Thursday, July 28, 2011

MORE ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Look what just arrived ! ! 



Top Designers include:
Cookie A.
 - - love her designs including Pointelle that was in time-out so very long.
Nancy Bush
Anne Hanson
- - just knit her les Abeilles shawlette, twice
VĂ©ronik Avery
Deborah Newton
Evelyn A. Clark
Meg Swansen
Chrissy Gardiner
Katheryn Alexander
Pricsilla Gibson-Roberts
Eunny Jang
Mellisa Morgan-Oakes
Anna Ziloorg
Cat Bordhi
- - the gal who just changed my entire sock heel world - more about her shortly
Ann Budd  - whose name is on the front cover

oh, that's not all folks.
There is also an Instructional DVD included ! ! !  

I AM SO EAGER TO GET STARTED WITH SOCK KNITTING MASTER CLASS 


I am a sock knitter, wait, I am a SOCK KNITTER
no, really
I AM A SOCK KNITTER ! ! ! ! ! 

Since Dianna introduced me to magic loop 2-at-a-time
and discovering Melissa Morgan-Oakes,
I love knitting sox.
Then Cookie A. designs entered my knitting life.
L--V-E her designs and my sock drawers are filled with her designs.

Cat Bordhi entered my knitting a bit later in my knitting life.
However, this week she re-entered 
with a GREAT BIG BANG ! ! ! 

If you knit socks
then you really have to take at look at 
Cat's Sweet Tomato Heel Sock
I first read about it on Ravelry
and used the link provided.

After watching this amazing variation of a short row heel
known now as Cat's Sweet Tomato Heel
I found her Rav Group 
I could not resist immediately ordering her

If it's instant gratification you're craving, this is it ! ! ! 
This ebook was on my laptop within seconds of my purchase.
No only is this pdf format ebook on my laptop it is going onto my NookColor
just as soon as I show you my first attempt of
Cat's Sweet Tomato Heel Sock


Sweet ! ! ! 
My go-to sock technique
toe-up or cuff down !

hugs

  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  

keep warm

Thursday, July 21, 2011

FO's & WiPs

First
Finished Objects ! ! ! 



Hope it's just the perspective that make my ankles look HUGE
These are one of the 6-on-a-stick sockfest.
Wilton Cake Icing Dye dyed
Finished ! ! ! ! 



Next,
From the 6-on-a-sick project:
Pink
again, Wilton Cake Icing Dye dyed.
L♥ve 'em.


On to Works-in-Progress
again, the third and last pair in the 6-on-a-stick project.


Frogged [that's ripped out to non-knitters]
this pair from mid-foot back to the leg/cuff part of the sock.
I am trying a brand new technique I've learned.
The Afterthought Heel.
Afterthought being that a length of waste yarn [in this case a piece of blue yarn] is knit into the sock
at the point where the heel is to be knit 
after the sock is knit to the
toe and finished.

At that point,
the stitches on either side of the waste yarn our picked up on needles and the heel is knit.

I'll post photos as I go along.

Next WiP:


Sunshine and Lime
my Camp Loopy Project II socks.

Knit from the toe up in stockinette stitch
will use the afterthought heel technique.
Project II for Camp Loopy must use
Cable Stitch in the design.
I will be knitting 
a Cookie A designed sox by the name of
what else? but
SUNSHINE
a cables with lace pattern.


Lastly,


Very first purchase of

I'd like for you to meet
Twitterpated


Yep, that my knitting life this past week or so
in a nutshell!


hugs

♥   ♥   ♥


Thursday, July 14, 2011

Start to Finish

The shaping of the shawlette amazes me.

This is my first shawlette pattern
it's an Anne Hanson pattern - 
les Abeilles
found on her website Knitspot
or

les Abeilles [the bees] is my first shawlette pattern
-not counting the kerchief neckwarmers -
and did not know what to expect . .  .  .
sooooo,
following directions cast on - - - - whoa, Nellie ! - - - -  
242 stitches * * * Yikes !
that what it said, 242 sts.

As it turns out this is the lace edge that forms the 'angle' of the triangle.

Thereafter, every other row contains decreases
that self-shapes this shawlette.

It truly amazes me.


The shaping is apparent after knitting twenty or thirty rows.





The picot-like edging is knit as you go.
Easy-peasy lemon squeezy. 
not added later with pick-up stitches.



Here's les Abeilles' progression - photo-by-photo.




A few rows past the lace portion and on to the garter stitch portion.




Look how this beauty is taking form.




Moving right along.




Only a dozen or so stitches remain on my circular.




Here is the set up for the three-needle bind off.




Bound off 
showing pre-blocked size.



Being blocked.
Final size 37" across at neck edge and 20" center point.

Cast on July 1st and Blocked and finished July 7th.

I'm enjoying this pattern.  So easy to follow Anne's instructions
and the charts are large enough to see.

This pattern will be used again and again.
Great for gifting.


hugs

♥  ♥  ♥





Saturday, July 9, 2011

Vesper Yarn


Learned about this yarn while following
video podcasts.

I believe they have influence over me.

Just found them last month and have been watching their current episodes
while catching up on their past video casts
one a night.  

So, about this yarn.
Saw these on The Knit Girllls and, of course,
had to have some.

I'm going to knit them toe-up
with an afterthought heel
- this will be my first attempt at them,
however, watching Leslie's tutorial I know I can do. . . 
well, she makes it look easy.
Her video is excellent!
One more thing with these sox,
I am going to knit them in stockinette stitch.
I've not knit an entire sock this way before.
Will have to pay attention to the fit.




Now, who dyed these great colors?
These are Vesper Sock yarn
100% Superwash Merino wool
Self-striping of course.
Dyed by Julia Vesper
at
Knitterly Things

I can't get these on my needle fast enough.




hugs


♥ ♥ ♥

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

What's in the Bag


It's the Pink pair of
'six on a stock' trio.

I wimped out and am finishing the one pair at a time.
I tried taking them along in the car so that I could knit a bit while waiting for dr appts, etc., etc.
Found that it was too cumbersome to take to Knit-In-Public.
So am making some progress one-pair-at-a-time.

The Pink Sock is my take-along knitting this week.
I keep it in the drawing string bag I made from the goodie fabrics I won on
Chris' blog giveaway.
Such a generous giveaway it was.
More about it in a later post.

On the same topic of six-on-a stick socks
I've finished the Green pair


They haven't been blocked just put them on the blockers 
to show them off.
I l♥ve the way my dye job came out.





hugs
♥♥♥


Monday, July 4, 2011

An FO [Finished Object] & what's on my needle


I finished my shawl
and posted it to The Loopy Ewe website
prior to the deadline!!!!

You can read all about Camp Loopy on Sheri's blog.

I put my finished les Abeilles to soak 
and then  
with the help of a trio of Hubby's ham radio antennas
that I used as blocking wires
I was able to block it like crazy - stretching it like crazy so that the lacy pattern was shown off to it's very best.


Since then I've bought blocking wires from InSpinKnity
 I heard about on them on


The fiberphile Tree Peony and The Loopy Ewe Solid Brick
colors
couldn't have matched any better if I had know what I was picking.

Both yarns were easy to knit with and feel wonderful after a soak and blocking.
Come on Cold Weather.

Soooooo,
since this shawl was a pretty easy knit
I'm giving it another try.
I using yarn that first begun it's life knitted as Pointelle
- - - you may remember Pointelle - - -
the dreaded sox from Hades 
until, of course, I MASTERED THEM ! !! !    

The yarn is Jojoland in Melody 100% superwash wool.


This shawl is in a triangle shape,
as you can see in the finished one above.
This photo shows the first part -
the lace edge portion just completed.
The center, pointy part of the shawl is at the center of my needle.
The two short ends at the left side and right side
are part of the long side of the triangle
- the neck edge.

Thus, 242 stitches are cast on
for the lace edge.
When the lace edge is complete the stitches have been decreased
to 168 stitches.  
The decreases provide the shaping for the V of the shawl.




The picot-looking edging along the top [long] edge
is knit right along with the body of the shawl.
The picot-looking edging - V below V - 
will continue across the neck edge to meet in the center.


I'll try to remember to take photos along the way
showing the effect the decreases
make to form the remainder of the triangle shape.

Nutz, a picture is worth a thousands words.
I'll post pics.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  

With that, I'll want to wish everyone
Happy 4th of July !

hugs