SnowDrop – finished.

I finished Stephanie’s SnowDrop Shawl (pattern is a pdf) yesterday! I cast on in December ’06, so it only took me a year and a half.

This was knit in KnitPicks Bare merino laceweight, and used slightly less then one full skein on 4mm needles.

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Some scarves, and invisible socks.

This is a One Row Scarf, for the Miss Marple exchange. It’s so pretty though – I’m not sure I want to give it away. I think I’ll be able to finish this over the weekend, while I travel.

And this is the Travelling Roses Scarf – the first repeat is finished. 13 more to go. It’s going slowly because I’m not working on it every day. See the sewing machine in the back of the photograph above? I’m sewing curtains for the Bee’s room.

And these are the invisible socks:

They are the Trekking socks, all finished up. I’d have taken a photograph, but they are currently on a pair of feet and elsewhere in town.

Well begun is half done.

And in the case of the Dublin Bay socks, wholly done!

The pattern is from Mossy Cottage Knits (pdf here), and I knit it in a superwash sock yarn from Seacoast Handpainted Yarns – the colorway is named Tea and Cream. I’m a little sad about the way the stripes came back after the heel on the second sock – but such is the way of sock yarn.

In other news – I have ordered the yarn (Classic Elite’s Renaissance Print in Mikonos Blue)  for the scarf I am going to knit for the Miss Marple scarf exchange,  and am happily reading along.   I love Christie.    And I have started another pair of socks for dasHusband,  out of his Trekking.    There’s a story behind that yarn,  but it can wait until tomorrow.

Bee Socks

Note that the ends are not yet woven in. Note that they have been worn. She likes her socks. These are generic toe up socks, knit on two circs (US size 1), out of KnitPicks Essential, a 75% superwash wool/25% nylon blend. She calls them ‘watermelon socks’. Don’t ask me why.

Speed Knitting.

450 yards of Trendsetter’s Dune

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500 yards of Lambs Pride Bulky
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Size 15US needles, and moss stitch.

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7 days.

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1 wedding wrap..

Done. Pre-blocking it measures approx 40×24, and post blocking it’s about 60 inches long by 18 wide – I expect it will shrink slightly as it dries. It’s very gold and glittery, very warm, and matches the brides colors perfectly. She’s going to love it.

And I can knit something else now.

Socks and plans.

Here is a pair of socks. KnitPicks Essential Tweed in the Inca Gold colorway. I like the yarn well enough, though it is a little rougher then the YarnArt Wool I used for my little blue socks. Knit on a size 1 or 0 dpns. The tag said they were size one, but my needle gauge thinks they are size zero.

I got gauge on them, and that’s what counts. These are for dasHusband, who made me learn to knit socks by buying himself a ball of Trekking one day after I said ‘That? Oh, that’s sock yarn.” He said, “You mean you could knit socks?? I like socks!”.

So, for himself, socks. And the next pair will be Trekking.

And for me – Tea and Cream is wound and ready to knit. The dpns are the ones I used for the tweed socks, and I may use them if I knit Earl Grey, to save myself the trouble of re-writing the pattern for toe up. Lantern Moon Sox Stix, in rosewood.

That’s the socks part. The plans part is a giant ball of 100% alpaca dk weight tweed. I mean to make an afghan and I am swatching swatching for it.

Things that are done. Mostly.

Socks.  Plain blue socks knit toe up on size one US needles.   No real pattern – just a turkish cast on toe and short row heel.   This is YarnArt Wool, a nice basic sock wool  which I like because it is inexpensive and comes in solid colors.   Am I the only person in the world who likes solid color yarns?  It feels like it sometimes.

This is the mostly – it still needs blocking, and packing, and shipping.  Charlene Schurch’s  Norwegian Star Cap,  from her book ‘Hats On’ ,  knit in Nature Spun worsted wool.   Size six and four US needles.

A little knitting with that?

I’ve finished my mittens! This is the basic mitten pattern from Ann Budd’s book “A Knitter’s Handy Book of Patterns” knitted in Wisdom Yarn’s Poems, on size 3 dpns. They do not match – I did the gusset increases and mitten top decrease differently on the second mitten, to make it fit a little more closely. Another change to the pattern on each mitten – I picked up five stitches across the top of the gusset rather then just one – picking up just one left noticeable holes that then had to be woven over during finishing. Picking up five made a nicer thumb join, with minimal holes.

I am also plugging away at the sweater sampler I am working on (from Jacqueline Fee’s “The Sweater Workshop”). So far I have knit plackets and pockets and stripes and all kinds of ribbing and all kinds of increases and and and… It’s a fun project and I am learning a lot.

A Tam.

I seem to be slowly working my way through all of the patterns in Ann Budd’s ‘Knitter’s Handy Book of Patterns’. I’ve been under the weather the past few days, which always prompts me to knit with acrylic, and I made this tam.

This is the adult medium sized tam, knit on size 6US needles out of Lions Brand Wool-Ease (80% acrylic, 20% wool) worsted weight. I like the colors, but it doesn’t fit me very well. I used a k2,p2 ribbing for the brim, and the spiral option for the top. I forgot that the acrylic would pull in less then a pure wool – I should have used a k1,p1 ribbing, I think.

Liesel progress, and a hat.

Liesel is coming along okay – the Lopi that I am using is a pretty scratchy yarn, so I’m not marathon knitting it – just a couple of pattern repeats a day. The lace pattern is really lovely, and it’s perfect in this color – all bronze and coppery, like autumn leaves. And once I block it and give a dip in some conditioner water it will be soft enough to wear – not soft soft, but soft enough. I experimented on the swatch, and it worked up fine.

Liesel (scroll down) is on size 8US needles, being knit in Lopi Lite, from Reynolds.

I also knit a hat today – dasHusband is off fishing with his dad, so the Bee and I have been watching LOTR, having a tea party (complete with the good china teacups!), and knitting. My MIL has asked if I could send some simple kids knits her way for her school – they try to keep a box of hats and stuff for kids that need them, so I’m making plain hats and ribbed scarves, and I’ll do up a few sets of mittens too.

Lion Brand Wool Ease Thick and Quick, on size 11 needles. Ann Budd’s basic hat pattern from her great book “A knitter’s Handy Book of Patterns”. I knit it flat and seamed it, since my supply of DPN’s in larger sizes is inadequate.