WIPs march of shame (part six-second to last post of shame!)

Alright, we're moving [moderately] swiftly through my embarrassingly long list of WIPs and we come now to the penultimate project of shame.

These mittens were started at the end of April right as finals-studying was getting interesting (the complexity of the project shows the depth of my denial.)





This pattern is NHM #14 by Terri Shea from the book Selbuvotter: Biography of a Knitting Tradition. I love the colorwork mittens in this book and how they're all tied to history. The yarn I'm using is Jamieson's Shetland Spindrift in Yellow Ochre and Grouse. This yarn is splendidly rustic and though it is not at all soft, I love the texture of it so much I don't think I will be bothered having it's "scratch" on my hands.

I'm slightly worried that these will come out very small. Even though my gauge is correct, they look tiny even for my small hands. The last colorwork mittens I made grew a ton after being washed, so I'm just assuming it's a weird consequence of colorwork in general.

WIPs march of shame (part five)

So close to the end of showing you all the shameful WIPs I have stashed in my knitting basket. This next one has actually been living in my purse for the past 8 months or so. It is supposed to be my "I have to wait project" so that if I'm ever somewhere with an unusually long line or am unexpected delayed for another reason I have knitting with me. The problem is, I haven't really had to do much waiting lately. I'm not at all complaining about not having to wait, it just means this project doesn't get a lot of love.





These are Air Raid Socks by Emily B. Miller. I have chosen to make my legs about twice as long as the sample sock because I think wool socks should be long. That is my personal preference since my legs are always freezing in the winter. The yarn I am using is Crystal Palace Yarns Mini Mochi in colorway 101 which is a rainbow.



This blog post would have to go on for miles if I were to accurately describe how much I love this yarn. The first thing I love about it is that it is a single. I know there are some people out there who absolutely hate to knit with yarn that is not plied, but I am not one of them. I love the way stitches look so plump when the yarn is not plied. Next, this yarn is SOFT. It's a merino/nylon blend (which makes it perfect for socks) but it's so much softer than other sock yarns. This yarn makes my feet feel like they have gone to heaven. Finally, the color. This yarn has such deep rich colors. The rainbow is very happy, which was much needed in December when I was buying the yarn, but I must have stood over the basket of this yarn in the shop for 20 minutes trying to decide which fantastic colorway to take home with me.



The pattern is also wonderful. I love how it adds some texture but doesn't get lost in the colors of the yarn. It's also very simple. I had the repeat memorized halfway through the chart. I am the tiniest bit worried that because this is a single yarn the socks won't be as hardy as I need them to be, but that I a practical after-the-fact-type matter, and I tend not to think about those when I cast on. If there is some darning in my future, so be it.

WIPs march of shame (part four)

Since I showed you my two newest WIPs last post, it's time to go back into the archives and show you another oldie. After this post, I will only have three more posts-o-shame to get you all caught up on the projects that have been languishing for more or less time in my knitting basket.

Here is my GreenGable Hoodie (rav link) by Mari Muinonen from the Fall 2008 issue of VogueKnitting.





I started knitting this in November and thought it would be a really quick knit since it's made out of bulky-weight yarn. It does knit up very quickly... when I knit on it. The problem is, winter finals came around and I stopped working on it, and I didn't exactly mark where I was in the instructions... I know it probably wouldn't take me more than 10 minutes to sit down with the pattern and the instructions and work out where I'm at, but I don't have too much enthusiasm for bulky-weight wool right now since it's been over 90 degrees here all week and I have no air conditioning.

The yarn is Knit Picks Swish Bulky 100% Superwash Wool in the colorway Adobo. I put it in my Knit Picks wish list when it was being discontinued and was lucky enough to be given 13 skeins of it. So far I've used 4 so I'm thinking I'll be able to get two sweaters. I'll have to find a pattern that's drastically different so people won't realize that I have two sweaters of the exact same color... or maybe I can make up some chunky hats and mittens to donate to the homeless shelter here in Portland. That idea kinda makes my heart happy.

Sadly I haven't made much progress toward finishing any WIP since I keep jumping from one to another working 10-20 rows on something before moving on to the next project. When you have 9 projects all growing an inch at a time it takes a while to show progress. This week I must knuckle-down and finish something.

Oops...

Alright, so remember that whole "finish-two-projects-before-you-cast-a-new-one-on" thing I had going... well I might have fallen a bit off the wagon... It's not my fault! I work in a yarn shop! Who has that kind of will power?!

Remember I told you that in the shop I work in you "make" your own yarn? Here is the what the result can look like.



I know it's blurry, but I think you can get the idea. That yarn is actually 5 different strands of blue and green wool that have been coned together to make one fingering-weight yarn. This is one of our pre-made cones, meaning someone at the shop picked out the colors and we blended them together and are selling the finished cone. Here is a close-up of the different "ingredient" strands (again, sorry about the blur.)



I have been keeping the cone in my purse, taking it to work every day, in case the shop is very slow and I have some time to knit... It hasn't been slow yet.

Here is a cone I "made" myself, as in I picked out the "ingredients."



This cone has two strands of a pearl-colored rayon, one strand of creamy-white cashmere, and one strand of sage-green silk. It is just slightly heavier than a traditional lace-weight yarn but still far from fingering. I love how luxurious this yarn is. We sell our blends by the pound which is a pretty unique way to price yarn. This blend ends up coming to $72 per pound, but a pound of this fine yarn is about 2400 yards. I only needed 5oz to get the 750 yards I needed for my lacy scarf, which ended up being about $23.

I can't possibly be blamed for casting on with both of these beautiful yarns right away can I? I thought not.

The sock yarn is becoming... yes, socks. I worked the whole cuff of the first one last night.





It's impossible to tell since all I have is the twisted ribbing so far, but these will become Pomatomus by Cookie A. from the Winter 2005 Knitty. It is completely immaterial that I have three other pairs of unfinished socks already on the needles... Hush up! As you can see by the picture I'm knitting these on one small circular needle, which may now be my favorite method for sock knitting, no joins to worry about so no ladders ever.

The lace yarn is becoming... yes, lace. I have been in love with this yarn and this pattern since Sunday.





This pattern has a long-ass name, it is Scarf with the No. 20 Edging from "The Knitted Lace Pattern Book," 1850 (rav link) by Jane Sowerby. That whole thing is the name of the pattern, the pattern is actually in the book Victorian Lace Today. This is so soft and sheen-y and wonderful I spend equal amounts of time petting it as knitting on it. I love that even though three of the four strands are cream, the one strand of sage green tints the whole project.

This frenzy of casting on means that I have to finish 4 projects before anything new can be cast on... Wish me luck!

Another one bites the dust

(Tell the truth, did you start singing? Don't be embarrassed, I always do...) Silly blog titles aside though, I finished another project! Never mind that it was the simplest project I had on the needles, and the one most likely to be finished quickly, I finished it. Now there are only seven projects in progress, which is a big improvement on the 10 I had going. Here are my Thrummed Mittens from the pattern that the Yarn Harlot posted in her blog years ago (2004). The pattern starts in the linked posts and goes on for two more posts.





I knit both cuffs at once using magic loop, then the project sat around for 7 months, then I finished both mittens in about 5 days. The pattern is not super precise, it has directions like "knit until the body of the mitten is long enough for your hand" but if you're comfortable with those EZ style directions, then it's a pretty darn good pattern. Here is the obligatory photo of the mitten turned inside out.



I may have been a little overzealous with the size of the thrums on the first mitten, but I calmed down a bit for the second one, this means that one hand is slightly more "poofy" than the other, but I defy you to tell my which one by looking.

The yarn I used is Lion Brand Fisherman's Wool in the color Natural, and the roving is Mountain Top targhee wool from Sweet Grass Wool the color doesn't have a name, but "bubblegum" would be very appropriate. I tried to spin it last summer, and so far have one ply, but it sticks to itself so much that its hard for new-spinner me to draft it. Now that I have used what I need for these mittens, I will go back to trying to spin it.

These are slightly awkward to knit at first because there is wool roving puffing up the mitten and vying for finger space on the needles as you knit, but after the first few rounds it's not too hard to adjust and make accommodations for the roving. This is what it looks like as you knit.



In other fantastic news, I have a job in a yarn shop! It's only weekends, which is a minor bummer, but, um, it's a YARN shop! It's a really funky place, Yarnia, on SE Division St. if anyone from Portland, OR reads my blog. You make your own yarn in our yarn shop. This does not mean you spin it. We have tons and tons of "ingredient" cones in different colors and fibers, and you mix and match them, then we hook it up to a big ol' machine that puts it on a cone for you. If you can't possibly fathom what I'm saying, follow the link and watch the short video. There is also a Yarnia blog where different yarns and projects are showcased. Actually, I have to get out of my PJs and ready for work now. Next post you will see more shameful WIPs, I promise.

WIPs march of shame (part three)

This next project was started last August so there is some slim hope that they may be finished in less than a year. Slim, since for some reason I am extremely slow at sock knitting, but a hope none the less. I actually enjoyed knitting these socks while I was working on them, but problems kept arising. First, the cats chewed through one of my knitting needle cords, then they were too small for the intended recipient, then the intended recipient and I broke up so there didn't seem to be a point to going back and fixing the mistake, then the cats got a hold of one of the balls of yarn and it's a big old tangled mess that needs to be undone... So they sat unworked on.





These are Mojo Socks by Donyale Grant and the pattern is free. Losts of people on Ravelry have done this pattern in bright happy colors and it looks wonderful. Since I knew I would be making man-socks with this yarn, I decided to pick this funky pattern to make my knitting experience less hellish. I think I will attempt to give them to Ryan as he does not own a single pair of dress socks and has smaller man-feet (which means still huge since I'm used to knitting to a women's 7.5 for myself.)

In other news, I've done a little stash enhancing lately. Something about summer always makes me want to spin. Something about knitting with wool is not so pleasant, but touching wool fiber isn't as bad for some reason. My spinning is still very bad, I'd love to take a class but I only have a drop spindle and am afraid that if I rent a spinning wheel I will end up falling in love and buying one. Here is my stash enhancement:



This is 100% Superwash Blue Face Leicester from Woolgatherings. A sign in the knitting shop said it is the easiest wool to spin... This may have been a selling tactic, but it worked. I struggled a bit with the Targhee that I bought at Sock Summit last August. You will see what I produced in a later post.



This may never get spun as I can't stop petting the fiber itself. This is 70% Alpaca 30% silk from Abstract Fibers and it is heaven. (Can you tell there is a certain color family I prefer? The other day, Ryan asked me, "why is all of your yarn pink?" I hadn't exactly realized it, but I seem to have a penchant for buying yarn in the pink/red/orange family.) I hope this is easy-ish to spin because I really want to start, but it would be such a tragedy if I ended up with ugly yarn...



Just for good measure, and because I want to start right away and my other spindle is occupied, I bought a new one. It's heavier than my other one so we'll see what kind of yarn it produces.

Back to the WIP grind...

WIPs march of shame (part two)

OK, so I completed my Pioneer, and showed it to you last post, taking one WIP out of the list, a very good thing. I have made a deal with myself that for every TWO projects I get off the needles, I can cast on ONE new project. Theoretically, this should help me get all the old projects off the needles because even if I start and finish a new project, I'll have to finish an old project as well to begin another new project... This is what I tell myself. Because I finished my clapotis and my pioneer, I got to cast on for something new. I chose something quick so that I would be forced to return to the old WIPs... aren't you proud of me?





These are Aran Isle Slippers (rav link) by Jennifer Lang. I made them from Knit Picks Wool of the Andes in the color Calypso Heather. I used just over one 50g ball, so they don't take much yarn at all. The pattern is a bit fiddly because of all of the picking up stitches and seaming. The Wool of the Andes is pretty fuzzy for plain wool (no mohair) so the cable pattern doesn't really pop out, but they do keep my feet pretty warm in my cold apartment. They are sized pretty small I think. The women's size says it fits a 7.5 shoe size, which is what I am, but they are very snug.

That project was finished very quickly, and now I am forced to turn my attention back to the old WIPs. The next-oldest one I have to show you is mind-numbing and may break my will.





This is my OpArt Blanket and it's only about 20% finished. It's done completely in garter stitch and it gets bigger every round until there are 888 stitches in the last round. Right now, it's taking me about 25 minutes to knit one round... It's not even made out of good yarn. It's made of cheap Caron One Pound acrylic that I wanted to use up. I love how this blanket looks, but the inanity of it may push me over the edge. Needless to say, this is not the WIP I am currently working on... More WIP shame to come soon.