GP's & FO's

Most of the time I seem to share my GP (Guilty Pleasure) of purchasing yarn, but today, it's something completely different.



Go ahead & click on it, take the tour, and sign up for your free account. I did and believe me, I may sleep better knowing everything is a bit more organized now.

One other Guilty Pleasures will be happening on Saturday. I'm going to see the Yarn Harlot! Obviously I will provide photos and details on that next week.

Finished Objects!

Pattern: Shedir by Jenna Wilson
Source: Knitty.com Fall 2004
Yarn: Rowan Calmer colorway 492 (1 skein)
Needles: Addi Turbo (2) 24" circular needles size US 2 (2.75 mm)

Comments: I originally attempted knitting this with size US 3 needles, but halfway through I was running out of yarn, so I frogged it and cast on again with my size 2 addi turbo needles instead. I didn't love working all the cables with the less pointy Addi turbo because frankly I believe the Knit Picks pointy tips are better for this, but what did help with all that cabling was knowing how to cable without a cable needle. I love the finished hat, but I don't think I'd knit this again since my hands ached with all the cabling and I was stressed most of the time knitting it that I was going to run out of yarn. Speaking of the yarn .. it is FABULOUS! If it were less expensive, my stash would be filled with every colorway.


Pattern: Garterlac Dishcloth by Dave
Source: Criminy Jickets
Yarn: Peaches & Creme Ombre in Raspberry Swirls
Needles: Knit Picks Options size 7 US

Notes: Once I figured out how the triangles and squares fit together, and what order they were worked, this knit up very quickly. This was my first attempt at entrelac, and I liked it so much, I'm knitting more! Thanks for a great pattern Dave. I predict that I'll be including these in many Christmas packages this year, and I also predict many will end up in my kitchen too!

I found out through Judy's blog that if you purchase Cat Bordhi's latest book, New Pathways for Sock Knitters, you might want a set of stitch markers that utilize the letters A through H. Since I DID end up purchasing the book because of Judy's subtle blog-post coaxing, (although I'm still waiting for Amazon to ship it) I obviously also needed a set of these stitch markers. Of course Judy had the solution by giving the link to J.L. Yarnworks Etsy shop, where she sells the very thing, but upon doing a further search I fell in love with the stitch markers and row counting bracelet at Hide and Sheep's Etsy store, so I placed a custom order with her.

My order arrived very promptly from Hide & Sheep and not only is their customer service fantastic, but the items I ordered were even better than I expected. Everything arrived in its own tin and not only is the quality of the work outstanding, but no detail was overlooked. I especially love that on the bracelet, there is a small "hook" to hold stitchmarkers. She has quite a large variety of stitchmarkers and bracelets and she even does custom orders, so you should really check her out.
One last very important thing, if you'd like to be entered in a drawing to win some fabulous prizes, please go to Noolie Knits and donate to the Light the Night walk for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. All the details are in this blog post and although last year she raised $1,218, this year she's only raised $555 thus far and there are only 17 days remaining. Please let us help her exceed last years number!

Swan Lake De-Mystified

Shall I say last, but not least, ... or are there still a few of you knitting this?

(click for bigger)

Pattern: Swan Lake by Melanie Gibbons
KAL: Mystery Stole 3 (Yahoo Groups)
Source: Pink Lemon Twist (pattern to be released soon to anyone not in the KAL)
Yarn: Baruffa Cashwool; colorway 11 (black)
Needles: Addi Turbo Lace circular Size 3 (3.25 mm)
Finished Dimensions: 60" x 17"


I love that I decided to jump in with both feet and join this KAL. I've never done anything like this before because frankly, I'm a control freak. I want to know what, when, where and how with what I'm knitting, so this was a complete change for me.


There are a few things I would do differently if I were to knit this again:

• Pay attention to the blocking instructions. For those of you who have knit and blocked this stole, you'll notice in the photos that I obviously blocked this incorrectly. I forgot to make the points on the wing side. Please don't remind me though, I'm hoping I forget about it so I don't feel the need to re-block it.

• Use a different yarn. I like the yarn, but I don't love it. I wish I would've chosen a wool/silk blend (like the yarn she recommended) because I think I would've liked the drape better.

• Use a size 4 (3.5mm) or 5 (3.75mm) knitting needle. Although I think the Addi Turbo Lace needles are amazingly perfect for lace knitting, the size 3 (3.25mm) needles I used didn't create a fabric that was the overall size I wanted.
  

• Include the beads. Since I didn't know what the beads would look like in the stole, and since I was afraid it may look tacky, I wimped out and didn't include them. If I were to only change one thing about my stole, it would be to add the beads.

Overall, I'm quite happy with my Swan Lake Stole and I'm looking forward to wearing it on my cruise next month for our four year anniversary. I'll try to get modeled shots of it then.


Also, look what came in the mail! It's my Loopy Ewe order! (click for bigger)

From Left to Right:

• Panda Cotton in College Prep (freebie)
• Louet Gems Pearl in Burgandy
• All Things Heather Sock in Raspberry
• Regia Design Line Kaffe Fassett in Mirage Storm
• ShiBuiKnits Sock in Midnight
• Addi Turbo Lace needles (to add to my growing collection)

This is the second time I've ordered All Things Heather and I'm still in love with it! The photo of the Kaffe Fassett yarn from Regia does not do it justice because this colorway is stunning! Also, if you get the chance to order ShiBuiKnits Sock, definitely do! It's a smooshy, squishy delight, and the color is stunning. This was my 6th order, so I'm now a Loopy Groupie. This is a great thing since now I should be getting notified before she does her sneak-ups. Maybe now I can get my hands on that Wollmeise. I'm coveting the Granatapfel and Gewitterhimmel colorways.

Tuesday This 'n That

Labor Day was fairly uneventful around here, since it's honestly too hot to do anything. If you read any blogs from others Californians, then you already know that we're having an extreme heat wave. For example, last night at 7pm it was 90 degree INSIDE my home and I'd had the air conditioner on since 8am that morning. In addition to the hot weather though, my health has taken a turn for the worse and in addition to my normal Fibromyalgia symptoms, I'm battling the return of all my Epstein-Barr Virus symptoms. Supposedly it has returned because my immune system sucks, so I'm attempting to remedy that with a 30-day trial for what I hope to be "miracle" vitamins.

Laura recently asked me about the sock I was designing to see if it were complete. I'm on the verge of posting about it, but not today, so here's a sneak-preview photo.


Wendy wrote a post last month regarding this light tent. I'm feeling tempted into purchasing it. Although my photos are alright, I would love for them to better. Also, with this tent, maybe my photo assistants wouldn't steal my props. Currently I photograph everything outside by placing a few sheets of white tissue paper on my backyard patio or walkway, and I keep it from blowing away with a few rocks stolen from the base of my water fountain. Unfortunately, my golden retrievers think they are my photo assistants and just for giggles they like to steal the rocks off the tissue paper when I setup between photos.

All setup and ready for it's picture

Kya nonchalantly standing near the photo setup acting all innocent

The little thief stealing the rock from the bottom left corner

The yarn in the photos was recently acquired from Jenny of the Stash & Burn podcast. She was doing a de-stash and I decided to pick up these two skeins of Lamb's Pride Worsted in the Prairie Fire colorway. I'm considering using this yarn to make a scarf for the Red Scarf Project. They've changed the guidelines this year to sending in a maximum of five scarves and they need to be received by October 15th, but they are also recommending no mohair scarves. There is 15% mohair in this yarn, so do you think it would be alright to use this, or should I find something else?

Waving Lace at Dusk

I realize that I was absent from blogging for weeks on end, and then in the span of two days I posted my completed Thelonious socks and now the Waving Lace socks, but it's only because I want to get another "credit" for SAM4.

Pattern: Waving Lace by Evelyn A. Clark
Source: Favorite Socks
Yarn: Knit Picks Risata in Dusk
Needles: Knit Picks 24" circular size 1.5 US (2.5 mm)

This is the first pattern I've knit from Favorite Socks, and I am more than pleased with the pattern. There's two options for the cuff, either a basic rib, or the designers scalloped edge. I obviously chose the later and I'm very pleased with the result. The waving lace pattern is comprised of 8 stitches over 20 rows, but it's very easy to memorize.

I ordered the Risata yarn the first week it was introduced by Knit Picks. I'm such a sucker for "new" yarn. The jury's still out on whether I like it or not though. It's not super squishy, or super soft, but I'm sure the nylon content will help these wear a lot better than my squishy soft socks too. I absolutely adore the color and this was a pleasant surprise because in my opinion, I've never been a huge fan of the Knit Picks colorways. After seeing their fall yarn lines though, I think they may have figured it out.

I lucked out and caught the Loopy Ewe sneak-up on Wednesday, so I was able to acquire a few new items for my stash, but you'll have to wait until they arrive for the details. I also decided to hop on over to Amazon.com and pick up Cat's latest book, New Pathways for Sock Knitters. I blame this purchase solely on the influence of Judy's blog posts taunting me with the fabulous-ness of the book.

I'm halfway through the Twisted Flower socks and I must admit that if you cannot devote full concentration to this pattern, do not purchase it. I'll go into more details why when I post the finished socks, but I will say this ... I love them!

My mystery stole is completely finished and a blog post will come soon regarding that. Thanks to everyone who submitted suggestions for what cardi to knit with my new Skye Tweed yarn. For now, I've purchased the ChicKnits Ariann pattern and will be swatching soon to see if it will work. I think my biggest problem is I didn't purchase enough skeins to knit most of the patterns I wanted, but I have been eyeing Ariann for awhile now, so maybe it was meant to be.

Have any of you signed up for the Secret of the Stole KAL? I loved the Mystery Stole KAL, but am unsure of signing up for a secret stole KAL when I've not seen any previous stole designs from the designer. What do you think?

The-what-ius?

Does anyone have any idea why Cookie named this sock pattern Thelonious? Does it have something to do with Thelonious Monk?


Pattern: Thelonious by Cookie A.
Pattern Source: www.cookiea.com
Yarn: Louet Gems Pearl in Sage
Needles: Knit Picks 24" circular size 1.5 US (2.5 mm)

Thelonious is one of the patterns I purchased when I took the sock design class from Cookie in July and it's one of the few patterns I didn't convert from cuff down to toe up. I figured I'd knit a pattern as written (for once) mainly because she designed them cuff down and I wanted to knit it as she designed it.

I made a few errors and had to tink back here and there, but overall, things went smoothly. The yarn was wonderful to work with, and I'm glad I chose a solid colorway yarn so that it shows off all the details of Cookie's design. I would definitely recommend this pattern to anyone who loves knitting socks, but be forewarned, you need to be able to knit from a chart.

These socks are being mailed to mom for her birthday, although I must admit, I'm almost a week late in sending them to her. I'm sure she'll forgive me though since her gift to me was a few weeks late also.

I've already cast on for the next Cookie pattern, Twisted Flower, and it's taking my full attention, although I'm starting to itch to make something other than socks.

In yarn collecting news (because I can't not), I picked up 13 skeins of this Classic Elite Skye Tweed for a future cardigan for myself. I'm not sure what pattern to use, so I'm wondering ... does anyone have any recommendations?

I rock, but you rock more!

I just saw the most surprising and amazing thing! Lara at Yarn It nominated me for a Rockin' Girl Blogger award. I'm completely in awe that she did this for me (since my blog only seems to "rock" once in awhile), but I'll accept the honor anyway. I know I'm supposed to nominate others for this award as well, but honestly, I just can't narrow down the list of awesome bloggers that I frequently read. I also know that quite a few of you have already received this amazing award.

I know it's been almost a month since my birthday came and kicked me in the arse, and I'm yet to share with you some of my birthday treasures and since they are knitting-type related, I thought you might be interested.

First, my sister in Pittsburgh has only ever acknowledged my birthday with a card, but this year, I received a gift certificate to The Loopy Ewe. I chose to spend my money on something I would have forever, so I selected the sterling silver Eternity shawl pin from Designs by Romi. Although I only have my Clapotis shawl to use it with, since I'm still working on the Mystery Stole, hopefully this pin will work well with it.



Second, my baby sister at Bits and Pieces gave me a gift certificate to Amazon.com, so I picked up a couple of books from my wish list. Favorite Socks from Interweave Knits has been on my list since before it even released. I've already knit the Embossed Leaves Socks before and loved them, so next up I think is the Waving Lace Socks by Evelyn A. Clark.

And, since my sister is a crocheter that I taught to knit, I chose the Teach Yourself Visually Crocheting book so she can claim she taught a knitter to crochet. It counts. I've already started with a few practice swatches in this orange cotton yarn and the book has great step-by-step photo guides for everything. There are 14 chapters of over 273 pages of information regarding everything you ever wanted to know about crochet, so I'm giving this book a huge thumbs up!

In other news, I've been meeting with contractors and handymen the last few weeks for some desperately needed work on my home. Hopefully most of the work will be completed by the end of the month and hopefully I may even have some money left over for food when it's complete!

I'm off to Salem, OR for a few days, so I'll try to catch up with emails & blog reading and all of that when I get back, since I've decided to make it a computer-free getaway. Until then, I leave you with photo evidence of what happens at a family party when my dear husband feels it necessary to harass our son-in-law.

Feathery Socks

Yes, it's another sporadic blog post, but I wanted to get these posted this month to show that I *did* knit something in July.


Pattern: Feather and Fan by Judith Sumner
Source: Socks, Socks, Socks
Yarn: Regia Silk 6-ply; color 0005
Needles: Knit Picks 24" circulars size 2.50mm (1 1/2US)

Modifications: I knit these from the toe-up (like that's a surprise to anyone who knows me) using Judy's magic cast-on because really, there's nothing better. I also omitted the "purl one round and knit one round" section right before you start the heel. My personal opinion is that the sock looks better without it.

I was very surprised at what an easy pattern this is, but the sock looks very intricate and difficult. It's a 16-stitch repeat over 4 rows, so it is easily memorized and it was a very quick knit. I liked the yarn, I loved the pattern and even though I love handpainted yarn, I'm glad I chose a solid color to really bring out the beauty of the pattern.

I know I mentioned a few posts ago that I was going to rewrite the Monkey pattern toe-up, but I ran across this little gem awhile back and thought I'd share it with you all. Momma Monkey has developed a conversion tutorial for how to convert a sock from top-down to toe-up, and she has also designed 3 Harry Potter Soctopia patterns (Nagini, Fawkes, and Bellatrix) that you can download for free! Now if you want to convert a pattern, you can refer to Momma Monkey's guide!