Some Clues Are More Co-operative Than Others (aka SOTS iii Progress)

Clue 7 – Clue 7 insisted on being photographed outside. It wanted some fresh air and to feel the warmth of the sunshine… Result? The detail doesn’t show well at all in either photo.

Clue 8 - Clue 8 was “too tired” to do anything other than lie on the couch… No – my rug isn’t really that much more intense than my furniture. It’s the lighting. And the flash of the camera attracts small impish pajama clad people like Younger Son.

I have started Clue 9, but am only a few rows in. Whether or not this stole gets done on time, who the heck knows! But it will be close.

Secret of the Stole iii Progress

One... Two...

Three...

Four...
Five...

Six...

So, I'm still behind, but not nearly as far behind as I was. Technically, since clue 8 only came out yesterday, I'm really only one clue behind right now! I might actually finish this on time... By the way, the further into this pattern I get, the more I love it.

My Male Models

First up - let's have a big hand for the return of Fred...!
Today we have Fred wearing my finished (and blocked!) Mystic Light Shawl. Made of 2 skeins of Handmaiden Seasilk, doesn't he look just lovely?

Next, Fred shows off the Goddess Knits Anniversary shawl. Made of Knitpicks Alpaca Cloud in Papaya Heather - a little over 3 skeins was needed - on 3.5 mm needles, it is a lovely circular shawl.

Blocked to approx. 5 feet in diameter, just look at that detail!

Next up, we have Mr. Me modelling his custom knit 4 by 2 rib sweater. Featuring an allover rib pattern, saddle shoulders and a turtle neck, this sweater was knit out of 3 skeins of Cascade Eco Wool. Doesn't he look warm and cozy as he travels up the Saint John River?

Injustice

My photography skills do not do justice to my SoTS iii hint number 2 which was completed a couple of weeks ago but not photographed...
Now if I could just get back to it and get cracking on hints 3 and 4!

SoTS iii - Hint #1 Completed

These photos make the yarn look much more purple than it really is! And you can barely see the beads... I opted for the copper lined crystal beads in the end. I had been leaning towards the gold lined amethyst but looking at the swatch in natural light, they just didn't add anything other than weight.

I finished the first hint on Saturday evening and was initially worried that my cast on was too tight, but then I compared it to my wet blocked swatch and breathed a sigh of relief. I think that it will be just fine.

One of the challenges of living towards the top of the world is that our days are already getting noticably shorter. I think the colour is off because of the flash, but my other issue is finding something that contrasts on which to snap a picture of my knitting... I seem to have lots of dark-ish upholstery - except the antique fainting couch that I used this time. Don't tell Mr. Me I put pins into the antiques, okay?

My Order Has Been Shipped!

My late night shopping order has been shipped as of yesterday. Once I'm back to work on Monday I'd better let the crew in Central Records (also our Mailroom) know... We're not really supposed to have personal stuff shipped to work, but if you're nice to them, they're nice to you. No mention as to whether or not they were able to ship the same dyelot of the Papaya Alpaca Cloud, so I guess that I'll just have to wait and see. Fingers crossed that I'm not going to have to frog and re-knit any of the edging.
I laughed when I looked at my shipping confirmation. Yes - everything was right, however, somehow while recounting my purchases, I neglected to mention that I had purchased a set of 14 " Harmony Straights! It was only approximately two thirds of my total purchase... I wonder what a psychoanalyst would say about this? (We won't ask about the shopping late at night and having things shipped to the office to avoid having to explain them at home, okay?)

SoTS iii Swatched

Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud in Raspberry Heather on 3.5mm needles. (Sorry about the shadows from the window frame.)

Now decision time: which beads? The gold lined amethyst (on the right) or the copper lined crystal (on the left)?

Late Night Shopping

Or maybe it was early morning... I have long since accepted and embraced my addiction to and dependence on all things yarn related. It's legal. It keeps me in line since if my hands are happily busy I am usually able to ignore situations and/or people who I might find upsetting or annoying. I haven't done a thorough economic analysis, but I'm pretty sure that it is much more economical than most illicit drugs, unless you decide that you can only knit with qiviut... However, I have recently noticed that my innocent little knitting problem has developed a new symptom: compulsive joining of mystery KALs!

It started innocently enough with SoTS ii (there are actually 3 links there to the progress of the stole). Since I got through that without real issues (I'll come back to my minor issue), I joined in the Mystic Light KAL. Since I got through that without real issues (again), I joined the Goddess Knits Anniversary Shawl KAL. It was my first pi shawl - what fun! And then came the signups for SoTS iii and MSK 4. Yup - I've joined them both!!!

So yesterday evening after everyone else was in bed, I decided to work away on the edging for Goddess Knits shawl. Aaack!!! I am 7 twelfths of the way around the shawl and have run out of yarn! I am knitting it out of Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud in the Papaya Heather colourway. Clearly, this required action. Read: A trip to Knit Picks to buy more yarn. But isn't it pretty so far?

Let's hope that they still have the same dyelot so I don't have to re-knit the whole edging...

And since I was at Knit Picks anyways, I might as well pick up a few other things, right? If you recall, I mentioned having a minor problem with these lovely lace KALs. My small problem is blocking knitting. I'm sure that my new blocking wires will help me with this issue.

See? Here is my completely knitted by unblocked Mystic Light shawl.

And since I didn't have anything in my stash for MSK4, I bought some Shadow Lace yarn in Snorkel Heather... Yum!

Act Nonchalant

"Okay gang - let's act nonchalant, pretend that nothing is happening and perhaps someone will decide to take home a pair of socks without realizing that we're hiding inside..."Yes - another ploy of the rampant zucchini harvest to try and find new homes. It has also made me realize that while I've never experienced "second sock syndrome", I do have issues with weaving in the ends of finished objects. The fact that I had 4 pair that only needed to have their ends woven in to officially become "finished objects" should perhaps be somewhat troubling.

I'll do this from left to right across the top row.

First up we have the Lace / Ruffle Edge Sock from the Patons Next Step Four Booklet. I'd tell you what the yarn is but I can't find the ball band...

Next up we have Swirly-girl Socks by Jessica Grzedzinski. The pink is On Your Toes with the unknown yarn from above making a return appearance. I LOVE these socks! The two colour knitting is very impressive when the second yarn changes colours for you...

The pink socks are Jeanie Townsend's Spring Twists socks. This particular pattern is a free pattern - you have to belong to the Townsend Sock KAL Group - but this lady is tremendously talented and writes great patterns. Her purchased patterns are well worth the investment. I used Needful Yarns Australian Merino for these socks. I'd link to them but they appear to be offline right now... I only had 2 balls, so I ended up making the leg a little shorter so that I could have toes in my socks. If you use the same yarn - get yourself 3 balls... You can see another pair of Jeanie socks that I knit here. Finally, we have Spilly Jane's Naive Socks (This Must Be the Socks) in Noro Kureyon. The pattern is available on Ravelry. Check out her other patterns, too. Another talented lady. These socks became well travelled during the WWKIP Scavenger Hunt, although I'm still a little worried about their unpredictability given their attack on the Playmobil pirate ship crew...

At least they're pretty!

AWOL

Yesterday evening I decided I wanted to work on something somewhat challenging. Since I only have 4 rows of my Mystic Light Shawl and then the cast off to do, I thought that maybe a row or two of that was in order... It's over 300 stitches at this point, with patterning on both sides of the knitting, so it takes a while.
Since I'm knitting it out of Handmaiden Sea Silk (in the Sangria colourway), I have to keep it in a closed bag. Otherwise Tiger likes to inspect the yarn. I think that he might be able to smell the sea in the fibres... Have you ever tried to convince a cat to look with his eyes and not his teeth? Yeah - the zippered bag is easier.
For some reason that eludes me, I did not put the pattern into the bag with the knitting. I had put it on the lower shelf of the end table at the knitting end of the couch... Was it still there yesterday evening? No! I've searched high, and I've searched low, and there is absolutely positively no way that I will be able to find that pattern anytime soon. We all know that I will eventually find it but I decided to save myself some grief.
Today I wandered over to Knit and Knag and bought the pattern. Considering the time I invested yesterday evening in searching, the $8 was well worth it to avoid further loss of precious knitting time. Go on over and have a look - her patterns are gorgeous!

P.S. Fred is back from his winter vacation, so maybe I can convince him to model a few things soon...

Event One Finished

Thanks to The Knitting Wildflower, I became aware of and joined the Sock Knitters Pentathalon. Don't you just love it when friends enable? (It makes me happy!) The first socks are the Jacobean Socks.Looking at these photos, it makes me remember how hard it is to take pictures of one's own feet! I don't think that my feet are as lopsided as the first picture makes them look, but maybe I'm wrong...? I knit them out of the silly Sisu pictured here.
Things I learned while making these socks:
1. I can't do the Magic Cast-on to save my life! However, by going down a couple of needle sizes and paying close attention to the direction of my loops, my cast-on is invisible.
2. I learned how to do a sewn cast-off! Very exciting, I must say. I was having trouble with it until I came across some instructions that suggested splitting up the stitches and "grafting" the cast-off edge. Very clever...
(Just as an aside, when I was adding in the link for the Sock Knitters Pentathalon there was a warning about how the group was in an age restricted area of Yahoo Groups. I knew that socks were fun, but I'm not having that much fun - am I??? Maybe I need to get out more?)

SoTSii All Caught Up

Presenting Clue #5:
And Clue #6:

And Clue #7!!! Pardon the lint on the rug... It wasn't the cleaning lady's week... I finished up Clue #7 yesterday evening, just in time to start Clue #8 today. Hard to believe that the stole is getting very close to done! Only one more clue to be released...
The SoTSii was my first structured knitalong, and I've got to say that I've really been enjoying it. If you haven't tried one, but are tempted, I've found it a great way to work on a project. And one of the nicest things about this KAL is that the designer, the Nautical Knitter, is very supportive. There are 1999 members in the group, yet she still finds the time to watch and encourage our progress and leave comments on our blogs. What could be better than that?!

Progress

Secret of the Stole - ii is progressing well. I have finished clues 1 through 4. Yay - me!

Yes - I'm still a clue behind... Oh, well...

Having Tidied Up 2007 - Happy New Year!!!

Okay, so I'm a few days late... Given the weather, I could have hibernated through the first few days of the year. So far, the jury is out on 2008 as far as I'm concerned. The first scheduled work day of the year (January 2nd) was a "snow day". We got clobbered. I haven't uploaded the photos of the snow piles in the yard from the camera, but once I do, I'll post them. They are pretty darned impressive. Our snow plow man had to use his tractor with the bucket to move the snow... The half tonne with the plow blade just wasn't going to cut it anymore... If that wasn't enough, it has become bitterly cold. Fortunately, I had a block heater installed in my car in 2003 because without it, I wouldn't have been going anywhere the past couple of days. It is supposed to be warmer over the weekend, followed by above freezing temperatures next week. Oh - that should be fun - NOT! I imagine all sorts of flooded streets that will later become impromptu rinks... Given my clumsy tendencies, I foresee bruises to both my body and my ego in the near future. Most spectacular falls are pretty well guaranteed to happen while I'm dressed in business attire - read: skirt and dress boots. If you see me, try not to laugh, okay?
So did we do anything special for New Year's Eve? Nope. Why not? It SNOWED! We had planned on attending our local First Night activities, but I doubt that we could have gotten out of the driveway so it was a quiet night in.
On the knitting front, I am working on the Cabled and Rib Scarf from Knitspot. The yarn is 100% Superwash Merino from The Sweet Sheep in a yummilicious colourway called Orchid Petal. The scarf is for ME! Me and my new black coat deserve a new scarf. I'm sure of it! The pattern and yarn were the last installment of the Flavour of the Month Club that I received for my birthday. I don't think that I posted photos, but I will try to get a true colour shot of the WIP to post. No promises - indoor photos with artificial light are, well, sucky!
With an enabling nod of thanks to Cynical Knitting Gal, I joined the Secret of the Stole KAL. This will be my first "mystery" KAL. I'm looking forward to it! I finally made a decision about the yarn and ordered 4 skeins of Knitpicks Shadow in Oregon Coast Heather. Of course I ordered some other things, too, but since they're birthday presents for January birthdays, I'm not going to mention them since the January birthday knitters do sometimes drop by for a visit... Now let's hope that everything arrives promptly so that I can knit my swatch for the stole and get some birthday gifts delivered on time (for a change.)
I still want to tell you about my knitting related Christmas gifts, but that may just have to wait...
A belated happy 2008 to everyone - may it be a good year for everyone.

The First Blooms of Spring

I've had these done for a while, but just haven't gotten arround to getting a decent photo of them. My Lilac socks in the lilac bushes... The bushes haven't quite bloomed yet, but they will soon and then it will smell heavenly for a few days.
And another finished object. These are the Dresser Scarf socks from Interweave Knits a few years ago. Sorry - I don't have the issue, I borrowed it from the library and forget to make a note of the date... They are made out of Cascade Fixation. It was the first time that I had used it and I really liked how it knit. The socks were fun, but a bit of a challenge in that the cuff is knit flat and grafted, and not just simple grafting but garter stitch grafting. It was definitely alone in a room without any television, radio or conversation.

And finally, Mr. Me's very basic 2 X 2 rib work socks.

There are a few more FOs around here that I need to photograph, including the red mohair shawl - yay!

Why Aren't I Thinner?

So - last week when I was supposed to be grocery shopping, I went to my LYS and bought 3 skeins of Fleece Artist merino. They are 100g skeins, slightly lighter than the usual 112g that Fleece Artisit produces, but I'm pretty sure that there will be enough for a pair of socks from each. (I have always had a fair bit left over when I have used their yarns.)

Aren't they yummy? But I will have to admit that their nutritional value and edibility factor is pretty well non-existant.

And this is what was in my fridge when I got home... Fat free yogurt, 1% milk and a cat. Given my apparent diet, I really deserve to be much, much, much slimmer!

Does anyone have a good recipe for fresh cat? (No vicious comments, please - I am just joking. We all love Tiger far to much to ever harm him.)

In reality, I did get some groceries that day, but it was only the cost of the cat litter that pushed my groceries store expenditures ahead of my LYS expenditures.

And here we are at the first of April already! Happy April Fools' Day! April 1 also means the start of the Townsend Sock KAL for the Lilac socks. I have my yarn, my needles and my pattern. Now I just need to cast them on and get going! (I think I should have adjusted the colour of my photo... It's a tad off!)

Whaddaya mean I don't need another project? Don't be silly - you can never have too many UFOs!