two knits of ivory

Last Thursday I finished the Embossed Leaf Socks. This is only the third sock pattern I have knit and I'm glad I did. When it comes to socks and sweaters, I love the comfort of the using the same structure over and again. Unfortunately, you don't learn much taking the same road every day. From the ribbed long tail cast on, to the tulip decreases toe, I thoroughly enjoyed knitting outside of my safe zone and learning some new tricks. I'll probably knit this sock again some day. It was a really quick knit, and even when it was put down for weeks on end, I had no problem picking back it up where I left off. Yarn Cherry Tree Hill Supersock 100% superwash merino fingering weight. Needles Two 16" Knit Picks Harmony Wood circulars sized US1 1/2, 2.5mm. Pattern Embossed Leaves (rav link) by Mona Schmidt from Interweave Press's Favorite Socks . Begun June 28, 2008, finished August 21, 2008.

I washed and blocked the Wide Leaf Winter Set last weekend and finally have the FOs for show and tell. It was amazing to me how quickly all of these pieces knit up. Aside from the finishing, they were done within a week I think. The scarf and mitts were each done in one day. Working with mostly fingerweight yarns has skewed this knitter's perception on things. It's no wonder I've got the fire in my belly to knit up the other scarf/winter sets I have planned. Wide Leaf Scarf First up is the scarf. I loved the yarn, the colorway, and this fabulous wide leaf stitch. The scarf has a lot of texture, accentuating the muted, but colorful, hues in the yarn. The only misgiving I have with the scarf is it's length; I didn't have the yardage to go the distance. Yarn Maple Creek Farm Merino in the PA Fall colorway. Approximately 325 yards. Love this yarn, love this vendor, I can't wait to get more yarn from her at Rhinebeck. Needles Knitpicks Harmony Options size US 10 1/2...

Although I prefer to lead with a photo, this retraction must come first. I was wrong about the Etsy vendor who sold me the shawl pin. I know I am one to jump to conclusions, as I am the least trustful person I have ever met, but I did try to withhold judgment until I had more than my misguided instincts to inform me. I did, but I was still wrong, wrong, wrong. In my defense, my tongue was loosened by the fact that the USPS tracking number she gave on August 4th, which showed up as only being printed by the sender, did not actually "activate" until August 14th, three days after I sent an aggressive email. With the arrival of a second shawl pin on Monday, four days after the first pin arrived, it seems I could be wrong. The USPS probably did screw up. In my grudging state I didn't recheck the Etsy shop to confirm my memory of the pin being sterling silver before posting that the ad said it was. Her ad actually states it is silver wire (whatever that is). I must have seen st...

With the exception of sock yarn, I am, for some unknown reason, not comfortable stashing much yarn. The presence of these yarns in my bins triggers a constant, uncomfortable, OCD-esque humming in my mind. In the past few weeks, as the spring fogginess dispersed, the hum picked up and I have been driven to find the perfect project for ALL of the non fingering (or lighter) weight yarns in my stash. Project 1: Patons Classic Merino Afghan 1. Log Cabin #1 , 2. Log Cabin #2 , 3. Log Cabin 3.0 , 4. IMG_1448 Over a year ago, I picked up 18 skeins of Patons Classic Merino, for an afghan to match a summer quilt. I originally planned on knitting a striped chevron but I got as far as the swatch before moving on. This winter I fell in love with garter stitch when knitting a BSJ jacket and got on the log cabin wagon. On my first attempt I thought I'd double up the yarn, alternating the solid sections with a section mixing the colors every other half row. After finishing the first row I realized...

Although I will have an FO of this lovely project in the upcoming week, I've been hit with a bit of knitting ugh by this afternoon of the weekend. Thursday afternoon my shawl pin came in from that dodgy (not to be named) etsy retailer I mentioned the other day. The pin is perfect. And though I do feel I got value for my money, a quick look at the pin shows that what I thought I purchased is not what I received. The three ends of the metal in this piece indicate it is silver or nickel plated copper, the etsy shop description said it is sterling silver. I think it is my obligation to inform etsy about the false advertising, don't you think? I wore the pin and shawl on Friday, though, and I felt like a million bucks. My professed loathing for knitting triangular shawls waned sharply all day. I now want to knit a million of them. I'm short and squat and when I wore the shawl I actually felt glamorous. You can't put a price on that kind of feeling, and at my age it...

Last Friday, after failing, once again, to get my grubby little paws on some Wollmeise, I succumbed to the Peaknit method, I picked up the Fratello and Spina di Pesce sock kits at the Yarnissima shop. Only five days later and my grubby little hands are clean as a whistle so as to manhandle these: I've read about how awesome Yarnissima's packages are, but I still was in awe of the little goodies she included. She really goes out of her way with the sundries and makes you feel very special. However, being a veteran of Yarnissima's patterns , the pragmatic in me found the laminated mini charts to be the best, absolutely fabulous perk in the package. A very close second is this cutey pie, which is brightening up my dreary work cube: Amidst all this yarny goodness I still have a couple of things to complain about. First, even though my knitting mojo is back, it seems taking a decent picture these days requires more energy than I can find the patience to muster. Second on my...

My knitting mojo is on a rampage. I'm designing again. I'll never be yarnissima , but just doing something new, having my own meagre muse bloom, is something special to me. As I have mentioned time and time again, I am drawn to the knitted leaf motif, and in my stash, I've been drawn to the palette of the recent Maple Creek Farm acquisition. So I've put this leaf pattern to work with this palette and come up with a hat, fingerless mitt and scarf set. The hat and mitts are done, but I'm not yet finished tweaking the hat. Here are the mitts and scarf. (The beginnings of the hat are in the upper right hand picture of the scarf.) The hat pattern would be peeerrrfect for a baby, as the pattern creates scalloping on the edge. It just needs a little work. (If only I had a baby to model it on!) I almost have completed knitting each end of the scarf, which I've knit separately, as I plan to Kitchener them together. I haven't yet considered how I'm going to how to...

How do you find the words for a beauty such as this? When an avid sock knitter has failed all attempts to obtain the holy grail of yarn, she accepts her fate with as much grace as she can muster. But when another knitter GIVES this knitter, a person she barely knows, a skein of said yarn, there are very few words. Very few words at first, just tears. Tears in front of husbands known, and unknown. Tears staring at the ground. Tears of incomprehension and comprehension. Tears of confusion, then embarrasment at all the tears. And then finally the sense of unworthiness of such a beautiful, percipient gift. Who was the authoress of this generosity? One of my favorite bloggers, Knitting Kris . Kristin delivered this skein in person to my home late Sunday afternoon when she and her lovely family came to visit on their trip to Boston. No, I did nothing really to deserve a gift of this magnitude. But I sense that Kris was thanking me for things I cannot see or touch or fully understand ye...

I actually like memes, but most wind up in my draft folder. This one I couldn't resist for the mere fact the very quiet life I've led for the past 15 or so years is in direct contrast to a crazy childhood. This stroll down memory lane was inspired by Maryse 's posting . Who was your first prom date? I went with a school friend, Eric Barbasso. I was asked the year before at a different school, but I was so shocked to be asked that I said no. The guy was wicked cute too. I am sad to report my interpersonal skills haven't much improved. Do you still talk to your first love? Very rarely, but oddly just two weeks ago. What was your first alcoholic drink? I don't recall but it was probably beer. What was your first job for pay? I started a paper route at age 11. I think the legal age for the job was 12 so I had to get some kind of special dispensation of sorts, but I don't remember what it was. Maybe they just looked the other way? What was your first car? I have ne...