Kleio

Keep on knitting, keep on knitting, keep on knitting...

Yep, still on the edging.  Have a great weekend!

Kleio

 

I realized when I was correcting this morning's photo for color accuracy that Kleio looks like a wave.  I'm on the edging now!  Yes, the final edging that binds off the entire shawl!  When I began this project I took out two repeats from my cast on (there are directions for doing this in the pattern) because I didn't have as much yardage in my main color as Romi did.  When I finished up with the main color, after the third braid, I had 12 grams left, so it worked out nicely.  I have plenty of my contrast color so I'm not worried about running out mid-edging.  The edging isn't difficult, but with 500+ stitches to be bound off, it's going to take some time.  I'm hoping to get it finished up this weekend sometime though.  The edging can be worked on in front of the TV so that shouldn't be a problem, particularly Saturday.

I probably shouldn't admit this, but on Saturday mornings, once everyone is fed and taken care of, I make a big pot of tea (every other morning it's just a mug of tea), get out a fancy tea cup and make a nest back in the bed.  Once I'm properly snuggled in with my tea and knitting, I watch the SyFy channel - they play their own original movies on Saturdays, which are so wonderfully cheesy and silly.  There's usually some sort of theme to each Saturday:  mutant dinosaurs of destruction, mutant space invaders of destruction, giant mutant dinosaur sharks of destruction, medieval monsters of destruction, you get the idea.  It's good knitting TV and its fun to watch all that destruction and bad acting.

I forgot to mention, Logan's vet appointment went well.  He's healthy and growing nicely.  He weighs 76.5 pounds now and since he's 15 months old, he doesn't have too much more growing to do.  (He won't be full grown until he's about 2 years old.)  To compare, Finn weighed 62 pounds full grown, but our first Golden, Bear, weighed 80 pounds full grown.  We think Logan will be close to Bear's size, but he could be even bigger.  We're all happy he's a healthy boy, and he's happy he doesn't have to go back to the vet's anytime soon (although he did get lots of doggy cookies there).

Something to Pass the Time

 

When I put the Paraphernalias on hold while the extra yarn was zipping its way across the country, I needed a portable project.  Fortunately I had just the thing in my stash.  I'm doing the fingerless mitt version of Chimera and I'm using a yarn that is new to me - Valley Yarns Northampton.  I'm using Lake Heather and Chestnut Heather and so far, I'm really liking the yarn.  It's comparable to Cascade 220, but it actually has 247 yards per skein and a price tag under $5.00, it's a win win.  It doesn't have the color range of Cascade 220, but nothing does, does it?  It's a good, basic, mid grade wool that will work for a number of projects and I'll be using it more, now that I've tried it.

September Knit Something of the Month

 

In what must have been a land speed record for the post office, I got my extra skein of Rosebud yesterday from New York!  I now have a full pair of Paraphernalia socks with matching toes and they're all finished in plenty of time before the end of the month!  Yipppee!  I loved knitting this pattern, it really did knit up pretty quickly, but I'd recommend having at least 380 yards before starting it, or plan on shortening the leg.

Logan wanted in on the photo shoot this morning so you get a little puppy eye candy this morning.  He's heading off to the vet with me in a little while for his yearly exam, but he doesn't know yet.  He's still not a fan of being in the car.  Oh, and last time his paws were in the sock photo, someone thought they looked like Sheltie paws, but they're not.  Logan is a Golden Retriever (which is easier to see when his face is in the photo).

Kleio

 

Kleio spent all last week waiting for me to do the second braid.  The braids, while they look really interesting (and don't photograph that easily), and add a lot to the design, are not fast and they can't really be worked in different knitting sessions.  Which means I needed a big chunk of time that I knew I could work fairly uninterrupted to do a braid.  I've been worrying about running out of my main color of yarn (it's Socks That Rock Lightweight in Rook-y), so when I started Kleio, I cast on for two fewer repeats to save some yarn.  When I started the second braid, I weighed my main color and had 42 grams left.  Four and a half hours later (see, I wasn't kidding about the big chunk of time), I weighed it again and had 34 grams left.  So I should be OK to get it finished.  As you can see above, I've done the stockinette stripe after the second braid and now I'm ready to do the third braid and the cast off edging and then Kleio is finished!

Where We Come To A Screeching Halt

 

I'm out of yarn.  2 1/2 rounds before I start toe decreases.  I read through the comments yesterday and while the toe in a different color idea is genius (and I hadn't thought of it), I don't want to do that to these socks.  I think they're really pretty and I want the toes to match.  I will have to do a pair of pink socks with yellow toes though because that just sounds really cute and I am the Pink Lemon!

I ended up looking in Ravelry for destashes in this color and found two people with it (one person actually had two skeins), so I've already paid for another skein and it should be on it's way to me soon.  This will be faster than going through Blue Moon since they might or might not have Rosebud dyed and ready to go.  I love this color, so it's not a hardship to have another skein around here.  I'll just use it to make fingerless mitts or something.  So a little bump in the road to a finished pair of socks, but Yeah Ravelry!

Have a great weekend and I hope you don't run out of yarn!

Am I Going To Make It?

 

I'm zipping along on my second Paraphernalia sock and I've got plenty of time to get it finished by the end of the month.  (As of right now, I'm 42 rounds from beginning toe decreases.)  My question is, do I have enough yarn?  My gut is saying no.  Do I have a Plan B?  No.  There are a few things I could do if I run out of yarn:

• I could frog the socks and reknit them with fewer repeats on the legs, but I don't want to.
• I could keep going and just finish the toe of the second sock with something else pink if I need to, but I'm pretty sure I don't have anything else This Color of pink.
• I could order more yarn from Blue Moon Fiber Arts and cross my fingers that it's fairly close colorwise, but even if they keep highly detailed dying notes, this is handdyed and there will be differences.
• I could scour Ravelry for other people who have used this yarn and beg them to let me buy their leftovers.

That's what I've come up with so far, but I haven't really settled on any one plan.  For now, I'm knitting as fast as I can, in the hopes that the yarn will stretch just because of my knitting speed - kinda like when you're low on gas and you drive fast so you can coast farther if you do run out.  Doesn't yarn allow coasting?  I guess in the meantime I should start looking in Ravelry for people who've used this color because that should get me the extra yarn the fastest.  Cross your fingers for me and send me stretchy yarn thoughts!

Remember This?

 

It's the Austin Hoodie and it's been sitting patiently, waiting for me to get back to it while I worked on Camp Loopy projects all Summer.  It didn't help that I had stopped knitting at a place where I'd need about 30 minutes to sort out where I was and to restart, so it was easy to overlook the hoodie and work on other things.  It's getting closer to sweater weather around here, or at least acting like it might get closer to sweater weather at some point, and a fingering weight cardi is a useful thing in this climate.  I'm working on the fronts right now and as soon as I get them knitted and the shoulders seams sewn, I'm going to spend some time weaving in all those ends!  I don't think I've woven in a single end on this sweater yet and it looks like a Ghillie Suit on the inside.  I've also got to track down a US 5 needle for the sleeves.  I like the 9 inch circulars for sleeves and I have a size 4 and a size 6.  I might have to do the hood first while I wait for the needle to get here.

Kleio

 

It's not just little pink cabled socks around here.  At least not all the time.  Sometimes I set the sock down to take things out of Logan's mouth.  And sometimes, in between taking things out of Logan's mouth, I work on something else.  I've gotten all the way through the lace section of Kleio now and I'm ready to start my second braid.  The first braid took several hours and this next braid will have more stitches than the first.  Of course I'll also get to spend time taking things out of Logan's mouth while I work the braid, mainly the yarn I'm knitting with since he thinks he's part kitten and just can't control his yarn urges.  I've never seen a dog as interested in yarn and strings as Logan is.  Kleio is really fun for both of us - I get to knit and he chases yarn!

Paraphernalia

 

I've finished the first sock and I'm just past the twisted ribbing edge for the second one.  I'm still loving this design with the single large cable.  The majority of the rounds are just a simple rib, but the cable crossings happen often enough that I don't get bored with the ribs.  In a way it reminds me of Rogue. (Remember that one from years ago?  Still a great design.)  Rogue has the same balance of simple with cables and you didn't get bored while you worked on it.  Thinking about Rogue, I should do another one in the cardigan version.  I need to finish these socks first though.

Almost a Sock

 

I did get some knitting done yesterday and I'm almost done with my first Paraphernalia sock.  I've started the toe decreases but didn't quite get finished by bedtime last night.  Since yesterday was the halfway point of the month (and this is my September Knit Something of the Month project), I'm pretty much on track to have them finished on time.  I just counted up and I've only got one more pair of socks after this one for the year.  The October and December projects are shawls.  I've really had fun with this little monthly project plan and I fully intend to do it again next year.  I've mostly stuck with the original yarns and patterns that I set aside back in December of last year (which is surprising as often as I change my mind).  I think alternating types of projects (socks and shawls) has helped keep me interested.  As far as actually busting my stash, I'm not sure the sock yarn box is any lighter than it was a year ago, but I did pull out and use some things that had been in it for a while.

Nothing to See Here

I just wanted to pop in and say that everything's fine here, we're fine, we've had a reactor leak and we're trying to shut it down, give us some time, ... how are you?

No actually, there just hasn't been any knitting for a couple of days so there's nothing to blog about.  As far as Han Solo, we haven't seem him around here but I don't think he's done any knitting either.

Puppy Paraphernalia

 

As soon as I got out the camera this morning Logan bounced over to the fireplace and struck his pose.  Clearly he was wanting his picture taken.  Caleb even noticed how still he sits while he gets his picture taken with knitting (I got the picture early).  He's becoming such a good helper with knitting pictures!

This is the Paraphernalia sock for my September Knit Something of the Month project and I've finished the leg and have done the heel flap.  For some reason my brain says it's later in the month than it is and I'm panicking a bit on getting these done.  Then I look at the calendar and realize I still have more than half the month left to finish them.  Maybe I should just really knit on them until they're done.  I don't know why it feels like it's sometime later in the month, it just does.  It's the same feeling you get when it's actually Tuesday but it feels like Wednesday or Thursday, only instead of being off by a day or two, I'm missing a week or so.  Does this happen to anyone else or am I losing my mind?

Kleio

 

Over the weekend I finished up the garter stitch section of Kleio and I did my first braid and I got started on the lace section.  I've never done a braid before (in knitting that is) and it was interesting.  One of the things Romi says to do when you start the braid is to pull out lots of yarn from your ball.  Yards and yards of it.  Of course, she doesn't mention what to do with your dog who thinks he's a kitten who decides to be "helpful" with all this yarn all over the floor.  So it went a bit like this - knitty braidy thing, knitty braidy thing, "Leave it Logan,"  knitty braidy thing, "Drop it Logan,"knitty braidy thing, knitty braidy thing, "Move Logan, you're laying on the yarn."

Yes, it took a while to do the braid.  But now I'm on the lace and while I have two more braids to go, the lace is doing just fine for now.  Also, I'm back to normal lengths of yarn, not yards and yards in a pile on the floor, so the dog kitten is being good with it right now.

Oh, I almost forgot, my contrast color is from the Loopy Solid's Series in the Malachite colorway.  This is a fairly decent picture of my main color too, you can actually see the colors in the black from the Rook-y (Socks that Rock Lightweight).

September Knit Something of the Month

 

Since September has started, I've started working on my September Knit Something of the Month Project. This month is a sock month so I'm knitting Paraphernalia socks.  It's a free pattern and I think it has just the right amount of cables.  There is just one single big cable going down the outside of each leg and the rest of the sock is ribbed.  This means it's been a very fast sock (as you can see by how far I am already).  I'm using Socks That Rock Lightweight in Rosebud and the cables are popping nicely in the yarn.  I did change the cuff of the sock a bit - I just started in the K3, P1 rib that the main part of the sock uses, but I worked the knit stitches through the back loops.  This tightened up the edge a bit, but it still flows into the main pattern.  It's also biasing a bit right now, but I think that will disappear when I block them or when I wear them.  I had never seen this pattern before Camp Loopy and several people did it for their second project (cables).  I just loved the look of it and I'm so glad I found it because I'm really enjoying knitting it!

Something New

 

 After I finished my Vitamin D cardi, I started Kleio, the first pattern from Romi's second year of seven small shawls, based on the Muses (all nine Muses will have a project in the book, but only seven of them get shawls).  Kleio is the muse of History.

I'm working on the top part of the shawl which is garter stitch short rows right now.  I forgot to get a picture of the other yarn I'm using so I'll surprise you with it later.  It's not really surprising, it coordinates with the yarn you see here which is Socks That Rock Lightweight in Rook-y (from the Raven series).  If the second yarn were surprising, it would be bubblegum pink or something that doesn't work with the raven black.  Maybe the second yarn is more mysterious than surprising.  Whatever, I'll show you the second yarn next time.  They work together nicely though, I think.  I also have to say that I love all these shawl/shawlette designs that have come out in the last year or so that use two colors of yarn.  It's fun not being limited to one color!

All Finished!

 

Finished!  In 18 days, I knit a sweater in fingering weight yarn!  I love the way it came out and I'm really glad I added long sleeves.  Thankfully, I might even get to wear it.  The temps have dropped here and yesterday's high in the low 80's was what we were seeing for lows all summer!  It's actually a little bit chilly right now.

All the details - this is the Vitamin D cardigan done in Madelinetosh Tosh Sock in Vermillion.  Knit as written, except for added length to the sleeves to make them long.  This was also my third project for Camp Loopy 2011, so by finishing all three on time I should be getting some Wollmeise!

More Sleeve

I'm now about 4 inches from finishing my first sleeve. The first one always feels like it takes longer than the second one because when I get close to finishing it, I have to keep trying it on. Since I'm obsessive about using a row counter, I can just knit the second one straight through without stopping, by following my notes from the first one. I'm planning on finishing this sleeve today and I hope to get started on the second sleeve, even if all I do is pick up the stitches for it. I may or may not blog tomorrow (there's only so much you can say about sleeves, and I think I've more than covered it), but my goal is to have the whole cardi finished over the weekend. If I can do that, you realize that this means you'll get to see Other Things next week, right?