I suppose I should be panicking...

With less than two days left to go, the Edwardian Boating Socks are not done. In fact, I haven't even finished the heel on the second one. Instead of frantically knitting my hands off, I cast on for another pair of socks. In my defense, I did get some KnitPicks fixed circulars for Christmas and wanted to see what I thought of them. I like them quite a bit, but sadly the sock on them must get frogged. After all, mesh cable socks don't really work. I'm either going to use the same yarn and go down to a size 0 (adapting the pattern) or find a thicker yarn in my stash. Sadly, both my size 1 needles are in use (Edwardian and Eunice), so it's size 2 or 0.

I'm also trying to get into SAM 09. I'm hoping that that will help motivate me to actually get socks done. I have learned some good lessons from the boating socks (basketweave does not work with alpaca, if I hate the color of a yarn and dislike the pattern it's really hard to get a pair of socks done, and I like the lace addis for socks much much better than the normal ones), but at this point I just want them off the needles.

I do think the Boating Socks are a great pattern for handpainted yarn, just not Imagination.

Yes, I continue to fail at blogging. But not at knitting, well, not all the time.

I've kinda wandered into Revolutionary War recreations, and have now made 2.5 pairs of socks. The .5 may get frogged so I can use the yarn for another sock pattern I like better, but we'll see.

I recently acquired Sock Innovation by Cookie A, and I've decided my New Years Project is to knit all the patterns in the book. Yes, I like them all that much. I'd like them even better if they were toe-up, but I understand why they aren't, and it's not a huge deal one way or the other. I'm starting with Eunice, knitted in Knit Picks Imagination Sock Yarn in the Looking Glass colorway, on an Addi Lace Turbo size 1.

I've also got the Edwardian Boat Socks on the other long circular, and I'm knitting them for a knit-along. I'm halfway through the first foot and the deadline's the end of December. I've altered the pattern, adding an extra purl stitch between each of the three center arrow rows, and am making the foot plain. The top of my foot is sensitive, and this pattern seems to take all the softness out of the yarn. It's certainly a nice pattern for variegated yarn though.

I still have three shawls on the needles, the Lehe, the half square in trinity stitch, and a pattern from Knitting Lace Triangles, but all three are on hold, more or less. The Lehe just doesn't hold my interest for long, the trinity is difficult to work with for long periods of time (really thin yarn and size 10 needles not the best combo ever) and I can't find Knitting Lace Triangles.

Good thing I now have two pairs of socks on the needles, right?

Anyway, pics of at least one WIP...

I'm a bad blogger

I have been knitting, but I quit my job, got heavily into World of Warcraft, and well, talking about knitting kinda fell by the wayside.

I've made my first pair of socks, the shell socks from Knitter's Guide to Yarn, and they don't fit right. Too much fabric in the heel. Very comfy aside from that, and at some point I will brave snipping the knitting and kitchering it back together. I've never cut knitting before, nor have I kitchered, so that'll be slightly panicky.

As far as wips I've already talked about...
the Swallowtail is hibernating.
The shades of grey peacock has been frogged. It's a lovely pattern and I would heartly recommend it to a new lace knitter (3 rest rows to one lace row make it easy to tink back or frog back as needed), but I need a bit more challenge with my lace. I've cannibalized the yarn and it will become the Lehe Shawl from Knitted Lace of Estonia.
The Falling Waters shawl is done, and needs to be blocked.
The Canopy scarf is still a wip. I'm not sure at this point if I want to finish it, or use the yarn for something else.

New WIPs coming in another post, with pictures. It may be a day or so. I just had surgery last week, so moving fast isn't my forte right now.

I can't knit. Sigh.

Well, disaster has stuck. and I have gone almost two weeks without knitting. First it was the sore/cut on my r index finger, and now the injury to my thumb. Figures, just when I have knitting to get done.

Instead there has been a surfeit of WoW. Due to well, my propensity for injuring myself, I can type and use a mouse decently well with one or more fingers out of commission.
Sadly, I cannot do this when I knit. Expect a new update when I actually have something to say, and should you be desperate for my dulcet tones in the meantime...

The Wow(World of Warcraft) blog
The Twitter Account
Or the personal blog on InsaneJournal
The personal blog mentions knitting infrequently at best, and is more likely to involve Harry Potter than anything else. The WoW blog is a blog about a game, and the twitter mentions whatever is on my mind at the time (generally a huge amount of random)

I know, two blog posts in one day! Obviously it's a sign of the Apocalypse. But I have stuff to talk about that isn't my new FO...

First, a knitting WIP roundup, complete with pictures. I'm going from most recently cast on to oldest and ignoring hibernating things.


This is the Swallowtail Shawl. It's the December KAL from Beginning Lace Knitters. That's a mystery yarn (my bet is an acrylic/cotton blend with some elastic, but that's based solely on feel). It has quite a bit of stretch and I love how it shows the texture so well. Those are size 7 needles.


That is a not very good picture of my Shades of Grey Peacock, a semi-circular shawl. The pattern was made by tonksknits, and is lovely. Here's a picture where it doesn't look like a tangle of yarn....

It's a feather and fan variant, and really not easy to take pictures of. The yarn is Numma Numma Saucy in Little Black Dress, and it's being knitted on size 9 needles.

I'm also still working on the Falling Waters Shawl and have picked up the Canopy Scarf again. I'm on the third ball of yarn with that and would like to get it done before the end of the year.

Now, other things.
I have learned how to knit backwards, and I LOVE IT! I twist my wrist when I purl, and that plus tendon issues =ow. I would heartily recommend learning the skill, plus it means you don't have to turn things. How awesome is that? The instructions I used can be found here and are English-only. (note, English meaning holding the yarn in your right hand and wrapping it).
I've also learned Fleegle's left-leaning no slip decrease. Instructions can be found here and are well-worth it. So much faster lace knitting!

Ooh, look, the rare and wonderful FO!

I finished my Election Day Scarf, and here it is....



That isn't a particularly good picture of it but it turned out well. I screwed up picking up stitches from the first knitted on border, so there's a line of yo-looking things in it, but it looks good otherwise. The texture of it is just incredible, the variegation of the yarn and the pattern really came together well.

Pattern is scarf with the striped border from Weldon's, Volume 5, 1890 from Victorian Lace Today using size 7 needles and Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud in Bayou. It ended up 9 feet long and I still had some of the skein left over (not much, but a bit). It was a very easy knit once I got past the border, and I think this would be a good first lace project for someone.

WIP Roundup

So, not much has happened this month.  I cast on for another shawl, circular this time, continued work on mom's shawl, debated abandoning my sock (again), and cast on a scarf for Election Day from my Seasons of Lace winnings.

I'm still sick, and hoping that the latest treatment is the right one.   No pictures, unfortunately, because mom has managed to lose the camera.  It's in the house somewhere, but she needed to take pictures of a secretary (a mostly upright desk) that had to be moved as part of the furnace/duct work.  There were a bunch of knicknacks on it that she wanted to make sure she put back where they were.

We do have heat now, thank goodness.  With the sudden cold snap (January weather in Nov is not normal) heat is really important.  Yeah, I know, Atlanta doesn't get that cold, but hey, it's a myth.  20s for lows and 40s for highs isn't that warm, seriously.  

Having experienced both Massachusettes and Atlanta winters, I think Atlanta is worse.  MA is pretty much uniformly cold from November on.  Doesn't really fluctuate.  

One January we had: sunny weather so nice I was sunbathing, then two ice storms.  In three weeks flat it went from 70+ to 20-.  Sheesh.

I have a post on what every beginning knitter should have/learn/gather brewing, but it may be a while.  The meds and illness are messing with my ability to write, and I have grad school apps and stories that need to get written.  Blog comes after that.

I also have some ideas about turning some line designs from a city in World of Warcraft (Ironforge) into cable designs, but I need to learn more about cabling and do some swatches when my brain works.  A nice cardigan with cabling on the edges, like a cardigan for Arwen.