Inspired

What do you do when you are in a bad mood? Sometimes I just want to escape the feeling for a while, so I watch a movie or read fiction. But other times, I want to do something to make me feel better. This morning, inspired by several brave, brave knitting bloggers who have been revealing their WIP's and vowing to finish at least some of them, I decided what would make me feel better is doing something similar (but not so brave). I may not like the process but I will like the results.

This baby bib and burp rag needed only a few ends woven in and a button to be finished. Voila!



This set is for my hair stylist who is expecting her second (another boy). For her first baby, I gave her this electric green baby hoodie and wasn't sure if she like it. But she recently volunteered that she was looking forward to using it again on son #2.

A recently completed knit-wise project just waiting for some blocking was the Shetland Triangle Shawl.



The pattern came from a book, and I don't know which one because the photocopied pages don't have that information on them, but the pattern designer is Evelyn A. Clark, if that helps. I used Schaefer "Anne" in powder puff pink, which bled a little during the soak.



Quite a while ago, I purchased some blocking dressing wires from HandWorks Northwest, but I had not yet tried them. Heck, I hadn't even opened the package yet.



The kit was recommended by Yarn Harlot, I believe, and even though I'm not sure I was using them correctly, they did help with the blocking.



I used two wires across the top and one down the center. The pins that came with the kit were almost enough for this shawl.

The pinwheel sweater got bogged down when I decided I wanted to verify the location of the sleeves. This morning I took it off the needles, fetched a couple of sweaters from my closet, compared and contrasted, and stretched the pinwheel a little, and decided I can just follow the pattern. I am leaving in the yarn I used to hold the stitches as a lifeline, though, in case I change my mind later and want to rip back.

Now, the frustrating story of the Sea Silk scarf.

As you may recall, I have been trying to get something going with this yarn ever since I bought it. Through Ravelry, I found a pattern by Amy Singer that was designed for this yarn, so I thought my problems were over. Wrong! I wrestled with this yarn on multiple needles, in multiple needle sizes, until I despaired of ever getting further than a few inches on the scarf.



But I finally found something that works: my Turbo Addi circs in US6. The slippery needles and the slippery yarn force me to be mindful of my YO's, but I think this is going to work.

And, yes, now I feel much better.

Busy, Busy, Busy

I meant to post at least once this past weekend, but the days were just packed, in a good way. After a weekend like that, though, it was more difficult than usual to return to work today. I felt like I needed another day just for me.

The busyness started Friday afternoon, when I decided to stop at one of our new LYS's, Knitting Off Broadway. My first impression of this store is that it is less of a shop and more of a yarn boutique, like maybe the Von Maur of knitting. I poked around for a while, but I didn't have any particular yarn in mind and nothing caught my eye. Actually, I was hoping to buy some DPN's (more about my needle crisis later), but KoB is needle-light. So I walked out of a yarn store without making a purchase - unheard of! It would happen one more time before the weekend was out.

Saturday I finished the Math Geek scarf.



(I really need to sharpen my photography skills. Or develop some patience when taking pictures. Or learn better how to digitally enhance them.)



Details are:

• Pattern: Math Geek Scarf from the 2007 Knitting Pattern a Day Calendar, March 21.
  
• Yarn: Cascade 220 Paints, color no. 9926 (it's maroon and black)
  
• Needle size: US7

The dimensions of my scarf were 3.5" x 58" before blocking. I tried to use up as much yarn as possible, so made 14 large triangles instead of the 11 the pattern called for. Ending with an even number also affected how I knit the last small triangle, but it turned out A-OK. I wore it to work today. Very warm and cozy.

This was the weekend for NFL division playoffs, and we watched the Colts (lose) Saturday night. Needing something to work on during the game, I selected another item from my private yarn store: a skein of Schaefer Yarns Anne in "Powder Puff" for a shawl. Quite a while ago, I started a shawl with this yarn, but the project just did not grab me and after it sat in neglect for a while, I frogged it. I'm liking this pattern much better, but I can't tell you where I got it; I photocopied the pattern from a library book but the pages don't include the name of the book on them. It might have been something like Scarf Style? The name of the pattern is "Shetland Triangle" and it calls for 548 yards of fingering weight yarn, so Anne is perfect for it.

I was feeling a little guilty about starting this shawl when I keep promising my daughter that I will work on her vintage lace top, but actually this project will be a good warm-up for the top. I had been working lace in worsted weight yarn. Working with fingering is challenging but should get me in shape for the (gulp) Rowan Kidsilk Haze.

Another project I want to get started on are the Classic Elite Inca Marl socks for my much-appreciated son-in-law. (On Sunday he installed my reverse osmosis filter system, which lead to replacing some of the plumbing under the kitchen sink as it had corroded and started to leak just when he thought he was done.) But I am having a needle crisis.

One problem is that I like to work both socks at the same time, so I need two sets of DPNs, but I have only one set of the size US6 that I want to use. Of course. And they are INOX, which I am not liking much these days because another set of them (the US5's) developed a tackiness that makes the yarn stick and throws off my gauge. I was hoping to find something at Knitting Off Broadway, but their DPNs were INOX and bamboo. I hate bamboo. But I like my aluminum needles, so I stopped at Joann's on Saturday, thinking I would pick up a couple of sets of Susan Bates. But they come in packages of 4 (I'd prefer 5 per package) and through the packaging I could see that the finish was flawed. Aargh! Again, I left a (sort of) yarn store without making a purchase.

Meanwhile, this weekend I was also fretting meditating on the red-red-red sweater. I reached the tentative end of the body, took it off the needles, and tried it on.



Well, at least it looks like a sweater.



But the neck was really boatneck-like, if you know what I mean. Very high in front, and wide. It later occurred to me that part of its shape was probably due to the fact I did not have the neck cinched up at all, but still. How should I move forward? I searched through all my pattern books without finding any ideas, so I set it aside. Again.

Today I stopped at the library and found on the new non-fiction shelf Suss Design Essentials, which amazingly has a sweater with a snood, just like I have been contemplating. So now I have an idea of what to do next and also have a little faith it might actually work out.

And then there was yoga, laundry, pet poop patrol, dog walking, wild bird feeding, and friends and family. Like I said, a very full weekend.

They Fit Me!

I finished what has become known as the "Clara Barton" socks, and I get to keep them!



Details:
Shaefer Yarns Heather in "Clara Barton" colorway
Size US1 needles
Shaefer Pattern #253 "Anne Simply Textured Socks"



These feet are happy!

Da Bums

The Cubs were swept (swept!) out of the playoffs. Now I can abandon baseball and focus on the Colts. (Who said, "I don't know much about football, but I know a tight end when I see one."? Sylvia?)

I'm beginning to think of the Falling Leaves lace shawl as my football shawl. The family room is a bit dim, so the cream-colored yarn is easy to see. I should have it done by the end of the season.

This dishcloth is done, though.



It's my just-to-prove-a-point dishcloth.

For a brainless project (and after seeing one knit by qutecowgirl), I started this scarf, but after three or four starts, I abandoned it. One complaint was that the photos with the pattern make the fabric look like some kind of waffle stitch, with stockinette stitches in the center of the waffle. But that's not what the pattern yields; I should have paid more attention to the photo at qutecowgirl. I went with the pattern on size 8 needles, but didn't like the results. Tried again on size 6 needles. Nope. Tried to make a waffle stitch without success. Finally gave up and started the Math Geek scarf from Knitting Pattern a Day Calendar. Interesting pattern but it doesn't work with the yarn, either. I originally bought this Paton Classic Wool merino for a crocheted scarf and the yarn seems determined to be nothing else. I don't feel like crocheting right now, though, so it's back in the stash with you!

The Schaefer socks are progressing nicely, though.



I like doing both at the same time. The heel looks like a birds-eye pattern. Between that and the textured rib and the stockinette, the colorway is just enthralling.