2013 knitting

Other than the socks that jumped into the new years post - there's been other knitting too

Henslowe is actually finished - cast on January 1st and cast off January 18th - and it's blocked but no photos of that yet

Glove love was on the needles again - 4th pair I've knit for Cory - he bought me some Cascade 220 for Christmas so I could knit him a pair - so thoughtful eh? again, no photos yet

Voodoo You Love Me - by Susan Claudino - a knit for a swap I'm participating in in the Dancing Dog Dyeworks group. LOVE the pattern - and it was so much fun to decorate!

Haruni is nearing completion - just 2 more rows, an epic bind off and blocking remain

And I've got a pair of stripey socks on the go - with just a little bit of a pattern/recipe on them too

Catching up

Long time no post - well not really given my track record but longer than I'd like. I visited my mom in Kelowna before she left for Italy for 2 months (to visit family) so that threw a monkey wrench in the posting - well that's my story and I'm sticking to it. Here's a few photos that I've taken in the last few weeks - I'll use them to catch up.

I finished my Jedi Mind Trick socks - love them - have loved most of the patterns and all of the yarns this year in the CookieA club. I'm 90% certain I'll sign up for the club again - my only issue is that it takes so long to knit socks that if I wanted to knit all the socks in the club I'd knit little else through the year. And I'd like to knit a few sweaters - it makes sense given the climate I live in. I'm a little torn. I think I'll sign up again and delay my decision for a year. I've knit 3 out of the 5 sets of patterns - so 3 out of 10 patterns but still 3 from 5 shipments. I think that's pretty good - right? right!

In Kelowna I visited with mom and my canine brother - Zeke. He's a love but he smells a little like a dog and likes to steal my seat. He's a beautiful, chubby, pure bred beagle.

While in Kelowna I knit most of a pair of after thought stripey socks - love stripey sock yarn - these would be done but I had a lot left over so I ripped out the cuff and am knitting them taller. The cuff was annoyingly short. Socks would go so much faster, I'm sure, if I didn't rip out bind offs. The yarn is Canon Hand Dyed - Charles base (I think) in the colourway, In Mine Eye She is the Sweetest Lady. It is my entry for the AlphaKal that my LYS is holding. I've got until Oct 31st to complete them and I should make it.

And finally, we've really hit winter weather here in Calgary. I've got to be honest - winter is my favourite season. I don't mind the cold, and I love how the world looks with snow all over. I like that I can add layers and be warm and snug - whereas in the summer there are only so many layers that you can take off in public. Plus we don't have air conditioning or windows we can open to create a through breeze. I also like watching hockey (though with the strike we're watching a lot more NFL and so I'm starting to understand football and therefore liking it more). I also like how winter makes my hobby really useful and there is a lot of time in which to use hand knits. It has been knit sock weather for quite awhile here - LOVE IT! What I don't like is driving in winter conditions - or taking transit when roads are bad. Transit has already been disrupted 2-3 times this season and that is a lot given how many weeks of winter we've had. It doesn't bode well for the rest of the winter.

On the Wheel and the Needles

Not great at posting - and I think the goal eventually will be 3 posts per week. If I could do 1-2 posts per week in the near future I think that would be great. Today we'll take a look at recent spinning.

Just off the wheel - superwash merino in Wanderlust from Sweet Georgia yarns - September 2012 fiber club shipment. I love this club - always ships near the start of the month and because she's based in Vancouver BC I get my yarn fast. If I had my act together I'd be the one posting the first spoiler photo! And she seems like good people.

I had issues with breakage while skeining the yarn - I think I'm under spinning and/or under plying my yarn. I got about 450 yards from 4 oz of fiber. Oh and it is a 2 ply

Previously on the wheel - Merino, bamboo nylon blend from Gnome Acres in Southwest Zombie. It goes through the 3 colours 3 times - it is an n-ply. Amanda's good people too.

I got just under 230 yards from 4 oz.

And before that was Swirl BFL in Beryl from the Unwind Yarn Company - Dana's good people too - I'm saying that a lot this post but it's true - these dyers take their businesses seriously, are nice and have a great product. I'll be buying from all of them again.

I got about 400yds from 4.3 oz - no wonder it took so long to spin and ply...

New to the stash and soon on the wheel (after what I've got on there is done - might be a bit because it is spinning very very fine - I've got the first of 2 plies done)...

This is the October 2012 shipment of the Sweet Georgia Fiber club in Turning Leaf on BFL (not superwash). LOVE IT!

And in other news, winter was here for a brief visit and has left the building temporarily. First transit disruption of the season - buses were having issues with the black ice this past Thursday:

It looks worse than it was, I think the temperature that morning was only -4C (25F) so it isn't that cold. It felt cold-ish but it is self preservation to say that it wasn't cold because it will get much much colder.

On the needles:

Jedi Mind Trick socks - Cookie A sock club August shipment

This is an old photo but it gives you an idea. I'm now well into the foot of the second sock - and am doing the foot plain so that they are more comfortable in shoes.

I also need to knit 2+ more of these hats for friends and coworkers - I've knit 3 so far - resounding success

The pattern is the Umbilical Cord Hat from Stitch 'n Bitch

I went to add labels and thought I'd lost my post - but blogger now auto-saves. I was ready to say I hated blogger and then noticed the auto save thing on the new post - right now I'm feeling some Blogger love... Then I noticed that the photos I'd linked from Flickr weren't showing up - less pleased but still happier than if I'd had to re-write this post...

Life got in the way... again...

So that was a false alarm wasn't it - but I keep listening to podcasts and thinking how great it would be to share what I'm thinking and my opinions and what I'm knitting/spinning but then I realize that there is NO WAY I have time for that - I can't even post to my blog. So we'll see if I can get what I desire by sharing on this space.

Needless to say, life is busy. The summer flew by in a flurry of data collection and I don't know what else. Now I'm testing, doing data entry and teaching advanced research methods and design (statistics) once a week. 3 hour class, and about 75 minutes driving each direction. Lots of podcast listening.

Fall is in full swing here - the leaves are changing and falling - crunching under my feet on my run yesterday.

Blogger is completely different than the last time I posted - if you don't count that little teaser in July - which I don't. I've been knitting - and that's likely what a lot of you are interested in. Here's my most recent FO's

 Daphne

Horseshoe Fern Neckwarmer - this one knit up fast, just 2 days.

And an apple hat using the Umbilical Cord Hat from the Stitch 'n Bitch book - love this one - the leaf is Just a Leaf (a free pattern). This is the first of at least 5 that need to be knit for expectant coworkers.

I hope to share more details on future posts for future knits - right now I have to make this quick because I teach in 17 minutes!

August 1, 2011

Yarn: Dancing Dog Dyeworks in Tropical Twist
Pattern: Tropicana
Ravelry project page: http://www.ravelry.com/projects/CatieCat/tropicana

July 14, 2011

A stuck hot water valve and a leaky faucet are the current reminders that there are things I can control and things I cannot control. And in order to have control I need to act - that is the way to a solution not stress and procrastination.

Pattern is Irving the Icebox Monster from Rebecca Danger's Big Book of Knitted Monsters. He is the reason that the laundry didn't get done and the bathroom was not cleaned this weekend...

July 5, 2011

It's a blanket made of sock yarn - long term project by definition - takes some of the pressure off. Plus I get to use up every last bit of yarn and get it out of the stash. Feels good.

Picture Heavy Finished Objects Post

Wow, I haven't done a knitting post in a LONG while - late may, apparently! Well here is a round up of a bit of the stuff I've been doing... All links are Ravelry links

Queen Anne's Lace - crochet scarf
there was a bit of ripping out with this one - the yarn held up relatively well - pattern is nice, but the scarf is a bit floppy when it is worn. Though I have gotten compliments on it while I was out and about so it can't be all that floppy :)

A moebius scarf/cowl for my mom - Infinity Peacocks Moebius Wrap
The pattern was okay - the cast-on was cool - the yarn a bit splitty but the bind off was too tight and it was a pain in the arse to block.

Lots of babies this summer
I made several apple hats - fruit hats always seem to be a hit

My first Zimmerman pattern - February Baby Sweater
The yarn and pattern were great - and the mom loved it

 

3-in-1 Felted Baby Booties - so cute, a bit on the small side but they did fit for awhile - and the mom LOVED the booties

Some baby hats that still need to be delivered to the charity...

A quick Baby Beret for a friend - again, appreciated - and bonus, it used up some leftover yarn

And another baby hat for another friend - like I said, a lot of babies so far this year - I learned to pick up stitches in pattern for this one

Some crochet washcloths to practice - these Venice Beach ones were my favorite

Cat toys - these are the best - the cats LOVE them - and they get destroyed quickly as a result. Ellie seems to know when the knits are for her and Zoie loves to chew the tail off...

Felted Calla Lilies - nice pattern - a lot of issues with getting the wire in the stem - but in the end I prevailed

A gift for a very close friend - Biology 101 - she LOVED it - saying that a lot in this post but looking back I've had some big gift hits - always a pleasure when people like what I knit for them

Cory actually made a request - and was insufferable until it was finished :) It has met his approval so I'm happy
A computer chair - using the Big Dotty Cushion pattern from Mason Dixon Knitting

A cowl - I call it my Snowdrift Cowl - knit with handspun and super warm, which is useful right now - not quite what I had envisioned but the warmth makes up for that

And a flower on a bobby pin

I've got some other projects on the go - but they are either awaiting parts (like wooden beads for heads) or awaiting blocking (Wisp shawl) or are related to Christmas gifts. I've also been spinning but it is time for bed and there are more than enough pictures in this post

Smocked French Press Cozy

I heavily modified a hat pattern (essentially took the stitch pattern from it) to make a cozy for my french press - my Smocked French Press Cozy.



I know that if you are a coffee purist you would decant the coffee after steeping so that it stops but I'm not a purist and I'd like warm coffee later in the day without having to warm it up.



Plus, this looks way cuter.



I've also been working on a sock that I cast on back in September 2009 - turns out that socks go fast if you work on them... And I've been spinning but I have no photos of that.

Ishbel & a Bib

I've been crafting - knitting and crocheting away - sometimes with no recipient in mind.

A lot of my friends are pregnant - so I am trying to stockpile some baby knits. The latest:
Frog bib


And for me:
Ishbel




What? Not everyone uses a large protractor while blocking a lace shawl? I felt pretty geeky while blocking but very pleased with the results.

Oh, and with the wider middle column it is easier to pull photos from Flickr and so I'm posting more because most of the pictures I want to blog about are already in Flickr because they are already in Ravelry. I don't know how long the increased posting will last...

Spinning

My wonderful husband bought me a spinning wheel for Christmas. Well, I bought it (because I went to Shuttleworks to try out a few) but he suggested it. I tried a few and decided on the Ladybug by Schacht. I really like it, and am having some success with it. I've tentatively named her Aurora, but that is subject to change on a whim.

This is the only photo that has much of the wheel in view - these are the first singles spun on the wheel. The fiber is Northern Lights Wool Top by Louet - another Christmas gift.

Which ended up becoming this



Since then, I've spun the following:
Fiber Optic Yarns 80 BFL 20 Tussah Silk (a batt)

Fiber Optic Yarns Superwash Merino and Tencel Roving

Mystery brand Merino and Tencel

and finally, Fiber Optic Yarns Footnotes Unspun (a pencil roving)


The Footnotes yarn has already been made into a Lacy Baktus



So you see, in the past 3.5 months I've added a craft (crochet) and greatly expanded a craft (spinning).