two knits of ivory

When I asked the hubster to model the steely winter set for me, not only was he a good doobie about it, he reminded me that he should model it with the aran sweater I made him. So sickly sweet, eh? I'm plugging along on my sweet tarts socks. One sock is done (sans kitchener), and only about 30 rows remain to be knit on the second. I also did get a half an hour this weekend to work on my burgandy throw . It was so deliciously cool on Saturday, it was a comfort to have it on my lap. (Might I add that I can't seem to get down the spelling, is it burgundy or burgandy? Isn't burgandy a place and burgundy a color? I'm too lazy to google it!) To make an honest caption out of this post, let me add that yesterday Dunkin' Donuts rudely put caffeine in my coffee, regardless of a clearly stated request to the contrary. I was still pretty amped up, even after partaking of some pharmaceutical relief at 8:45 pm, though the last sip I took was before 4:30 pm! Notwithsta...

The hubster's Steely Winter hat and scarf set is done. It was a great in between, morale boosting project, you know? It worked up fast and gave me a feeling of accomplishment when a host of other projects seem to be languishing on their needles with no end in sight. Yarn: Jo Sharp Silk Road Ravelry considers this an Aran/worsted weight yarn 85% wool, 10% silk, & 5% cashmere, About 3 and 3/4 skeins at 93 yards per ball, or approximately 349 yards. Gauge: Suggested gauge 4.5 stitches per inch on size US8 needles. I didn't measure my gauge. Needles: I used size US8 needles. I used a 16" circular for most of the hat until the decreasing made it necessary to switch to four dpns. I used dpns on the scarf, since it was so narrow. My stitches look fabulous on the hat, but with my tendency to purl tighter, the stitches on the scarf are just a weensy bit pinched looking. Scarf Pattern: I love the basketweave stitch and used a 4 stitches by 6 row pattern repeat on the scarf,...

We took 128 to I-90 to I-91 to get to Webs last Saturday. I worked on the Sweet Tart socks on the way out of town but was glad to put them to the side after leaving Webs with lots of booty. My knuckles were aching from working on its size 2 dpns. I immediately swatched up the Rowan 4 Ply Soft yarn I purchased. The color is Malachite (#399). I think this color would be considered a 'jewel' tone. It's luscious in its 100% merino wool goodness. Not that it's noticeable, I used US size 3 needles to knit/purl the bottom half the swatch. I used size 4 to knit, size 5 to purl on the top half. This latter portion of the swatch looks better, but neither end "feels" right to me. I may try a size 2/size 3 combo to see if this generates the texture I was hoping to obtain with this visually striking yarn. I have yet to finalize the sweater design I see in my mind for this yarn, so once the swatch was done, I quickly moved on to another yarn I purchased at Webs. By ...