Lots of Knitting, No Blogging

Check it out - my secret pal ROCKS!!!! Do you see that adorable newborn cap??? And superwash sock yarn! Score! She also sent a really cute little stitch holder shaped like a piece of cherry pie, some sock patterns, a cute sheep card and some chocolate. What? You don't see the chocolate in the picture??? Oh... need I remind you that I'm pregnant???

Thank you so much, secret pal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Time flies when you're knitting, I suppose! I have GOBS of FOs to show! Are the Most Boring Socks one of those FOs? Of course not. I've made no progress on them. I need a break. I'll get back to them soon. For now, I'm on a stash clearing mission:

1.) A baby cardigan from Debbie Bliss' Baby Knits Book using Lion Brand Cotton-Ease. I hate the buttons. I can't decide if I'm willing to take them off and put new ones on.
2.) A cardigan from Debbie Bliss' Special Knits book using Debbie Bliss wool/cotton from my stash. The sweater needs buttons but is otherwise completed. I loved this pattern. I think I'll make more. The gauge is perfect for Knit Picks Shine Sport. I don't really care for this yarn but it's been sitting in my stash for 2 years. What else could I do with 3 balls of it? I still have some left over so I might try to squeeze a pair of booties out of it.

3.) A baby raglan sweater from Debbie Bliss' Baby Knits Book in Lion Brand Cotton-Ease. I was going through LOTS of Cotton-Ease last week. I'm almost out. I might check out eBay to see if I can find more.

4.) My current baby project is a hooded kaftan from Debbie Bliss' Special Knits book. It has embroidery on it but I think I'll skip it because I don't think it would look so good with this yarn. The yarn is Plymouth Encore DK in a brown heather. I have 6 balls of this and have not been able to find a use for it. I think I'll try to get some baby sweaters out of it since it is machine washable/dryable.

5.) Finished seed stitch hoodie from Phildar Layette. Remember when I started this last spring? I wanted the needles back so I just finished it. I still have one of these Phildar hoodies on needles. I'll get to that soon. :-)

Knit Picks Offers Needles Now!

Check it out - Knit Picks is selling their own line of needles (interchangeables, DPNs and regular circulars)! AND THEY'RE CHEAP!!!! Yay! I've been putting off a Knit Picks order for a few weeks. This might be what pushes me over the edge! Unfortunately, the sock yarn I want will not be in until the end of the month so I probably will not place an order until then. But hey, spread the word - CHEAP NEEDLES!

I finished the sock yesterday - pictures to come this evening or tomorrow. I cast off with a sz 4 needle and it was too big so I'm going to pick up those stitches and bind off again with a 2. Otherwise, it fits well. Now, it's off to sock #2! I must force myself to start the second sock!

Progress Report on REALLY Boring Socks

Sock knitters beware: the photos below depict the most boring sock pattern ever!!!! It's killing me. I'm several inches away from the top of Aaron's sock. I'm doing a 3 x 1 rib up from the ankle. It's hard to see the ribbing but you'll see it more clearly when I post an FO picture with Aaron wearing them! I hope will fit around his leg. The DPNs make it impossible for him to try it on. I suppose I could take out the DPNs, string it on a piece of scrap yarn and then have him try it on but I've just decided I'll frog it a few inches if necessary. At least I made it to the ankle. Why do men have such long feet??? Ugh - it took forever!




I fit in lots of knitting this week because I was really tired and spent much of my free time on the couch. It must have been a baby growth spurt! I've posted more recent belly pictures over on my Flickr account, in case you're interested. There are only about 8 weeks left. I've been having little discussions with the kid about how it should really come in about 5 weeks but I don't know if it's getting the message.

Speaking of baby arrivals, go congratulate Cari on the birth of the long awaited Thumper!!!!

Finally, I'll leave you with a picture of Jacques asleep on the couch. This dog sleeps on his back with all four paws in the air and his mouth open. I think he's actually drooling in this picture. He is such an old man dog. *sigh*.

Celebrate an FO with What? A New Project?

The Spring Grass Socks are DONE! Check them out! See? I told you I would not post again until I had a finished work to show for myself! I still need to weave in the ends but that's it. They're a bit too short on me but they'll fit my mom. I will have to explain to her that hand-knit cotton socks are not as stretchy as mass produced socks. I think she will have trouble getting used to that but like I said before, this wouldn't be an issue if she weren't allergic to wool!

I really loved this pattern. It wasn't until I started the second sock that I was finally able to memorize the pattern. It was quite simple once I got it but it took me a while. I think I will knit this pattern again but I will definitely use wool to improve the stretchiness. I also want to try out one of Craftaholic's other patterns - Orchid Socks. Since the pattern requires shifting stitches around a little bit, I think I'll wait until I have a long circular free. I cannot stand moving stitches around on DPNs. It offends my sense of symmetry in addition to being a royal pain!

Because I've decided this must be the Summer of Socks, I've started a new pair with some of the Fortissima that I just received in the mail. These are plain, toe-up socks (using this toe-up tutorial) for my husband. I've used the remnants of the Spring Grass socks as contrast yarn. While I am 100% in love with toe-up socks, I must say that I definitely prefer the fit of the top-down heels. We'll see what Aaron thinks of the heel.

Finally, I was wondering if you bloggers have a preference about extra short sock/mitten DPNs. I bought 5" Inox sz 0 DPNs for the Spring Grass socks but I would like some even smaller. Do they exist in metal? No bamboo/birch DPNs below sz 4 - I snap them like twigs! I'm working on 7" sz 1 DPNs for Aaron's sock but I'd love to find some really short ones. I'm not sure 5" is short enough to warrant buying new sets of needles. Can you get 4" needles? Anybody? I would love to hear about what you sock/mitten knitters use!

Three posts in three days... can you tell I'm on vacation?

Yes, a break from graduate school for me means lots of knitting, reading, lounging around by the pool and blogging. While I am taking a morning class this summer, I am mostly looking for ways to distract myself from the uncomfortable aspects of the third trimester of pregnancy, best described in Cari's latest post.

I promised finished objects to come and so here is my finished Spring Grass sock from Craftaholic's pattern! As you may recall, I frogged down to near the ankle after finishing the sock and realizing it was too difficult to put on. This time, I added a total of 8 stitches on the way up in two separate increase rows. The sock goes on much easier but I still will lament the lack of stretchiness of cotton sock yarn. I dislike how the sock does not keep its shape well after trying it on. I had to wash it to get it to return to its original shape. I've never been able to avoid this problem when knitting cotton socks - any readers care to comment??? I would love some advice. In the end, I feel like the lack of stretchiness is something my mom will have to live with as penance for having a wool allergy!!

I will start in on the second sock this evening, in a vain attempt to avoid Second Sock Syndrome! More on that later this week...

CHEAP Fortissima Cotton Sock Yarn

I fell off the wagon on my seven month yarn diet this evening. In fact, I'd been planning to break down to buy yarn for some necessary projects. In any case, I found that Unwind Yarn is selling Fortissima Cotton sock yarn in a few solid colors at closeout: $2.50/ball! It retails for $7-8/ball and you generally need two balls for a pair of socks. Have at it, fellow bloggers! I just bought 6 balls of my own. Ahhh... it felt so good to buy yarn!!!

Titles!

Yes, blog readers, I've discovered entry titles. I've not investigated many of the Blogger settings but this was one I'm glad I found. It will make archiving easier, I suspect!

There has been LOTS of knitting in the exercisebeforeknitting household lately... unfortunately, there has been almost an equal amount of frogging. *sigh* While blogsurfing the other day, I noticed that Diana is working the same socks in an absolutely beautiful poppy color - go check out her pics! Her blog entry makes me want to start a new pair in red!!!

I finished one of socks, knit about an inch of 2x2 ribbing on the cuff and bound off with size 4 needles (recall, this is the size 0 needle sock). The sock fits perfectly once it's on, but getting the sock on is quite a production. Alas! Cotton sock yarn has no stretch! I prefer knitting wool socks because of the ease but I intended to make these for my mom, who has a wool allergy. The result? I frogged the sock down to about an inch above the ankle and I'm working in some increases on the way up the leg. I *really* hope the increases will solve the problem because once the socks are on, they're great. My mom will not be one to tug her socks on so this had better work!
Also, I've added about two feet to my mini clapotis. I'm about halfway through and already tired of the pattern so I plan on a few marathon sessions with it to finish. This is not a project I want hanging on my needles for very long. Besides, I need to free up those particular needles so that I can finish the brown baby sweater I wrote about last week.
Stay tuned for FINISHED OBJECTS! :-)

Well, I'm BACK! After 8 days of visiting family and 4 days of driving, I am *so* happy to be home. It was so hard to maintain a vegan diet with my family that eats out all the time and my dad who doesn't recognize vegetables. Often times, while we were on the Cape, the best I could do was a garden salad with iceberg lettuce. In the end, I caved. I consumed dairy products and dealt with the stomach ache. I'm sure I was a *wonderful* travel companion... Needless to say, I hit the grocery store as soon as we came home and made a huge vegan, vegetable-filled meal. It was wonderful. The Cape was the only real problem. I had a great time when we stayed with my aunt and uncle in Boston. I wish we could have only gone to Boston and avoided Cape Cod altogether!

I didn't really get much knitting done, in spite of the fact that we spent four full days in the car. It was hot and I was cranky - those are not good knitting conditions! I was also disappointed to realize that the day I had planned to stop by WEBS was a Sunday and the store was closed. Argh! If only we had arrived in Massachusetts a few hours earlier - I could have hit their tent sale! Oh well - my bank account was saved.

I've been assessing my UFOs and I realize that I simply must finish something soon! I cannot stand having this many ongoing projects! Here's the inventory:

Remember this tank? Well, the neck is too small. I didn't realize it until after I sewed the shoulders together. I was so frustrated by this neckline that I put the project down. I am committed to finishing it this summer if it kills me.



A few weeks ago, I picked up some Elann.com Peruvian Sierra Aran for $0.25/ball at a yard sale. I've turned it into my favorite baby hoodie. It's a garter stitch pattern from Phildar. I'm woriking on the sleeves and then the hood will be the only remaining piece. Please excuse its wrinkled appearance. It was folded up in my knitting bag.

Here is a second hoodie that I started about two months ago. It uses the same pattern but the knitting is slower because I'm knitting it in seed stitch instead of garter stitch with Lion Brand Cotton-Ease in white.








Next, I have a mini clapotis going using some cheap, washable cotton from TLC. I usually dislike Red Heart-like yarn but TLC makes a really good cotton called TLC Cotton Plus that feels great and is both washable and cheap. It's not as nice as Lion Brand Cotton-Ease but I prefer how it knits up.






Finally, SOCKS! Remember how I said I was craving knit socks? After a day of knitting socks in the car, I'm not really craving knit socks any more! I'll finish these over the summer but it might take me all summer. It's a nice pattern but I can't seem to memorize it so I have to carry a card around with me with the basic openwork instructions.

I realize my postings have been few and far between but since it was the end of my semester, I had no time for knitting. I handed in my last paper today. My incentive for finishing? Sock yarn. I had to bribe myself with yarn to do my graduate work. People, this is a new all-time low. *sigh*

I haven't had a single pregnancy-related food craving but I wonder if my sudden desire to knit up a pair of socks on size 0s is hormonal - surely, I wouldn't be crazy enough to do it if I were of sound mind and body. Since we're off tomorrow a.m. on a 27-hour drive to visit my parents, brother and extended family in Massachusetts, I'm not worried about coming down with Second Sock Syndrome. My goal is to have a pair of socks made for my mom by the time we have to return. I'm using this pattern with Fortissima Cotton on size 0 DPNs. I'm bringing my camera on the trip so I'll snap a few pictures before I part with the socks. I may even be able to update the blog while I'm at home - we'll see.

I have no other knitting progress to report. Things are pretty much came to a grinding halt a few weeks ago so I hope to finish the little Phildar hoodie in white cotton and another in Peruvian Collection Sierra Aran. I meant to add that I found 12 balls of Elann's Peruvian collection at a garage sale a few weeks ago for $0.25/ball. Score. That officially broke my yarn diet of 6 months! I'm still proud I made it that long. I anticipate buying more yarn because I'm stopping in Amherst, MA to see my little brother and WEBS is just down the road. I've always wanted to check that place out...

I might check out other yarn stores in the Boston area but mostly, I'm bringing projects from my stash. It's a good thing I can knit. Otherwise, I can't imagine how much it would suck to be in a car with 2 stinky dogs and no AC at 27 weeks pregnant... :-) Wish me luck.

SECRET PAL QUESTIONS

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?

I’m not really too picky about yarn. I like just about everything but old school Red Heart. Lately, I’ve been making lots of socks and baby stuff so washable yarn is GREAT. I was depressed when Lion Brand discontinued Cotton-Ease – that was a great washable cotton. I’ve been knitting a bunch with Knit Picks yarn – that’s some of my favorite stuff too.

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?

Several colored vases. I’m not very good about putting needles back into a case so the vases are easier for me.

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

Six years. Intermediate to advanced.

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?

Yes. An Amazon and Knit Picks wish lists. If you want the KP one, I'll have to email it to you. They aren't as sophisticated as Amazon.

5. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.)

I’m actually allergic to some body care products. As for scents, I like subtle ones.

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?

Are you kidding? I'm pregnant! Twizzlers. Or anything with dark chocolate. I'm vegan so I don't eat dairy products. It's not an ethical thing - I'm just a vegetarian with a dairy allergy.

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?

I sew out of necessity but that is all.

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)

Yes, I can play mp3s. I like everything but country.

9. What's your favorite color? Or--do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer? Any colors you just can't stand?

I don’t really have a favorite color. I love bright colors. I don’t really care for variegated yarn but that’s my only real color preference.

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?

I am married with 2 dogs and a baby due in August.

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?

Scarves, hats and mittens but no ponchos.

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?

It varies seasonally. In the warmer mos, I knit more baby stuff. When it gets cool, I pull out socks and mittens and sweaters.

13. What are you knitting right now?

Socks and baby sweaters.

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?

You bet!

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?

I prefer straight needles but I use circs all the time too. My needles are either wood or plastic – I lose stitches on metal needles.

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?
Nope.

17. How did you learn to knit?

My brother taught me.

18. How old is your oldest UFO?

First of all, I’m defining UFO as a project I still intend to finish… so by that definition, I’d say 6 mos.

19. What is your favorite holiday?

Fourth of July. I love summer and summer tomatoes!

20. Is there anything that you collect?

Other than yarn? Nope. I’m actively trying to clear out my house of junk. My husband is a pack rat. He’s the collector.

21. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?

I love all the Phildar magazines but they’re hard to get unless you order them directly, which I do once a year, maybe. I could knit Knit Picks Shine yarn from now until the end of time. I’ve thought about getting the latest Nancy Bush sock book because I love Folk Socks. I haven’t yet because I feel guilty buying it when there are more socks I want to make from Folk Socks. For the last year, I’ve been on a major stash diet (haven’t bought yarn or books since Xmas) so I covet just about anything at this point! J

22. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?
I’d like to learn to steek but I’m way to chicken now. I have a Latvian Mitten book that I’ve been meaning to try out too. I love fair isle mittens.

23. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?
You bet. Ankle: 7.75". Heel - toe: 9.5"

24. When is your birthday? (mm/dd)

December 3.