A general catch all of all the knitting I have to show

Ok, before I forget: In the last post I mentioned the green sock knitting in traffic jams and that it only helped 'slightly'. It actually helps immensely and I'm often torn between wishing for traffic problems and getting home as quickly as possible! Since the sock is in the car, I have no pics. :( I have to carefully snap shots whenever I can (AKA: sleeping puppy) and that doesn't happen when I often have the energy to stage some shots or there is good light!

Um.... so first, an update on Irtfa'a:
(And yes, it is stretched between two plates, for those who were really looking.) This is coming along really well. The pattern is very clearly written and I've gotten to the main body of the shawl which means that the knitting should get done a lot faster now. My only concern is that I've barely put a dent in the 1700 yard skein that I bought because the shawl pattern said something like 1200 yds.... I'm wondering if I should be concerned that the gauge is wrong (even though I did swatch) and that I will need to rip back and start over...? I really like the way things are looking now though, so I might just continue as is and see if I'll need to add some extra repeats towards the end.

Also, apparently I never posted anything about a new shawl that I've started with some of the remains of yarn from the wedding shawl. It's the pattern from page 100 of Victorian Lace Today called 'Scarf with edging 21 and insertion25'.... An odd name, but that's what it says. This is intended to be a gift for someone and I wanted to get an idea of what the finished dimensions would be in this yarn, so I blocked part of it!
It's looking pretty good! I've decided to go ahead and add 2 more repeats to make it a total of 21 repeats (seems a better number) before I do the second border piece.

Also, I knit this shawl a long time ago with some yarn I got from the Estes Park Wool Festival. I've only worn it a few times and feel that it might do better in a different home. However, this shawl is overly long (even on me) and the intended recipient is at least a foot shorter, so I'll have to rip back and finish the shawl in much shorter dimensions. Not too hard since the edging consists of something like 5 or 6 rows of garter stitch.
I've been working on my Pink Summer Cardigan again and am almost finished with the first sleeve. I don't have any pics but I tried the sleeve on and all seems well. I'm mostly concerned about how long I should knit the sleeve before deciding that it's ready to be attached to the yoke of the cardigan... I've only knit one sweater before this and I wasn't thoroughly impressed with the shoulder seaming...

And finally, a pic of Anya who now weighs 15 pounds and is developing a BRIGHT orange spot on her head right between her ears. I think people give us strange looks when we are on walks, something to the tune of, 'What on EARTH did they do to that poor puppy?!'

Knitting Recession?

So I tried on that shrug as I went... got the first sleeve done, sailed through the back and that second sleeve seemed to take FOREVER. Well I put on my little outfit and tried on the (almost finished) shrug to discover..... it DIDN'T FIT! The second sleeve was MUCH too short (read: 3/4 length) and the back was too long! I also just could not see how this *thing* was supposed to look like the finished picture with their placing of all the increases and decreases.... It died :(

I love the yarn and would like to knit up a shrug with it but with a more... intuitive pattern. Also, I decided the dress wasn't for me and I'll be returning it.

I haven't yet started the Interweave fair-isle sweater yet; I feel like I should finish up something a little more summery first. Enter the pink cardigan.

I haven't gotten a picture of it yet (the weather has been quite gloomy around here for a while now) but I am past the waist increases and will be working my way up the chest to the arms before I'll be seeing any adventure here.

It's no wonder a girl gets a little startitis with what's been going on around here! I started a new pair of socks. I decided I needed something small and mindless that would not offend me if I had to frog it. So I went with the 'Genteleman's Sock with Lozenge Pattern' by Nancy Bush in a nice spring green: Olive from Oriridraco! I love this yarn and this pattern! Even my mother commented on the gorgeous color. :)

I haven't been knitting very much lately and I really think its because of all the letdowns (even though there don't seem to be many) recently but I feel I'm on the mend! Pics to come later.

Pic Updates

So, here are the pictures that I promised!

Michael's Fingerless Gloves:
He insisted that I post this pic! This next picture shows a very close idea of the color:
Here is a good image of the finished project:
Ok, I hope that satisfies your need for pictures of the new project! I sure loved knitting with this yarn and the satisfaction of a quickly finished project was very empowering! I hope to knit up a similar pair (but without the fingers) for myself using some Olive yarn I bought from Abby.

I took this picture of my Nebula Ringwood socks over the weekend but they have since been knit up past the beginning of the calf muscle and cast off for a finished pair! Just in time for the supposed snow we'll be getting over the weekend. I LOVE everything about these socks: the yarn, the fit, the pattern. Can't wait to wear them!
Finally, this is my new project:
The spring sweater out of some yarn that I have still forgotten to check the contents on... and I just realized that I threw away the ball bands after winding them all into center-pull balls.... oops.

Anyway this yarn is knitting up very smoothly and quickly with great texture. My only concern is that the drape isn't very nice and that the sweater will take on a 'stiff' appearance once I finish it....

And, since it's been soooo long, a pic of Fezzy!

AAAAAAAAHAHAHA!

It's alive, alive!!!! That's right, I finished the shawl, cast off and blocked it last night. Now, if you've been living anywhere in the US recently you'll know that a new snow storm is moving across the mountains and plains today. If you live in Colorado you also know that yesterday was absolutely gorgeous and one of the best photo shoot days of the new year. I REALLY tried to get some lovely blocking pictures but it was late and in that nasty artificial light and NOTHING I took turned out. I'll try to get some decent pictures of it this weekend but I'm really expecting my wedding photographer to do a much better job. :)

As soon as I pushed the last pin into the carpet I went and got out my Nebula yarn, wound into yummy yarn cakes and cast on for my very own pair of Ringwood socks! Yesterday was indeed a good day.

FO: Trekking socks

That's me wearing my first pair of finished socks. I found myself thinking... WHY on EARTH didn't I make some keepers before?! I love these socks, they keep my legs warm, at least the part that's always cold and this, in turn, warms my feet and the rest of my body! Next time though, I'll add some ribbing to the top because the darn things curl like mad from the picot cast off I did.

Now in Color!

So I tried my socks on yesterday afternoon, as promised. This picture:
Shows how far I've come and how little more there is to go... In fact, when I had this ONE sock on yesterday I couldn't believe how soft and warm and cozy it was or that I had strayed from his pair for one second! As soon I finished the little photo shoot I sat right down and knit on these the rest of the night so add about 2 inches to the length of the sock for a more accurate idea of what they look like now. I'm almost finished, I'm not sure if I should keep knitting on them and make them as long as possible because my lower legs get cold as heck these days. There really isn't much yarn left but I think I could get another inch or two out of it, placing the CO edge well up my calf muscle which might cause problems with stretch because I'm not ribbing the tops. We will just have to wait and see.

This next picture shows how far I've come on my Lily shawl and how much better it looks than the first one. I forgot to take pictures of the swatches that led me back to the Lily but they are mostly for the Lotus Blossom and not entirely applicable here.
Yesterday Colorado got another dusting of snow and I took a few pictures from the window outside my 7th story lab! This one shows downtown Denver smack dab in the middle of one of the bigger clouds. That dark bluish black cloud that looks like it's in the background is actually hanging right around those buildings, it was REALLY neat, but I guess you just had to be there.
This is a gorgeous picture of classic Colorado winters, snow dusted pines!

I'm BAAAACK!

So lately I've been thinking about jumping back into blogging again. Things have calmed down at work and I have time to formulate a blog post every once in a while. I don't really want to blog when I'm at home because I'd much rather be knitting but I feel bad when I knit at work. I don't feel any remorse if I look busy aka blogging, so this might work! I take pictures when I'm at home, post them to flickr where I can use them for both the blog and ravelry, which I've become quite smitten with lately. :)

Recently I finished a pair of Log Cabin Socks (from Holiday Knits) for Michael because his feet get quite cold in the evenings. I made them toe-up, which seems to be my preferred method of late, and so the heel flap doesn't have the cable pattern on it. These took me about a week and a half! I'll try to get a picture of them on the recipient some time!
A side note, I imagine that many of my pictures will have to be taken with no natural light because I take them when I get home from work and after my workout, by then it's pretty dark!

Here is a picture of the socks I'm currently working on for myself. They are just a general toe up sock pattern made with Trekking XXL in 147 Burgundy. I've worked a bit more on them since this picture was taken on Friday and have passed the heel turn. I find that when I'm knitting both socks at the same time I am actually able to finish them, and in a decent amount of time too! I started these last weekend I think... I also really enjoy being able to try them on as I go, ensuring that most, if not all, of my work will come to fruition!

I decided that I would probably get cold shoulders at my wedding reception and, thus, should knit myself a shawl! I also thought that I would like to wear the thing after the reception and for some reason white did not seem the best choice. I went to Shuttles about 2 weeks ago and purchased a cone of Bambu in this green:

I had the idea of knitting something with a springtime theme, since the wedding is in April, and decided on Nancy Bush's 'Lily of the Valley' found in Lace Style. The stitch gauge works out fine, but the row gauge is almost HALF what it should be! I chose this pattern because I thought that it was fairly calm and wouldn't draw too much attention from my GORGEOUS dress. If I double the repeats to account for the decreased length I feel that the pattern would be too busy for the simple style I wanted. I started looking for another pattern..... And decided that the Lotus Blossom shawl might be a suitable substitute. That pattern has been ordered and is on its way, but I don't expect it before Thanksgiving.

After I finished Michael's socks, before Lace Style arrived and before I started on the Trekking socks, I learned just how dangerous it is to be without anything on the needles... That's why I bought that sock yarn, knowing full well that I have PLENTY more at home. That's also why I bought this sock yarn in cabernet... I was caught off-guard at work and put in the order so fast I sent it to the wrong address! It hasn't come in yet, but you can bet I'll take a picture as soon as it does. This new colorway in prosperity is also REALLY calling my name! Don't you snatch it up until I figure out what to do with myself!

At work, this is my baby:
For those who know a little bit about science, this is a Western Blot set up. For those of you who don't know much about science, it moves DNA from a gel to a piece of paper that can be manipulated a little easier.

I'll be going to Kansas from Wednesday through Sunday to visit some family and won't be able to blog then, so don't think I've abandoned you again!

And, in closing. The obligatory picture of Fez!

A miracle!!! A post!!!

Wow, sorry it's been so long since I've updated. I had plans to finish another skein of yarn before posting and then I never finished it and the post never went up. So a lot of stuff has been going on around here. I think I'll limit this post to stuff I have pictures of and talk about my new job in a later post because not much has been going on on that front.

So.... I think I'll start with the rambouillet that I finished spinning up. I think it turned out WONDERFUL!
I don't plan to knit the pattern that came with it but I'm not quite sure what I should knit from it. I have a little over 600 yards of thin sock weight yarn. So, I'm thinking socks, toe-up and possibly little anklets. Then I was thinking that I should get a new sweater going because I scrapped the cardigan that I was working on and I was also thinking about knitting this up with that purple-y fiber that I bought quite some time ago. I thought that I should knit up a swatch of the rambouillet so that I could see what the gauge might look like with the purple-y merino if I modeled it after the grey.
I LOVED knitting with my own yarn. I can't wait to be able to make a whole garment out of my own hand spun yarn. Another thing I'm very proud of is this:
Yeah, the yarn has no extra twist at all! It's just laying there quite happily on the floor, in whatever shape I give it. All of this talk about my own yarn is reminding me of why I started this whole thing in the first place... I might just finish it up....

So that second skein of yarn I was trying to finish was the purple. That didn't happen. I have two full bobbins, I just need to ply them but I've really let it slip away from me.
Lets see... I finished the green ankle socks:
I really enjoyed the pattern and how quickly these knit up. But... I hate the yarn and the way these socks have hardly any stretch and the way they feel when I walk around. Apparently, I have sensitive feet. Huh. It's a superwash wool from knitpicks and has great stitch definition but I'm thinking that is it's only redeeming quality and it isn't enough to make me want to knit another pair of socks for myself out of this.
On the other hand, I am really enjoying knitting with the tofutsies. I'm also doing a toe-up sock and finding that I like it much more than top-down. I like how the toe looks and feels and I enjoyed knitting the turn of the heel much more than the other way and now this way I can see how much yarn I have to work with. However, I'm not sure how tall the socks should be so I think I'm going to have to go pick up another set of needles and knit from the other end of the yarn so that I can get the most out of my yarn!

I've been making a lot of progress on my shawl:

I love the way it smells and the feeling of the yarn as I knit it up.

I NEEDED a new sock book... preferably a toe-up book, but that doesn't exist so I had to 'settle' for this magnificent thing!
The plants have been growing, but no blooms. Everybody else's flowers are blooming and mine are just growing taller and green... I'm not if this means I'm a bad gardener but I continue to water them and wait.
I bought a new purse, it's soo cute! And a perfect spring purse to transport knitting around in!
I got a new haircut in preparation for my new job. I thought that perhaps I should try to thin some of the bulk out and look like a person rather than a head with a mop on it:
The other day Michael and I were running errands and we saw this:
It's a little blurry but that's because we were driving and this man was driving his motor cycle and the two cars had a hard time working together. Anyway, strapped to the front of this man is a small dog with rider goggles. Now at first I was shocked and thought that this man must be doing something cruel to the poor dog. But then I realized, if the dog was really that scared he would probably pee all of this man so the whole thing took on a much funnier mood.

And finally, some cute pictures of Fez:

Picture-less update in bullet form

• I did, indeed, trash the white acrylic piece of crap, and had a wonderful time doing it!
• I finished my green ankle-high socks
• I've started a new pair of toe-up socks out of the peachier of the two skeins of tofutsies
• I plied up around 180 yards of the variegated yarn (it's currently hanging dry with a heavy weight - I got WAY too much twist in it and realized it after it was too late)
• I really haven't made too much progress on the shawl.... I can't exlain why. I think I was just in the need of something of the garter stitch nature (read, the new socks)
• I finished spinning up the first half of the Wooly Fiber club fiber and have to spin up the other half before plying.
• I received a bunch of benefit booklets and the like from my new job, I start work on June 4th and my position is officially called 'Research Scientist'!!!
  

Obsession + A Job = Trouble

Sorry I haven't been posting lately... I've been a little obsessed with my new projects. Plus, I had an interview with a company called Bionovo. The description of the position was too detailed for me to get a good understanding of what I would be doing and then they SHOCKED me with a group interview. I was so nervous I was damn sure I had failed the interview. Then I called them and harrassed them a few times because they were taking so long in getting back to me. I was certain they just didn't have the guts to tell me that I wasn't hired. The next day I got an email to go in for a second interview. Well when I got there one of my future coworkers said, "So I heard they offered you a position." Tthat was news to me, but it sure put me at ease! Woohoo!!! They're not sure when I'm going to start working because they have to get corporate in California to send me the necessary paperwork but it sure is a relief to have a job to look forward to. I'll tell you more about it later, perhaps after my first day. This post is dedicated to all my on-going projects.

First, I spun up some of that merino from morehouse. I'm not sure if you can tell the difference between this picture and the previous one but I really haven't put a dent in the fiber.
The wool actually has a little too much grease in it and I'm losing almost half of the fiber to preparations but its spinning up very strong. I'm forced to spin it a little thicker than I would like because it snaps on me if it's any thinner. But now that I see it in the picture, perhaps it's plenty thin. I plan to navajo ply it and knit up some socks for both Michael and my mother.
When I first got this wool I was using Fez's cat brush to prep the fiber and for some reason I decided that I needed something more appropriate for the project so I went out and bought this:
It wasn't until I got home that I realized this was a direct violation of the yarn diet... I really have no explanation as to why the diet completely slipped my mind. But I was VERY good in the yarn store, Michael was with me and he made sure that I only got what I went in for. I was sidetracked several times and each time he wacked whatever I picked up out of my hands. It was quite humorous and I'm sure the other women in the store heard my laughing.

I also received my first allotment of wool from my spinning club. It's 4 oz. of Rambouillet.
I've already spun up a decent chunk of the first ball before taking this picture.
Here's the yarn:
I'm quite enjoying spinning with this! I'm not sure if it's the fiber or the fact that I don't have to spend an equal amount of time prepping the fiber before spinning it. This I'm also having to spin up a little thicker because it's already been washed and doesn't have any grease in it to help hold the fibers together. But again, this is certainly something I love!

Last night I went to Michael's softball game and brought along my jaywalkers. The weather was a little chilly (even with me in my sweatshirt) so I thought that it would be a perfect time to get some work in. Also, I need to turn the heel on the second Hedera and I'm not confident enough in my skills yet to not keep referencing a pattern. Anyway, I was sitting there, watching Michael and his team warm up when I got recruited to play for another team on another field cuz they were short one girl. MAN I forgot how much I used to love playing softball. They said that they could probably use me every week so I'm thinking about doing that! The league runs through early June and then I'm thinking about joining a more local league in the fall (which is August through October)!

I made some good progress on the Jaywalkers last night while watching the X-files we received from netflix:
Since we're discussing socks, here is the progress of my second Hedera. And I really don't think I've got second sock syndrome with this. I've just been obsessed with other projects lately....
For example, here is the progress I've made on my shawl. And those of you who look close enough will notice that the pattern is not at all what I decided on in the last post.I was having such a hard time working out the way that it was supposed to look that I just gave up on it and found that I really liked the pattern on page 68 called 'A knitted veil in Pyrenees wool.' I like the fact that I don't have to think too much with it and should be able to have a nice end product. Don't get me wrong there is some necessary concentration when knitting the pattern, but it's not like I took several pieces of other patterns and tried to make them fit!

And last, but certainly not least, I treated myself to a visit to the yarn store in celebration of my recent employment! I got two skeins of tofutsies because they are quite cute and something I haven't knit with before. I was only going to buy two skeins of sock yarn, but then I spotted an older yarn harlot book and snatched it up!
This picture shows more accurately the peachy shades in the skein on the left.
Now I know that they are very similar in shades and colors, but they were really the only ones that I saw that I liked! Oh well, I'm quite certain that I won't be knitting them back to back. I really think that I'm going to just be knitting these in a simple ribbing or striping pattern as something that I can use to keep my hands busy when I can't fully concentrate on a pattern.

Also, I haven't done any more work on the two sweaters. I'm really contemplating ripping back the neck shaping on the front of the cardigan and making into something more 'me.' And I'm not too worried about finishing Rachel's sweater in time. I've just got the sleeves left and seaming, that shouldn't take too long with the way it's shaped and pattern for the sleeves.

Setting in sleeves has certainly proved to be a pain!

Well, my goal was to be able to set the sleeves in the cardigan today and finish up the ribbing around the neck. So I sat down with my yarn and needle and seamed and seamed. The armhole was matching up well, then on to the arm. I tried the cardigan on several times to make sure that everything was working out and looking ok. Other than being entirely wrong it seemed ok. :)
The whole thing looked too small and the buttons gaped when I buttoned everything up. I'm also a little disturbed with the way the shaping for the armholes was done up in the pattern.
Here, you can see what I mean. On the left side you can see where the armhole shaping begins and then there is a very steep 'ledge' of about 16 decreases to where the shoulder seaming occurs. What's up with that?! It makes for very odd cap shaping when the sleeve is set in, you can kind of see in the previous two pictures and this next one.
And then....
... if you look closer you can see that the sleeve is all wrong. It just isn't going to line up and give me a good sleeve. I'm going to have to rip it out and try to reset the sleeve. Bummer. Needless to say I'm a little aggravated and won't be continuing any further today. The fact that the whole thing just seems too small is not a motivating factor.

On the plus side, I finished the first 'anklet' sock Thursday night while I was waiting for Michael to get home from the midnight showing of Spiderman. From what he told me, I didn't miss much and had quite a bit more fun at home.
I love this sock! When I first tried it on after completion it didn't seem quite right for me. I've always worn those cheap white cotton socks that you get in bundles from the store and they're always a bit looser and breathable than the socks I knit up. But I think the stretchy lace and the ankle-height of these socks will allow me to ease into enjoying hand-knit socks, or at least I hope so.
Also, I've been getting a lot more spinning done than knitting. I've really been enjoying myself and intend to fill up this bobbin before plying. And, in case any are wondering, I've been not working on my sweater for Rachel. I told myself that I would only start the socks as a motivational project to finish this damned sweater. You know, knit a certain time on the sock and then an equal time on the sweater. That didn't happen and I've now got the yarn out beside me and have prohibited any spinning that I might want to do until I finish the front. Today is a less than fun day in lilac land.