Slacker

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Originally uploaded by ShelbyD

Totally missed two days of blogging. I have been sacking out early the last few nights. Here's the Biscuit, wanting to model her mitten when she saw me taking pictures of Greg's gloves.

Silver Pitcher

Silver plate pitcher
Originally uploaded by ShelbyD

This morning we walked around Main Street with our guests for a while, and stopped into an antiques shop we have not been in before. I was looking for something to hold my straight needles in, rather than having them tucked away in a plastic drawer. I fell hard for this artfully tarnished pitcher, silver plate over copper, for $10. Greg and I are talking about rearranging the office to set up a dedicated knitting area for me, and this will go on my craft table when I have one.

Done Bespeaking

Bespoke gloves
Originally uploaded by ShelbyD

Gloves are finished! I finished knitting last night and wove in the ends this morning while we were out to breakfast with our guests. They are reportedly very warm.

Sebastian Featherstone III

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Originally uploaded by ShelbyD

Ellie had a Family Turkey project this week, in which she was to work with family members to decorate a turkey cutout and come up with an interesting name. This afternoon she colored it, pasted felt onto the stomach, and decorated it with stickers, and I knitted wings and a neck that she helped me to paste on and secure on the pack of the piece with tape. We topped it off with some sunglasses, a button from my stash. Greg and his parents helped us to decide on the name. Ellie says he's wearing the sunglasses because he's from California, like her.

Achtung

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Originally uploaded by ShelbyD

Beware the seven-needled WIP. Do not fold, crush, spindle, or sit upon.

Inbound Inlaws

Greg is at the airport right now waiting for his mom and her husband to land. They will be here until Saturday afternoon. Greg's taking the rest of the week off and we are keeping the Biscuit home from daycare to get extra spoilage from the grandparents. Ellie will be going to school but she gets out early enough in the day that there is still plenty of time to enjoy the family. I'm taking off Thursday and Friday. Not sure what we're all going to do, but there will most likely be quite a bit of talking/knitting time. Maybe I'll get to finish this second glove.

McGlovin

After tonight's session of bedtime knitting, I am just past the thumb gusset on the second of Greg's cashmere gloves. Since the first glove took less then a full skein, I am going to have an extra skein of the yarn left over. Not sure what I'll end up doing with it.

I need to dig up some stash to make myself some mittens. Our last few days of nice weather were a momentary respite from the advent of winter chill and I will be the last one in the family to have some hand coverings. I also need to decide pretty soon if there are any more gifts I want to knit for the holidays.

Can't blog, gotta watch Mad Men. What will happen?

Fastest Knitter in Indiana Contest

My local yarn store, Stitches and Scones is Westfield, is sponsoring a free, fun contest next week. Their announcement is below:

___________________

"Fastest Knitter in Indiana Contest
at Stitches & Scones

Adult Winner $225 Gift Card

Adult Heat Times:
Tuesday, November 10th at 12 PM
Thursday, November 12th at 6 PM
Saturday, November 14th at 1 PM

Youth Winner $75 Gift Card
Under 18 Youth Heat Times:
Tuesday, November 10th at 4 PM
Thursday, November 12th at 7 PM
Saturday, November 14th at 11 AM

Pre-registration is not necessary, but the first 50 participants to register will receive a commemorative item.There will be one winner for adult and one for youth categories.
Bring size 8 US needle with you and we will provide the yarn. Each heat is 3 minutes and garter stitch will be used.

Join in the fun, call 317-896-4411."

________

It should be really fun, and that is an awesome prize!

Naturally Simple

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Originally uploaded by ShelbyD

This is a partial view of a Simple Yet Effective shawl I recently made from Wisdom Poems Sock.

Sit and Knit

Since shortly after we moved here in June, Thursday night has been my knitting night out. Greg and the girls hang out for the evening and I get to go up to Stitches and have a few hours to knit and shop and chat with the other knitters. Tonight I took the second glove to work on, but neglected to bring the pattern with me, so after the cuff I had to set it aside in favor of the wrap in progress that was also in my bag. During the course of the evening I was helping someone who has not knitted in a while to start a felted bag and having the long knit rows of the wrap to work on and demonstrate with was helpful as well.

Citrus Palms

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Originally uploaded by ShelbyD

Small hands make for fast mittens. Here is the Biscuit wearing her new handgear this evening. Now to get back to glovemaking.

Lil Mitten

Started working on B's mittens tonight while putting her to bed. They will mostly match a hat I made her recently. I am holding together a strand of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in a yellow-pink colorway and a strand of gold Encore. The Encore is left over from a House Scarf I made for E, which was part of her Hermione Granger Halloween costume last weekend. The hat that goes with these mittens also had a strand of the LL, but was held together with some doubled Alpaca with a Twist Socrates that is pretty much the same color as the Encore. I likely have enough Socrates left to have used that for the mittens, but thought that something washable was a better idea. I should be able to make some good progress while I watch a Netflik with Greg.

Bespoke

A while back Greg decided that he would like for me to knit him some fine gauge cashmere gloves. He came into the yarn shop one day while I was working and pointed out some light Ecco Cashmere that he thought would make good gloves and kept dropping good-natured hints that were anything but veiled. "So.....where are my gloves?"

I looked all over Ravelry for a men's glove pattern and had some trouble finding something basic, decently manly, that wasn't fingerless and would work in a fine gauge. I ended up buying Ann Budd's Handy Book of Knitting Patterns, which has recipes for several types of basic knitted items in various sizes and gauges, including a glove pattern. The Ecco is laceweight, so I am holding it double to get eight stitches per inch on a size 1 needle. I finished the first glove yesterday and cast on the second this evening. Greg has been getting frequent fittings and is quite pleased.

I hope to finish up the pair soon, so I can get going on some winter gloves for me and some mittens for the Biscuit. The little mittens might sneak into the rotation before the gloves are done. It's getting cold and her teeny fingers don't hold much heat.

Thar She NaBloPoMos

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Originally uploaded by ShelbyD

I enjoyed blogging each day the last time I participated in National Blog Posting Month and thought I would give it another go this year. Not as ambitious as a novel in 30 days, but still fun.

I don't know why, but November tends to sneak up on me. I am aware of Halloween coming up, and getting costumes ready and trick or treating, and then when the next day it's November I am invariably a bit surprised.

Knitting content: The Mochi Plus pictured here is already a skein and change into becoming an asymmetrical wrap. I stopped into the shop on the way back from buying pumpkins with the family last weekend and picked it up to try out an idea. I liked the Mini Mochi quite a bit when I worked with it and wanted to try the heavier weight for this new pattern. So far it is working out well.

Knitting for the Cure - Lynn's Ribbon Socks

This month I designed a sock pattern in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The twist pattern is inspired by the pink ribbons worn to promote awareness. It is named in memory of one of my college professors.

The pattern is available on Ravelry (Rav link) for $3.oo, and $1 from each sale of the pattern will be donated to cancer research. Buy now from Ravelry.

The sock is constructed from the top down with a heel flap and six gore toe. Any fingering weight sock yarn is suitable. Gauge is 7 stitches per inch in stockinette stitch. The pictured pair was knit from hand-dyed Kraemer Jeannie on size 1.5 needles.

Knit Pink!

UFO sighting

September has kind of gotten away from me. I set myself some goals for the month in the Ravelry Stash Knit Down group. Also, the shop knitters challenged each other to work on unfinished projects during this month, and I played along. I did have to cast on for a pair of socks yesterday, but I had two good reasons - I was heading to a party and didn't have anything portable, and it is the September pair of my personal sock club. I am making another pair of Waimanalo socks out of some ancient Jawoll jacquard from my stash.

For the UFO/goal progress

• I am done with the main section of the shawl design I'm working on and am ready to start knitting on the border. I had to order a third skein of Jitterbug to do the border - it has arrived and is wound and ready.
• I knitted a top-down raglan for E with some simple cables along the top of each sleeve and from the underarm to the lower ribbing. It fits her well and will be warm. Her verdict? "Itchy."
• I finished the Gryffindor scarf, also for E, which she loves. It will be part of her Halloween costume and also be used for everyday once it gets cold.
• I knit more than 10 rows on my sock yarn scrap blanket
• I'm on to the second sleeve of my Radiate sweater. I've also woven in most of the ends. Need to finish this so I can cast on for something new AND recover my favorite hat needle that is currently being used for the sleeve. I can't work on it for too long at a stretch or it aggravates my right arm.
• One more stash down goal is to start a fall wrap from some Cascade 220 superwash I have left over from the Amelia sweater. The yarn is wound but I haven't started yet. I am making myself finish the knitting on Radiate first. (Buttons don't count.)

I have several planned projects in the pipeline as well, including Amused sweater for me, gloves for Greg, mittens and a Hermione hat to go with E's house scarf. Haven't even thought about Christmas gifts yet. Lalalalala, I can't hear you, approach of Christmas.

Askance Cowl Pattern

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Originally uploaded by ShelbyD

Reversible diagonal ribbing is easy to memorize and shows off hand-painted or variegated yarn. Only requires one skein of something you want to snuggle near your neck.

Materials
Manos del Uruguay Silk Blend (30% silk, 70% Merino Extrafine Wool), 1 skein (150 yards)
16 inch circular needle, size 7 (or size needed to obtain gauge
Stitch marker
Tapestry needle

Gauge: 18 stitches in 4 inches in k3,p3 ribbing. Gauge is not crucial.

Circumference: 24 inches (Note: To adjust circumference to suit, you can cast on more or fewer stiches in multiples of 6)
Height: 6.5 inches

Pattern

CO 108.

Place marker to note beginning of round. Join to work in the round, being careful not to twist.

Work 3 rows k3, p3 ribbing.

Row 1: P1, k3, *p3, k3*, repeat between * to last 2 stitches, p2
Row 2: Repeat row 1
Row 3: P2, k3, *p3, k3* repeat between *to last stitch, p1
Row 4: Repeat row 3
Row 5: *P3, k3*, repeat between *to end of round
Row 6: Repeat row 5
Row 7: K1, p3, *k3,p3*, repeat between * to last 2 stitches, k2
Row 8: Repeat row 7
Row 9: K2, p3, *k3, p3*, repeat between * to last stitch, k1
Row 10: Repeat row 9
Row 11: *K3, p3*, repeat between * to end of round
Row 12: Repeat row 11

Repeat these 12 rows until piece is 6 inches or one half inch shorter than desired height, ending with an even row.

Work 3 rows of the next odd row. For example, if you end the body of the piece at row 6, you would work row 7 three times before binding off.

Bind off all stitches. Weave in ends.

Radiate

Radiate
Originally uploaded by ShelbyD

I've decided that I need to make more sweaters. After all, how many scarfy things and socks does a girl really need? (Answer: More.) And Indiana has a proper winter, unlike Ventura County, where winter means it's a good idea to bring a coat for about seven weeks or so, but if you just have a sweater on it's not like you'll die. So I figure it would be prudent to have some layering options for under my walrus skin parka or whatever I end up wearing in the icy months.

Last night I cast on for a Radiate sweater from Knitty. I'm glad for the finished object photos on Ravelry, because the pictures with the pattern aren't necessarily the best. I bought this yarn, a Berocco cotton blend, with the intention of making a Mr Greenjeans sweater out of it, but I think that pattern would look better in something wooly to have better definition on the cables. I'm also thinking that the Greenjeans may accentuate my shortwaistedness.

It's Thursday again, which means knit night at Stitches and Scones - yay! It's great to have found such a welcoming bunch of knitters. Last Thursday I got there and pulled out my sock in progress only to discover that I was missing a dpn. It later turned up, broken, in the garage. Must have dropped it on the way out. The other project in my bag was on 14 inch needles, which is is a little awkward while sitting close to others. I had been reading on Ravelry about working socks on one small circular needle and thought I'd give it a shot. I bought a size 1 Hiya Hiya 9 inch needle and transferred the sock to it. It's tiny! It took me a few inches before I stopped feeling like I had giganto hands. I used dpns for working the heel and picking up the gusset stitches, as well as for the last few rows of the toe. It's nice not having to change needles as I'm working around the sock. I did realize how much I used the dpns for knowing where I am, though, like decreasing for the gusset stitches one stitch away from the end of the needle. When there's no end of the needle, the autopilot hiccups a bit. Using the circular also gave me a chance to try out some recently purchased pretty little stitch markers for small needles. I'm on to the second sock of the pair and am continuing the single small circular experiment.

That Girl is Poison(ed)

I never want to work in the yard again. The one time I get ambitious and do a bit of pruning, I also manage to find the poison ivy lurking in the greenbelt. Since I'd never had it before, it took about a week for me to start breaking out, but it turns out that I am a delicate flower when it comes to poison ivy. A pudgy, cranky, delicate flower. I had blisters all over, one completely raw shoulder, and developed a charming little skin infection. My right arm swelled up such that I couldn't knit for four days. Even though I am now much better, my arms still look like I lost a fight with a badger.

I've got the beginnings of a sock to prove I'm on the mend. It's the August selection from my personal sock club. The pattern is Sunshine Socks and I'm using some KnitPicks Bare that I dyed a while back. I charted out the pattern for myself to make it easier to keep on track.