The gloves are done

Today, I completed the knitting of a pair of Nona's i-cord gloves for the Peaceful Palms KAL for the first time.



I say "for the first time", because I will be ripping the right glove back to the thumb gusset and reknitting. I didn't notice the 'knit 2 rows plain' in between the thumb gusset decreases, until I was knitting the gusset on the second glove. I have to fix this because 1) the gusset is too short and 2) the decreases laddered like crazy and 3) the second glove fits so much better!



What did I do different between the first and second glove?
- Beside knitting the thumb gusset as instructed?
- After attaching the pinky, I decreased 3 stitches across the top of the hand to hopefully eliminate the buckle that my first glove has.
- I knit the palms on three dpns. I found it much easier to avoid ladders than when using 2 circs. (or maybe it was just the quick decrease of the thumb gusset on glove #1 that caused the problems)

Would I knit them again?
You betcha. In fact, I am going to go reknit the palm of glove #1 right now. Well, as soon as I reach that sparkly thing down off the shelf for DD.

What would I do different?
I would make the fingers shorter. One thing I was unsure of when knitting these was whether to knit the fingers to the length of my finger measured from the palm side or the top of the hand side. I bet you never realized these lengths are different? I knit my fingers to the top of the hand length, because there is nothing worse than too short gloves. Except, perhaps, gloves that are too long.

Thanks again Nona, for a great (free) pattern, and a fun knitalong! I learned a lot from reading about everyone else's experiences!

The camera had a good time

The camera had a good time snowboarding. Here's the proof:



My daughter came downstairs this morning just in time for me to look up from the computer and see this beautiful sky:



I'm half way through the palm of the second glove. No SGS (second glove syndrome) here! Maybe there will be photos later today if I can get that second glove finished.

TGIF

No photos today as my camera is snowboarding. I hope it comes back with some great stories to tell!

I got the cutest knit card from my SP yesterday. Thanks SP! The card has knit socks on the front. Go check out this site if you need to add to your stash in a non-fibery way. (you know I am mailing my order today)

I'm still, still glovin' it! I wonder if Nona will give me credit for completing the peaceful palms KAL for my palmless gloves? I mean really, everyone else is making fingerless mitts, why not give me credit for completing the 10 fingers?!!

In all honesty, I am down to the cuff on the first glove. With any luck and lots of tv for the kids knitting time, I will be able to complete these for the 31st! I'm not really pressuring myself to do this, but I am challenging myself to focus on one project and bring it to completion.

Hurry!

Run on over to Alison's and sign up for the sockapalooza. There's just an hour left to sign up, as polls close at midnight eastern time (that's 9pm for those of us in the Pacific North Wet).

I'm (still) glovin' it

Current status of the gloves:



5 down, 5 to go

And I'm still glovin' it!

I'm gloving it

I signed up for the Peaceful Palms KAL back before the holidays. The thing that attracted me to the KAL was the fact that the deadline wasn't until the 31st of Jan. That gave me like 2 months to knit a pair of gloves. Now that the deadline is fast approaching, I finally cast on:



I'm using Nona's pattern in installments, and lovely koigu in a pretty blue-pink-salmon-turquoise shade. Gotta love that koigu!

Thank you, Secret Pal!

This is my first time doing the Secret Pal gift exchange, and can I just say, that I am really enjoying it! My secret pal just sent me a gift certificate to kpixie, probably because s/he knows that I am itching to get my hands on some Vesper sock yarn (after all, it is the year to buy lots of sock yarn of the sock). Thank you, Secret Pal!

In honor of, the year of the sock

In honor of this special year, I decided to spin some sock yarn. This is challenging in several ways, as it needs to be spun relatively even, relatively thin, and well, relatively sturdy. I purchased this roving at St. Distaff's:



It's 8oz. of hand-dyed Corriedale cross in a colorway that reminds me of strawberry fields: lovely chocolate brown, just-ripe strawberry red, and leafy green. With some guidance from my friend Barb on where to set my tension to get a really thin thread, I spun up about 2 oz. worth. I wanted to make sure that I could navajo ply without the thin thread breaking, otherwise I would switch to plan B while I still had enough roving.

The navajo ply is a 3-ply that allows you to keep the color sequence, and avoid the barberpole effect. It worked better than I imagined, and I came up with 91 yards of fingering weight yarn.



I am absolutely thrilled with this and will keep spinning away.

The Year of the Sock

Ooops, evidently, if you press the Enter key after typing your title, blogger will publish your blog entry. May be good to know for the future, but that was not my intention today.

Evidently, it is the year of the sock. Handknit socks, that is. The PurlingP's are hosting a KAL. All you have to do is knit a pair of socks, and send them a link to the post proving that you actually knit the pair (yep, gotta be a pair - no SSS allowed!) and your name gets put in a hat for a drawing! Ohhhh,prizes! We all love prizes!



Come one, come all, let's knit socks in 2006!

Silkworker

Inspired by an FT friend, I went upstairs to photograph my handspun yarn made from roving purchased from the silkworker. Carol Weymar does a lovely job of dyeing silk, as well as blending silk into romney wool batts. The wool/silk blend is what I ordered, in a vibrant colorway called "powerball". I was hoping this roving might make me lucky ;-)

Here's a photo of the yarn all spun up. There is no such thing as natural light in the Pacific Northwet, or maybe there is, but that light is gray. The best I could manage was to open up the Ott light and fire away. This photo is the closest to the beauty in real life:

The wool is a really deep navy, with shots of electric blue and purple silk shining brightly throughout. I haven't metered the yarn yet, but I am sure there is enough to make a lovely, drapey scarf.

SP7 Questionnaire

I signed up for SP7 - this is my first time doing a SP round! I hope that I don't get confused between my SP and the person I am supposed to be spoiling! That would be such a typical thing for me to do. So, as part of the SP7, there is a list of questions that I am supposed to answer so that my SP can get to know me better. Here's the list of questions and my answers:

1. Are you a yarn snob (do you prefer higher quality and/or natural fibers)? Do you avoid Red Heart and Lion Brand? yes, I prefer wool

edited later to add: I am not so much a name snob as I am a fiber snob. I won't snub a yarn because it has acrylic, or the name LB, after all, I knit for my kids (ok, so I handwash for them too), but I do tend to stay away from novelty yarns. When I say I knit scarves, they are of the thick, muffler type, or the lacey, intricate type, but RARELY of the eyelashy type.

2. Do you spin? Crochet? spin, yes; crochet, only when I need to (I have crocheted a sweater together instead of sewing it)

3. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in? My mother is an awesome spoiler, and she has gifted me with 3 fabric needlecases, one each for straights, circulars, and dpns.

4. How long have you been knitting? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced? advanced, 19 years

5. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list? no

6. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.) vanilla or lavendar

7. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy? oh yes :-) definitely chocolate

8. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? I used to scrapbook, but I find this takes away from my knitting time. I also like to spin.

9. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD) I'm such a follower when it comes to music. Don't laugh - I was always a top 40 kind of girl. Now they play those songs on the oldies station. I also like the music they play in spinning (exercise) class - basically anything with a fast beat that I can run to. Yes to MP3's.

10. What's your favorite color? Or--do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer? I look great in autumn colors and light, but not pastel, pink. Any colors you just can't stand? fuschia

11. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets? Married, 3 kids, 2 dogs

12. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos? yes, yes, yes, yes!

13. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? Anything from Blue Sky Alpaca: alpaca, cotton, alpaca/silk - love it all.

14. What fibers do you absolutely *not* like? mohair by itself makes me sneeze. Mohair blends are ok (like Brown Sheep)

15. What is/are your current knitting obsession/s? scarves and socks

16. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit? scarves and socks

17. What are you knitting right now? trying to finish the sleeves on a sweater and socks

18. Do you like to receive handmade gifts? LOVE to

19. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? They each have their place. I don't like long straights (like 14"), but short straights are perfect for scarves.

20. Bamboo, aluminum, plastic? prefer bamboo, but have used all

21. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift? yes

22. How did you learn to knit? from my German penpal

23. How old is your oldest UFO? going on 10 years

24. What is your favorite animated character or a favorite animal/bird? sheep or other fiber animals, labs and beagles

25. What is your favorite holiday? I like any reason to party!

26. Is there anything that you collect? knitting books, koigu, sheep knickknacks

27. What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have? Interweave Knits

28. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? Vesper sock yarn from kpixie; sock yarn from Sunshine Yarns

29. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn? Cat Bordhi's moebius cast on. I have the 2 treasury books, I just haven't made the time to try the technique.

30. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements? Yes. I will have to add this info later when I am near a measuring tape.

31. When is your birthday? (mm/dd) December 3rd.

32. Do you have any allergies? I have lactose intolerance, which means that I avoid milk products. The exception is chocolate. I mean, isn't chocoltae worth getting sick over?!!

St. Distaff's Day

The NWRSA (I believe it stands for Northwest Regional Spinners Assoc.) hosted a spin-in to celebrate St. Distaff's Day. This time last year, I was not a spinner.

I arrived early this morning to see that fellow FT and friend Barb had saved some seats, and we sat down to spin. At first, I thought it was a little odd that a high-school gymnasium was set up with a large oval of chairs. But spinners know how to make themselves comfortable, and it didn't take long before that entire oval was filled with more spinners than is possible to imagine. I wish I had taken a picture of the scene. Barb, if you have one, would you e-mail it to me?

This is what our little area looked like:

That's Barb and Tina there, and they sure were busy pimping promoting LisaS's great stuff. Barb in front is spinning the Emerald City BFL, and Tina was working on her Earth Birth merino. I forgot to bring my sunglasses. That stuff is so bright, and beautiful! Barb had also brought her Earth Birth (BFL, I think). It is interesting to see how the dye takes differently to the fibers. Another photo opp missed.

You can see up close in the front of the photo the "powerball" roving I was spinning from the silkworker. I did finish plying this project and it is currently hanging to dry. Photos will come, I promise.

Tomorrow should be another exciting day as Sam is hosting a knit-in because Liz is in town. I can't wait!

I'll leave you with one more picture - there is, occassionally, peace in the household:

Progress!

Remember my nightstand knitting list from December? Well, I can cross one off. The Regia socks from Angela are done, done, done! Finito! Photos to come, sooner or later.

I also picked up #4, the koigu t-shirt, and decided that it really needed long sleeves. This will be my new mindless knitting project. I will not cast on for another pair of socks until this is complete. I will be strong. Someone please help me be strong.

And remember the list of forgotten nightstand projects? I know what #2 is. It's a sweater I am knitting for DS#2 out of Rowan wool/cotton and the "square" pattern from Shadow Knitting. Now why didn't I remember this before casting on for his gansey? Why?

The good news is, that's it. I cleaned my room, and the nightstand list is complete. 7 projects, plus two that I forgot, makes 9 altogether. And on the dresser is a single project, an Opal sock, cast on so I could learn the Magic Loop. That's an even 10 WIPs. Now, I know myself too well to say that I will not cast on for any new projects until all 10 of these are complete, but I am definitely going to challenge myself to complete some of these projects this year. How is that for being noncommital?