Knitting Update! Palindrome & Baby Fern Socks

Will wonders never cease? I actually got a chance to knit today AND to finish an object. I currently have three WIPs and that's too much. I like to have one or possibly two pairs of socks and another project going at the same time, tops. Lately, I've been slacking. I have been working on the Palindrome, mindless knitting, for quite some time. Today, I took it out, in the 100 degree weather, and finished it. Also, in the 100 degree weather, I put it on...ok, just for a brief moment.

These were taken with my new Canon Rebel XTi...

A beautiful approximately 60 inch Palindrome scarf, hand knitted out of Plymouth's Royal Silk Merino. I used a little more than 4 balls so this was a bit more expensive than I had originally anticipated. I would have liked it to be a teeny bit longer but I was afraid that it would grow a foot or so when I block it. Actually, it doesn't really need to be blocked. this yarn is luscious, a pleasure to work with. It is soft and cozy and the cables just pop. Just look at this nice detail... don't look too closely, I wouldn't want you to find a mistake.....

Palindrome Scarf, looka that detail! (The yarn, not the camera!)

Next up, we have Baby Fern Socks, posing for you on a nice bush to add interest. (Don't you just love how my photography skills have improved? Much better than using a piece of my couch or the wall or having bad lighting, hah? Like, you'd think that I was hanging out with Ansel Adams...) Ok, maybe not great, just better, right? Gotta keep things interesting around here.

Baby Fern Socks...12 st pattern from More Sensational Knitted Socks.

Valley Yarns - Huntington

Most importantly, I am working on this with size 0's, 72sts casted on, two at once magic looping. I was the very first project to use this yarn on Ravelry. It's Valley Yarns Huntington (shh! I believe this to be Cascade Heritage but don't tell anyone.) I might've been able to get away with size 1's but in the long run, I know that I'll be happier with itty-bitty stitches. That's me - queen of the tiny gauge socks. More stitches, stronger fabric, last longer....and takes alot longer to knit. These could take awhile. I felt like I was knitting for hours and only got a teeny bit done. We'll see how it goes, I was tired and watching tv and it's a 12 st repeat so I have to somewhat pay attention. Alot of knit rows in there though. Now that it's my main project, I expect to have the leg done within a week.

And lastly, ominous clouds. We had a nice thunderstorm with some wind blow through here around dinner time. That usually happens during a heat wave. It did cool us down to a sultry 78 degrees though. June heat is so weird, it's HOT HOT HOT but not sweaty overly humid. Strange.

I'm going to have to move to a house that doesn't have telephone lines in the view from the front door. A few blocks away, the lines are run through the backyards instead of in the front. Oh well, that's another post: History of Suburban Long Island, NY, for those of you who don't live here.

That's about it for the Weekend Update. Time to knit the socks and plan out another project.

Odds and Ends

Well, I've chosen Baby Fern from More Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch for this lovely dark green yarn. So far, I only have one repeat done but it is going smoothly and not worth showing you a picture until there is a bit more meat.

Being I spent this weekend rearranging my house to make more room for my ever increasing stash tidy up a bit, there wasn't much knitting. The flowers are blooming, the birds are twittering, the days are getting longer and the stash has been enhanced:



Valley Yarns Huntington, which bears a striking resemblance to Cascade Heritage, in green and red. To the right, Louet Gems in Champagne.


I am very excited over the Huntington yarn. It's nice, it's thin, a teeny bit splitty and screams for nice intricate patterns. Not overly expensive either! The colors are gorgeous in person, it's a darkening sky here today...

I haven't worked with Louet yet but I'm looking forward to it. I am considering making those into Waving Lace socks.



Next up, a member of everyone's top ten list of favorite sock yarn: STR:




l to r: STR - Downpour, Hard Rock, Mustang Sally

Ah, STR, a pleasure to work with... I want to be able to complain about the pooling. Mustang Sally isn't as solid as I wanted. She is my second choice for Waving Lace.

The Palindrome scarf is well on its way to being a grown up scarf. This pattern eats yarn though. Each ball makes about 10" of scarf so this is an expensive endeavor. I am using Plymouth Royal Silk Merino and it's absolutely lovely gorgeous and yummily delicious.


Nothing new with my Dragon Scarf, the yarn broke and I have yet to reattach. Wow, I currently have three WIPs. That's alot!

Just so you don't think that I only photograph wool, here's a picture of Saturday's sky, with telephone lines. Too bad I wasn't down by the water or in the park for this sunset. It was spectacular.



I am home from work today, enjoying my aloneness.

Time to knit!

Palindrome Emordnilap!

So, it's about a third of the way done. I've used two balls of Plymouth Royal Silk Merino so far. I increased the pattern by one cable; therefore I casted on 52 stitches. A lovely day here on Long Island for a photo shoot.





Isn't she lovely? I'm loving this yarn, it's soft and silky and dreamy. I am so happy that I bought six balls. This was taken at the end of ball two and I think that I may need about 5, unfortunately, to make ONE scarf. I was hoping to get a scarf out of three of them. As my son would say, "no way, Jose". I don't know where he picks up these things....

Now, an update on cabling without a cable needle. I did it. I can do it. It isn't working for me on this scarf. The yarn is entirely too slippery and even pinching the stitches that are hanging in midair for a moment, they become dropped stitches. The thought of taking out 500 stitches for a dropped stitch isn't striking my fancy. It's not that easy to fix dropped stitches in a cable. One time, I forgot to do the cable twist and, three rows later, I did a knit fix. I only dropped 8 of the stitches, for three rows and fixed the problem. There's no trace of the 'error'. However, to be knitting along, I'm finding it faster to use a cable needle knowing that I won't have any issues.

The other thing is, maybe I should switch to wood. This would be a perfect reason to spit for the set of Harmony needles, wouldn't it? It'd be nice if they'd offer them just the tips, not the needles, maybe at a cost savings. Maybe I'll buy size 5,6,7,8, the ones I use the most and call it a day. I'm using a 7 on this scarf.

Well, it's nearing Memorial Day Weekend and I've already got a jump start on Christmas knitting. Tee hee!

Sleeping Dragons and Cables Sans Cable Needle

It's 8PM. The kids are in bed. I am working diligently on the Palindrome Scarf. I am addicted to the yarn. It is incredible and luscious and I want to cuddle it all day long. The scarf isn't going along at a good clip for the following reasons:


1. I have been a good girl and have actually been using my treadmill. This takes away from knitting time.

2. I don't currently have a sock to work on. That's weird. My socks are done and I'm scouting out new patterns.

3. I want to learn how to cable without a cable needle and have been practicing on this scarf.

I know that I know how to do this. It was the way that I originally learned cables but when it came time to do it and I was switching the stitches order, I sorta...drew a blank. Must be that I killed those braincells off back in my younger days. It's just..gone. I find this so peculiar. Grumperina has provided an excellent tutorial on her blog and I will check it out again shortly.

So, tonight's project is to to get this down pat and get another foot done of the scarf. Pictures coming soon!

In other news, my DD was on the stage again for a play at her school. The kids were great. They're only 4 and 5 and did a circus. She was a tumbler. She originally was an elephant but didn't want to twirl on the stool, she'd rather tumble across the stage.

DS if finishing up his Kindergarten year with a bang. Only a few short weeks and the school year will be over. Hurray! I get more knitting and treadmill time! I won't have to drive them in the morning. They'll be home attending Camp Daddy.

The Dragon Scarf is still sleeping in my basket but I may take him out tomorrow night after Palindrome is ... done? We'll see how it goes. I've gone through just about one ball of yarn and I have about 16" worth of scarf. The pattern eats yarn a bit.

What pair of socks shall we make next? I'm thinking STR Hard Rock Monkeys, perchance....

The Walk, The Tidal Waves, The Dragon Scarf

Able was I ere I saw Elba. Palindrome, a reversible cable scarf. How cute. And, it's free. And, it uses relatively inexpensive yarn. I started it today out of my new Plymouth Royal Silk Merino and let me tell you, it's luscious. I know, it's New York, it's May, soon to be summer. Hot Town, summer in the city, back of neck gettin' dirt and gritty. However, I was considering making some scarves to give as Christmas gifts this year, particularly to teachers. Let's see how I do. Nothing like getting a jump start on the holidays!

Well, today, I did alot of things. First and foremost, yet another finished object! Tidal Wave Socks.

Pattern: Tidal Wave Sock
Yarn: STR Lightweight, "Pebble Beach"
Needles: Knitpicks Options, size 1, 2.25mm
Started: April 4, 2008
Finished: May 4, 2008

So, for not, I am working on scarves. I am up to the tenth spike of the Puff the Magic Merino Dragon Scarf. The yarn broke. I'm supposed to spit on it to splice it back together. Yeah, right. I hate spit. I don't spit. I don't even like my own spit. This is why I played violin in school, no spit valve. Those of you who have waded walked through the trumpet section and slipped know exactly what I mean. So, Dragon sits there. I will need to weave that end in. I'm still not sure how much in love with Morehouse Merino I am. The pattern is fun, it isn't hard but you have to pay attention to what's going on. Plus, I could use a DPN instead of having three needles bopping all over the place every time I make a spike and have to do a three needle bind off.

So, to keep me busy for awhile, I'll work on Palindrome. I could use cable practice anyway.

In other news, today was the MS Walk. I didn't raise all that much money, unfortunately, but every dollar counts. I got the kids and the dog into it this year and had a great time. The walk is 1.8 miles. I was able to clock that on my new pedometer. I'm into the 10k steps a day thing and this little gadget, albeit a bit on the large size, is fun. Just in case I hadn't set it correctly, Elizzabetty was there with her GPS. She's a real geek. She tried to knit, walk and use her GPS at the same time. The walk takes us around the lake and only at the very end are we all that close to the edge. Good thing we had the GPS though, in case we got lost we could see how far above sea level we were as well as whether or not we were going to walk right into the lake.

Elizzabetty, MS Walk (and Knit?) 2008

Always at home with a cannon.

Did I tell you about my treadmill? Well, I got one of those, too. I didn't have to use it today because I did the walk and now my step counter is up to 12,468. I'm not so sure that that is correct though. I rode my bicycle today (for the first time in like 5 years) after having it tuned up and got a flat. I wasn't all that far away from my house when I got the flat but I did walk back. So, I walked, rode my bike, planted some flowers in front of my house, finished the socks, started the scarf, made lunch and dinner and did kindergarten homework. Oh, and I blogged.

Do I deserve a brownie now?