stretchy knitted skirts.  Anything goes.

Miscellany

The daffodils are everywhere!  The trees are exploding!

All the tourists hoping to see the cherry blossoms in April had better change their flights.  They'll miss them by three weeks.

I'm knitting up a storm
but I can't show you what...
Here's a small peek.

And this is totally unrelated. 

It's the best error message I've ever received.

Forgotten Socks! "Star Treatment" hexagon socks (aka "Bottleglass Windows")

In the spring of 2009, when I was playing with hexagons and still didn't know what test knitters were, I sent a pattern to Knitter's Magazine.  It was full of geometry.  And then I mostly forgot about it.

But what do you know -- it has emerged at last in this Spring 2012 issue of Knitter's.

They have a new name and are worked in a different yarn than I was assigned (that means they tested it, thankfully) and they misspelled my first name.  But that happens.

This issue happens to be full of all kinds of good stuff.  But right now I'm happy to see my funny socks in here. 

Here's the sample pair I sent to the magazine, in the yarn they gave me.  It's Peoms, single ply, and I don't recommend it for this purpose -- too splitty and fragile.  Pretty for a shawl though.  I cut it to pieces to get the colors where I wanted them.

These are from
Knit Picks yarn.

They are ridiculously tedious.  I'm going to have to read the printed pattern and knit them again, because I have forgotten how I did them.

The assembly process is crazy.  What on earth was I thinking?  I hope some adventurous folks enjoy the puzzle.

Bread head

OK, some shapes are fun to knit but silly to wear. 

It was a good opportunity to work with some very fun yarn.  SpongBob SquarePants could sleep in it.

Blue hat, more yarn tasting

Here's the finished blue hat.  Crunchy bunchy cables.  It's soft.

Z looks cute in it. A little pokey on the top, but hopefully the tassels pull down the little "ears."

I also began some more yarn tasting of Beaverslide Dry Goods yarn, this time with the 65% merino, 35% mohair blend.  It's completely different, a little bit silky.

This yarn is mule-spun, on antique equipment that gives it a very hand-spun feel.  I love it.

I also am proud of myself for figuring out 2x2 ribbing invisible cast-on.  It wasn't hard: Do a 1x1 Italian/tubular caston and switch the order of the stitches on the first row.

Yarn Tasting

I'm sampling some yarn for a chunky cabled sweater.  This is Beaverslide Dry Goods Mountain Midnight.  It is 90% merino, 10% kid mohair.  It's wonderful.  I'm also going to try some with mohair.

Here's a week-old picture of last Wednesday's snow.

We got barely a dusting, but it was enough to give our dancing solar snowman a reason to wiggle.  I have a feeling it's all the snow we'll see this year.  It's been a warm winter.  I'm not complaining--the walking weather and the sunshine are welcome.

 

Spring things

Mitts in the works.  These are a tester.  They'll be done again in blue.

The bulbs in the potts are poking up.

The orchid is ready to bloom again.

Pete is getting really skinny, as his illness progresses.  We are trying to keep him comfortable and warm.

Look at all my colors

It happens sometimes -- I cave in to the urge to amass a palette.  I don't quite know why I picked Brown Sheep Nature Spun.  It's good for mitts, which I'll make more of for next year's craft fairs, but it's also just in all these tasty colors.

Some of the colors were not in the box because they were on the table, going into mitts.

14 and 44

Two birthdays this weekend!  E and Z had a pizza dinner. 

More photos of E's hat to come when I take them in the daylight.

Foggy

I've been feeling a little blue and foggy.

Could be the underactive thyroid gland.  That's also why I have half the usual amount of hair, I am told.  But I have reached a certain age, met a new friend "Peri" who my doctor says will be with me for the next 15 years, and now I put stoppers on my half-full bottles of beer because a full one gives me night sweats. 
Red wine is right out.  Damn.

Oh, and Z is soon to turn 14.  I think it was the long weekend where she fretted over her birthday and we didn't go anywhere that brought in the fog.  Note to self:  Plan a life and do it!

I'm glad I don't live in Alaska with the dark winter.  For sure I'd need the treadmill.  That's what's keeping the remaining hairs in my head right now.  My sneakers are worn out, right through the foam.  I was wondering why my feet felt hot -- it was the friction with the treadmill, heat coming through my thinning shoes.

On the lighter side, E has requested a knitted hat.  First he wanted robots on it, but then later the choice was made for Space Invaders motifs.  Here's the chart I'm working from.

The gun turret at the bottom could also be mistaken for the Capitol, which is appropriate. 

Name this stitch

Is it a cable?  Are extra wraps or slip stitches involved?  I wish the photo wasn't so blurry.

I wish I knew what it is called.  I can't find it on Ravelry, though I've found something similar in one of my stitch dictionaries.  If you've seen it before, or projects that include it, please let me know. 

The Netherfield socks pattern is close, but not quite the same (the little flower stitch in these is amazing!).

Time has whizzed by, with some temp work taking up the usually quiet mid-day project time.  That's not a bad thing, but I'm not used to it.

I think the lack of winter might be what makes things keep going as well.  We haven't had an opportunity to get cabin fever.  No ice, no morning walks below 30 degrees,  no commuters getting trapped in their cars for six hours...What kind of winter is this?  A great one! 

But pleasantly we woke up to an inch of snow this morning.

 

Why we all need the big box of 100 markers

Too many yarn colors is a great problem to have.  But I have difficulty putting colors together, and even more difficulty visualizing how they look as a mitt. 

So I created a coloring sheet for myself.  It's very helpful.  Yes, I can also do this on the computer, but there is something swift and satisfying about markers.  Tactile.

Someday this will be a pattern; the writing process has begun.  The pattern will include a coloring sheet just like this one.

A little more festivity

Before the new year begins, just a little more Christmas.

A little more of a choral performance by friend in a beautiful place...

Where we saw a lovely handknit sweater with an interesting stitch pattern up the sleeve...

A little more hot cocoa in a festive chocolate shop...

A few more tasty treats...

A last look at all the bobbles...

(these last 4 photos by Z)

And one last bit of Christmas knitting.

Long socks

These socks were knit from two skeins of yarn I don't like.  One was Online sock yarn, another something called Hot Sox.  I've lost the labels. 

The patterns were made up on the needles, often inconsistently and imperfectly.  Mistakes don't appear to matter with these. 

The toes are my favorite.  I cast on six stitches with both yarns at the same time, using Judy's Magic Cast-on.  On the next round, I knit each yarn as a separate stitch, making twelve stitches of alternating colors.  After that it was just adding stripes with each increase of the toe.

Mitts from handspun

Lots of spinning recently. 
Lots of fun.

These were from random spinning.

This was from some more controlled spinning. Some planning even, and some charcoal/ chocolate alpaca for a background.  Whoa, they are soft.  I'll have to make more.  Or at least a mate for this one.

Crafty gals

Z and I did a little craft sale this weekend in the little community center in Arlington, VA.  We had constant traffic, a fun crowd, and lots of tasties.

Z sold a lot of collage cards.  She also sold some packs of cards from previous years.  The earrings were not the hit we'd hoped, but she'll have them for Christmas gifts. 

It's a funny thing that happens:  She thought that artsy-grown-ups would like the earrings that looked like pies and cupcakes, but it was the kids that wanted them.  And, as with my mitts, parents won't buy nice things for kids who might lose them.

Z did some drawing during the sale.  At once point she looked up and saw that the woman across the way was drawing us.

Burning through the yarn

The heap on the kitchen table, of all the mitts I've produced in the last two months.  I'm all out of my fun Nature Spun sportweight, in the crazy colors.

Here is the last pair of mitts I got from that yarn.  The colors didn't appeal to me as yarns, but worked up, I love them.

Surprises like that are what make these so fun.

Yellow leaves

They might be leaves, they might be bird feet.  But I'm happy to have some!

I've had so much fun making these that I think I will write up a little pattern. 

But I wonder if I can make them make sense in writing or in chart form.  I will follow Nancy Marchant's stitch system as best I can, when I get around to it... which might not be until after the holidays. 

Evolution of the mitts.

The mitt madness continues.  Through experimentatinon and error, I am learning. Brioche is funny stuff. 

Mitt construction is also funny stuff.  How many stitches should exist between the thumb and the palm?  More than one, less than seven.  Three or five seems about right. 

It is hard to mass produce.  I have to play with each one.  No pair the same.  Each successive pair a mutation of the one before it.

And then there are the stitch patterns.  I attempt something complex, then I rip, and return to simple.

This one was a challenge; I didn't know how to increase and decrease so many stitches at once to make the pattern, so I fiddled.

Nancy Marchant's Knitting Brioche is meaty, and her stitch dictionary is a ample, but now I want more stitches.  I hope one day a whole book of brioche stitches is made.  Perhaps I'll get to work on some contributions for this imaginary book...

Two rights make...

The second mitt went so much faster than the first.  I'm really pleased with it.  There was just one minor error, which was that most folks have only one right hand.

I hope the next two go just as quickly...

Brioche Braid

Here's a prototype of a mitt that needs a wider thumb gusset.  And to have the cables brought down to where their pulling-in goes to the wrist, instead of across the wider back of the hand.

But it's brioche, which means it's stretchy. Still, this could have been accomplished with stranding...

I'm wondering about the usefulness of 2x1 brioche.

Cables in Brioche

Here's a fun one.  It's not my size, made for a smaller hand.

I used the cable pattern from Knitting Brioche, by Nancy Marchant.

The caston technique is from Fallingblox, and it's meant for doubleknit but works really well for ribbed brioche.  It's more controlled and snug than the tubular/Italian caston. 

This is for getting ready for the craft sale in November.  My little pile of colorful sport-weight yarn sits on the table, calling me every time I pass.  That is why I'm still in my jammies when I should be heading out the door.

Climate change

Fall dropped upon us from above.  I think we'll get a colorful one, given all the recent rain.  As colorful as these stuffed peppers.

I'm not used to wearing long pants.  I found my socks.  The air conditioner doesn't come on anymore and I have a weird sluggish feeling...
I think I'm cold. 

Or caught a passing bug.  Ragweed.  Now I remember... this is the time of year that my head slips into a fog of Benedryl and sniffling nights. 

I'm learning to walk in my sleep.

Mitts and a muncher

Another set of mitts completed. These were scratchy until I washed them with a little conditioner. Now they feel not exactly soft but smooth... much easier on the hands.

And this fellow has been eating our tomatoes.  He's huge.  He's a tomato hornworm, and will grow into an enormous wasp moth if other critters wasps don't implant their eggs in his body, as does happen to these guys.

I wish him well.

Can't stop making mitts

These mitts are too much fun. 

There is something bad about the "x" embroidery in the mitts.  I'm thinking evil dolls, or carnival-shabby-funhouse.  I'm not sure.  Scary clowns?  I don't like clowns.  But I like the x-es.

 

Almost Autumn

It's 68 degrees, which feels finger-numbing cold after such a hot summer.

The breeze is clean and crisp, the streets somewhat swept after the storm.  After my little wake-up walk in the dry leaves, I'm drinking hot tea.

Z's got a light backpack, soon to get heavier, a new shirt and new earrings.  She woke up at 6 am, a good three hours earlier than usual.

While she's in the gym or cafeteria finding out what her 8th grade schedule will look like, I'm finishing up a third pair of mitts. 

And breathing.  Breathing that wonderful air of the first day of school, the promise of autumn, and an hour of silence in the morning. 

Life is good.

Storm projects and Freakonomics

Hurricane Irene was a little tired by the time she got to us.  She didn't do nearly as much damage in our neighborhood as we were expecting.  Lots of rain, wind, and the debris that normally follows.

I took a little stroll to investigate the mess.  Folks were out cleaning up the mess.

But since we were expecting a big storm, we spent the day indoors.  Z got busy with some clay earrings.  She'll probably have more to say about them on her blog.  They are extremely cute.

And I did some knitting.  We've decided to give another holiday bazaar a try this year.  We sent in some photos for the jury; we'll see if we get a chance to have a table and sell our wares.

It's educational, I figure.  Recently I took Aunt B's great advice and listened to this Freakonomics Podcast on Parenting, and felt quite reassured about the lack of spendy activities Z gets enrolled in. 

The price of a table at the bazaar is cheap compared to a weekly art class... and Z is already keeping track of her expenses, working up her business cards and calculating her prices.  She's learning about wire working, glazing, molding... Seems to me there's a lot to be learned from such ventures, for not a lot out money.

Fair entries retrieved

Yesterday I picked up our fair entries. 

I hadn't been able to photograph them at the fair because they were protected under plastic.  I suggested to a coordinator that a fence of chicken wire would improve the view and still keep fingers away.

Anyhoo, I won two firsts, one second, and one honorable mention. 

All the comments I received were good, although judges don't like to see ends hanging inside a piece.  For wearing, I think I need at least a half inch to three-quarter inch end, or it will find its way to the outside.  But for judging, now I know: hide them in there completely.

I giggled at the "Interesting," that the polyhedron got.  I entered it just for curiosity's sake.

County Fair

My time at the county fair was brief this year. 

I peeked at the arts and crafts, to get the scoop on Z's artwork (she did very well!) and then I joined the knitting ladies. 

If you have a "demonstration" of a craft, you get free admission to the fair.  So we were on display. 

I don't know whether anyone saw and learned, or just plopped down and joined us.  The group kept growing.  And then the thunderstorms came, so more folks piled in.

I never get tired of seeing what people bring to the fair. 

You can bring anything at all.  This angora rabbit was getting plucked and freed of its hot fur.

I missed seeing the baby calf and the baby camels.  Too rainy to get out.  But I enjoy the 4-H stuff a great deal.   As far as 4-H is concerned, if you made it, there's a place for it.  If you learned something new, you can proclaim it.

Even something as orinary as packing a good lunch is worthy of display space.

The toilet decorations are a bit strange to me; this was one of the few I think I could bear to have in my home.  And that says something.

I find inspiration in funny little places.  This painting is only about 3" x 2".  I think that's something I could manage.

Where's August?

August apparently was not full of crazy vacations.  When I look at the calendar page I made of all our goofing off last August, I feel like not enough has happened. 

Where are the funnel cakes, the waves, the ferris wheel?  The Oregon friends?

And yet I've felt too busy to post.  What does that mean?

I've been subbing for the church secretary.  I've done a lot of volunteering that involves sitting in front of the computer.  Knitting but not much finishing.

Z has done more, it seems.  She has some lovely pictures on her blog.  So check out She Came From Planet Z.

I've read two books.   Taken shrinking Pete to the vet twice.  And.... ?

today will be the county fair.  I will bring back some pictures of that for sure.

Ripping

One of the wonderful things about a road trip is all the time for knitting.  Theoretically, I had 32 hours with which to knit at least two pairs of socks.  Sadly, many of them were squandered fussing with yarn I grew to dislike.

Knit, rip, knit rip, over and over.  I do not like this yarn.

One skein is On Line Supersocke 100, and the other Hot Socks, which I purchased online.  They are harsh on the hands, spattered with dye where they ought not to be, and simply unattractive and cheap-feeling.

I tried to save them by combining them in one sock.  The concept was good, but a plan is needed.  So I'll rip again.  With two skeins, they will make knee socks.  Wild ones, if I decide how to get through them... and can stand them for that long.

The little cotton hat

Cotton does not have any memory, so this hat rests on Z's head and does not squeeze it.  I sort of think it should squeeze it.  But it is soft and cute, with room for hair at the back.

Perhaps I'll make another in wool.  The pattern is free, called Capucine.

More South, some birthday

Here are a few more pictures of recent events.

It was necessary to stop at South of the Border, with its immense tacky displays.  But once was enough.

As usual, we did our share of eating, including Paula Deen's restaurant in Savannah.

Z loved the Rolls Royce at the Dali museum, with the mermaid in the back seat.  We peeked at the home of Flannery O'Connor in Savannah, and her church, St. John the Baptist.

The Dali Museum really needs to be seen from both inside and out.

Our nature hike wasn't all horrible huge bugs; we did see this magic purple mushroom, and some interesting signage.

Z got some tutorials from Me-Mom; how to crochet a worm...

and how to bake a pie.  I finished a pair of socks.

We ate some gelato and Z photographed interesting bicycles.

When we got home, we had a little bit of birthday.  Sweet Z made me a cheesy berry pie-thing, and she painted my toes.  Later we'll have an indoor picnic with friends (the outdoors being too stinking hot).

My gift to myself was the completion of a secret goal:  I'm 41, and I can run.*  Five miles! 

Thank you, Z for this fun card!

*On the treadmill.  On the ground it's less.  But it's progress!

Winter hat from cotton?

The yarn (Plymouth Kudo; cotton, rayon and silk) grabbed me because it was soft, pretty, and on sale.  Also it's not sweaty for summer knitting. 

But it is right for a winter hat?

The pattern is Capucine (free Ravelry download).  I'm working it in reverse, starting at the crown, because I thought I wouldn't have to worry about gauge that way.  Now I realize that gauge is not really an issue in either direction.  That makes it a versatile and beginner-friendly pattern.

Lotus Blossom Tank complete

Here's the finished tank.  I'm pleased. Modifications for fit: an extra inch of stockinette above the lace, and an extra tier of lace at the bottom worked one needle size larger than the tier above (which is one size larger than the remaining three).
Kind of a funky neckline, and very warm in this wool/silk yarn. Perhaps I could have used a bit more armhole space...  

I would recommend that this pattern be knit in cotton or bamboo, unless you are the freezy type.  Since I do get cold all the time, this would allow one to be sleeveless and warm in an air conditioned restaurant.  But outside in this heat...

The back is high.  That also contributes to the warmth.  It's the A/C tank.

Here is my revised lace chart. I removed a few purl stitches and moved the outside decreases over a bit. This makes my lotus blossom a little flatter, less textured. The yarn is so textured already that without these changes, the pattern would be obscured.

Messing around with food dye

Just a silly project one afternoon...

I took some Knit Picks blank sock yarn and reskeined it over some chairs to be three times the length, so I could dye long color breaks. 

The food dyes I was messing with were supposed to be more different from each other; I was expecting warm and cool reds and blues.

I tossed on some of the neon purple. I'm not thrilled with the results, but I suspect the socks that come from it will look nice.  No pattern in mind at this time.

Note to self: Mix colors in the bottles, not on the yarn!

Blocking the Blue Lotus Tank

Blocking.  I have no experience with this, other than socks.  So I spritzed it with water, put in some pins. 
Oke doke.... looks OK to me.

Thanks to the magic of spit-splicing, I have only a few yarn ends to muss with.  This yarn is pre-fulled but it fulled a bit more to make a smooth join.

After this comes the seaming (ugh!) of the shoulders.  Some part of me wants perfection, simplicity, an absense of piece-work and sewing.  But I'm trusting the design of the pattern. 

Speaking of the pattern:  For the most part, this is working out perfectly.  Some of the decreases were written backward (p2tog where ssp should be, k2tog where ssk should be, etc.).  I also changed the lace chart just a wee bit, to suit my highly-textured yarn.  I'll post my modifications when it's complete.

Blue Lotus Tank continued

Holy cow, it's working.  After consulting with knitting friends, I did not rip out the lace I'd begun.  They promise that drape and blocking would be the cure, and as it turned out, the longer it worked, the narrower it got.  Now it is exactly the measurements it needs to be.  To me, this is magic. Also, it's evidence that lace is tricky.

I really like this Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool.  It's got a fair amount of vegetable matter in it so I keep picking out little pieces of grass, but otherwise, the texture is soft, light, good for being close to the skin.  That is, if I really do get all the grassy bits out.

This funny little thing called drape

I swatched.  I measured myself and the swatches.  I worked two rounds of the lace repeat, then ripped, as it was 4" too wide.

Now it is the same as my self- measurements, but when I put it on... it grows.  3-4" too big at the waist, 1-2" too big at the hips.

Apparently the lace pattern is stretchy.  And something happens when the body gets inside the sweater.  Or my hip measurement is miles from my waist measurement.  I really don't know what to make of it.  I'll be ripping again.

By the time this little tank is done, I'll have knit it twice.  But I'm learning a lot.  Like make a much bigger swatch next time, and do a better job measuring both the swatches and me.

Sampling

I'm playing with my new blue yarn.  I was pleased to find it doesn't change shape much after washing.  In fact, it is rather eerie in that no matter how long the knitting sits there, when it is unraveled, the yarn does not look as though it has been knit... no memory, no elasticity.  Very soft, very light.  Funny stuff.

In my magazine/book stash I found a pattern, the Lotus Blossom Tank top.  That's the largest garment I can make with the amount of yarn I have. 

This lace pattern will be at the bottom.  The sample on the left is the chart as given by the pattern, and the sample on the right is my tweaking of it.  No, there's not much difference in appearance... but it is more pleasant to knit and easier to remember.

So here I go, deep breath, I am going to knit an actual garment that is not for the hands, feet or head... one that is worn close to the body, so has to actually fit.  New frontier!

Restoring order

Crazy week it's been.  Granddad popped by for a visit and then landed in the ER.  Next day it was out with the gall bladder.  Apparently this runs in families... backward.

So he's recovering with us here, which is much handier than being way out on the farm in West Virginia.  He's doing well.

And at the same time, a gal from knit group fetched me this great Silky Wool from a garage sale.  Once I had done the same for her, but what she got me was way better than I what I got her, in terms of quality.  However, it was rather ensnarled.

It seems someone decided to begin a sweater without swatching or even rolling the skein into a ball.  Just got right to knitting.  Then got mad.  Then sold $30 worth of yarn for 50 cents.  So let us learn from this:  Take time to wind, and knit a swatch!

Short Row Shuffle Socks

Here's my latest sock pattern available on Ravelry.  Or you can click the link in the sidebar.

This was great fun to work out.  It's kind of math-y but the knitter doesn't need to know any math.  For the curious:  The ratio of the length of the yarn's color repeat to the circumference of the sock determines the pattern that shuffles around the sock in a helix. 

It's short rows all the way around, which means it's helpful to be able to knit backward.  Thankfully, there are some good tutorials out there for doing that.  Links are in the pattern.  It's not as hard as it sounds... says the Queen of Tedium.

Actually, they work up quickly.  This one took a couple days. 
Now I need another one!

Somethin's shufflin'

Soon I'll be posting another sock pattern on Ravelry.  Something to absorb my love of handpainted yarns.

Here's the sneak preview.

The idea is to take handpainted yarn and control the pooling pattern a bit... make it shuffle around the sock... without having the heel, toes and cuff get in the way.

The pattern has some ideas to play with; short rows without wraps, knitting backwards, a little bit of naturally-occurring math demonstrated (without having to be thunk, thank goodness!).

Overall, some striking looks possible.  Or some weird ones.  It all depends on the yarn.  For this sock, I'm smitten with dyeworks of The Wild Hare.

So stay tuned!

Gratuitous cute kitty photo

The four-color doubleknit mittens are finished!

Fuzzy loves the recent warm weather and spends a lot of time lolling about with cute curled toes.

The mittens were a good exercise.  I'd like to do another pair and get them both to be equal tension, fewer bloopers.  By the end of the second one, I had fixed my loose-purl-side problem with better tension control.

Always Be Counting

I'm amazed at the attentiveness of lace knitters.  Besides holding a chart in their heads, it's knowing the anatomy of the stitches, knowing which holes are paired with which decreases... it's a lot to keep track of.

There are two safety nets for the less attentive lace knitter: the Lifeline (threading a strand of dental floss along every 10 rows or so, so you can rip back without making the whole thing fall apart) and Counting.  We must always be counting.

Repairing lace is also an admirable skill. I'm getting lots of opportunities to rip out 8-stitch segments that go 8 rows down, and then loosen up surrounding stitches to try to add back that one I missed.

Yessiree.  Getting all sorts of skills here.

Green and Gold

I'm trying something new (there is no shortage of new things to try in Knitting Land).

Lace.

I got some thin cotton and will attempt a stole/scarf kind of thing.  Cotton is also new to me.  It's really weird.  Slippery, not springy.  Drapey, not shapey.

It's a flattish pattern with few holes, which is what I'm up for right now.  Also I can't quite face the little-yarn-on-big-needles thing.

The pattern calls for working the lace increases and decreases on both sides, but I'm not ready for that either.  So I'm working the back side as a resting row, all purl.  That causes the pattern to morph and stretch out, attractive in its own way. 

As with all scarves, I suddenly realize I've really gotten myself into something.  Something that will take forever... Whoever thought that scarves were the perfect beginner project was a masochist.  Dishcloths, hats, book covers, anything but scarves. 

Learning and laughing

Whoa, it's laughing. Don't fall in.

That's the inside thumb stitches getting picked up. First the green inside, then the teal outside.  Then get them all onto one needle.  I have to do these things one step at a time.

The first mitten is finished.
Such a learning experience this is.  Despite my best efforts, the inside of the mitten is larger than the outside again.  And the stitching is also somewhat irregular.  Later I will block it and see if that helps.

The next mitten will have the sky blue and the gray for the base colors, and the teal and green for the circles. 

There are things I'd do differently next time.  I'd start the thumb gusset immediately after the cuff so they don't look so hand-heavy.  I'd not smoosh the last row of circles together with the decreases. 

We must laugh while we learn. It's the only way to keep going.  At least they will be warm!  And they make a nice submission to my design group, for the contrast study we are supposed to be doing this month.