Silly Groundhog...

Hey Robin,
All I gotta say is:

Spring!

Later :)

Sock off!

...the kneedles that is.

Hey Robin!
I finished #1 of the Vinnland set (or the Greenman Socks as I named the project on Ravelry.... how could I NOT?) and luuuuurve it. It's a pain-in-the-butt to cast off but wow the results. I mean, have you ever seen instructions to graft a hem to itself?? As in kitchener-stitch of a single edge. It's a new one for me and I was a little unsure that the designer knew what she was saying here... but I had trust so I followed the well-written instructions and lo-and-behold!

Here's the set up for grafting the ribbing... which by the way is hiden so well as part of the pattern... it's breathtaking... anyway, you move the purl stitches to a back kneedle and the knit stitches are on the front. then you kitchener the ribbing TO ITSELF! I was so weirded out by the whole thing but LOOK:

Isn't that a pleasing result?? It's my second toe-up sock, but since the first was an infant-sock I really don't count that one so much...

My main issue is since I was in "kitchener mode" i ended up binding it off too tight so it was trying to choke my calf. However with a little maneuvering it fit fine. See?

Ooooh Aaaaah...

I can't wait to have a pair!

Later!

Progress!

Hey Robin!
It's been a while since our return from vacay and I tell ya, going from the cold to the warm is easy, but returning to the cold FROM the warm? Not so great. I'm having the major post-vacation-bluuuuuuues! Howcome B.B. never sang about THAT?

In the bright side I got a teeny-bit of knitting done on the trip and have since progressed far enough to warrant a photo. Meet Vinnland:

Hello!

Vinnland is wonderful. The yarn is wonderful (Lorna's Laces Shepherd sock in Douglas Fir colorway) the pattern is wonderful. It's all good. It's so good I had to take a break from the goodness for some "simple". Meet Mary Jane's Pithy Hat:

I had actually gotten this far (about 8") on the vacay when i realized i was reading something entirely wrong and it was looking like something the neighbor's cat had caught on it's tail. Not good. It has since been RE started and aaaaaah. The yarn is from eBay and is very much like a Malabrigo (mMmmmmm) and the colors are lovely and make me think of Spring. That can't be a bad thing.

Right?

Sometime I will describe to you the intense anxiety that comes with adorning yourself with a sock that is still on 4 dpns. It's an experience let me tell ya... Oh and did I mention that the Yarn Harlot is nearby... breathing my air? Wish I could go see her!! She'll be back in April tho... wahoo!

Later! (Oh and Happy Chocolate Day to you too!)

A change in tension

Hey Kate!

The gauge for the lovely Dragon Scale Mitts requires a swatch in the pattern stitch, so I decided to just knit away with the size 3 circular kneedles and the Blue Sky Alpaca Sport and hope for the best. Well, the best didn't happen. I always used to knit too tight before, but after switching to Continental knitting and after reading EZ's advice about not knitting tightly, I'm now knitting looser than normal gauge.

So down to size 2 I go. The problem is that I don't have size 2 circular kneedles and my size 2 DPNs are just too slippery with which to knit that lovely Alpaca. So I'm just going to have to get me some Harmony fixed circular kneedles in size 2. I know, it's a hardship.

In the meantime, I am knitting a pair of Fetching in Patons SWS. I'm not liking this yarn for the mitts so much, but I really just want to finish it and it's not too bad. I think I'm just spoiled by the Alpaca.


I'm using size 4 Harmony Options -- size 6 and 5 both were turning out too big. This seems to be just right, though it could be a little tight.

I know, I could just switch back to throwing... but, well I can't. Now that I have the hang of German/Continental knitting, it's all I want to do. I'll only throw when I've got a bunch of purls in a row. It's just faster and more natural for me.

That's all I got for now.

Later!

Robin