Sunday, April 24, 2011

It's my birthday!

So I'm going to celebrate by finally unloading FO #11:

Citron

Pattern: Citron
Yarn: Malabrigo Sock, 1 skein, almost all of it used.
Needles: US 6 straights

Notes: I found this tedious to knit, and really annoying. I don't know why, exactly, as it is just stockinette, but I just didn't enjoy the knitting of this project at all. I initially started it when I did as a break from knitting socks, but still being able to use some sock yarn up.

citron

I took it with me to the UK, and had to start it several times before I got the start right, but then it just trucked along. I finished it when I got back in March, and then put it away for a while. I didn't get a chance right away to take pictures, and I couldn't figure out how to wear it for a while. Last week, I finally wore it to work for the first time since I made it, and it went alright, so I've stopped resenting it so much.

Citron unfurled

Crazy, because I did like working with the yarn. The color is just amazing, and it's soft and light. And in the end, I guess it does look ok. Just not with every outfit.

Citron

Monday, April 11, 2011

Holy Month-long Absence, Batman!

Where the hell have I been? Well, my little peanut shells, I've been **clap clap clap clap** deep in the heart of Texas! I had a two week long business trip that I will tell you ALL ABOUT once I've also written it up for my employer, who I'm sure, is waiting with baited breath for my giant report.

However, lest my two faithful followers think I feel off the face of the earth, I thought it would be appropriate to do a short update. In fact, I have several projects to get off my chest and into the blog, so that I don't look like such an FO slacker. I am knitting! I do finish things! Most of the time, I don't have enough time to fully document them though. But here I am, making an effort.

Here are my last three FOs. This is not counting the Citron shawlette that I made before my trip. I haven't worn it yet. It is beautiful, but I haven't found just the right outfit yet for it.

FO #8:

Amy's new cashmere hat

Pattern/Needle/Yarn: Ha--well, this is a pickle. I don't remember what pattern I used! I am pretty sure I found it through a very targeted Ravelry search using a series of parameters the likes of which I'll never be able to reconstruct now. I think I used the yarn weight and something like 'unisex' and 'hat' or 'beanie' or something. I think I used size 5 needles, but again, I don't remember. I think they were 5s because I don't think I have DPNs any smaller, except in sock sizes... The yarn is this great cashmere yarn I got while attending Vogue Knitting Live. It was from a farm or ranch that sells only cashmere, but I can't for the life of me remember that either, and I don't know where the freaking ball band is. Sadly, these notes are useless. But the hat's cute, no? Spanky has been asking me to make her a black hat for a long time, but she's so picky that I've been putting it off forever. Actually, I had, just before Christmas, bought her three skeins of Cascade 220 sport weight in black in order to make her a beanie, but then at VK Live, I found the cashmere, and thought she might like that better. So I bought two balls of that. This particular beanie took less than a ball, so I have enough left to probably make her some cashmere gloves to go along with the hat.

FO #9 & #10:

These I'm going to do together, because they're so boring.

amy's toe up socks

plain socks 2

These are two plain, stockinette pairs of socks I finished in February. I've been trying to do one pair of socks per month, in order to use up some of my sock yarn stash. In January, I finished the Zokni socks, which you've already seen. For February, I finished the Mystery Socks from 2010, which you've also already seen, and then as a bonus, I fished these two projects out of my stash and whipped through them too! Each one of them needed one single sock, and Spanky's socks, in the first picture, needed a cuff fixed.

Yarn: Spanky's blue and brown jacquard socks are Paton's Kroy 4 ply. Knit on US2s, the second sock went pretty fast. I used the short row toe and heel from Socks from the Toe Up. The blue/green socks are Knit Picks Essential sock yarn (now known as Stroll, I believe--dumb name, in my opinion, but the yarn is pretty rad) hand painted, colorway is called "Fly Fishing". This second sock had been sitting in the stash for probably four years. I couldn't tell if they were toe up or top down socks, but I think I knitted the second one top down. It seemed easier to match it to the first one that way. I love these socks now. I wear them all the time. I really don't know what makes them more favored. I also wear the mystery socks that I don't really like the looks of, all the time. No accounting for taste, I guess.

I'd work with both yarns again, but neither experience was particularly pleasing or displeasing. It was just a stockinette sock, you know? Just...eh.

But now, I'm still trying to finish the March sock pick. I'll tell you about that next time. I've also started a sweater, sort of by accident. And I think I'm potentially making the wrong size. I just measured my bust tonight, and I am now measuring at 36"! WTF, y'all. I don't know how I deluded myself into making the 33" size. The next size up was the 37" size, and I should probably have made that one. Oh well. Perhaps I can block it out to fit when I'm done. Perhaps I can make the fronts for the bigger size? We'll discuss this all later, my chickens. I'm finally back on track. Let's leave it at that for tonight.