a dillydallyknitter: March 2007

Saturday, March 31, 2007

Flash Your Stash 2007

I must start off with an apology. I've been sick for the past 5 days and couldn't give this year's FYS day the attention that's due such a very special event. It's almost a national Knitty holiday and y'all know how much I love "posing" my yarn. I wasn't even going to participate but at the last minute (It would be like missing out on the Prom)I made this half assed attempt:

If you were to come visit, I'd put you up in my guest room:


And if you were homesick, you could snuggle with some fiber and a loaner kitty:

Mika looks unimpressed with this meager offering


I seem to have a penchant for buying a sweater's worth of yarn in red hues and then doing nothing about it:

Artfiber's Kyoto, Malabrigo and Karabella Aurora 8

Mound 'O yarn (ooh look Elsbeth Lavold! Colinette! Rowan Tapesty! Dale of Norway! Noro! and a cone of Zephyr!):

I also seem to like buying sock yarn (the sad truth is I have more stuffed in odd drawers and baskets):
Just wait'll next year!!

posted by cpurl17 @ 10:21 PM   33 comments

Thursday, March 29, 2007

Local Girl Makes Good

Yarn That is...

Lisa Souza's studio is near the town I live and, while I'm a lucky owner of 4 skeins, I've yet to knit up a pair of socks for myself. These are two skeins I purchased at Stitches (talk about milking a SEX for as long as I can). What I like about these is that there are variances in the colorways but not so much as to distract from the several lace sock patterns I want to try.






I've been at home the past two days with a nasty bug (even lost my voice but not in a sexy way but in a honking goose way) and not feeling well enough to knit. I've managed to put in about 4 hours of knitting time the past two nights on the Kerry Cardigan. Guess what? Due to serious USER error I'm back where I was Tuesday night when I took the photo on Tuesday night. Two steps forward, two steps back. Wah.

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posted by cpurl17 @ 9:56 PM   9 comments

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

WIP Wednesday

Patience, Thy Name is Kerry

I'm making very slow progress on the Kerry Cardigan sweater. First it took several swatches to get gauge and I could only get gauge using brand new Clover circs. Since the Clovers are new and still "unseasoned" and this yarn is rather sticky, the honeycomb pattern was painfully slow.

Notice how I managed to let several stitches fall off the left hand hand needle for this photo?

For the size I'm making, I had to cast on 205 stitches, rib 3 rows, increase to 322 stitches, work chart, decrease to 209 stitches, work 5 rows of garter stitch, set up and increase back to a set up row of 245 stitches and that's just the first seven inches! Are all Aran patterns like this?? No wonder I love making socks. AND I found an error because the combo of stitches and charts adds up to 241 stitches, not 245. Clever girl that I am, it only took 2 hours to figure that one out. (and, pssst, I'm not even sure I'm reading the charts correctly) and then another hour to figure out that the error was ME cutting off part of the chart.

Luckily for me, LCK is way ahead of me so I can pester her with questions.

I'm also trying to hold off on new socks for me until I finish my Dad's socks.

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posted by cpurl17 @ 9:31 PM   6 comments

Sunday, March 25, 2007

Giving Thanks and an FO

I've a little of the Bezzie luck on blog winnings so it's time to give a little overdue thanks for a couple of special treats that came my way recently:
First up are some super cool stitch markers I won in a 3-way...(get your mind out of the gutter)..tie at Penny Karma's Oscar party.

I love them because they don't get snagged in your knitting and they're made by a Knittyhead, Entrelac!


And...I was also a winner in the Sock A Month 3 monthly drawing and received a skein of Chewy Spaghetti's (another Knittyhead) fab sock yarn in the "comfy" colorway.
More proof that Knittyheads are talented people!

On Saturday evening I finished my Inside Out! socks. After my few fits and starts, I really enjoyed making these socks. My first toe ups and I learned short row toes and heels.
Outside:
Inside:

Finally, thanks are due to LeftCoast Knitter for this lovely yarn. You see, last weekend a blogless friend from knitting group hosted her annual Knitting Frenzy and Yarn Swap and I was unable to attend so as payback a nice gesture, she picked up two skeins of this lovely yarn:




Really, words fail me. It's so fugly furry.

Bezzie--do you think Shawnee and Lupe need a new friend?

p.s. No cats were harmed during the photographing of this yarn.

posted by cpurl17 @ 12:35 PM   9 comments

Thursday, March 22, 2007

Friday's Fiber: Socks That Rock

Continuing to stretch out my Stitches purchases this week I bring you more Socks That Rock:


Tidepool:



This colorway is called "Fire on the Mountain" - perfect for getting your hippy groove on.

This yarn makes me want to run out and buy a pint of Ben & Jerry's Ice cream
But then again, just about anything makes me want to run out and buy some Ben & Jerry's ice cream

I was hoping to have the Monsoon Inside Out socks done to post but I'm still about 25 rows from completion.

P.S. Thank you for all the well wishes on my tooth issue--it seems to be healing quite nicely and my follow up appt is today so I'm hoping the annoying gumwad type dressing will come off.

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posted by cpurl17 @ 9:50 PM   10 comments

Sunday, March 18, 2007

Spring Blogstalkin'

Knitty Blogstalkin' went into hibernation but is showing signs of life this week with a "Spring has Sprung" assignment.

The front of my house has a pretty tall bougainvillea but this is what happened after the very cold winter (in California standards):


I thought this bush was a goner but lately I've seen some of these:
I'm hoping she survived. I'll keep you posted because when it blooms, the colors are amazing.

Speaking of surviving, I survived my first short row toe up sock! This is the first sock on the first installment of the Rockin' Sock Club.

1. Short row heel-it fits!

2.Cabled the leg:

3. One sock done:

4. Starting sock two:

posted by cpurl17 @ 10:21 AM   14 comments

Thursday, March 15, 2007

Friday Yarn Pr0n of a Queenly Nature

Normally I love winding yarn into a yarn cake. I find it meditative and the gangsta kitties find it very amusing. This yarn however, defied the yarn swift and refused the ball winder and ended up a tangled mess:

Hey, don't blame me, I'm just an innocent bystander!

Eventually, I was successful and was rewarded with cake of deep red colors:

Fleece Artist 100% Merino
I think a yarn this willful and bold is destined to become the Queen of Cups.

Wish me luck--this Friday I have to have a little oral surgery. I'm someone who gets nervous when I get my teeth cleaned so you can imagine how nervous I am over this! If only I could knit while I was in the chair.

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posted by cpurl17 @ 10:50 PM   12 comments

Beware the Ides of March

It comes in the form of toe-up socks!

Having missed out on the 2006 round, I put a reminder on my calendar so I could be one of the first to sign up for the 2007 Rockin'Sock Club and am happily , dutifully knitting on my first sock.

As you've probably seen on other blogs by now, this is the first sock colorway called "Monsoon" and the first pattern is called "Inside Out". It's a toe up pattern with cabled legs that creates a reversible sock. So far this pattern has kicked my ass. This little bit of toe you see above represents about 8+ hours of work! I've a) never done a toe up sock before and b) never done a short row toe up sock before so I've now frogged the toe 3 times but I think I've got it.

I'm new to this sock club scene but I've never seen a pattern discussed on a blog so much! Mostly over trying to make the leg fit--the original pattern was written for a US size 10 (I'm a 6.5), it involves 2-4 changes in needle sizes and there's a 5/1/5 cable that knits up to an rather inflexible pattern so some people are using a size 2 or 3 and some have abandoned the cable altogether.

But I shall not give up! I shall persevere! I will have reversible socks! Hear me roar!

posted by cpurl17 @ 11:17 AM   9 comments

Monday, March 12, 2007

March Socks

Being the think-out-of-the-box knitter that I am, I knit GREEN socks for the March Socktopia and tried to add an Aran twist with cables & ribs.

Not to be upstaged, Cary does his imitation of a meerkat





Pattern: Cable and Rib Socks by Nancy Bush, Interweave Knits, Fall 2005
Yarn: Mountain Colors Bearfoot, Juniper colorway
Needles: Lantern Moon Rosewood, size 1 DPNs
Cast On: 1-March, 2007
Finished On: 10-March, 2007
Deviations from pattern: The directions call for a 3 inch cuff but I have chunky legs so I shortened the cuff by an inch. Otherwise, I followed the pattern as written.

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posted by cpurl17 @ 7:14 PM   10 comments

Saturday, March 10, 2007

Happy Feet!

On Thursday I came home and found a box on the doorstep--my socks from my sock swap partner, Valkyrie!! As all sock knitters know, hand knit socks are the best. So, to receive a pair knit by a fellow knitter is extra special because you know and appreciate the work and time that went into them.

They're soooo pretty and super soft!



She also sent some yummy chocolate caramels, a chocolate bar, some cool bath scrub and this:

Sock yarn from the Yarn Pirate!



In the sweetheart colorway. It's made from 50/50 merino/tencel and feels so soft so I can't wait to try it:

I almost forgot--Valkyrie also included a chicken that lays gum eggs! I tried to get a photo with the eggs but Cary kept batting at them.




Thank you Valkyrie! I love love love my new socks!

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posted by cpurl17 @ 4:57 PM   13 comments

Friday, March 09, 2007

Who Stole the Cookie From the Cookie Jar?



More Stitches Yarn!
Once I got into the Stitches Market Preview I got sidetracked by the Foxy Knits booth (aka the Koigu Booth) but quickly moved over to the Bay Area Knit Co-Op's booth to check out Cookie A.'s new yarn and patterns up close. The patterns are even more amazing and beautiful in real life. Her skeins were already flying off the rack but I managed to nab two skeins and and also picked up two of her patterns, Gothic Spire and Twisted Flower.


The colorways are nameless but I think the colors speak for themselves:




I got this skein because some fool someone one put it back long enough for me to nab it with lightening fast Kung Fu speed:




Who stole the cookie from the cookie jar?
Cpurl stole the cookie from the cookie jar!

Who me? Yes, you!
Couldn't be!
Then who?


Cary stole the cookie from the cookie jar ...

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posted by cpurl17 @ 12:00 AM   7 comments

Sunday, March 04, 2007

Saturday with a U.K. Flavour

On Saturday morning I discoverd a new and charming knitting podcast out of London called Lixie Knits It and worked on my Roza's Socks while listening to her first two shows. I know we Americans are enamoured with British accents but she really has a lovely podcasting voice.

Later that afternoon, I took my Mum to a movie which happened to be "The Queen" and tried to work on the second sock but I'm not very good at knitting in the dark yet.

Saturday night I caught up on some shows I had stored up in Tivo, including the very funny "Extras" and finished up my socks.

The sock yarn used is Fyberspates made in Wales.



This pattern falls into an easy rhythem and is fun to knit.




Details:
Pattern: Roza's Socks
Source: Interweave Knits Spring 2007
Yarn: Fyberspates 85%wool, 15% polymide
Colour: Pink & Mauve
Needles: 5 Brittany Birch US 1
Modifications: Worked pattern as written but if I knit this one again for myself I'll shorten the leg by an inch.

posted by cpurl17 @ 1:49 PM   10 comments

Friday, March 02, 2007

Fridays' Fiber....

Brought To You By The Sun!

I'm still suffering from PSD a.k.a "Post Stitches Depression" but, luckily for me, I brought home a bit of the sun to cheer my up.

Ceallach from the knittyboard debuted her new line of yarns Ceallach Dyes at the Stitches show in the Full Thread Ahead booth.


What's unique about her yarn is that she uses the heat of the sun to set the dyes:
I actually wanted to photograph this skein lying in the sun but, alas, we've been experiencing some gloomy weather recently so I took this by the light of the window:



"I'd put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don't have to wait till oil and coal run out before we tackle that." - Thomas Edison

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posted by cpurl17 @ 9:14 AM   10 comments