Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Wendy Rocks

I was the lucky recipient of an ISE4 scarf package on Monday. The box was from the UK and arrived via Air Mail. I wanted to open it right away but knew I would be distracted for a while if I did. So I waited until after I did my workout to cut the box open.

Inside the tissue paper was my favorite color, purple, and just the right shade of purple. On top was a card from my pal. Wendy of Wendy's Woolies.

After carefully removing all the contents from the pacakge I laid them out and took a picture. There was a lot of cool stuff in the box. Shower gel, Burt's Bees hand salve, soak, round bar of soap, chocolate foil wrapped lips, a chocolate pig, a Kendal Mint cake (a favorite of mountaineers and hill-walkers...definitely doesn't describe me), Pony point protectors, a purse size nail buffer, beaded bookmark, and earrings. Oh, yeah, and my scarf. Wow, I am so lucky.

Here's a picture of me after dinner in my scarf in 80+ degrees F. People were looking at me kind of funny. I just ignored them and smiled.

And here's a look at the scarf all by itself. Isn't it beautiful. It's my favorite color and it's nice and warm and long and snuggly. Thanks Wendy, you're the best.

Saturday, May 19, 2007

Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport - pool or spiral?

There's been a lot of questions out there about Lorna's Laces yarn. Does it pool? Does it spiral? I'm using Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport for my Sockapalooza 4 socks. It's my first time using a Lorna's Laces yarn. My swatch was done in plain stockinette in the round with 40 sts on size 1s. It pooled so much when the swatch was folded in half each side appeared to be done out of a different yarn. But I decided to go ahead with it anyway since my sock would not be done in plain stockinette. I also knew that the number of stitches and the stitch pattern chosen along with the length of the color repeat in the yarn all affect the final outcome.

I'm working with 72 sts on size 1 needles using the Broad Spiral Ribbing from More Sensational Knitted Socks on the instep. The sole of course is done in plain stockinette. I'm working toe up, two at a time, using the Magic Loop technique. The yarn is Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport in Purple Iris. Below are pictures of the instep with the ribbing pattern and the sole. The sole isn't pooling but is repeating nicely though not what I would call striping or spiraling. The instep does has a somewhat stripy thing going on. I'm curious how things will change as I continue the increases for the gusset.

sole done in stockinette


instep done in the ribbing pattern


I guess the debate will continue. I'll keep you posted on my progress.

Sunday, May 13, 2007

Hot Pink Scarf

I finished the scarf for my ISE4 pal. It turned out really nice, if I do say so myself. I, of course, added some extras into the package.


Pattern: Feather and Fan
Needles: size 4 bamboo dpns
Yarn: 50% silk, 50% wool
hand painted at Heritage Spinning & Weaving
Color: Deb's Pink


Since I live in Michigan I included something from Michigan, dried cherries.


And one of my favorite things, soak. In four scents (citrus, flora, aquae, and celebration).


I made some stitch markers. The flip flops came from Michaels. I made the hearts a long time ago from shrink plastic.

A sock blocker keychain. I love mine, but then again I knit socks. I'm not sure if my pal knits socks or not, so I knit one using the same yarn as the scarf.

Knitting Resume

I found this over on Lyndsey-Jane's blog and just had to do it.

Edit the list, bold for stuff you've done, italics for stuff you plan to do one day, and normal for stuff you're not planning on doing.

Afghan/Blanket
I-cord
Garter stitch
Knitting with metal wire
Shawl
Stockinette stitch
Socks: top-down
Socks: toe-up
Knitting with camel yarn
Mittens: Cuff-up
Mittens: Tip-down
Hat
Knitting with silk
Moebius band knitting
Participating in a KAL
Sweater
Drop stitch patterns
Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
Slip stitch patterns
Knitting with banana fiber yarn
Domino knitting (modular knitting)
Twisted stitch patterns
Knitting with bamboo yarn
Two end knitting
Charity knitting
Knitting with soy yarn
Cardigan
Toy/doll clothing
Knitting with circular needles
Knitting with your own handspun yarn
Slippers
Graffiti knitting (knitting items on, or to be left on the street)
Continental knitting
Designing knitted garments
Cable stitch patterns (incl. Aran)
Lace patterns
Publishing a knitting book
Scarf
Teaching a child to knit
American/English knitting (as opposed to continental)
Knitting to make money
Button holes
Knitting with alpaca
Fair Isle knitting
Norwegian knitting
Dying with plant colors
Knitting items for a wedding
Household items (dishcloths, washcloths, tea cozies…)
Knitting socks (or other small tubular items) on two circulars
Olympic knitting
Knitting with someone else’s handspun yarn
Knitting with DPNs
Holiday related knitting
Teaching a male how to knit
Bobbles
Knitting for a living
Knitting with cotton
Knitting smocking
Dying yarn
Steeks
Knitting art
Fulling/felting
Knitting with wool
Textured knitting
Kitchener BO
Purses/bags
Knitting with beads
Swatching
Long Tail CO
Entrelac
Knitting and purling backwards
Machine knitting
Knitting with self-patterning/self-striping/variegating yarn
Stuffed toys
Baby items
Knitting with cashmere
Darning
Jewelry
Knitting with synthetic yarn
Writing a pattern
Gloves
Intarsia
Knitting with linen
Knitting for preemies
Tubular CO
Freeform knitting
Short rows
Cuffs/fingerless mitts/arm warmers
Pillows
Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine
Rug
Knitting on a loom
Thrummed knitting
Knitting a gift
Knitting for pets
Shrug/bolero/poncho
Knitting with dog/cat hair
Hair accessories
Knitting in public

Monday, May 07, 2007

Pligg is in

Blogger thought it could handle anything. Blogger thought that you could have a group blog with an unlimited number of members. Blogger thought it had seen everything. Blogger was wrong. It was knocked out by 1000+ knitters. Sock knitters to be exact. We're all participating in Sockapalooza 4. And we killed it. Technical knockout.

Pligg to the rescue. We're using Pligg now to handle our new blog. It's different. I don't always like different, but I'm learning to accept. I read most of my blogs with Google Reader and I don't think I can do this with Pligg.

And before I forget to tell you...I had picked out yarn and a pattern for my pal's socks. Well, I'm not happy. In fact, I said a few too many words I shouldn't repeat in public just knitting the toe of the toe up socks. You can't give a knitted gift with that kind of karma. So on to a new yarn with the same pattern.