Yup, signed up for the Knitting Olympics. My challenge is to put my money where my mouth is and finish a small lace project that I've had the yarn for for ages - Knitty's Lolita Legs.

I did do some knitting on the second Dancing Sock and will have heel flap and 'periscope heel' pictures for you later on... promise!

(The DH looked over after I'd just turned the heel and said 'look, it's a little periscope!' I thought that was pretty cool. Usually he doesn't see heels like that... they're usually quickly surrounded by gussets.)

Have a good week, I'll try to get pics up tomorrow.

knitting maunderings... Mom sweaters!

(cross-posted from my LJ)

Part-way through the Netflix movie my Mom called to tell me she'd (finally) gotten her Christmas surprise in the mail... the sweater! While I was concerned when I was making it that it would be too large (esp since it was too big for me when I tried it on) when Mom took it out of the box she was worried it was too small. Fortunately we were both wrong and it fits 'just right'. Hooray for boob darts! Mom also says that her cat Susie tried to steal the sweater to sleep in, so even if Mom doesn't like it or it pills like crazy I know someone who will love it. :) I must get a picture of Mom modelling it.

I'm really glad she likes the Ribbi Cardi, as it is a good deal plainer than the typical sweater that she goes for at the store. The boxy sweater pattern that she requested ages ago is residing, marked up, in one of my knitting bags. Eesh. It has a 38" circumference and my Mom has a 41" bust, so I've been trying to figure out the best way to alter the pattern. I could just increase the whole business by about 20% and hope, but I'm thinking that the ginormous boxyness of it would Not Be Flattering, and then she wouldn't wear it. I'm not going to knit a complex cotton cabled box if she's not going to wear it, thanks. (I suppose we *could* turn it into a pillow, but it seems such a waste!) It occurred to me that I could try and repeat my boob dart trick with this pattern, but I might need engineering help on that. Mucho pondering and some math will ensue.

The basic problem with this sweater was that someone decided to Get Creative and designed a modular sweater pattern. The front of the sweater looks like four triangles joined to form a square, with a giant diagonal X in the middle.. Colorblocking means that the top and bottom of the X are light blue or white, while the side panels are a darker shade. I'm sure Mom was using swimsuit logic, that this would make her look slimmer... which it would. If this was 'just' stockinette, I'm sure I could wrangle the blocks to include boob darts. However, each triangle also has a cabling pattern to go with it, knit up from the base of the triangle to the point. So, I could conveniently 'lose' the cabling part on the side panels to accomodate the bust darts, I could futz with adding length to some of the triangles to get a bulge, or I could just scream and start over with a pattern of my own. (You can see why I've not worked on this since last July.) Screaming sounds good at the moment, though I may scribble a bit more just to see if the idea is completely ludicrous and get it out of my head.

I *did* do a little more on the sock cuff last night, but it still looks largely like the below picture, so I didn't feel a burning urge to photograph it. Maybe later when it's got the exciting bits of heel construction going on! :)

Dancing update 3

Over the weekend, I DID manage to finish closing the toe on the first Dancing sock, and cast on for another. Last night I knit all of the twisted rib section while at SnB. (It was a poor SnB turnout due to the weather, but we had fun nonetheless.)

I'm a sock ho at the moment, but I'm okay with that. Really. I'm looking forward to wearing this pair, as dancing about in the singleton is rather silly. For those of you unfamiliar with Knit Picks Dancing, it's very stretchy yet comfy. The sock appears too small but fits, hugging my foot nicely!

I discovered a lost Borders GC in my wallet over the weekend, and discovered that it still worked... so I'm now the proud owner of Simple Socks; Plain and Fancy by Priscilla Gibson-Roberts. Last Friday I bit the bullet and ordered Meg Swansen's Sweaters From Camp using the Amazon GC that I got for Christmas. It's going to arrive slowly (since I ordered it from Amazon and not Schoolhouse Press) but that's okay... I think I can keep busy.

Ladyscience was ordering from Knit Picks anyway, and tempted me with combining our order, so now yet another sock pattern should be heading my way, as well as two new sock yarns for the allergy test. (Parade and Essential, if you're curious.)

I'm trying to decide whether or not I tell my mother about this blog. Any opinions? I do tend to make a lot of gifts for her. (Comments about whether or not she'll be able to FIND it again are probably apt; Mom's internet fu is spotty sometimes.) What do you-all think? Also, should I change the top graphic if my mother is going to be looking at this?

In-Progress Dancing

I got an amazing amount of knitting done last night as Inertiacreeps came over and knit with me while she was doing laundry. :) This morning I was also blessed with a sunny corner to take a picture of the sock. I was really excited about how much I got done last night... I'm closing the toe! It was an act of will this morning to leave the sock at home and not take a 'knit break' during the day. :)

In other amusing news, I discovered that I'd put my smaller gauge dpns Someplace Interesting. I managed to find them late last night so wondering didn't keep me awake, but I really need to clean my corners of the room this weekend. I suspect I know what I'm up to on Sunday. (le sigh)

My knitting group has been talking about the Yarn Harlot's Knitting Olympics recently. Any of these readers in for that? I'm trying to decide between Lolita Legs and Grumperina's Jaywalkers. I was thinking that I could challenge myself by doing dual Jaywalkers in the Magic Loop technique, or I could just try and finish them as singletons on the dpns I own. (Yeah, I'd have to order online because noone sells them around here buy a long circular to do Magic Loop, which puts a kink in trying to spend less $... ;) I think I must enjoy nebbishing about what project to do next... I must remember to enjoy my achievments as well as my plans. I certainly plan on enjoying my socks!

Anyway, here's to more in-progress photos!

More cardi photos

Well, I've been bad about posting, and I have 5 minutes... Ack! Here's a picture of me blocking the short-rowed fronts, with a little help :)




And a picture of the completely assembled raglan, with the two fronts basted together for adding the zipper.




The zipper has since been added, and the sweater wrapped and mailed. I'm hoping for a picture of Mom wearing it to put up in a bit. I'm going to call her tonight. (I hope)

Current project resting in the pretty morning sun this am:




More later! Sorry about this!

knitting recap 2005

Yep, I've got a little time today, as opposed to last week's crunch. So, I'm going to look at my knitting goals from last year. :)

Knitting Goals: (Yes, this is the 'reduced' list. This is in some rough chronology of deadline.)
* Finish current project of Gypsy's baby blanket. (Amelia is due in April, but I want to work on other things.)
* Mary's Christmas Hat IOU (I will put off Amelia for this one.)
* Finish Elizabeth Zimmerman's pi shawl that I've started. (The lovely red vareigated and the Addi Turbos make this currently addictive.)
* Mom's scarf requests.
* Give Mom the sweater she asked for for Christmas. (This is the epic project for 2005.)
* Make myself the Beaverslide Hogwarts scarf I've given away three times now, in the Azkaban pattern.
* Other small misc projects that come up throughout the year.
* If there's any time left, reduce the stash by giving away yarn or knitted small things. After that, consider Knitty's tall garter socks, and do the 'more than circular' shawl from Best of Knitter's Shawl Book.


Amelia blanket... check! Mary's Hat... check! Some of Mom's scarf requests... check!

I did make Mom a sweater for Christmas. Unfortunately, a) it was not the pattern she chose, as that one is still a Major Pain (tm) and b) it wasn't done in time. I did manage to finish the knitting and finishing work on the Ribbi Cardi as of New Year's Eve. I just have to sew in the zipper. (Obtaining said zipper was my albatross. However, now I HAVE the zipper, so I will work on basting that sucker in tonight and either hand sewing it in or seeing if dontcallmemolly has packed her sewing machine yet. ;)

The pi shawl was interrupted twice by yarn shortages. Once I ripped and re-did the fringe, because I'd done the pattern wrong and there was no way I'd get all the way around the circle with the yarn I had. The second (fixed) time I ran out anyway and had to order more from The Fold. (I'd HAD it at that point.) However, the pi shawl is finished now (yaaay!) and I need to figure out a way to block it. Any reccomendations on blocking superwash merino would be welcome.

I started the Beaverslide scarf and then got irritated with it due to pattern/yarn weight issues. I'm going to have to tinker with that and see what can change, but I do want my own Beaverslide scarf.

I did do some stash reduction this year, but I probably did an equal amount of stash enhancement, so we'll call it a draw. :) With the exception of Mom's Christmas sweater, I did meet all my Christmas goals, which was a big success for me this year. :)

What do I have on the needles now?

Mom's Ribbi Cardi - Zipper me, baby!

Pot Holders - I found out while at my mother's house that she's gone and cremated most of the pot holders I've given her. (This made the Christmas cookie requests a bit irksome. At least I only burned myself once.) I made two blue ones for my little brother for his birthday, and I'm making a few more green ones for Mom for ValDay. (A couple might find their way into the sweater box.) I've been making these out of stash Lion Brand Bulky Kitchen Cotton, held double. I can crank out a pot holder in very short time but then I need to stop and do something else for a while as my hands hurt.

Knit Pick's Dancing Twisted Rib Socks - I got some Dancing (Jig colorway) for my birthday, and while I was at my mother's I didn't want to give away her surprise, so I worked on the Dancing socks. I've got about 4" so far into the leg bit. (They're top down.) As these are my first pair on size 0 needles, they're going a bit slowly but I'm pleased with how they're turning out. (Pattern free from the Knit Picks website.)

The Dancing Vines lace scarf. I put that down for Christmas knitting and I suppose I really ought to find it. :)

That Beaverslide scarf is taunting me. I must finish it this year.

So, what are the knitting goals for this year?

* Finish above cast-on projects.
* Figure out Something To Make out of the Scads of Christmas Acrylic that can't be worn on the body. I've got 1 200yd skein in each of eight Christmas colors, so if they're socks they'd better be darn small. (to wit, Herrschners's brand Peacock Christmas Traditions and Victorian Christmas.) I've been thinking wreath, but I'm not sure how to go about that.
* Decide if I *really* want to do that evil cabled sweater for Mom. Hrrrm.
* Make one of the sock patterns from Knitting on the Road. I'm thinking Conwy in one of the Sock Landscapes I got for my birthday.
* Use up some of the Lion Cotton stash, possibly by making myself a Shapely Tank top out of the shaded blues. This will involve some design work, but I think it'd be a quick knit once the math is dealt with. (The math shouldn't be too too bad anyway, since I had such success with the boob short rows once before. :)
* Send Mom a good deal of the scarf yarn stash.
* block the Pi Shawl, and decide for real if I want to make the Wool Peddlar's Shawl from Folk Shawls. (Esp since I have a fair bit of Cranberry wool left over from Mom's Ribbi Cardi.)
* When I get bitten by the felting bug, make more kitty beds. :)

Not too many knitting goals, since this year will hopefully be the year that the science takes off. I know the DH has been encouraging me to read more and write more as well. I've been a reading fiend over the last couple weeks. :)

I guess I'm being more of a Bad-Ass Knitter, knitting what I want, when I want. :)