Little Houses dishcloth September 25, 2006

I really like this one. Very cute!

It’s All About Sole September 25, 2006

These were conceived as a stashbuster project, so when I ran out of yarn I thought, Great!, grabbed the only other color of that yarn that existed in the stash, and knitted on. The color change isn’t very visible unless I kick up my heels or something. Just knowing it’s there gives me great amusement.

Pattern: Pebble Rib Slipper Socks, Creative Knitting (September 2006)
Yarn: Bernat Softee Chunky scraps in Antique Rose and Carnival
Needles: Susan Bates Silverado 32″ circular and Pony Pearl dpns – both US 10

The First 6 September 23, 2006

The Dishcloth Knit Along started September 15th. Here’s my first week’s efforts.

Clockwise from top left: Garterlac, Ninepatch, Ballband, Chinese Waves, Leaf Lace (Monthly Dishcloths KAL), Teapot

I have to say I’m disappointed in Peaches & Creme’s peppermint colorway. After seeing the blandness of the finished ballband I examined the color progression closer, and it’s a 2:1 ratio of white (or rather pinkish white) to red. Might as well call it White With Some Red.

At Last.. the Goodies September 23, 2006

Monsoon rain, a leaky roof, an overheating graphics card that makes everything look red, and a digital camera that only pretends to take photos… This really hasn’t been my week. But I’ll cheer myself up recounting all the goodies that have arrived recently.

Elann order:
elann.com Esprit in (clockwise from top left): Desert Peach, Coffee Bean, Chamois, Ruby, Bright White, and Tapestry Blue.

The red and white are going to be striped peppermint socks for me and Mom (pattern in Creative Knitting - September issue, I think). Everything else is destined to be Christmas gifts.

Knit Picks Options needles:
3.0mm & 3.25mm 32″ circulars (which do surprisingly work for magic loop despite their shortness! those cables are heaven sent!); size 4-9 needle tips; cables in 24″, 40″ & 47″.

I didn’t want the binder they sell (black? in this apartment? it’d be dust covered in days!), but it was still clear that I’d need some way to keep the needle tips organized. My solution was to buy a set of the triple pocket pages and the needle size ID tags. The latter are kept in the pockets along side their respective tips. You don’t have to put the binder pages in a binder after all (though in a pinch they do fit in a regular 3-ring one).

As further insurance against mixing up the needle sizes I got a Nancy’s Knit Knack’s Needle and Hook Gauge. I thought about getting Knit Picks’ own View Sizer, but I am irritated by their weird metric sizing below US 3. The KKK gauge card was only a dollar more and covers sizes from US 000 to US 35 as well as the coordinating crochet hook sizes. Plus it’s very good quality, not some flimsy thing. Love it.

Knit Picks Yarn:
Telemark in Alpine Frost, Snow Leopard, Poppy and Black. Shine Worsted in Watermelon and Grass. Shimmer in Morning Mist.

Shine is for dishcloths. (I was thinking Christmas cloths but Watermelon is definitely not a Christmas red.) Shimmer for a lace scarf for me. The Telemark is hopefully close enough to Tardis colors. I ordered the Poppy with the idea that once I figured out how to knit a Tardis, it’d be a piece of cake from there to that other famous British telephone box. However, Poppy is too orange. I should have gone for Cardinal.

I also got color cards for Telemark, Swish, Shamrock, Essential and Gloss. I do love color cards! Even if I never buy any of those yarns, I get an inordinate amount of pleasure at just gazing at and petting the samples. I had set a no sock yarn rule for myself on this order, but I compromised with the Essential and Gloss color cards. Essential does feel very much improved. The next time I can coax the camera into working I’ll show just how great the difference is between old and new.

Lastly…

During Summer of Stash we were supposed to pick a reward for ourselves if we made it through the summer without buying yarn. I had Trekking or Regia yarn in mind for the longest time. I don’t think I’ve ever spent more than $6 for 100g of sock yarn before, so it would be a definite step up for me. But then the the KnitPicks needles came out, so that idea got pushed aside…

…until I saw these lovelies on knitswap! It’s Regia 5440 and Trekking XXL 71. You know, up until this point, I’ve admired these brands solely because of their color combinations, but the thing that strikes me now is how soft they are! My perceptions had obviously been shaped by the inexpensive yarns I’ve used until this point. I swapped these for a DVD I’d been wanting to upgrade anyway, so it’s all good.

Right now I’m thinking Wyvern for the Trekking and Pomatomus for the Regia, but I reserve the right to change my mind.

A Failure to Communicate September 21, 2006

This eBay auction has me in stitches. It was clearly posted by someone with zero knowledge of knitting terminology. Instead of balls of yarn, it’s “bags of string”! LOL! I can understand ’string’, but ‘bags’?! It reminds me of my father who once called skeins “yarn wads”. :p

Back to the auction: I recognize Andean Silk, Shine Sport and Parade. I think the black is Palette? Not that I’ll be bidding or anything.

Later today I hope to make a big graphics-heavy post of all the new yarns and stuff that’s arrived in the last fortnight.

Yarn News! September 16, 2006

The stuff I miss out on by only getting special notices from the Monthly Dishcloths KAL… Elmore-Pisgah now has an online store!! And they take PayPal too. I haven’t looked into shipping costs yet, but the Peaches & Creme prices are exactly the same as they would be at Walmart – except of course that you can order dozens of colors Walmart never stocks. They also have double worsted for Mason-Dixon Knitting rug happiness.

Also from the KAL, someone spotted HUGE 12oz balls of Bernat Handicrafter cotton at Walmart. When I was last at my store on Thursday, they had just put up an endcap of another Bernat yarn (Camouflage – a nice worsted if you can find an agreeable color), so maybe Handicrafter will be next!

Meanwhile, Patternworks has been bitten by the KnitPicks bug and is now offering three yarns of its own. Oddly enough, although each has a different composition (from cotton/silk to superwash wool/nylon) all are the same gauge (DK to light worsted weight). I can’t say I’m too impressed by the prices, either, but then I am a cheapskate.

FO: Neopolitan Socks September 11, 2006

Start the week right with a finished pair of socks!

Pattern: Wendy’s generic toe-up sock pattern
Yarn: Bernat Cool Crochet in Neopolitan Shades, 1 ball
Needles: 2.5 mm – 3.0 mm
Gauge: 8-ish sts/in
Began: May 2006
Completed: September 9, 2006

The last of the sock ghosts in the UFO cabinet have been laid to rest. (*snort* Where did I come up with that phrase?!) Hopefully these will be the last socks that take me 3+ months to complete. The problem with this, besides the obvious, is that the longer a sock lingers around, the more likely I am to think “it’s the needles!” and switch to another pair of needles that I’ve been eager to try – messing up the gauge, of course.

As the name suggests, this yarn is better suited to crocheting (which apparently doesn’t mind splitty, snaggy yarn so much). A knitting gauge is given on the ballband, but I wouldn’t recommend it except perhaps for scribble lace. The one nice thing about it is the little bits of shine:

Pretty, but whenever I look at it I can’t help remembering the trial of trying to pick up and knit short row wraps without snagging anything. Mom has adopted the socks (which nonetheless feel lovely on the skin) to the satisfaction of all.

September Dishcloth September 11, 2006

Here’s September’s Monthly Dishcloths KAL cloth. I’m no tree expert, but I believe they said it’s an Oak leaf.

With the Dishcloth Knit Along starting on Friday, I’ve been trying to save up my energy, but Garterlac will not be denied:

This pattern is best with ombres that have only 2 or 3 colors, I think.

Hell Has Frozen Over September 7, 2006

The unthinkable has happened: Walmart is selling 100% wool yarn! Lion Wool, to be exact, for $4.47 a ball. I hardly know how to act now that feltable wool is only 5 minutes away.

Other new yarns spied at my Walmart:

• Bernat Haven (acrylic/cotton/alpaca/nylon) $4.44
• Bernat Black Lites (acrylic) $4.44
• Caron Simply Soft Tweed (acrylic) $3.97
• Red Heart Sport (acrylic) $1.24
• Red Heart Kooky (acrylic/polyester) $4.82
• Red Heart Rag Doll (wool/nylon/acrylic) $3.96
• Red Heart Strata (acrylic) $3.97

Wool, alpaca, mohair.. my, Walmart’s almost getting fancy!

Both of the Bernat yarns are lovely, as usual. (Bernat and Patons – by far the best of the big box store yarns. Love them!) I particularly love the look of Black Lites. It’ll be a nice, jazzy alternative for Softee Chunky. Strata is a self-striping worsted – neat to look at but super scratchy in the skein. Maybe it’ll wash up nicer?

My store also had a quite a bit of yarn in various clearance sections around the store (lots of eyelash yarn, RH Plush, Homespun, CottonTots, Bernat Galaxy, Moonlight Mohair). I nearly bought a skein of Lion Suede for $5, but then I thought of my new rules for stash enhancement and realized I was only buying it because it was a) pretty and b) on sale. I could make a pair of slippers with it, but they wouldn’t make my feet half as toasty as if I’d used wool. So it went back on the shelf.

In my first post-Summer of Stash shopping temptation I did good. I left with only 4 skeins of yarn – Autumn Red Simply Soft for the Ruby Patchwork Throw and some solid Peaches & Creme.

Oh, I forgot to mention that I actually found a knitting magazine in a store last week: Vogue Knitting at CVS! And the issue has socks in it!

Best Laid Plans September 6, 2006

With Summer of Stash and UFO August now over, it’s a good time to make plans (if overambitious ones) for the rest of the year’s knitting.

Christmas Gifts

1. Four pairs of socks for various family members. (Elann Esprit)
2. Absorba, the Great Bathmat (Peaches & Creme) for Grandma
3. Sassy Stripes socks (Moda Dea Sassy Stripes) for Mom
4. Christmas ornaments using leftovers from last year’s stockings
5. A pair of Peppermint Stripe socks for me & Mom (Creative Knitting September 2006; Elann Esprit)
6. Dishcloths galore

Selfish Knits (in no particular order)

1. Pebble Rib Slipper Socks (Creative Knitting September 2006; Bernat Softee Chunky) – Already began. Finished most of first sock last night
2. Lion Boucle hat (ballband pattern) – Already began. Trying to get rid of this spare ball that I got for 50 cents on clearance. I forgot how much I hate boucle yarns!
3. Mr. Flibble (self designed; Boa yarn) – For the Sci-Fi KAL. For those who don’t know Red Dwarf, this is a penguin hand puppet.
4. Vineyard Socks (KnitPicks Simple Stripes) – Plain stockinette.
5. Jaywalkers (KnitPicks Sock Memories in Flower Power)
6. Wool-Ease Legwarmers – Take 2. Probably will just do plain ribbing.
7. Calamari Knitting Rug (cut-up t-shirts) – For the kitchen. Might turn this into a Christmas gift from ‘Santa’.
8. DenimStyle Socks (Bernat DenimStyle in a burgundy color) – I’ve knit two pairs of socks with this yarn but none for me .
9. Headphone covers (self designed; Fixation scraps) – The foam-covered earpieces on my wireless headphones are disintegrating. I hope to replace them.
10. Cabled Shrug (Interweave Knits Fall 2005; Caron Simply Soft in rose)
11. Lace Scarf (KnitPicks Shimmer in Morning Mist) – I need a warm scarf that’s thin enough to wear inside my winter jacket.
12. Tardis (self designed with help from the Doctor Who Pattern Book; KnitPicks Telemark) – For the Sci-Fi KAL. I haven’t decided what size this will be yet, but I have a few ideas.

On the Back Burner

1. Ruby Patchwork Throw (Caron pattern – crochet) – I’m trying to scare up the rest of the yarn for this. The pattern calls for 6 skeins of Cozi (got it), 3 skeins of Jewel Box in Ruby (have 1), and 12 oz. each of Simply Soft in Autumn Red and Copper Kettle. I think Walmart has Autumn Red, but the rest is going to be tricky. I think Jewel Box and SS Copper Kettle have been discontinued. I will probably have to substitute – which shouldn’t be too difficult.
2. Bi-Color Cables (Interweave Knits Winter 2005) – The colors I want for this are very ‘in’ right now, but I haven’t had any luck yet finding yarn in those exact colors. I’m being very picky. Heh.
3. Market Square Bag (Bags – A Knitter’s Dozen) – After discovering entrelac it was only a matter of time before I’d want to make this. I want to knit this in colors of pink, burgundy, brown.. maybe a very light green, but I think I’d probably be happier if I just went ahead and bought the Piccadilly Plum Vera Bradley bag I’ve been eying. :p

Only109 days until Christmas! Akk! My Elann and KnitPicks orders will be sent off Thursday or Friday (don’t know why I keep procrastinating!), so hopefully late next week I’ll have some yarn and needles to show off.