Sooper Seekret Project

for his birthday, dave is getting a new coat.
his old one, a very nice gap coat, disappeared when we were remodeling.
bags of coats from our closet somehow got mixed in with a giveaway pile.

what do scraps have to do with his birthday present


can you tell now?


what he'll find when he puts his hand in his new coat pocket:


the prez!

Chunky Cabled Tam #13

Cast on last night, knit it in about 5-6 hours today.

Knit.1, Fall/Winter 2008
Manos del Uruguay, Heather #50, @2.5 skeins
Addi Turbo US7 and KnitPicks Options US 11

I couldn't find three consistent dark skeins at Purl Soho, so I mixed in the lighter one as the last one.

Dave asked, "Is it warm?"
Yep.

things on my mind

This Drops Lace Top:


Will my 5 skeins of Lara be enough?


This hooded pullover (and what the perfect* DK cotton substitute will be) is haunting me,


when I'm not anxiously awaiting my next visit to PurlSoho to exchange this Manos in Goldenrod,


for this Manos in Heather,


for this hat,

which is also haunting me.

Because how freakin' cute would it be on these curls?

Yet how wholly unnecessary when it's 84 degrees outside in February.

*perfect: affordable, right color [Linen], just enough drape [Fibre Content: 50% Viscose Rayon/ 25% Cotton/ 25% Linen]

what t-shirt are you?

Sleep Eat Knit


I knit because I am smarter than you.


There is a very fine line between hobby, obsession and "mental illness."


Proud to be knitter.


Peace Love Knit


You can find these and more at zazzle.com

it's not all a loss

This is a Drops pattern.

US 6 & 7
Plymouth Encore DK

The color looks great on me!

The shawl collar was fun - short rows!
And the sleeves are super poofy and fun!

The only thing that needs some work is the bottom hem is very flippy.
Pat, who I knit with, recommended grosgrain ribbon.

I think first I'm going to try and do some sort of crochet thing and see if I can get it to lie flatter.
If that doesn't work, I'll try the ribbon.

just so you know how crazy I am

A moment of silence for Nutkin, please.

I've been working on this sock at work since Dec 11.
I decided to omit the YO in favor of a M1, and I think this was the beginning of the end.
It was difficult to pull over my heel.

Oh and the heel - a German short row - I was eager to try it.
The stitches pulled apart from each other.
I thought to myself, I'll just stitch it up on the inside when I'm done.


So I kept going.
And finished the toe today.


A short row toe.
The first thing I did wrong, besides knit it incorrectly three times last night, was start the short rows on the wrong side.
I didn't realize this until I'd finished, but thought, no big deal, I'll just kitchener it together.
But the stitches spread apart on the short rows here as well.

And last but not least, the whole thing, when on my foot pulls to the left.


In short, I can't stand it. And as soon as I finish typing, I'll be ripping it out.

when "good" gauge goes bad

I was happily knitting along, 13 inches completed...when I discovered that I had picked up an extra stitch a few rows down when my needle caught on a few plies of yarn.

when I dropped the stitch to remove it, the gap was way too big.

so I decided to rip back to where it all started.

when I took the piece off of the needles, something wasn't quite right.

it's supposed to be 42" in diameter.

*sigh*

More yarn?

I had a weak moment a week ago, when Webs was having a free shipping special.

ok. seven weak moments.

Araucania Ranco Multy-goodness.

Asymmetrical Cardi - sort of

I omitted the cables and used the funnel collar stitch instead

but the whole thing really came out a bit larger than I would have preferred

it's made of Vanna's Choice Yarn, in Taupe. US 9.

this is what it looks like when I scrunch it all together in the back ;-)

it's very warm, and the Wal-Mart buttons are really cute!

and I got a lot of compliments on it when I wore it on Wednesday!!

My father requested a scarf from me, he wanted a machine washable red and grey variegated yarn, but I wasn't able to find anything that was suitable.

So, I bought Caron Simply Soft Eco (Wine Country and Charcoal) - it's made with 20% recycled plastic bottles - and it's REALLY soft! And hey - I'm saving the planet - what could better than that?!

I'm doing the Scrunchable Scarf, he wants it to be 10" wide and 60" long, I may need to buy some more skeins!

I started to knit Aquaphobia with my Lorna's Laces yarn in Tuscan, but it looked all kinds of crappy, so I opted for Nutkin instead. I'm much happier now!

Since I had already cast on with the K1/P1 ribbing, I just ripped back to there instead of doing the foldover hem that Nutkin indicates. I'm also omitting the YO and doing an M1 instead. I saw someone on Ravelry do that and seems to be OK so far, the sock is a "little" tight over my ankle.

Socks? Done.

Finished Primavera last week.
Wore them yesterday!

maths deflation

Rip.

Roll.

Drip.


Then I knit a gauge swatch and psyched myself up for 'rithmatiking.

It consisted of this
20...x
-- = --
4....42

20x = 840
CO = 210

I've now knit over six inches of stockinette in the round. And the fabric looks so much better.
...pondering over hem yarn...

let 'er rip

Many, many moons ago, I knit Dave a sweater.

There were so many things wrong with this sweater, most of which were a result of my newbieness to knitting - I read the yarn label and saw the needle icon with a '5.' So I used a US 5.

It wasn't until I was unable to put the pieces together myself, and the "professional" finisher asked me what size needles I'd used, that I realized I should have used US 8/Metric 5.

I've refused to let Dave wear the sweater in public, and it has languished in its tight-knit fabric state for four years.

Then I saw PugMama's sweater on Ravelry (non-ravelers can see brooklytweed's here).

So I immediately purchased my very first Elizabeth Zimmerman book.



And this long holiday weekend *sigh* (I can't wait!), I'll be ripping, reading, and rithmatiking.

I'm excited about the other patterns in this book, too! The Tomten Jacket. The Seamless Raglan Sweater. The Snail Hat. What is this Zimmerman Scarf all about? And a reversible hat?

All I need is four more hands.

the woman dressed in velvet

when it was 90 degrees yesterday, because her office was too cold, would probably like a pair of these


have I posted this picture before? This is from a Phildar email that I received today.

The pattern looks ridiculously simple.


Impromptu (fingerless gloves)


K2,P2 ribbing in the round.
Knit to length desired for arm coverage.
Knit back and forth (splitting after a K2).
Knit enough rows for thumb to fit through comfortably.
Rejoin knitting in the round.
Knit enough rows for desired finger length.
Bind off.

an italian-themed sock

This week I cast on for Primavera.

Playing with Colinette Jitterbug in the Toscana colourway, that I purchased at Stitches West earlier this year and using Addi Turbos, US1.
I'm letting my finger heal from being poked by my KnitPicks circulars.

I have finally joined my last skein of the afghan - I figure as long as it's 90 degrees outside, Adrienne won't be needing the blanket finished any time soon. :-P


I have fallen in love...

with this woman's sweater.
She is from Poland and has done a beautiful job with this Drops pattern.
She used a Polish yarn called Oliwia which is 25% wool and 75% acrylic and size 4.5mm needles.

I don't think I'll be able to get my hands on that yarn - but I sure will have fun researching a substitute!

And I am having second thoughts about starting Lucetta next.

I have started thinking about doing the Cozy
(again, RIP: the first one that I washed and felted)

in my orange Norma yarn (from France) instead.

the little scarf that could

my pattern (that one over there on the right -->) was born over two years ago
originally designed for a friend who was moving to france
it was withheld from the general populace due to "photo inadequacy"
and had quite a drama attached to it

it's now been set free and warmly welcomed into the open arms of Patternfish

its original pattern name has been removed to protect the innocent and its new name "says it all."