WIP Wednesday

It’s not vacation time anymore,  it’s time for some knitting!

My knitting time has seriously been reduced these past months, it seems that most of my free time I’m sewing box bags lately. Thankfully, Stitches East is next week and after that I’ll be done with this particular rush.

I have been knitting for Stitches East as well, so what you see today are items that I hope to have done by next Thursday!

First up are my Tessarae Socks:

I only needed one sock for Stitches so I’m all set with that. I will be bringing sock #2 along in case there’s some downtime.

Up next, my Lu Vest:

This one is 99% done, I really just need to weave in the 6 ends, and then I’ll be done. Maybe I’ll be able to get some good FO shots this weekend!

Last but not least, my only real WIP:

This is Carol’s Kensington Cowl. I am about 2/3 done and I hope to get another few rows done tonight. I definitely should have this done in time for Stitches. It wasn’t until I took this photo that I noticed the difference in the 2 skeins I’ve used so far. I’m hoping that since I hadn’t noticed until then I won’t notice it anymore.

If you’re in New England, I really hope to see you there!

WIP Wednesday

It’s time to come clean with all my projects! In a perfect life, I would have 2 projects going at once, maybe 3.

• Stockinette socks for the car/travel
• Larger project for at home or visiting
• Long term project like a sweater or shawl

I guess I’m not doing too bad because this is what I’m working on now:

Stockinette socks: I’m working on the leg of the second sock now

Larger mostly mindless project: Lu vest, almost halfway done

Long term project: Ursa cardigan, set aside for the summer but I’ve started working on the sleeve again.

Of course I also have the Tessarae sock you saw last week and many more projects on the mind!

I hear that purple is the “In” color for this winter and that’s what I’ve got! The 3 skeins of bulky weight (Araucania Coliumo Solid) will be for Carol’s Kensington Cowl and the 1 skein of worsted weight (Madtosh Tosh Merino) will be for another cowl, the Tamarind Cowl. I also bought the Little Colonnade shawl pattern and I think that might be my next shawl. I also quite like the Wandering the Moor shawl pattern, so that’s going to be a tough fight deciding which to go with!

But first I have to finish Lu! How many WIPs do you have?

WIP Wednesday

Two posts in a row!

Even though I haven’t been posting about my knitting much lately (last time was June 8!), I have been knitting, a little bit.

Since my poll about the Sock Hop sock, I decided to rip down to the toe and start anew. I decided to go in plain stockinette this time.

This sock is my traveling sock, so it doesn’t see much action. But I’ll get it done eventually.

My at-home sock is Pomatomus sock #2. I only work on it while watching TV, and I haven’t been watching much TV lately so it’s going along slowly. I’m more than halfway through the foot already though so hopefully I’ll have it done sooner than later.

Especially since I have some sock yarn lined up for my next pair!

That right there, is one gorgeous skein of Madelinetosh Sock in Black Currant, from yarn4socks of course. I’m going to be doing a Knitspot pattern with it, but I just can’t decide which one. Any suggestions?

And now, to distract you a bit from staring at the yarn, here’s something else that’s pretty to look at. And definitely delicious to eat:

This is what I call a salad. My kind of salad. With fresh picked CSA greens, radishes, tomatoes and avocado. Homemade dressing, bread and butter. Best kind of meal! Click on the photo for more details and my salad dressing recipe.

WIP Wednesday

After finishing all these projects in the last few weeks, the “castonitis” got me and I cast on left and right. Well, left and right for me, which is 2 more projects!

I cast on for a new sweater, Ursa by Berroco [Ravelry link]. I’m using Cascade 220 instead of the recommended Ultra Alpaca so after swatching with 3 different needle sizes I decided to start knitting a sleeve to see if I liked how it was working up. Since I’m working in the sleeve in the round and I’m going to be working the body flat, I realize that there’s going to be some differences, but I think it will be fine.

What I’m concerned about is whether or not I have enough yarn to knit the cardigan. But that’s a problem I will think about when I get there. In the mean time, here is a sleeve in progress.

I also cast on for the sock that I posted about a couple days ago. So far it looks like there are more votes for keeping it than frogging it, but I will keep thinking about it.

I would like to cast on for Mara [Ravelry link] as well but I think that will wait until I get the pair of socks below completed.

I’ve since then knit the heel and have just barely started on the leg. Hopefully, by the end of next week I should have a finished pair!

I’ve also started working on a new batch of box bags for the shop, there are over 20 bags that are going to be split between yarn4socks and my etsy shop. I’m also working on a couple new items to add to my selection, I hope it is well received. In the mean time, you can see what’s available right here.

The smell, feel and sound of obsession

Have you ever encountered a knitting pattern that obsessed you so much that you just wanted to knit it all the time, and that when you couldn’t knit, had you thinking about it all the time?

I have to say that I’ve encountered this project. It struck me a few days ago, the perfect combination of yarn and pattern that just makes you want to knit and knit some more.

The yarn is Handmaiden Sea Silk in the colorway Smoke, from here. The pattern is Ishbel by Ysolda. The two together, magic. I bought the pattern last week and was considering my options as for yarn. There were a few possibilities in the stash, but then the store received the Sea Silk and then I just knew that they were meant to go together.

I cast on a couple evenings ago and I knit and knit some more. Sadly, I haven’t quite had as much time as I would like working on it, but still, it is moving forward. The stockinette part is really easy and it would make a great car project, at least until the lace section.

This is my first shawl/lace project and I really hope I succeed. I’m really looking forward to wearing this shawl around my neck/shoulders this summer!

I love the feel of the Sea Silk and the way it knits up. It crunches a bit as you work it up but the stitches are so pretty and the color really beautiful.

It’s really too bad I have to go to work today, I’d love to spend the day knitting on my Ishbel!

Belated WIP Wednesday post

I really wanted to post this last night but my latest WIP was just not ready to be photographed early enough. So this morning, quickly before I start my day, I’m taking a few minutes to take a couple pictures and post.

Yes, I admit to yet another WIP. It was really a surprise project as I found out yesterday that my colleague, who just had a baby 2 months ago, was going to have her boyfriend bring in the baby next week to our office. I then decided that it was more than time for me to finally knit her a little something. I decided on the Norwegian Sweet Baby Cap.

After casting on the smallest amount I stitches I cast on and knit the edge. I quickly realized that there was no way this was going to fit a baby’s head, as it looked like it would fit my head. I measured and checked online and indeed, it would fit a older child’s head, not exactly what I was going for. So I took it all out and after yet another failed cast on (too short tail for the long tail cast on) I finally succeeded in starting a hat that I think should fit. But I will really only find out next week, if I manage to finish the hat on time!

Meanwhile, I have been working on winnowing down my single socks. My latest cast on is the second Marigold sock I’m knitting out of Madelinetosh Sock in Chamomille. I’m really looking forward to wearing these!

I’m on the home stretch now, with only the cuff to knit. I would have finished them before the end of the March I think, but now with the extra baby hat, I’m not sure I will. After I finish this pair, my single socks count will be down to 3 plus a fourth that needs to be finished before I can knit the pair. Not bad, I’m almost seeing the end of it now.

My last WIP is a quilting WIP. I get to work on it a little here and there but I’ve only 6 blocks left to sew and I’ll be ready for sashing! Here are the existing blocks in no real particular order.

I’ve joined the Mod Sampler Quilt A Long and am having a great time with it. Of course, lots of people have already finished their quilts, but I think that always happens in A-Longs.

I guess I should mention my weaving project as well. But as there is a saga involved, I will keep it for another post!

Some knitting progress has been made

It’s crazy how much sock knitting I can accomplish when I’m not working on a sweater…

Since I finished my Calvert cardigan, I’ve knitted the second sock to my Rococos (seen in my last post), made good progress on both the first Herringbone Rib sock (foot and heel complete) and my first Spring Forward sock (foot, heel and half of leg done) and finally cast on to the second Celebrations sock.

I knitted the first Celebrations sock for the Sockamania KAL back in May of last year. I had a real hard time of it but this second time around is going much better. I’ve only 2 repeats to go before I have to knit the heel. I made a little mistake on one of the cables, it’s hard to see on the photo but you might be able to see it if you look on the biggest picture. All the cabling is hard on my wrist so I didn’t feel like ripping back to correct it.

I’m really happy to be finally catching up to all these single socks I have accumulated over the last year. After I finish this pair, there are 3 singles socks that need a mate plus 2 socks that need to be completed and that need a mate. Hopefully I wont start knitting some new ones before I’m caught up!

In other good news, my box bags will be available at tonight’s update at yarn4socks! You can check them out here! I really hope they work well! If they do, I see a lot more box bags in my future! I’ll always be offering them here first though.

WIP Wednesday

Time to come clean with my WIPs!

I’m making good progress on my Calvert Cardigan. I’ve completed one sleeve and am making headway on the second sleeve.

After that comes the hardest part, the assembly and the bands… I’m not really looking forward to that part. I think I’ve made my life harder by slipping the edge stitches, especially since I’m supposed to pick up stitches all along the edge for the bands. Anyone have any advice as to what will make my life easier?

Also on my needles are no less than 3 socks. I can’t say I’ve knit on 2 of them for a while but one of them at least is progressing. Forgive me the overexposed photo but it’s mighty hard getting good pictures at night!

From left: one sock I just started last weekend, out of Tricoquelicot Laine Claude II in the Spring Forward pattern. The middle sock is sock #2 of the Rococo socks. The one on the right is my Herringbone sock, which has the hardest pattern for me to remember if I’ve put it down for more than a few days. I’m really hoping to get at least the heel done by the weekend, and maybe after that I can pick up one of the other Rococo again. As it is, I wont have a finished pair in January!

So that’s what i have on the needles currently, but that’s not counting all the single socks still waiting for a mate.

NaKniMitMo

Have you heard about the NaKnitMitMo KAL yet?  The group was created off of a crazy idea my friend Carol had. She wanted to knit mittens in January and get other people to do the same. It started on her blog and before she knew it it grew into a Ravelry group with over 300 members. If you haven’t checked it out yet, make sure to do so!

I’ve been wanting to knit mittens and mitts and thought this would be the perfect excuse to knit distract myself with from my current projects with a pair of mitts. I picked something really easy, so as not to require too much attention. The pattern is Toast/ Toasty from A Friend to Knit With. It’s a plain tube with a thumb in the Toasty version. I haven’t decided yet if I’m going to do a thumb yet, although I probably will. I really like Dogged Knits’ version with a gusset thumb, so I’ll probably do it like that if I do a thumbed version.

I picked a slightly thinner yarn than the recommended yarn, Madelinetosh Tosh Worsted in Tern. It’s a beautiful silver gray that is coming out beautiful in plain stockinette.

I wanted to cast on so badly that I hand wound the yarn in the car on my way to Webs over the weekend. After a false start I ended up casting on 40 stitches and now it is smooth sailing. At least until I reach the thumb!

I’m halfway done the first one already, although I would be further along if I had been able to knit even a stitch yesterday or today. But I have a long weekend coming up so maybe I’ll be able to finish one mitt : )

Oh yeah, you might be curious to know what I bought at  Webs. I hope you won’t be too disappointed but I was very, very good.  I was going to buy a skein of this yarn I’ve been wanting to get my hands on; Rio de la Plata Merino sock and a pattern. I thought the particular skein (sp38) I wanted was on sale but when I got to the registers I found out it wasn’t, so I put it back and ended up buying only this pattern:

It’s really a beautiful blanket and I hope to knit it one day!

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For all my friends who’ve helped by knitting a sock yarn square, please click here to see what we made with it! Thank you again to all of you who’ve knitted a square, Michele was really, really happy and she loves it!

10 things that make me happy

1. After 3 days of non-stop snowing and the resulting 2 feet of snow, I am now sure that we’ll get a White Christmas
2. A pretty gold and bronze Christmas tree



3. Setting up my little paper village on the mantel



4. Knowing that all the Christmas shopping is done
5. Finally making headway on my Calvert. All that’s left is finishing the 2 fronts; I’m at the armholes now, knitting the back yoke and the sleeves and a little bit of assembly.



6. The quickest knit, a headband for my manager’s birthday which she really liked. I’ll definitely be making more of these. Ravelry details here.



7. Knowing that even though I couldn’t find a single copy of the latest Knit 1 anywhere, someone on Ravelry bought one for me and is going to be shipping it to me.
8. Sewing the last 2 pillow covers for the couch. I had fun with both of these and made them a bit more involved than the others.



9. Cutting up fabrics for 20 new box bags



10. Getting another quilt ready for quilting