two knits of ivory

I finished my first Firestarter sock in the Madelinetosh yarn about two weeks ago. I'm not impressed with the yarn, neither the wool nor the colorway. The latter is entitled Violas but a much better name would be Watermelon don't you think? When the colors pool in the toe and in a small portion of the heel the colors look solid and vibrant. When the pinks and tans pool in the main sections of the sock the inconsistencies of the hand painted yarn scream out. I'm blaming this bleh feeling about the yarn on why it took so long to cast on for sock #2, which I finally did last night. Yet my unhappiness with the colorway will probably change. I surmise this because I really disliked the colorway of my Sweet Tarts socks as I knit them up. So much so I felt no one else would like them either and so I kept them rather than give them away. Now they are my F.A.V.O.R.I.T.E. socks in the world. Imagine that. The very garishness I hated as I knit transformed into a source of love when I...

We had our nephews for a few days and between the preparation in advance of the siege and their actual occupation, very little knitting was done, and only a little was thought about. Last night I wrapped up the Sweet Tarts Socks. Yarn: Cherry Hill Tree Superwash Fingering weight 100% Merino Gauge: I didn't measure my gauge. (Your thinking this wrap up is helpful, aren't ya!) Needles: I used size US2 clover bamboo dpns Sock Pattern: I used your basic toe-down sock pattern. I cast on 84 stitches and knit in k4,p3. The knit stitches became alternately a left leaning cable and a snake cable. At about row 24 I began purl stitch decreases. I decreased one purl stitch in a three stitch section every six rows. I offset the decreases so that the second decrease was on the opposite side of the sock as the last decrease. When I began the heel I had made 12 decreases, turning the p3 section of the rib into a p2 rib. There were then 72 stitches on the needle. Instead of going right into sto...

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...

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 ...

Back in my early crochet, pre knitting, days I was primarily inspired by filet crochet designs in your basic white. Color was very daunting to me. The first, pricey colored yarn I purchased about 12 or so years ago was Brown Sheep cotton fleece from Woolcott & Co. in Harvard Square. With it I made this floppy, but colorful granny square throw (my first CIP, courtesy of the #66 bus): I was so in awe of this color combination, and with my coming up with it on my very own. To this day I haven't really had a color inspiration I felt was equal to it. And yeah, the combination no longer inspires, but I will never forget how it once evoked a sense of perfect warmth that made me want to bury myself in it forever. Down through the years I have come to learn this bit of color inspiration was a fluke. I just don't have an easy rapport with color. The next best color combination I came up with just barely nips at the heel of the granny throw. It is the color array of my fir...

I finished the Harry Potter and the Dealthy Hallows last night and today, even after a good night's sleep, I'm exhausted. My brain is befuddled. I thought some knitting might help. I bought some buttons for the Summer Set cardigan Friday. This morning I tried the cardigan on and decided it's long enough to begin the 2 x 2 ribbing trim. The problem? I don't have size 6 circulars. Big d'oh. I do have have a pair of 12" straights that I attempted to use this morning. Yeah? not really. :-P I quickly realized it wasn't gonna work. Yet I'm in no shape to do anything about my lack of instruments. I've also cast on the second Sweet Tarts sock after turning the heal of the first. It dawned on me late last week I may be suffering from finishitis.

Saturday the hubster and I took the ferry from New London, CT to Orient, NY (the north fork of LI) for a birthday luncheon. My grandmother turns 85 this year and my Aunt and Uncle put together a surprise lunch at a pub style restaurant in Riverhead, NY. As is my aspy way, I failed to mention to her that she looked great and not a day over 65. This is not hyperbole. We arrived at my Uncle's and she was fotzing around in the pool with her great grandson. The ferry ride down was brisk. We sat on the upper deck and breathed deep the salty sea hair for approximately one and a half hours. It was all knitting, all the time. I worked on the Brights socks which I've decided to call Sweet Tarts. The stitch markers are to keep track of the purl stitch decreases I'm making every six rows. The evening ferry ride back is always colder so I took the opportunity to work on the Burgundy throw. I definitely made some headway into the final set of skeins. Unfortunately, all did not remain pea...

I've finally cast on the Cherry Hill Tree "Brights." At this stage yesterday afternoon I was unsure if the colorway wasn't drowning out the cable pattern and I was all set to frog and design anew. But something stopped me. I remembered that the whole point of doing another CHT project was to improve upon the pattern I came up with on the fly for the "Blue/Green" xmas sock I finished last weekend. As I mentioned earlier, the sock was too big in the foot, and the cable and knit sections of the heel weren't proportional, which is probably the source of the too wide foot section. So I continued to plug away. Am I in love with this colorway now I've knit it up? Eh, not so much. The wine color seems to dominate, where I was really drawn to the apple greens, yellows, and rusty orange. But it is still a great yarn to work with.