Pictures

Ok, first up Cat's Paw lace scarf.



Blocking on my interlocking fitness mats. Really like how they worked out. Especially like having the flexibility to go long or wide depending on the shape of the FO.



Close-up of blocked pattern.



Indulged in an "artsy" shot :-)

Details:

Pattern: Northern Lace by Elizabeth Lovick. It's using the cat's paw stitch pattern. Elizabeth can be found here.

Yarn: lace weight merino from Hand Painted Yarn,.

Needles: Knit Picks Options size 7 (I think),

Comments: The yarn was nice but seemed a little splitty, although since it's my first lace project I really don't have anything to compare it to. Using the Knit Picks helped avoid splitting since their tips are so pointy. I didn't know most people don't like metal needles for lace until after the fact. They worked for me.

Around the Bend with my Head Hugger Hat.



Details for Round the Bend:

Pattern: can be found in Handknitting with Meg Swansen I actually used the video that she made for this pattern. Schoolhouse Press is in the process of changing their videos over to DVD and it appears that they're out of stock for the video of this pattern. Hopefully it will reappear on DVD soon.


Yarn: Unspun Icelandic Wool in Caramel and Dusty Pink.

Needles: Addi Turbo circulars and I can't remember what size I used - wah!

Comments: This yarn is incredibly warm. Because it's unspun you have to handle it a little more careful than plied yarn. If you yank on it, it will stretch out. Sewing up the shoulder seams got a little tricky because of this. Once it's knit up, it's a stable fabric. I used it double stranded throughout to meet gauge.

Easy Head-Hugger Hat



This back shot shows the pattern of the band nicely.



Side view - I lurv Noro :-)


Details on Easy Head-Hugger Hat:

Pattern: Easy Head-Hugger Hat

Yarn: Noro Kureyon

Needles: Knit Picks Options size 5

Comments: You do have to pay attention though because something different is happening each right side row. I think if I hadn't put this down and picked it up over 2 months it would've been easier to get in the rhythm of the pattern.

When gauge goes bad

Sigh.

I frogged 4 inches of yoke on Eris this morning. After staying up until 1:30am happily making progress. The little voice in the back of my head said I should probably stop and double check I was still on track with my gauge. The big voice said "just one more row".

I had originally started this using KnitPicks Options, which I love. But the yarn was just too slippery on them once I got past the cabled collar. So I changed to Addi bamboos which were perfect and quite nice. I figured even though they were the same size (5) since there was more grip on the bamboo I could knit it more tightly. Which it appeared I was for a little while, because all was well in gauge land. Somewhere along the way however I got comfortable and my gauge expanded instead of shrank. 5 stitches per inch turned into 5.5 stitches per inch.

Sigh.

Then there was a little bit of an argument inside my head.

Slacker: It's just the yoke, how big of a difference can it make, really? If I change needles now it should be fine.

Perfectionist: Well, let's just see shall we? Let's do the math.

(whip out cell phone calculator)

Perfectionist: 3.5 inches too much

Slacker: hmmm, is that really such a big deal? Let's try it on just to see.

(spread stitches of yoke over 2 circular needles, drape over shouilders, stand in front of mirror)

Perfectionist: looks kind of baggy

Slacker: sigh

Perfectionist: you know you'll hate it if you spend all this time on it only to have it look like crap because it's TOO BIG in the yoke

Slacker: big sigh.

(rip out yoke, rewind yarn, pick up yoke stitches, put stitch markers back in place)

And we're back in the saddle again............

In other news - my blocking wires arrived from Knit Picks today and I blocked my Cat's Paw lace scarf. It looks quite loverly. You'll have to imagine it because I'm feeling too lazy to get up and actually photo it. Maybe tomorrow. Oh and I also finished my hat. Stayed up until 12:30am Thursday night to finish Kitchering it together. Oh yeah, I was loving life Friday morning. However, it's sweet and it fits!

That's the news.

Whoa - I'm still alive

Drum roll please, I actually have finished objects!



Finished my socks with Lorna's Laces Child's Play yarn. Love having my very own socks.


Cat's claw scarf is finished. Still needs blocking. Waiting on my lace wires and flower pins to come from Knit Picks. I ordered these sweet foam blocking boards from Amazon. Saw them on Wendy's blog. They're TKO 2'x2' Fitness Flooring System interlocking mats. The only downside is they're black so not the best background for photographing things, but oh well.






Lace close-up.



Completed Around the Bend Jacket, courtesy of Queen Elizabeth Zimmermann. All bow before her knitting wisdom :-). It's really warm and cozy thanks to the unspun Icelandic Wool. It's not the most fashionable piece of knitwear, but I do like it. My goal is to eventually have some nice, classic pieces of knit wear. The kind of stuff that never goes out of style. Not my strongest talent, but I'll work on it.



Close up of the buttons and closures.



Finally finished up the cuffs on the soaker. It's a Wooly Wonder. Now for the baby butt to fill it........










After all those finished objects, you may be wondering just what in the world am I doing now??? 2 projects on the needles. First up - Eris.



This is the neckline of Eris (I'm doing the cardigan version). After drooling over this sweater for a long time, it is finally on the needles - yay! This pattern is AWESOME. The details are so clear. And I love cables. Love, love, love. There's not a lot of cabling left now that the neckline is done. Soon it will be nice, soothing stockinette for miles and miles.



Close-up of center back.



Left side close-up.

And last but not least, the Easy Head-Hugger Hat using good 'ol Noro Kureyon. I have no idea what size head it will fit when it's finished. Um yeah, the gauge swatch kinda didn't happen. Oh well, it'll be a surprise!





That's all for now. Hopefully it won't be another 7 months (gasp!) before an update. Dan and I got back from vacation up in the "North Pole" of Marquette, Michigan on Friday and I must say this whole work thing is really for the birds. I think I could be quite happy parked on a beach, knitting and riding my bike. It's so beautiful up there even if Lake Superior is like ice water.

Today I was fantasizing about working in a yarn store. Ah well. Until next time.......... Happy knitting :-)