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Jun 26, 2007
Early WIP Wednesday
At this time tomorrow I'll be on my way up to Indian Lake in the Adirondacks. A few friends, DH and I rented a lodge up there. There will hopefully be some white water rafting, canoeing, hiking and much more going on in the next few days. I'll also be bringing my spinning wheel and my knitting for the evenings and in case the weather turns to rain.
Here are my current list of WIPs
First my Razor Cami
I haven't touched it in about a week. I need to rip a few rows because of some stupid mistake and I just haven't taken the time to do it yet. Hopefully I'll get to it soon so I can resume knitting and perhaps finish it before the summer's over!
My Sockapalooza Waving Lace socks
I've turned the heel and am now on the first repeat on the leg. The pattern is easy and reminds me a lot of the River Valley socks I just finished. Hopefully it shouldn't take me too long to finish sock #1.
My other WIP is the Yarntini socks I showed yesterday. And that's it!
11:44 Posted in WIP Wednesday | Permalink | Comments (11) | Email this | Tags: knitting
Jun 25, 2007
Spinning Monday
I once again don't have much to show this Monday. But I do have this
The 3-ply I plied last Monday. I still have a bit of the purple roving to spin and then I'll be able to finish plying the rest.
I've also made a couple buttons if you are interested in joining in "Spinning Monday". Here is my favorite:
You can find two more here and here. Feel free to save it to your own server if you'd like one!
Although I haven't been spinning much I have been knitting.
I've finished a pair of socks. I admit that I didn't blog about them at all, they just got listed in the sidebar. The pattern was the June Sockamania pattern, designed by Anni Design and the name is River Valley.
The pattern is really pretty and very easy to remember. It was quite fun to knit. I'd definitely knit it again, although with more of a solid or semi-solid yarn.
Stats
Sock #1 was knit between June 7 and 15. Sock #2 was knit between June 17 and June 23.
Yarn: Two Waters Fiberworks in a merino/silk blend. Possibly the Geranium colorway
Pattern: River Valley socks by Anni Design for Sockamania Club KAL
Mods: none
I immediately cast on for an plain sock to carry around with me as my other sock currently on the needles is my Sockapalooza sock where the pattern demands a bit more of my attention.
The yarn is Yarntini in self-striping in the Home colorway. On a side note, I'm super thrilled to say that the store is going to be carrying Yarntini starting sometimes in July. It won't be the self striping yarns but the variegated ones. I really can't wait! : )
17:05 Posted in Socks, Spinning Monday | Permalink | Comments (6) | Email this | Tags: knitting
Jun 20, 2007
Non WIP Wednesday
I really like the idea of having WIP Wednesday posts but I'm afraid I'll just have to start next week!
DH reminded me the other day that I never showed a picture of the knitting bag he got me for my birthday, so I guess I'll just have to do that today!
The bag is from the etsy vendor ThreeGreenApples. I just loved the bold print in the "So Me" colors. The bag is quite big and has 4 pockets on the inside. I can stuff quite a bit of stuff in there!
Another recent purchase were these clogs
I've been wanting a pair of Crocs for a while now, but their shape just doesn't fit my foot and I had given up on owning a pair. What you see above is not a pair of Crocs but a pair of LL Bean Coastal Clogs. On Sunday we drove up to LL Bean and found that Children Size 3 is just the right size for me! The choice of colors in the children section was not very big but I had the choice between dark blue and this bright pink. I did hesitate a bit, but in the end I decided that I'd regret not buying the pink ones. I'm so happy with them I've pretty much been wearing them non stop. On the right of the clogs you can see my new nail polish, Cherry Berry by Revlon. I love how they go so well together!
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On someone's blog this morning I found this link to this tutorial. I know I'd been looking for something like that a while back so was thrilled to hear about it. Now you can too! The site is Silver's Sock Class. Right now there are 2 tutorials; one for knitting socks on dpns for beginners and the one that interested me was the "Two toe-up socks on one circular". Coming up is one for "One toe-up sock on 2 circulars". Doing two socks at once is definitely something that interests me so I'll be testing it out sometimes soon!
09:12 Posted in Random | Permalink | Comments (10) | Email this | Tags: knitting
Jun 18, 2007
Spinning Monday
I didn't think I was going to be able to show much today, so I had taken some pictures of what I'll be spinning next.
This is some Corriedale roving that I bought from Perchance to Knit's roving destash a few days ago. I was so excited about it that I started drafting it right away, I didn't even take a "before" picture. The lightest color is actually a silver. Although these colors are very unlike what I'm drawn to I loved the mix of the brown, orange, yellow and silver.
Although I was prepared to only show you the new roving I decided that I would finish spinning up the pink merino and I did. And I couldn't even wait to finish spinning the purple roving, I had to see what the 3-ply would look, right away.
It's my second 3 ply and is again not very pretty. But I love the color combination of the purple, pink and black. I did have some issues with the merino, but I'm getting slowly better at it. Now I just want to finish spinning the purple so I can finish 3 plying and get on to the Corriedale! : )
13:22 Posted in Spinning Monday | Permalink | Comments (4) | Email this | Tags: knitting
Jun 15, 2007
Update
I want to thank everyone who commented on my last post. I appreciated everyone's insight on the different matters at hand. Now I owe you an update.
Update 1
After wearing the Fitted Tank a whole day it grew widthwise. Now it's a little loose around the lower part. I would definitely suggest to anyone doing it in the future to knit the ribbing in a smaller size needle. It's too late for me but not too late for you! The yarn is super soft and the tank was comfortable to wear.
Update 2
For some reason I decided to knit a gauge for the Razor Cami. The Bernat Chloe worked well and I cast on immediately. I now have almost 2 inches of ribbing done.
The yarn is really coarse, not soft at all. I forgot to keep my swatch so I might just knit another one and soak it to see if it will soften up at all.
I will probably knit the Ballet Cami with the Frog Tree I've got. Indigo Mouse, the designer of Arbor, suggested that the yarn might not be the best for it, so I'll just have to find another yarn more appropriate for Arbor.
Update 3
This morning when I went to the post office, I had the surprise of my life. One of the lost packages had arrived! I couldn't believe it! This one was coming from overseas and just might have been traveling by boat... or canoe since it took so long! : )
The yarn is STR Scaponia in Lightweight. I've been drooling over this color for a while.
As for the other package. Yes I did contact the seller several times with more or less success. She had agreed to refund me the money. The thing is, her refund just failed yesterday and I haven't heard from her in the last few days... Since I received the other package I might just have to forget about that one. There's not really something I can do if she wont reply to me. The deadline for a paypal dispute is already passed.
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Random Act of Kindness
A week or so ago, DH bought us some tickets to see the Gypsy Kings in Boston sometimes this summer. The tickets arrived on Tuesday but when I opened the envelope in the Post Office parking lot there were no tickets in the envelope, just the receipt. I was intrigued but thought that maybe that was how they did it. DH thought something was wrong but then we forgot about it. Today I see this envelope from this guy I didn't know. I open the envelope and see tickets and a note. This guy had found the tickets in the parking lot and decided that it would be the right and kind thing to do to return our tickets to us. I couldn't believe it! What a nice guy! So if on August 14 you're in Boston and going to see the Gypsy Kings, maybe we should meet up!
12:40 Posted in Knitting | Permalink | Comments (8) | Email this | Tags: knitting
Jun 14, 2007
What next?
The Fitted Tank is dry... and it fits! : ) Fits real well actually! I tried taking a picture of myself. It's not awesome but for now it will have to do.
The yarn is super soft and still looks good, which is a relief. It ended up being just long enough to cover everything that needs to be covered. I will enjoy wearing it with a jacket over it on cooler days like today. I'll have to see if it's too warm to wear on hot days or not.
Stats
The tank was started on May 30 and finished June 11.
Yarn: Less than 3 skeins Blue Sky Alpaca Dyed Cotton in Toffee
Pattern: Fitted Tank pattern Alison Williams for Blue Sky Alpaca
Mods: Used size 8 needles instead of 9s. Knit in the round to armholes. Used Kitchener stitch to at the shoulders instead of 3 needle bind off.
Besides the continual sock knitting I am itching to start another top, but there are 3 or 4 I could choose from and I don't know which to pick.
I think I could use this:
to make the Razor Cami.
Or this:
To make Glee, the Ballet Cami or Arbor
I don't actually own Glee yet but all the others are free patterns so I'm tempted to try one of those instead. What do y'all think?
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On a totally different subject. I would like your advice about something else.
Back in April I bought some yarn and a book from 2 different people that were destashing on their blog. Days passed, weeks passed and now more than month has passed and I have not received anything yet. I assume the packages are lost somewhere. If that has happened to you in the past, what have you done? Or if not, what would you do? I'd love to hear you ideas as it would help me to know what to do. Thanks! : )
14:11 Posted in Fitted Tank | Permalink | Comments (9) | Email this | Tags: knitting
Jun 12, 2007
Fitted Tank - Done!
The knitting and finishing for the Fitted Tank is done. I finished it yesterday.
If you click on the picture to make it bigger you should see very easily where I switched from knitting in the round to not in the round. I am hoping it will straighten out a bit after it is soaked and blocked. The tank is currently taking a bath, a lot of dye is coming out of it, so it is now at its
Update: I just gave up after the 5th bath and decided that it was enough. Although it could probably have used a few more baths. It is now stretched out lengthwise to dry. Hopefully it wont have stretched widthwise too much. We'll see if it was a success once it's dry and I can try it on. I'm guessing the least washes this tank gets the longer it will last. The yarn, Blue Sky Alpacas Dyed Cotton doesn't look like it will look good for very long. But I guess I will have to wait and see to confirm that. I'm crossing my fingers that I wont regret having soaked and attempted blocking it... Cotton goes in the dryer, right?
12:39 Posted in Fitted Tank | Permalink | Comments (6) | Email this | Tags: knitting
Jun 11, 2007
Spinning Monday
I haven't been spinning at all since last Monday. Been pretty busy knitting socks and my Fitted Tank. The Tank is done as of today and two socks need a heel. But since I said I would show you spinning on Mondays I will. Wouldn't do go to stop on the second week already!
Here's what is currently on the bobbins:
On the left is pink merino and on the right is the purple Ashland Bay wool top. I was told that Merino wasn't that much harder to spin so I decided that I'd give it a try. I haven't had much success with it so far so I only have this done:
and this much of the other:
I will be 3 plying these two with this:
Hopefully it wont look too bad! : )
I need to give another try to the Merino, I think that I need to predraft it even more than I already have, maybe that will help me a bit. Now that the Tank is done I'll be able to get some spinning done this week and hopefully will have something more to show next Monday.
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Other people have started a Spinning/Handspun Monday, check it out! Maybe we need a button!
16:25 Posted in Spinning | Permalink | Comments (4) | Email this | Tags: spinning, knitting
Jun 08, 2007
Recent Acquisitions
A few new patterns and books have made their way into my collection this week.
The store received its first order of the awesome sock patterns by Cookie A. I picked these 3 as my favorites and will hopefully get to them sometimes this year. I have some very lovely solid Koigu that would look real good in any of these patterns.
I also purchased these 2 books via Amazon:
Amazon had this amazing deal where Knit 2 Together was $5.50, and I couldn't resist getting Knitting Lingerie Style as well and get free shipping! : ) There are a few patterns I like in K2T book but my favorite is the Rowena Cardigan. The KLS book has lots of very pretty top patterns that I like and a beautiful skirt too. I would never knit the lingerie itself but some of the other patterns made it definitely worth it to buy.
09:52 Posted in Books, Patterns | Permalink | Comments (2) | Email this
Jun 06, 2007
Blue Sky Alpacas Fitted Tank
A couple weeks ago I happened to score once more on the Destash blog. Someone was selling a kit for the Blue Sky Alpaca Fitted Tank pattern. I had seen it a while back and had really liked it. Also, a few days before I found the designer's blog which had renewed my interest in the pattern. So when I saw the kit on the Destash blog I quickly contacted the vendor. Thankfully it was not promised to anyone yet and soon it was on my way. I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to resist and would cast on right away. And I did, cast on right away. Don't worry, I did do a gauge swatch!
The pattern is written to be knit in 2 pieces, back and front. But I decided to do it in the round up to the armholes, saving me all the purling rows. I still have to figure out how the rest will work but I'll think about it when I get there. Also, the pattern has you knit 12 inches before doing the armholes, but I think I will knit an extra 2 inches to be on the safe side. There is no need to bare my belly if I can avoid it.
I have about 3 inches to go before I get to split for for front and back. I'm really hoping I can get done with it by the end of next week. I'm really enjoying the yarn. It is Blue Sky Alpacas Dyed Cotton and is really soft. I'm a little concerned about how it will wear though. But we'll see.
10:10 Posted in Fitted Tank | Permalink | Comments (7) | Email this | Tags: knitting