Mikknit

I managed to finish the Seafoam Stitch scarf in time to give it to my friend on Sunday. I walked down to Borealis to see how long they’d made their display models (what, you thought I came up with the idea myself? Not bloody likely!) and found out that mine was *much* longer than theirs. Whoops. So I pulled back about 10″ or so and bound off. Came home and blocked it, then quick ran off to Sunday’s event (a wake, so not all that fun an occasion). My friend was thrilled by it, which warmed my heart - this scarf was something she’d asked me to knit for her mom, who’d been ill. I didn’t get it done in time for her mom to receive it, due to difficulty with the pattern and general procrastination, but I thought my friend would like to have it anyhow. And she did.

I think it turned out okay. The yarnovers didn’t block out as nicely as I’d have liked, but I was in a hurry and didn’t have the time to fuss over it. I’m quite pleased with this yarn for lace - it’s a delight to work with and nice and soft. I’m not so hot on it for socks, though.

Also, I picked up a copy of Mason-Dixon Knitting and immediately ran out to buy some cotton for the ball-band dishcloth. Yeah, so I’m a sheep. Baa!

Excuse the crappy picture - Arlo wanted me to take his picture again.

And the “AHA!” - reading through MDK, I was drawn to the felted boxes but confused by their recommendation of size 10 needles for a double strand of bulky-weight wool. Well, I finally had the brilliant (ha!) idea to check their blog and see if the book errata were there, since they hadn’t turned up on a Google search or on the publisher’s website. Yup, there they were - they recommend a size 15 needle, not a 10. Makes a lot more sense! I wonder if I have a size 15 needle.

Okay. Kids fighting. Again. Argh.

I really have been knitting lately, there’s just not really much progress on things from day to day and I don’t want to show a picture of a sock with another 1/2″ done on it or a scarf with another 4″ of the same lace pattern. Someday I’ll find something more interesting to work on, or start working faster, or else I’ll come up with something else interesting to say, but for now we get infrequent updates.

So what have I been putting my time in on?

The highest-priority project right now is a lacy scarf in Cherry Tree Hill’s Supersock:

This will be a gift for a friend - I would love to have it done by Sunday so I can give it to her. If I stretch it out so it looks right, I’ve got about 18″ or so. Gotta get going on it!

The pattern is from one of Barbara Walker’s books, not sure which one. It’s called Seafoam Stitch and it goes something like this:

———-

Cast on on a multiple of 10 stitches + 6.

row 4 - k1, *yo2, k1, yo3, k1, yo4, k1, yo3, k1, yo2, k6* repeat twice from *,
ending in a single k instead.
row 5 - knit across, dropping all the yarn overs as you go.
row 6 - knit across

—————-

Easy enough, but it gets BORING. It’s not difficult enough that it keeps my attention but it’s not easy enough so I can read while I knit. Not my favorite kind of knitting. Good thing it looks really cool!

Let’s see, what else is there to share?

A finished sock -

Opal Rainforest in the Parrot colorway. 72 stitches on a size 0 needle. I did an eye of partridge heel for extra entertainment value, too. The difference in texture with this yarn after washing is incredible - so much softer! I’m about 1/2″ into the ribbing on the second sock, it’s not grabbing my interest so much, imagine that.

And lastly, a little handspun, handknit goodness:

A mitten for me - you may recognize this yarn from my last post. It’s knitting up into a nice squishy fabric and is going to be wonderful come winter! I’m using size 3 needles and getting a gauge of 5 stitches/inch. It’s a little tighter than I’d knit this stuff at for a sweater, but I need my mittens to be knit very tightly, this being Minnesota and all.

Hopefully I’ll get in lots of knitting time this weekend - my sister will be in town and we’re going to the Aveda Institute for haircuts tomorrow. That’s always fun! Hopefully they’ll give me ideas on styling - I have long hair and I hate to spend time styling it (or, really, I don’t have time to spend on styling it!). I don’t want it short but I feel like a schlub with it in a ponytail all the time. I’m tempted at times to shave my head - I could match DH and Arlo then!

I finally finished plying the apple-green wool from Yarnover. It looks like it’s about sportweight and probably 3-4 oz. I haven’t weighed it or figured the yardage yet, but I’m guessing. It turned out quite nice, I’m very pleased with it!

And God forbid the spinning wheel should sit empty. I took some baby clothes up to the attic last night and went stash diving in one of my cedar chests. I found this lovely soft Shetland cross wool that I’d bought at Detta’s Spindle either when I was pregnant with Grace or when she was a baby (2002 or 2003).

So the Shetland cross and I had a hot date with Kinsey last night. (Just a note - not a great movie to watch while your spouse is out of town!) While I was predrafting the wool, I thought about Shetland lace shawls and fine-gauge wool for fair-isle work. I guess I’m not all that surprised about how finely the wool wants to be spun (that’s a thicker spot in the picture), but I’m surprised at how easy it is for me. Maybe it was because I was engrossed in the movie, but if I didn’t pay too much attention to my work and just let my hands and the wool do their thing it went so smoothly.

I have no idea what will be in store for this wool, but there is a lot of it. I have this silly notion of knitting a nice shawl for myself, or maybe dyeing it in 1oz batches and doing some sort of fair-isle project. Realistically, it’ll probably go back into the cedar chest to absorb some more of that lovely scent for a while.

Still working on the Opal sock, it’s now 3 inches of ribbing or so. I’ll post a picture once I’m around the heel and it’s more interesting to look at.

I finished Arlo’s sweater the other night. I have to laugh at myself, knitting him a sweater in July, but it is cotton and it’ll be cold soon enough (although not too soon for me!).

The yarn is organic, colorgrown cotton in a brown and white marl. You may be able to see that it’s thick and thin - it was quite entertaining to knit with, though I usually prefer a more evenly-spun yarn. This is similar to the Blue Sky Alpacas organic cotton yarn, but not as soft, not as even, and not as expensive. I believe these were 4oz skeins and I have at least 1/3 of a skein left out of the two I bought, after knitting a roughly 18-24 month size sweater. I bought the yarn in Ashland, from Northern Dyeworks. They have a site, but it’s under construction, so I was told to email them if I wanted to order more. If you’re interested, it’s info at northerndyes dot com. Aside from the cotton yarn (which comes in other colors than I used), she stocks alpaca yarn, Peace Fleece in worsted and sportweight, wool/hemp yarn, and possibly some others that I don’t recall. They also sell GREAT tie-dyed items, and we have several of her things. I didn’t buy any tie-dye this trip though, as I chose the yarn instead.

Some brief specs on the sweater: knit circularly from the bottom up on a 16″ size 7 Bryspun circular (which I like very much), sleeves were knit on size 7 bamboo DPNs (no idea what brand, bought them from Borealis). 88 stitches on the body, started the sleeves with 24 and increased to 36. I originally intended to leave the front right raglan open and do a button closure, but I goofed that up (added placket stitches on both sides of the seam, not realizing that it’d add almost 1″ to the fabric), so just ripped it out and knit it the regular way. I don’t doubt that it’ll fit over his noggin, it’s not as big as his sister’s melon, but I can hardly get him to hold still for a diaper change, much less to try on a sweater when it’s hot.

I started a sock yesterday, Opal Rainforest in the Parrot colorway. Not much to look at yet, only 1.5″ or so of ribbing. If this kid ever goes to sleep, maybe I’ll get to work on it some more.

I’m here! We were on vacation for the 4th and I’m slowly unpacking, putting away, etc. It always seems like it takes me at least as long as we were gone to put everything away. Probably because I’m trying to keep up with regular household b.s. as well. Dang kids, cats, and spouse making messes!

I got lots of knitting in on the trip, as Chris drove almost the entire time. Whenever I asked if he’d like me to drive, he said that he’d just be bored if he wasn’t driving. I was happy to have the knitting time! I finished a few things, but no pictures just yet. A couple of them have already gone to new homes (a soaker for Jess’s baby-to-be, a pair of mittens for my grandpa), one is in use (soaker for Arlo), one is in the car (baby hat). Plus there’s a sweater for Arlo that I’m working on, but the camera is in the other room and I’m too tired to go get it.

I’m nothing if not lazy, it seems. Taking a break from cleaning and laundry while Arlo naps and Grace is off with my mom. Someone’s setting of firecrackers across the street, hopefully they don’t manage to wake Arlo. I suppose if he’s been able to sleep through the commotion next door the last few months (huge home improvement project), he should be able to sleep through this.

I think I’m going to take a nap while I can. I’ll do my best to get some pictures up tomorrow!