I got some more work done on my burgundy ribbed sweater last night. We watched the movie Simone, which was pretty entertaining. I noticed some of my stitches are a little uneven. Cotton has a lot less "give" to it so the slight varyations in stitches show more. I'm hoping it relaxes up with washing. I guess that's what I get for making a sweater in cheap-o handicrafter cotton! I'm so cheap! I'm really excited about finishing this, though, I'm getting closer and closer to binding off the neckline..........

Well, thanks to advice from Shetha on the knitblogs list, I just made the necessary increase and decreases to make bmy socks each have 60 stitches, and knit bravely on! They seem to be doing okay with that, there are only slight varyations in the patterns and I don't think the fit is going to be affected. Now I just have to figure out the heel....all the patterns for toe-up socks seem to just say "turn heel" and nothing more, so I'm going to have to search for a pattern that is a little more explanitory.

I had to go to the hospital for an echocardiogram (nothing serious, just checking something out) and I knew there would be waiting involved so I brought my socks to work on. A lady who was also waiting to have an echo started asking me about them.....she thought I was just amazing knitting all those fancy patterns into the socks without even looking at my fingers, so I had to tell her about the wonder that is self-patterning yarn. She had knit in the past but not since this yarn had been available. So we started talking about knitting and crochet.....she created by sight, not pattern, just sort of making it up as she goes along, which is pretty neat. I love how knitting can spark conversation with all sorts of people in random places!

I screwed up on my socks!!!!! I couldn't figure out why one sock seemed to be a bit farther along in the yarn pattern, since I am doing them both at once on 2 circs, so I counted the stitches and found the problem. One has 59 stitches and the other has 63. Nice considering it should have been 60 or 62. I tried both on (the beauty of toe-up socks) and they both fit, which is a little puzzling. So now I don't know what to do. One option is to choose one as the 'correct one', rip the other and knit it up to the same point. I could rip both out and start over, which is not appealing. Frankly I am feeling tempted to just leave them "wrong" and finish the way they are! They aren't that much different, perhaps due to the stretch of the Confetti sock yarn, so I'd probably be the only one to notice.

Suggestions?

So as soon as I get all my yarn stash organized and contained, my wonderful mother finds me bags (yes, more than one bag) stuffed full of nifty yarn at thrift shops!! There is a 3/4 finished black and purple mohair sweater and the yarn to finish it, needs a front and finishing only, so I might just finish it off, it looks pretty nice. There are other mohair balls, multiples and singles, some offwhite yarn for dying and felting, and some curious nylon-like ribbon yarn, probably enough for a tank top or tshirt. There are some other treats in there too but I'm not looking at the pile now so I can't recall it all. I found a huge ball of a soft bumpy boucle and some "Patons Moon Rise" that is white and black with white nubs, in my own thrift shopping. I must stop buying and start knitting!!!

I don't think I'm going to get anything together for knitty this time around. The idea is still in my head, not on paper or in yarn yet. I think I will puzzle on it for a bit longer and see about next issue if I can. I really do want to try my hand at designing my own pattern though, I think it would be very gratifying!

I got a little further on the "two socks on two circs" but haven't had a lo of time to work on them. It's not nearly as confusing as I imagined it would be, though I'm not up to the heels yet.

I'm toying around with designing a top myself. Maybe even something for knitty, maybe just for me, I don't know yet. I don't have a clear design idea yet, just a few thoughts I am tossing around. The idea of actually designing a whole top, start to finish, is a bit daunting. Much as I don't mind tweaking a recipe when I'm cooking, I can face altering a pattern a little if I don't like how it's going, but I NEED that base instruction, to guide me on my way. I also buy mostly thrift shop yarn, which makes guage and writing instructions trickier. Hmmmmm.....I guess I will just keep thinking and sketching for now.

I finished hubby's birthday socks this weekend and he's wearing them happily at work today :) I must say working with a double strand of worsted weight makes socks knit up FAST! I'm going to keep my eyes open for some cheap wool blend at the thrift shops to make him more socks I think. The Wool-Ease I used for this pair was about $4.50 a ball and the socks take two balls to make two socks, so it gets expensive that way. Especially when socks are $2.00 or less at places like Zellers!

I got going on the socks I'm making for myself out of the leftovers from mom's christmas socks. I'm trying toe-up on two circs, at the same time! I had some trouble getting them started toe-up, I kept losing track of the short rows and having to start over. Now that I'm moving along on the straight stockingknit stitch for the foot though, it's speeding along. Keeping the two balls seperate is fairly easy now, I just stick the ball of wool into the toe of the sock and pull it out when it's time to knit that one. It seems like knitting them both at the same time is going much faster than if I did them seperately too, I got a couple inches done at DnD last night!

Hubby liked his sock, and is happy enough with a raincheck for its mate. I should have it done for him to wear to work Monday at least.

And now some long primised felting photos! First, a photo of the felted clogs I made for my father in law. I am amazed how well these turned out, they were about 2 feet long and so floppy before felting!



Here is the jester hat I made my brother for his birthday. He was too shy to pose (and was taking the photos for me) so you get a picture of my darling hubby sporting the hat. He felt the need to make an apropriate pose to match the hat ;)



This is one of the THREE attempts at purses for my cousin for christmas. First one didn't felt, this one OVER-felted. It ended up looking more like a vase than a purse! The chair it is sitting on shows you how tiny it ended up. (she liked it and wanted to keep it anyways, though!)

Speedy Sock!

It's my hubby's 26th birthday today, and since he got a rather pricey large xmas gift from me, that was his combo xmas/birthday gift this year. (Diving Lessons, in case you were curious) That said I felt rotten about not giving him anything. He started a new coop job on Monday, and the place is really cold, and he commented how he needs to buy some warm socks. BINGO - I can make him socks! Of course, I only got the idea yesterday, while at work, not leaving much time! I knit like mad while he was at band last night, and whenever I found a spare moment at work today, and I just finished one sock. I figure I can wrap it up and promise him the mate to wear them for work Monday :) Now I am feeling rather speedy, but I should note that these socks were made using a double strand of Wool-Ease Worsted Weight, and 5.5mm needles, so it's less of an accomplishment than it may seem at first. But to make it a bit more of an accomplishment, I will tell you I managed to graft the toe quite neatly withour a darning needle - go me!

Isn't it always the case that when you NEED to do a project RIGHT NOW you don't have the needles it takes? Never mind I have a kajillion needles, straight, circular, DPNs, in all manner of sizes and styles, I didn't have 5.5mm DPNs or circs! I was in a panic as I couldn't buy new ones in time, and I didn't have the guts to adapt the pattern too much with no time to spare. Then I noticed a pair of LONG plastic straights that were 5.5mm. Using every tool imaginable I somehow got the "knobs" off them and broke them in half, and after some work with the pencil sharpener and a nail file.....A pair of pretty yellow DPNs in the size I needed! It was a little bit of work but I won't dismiss all the plastic straights I see at the thrift shops so quickly now!.

Stash Storage Time!

I returned a dissapointing christmas gift to get something I could really use - storage for my growing stash! The superstore had the tall rolling cart storage units on sale for $29.99 (that's canadian$ so pretty cheap!) and it was just what I needed. I already had one of the regular sized ones, but I had it full and still more boxes of yarn and things to deal with. I sorted most of my stash into the two units last night and have a little room to spare. (this must mean I need more yarn!)

I haven't touched the ribbed sweater in a while. It's to the complicated part where I have to join the arms to the body and I don't want to mess that up, so I'm waiting for some uninterupted knitting time. I've been trying to start some toe up socks in the meantime, but had a few false starts. Sucker for punishment that I am, I am going to attempt 2 socks on 2 circs this time! So far I haven't even gotten both toes done so they aren't together on the needles yet.

KNITTING SCORE!!

My mom's friend saw me knitting one day, so next time she visited my mom's place she brought over all her knitting stuff, since she didn't use it anymore. What a nifty assortment she brought me:
straight and DPNs in many sizes
knitting guage
sample fair isle glove and pattern to make my own
some blue wool
embroidery floss
Vintage Vogue Knitting Magazines!! (1953, 1964, etc - I think 5 of them)
McCall's Needlework magazine, also from the 60's or 70's
A quilting magazine
a needlepoint magazine

Pretty cool score, eh? The Vogue magazines are so fun to look through, the few ads at the front are funny, and the patterns look pretty neat. The guage on them sure is tiny though, I don't know how many of the items I would have the patience to make! A couple of the magazines are "child and baby" issues, so I may do something from them, since smaller sizes would make up for the tiny guage. The funniest thing was, two of the sweaters I saw in these old magazines are pretty much identical to 2 sweaters I saw in current magazines we have out now! There is a lacy cardigan just like the one in the current Knit It and a bulkier sweater with large panels of ribbing at the cuffs like I saw in another magazine. Interesting that some styles prevail, or make a comeback!

I managed to do some knitting over the christmas holiday, but not a lot. Mostly I just spent it shopping and relaxing, which was just fine for me! I got a couple neat knitting gifts: A Passion for Knitting which is a great all around instruction manual, nifty read, and has some terrific patterns in it, a large denim knitting bag from my neighbour, and a magazine rack to use as a knitting bag. (my aunt taped the words "knitting bag" over "magazine rack" on the box too, how cute!) I got a gift that didn't work out, and when I return it to WalMart I'm going to get another one of those rolling plastic carts to store my yarn stash in. I have far too much yarn to fit in the one cart I already got.

Coming soon: Photos of the felted clogs, one of the 'failed' felted purses, and my brother's felted jester hat!

Well, the felted bag was kind of a flop. If it was not as wide, OR if it were taller it would be okay, but it's a rather strange shape as it is. Its basically the dimensions of a shoebox, but with a strap. {sigh} It's a little too "funky" for the 13 year old girl it was intended for. I may still show her both failed bags tomorrow, let her know I tried and see if she likes either one anyhow. In the meantime, I will be finishing a beaded heart necklace and maybe a star bracelet for her, so she will still get a gift from me :) I had to dash into walmart on the way to work to grab fixtures for the necklaces, and I prepared myself for the crowds, but it wasn't bad! Certainly busier than it usually is at 8am, but not the crazyness I expected.

I got a knitting bag last night! My friend got me one as a christmas gift and it's perfect. It's a lightweight denim (I live in jeans so it will always match my clothes, hehe) and it's a nice large size so it will hold larger projects. I guess she got tired of me toting my projects over to her place in plastic shopping bags!

I've been knitting like mad, trying to finish up all the christmas gifts. I finished stitching up the seam on Sister's sweater, so that one can finally be wrapped. (though I may still do a scrunchie or head band) I knit an altered version of "My Constant Companion" from the book "Knitter's Stash". It's a large felted bag with a flat bottom. BUT I tried to make it a little smaller, partly due to the amount of wool I had, and it may be TOO small now. It's wide enough, but not very tall, it's almost shoebox size and shape. I'm just letting it dry now to see how it is with the strap in it. I'm going to work on mom's socks at work, they're nearly done, then I just have to finish a beaded necklace for my cousin. (3/4 done already) Whew!

Hubby kindly stepped in to help me today with some baking. We made piles of dogbone shaped gingerbread cookies for my brother-in-law, and a bunch of homemade dogbone shaped dog biscuits for his dog. We're going to package them the same, hee hee! (nothing harmfull in the dog biscuits if he DOES get them mixed up!)

I'm back! We had a fabulous time in Vancouver, Peter Gabriel was AMAZING!!! And I couldn't beleive how close our seats were. (4th row floor)

I got to check out a couple yarn shops when we were over there, but I didn't buy anything. I went to Birkland Brothers Wool Ltd. and A Touch of Wool. A Touch of Wool had a great selection of yarns, and cheap notions. I fell in love with a yarn called "Flamenco". They had a sweater in it on display and it was gorgeous, the dying of the yarn made it create wide stripes of colour, and it was so pretty. Only problem was the balls of yarn (300g) were $39 each and I would have needed 2!! Sadly that's a little rich for my blood, so I'm HOPING I can find it online or locally cheaper than that. I haven't found it online yet though.

Came back to a wonderful package from Shetha in trade for some stamping things I sent her. She sent me soaps she'd made herself in two scents and they smell so good! I hope hubby isn't reading this blog or he will know what one of his gifts will be on wednesday ;) It was a lot of fun putting together a package to trade and getting something in the mail!

Christmas rush time! I'm madly working to finish christmas gifts, and it seems like there just isn't enough time! I'm ALMOST done sister's sweater, have one sock to finish for mom, a second purse to try for cousin, since the first didn't felt right(though I'm not giving up on it) and some beaded jewelry. I'm heading to vancouver on sunday for 5 days, so I have even less time to work on stuff. I haven't decided what I'm taking to work on during the trip yet.

Oh, and did I mention I haven't finished making my christmas cards, nor have I sent out a single one yet?? AHHHHH!

I took the leftover red yarn from making my brother's felted jester hat, and added some koolaid to try and make purple. It came out kind of burgunsy, after using 3 packets of blue koolaid, but I liked it. (the yarn was BRIGHT red before I touched it) I'm also impressed that the koolaid seemed to 'lock in' the red dye too, it was leaking a lot when I felted it before. I'm going to try to make my cousin another purse, though I haven't decided on a design yet. Here is a pic of the yarn:

Felting Failure!!

I set to do my felting sunday night at the in-law's place. After stumbing my way through their washer's unique controls, my clogs happily felted down to size, but the purse did not felt at all. In fact, I think it might have gotten BIGGER!. It still looks nice and I may still give it to my cousin, but I will at least have to shorten the strap. I love how the colours turned out, with the patterning making wavy stripes. The clogs amazed me. They were at least 20inches long before felting, and so floppy. Now though, they are only slightly bigger than my feet which should be perfect for my father-in-law! They stiffened right up and look very cool! I will try to take them to mom's place next weekend to get my brother to snap a digital photo for me, they don't fit in my scanner very well.

More projects!! I just found out I have a new baby cousin, so baby socks are in the works. Thankfully they go really fast, one is finished and the other will be today. I'm also making progress on the purse. I did 2 rows of eyelash yarn near the top and it looks pretty neat. I'm still undecided on how to do the bottom though, flat, round, ???? Does anyone have any suggestions?

As promised, a photo of my latest koolaid dying adventure:


It's hard to show you the true colours, my scanner doesn't work very well and I'm not too good at photoshop editing. It's a mix of lavender, grape, red, burgundy, hot pink, and a few variations in betweel. I think it looks gorgeous! It will hopefully become a felted purse for my cousin, I just have to decide on a shape/style and get knitting.

I managed some KIPing yesterday. (Knitting in Public) My husband is in a concert band and they were doing an outdoor christmas concert so I sat there listening, knitting away on my sock. Not too many odd looks......

Another koolaid project in the works! I have an idea in mind for a gift for my cousin, and had one skein of white wool handy, so I'm dying again today. I am trying something a little different, to create a veregated colour on the wool. I used a bunch of elastics to cover small portions of the skein, tie-dye style, and then dyed it with grape koolaid. Now I've taken the elastics off and poured some bright pink(strawberry lemonade) over most of the white spots. Its turning out more orangy pink though, and I might do the whole thing over in some cherry koolaid or something to "pink" it up a bit. Hopefully a scan to follow in a day or two!