Loads of WIPs (and Rhinebeck!)

Howdy. I was just taking pictures of some of my current works in progress for Ravelry, and I thought I'd post them here, too. And, no, these aren't all of my WIP's. Unfortunately, there are many, many more. Yes, I am easily distracted (knitting-wise anyway). Sigh.

First of all, there is the pair of socks that I am making for Sister#1 as a belated birthday gift. (Her birthday was in July -- how lame am I?) I'm using the Ukrainian Socks pattern from Nancy Bush's Folk Socks book, but with several modifications. These socks will be very similar to this pair that I made a few years ago, but with a thinner yarn (Regia 4-ply).

Ukrainian Socks for Sister#1

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Next up are some Bayerische Socks that I started a long time ago. They are languishing because they are too narrow for anyone except the fine-boned females in Sister#1's family. So maybe if one of them shows a strong interest they will be finished. Otherwise, I'll need to rip them and restart. It's a great pattern, but it's a lot of work.

Bayerishe Socks for ???

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Below are some socks I just started for Daughter#2. I was cleaning out her bureau drawers lately and discovered that most of her handknit socks no longer fit. So she's in need of some new socks. These are not colors I would have picked, but Daughter#2 likes them. This pattern is an adaptation of Ilga's Socks from Favorite Socks.

Ilga's Socks for Daughter#2

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These are another pair of Jaywalkers that I am making with some Lorna's Laces yarn. I tried this yarn in another sock pattern, but I didn't like the way the color was working out. I'm not sure if I like this yarn as Jaywalkers either. What do you guys think?

More Jaywalkers (to be ripped?)

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The socks below were inspired by some pictures I saw online of knitted pouches done in medieval Egyptian patterns (can't link because the site is currently unavailable). I charted out some of the patterns from the pictures. I'm hoping to combine a few different patterns into a pair of socks for me. This is as far as I've gotten, but I really love them so far.

medieval Egyptian socks

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These are just some boring stockinette socks for Uncool Guy, who needs more socks that he can wear to work. This is my first time using the Trekking Pro Natura wool/bamboo yarn (color 1603). I'm liking it so far, except for the little white fluffy bits that I keep running into. They are hard to pull out because they are so embedded in the yarn.

Boring stockinette socks for Uncool Guy

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Here are some more boring socks, with some basic 3x1 ribbing. These are in Trekking XXL. I'm hoping these will be a Christmas gift for someone.

Basic Ribbed Socks in Trekking XXL

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These gloves have been on my needles for a loooong time, maybe since the beginning of last winter (possibly even the winter before that). They are for Uncool Guy, to match his lovely scarf. However, I abandoned them because I was having problems with sizing. He has very large hands and I had to rip and reknit a few times (and then I got bored). Hopefully I will finish them before this winter is over. (Wanna bet?)

Gloves for Uncool Guy

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Here's another project I'm working on -- some mittens for Brother#1's girlfriend. They are temporarily on hold until I can check the sizing with a fitting.

Basic Mittens

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And finally there is this illusion scarf for Nephew#2. It was supposed to be a birthday present for him (birthday in March -- again, I am lame). I made up the chart for this myself. It's supposed to be a skull and crossbones. However, I don't think the bones are coming out very clearly and the mouth needs work, so I think I'm going to modify the chart and try again.

Skull Illusion Scarf viewed from an angle

Skull Illusion Scarf viewed from above

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That's not even all of my current WIP's. Those are just the ones that were conveniently lying around when I had my camera out. Yeah, I know. I need to focus and actually finish a few things. Ah, but that's so boring.

You know what's not boring? I'm going to Rhinebeck in a couple days!!! Wooo hooo!

This will be my first trip there and I'm excited. I'll be traveling mostly with Melissa and Sister#1 (pic of us here, I'm the one without the cowboy hat). Say "howdy" if you see us.

I'm also signed up for Rhinebeck Blogger Bingo, as both a square and a player. If I'm on your card, you can identify me because I'll probably be carrying this red bag. Hope to see you there!

Silly Knitting

So, I recently went to a Rovaniemi Mittens class taught by Susanna Hansson at Webs. I should really be telling you about that (it was fabulous) and showing pictures of the "wristlet" that I started in class. However, it's not finished and my gauge is so super tight (11 sts/inch instead of the recommended 8-9 sts/in) that I think I'm going to rip it and try again. Anyhow, I'll get back to that sometime. But not now, because currently I am obsessed with making this silly thing.

How stinking cute is this?

It's the Alligator Scarf from Morehouse Farm, and it's super cute. I'm making it with some Jaeger Baby Merino DK that I got on sale at Webs. It will be for either Niece#4 or Nephew#4 -- the only family members who are still young enough to actually want to wear an alligator scarf.

Morehouse Farm has a lot of other cute animal scarf patterns on their website. I just noticed they now have a dragon scarf. Oooh, I'm tempted.

Crocheted Scarf & Japanese Knitting

The crocheted scarf is done. Here are the specs:

Pattern:

Garden Scarf by Michelle Ameron from The Happy Hooker.

Yarn:

Cascade 220 [100% wool],
colors: purple (7811), green (2445), mustard yellow (4010)

Hook:

H/8 (5.0mm)

Gauge:

I have no idea

Size:

I made 19 flowers, each about 3.5" in diameter. The pattern said to make 14 4.5" diam flowers, but mine were much smaller so I had to make more.

Comments:

This was my first crochet project (not counting the ugly dishcloth). I enjoyed making the flowers at first, but then I stopped looking at the directions as much and immediately got into trouble. Since there are two types of flowers that are made differently, I kept losing track of whether I was doing 2 dc or a dc, tr, dc in the petal area. I found that switching to assembly-line style and making all of one type of flower first and then all of the other type, helped it go quicker with less confusion. Then I did the joining parts at the end. And what a drag it was sewing in all those ends. But, I do think that weaving in ends is easier in crochet than knitting. At least you have a thicker fabric in which to hide to the yarn.

Oh, and I think there's an error in this pattern. I looked in the errata online and it wasn't there though. The written-out directions for the joining round of Flower C are missing two instances of (sc, hdc) that are shown in the chart for the flower. I went with the chart, because it was consistent with the rest of the flower.

This scarf has been adopted by Daughter#1, shown here grudgingly modeling it. She looks a little annoyed, huh? The lighting came out very odd here. I guess the sunlight was only hitting the top part of the wall and made it look like a different color. Weird.

Now, I know several of you have been patiently awaiting a report of my trip to WEBS. Sorry I have been so pokey about posting about it, I've just really been dragging lately. Anyway, your wait is over. Here are the details.

On Saturday, I attended a class called Japanese Knitting Techniques, which was taught by Maureen Mason-Jamieson. This was a great class in which I learned about the following:

• Japanese Short Rows
• Japanese Three-Needle Bind Off
• Picking up Stitches for a Cardigan Band (basically details on how to make this neater)
• Japanese Short Row Buttonholes
• Tubular Bind Off

Apparently, a lot of Japanese techniques are done to mimic the look of machine knitting, which is interesting considering that machine knitting was originally invented to replicate hand knitting. Of the techniques we covered, the first is definitely the most useful to me personally. The other topics are more for specialized situations. Over the coming days, I think I will post more information about some of these topics, as I ponder them more fully.

The first topic I will discuss will be the Japanese short rows. I have compared the method we learned with some of the 'Japanese' methods I have found online and in books, and it appears that what we learned was similar but slightly different from those methods. In order to understand the differences between these methods better, I have started diagramming them to show the path of the yarn in each case. I intend to diagram every method of making short rows that I can find. (Did I mention that I'm anal?) So far I have found:

• 2 variations of 'Japanese' short rows
• 2 variations of yarn-over short rows
• 2 variations of wrapped short rows
• and one other weird thing called Knit Encroachment

I have already diagrammed the Japanese methods and the wrapped methods. However, I still need to clean them up so I think I will post them tomorrow (hopefully). Then I will cover the yarn-over methods and the weird thing.

I liked the Japanese Knitting class so much I stayed overnight at my inlaws (who live nearby) and went to Maureen's class the next day called No More Ugly Sweaters. That was a good refresher on basic color theory, plus some interesting tips like using warm colors to draw the eye to areas you want (i.e., don't put a splash of yellow at your hips). I also learned that 'designers' cut out sections of Noro and put them where they want them. This makes me think about how I could be making Lady Eleanor better...but I'm trying not to go there because then I'll obsess about where to put every color and never finish the damn thing.

Oh, by the way, Daughter#1 has just posted some more entries to her blog, Snozberry Knits. Go check it out and give her some encouragement.

P.S. Don't you just love the way Robot Lady says 'crocheted'? Makes me laugh every time. If you don't know what I'm talking about click on the 'read this post to you' link at the top of a recent post (you'll only see this if you're reading the post on the blog, not via Bloglines).

New, Improved Persnicketiness -- Now With Crochet, Too

Crochet News

OK, here's what I'm sure you were all waiting for with bated breath -- my first crocheted item. It's a lovely dishcloth:

Ooooh, aaaah. Look at that nasty pastel-colored kitchen cotton. I don't know how that got in my stash. Not my colors at all. Well, it's used up now, and that's a good thing.

In typical "first finished item" form, this dishcloth is not without several mistakes. I somehow lost a stitch going from single crochet to double crochet, and then I lost another when switching back to single crochet at the end. Oh well, I tried it again and I think I've figured out my mistake. I'm slowly getting the hang of differentiating and counting the crochet stitches, which mostly just look like a bunch of knots to me.

Now that the obligatory ugly dishcloth has been completed, I can move on to bigger and better things. Like this:

It's the Garden Scarf by Michelle Ameron from The Happy Hooker. I'm using Cascade 220 from my stash. Not sure what I'm going to do with this, since I don't wear flowery things, but it looked like fun to make. I'm sure I'll find someone to dump it on.

I like making the flowers, but joining them with the inserting-the-hook-around-the-post thing is a little awkward for me. It took me many, many attempts to even figure out the directions. I think I get it now, although it's kind of lumpier than I would like.

Here's the photo in the book of the scarf. Mine's coming out much smaller, which is fine with me since these flowers are kind of giganto.

I think The Happy Hooker is a great book for learning crochet. Debbie Stoller describes several ways to do various things (hold your yarn, crochet into the chain, etc. - I'm not really up with the crochet lingo yet), all in a very conversational tone with her personal recommendations. I like it. The drawings could maybe be a touch better, but they get the idea across well enough. They are certainly better than the ones in some craptastic old Teach Yourself Crochet book I just found in my bookcase. The Happy Hooker has by far the better instructions -- they are much more complete.

Since I'm now a newbie crocheter, I've started listening to Crochet Cast. There are only 2 episodes so far, but I think it shows a lot of promise. I've also found some interesting crochet links, like Crochet Me, an online magazine which has some interesting patterns and tutorials.

Don't worry, I'm not going to get all crochet on your butt and turn this blog into the Persnickety Crocheter or anything like that. Just bear with my sudden infatuation, will you? You know it probably won't last long. ;)

Knitting News

I'm still working on the Lady E stole. Progress has been slowed (but not halted) by the sudden impulse to learn crochet. I got some great tips from Anne of Knitspot on how to overdye the lavender bits. I think I will finish the stole and live with it for a while before I decide whether to take that drastic step though.

Speaking of Anne, she has contributed an audio essay to The Mosh Knit podcast. It's in the latest episode (#4). Go check it out. Her essay is about the definitition of "subversive knitting" and what it means to her. I needed to listen a couple times to thoroughly absorb all of her points, but I think it's very thought-provoking. It's got me pondering about what subversive knitting really means to me -- hmmmm.

Well, I'm off to a Japanese Knitting Techniques class at WEBS tomorrow. Oops, I just realized I haven't yet done my homework for the class. Might have to do that during the two-hour drive to WEBS. Don't worry, I won't be the one driving ;)

Drowning in UFO's

[Updated to add: Well, apparently my poll broke the dumb webpollcentral website. OK, maybe it was just a coincidence that I put up the poll and then the whole site went down for several hours. Anyway, it seems to be working again so if you tried to vote earlier and got an error message, try again now.]

I have a very large number of unfinished projects. They are stuffed in bags and boxes and are spilling out of the corners of my house. It has gotten so bad that although I own millions of needles it seems I can never find the size I need because they have been left in some abandoned project somewhere. And it is a huge pain to go digging through bags to try and track down some needles. Whenever I look at these bags of projects it just drags me down. It makes me feel like a quitter (hey, no snide remarks about my Olympic failure -- I heard that).

Anyhow, it was one of my New Year's resolutions to sort through all of these UFO's and finish those that were worth finishing and rip the others. (Don't even ask about my progress on Resolution #1.) Well, I have attempted to start doing this but I frequently become paralyzed with indecision as to whether to continue a project or not. For instance, look at this scarf:

UFO #1:

The Ruffles Scarf from Scarf Style.

I am knitting it with Katia Firenze, in Grey Pearl (grayish blue) and Polished Pewter (silver). I used this yarn because I thought it would give the scarf a subtle sheen, but it is not really very noticeable.

The pattern shows this scarf knit in a single color, but the notes mention the two-color option as an alternative. I chose that option because I thought it would snazz the scarf up a bit. However, I don't think I like the way it's coming out. The scarf tends to clump into groups of two ruffles, which seems to be emphasized by the two colors.

The pictures here don't really show the clumping. I had to yank on the scarf pretty hard to even it out. I probably should have included a clumpy picture to give you a better idea of what it looks like without a lot of fiddling.

I have only completed about 12 inches of the scarf so far. The pattern gives a finished length of 86" so I guess I am less than 1/8th of the way done.

My concerns about this scarf are:
a) it might be ugly, and
b) I'm not sure that I would ever wear it.

So, since I am notoriously awful at decision-making, I would like your assistance in deciding whether I should continue with this scarf or not. Please help me out by voting in the poll below.

All lurkers are encouraged to participate (especially those whose names begin with an 'R'.)

What should I do with this scarf?
	Finish it.
	Rip it.
	You're asking me? Make your own damn decisions, lady.
View Results

I am Evil

Well, I may have sucked at the Olympics, but I did finish some things during those 16 days.

First of all, I finished my dad's argyle socks. [See my gallery entry for details.] I can now count these as my February socks for the Sock-a-Month KAL.

I also finished my Forbes Forest Scarf. I enjoyed making this scarf and I'm really happy with how it came out. Uncool Guy is the lucky recipient. And Maria, in case you're wondering, -- no reason, just because I'm such a good wife ;).

Pattern:

Forbes Forest by Kathy Zimmerman, from Scarf Style

Yarn:

Jo Sharp DK Wool,
color: 908 (glade), 5.5 balls

Needles:

US 6

Comments:

At first I didn't think I would like this pattern. There was just too much going on with all the cables and bobbles and whatnot. However, after memorizing the pattern & bobble technique, I really started to enjoy making this scarf. It is rather slow knitting since there are cables to cross or bobbles to make on every right-side row, but cabling without a needle can really help your speed. [I like Grumperina's instructions.] And the technique works really well here because the cables are so narrow.

This was my first project with bobbles, and I have to say that I think I am now a bobble convert. Previously, I poo-pooed all bobble-containing patterns. But now I'm a fan. I found that knitting backwards on the second row of the bobble (instead of turning) really made bobbling much more enjoyable. [Here are some links with instructions on how to knit backwards English style and continental style, in case you are not familiar with this technique.]

Back here I mentioned that I would try to do the rest of this scarf continental style. Well, I think I ended up doing about half and half, and surprisingly I can't see a difference in gauge. My timer broke, so I was unable to time myself properly, but continental style was definitely faster. However, I found bobbling easier English style.

Oh, I have also discovered that I am apparently quite evil:
Harry Potter Personality Quiz

If you are a knitter, take the quiz and post your results here. Double Helix is taking a survey of the personality types of knitters. It will be interesting to see the results.

There are aliens hiding in my gallery...

After listing the Finished Object Gallery in my right sidebar as "under construction" for several months, I have finally gotten around to posting it. Yay!

Yeah, OK, it's not done. But I've posted all of the sweaters, some bags, and some scarves -- including the oh so very cool Alien Illusion Scarf that I made for Nephew#3. Go check it out in my lovely new Finished Object Gallery. Leave me a comment there and let me know what you think.

I've gotten some work done on the Forbes Forest Scarf lately. It's going to be for Uncool Guy. He says he really likes how it's coming along (bobbles and all).

This scarf pattern requires lots of switching from knitting to purling and vice versa. When knitting English style (yarn held in right hand), a whole extra step is required to move the yarn around the needle to the back or the front to knit or to purl. However, when knitting Continental style (yarn in left hand) you can just shift your finger to the back or the front to switch between knitting and purling. [It's sooo much faster to do ribbing that way]. So, I decided to do some time trials to see how much faster it would be to knit this scarf Continental style than English style. It's a little hard to compare because the center and edge cables have different repeats so it takes a while to get back to the exact same type of row. Also, the bobble rows really slow you down.

The one thing I still can't do Continental style is the big 'popcorn' bobble on this pattern. It starts with having you knit into the front, back, front, back, front of the same stitch (to create 5 sts out of 1). I find that impossible to do while holding the yarn ONLY in my left hand; holding it in my right I have much more leverage. I guess each style has its pros and cons.

Anyhow, in my time trials, I was averaging around 6 min 50 sec English style and 6 min 20 sec Continental style for a set of 2 rows that didn't contain a bobble. I thought there would be an even bigger difference, but I'm guessing I will get even faster with the Continental style if I practice it more. I'm fairly comfortable holding the yarn in my left hand, but not nearly as much as I am holding it in my right. I'm going to try to do the rest of the scarf Continental. I'll let you know if I get faster.

Bad Unicorn... Bad

Sister#2 finally picked a yarn for her Herringbone Cloche. Isn't it purrrty? I'm happy cuz she chose something that I'm excited to try -- Rowan Felted Tweed in color 151 (Billberry). I've never ordered from Jimmy Bean's Wool before, so we'll see how that goes.

And, of course, I could never just order 2 measly skeins of yarn... what a waste of shipping charges that would be. ;) So I also ordered me some Addi Turbos (whoooooosh, imagine Brenda Dayne's great sound effect here) to use for my Rogue Olympic event -- I need all the help I can get to finish that on time.

I've been making slow progress on my Jaywalker socks. I'm using Plymouth Sockotta, which normally I really like for socks (at least for socks that are all stockinette). However, it does NOT work well with this particular pattern. Sockotta is 45% cotton and thus has less stretch than an all-wool sock yarn, and this pattern NEEDS stretch due to the zigzag type of stitch pattern. It's now pretty hard for me to get these on -- and I made the large size. I may have to donate them to someone with petite little ankles -- Niece#2 maybe?

I'm almost done with the first sock, but I'm bored, bored, bored with this pattern. Not to mention that this purple/brown color combo is kind of barf-tastic -- not sure what I was thinking there. But maybe I'm just sick of socks.

So, to alleviate my boredom I brought out another project from my big ol' Heap of Abandoned Projects - the Forbes Forest Scarf from Scarf Style. I'm making it in Jo Sharp DK Wool, which I like a lot. I've only completed a couple pattern repeats, but I'm enjoying the pattern so far. Not sure about the bobbles though. . . I'm not a bobble sort of person, but I guess they are cute here. Anyway, if this is ever finished it will be for my husband, henceforth referred to as Uncool Guy (so named by Nephew#4.)

Oh, and have you seen this - very amusing. Found via Marnie Talks.

Thank you for the lovely comments on my Log Cabin Socks. And, since some people showed an interest, I will be writing up the directions for my anatomically correct sock toes very soon. So stay tuned...

Free Zigzag Lace Scarf Pattern

I wrote up the pattern for the red lace scarf I recently made with Araucania Nature Wool Chunky. I thought I would share it with you. The lace pattern is my variation of one I found in Beautiful Knitting Patterns by Gisela Klopper. It is also somewhat similar to the Flemish Block Lace pattern in Barbara Walker's A Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns.
Here it is. Enjoy!

Zigzag Lace Scarf

FINISHED SIZE

About 7.5" wide and 72" long (after blocking).

YARN

2 skeins Araucania Nature Wool Chunky (100% wool; 131yd/120m per 100g hank), color: 104, dark red

NEEDLES

US #10 (6mm)

NOTIONS

Tapestry needle

GAUGE

Not critical, but mine was approximately 15-16 sts = 4" in stockinette stitch

NOTE

This scarf is worked in two identical sections, from the ends to the center back, where the two sections are grafted together. If you want to avoid grafting, just repeat the lace pattern to make the scarf as long as you want, then end with 4 rows of seed stitch and cast off loosely.

DIRECTIONS FOR SCARF HALF

(Make two)
CO 29 sts.

Row 1 (RS):k1, [p1, k1] repeat to end of row.

Rows 2-4:Repeat row 1.

Begin lace pattern, following either the written instructions or the chart.

Lace Pattern Written Instructions

Row 1 (RS):k1, p1, k2tog, yo, k, [yo, ssk, k5, k2tog, yo, k] twice, yo, ssk, p, k.

Row 2 (and all even rows):k1, p to last st, k1.

Row 3:k1, p1, k3, [k1, yo, ssk, k3, k2tog, yo, k2] twice, k2, p1, k1.

Row 5:k1, p1, k3, [k2, yo, ssk, k1, k2tog, yo, k3] twice, k2, p1, k1.

Row 7:k1, p1, k3, [k2tog, yo, k1, yo, ssk, k5] twice, k2tog, yo, p1, k1.

Row 9:k1, p1, k2, k2tog, [yo, k3, yo, ssk, k3, k2tog] twice, yo, k1, p1, k1.

Row 11:k1, p1, k1, k2tog, yo, [k5, yo, ssk, k1, k2tog, yo] twice, k2, p1, k1.

Row 12:k1, p to last st, k1.

Lace Pattern Chart

Complete rows 1-12 of the lace pattern a total of 13 and a half times, ending with row 6.

Final row (a variation of row 7 of the lace pattern):k1, p1, k3, [k3, yo, ssk, k5] twice, k2, p1, k1.

Do NOT bind off. Place these stitches on a holder or a piece of scrap yarn.
Cast on 29 sts and knit the second half of the scarf exactly as the first half.

FINISHING

Graft the two halves of the scarf together using kitchener stitch. Weave in loose ends. Wash in cool water and block by pinning to a flat surface. Let dry.

Pattern & images © 2006 Tamara Stone-Snyder.
May be distributed freely for personal use only. Cannot be reprinted on the web or otherwise without permission.

Back to some actual knitting content

I've been spending so much time tweaking the old template that I have not been getting much knitting done over the past few days.

However, I did make some progress on the Log Cabin Socks. I have 1 sock complete, waiting to be kitchenered. Working on the ankle of the second. I'm not really liking the way the cables look at the point where they move from one 'column' to the other - there is a weird bumpy area there. I'm going to play with another way to do that on the second sock. Yeah, the socks won't match, but these are for me so no big deal.

Here is the red Araucania scarf that I finished this past weekend. This is the one I started back here.

This was a fun project:  fast to knit because of the chunky yarn, interesting stitch pattern that didn't require too much concentration, and subtle color variation in the yarn to give it a hint of pizzazz. Very satisfying. And I think the gift was well received, which does make one feel quite "warm and cozy", as some would say.

By the way, I posted this picture using the Hello BloggerBot. It seems to give you more control over uploading photos than uploading through Blogger. For instance, you can pick the size that images are resized to. I'll have to mess with it some more though before I know if I prefer this method or not.

Resolutions

What's a new year without resolutions? Here are mine: 1. Start exercising regularly again. Over the past few months, I've started to revert to my sloth-like ways and soon I will no longer fit into my clothes -- I guess that's a good incentive. 2. Use up a significant portion of my stash (so I can replace it with more yarn, of course). Attempt to buy less yarn (unless it's a really good deal...) until stash is appropriately reduced. 3. Finish (or rip if I don't plan to ever finish) my multudinous WIPs. I'm scared to even count how many projects I have lying around that are unfinished. I'm guessing it's over twenty... Yes, I'm fickle. 4. Try to post more regularly and organize my FO's into a lovely little archive.

Last night I ripped out a partial scarf I had started and promptly abandoned a month or so ago. Instead, I reclaimed the yarn for a new scarf. I believe this satisfies resolutions #2 and #3 simultaneously. And I did actually ride the stationary bike yesterday -- look at me go on those resolutions.

The yarn is Araucania Nature Wool Chunky. The lace pattern is from the book Beautiful Knitting Patterns. I only modified it slightly (to replace the purls on the right side with knits). I only have 2 balls of this stuff and I'm hoping it's enough for a short scarf. If it works out it will be a late Xmas present for my husband's aunt at our gift exchange on Jan 15.

There are a couple of other projects I need to have done by then. Pics of those tomorrow...

Persnickety about Xmas Trees

Well, we spent the morning looking for a Frasier Fir Christmas tree that is over 8 ft but costs less than $200. Apparently such a thing does not exist around here, at least not that we found. Tomorrow we will have to look at the cut-your-own places, but in previous years we have not found great looking trees at these places. I guess I may have to be less finicky and get a Balsam (hate those needles that fall off instantly) or disappoint my daughters and get a 7-8 ft tree (which is what my daughters would call a "small" tree). As the years go by I am starting to understand why people buy fake trees...

Well, I'm still messing around finishing up the Ritratto scarf and the Lopi Lace Scarf, so in the meantime I will leave you with another scarf I finished a few months ago. Here are the specs:

Pattern: Thandi Scarf from Jo Sharp Gathering (Book 5)

Yarn: Jo Sharp Rare Comfort Kid Mohair in Romany (brown), Millet (tan), Swamp (green), and Velvet (purple) -- about 1.5 balls of each

Needles: US8

Modifications: Did an extra repeat of the pattern in each color band to make the stripes wider.

Comments: I think this would have been nicer if I used the Kid Mohair Infusion called for in the pattern, but I got this yarn on sale at elann.com. At about the halfway point I decided I hated the color combination and was going to desert the project, but my daughter said she really liked it and convinced me to finish it for her. However, after blocking it and having it hanging around for a while, it's really growing on me. In fact, I think I'll borrow it to wear out tonight.

On a Scarf Kick

Watched the movie "Run Lola Run" from my Netflix queue the other night. Really liked this movie (gave it a 4). Kind of weird, but in a good way. Also, man, that woman must be in great cardiovascular shape to do all that running without breaking a sweat or being out of breath. And, yeah, I know they probably shot it in small bits, but still -- it's impressive.

Watched it dubbed in English so I could work on the Ritratto scarf while watching the movie. I used to love foreign films with subtitles, but now that I knit constantly through any movies/TV shows I just can't be bothered to pause my knitting to have to read the screen all the time.

I'm about halfway through the scarf I think, but I'm getting sick of all that brioche stitch. It's getting monotonous. Uggh. Not even sure I still like this scarf.

I should have picked a more interesting pattern, but I wanted something kind of loose and sort of open, but not lacey (cuz it's for my mom, who is not really a lacey sort of person). You can't really get a feel for the looseness from the photo -- but I used big needles for this yarn, so it's kind of fluffy and light.

Since I needed a break from the Ritratto I started a new scarf yesterday (yes, fickle -- that's me). This one will be for my sister, I think. It's from the Weekend Knitting book. Pattern calls for Lite Lopi -- ick. The idea of Lite Lopi around my neck just makes me all scratchy.

I'm using Lamb's Pride worsted instead, colors M-77 (Blue Magic) and M-03 (Grey Heather). I had a bunch of the Blue Magic left over from my sister's cabled sweater (I'll eventually post pics of that). Scarf pattern is easy, with just enough going on to keep me interested -- at least, so far. I like the zig-zag edge. This picture is not great, since the scarf is falling off the edge of the couch, but it is really zig-zagged on both edges.

Also, I sewed up a cowl/neck warmer sort of thing my daughter made with some super bulky chenille stuff she got on sale a while back. I'm not sure what this yarn is, as we have lost the label. It lost a ton of fuzz while I was just kitchenering it together. I don't think I am a fan of chenille . . . which doesn't bode well for that Rowan Chunky Cotton Chenille I got a little while ago from Elann. But hopefully that chenille will behave better...

This pic is majorly overexposed, but I just couldn't resist her face in this one.

Brioche Sunday

This is what I've been working on today. It's a swatch of 2-color brioche stitch for a possible scarf. Got the idea from the Weekend Knitting book, but I'm probably not going to do the edging like the pattern.

I'm trying to use up stash yarn on some small Christmas presents, but I only have 2 balls of the multi-color yarn so I'm going to try to stretch it by using only black on the edges. The pattern calls for a tubular edging (similar to the edging on Backyard Leaves, but worked a little differently). The bottom shows the edging as given by the pattern; the top shows my two attempts at an all-black tubular edging. When the light color is at the edge it does not connect well with the edging, so I added a pattern repeat in black at both sides. The connection between the edging and the brioche part is less loose that way, but then the edging appears kind of thick. Also the edging gets a little distorted because I have to knit 2 rounds of the tubular edging for every 1 row of black. Also tried two different needle sizes here so the stitches are kind of wonky.

Another Christmas present I've been working on is a brioche-stitch scarf in Stacy Charles Ritratto. Apparently, I am on a brioche-stitch kick. This is coming out a little looser than I wanted, but I don't have the energy to start over. The colors here are kind of off -- it's really much darker and not that orangey. I only have 1 ball, which is probably not going to cut it. Will need to buy another ball tomorrow. So much for using up the stash...

Here's a quiz that's good for the ego:

97% scored higher (more stupid),

1% scored the same,

and 2% scored lower (less stupid). What does this mean? You are 2% stupid. This means...

You are our next Einstein. Wow! Keep up the great thinking.