Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Everything Rolled into One

Photobucket

I left you in the lurch, didn't I? Here you were, waiting for days to see how my sock-on-2-circs turned out, while I was blithely wandering here and there, not even trying the circs at all. I have been busy, though - note my knitting/spinning corner in the living room, above.

Without ado then, here:

Photobucket

That's the sock, on size 1 bamboo dpns. It's much better. I think it'll fit.

And there:

Photobucket

That's one repeat of the Kangaroo Dyer kid mohair scarf (plus a boo-boo, visible towards the top). Beautiful. Inspiring. Working working on for months.

And, um, here:

Photobucket

I did mention, didn't I, that I cast on for a hat, too, from A Fine Fleece? This is the Nantucket Cap, in my handspun alpaca/silk, left over from knitting my dad a scarf for Christmas before last. I'm kind of ... meh ... about this. I want a warm winter hat for me, one that will cover my ears, and I think that this yarn is a little too thin to be warm, even if it is alpaca and silk. The edge of the hat is moss stitch (but I did seed stitch, because I'm an idiot), which is not snug enough, unlike ribbing, to keep my ears warm, I think. So this'll get frogged. It's nice yarn, though.

Photobucket

I do deserve some credit, though - I'm almost done the zigzag afghan for my parents, maybe only 15 rows to go. I would have finished last night, if my hands hadn't protested. My father's 80th birthday is this Saturday, so we're all converging on southeastern Pennsylvania to celebrate (well, not my sister in Australia, but that's understandable). I won't have finished and blocked the afghan by then, but that's fine with me. We kids are getting him a commemorative bench at the nearby state park he likes, and I don't want to make my siblings feel awkward if I bring along a giant handknit afghan as well (It was supposed to be a Christmas present). Which reminds me: I have to decide what I'm bringing for knitting. I'm taking the train (for the first time!), so I might need two or three projects. Or four?

Photobucket

And I'm still weaving - here are three repeats of the 8-harness runner. I have learned that my "gauge," or whatever you call it in weaving (evenness of beat, maybe?), is uneven in the beginning of a project. See how, in the blue stripe, the first square-ish pattern is elongated, while the second and third are much squarer? That's the learning process in action. Next time, I'll swatch (or sample, in weaver-ese) before I launch right into something.

A confession: I'm a foolish groupie. I went to see the Yarn Harlot at WEBS this past Sunday - great fun, as always (and you can see me looking supremely fat and dorky showing Stephanie my first socks on her blog). I must really suffer from poor self-esteem, because I have this vision of myself at these events, being cool and creative and chatty with everyone. I'm not, in reality. I'm a delusional groupie. Sigh...

I may also be a groupie in yarn purchases, too.

Photobucket

I have no idea what I'm going to do with this - any suggestions?

5 comments :

Elizabeth said...

Hmm, well, I will have a suggestion for your Kauni in a month or so...

DEEP END OF THE LOOM said...

The yarn looks like a shawl to me. Maybe really lacey and delicate. The runner is a beautiful pattern and the colors are also very complimentary.

Batty said...

Sock is looking good, and I love the colors on that lace scarf. Beautiful.

Hmmm... not sure what to suggest with the Kauni. If I think of anything, I'll let you know.

Anonymous said...

I wish I could have made it to see you, the Harlot and the back room of Webs....alas I was able to get 6 flats of flowers planted in Mom's gardens, an asian pear planted and many other things about The Farm and then the Spring tains began.

Not sure where you live, but the Old Yarn Shoppe in Schenectady is going out of business and has fancies for 75% off. FABULOUS sale as I was able to pick up some hard to find silvers and neons.

Perhaps the next time I am on the east coast............

The runner is LOVELY!

I wonder what the distance is between the color changes? perhaps run a warp that has the color change on the diagonal...tricky to dress the warp, but groovalicious....then a weft that also diagonals. So you have intersecting trianlges and then a third level of diagonals, by using a twill? ummmm yeah....perhaps a lacy scarf instead.

Anonymous said...

i have been eyeing that yarn too

how are the dragonflies?