On the needles

Dreambird is still on my needles - but the end is in sight.  I  have enough grey left to finish this feather, and maybe one more, so I might even finish up this weekend.

But first, I have some sewing to do.  I got a start the other day - but this block is due tomorrow for a block party. I need to get moving, because I also need to sew up a couple of samples for the class I'm teaching tomorrow.  Fortunately, with my son working tonight, I'll be able to spend the evening in my sewing room without guilt.

I'm linking up with Judy's on the needles post today. Drop by to see what everyone else is up to.

Dreambird progress

Most of my weekend was spent on this project, and it's probably the reason I have no idea what day it is.  I've done flooring before, but I must have been younger then :)  I ache everywhere now.  But my son no longer has carpet in his room, and hopefully will get some relief from his allergy situation.

As you can see in this photo, we cleared out most of his room, and then shuffled all the furniture to one side.  When that part of the floor was laid, we moved everything over, and started on the second half.  Just a bit more trim to finish now, and he can move back in.

I did manage to get a lot of knitting done, in between rounds with the flooring.  I found that I needed a break now and then, and sitting down with knitting was just about the right speed.  I just started on feather #9. I don't know how many feathers there are going to be, so no idea how much knitting is left (maybe I should look at one of the project pictures and count them).  I'm just watching the balls get smaller as I knit 70 rows, repeat....

Linking up on Judy's progress report today.

Dreambird

Today's the first linkup for the Dreambird knit-a-long.  I don't think I'll be linking up quite as frequently as Judy is posting (3 times a week), but I'll try to keep up and keep you all posted on my progress. This pattern is turning out to be fun, and actually pretty simple once you get started on it.  The keys seem to be following the directions carefully, and following the directions carefully :)

I do highly recommend a bias bind-off for this, as Denise mentioned in one of her posts - it is going to make a much nicer neck edge than the stair-step bind off that the directions produce (ok, so in this case I didn't follow the directions).  I found a good link for the bind off here

Stash Report

It's a good thing I was energetic earlier this week and got some quilting done, because I have been less than productive this weekend.  I wish whatever bug it is that caught me would just be done.  However, I have found that knitting is a great project when I'm under the weather.  Lot of progres on my dreambird shawl this weekend.

As for quilting, my efforts earlier in the week did produce some numbers to share.

2 yards backing for placements
3/4 yards binding

Total stash usage this year: 182 1/4 yards out


Drop by Judy's blog for more stash reports. And if you're a knitter, check out the Dreambird knit-a-long which is starting today.

On the needles - April 5

I've been under the weather for a few days.  How do I know I've been sick?  I haven't touched my quilting since Monday!  Home from work for 2 days, and not a single stitch taken.  I'm feeling better today (and back at work) but hopefully this weekend will see some sewing.


I did cast on a new knitting project yesterday.  These are my socks for Judy's pooling sock challenge - although I don't think they are going to work out.  I get random stripes.  I increased the rows and managed to turn it into diagonal striping for a section.  A few more stitches and I think now I have vertical stripes.  I think the yarn colouration is too regular for good pooling, but I'll keep knitting and see where it goes.

That leads to a question I have for any knitters who read my blog.  When I wind my yarn off the skein, I end up with serious twisting in it, as it comes off the ball.  This might not be a problem if I was knitting off one end of the yarn, but knitting 2 socks I have both ends running, and the twists are counter to each other so I can't just hang the work down and let them untwist.  Am I doing something wrong (winding in the wrong direction?). Or is it that I don't have a yarn swift?  Or am I just doomed to dealing with this?

Pooling sock yarn

Judy loves sock yarn that pools in random patterns when she knits.  I'm more of a regular stripe type (I think it's the engineer in me).  But I thought I would jump on board with Judy's latest challenge.  Knit a pair of socks with yarn that pools.  Best socks will win a gift certificate for The Loopy Ewe.  How could I pass it up?

So, I checked my few skeins of yarn for the one I thought would pool best, and pulled it out.  First, a calendar shot - no pulling out a pair of socks already knit, so here's proof they weren't started yet (that calendar says March 2013, if you enlarge the photo).  The yarn is Wollmeise Pure, in colour Zenzi.

And here it is before I wound it - I'm hoping that those darker segments will be ripples between the pools of light yarn.

And finally, all wound up and ready to go.  Now to figure out how to fit in a full pair socks in the next 3 months, in between all my quilting projects.  I think those are the needles I'm going to use, but I still need to swatch the yarn to check. If they are too small, I need to finish my current pair of socks before I can start these.

I'm linking up my photo over at Judy's Pooling Yarn post.

On the Needles - Jan 11

Not much knitting progress here this week.  As expected, going back to work has seriously cramped my crafting time :)  I did finish 2 more pattern repeats on the hat I'm working on, but I don't have a new picture of that.  And nothing else has been touched.

In fact, the poor hat had a bit of a setback.  I left the project bag on the floor Tuesday night, and when Roomba ran the next morning it snagged a loose end of yarn.  End result - about 2 yards of yarn wrapped around Roomba's brushes, and the active yarn from my hat snapped off at the needle.

So, after unstitching back far enough to produce an end that could be woven in, I joined the yarn and continued on.  Now the bag stays on a shelf.

On the Needles

How many knitting projects can one person have going at one time?  Apparently, at least 4.  I really should finish one of these.


First, I have fingerless mitts, for my sister.  When I was visiting over Christmas, she mentioned that she was looking for a pair, but they had to have a long (but open) thumb and she couldn't find any.  So I thought I'd make her a pair for her birthday. (Hopefully I'm right that she doesn't read my blog :) )

Unfortunately, I have once again been bit by the yarn that changes colour over the course of the skein, and the gloves are two slightly different shades.  So now I will make another "pair", and pick the best match for her.

Next, a pair of socks that I've been working on for a month.  Finally turned the heel before Christmas, so I just need to sit down and finish them.  These are taking a long time, because I'm doing them on extra-small needles, in the hopes of making them more comfortable to wear.  Notice Cari contemplating them.  She really wanted to help with the photos today.

Then we have my poor ruffled scarf.  I just can't get excited about this one, although apparently Cari can.  Part of my problem is the awkward needles.  They are too long, so it's hard to knit if I'm wearing a sweater or my coat (I was knitting this scarf every time I wait for my son at his drum lesson each week).  But I finally bought myself some shorter needles in the right size, so I hope I can get moving on this again.

And finally, a hat to match to the scarf.  I decided that part of my problem with finishing the scarf is knowing when to stop :)  And I'm going to have a pile of yarn left over.  So I decided to make a matching hat.  And I need to make the hat first, so that I know I have enough yarn for it.  Then I can finish the scarf and make it as long as the yarn I have.

Drop by Judy's blog to see what others are knitting this week.

On (and off) the needles

I have been working away on my 4th quarter challenge for the Loopy Ewe, and I finally finished it!  Managed to work it out so that I used just about every scrap of yarn I had (there is less than enough for 1 repeat left).  This is lovely and soft.  It's knit with 2 strands of yarn (cashmere/silk combination) and I love it!  I'll definitely use this yarn again.

In the meantime I did get tired of knitting scarves, so I started yet another pair of socks. This one on smaller needles, as someone suggested that the tighter gauge might make the socks more comfortable (and wear longer).  The smaller needles mean these are going to take a long time to knit, however. 

So, in parallel I'm also working on finishing my other scarf.  I'm still not happy with how narrow it is, but it's too far gone to unknit now :)  I'm sure I'll find a use, or an owner, for it when it's done.

Drop by Judy's blog to see what everyone else has on their needles today.

On the Needles - Oct 26

My yellow scarf is progressing nicely.  It's almost long enough now, but the Loopy Ewe's challenge requires 400 yards.   So I'll just keep knitting until I run out of yarn.

I'm also planning my next project.  I still have the blue scarf on the needles, but I'm tired of scarf knitting right now, so I picked my next project.  Another pair of socks, this time from a laceweight yarn.  Someone told me that hand-knit socks hurt their feet, and I can understand that now that I have a few pairs.  The yarn ridges do make a noticeable pattern, especially when walking in just socks.

So I thought maybe a lighter yarn and smaller needles would solve the problem.   My goodness 2mm needles are small.  At 10 stitches and 14 rows to an inch, these socks are going to be slow going. I think I'll probably stick with plain knitting, since none of the sock patterns I've seen are designed for this gauge.  I spent some time last night finding the colour repeat, and lining up the 2 balls so that I can hopefully get matching socks this time.

Drop by Judy's blog to see what everyone else is knitting.  And check out yesterday's post for a peek at the reveal of the 2 mystery quilts I've been working on.

On the Needles - Oct 19

This is my latest pair of socks.  I'm learning to accept socks that don't match perfectly.  The widths of the stripes on these kept changing.  I suppose if I knit from the top down, I'd at least be able to control the match at the top end.  But I hate the thought of kitchener stitching the toe shut, and I like knowing that I'm not going to run out of yarn when I knit toe up (because I can just stop knitting at whatever length works out).  But maybe I'll try it once.  After 3 pairs of toe-up socks (the only 3 pairs I've ever made) I suppose I should give other techniques a try.

The socks are sitting on one of the quilts that is waiting for me to bind it.  But I haven't started that yet, because I'm busy working on 2 scarves.  I started this one a few weeks ago, while I waited for inspiration on another project.  It's interesting, but very narrow.

And the yellow is my project for The Loopy Ewe's 4th quarter challenge.  It has to be done by December, and take 400 yards of yarn.  Shouldn't be too much of a problem.  I started this one yesterday while I was waiting for my car to be serviced.

Drop by Judy's blog to see what everyone else has on their needles today

Knitting Progress - Oct 12

Once again Judy is asking "What's on your needles?"  I have 2 projects on the go, and another itching to get started.  Judy mentioned this pattern a couple of weeks ago, and it looked really interesting.  The details aren't showing up too well in this photo, but the legs are all little circles of knit surrounded by purl stitches.  Lots of fun.  Once again I have yarn that doesn't exactly match up, but it's not nearly as bad as the last skein, so I'm plugging along.  It is lovely and soft, and I'm really enjoying knitting with it.  It is Jawoll Magic by Lang Yarns.

On the other needles, my scarf has not made much progress.  Probably because I'm not 100% thrilled with this pattern.  It is coming out much more narrow than I expected.  And apparently I tend towards the blue/green combos in yarn, because I see that these 2 projects are very similar in colour.  I do need to get moving with this one - I need those needles for my next project.  That is The Loopy Ewe's 4th quarter challenge, so I have until the end of December to finish this scarf and one other.

On the Needles

And off the needles.  I finished my disappointing socks this week.  The second sock is now much closer to the first in colour, and they actually look like a pair now.  So I consider this somewhat of a success. But I certainly won't be buying any more of that yarn. Here's the original "pair" in the first photo.  The completed socks are in the second photo - much more evenly matched although still not perfect.

And, I had a lot of yarn left over (almost a full sock worth), so I decided I needed a headband to keep my ears warm when I'm walking this winter.  As I knit this, I can see where the skein of yarn switched to a darker mode.  Not sure what went wrong in the dying process, but it is clearly evident.  I'm just glad my third sock finished before that point in the skein.

I have enough yarn to make this a double - layer headband, so hopefully it will keep my ears warn on those chilly mornings.  Once this is done, I plan to start something different.  And hopefully with yarn that I like more than this :)

Drop by Patchwork Times to see what everyone else has on their needles today.

What's on your Needles

Once again it's Friday, and Judy is asking "What's on your needles today?"  I have one and two-half socks.  Seems an odd number, doesn't it?  I finally decided that my yarn was not going to even out before I finished my second sock.  And I was going to have almost a full sock worth of yarn left over.  So, I abandoned the dark one, and started a new second sock. 

The match is closer, although as I look at my ball of yarn I suspect it will still end darker than I wanted.  I did consider knitting this one top down, to match the first bottom up sock.  But I haven't knit enough socks to know if the end result would really be symmetrical, so I decided to take a chance on bottom up and I hope I finish before I hit the really dark section of yarn.  I am really tired of this yarn now, so I think regardless of the result, we are going to call it a match and be done.

And in quilting news, I cut more triangles and plastered them up on my wall.  One more row to go. I think I've decided to stick with the light triangles.  But I do see some areas I don't like, so I will probably be rearranged the layout a bit before it's done.

Friday Knitting

My current knitting project is dose of newness for me.

1. socks - which I've only knit once before
2. toe up
3. on circular needles
4. two at a time

So far, so good.  It took a while to get into a rhythm with this, and the tangled mess of yarn almost had me throwing in the towel (or is that sock?).  But I persevered, and I'm now at a point where I can keep the yarn reasonably untangled without much effort.  And I can tell which step is next (which side of which sock am I working on) even if I put the work down mid-round.  I think this might be a successful trial.

I'm not overly fond of the shaping of the toes on these.  I'll see how it is when finished, but I think a new pattern will be required for the next pair.  My toes aren't quite that pointy :)

Drop by Judy's blog to see what everyone else has on their needles today.

More knitting

I'm making good progress on my Camp Loopy project #3.  I started the bind-off for the main ribbing this week.  It is Applied I-cord cast-off, which I had never heard of before.  So I did a google search, found the instructions, and I'm working my way through it.  Very slow going, since you knit an extra 2 stitches for every one cast off.  But it makes a lovely edge, and I expect to use this again.

Here's the sweater from the back.  You can see part of the ribbing, ,where I've already cast off.  The rest is bunched up on the needle, which is why it's not hanging straight.

This picture from the front shows the ribbing better.


Tonight's plan is to wash the fabric I bought for the April colour challenge.  Judy is hosting a Quilt-a-thon, and although I've missed the first two days I plan to jump in tomorrow and see what I can get done.  After I drop by the local LQS to check out their summer sale (uh oh, that sounds dangerous).

Knitting Progress

After finishing my colour challenge quilt earlier this week, I haven't been into my sewing room much.  No TV in there, and I do want to watch the Olympics as much as I can.  So rather than sewing, I've been knitting for the past few days.  Here's my progress on my sweater so far.  I'm about 2/3 done the body - then just ribbing to go.  I'm knitting it top down, so I'll just go until I run out of yarn (and hopefully I'll guess correctly about when to start the shaping at the bottom).  This is a really quick and easy pattern - a nice change after the lace shawl I knit last month.

Check out Judy's blog today to see what others have on their needles.

...and still waiting

Another day, still a big empty space in my basement.  I am starting to get frustrated with the delivery guys.  The package is in the city.  But seems to have sat in the warehouse, or on a truck, all day yesterday and was never delivered.  I'm sure the distributor is getting tired of hearing from me (is it there yet?  Any update?)  And my friend, who nicely agreed to help me pick it up is probably really tired of being on standby all week.

Ah well, in the meantime, no progress on my knitting.  It still looks much the same as yesterday.  I really do want to finish this - I have yarn for some socks sitting in my drawer, but I refuse to start those until this project is finished. And then, Project 3 for Camp Loopy will probably have started, so the socks are going to end up waiting again.  And (I hope) I'll be far too busy with my long arm to do much knitting :)

My quilting has made some good progress during these delays however.  Quilt on the right is complete, and the one of the left needs 2 more seams and it is done too.  Then what?  Another reason to hope things arrive today. 

Although I have completely ignored the colour challenge this month, so I could see if I can whip up something for that in the next few days. I'm not overly motivated for this one - I guess it's just not my style - neither the pictures nor the colours.  But that's the whole point of this challenge, so if I can find fabric in my stash, I'll see if I can make a small quilt this week.

I'm linking up with Judy today. Drop by to see what every has on their needles.

...and waiting...

Sigh.  Despite being scheduled for delivery yesterday, UPS never showed up.  So no new toy yet :(

I did manage to make good use of the evening, since I didn't have to setup my long arm.  Two quilts almost done - just a bit of borders left.  I have a blue border for the one on the right.  And the one on the left will get top/bottom borders like what is in the picture (but just one row of the blue squares).  And I think I'll probably add one final brown border.

And, a knitting project about 1/2 done, while I wait for my next Camp Loopy project to start.  I started this one in June, to test out the pattern I was going to use for the second project.  It was going well, but I decided to do something different for that project, and this one has been sitting for 3 weeks waiting for me to get back to it.

This is my actual camp loopy project #2, all done.

Tea Cosy

Because my sewing room is out of commission, I have moved my attention to my knitting for a while.  Back in December, I gave my mother a tea cosy that I had knitted from this pattern.  My sister liked it, and asked for one too, so I am finally getting around to that.  I didn't have any of the same yarn that I used for the first one, and what I do have (piles of) is a bit finer than the pattern called for.  So, I knitted it with 2 strands - 1 multicolour and 1 rose.  I believe my sister's teapot is slightly larger than mine, so hopefully this will fit hers.

 Next up - one for me.