Miss ya already!

Hey Robin!

I know I JUST dropped you off at the train station, but I miss our conversations already! Little Guy was sad that Emme had to go, but he was maybe just a little glad to have his personal space back. And yet it's easy to believe that he enjoyed himself thoroughly. Look at this face:

I love this picture...

We hope you and Emme can come again sometime... oh and the mochi is almost all gone by the way. Tell Emme "Kake says hi!"

On to the FOs!!
I finished my first-ever lace triangle shawl. It's the supremely easy-though-it-doesn't-show Shetland Triangle from Wrap Style. I swear this pattern is easier than it looks. The lace-repeat in the body is just 10 rows, half of which are just a purl row with 2 knits on each end, and 90% of the RS rows are the same stitch repeat in every row. So you have to consult the chart, what, once every four rows? It's just so easy to memorize. I love it. I can't wait to try another Evelyn Clark shawl. Yippee!

This one is going to my Aunt Carole whom I love dearly. She has put up with so much from me (bs mostly) and still loves me even though we aren't blood-relation. That somehow makes it more-special, and the fact that she is married to one of the most special people I know just makes it better. She's wonderful and I can't wait for her to have it.

If this shot gives you a little vertigo, that's because it's upside-down. Just sayin'

Happy Birthday Carole!!

Lastly, there was a request for more 'body pictures' of the Rogue. Thanks to Robin I was able to get some relatively-stable images in a pretty good light. I hope they satisfy some of the needs, though I am a little bummed that I didn't think to get a better side-shot, though I think the mirror pictures from before show that part pretty well already:

I really love this sweater.

Hope your train trip was uneventful!
Later ;)

Mirrors can be fun!

Hey Robin!
Didn't want to wait too much longer to get a picture... besides it is chilly in the house and I wanted to wear it anyway. Later!

FO's of the non-fibrous variety...

Hey Robin!
I am back from the anti-blogging-land that is the family visit. I don't say that with any kind of negative connotation. Simply, that when family visits I barely have time to check OTHER knitter's blogs much less make time to augment our lovely home, home on the web.

My Father is, as far as I know, now on the plane and safely on his way back to your neck of the woods! We had a great visit as always... went a few places in Seattle that we haven't seen yet which is always great! We saw the 'new' Downtown Seattle library (inspiration for the ubiquitous and wonderful Koolhaas hat). I have pictures, but there are already plenty of them to be found online that my poor attempt at photography would be un-loved for sure. We also went to the Kubota Japanese Garden in South Seattle. What a place!!

The intent of the garden, created around 1927, was to showcase Northwestern fauna in a Japanese manner. It's so beautiful! I LOVE Japanese style gardens, and to think that I could (with a LOT of work) create a garden like it from local plants just renews my interest in trying something in my own backyard. Here's a couple of nice photos to give you an idea of the beauty:

That's my Dear ol' Dad, ain't he handsome?

More importantly though, I wanted to share what we did to the house while he was here... that's the most EXCITING part! Well... to me it is anyway. First of all we changed this:

To This:

aaaaah....

Next thing that happened was this:

Any idea what that is? No? Want a hint? That's the largest amount of FLOOR i have seen in my garage since we bought the house. I can tell you right now THAT is an accomplishment and there's just no way to pay Dad back for all that help and brainstorming. THANKS DAD!!!

Don't worry, I paid him back a little with his favorite dinners and desserts ;)

You want knitting?? Man, some people are SO hard to please! Alrighty here's where I stand with the current WIPs:
The Greenlake Jays

This many sleeves for the Rogue Hoodie:

And I am unveiling the Grammy Square because it probably won't be done in time to ship to Mom for Mother's Day (woops):

It's coming along ;) Sorry about the blurry pic on the Rogue sleeves, there's just no great way to get the cabling detail with a flash.

That's all I got for now. What's happening with you?

Later!

Stuff and Nonsense 2

Hey Robin!
Here I sit with my new blanket over my lap and I think to myself: "Self? You haven't shared your latest FO with your best online buddy!"
"The hell you say!"
"It's TROO!"
*tsk*

I shall remedy that this instant....

So as to not leave out the details I will put pictures in order... you may recall this one:

A lovely beginning to be sure... and then it became this:

also known as the Turtle
And then the turtle was tamed:

Everybody say "oooooh... aaaaaah...." This is my favorite picture because aside from the photo I took of the stash, this one is closest to the colors of the gorgeous Vaa.

And here it is as it sits at this very moment:

Hemlock Ring Blanket - Malabrigo Worsted weight in Vaa colorway

It's a very happy blanket. I admit i was disappointed in my estimation of what "4-feet in diameter" actually LOOKS like, but as a single-lap blanket it's top-banana. Thank you Jared for sharing this incredible pattern with the world and for spawning many warm laps :)

Next up! Because I have a BAD case of startitis, here's what's happening now!
I'm making my Mom a lap-type blanket (no she doesn't get the Hemlock) because I wanted to try the Mason Dixon Modern log cabin blanket. I am calling it "Grammy Square". This will be entirely made of Lion Brand Homespun because it's the one thing i have a LOT of and because I hate this yarn and want it gone. I am going to try to use every last scrap of it.... Don't get me wrong, it's a fine yarn when the product is finished, but i don't like the "during" part. I seem to get the kneedles IN the stitch rather than through it so knitting takes twice as long and I just don't have the patience. The colors are fun but... there are way better yarns out there. Sorry there's no pic, I am not showing anything on the off-chance that she remembers I blog, and comes to see what I am up to.

Next! You may have noticed I updated the sidebar with another new label thingy! Amy Singer has called for the liberation of your laceweight! I don't know if I am doing what she had in mind, but I am giving it a go in hopes that I will create something gift-worthy. I am using the bramble stitch you told me about and it looks WAY different from yours simply because of scale. Take a look:

I don't recommend embiggening the picture because it will just be more-blurry. Sorry, I can't seem to take a pic with this camera on close-up. I need a tripod for that... anyhoo! I am hoping that the pattern will 'pop' a little more in the blocking process because it really is quite lovely. I am also considering attempting to add a lace-border (a very skinny one mind you) just to see how it's done. This yarn is lovely, it was recycled from a ladies sweater and I have enough of it to make a bajillion of these neck-scarves I think. Oh and it's silk! It's not much to play-with as a cake, but once I started getting some 'bulk' on the kneedle it's really feeling luxurious! fyi the color in the picture is pretty darn close. Sort of a coral shade...

What else what else... ah yes, i couldn't wait to cast-on some socks. I have two hanks of Hazel Knits Artisan sock yarn burning a hole in my stash and i've gone back and forth SO often on what to make with them that I jus threw a dart on my sock pattern-collection and went with the ubiquitous Jaywalkers by Grumperina. Actually that's a lie, I WANTED to make the Naga socks (gah! i can't find a non-ravelry link!), but I don't know HOW to get 9.5 stitches/inch with sock weight yarn darnit!! Since the designer warns us that the pattern makes for fabric with less stretch, I thought it would be best to wait for a different yarn...

I love how the pull of the zig zag makes the sock-in-progress look like a geometric shape:

What safety pin? I have no idea what you are talking about. Let's move on shall we?

The Rogue is the current "Project Primo" though, for some reason the Hemlock had taken over (blame the Malabrigo) but now I am more focused on the sweater. I don't want to take another picture of it until I am done with the hood though, and it's taking FUH-EVAH! Hopefully I will have an update on that VERY soon. My Dad will be in town next week and I REALLY want him to take some pictures of it with his super-nice camera. Must. Focus.

Later!

Half?

Hey Robin!
Woohoo! I got the body done! I had to use the flash so you can see the cabling, it sort of washes out the color though.

It's so neato that I can't wait to put it on. :D This is how I feel about it:

Later!

scramble for progress

Hey Robin,
The weather outside is frightful.... and the yarn is so delightful... so since I've no place to go (except for a bajillion errands and stuuuuuuuff) let it rain! let it rain! let it rain! *sigh* Isn't it supposed to be spring? Oh yeah, it rains in spring. I got so spoiled by So Cal weather...

The Dudelet is playing with his new set of lego figures... I'm running a stopwatch to see how long it is before he no longer wants to play with them. I got my money on 10 more minutes. DH has 20 (they're LEGO's!).

While I watch him frolick, here's what I have been working on the last few days...

Progress is made on the Rogue! I swear, I thought this whole thing would be a slog, but the bottom of the body went surprisingly fast! I really think having that wonderful cabling on the sides breaks up the monotony JUST enough that it keeps things exciting! Here's the latest:

I'm on the slog-part about halfway between the arm hole shaping and the shoulder shaping. Woot! I haven't looked to see what's after that. I want to be suprised...

I also couldn't wait to cast this on. The yarn was burning a hole in my stash! Really! No really! Did I give you a peek of the haul? No? Brace yerself:

Vaa Vaa Vaa VOOM!
I mean, hubba hubba ya knowz?

I knew instantly that I wanted to make the Hemlock Ring Blanket with this. No question. I am to row 40 on the original pattern, at 47 I switch over to Jared's added chart, this should be fun. I have 4 skeins, so it should come out rather large, maybe I will have enough leftover to make another Koolhaas.

OK here's a picture of it so-far, but it really doesn't do the color justice. So try picturing the above colors in the below-configuration:

Knitting this is making me very happy. The colorway reminds me of a certain Tartan, so it's perfect for taking in my favorite Scottish accents and relaxing....

There's only a few days in Malabrigo March left! Help us move the perfect yarn to #4 on the favorite yarns list and cast something on TODAY!!

Laterz.