castonitis

I have an acute case of Castonitis at the moment. Nothing is holding my interest.

Jim's socks I'd been working on? Haven't been touched in weeks.

The vest I'm working on for myself. Can't abide the endless stockinette.

The half-completed Endpaper Mitts I began quite a while ago? Those actually did hold my interest the other day. The only problem with those is I must have absolute concentration to work on them and that's something I don't get very often around here.

So, I wound up some really colorful hand-dyed yarn, hoping that would quell it. Nope, had to cast that on: a pair of socks. Think that would satisfy me? Nope. Halfway down the first leg and they've already been set aside.

Thought maybe if I bought some yarn I've been coveting for a terrifically long time, that might tide my unfulfillable mind for a bit. Um, no. Because I can't knit it until it arrives.

I've contemplated casting on about a million other projects amongst all of that, but have managed to abstain.

And then today...my Fall Interweave finally arrived. I want to knit nearly everything in that damn magazine! So, I wound up and cast on the wrap because I do have (some, not all) yarn for that. And I think I found something to keep my interest for a time. I hope. However, I still feel like casting on a ton of other projects. Sometimes it's a bad thing having so many sets of knitting needles. Oh, and I'm going to have to make another Knit Picks order soon. The wrap which will run out of yarn gives me that excuse at least. *nods*

TV

This may be really, really old news, but I just recently discovered that HGTV runs old episodes of Knitty Gritty. This is very exciting for me because I don't get the DiY network (I used to ages ago and when they reshuffled the channels it got yanked out of my package...grrr)!

I am very sad that my local PBS isn't carrying the new Interweave Knits TV show though. Fail PBS. Fail.

Y HALLO THAR

God I fail at having more than one blog.

I got a free $25 for signing up for something and so...I spent it on yarn. I bought some Knit Picks Shimmer (in Stained Glass) to make a Clapotis (finalement!) and also picked up the Georgian Sampler because I thought the projects looked cute and quick(ish). It was a tough decision on which sampler to buy, but the colors in this one won out.

Currently I'm working on a yoga mat bag and the Lace Ribbon Scarf (in Knit Picks Gloss in Serengeti, which was in my stash), both of which are knitting up very quickly and easily. Clapotis will be cast on when the Lace Ribbon Scarf is complete.

Wow, it's been awhile. I've knit two entire pairs of socks, a pair of yoga socks, completed a half-finished Booga bag to give to a friend, cast on a blanket, and cast on another pair of socks since I last updated. I think that's it.

Unsurprisingly, no, I do not have photos. I've taken photos of the FOs, but have yet to DL them onto the comp. I'm also searching for photos of a couple items I *know* I took photos of. Jim sometimes clears the memory cards and then I have to hunt for where the photos end up. Joy.

The two items I'm knitting currently are really colorful (though are not colorwork...just stripes...except for the heel in the socks is intarsia) and I'm using up a lot of stash, which is such a weight off. All my scrapped colorwork projects (a pair of socks, a pair of mittens, and two hats...none of which interest me anymore) left a heck of a lot of unused yarn behind, so I took some time to find projects that would suit them. This means lots of stripes, which is cool, 'cause I love multi-colored stripes.

quiz

Here's a fun quiz for knitters. I'm mohair and some of that description is accurate.

http://www.randomhouse.com/crown/pottercraftnews/fiberquiz/index.html

My MIL has commissioned me (except y'know, for free) to make her sister a scarf. I didn't have much desire to do so, which I told her, but said I'd do it anyway because I am too nice. I loathe knitting scarves because they're so monotonous and are soooooo long.

So I ask MIL what her sister wants and she says that she said she wanted 'one of those hairy ones that everyone is wearing'. O_o I can only assume she means a Fun Fur scarf as those were VERY in several years ago and she lives in a town that is very behind the times. I flat out said no to that.

MIL basically had no clue what she wanted though and that was only my assumption, so she said to knit her whatever as long as it was red. I was then informed that she has a wool allergy (which my husband doesn't actually believe lol) and I have to knit it in acrylic. Joy. Not. I told my MIL that I'd look at the craft store and see what I could find, but to not hold out much hope because their choices are very limited.

I'm now searching for a pattern that will be interesting enough, but not too intricate since I really don't want to do this anyway. Hope I can find some sort of yarn.

Another FO though it's a bit F'd Up

The Princess Mitts are done and LMFAO boy did I fuck that first mitt up bad or what? I'm pretty sure it's a reflection on the fact that I was SO eager to have these done that I wanted to whiz right through them lickety split. Which I did. But now they don't quite match. lol Ah, well. They're just for me and I reckon I can tell people I like my mitts like I like my socks: each a little bit different.

Not to self: must pay more attention when knitting cables. I'm REALLY bad at counting rows when cables are involved. Like, I can't do it. I cannot figure out which row the last cable twist was actually in, so I have to be really rigorous in keeping track of which row on a chart I'm in. Guess my post-it note placeholder isn't the most reliable of methods, hmm?

Pics when they're dry.

An author outdoes herself

Dudes, I am an idiot.

My wonderful Immeritus Staff Secret Santa (*cough*Pen*cough* <----unless I'm wrong, but that's my educated guess) sent me the gorgeous book The Knitter's Book of Yarn by Clara Parkes. I dove into it immediately this weekend and it. is. fabulous.

I had been looking for a fingerless glove pattern to cast on the past couple of weeks because I've realized holding and carrying and wielding a 25 pound baby with gloved/mittened fingers is no easy feat. But, my appendages have poor circulation and they NEED to be covered in the freezing cold weather we've been having. So, thought I, fingerless gloves would be a good compromise.

There is a beautiful pattern in my new book called Princess Mitts that uses a really lovely twisted cable. Best news is it uses DK-weight yarn, which I had some of in my stash. So, I cast on today. (Shhh!)

I'm not criticizing the writing or the pattern, but it *is* confusing. There is a lot to take in with this pattern, including two separate charts, plus a lot of other information. I did my 14 rows of 2x2 ribbing that were called for and then got to the cabling chart.

Stitches were not adding up. So I went back and re-read, thinking I missed something somewhere because I was counting 24 stitches and the book was counting 23. I tinked a bit and reknit. I counted. I calculated. I re-read. I knit. I tinked. Rinse and repeat at least a few more times.

So I hop online hoping to find some errata for this very-newly published book. I find some! Alas. Not for this pattern. Then I notice an e-mail address and the invitation to report additional errata.

I e-mail Clara directly and explain the situation thinking it more likely that I must have missed something somewhere despite all my reading. I honestly wasn't expecting a reply at all, or if I did get a reply it would be ages from now.

Clara wrote me back almost immediately.

She explained in the kindest of ways that I likely missed the mention of a decrease of one stitch in the notes in the beginning of the pattern.

I run to my book and lo! There it was. I think my face flamed red because I couldn't believe I wrote to this author asking if she was mistaken when it was something as simple as me not re-reading the correct section.

*headdesk x infinity*

Lesson learned? Do not try to concentrate when you have a 10-month-old baby that was veering off into Crankyville.

Clara however? Rocks. And now I love her book even more than I already did.

(Seriously? Every knitter should have this book. I have already learned SO much about yarn that I never would've known.)

One additional FO

I just finished up a pair of socks I was working on. The pattern is Meida's Socks from Favorite Socks. I randomly bought one skein of Louet Gems sportweight several months ago because I fell in love with the yarn (the color and the texture...omg so soft!). It was rather expensive, so that's why I only bought one skein. As soon as I saw this pattern, I knew this yarn was destined to become these socks! I think these are my new favorite socks. :) I was very worried about having enough yarn, so I eliminated one of the pattern repeats from the leg.







And...here is all the yarn I had left over! :O I might have been panicking a bit toward the end!



ETA: I forgot to add, that for those who don't have this book, this pattern uses something called Estonian cables. It was challenging at first, but once you get the hang of it, very simple. Definitely not for beginners since it involves purposely dropping and picking back up stitches! This is because you don't use a cable needle, which I really liked because I find cable needles so fussy.

and finally...photos!

K later. For some reason my photos aren't appearing after I upload them and I can't delete this post either. Have I mentioned how much I hate Blogger? Grr.

Actually, here's the link to my Flickr account becuse I don't feel like mucking around with this. They're also all up at ravelry. New photos are for $1.50 Cardigan, Mom's lacey socks, dad's ribbed hat, and center square hat (which was knit last year but I never took photos of it): Photos