little bit of crazy leaking out

At VY&T on Saturday it was pointed out to me, more than once, by more than one person, that it had been a while since I had updated my blog.  Comments about “the green socks still being there” and hints about possibily posting abounded.  So, with out further ado, more green socks!

pattern:  my own, k3p3 rib, K5p1 leg, dutch heel, standard toe
yarn:  Kroy Sox
needles:  Crystal Palace US2.5
cast on:  October 30th (ish)  cast off: Dec 2nd

I’ve been doing some spinning too. Yes, I have fallen to the dark side.  On Thursday I spun up the remaining roving from my class, then on Friday I wacked together a lazy kate so I could do some plying.

I am actually quite pleased with my first finished yarn. 

 

 . . . and another FO!

pattern:  Spinner’s Shawl by Evelyn Clark
yarn:  Silky Wool
needles:  Clover Bamboo US8
cast on:  Dec 2nd  cast off: Dec 10th
notes:  Love this pattern, though it did turn out larger than I had planned.  The border is quite wide, which I chose to have amnesia about while knitting.  The cast off is great, nice and stretchy!

Since I had spun up all the roving I had, I picked up some more on Saturday.  Practice, practice, practice!  What holiday knitting?! 

. . . I have been knitting.  After I made my list of projects for August, and in general, I cast on the Einstein Coat for Bug.  When Parkside Wool closed this last spring I bought five skeins of Classic Elite Paintbox, perfect for the Einstein Coat.  Friday night I took it with me to Knit Night at Village Yarn & Tea and as I knit I began to have a bad feeling. 

There wasn’t going to be enought yarn.

No, no, that couldn’t be right, I got gauge, I was following the pattern, no changes.  I was just being paraniod.  I kept knitting over the weekend, finishing the bottom band, the right front, the back, the left front. 

After finishing the body of the coat I had less than one ball plus two small bits of yarn left.

 

I don’t have enough yarn!

I still had the sleeves to finish! and the stitching up! The shop I bought it from is CLOSED FOREVER!

So, I did what any normal person would do and cast-on another project.  While at Knit Night I had picked up IK, the yarn to knit up the Swallowtail Shawl by Evelyn Clark and appropriate pointy needles to do the knitting.  This is my first lace project with actual lace weight yarn, I think I may go blind before it’s finished.

Yesterday, I sat down with the phone book and called around to the local yarn shops.  No.  No.  No.  No.  Hold on, let me check . . .

YES!! Same dye lot and everything! Woohoo!  I drove down to Weaving Works to claim my yarn, and, since I was there and I don’t get down there to often, I picked up a couple of other things.  The Lamb’s Pride is to knit a hat to go with the coat. I also picked up another pair of US8 needles, Brittany Birch, and some solid sock yarn that I fell in love with.

 

Random musings mostly on knitting: 

I was able to spend the morning with my daughter at the clinic.  She has had a cough for almost 2 weeks, so after a blood test and chest x-rays (both were fine) we were sent home with two prescriptions and instructions to return if she wasn’t better in a week or so.  I’ll be taking the son in later as he has been coughing too.  It’s hard to get over something when you aren’t sleeping, so after lunch I’ll bundle him off.

I was able to do some knitting on my Lupine Lace socks while waiting.  I am really enjoying this pattern, so easy to memorize, and it has that nice little bit of lace.  Speaking of lace, I joined yet another KAL.

The plan is to complete several lace projects this summer; the Flower Basket Shawl will be the main project, but also finishing Branching Out and a couple of pairs of socks.

I have been knitting lately, just not blogging about it too much.  I have finished the main knitting on Molly from Junior Knits by Debbie Bliss for Daughter.  I need to seam it up and knit the ribbing on the cuffs.  I used Mission Falls 1824 Wool, I really am loving this yarn.  I have enough, in my stash, for two more sweaters, in theory one for the son and another one for the daughter.

Yesterday, while at Costco to pick up just a couple of things, I took a stroll thru the book section. Oh. My. Goodness.  There was a huge stack of knitting books from Potter Craft.  The titles included:  Big Girl Knits, Morehouse Farms Merino Knits, Mason-Dixon Knitting, and Inspired Cable Knits.  They were all $18.49! 

These are the two that followed me home and will go back for the other two soon.

I have been swatching for a new project, a felted knitting bag.  I found some lovely Noro Kureyon, color 81. it has purple and green, which are my colors, with white and brown.  Brown, not my color.  Not at all. So I edited my Kureyon.

Does anyone else do this, or have I commited a sin in the world of Noro knitters? 

I think I will use the edited out bits to knit up the felted bowl that is in One Skein.  For the bag I will be using some Cascade 220 in a dark purple, the same one I used for my Hermione Mittens, and I’m swatching to find a white/natural yarn that will felt.  I know pure white, that has been bleached, won’t felt, so I’m trying some Cascade 220 in Natural.  I have knitted the swatch but still need to throw it into the washing machine, to see how well it felts.

I guess I’ve rambled on enough . . . I’m going to go outside and enjoy the day.