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November Knitting Wrap-up

Posted on 7 December 2009
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November is gone and it’s time to update on the knitting resolutions.

3. Knit one pair of socks per month

Socks Plain Old Socks
Pattern: None – plain Stockinette socks
Designer: Me?
Needles: US 1 (2.25mm)
Yarn: My Handspun from dkKnits Superfluff roving in, “Shooting Star”
-Ravelry Project Link-
I had so much fun spinning up the yarn and then knitting the socks.  The yarn is a basic fingering weight yarn that was spun on my SpinOlution Mach I and then navajo plied.  I broke the yarn at the heel and started from the other end of the ball so that the color progressions on the leg and instep would be continuous.  Yeah, it’s a few more ends to weave in, but.  Look at that!  Becky always does such a fabulous job with colors.

4. Spin four ounces of roving per month.
See above – the yarn was finished spinning about mid month.  Then it jumped in front of everything and decided to become socks.

 2. Knit two sweaters this year.
Still working on this. I really hope to be done with the second by the end of the month, but I’m just not sure that will happen.

I’m really looking forward to January so that I can post a big follow-up to this year’s resolutions and set another batch for next year. There are going to be some good ones, I can just feel it. Also looking forward to lining up all 12 photos of socks from this year and patting myself on the back a whole bunch of times. Speaking of which, I should probably start the pair for this month, huh?

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October Knitting Wrap-up

Posted on 2 November 2009
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It’s that time once again.  This month absolutely FLEW by, so it’s time once again to update progress on my knitting resolutions.

3. Knit one pair of socks per month

DSC_6369 Thrilling Jaywalkers
Pattern: Jaywalker
Designer: Grumperina
Needles: US 1 (2.25mm)
Yarn: Wollmeise Sockenwolle 100% superwash in colorway, “Thriller”
-Ravelry Project Link-
This project is part of Socktoberfest, a celebration of knitting socks in October.  I managed to knit up four whole pairs of socks for Socktoberfest, but these are definitely my favorites.  Squishy and BRIGHT, plus the colors are just perfect for Halloween.  These are modeled by Abbie at the Fonthill Castle.

4. Spin four ounces of roving per month.
This just didn’t happen.  I maybe got in about an ounce, but I spent the whole month knitting socks and really doing nothing much else.

That’s really it for the knitting resolutions this month.  I’ll put together a post later this week going over all the Socktoberfest knitting!

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September Knitting Wrap-up

Posted on 1 October 2009
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YES!  September is already over – can you even believe it?  The weather got cool so quickly, I feel like fall just came around and slapped me in the face with a wet trout.  Or assaulted me with acorns.  No wait, that was the squirrels.  Anyway, on to the knitting!

Just going back, again, to the Knitting Resolutions.

3. Knit one pair of socks per month

DSC_5265 Twisted Flower Socks
Pattern: Twisted Flower Sock
Designer: Cookie A.
Needles: US 1.5 (2.5mm)
Yarn: Madelinetosh Tosh Sock
-Ravelry Project Link-

Still going strong on the one pair per month goal. These were rather challenging in that there were a lot of twisted stitches, cables, and I had to pay attention on every row, but the result is a gorgeous pair of socks that I’m proud to have conquered. These came together in a trip to Loop in Philadelphia, on a whim, and just ended up being the pair-of-the-month. Dear friend Abbie graciously modelled them for me.


4. Spin four ounces of roving per month.

I got this one too! That is some lovely alpaca from dkKnits in the colorway, “Wheat Fields” and I’m just dying over how soft it is. This is the first time I’ve spun alpaca and it was like butter through the fingers – a very enjoyable spin! We came out to 400 yards from the 4oz of fiber which makes it fingering weight. Not sure what this will become just yet, but I’m sure it’ll let me know someday. DSC_5401


2. Knit two sweaters this year.

DSC_5444 Wicked Sweater
Pattern: Wicked!
Designer: Sarah & Rachel
Needles: US 6 (4mm)
Yarn: dkKnits extrafine superwash merino squish
-Ravelry Project Link-

IT’S DONE! One sweater down and one to go. This blocked out perfectly and the color is just spectacular – it looks much more incredible in person. The yarn is soft and squishy and really easy to work with, not to mention, again, the incredible custom dye job that Becky put together for me. I’ll probably be wearing this to Rhinebeck, so if you see me, come say hello!

To wrap this all up, Socktoberfest begins today and I’m all prepared to cast on for a mystery sock.  There are four total socks that I’ll be doing this socktoberfest, so wish me luck!

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August Knitting Wrap-up

Posted on 2 September 2009
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I’m actually on time!  Back again to the Knitting Resolutions..

3. Knit one pair of socks per month

DSC_3981 >Handspun Wanida
Pattern: Wanida
Designer: Cookie A.
Needles: US 1 (2.25mm)
Yarn: My own Handspun
-Ravelry Project Link-

I’m fiercely proud of these.  The handspun is a superwash BFL by Twisted Fiber Art that I spun as part of Tour de Fleece.  It knitted up and wears absolutely beautifully.  Even though there’s a jog in the color change for the heel, I still like how they came out and worked with the pattern.  Knitted up quick and those colors are just spectacular!

4. Spin four ounces of roving per month.
We gots your spunroving right here. This is 632 yards of fingering weight yarn that was started during Tour de Fleece and finished up in August. When I realized I had 632 yards, I figured it was way more than 4 ounces to begin with, so I’m saying it’ll count for August. It’s navajo plied and is a merino roving that was found at Maryland Sheep & Wool festival this year. We had a dye day not too long ago and I dyed this at the event. Love the way it came out and now I have to find something that will use the whole batch of yarn.
DSC_5174

Still making progress on that sweater, but as the year is already half-over, I’m not sure if I’ll actually complete all my resolutions and goals.  Well, there’s always next year, right?

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June and July Knitting Wrap-up

Posted on 13 August 2009
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I guess this is becoming a bi-monthly thing instead of a monthly update.  We’ll re-visit the Knitting Resolutions.

3. Knit one pair of socks per month
Did it again. Seven pairs so far (well Eight if you count the ones I’ve already finished for August), and I can’t wait to get to December and post all twelve of them in one big post.

DSC_3970 DSC_3964
Rare Monkey Gems Jupiter Lava Socks
Pattern: Monkey Pattern: Hey Jupiter
Designer: Cookie A. Designer: Liz Abinante
Needles:  US 1 1/2 (2.5mm) Needles: US 1 (2.25mm)
Yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock Lightweight – Rare Gems Yarn: dkKnits Technicolor Smoosh Toes
-Ravelry Project Link- -Ravelry Project Link-
These knitted up in FOUR DAYS.  Four days.  I had the pattern memorized after one repeat and it was so simple yet beautiful, I’m positive these won’t be my last monkey socks.  The rare gems came from Rhinebeck last year and I just LOVE how the colors pooled up. This was the sock of the month from Yarn4Socks.  After a false start (too tight to fit over my heel), I added four stitches in and they worked out perfectly.  I did an extra repeat on the leg since there was plenty of yarn.  The color is FANTASTIC and the pattern was super fun to knit.

4. Spin four ounces of roving per month.
Well I got eight ounces in one month? Does that count? I decided to go ahead and put away the knitting for a month and spin along with Tour de Fleece, a yearly spinning event that takes place during the Tour de France. Well I spun my little feet off and ended up with two finished skeins and one half-spun chunk of roving.

DSC_3403 This merino/tussah roving was from dkKnits and is spun up to laceweight, 789 yards.  I think maybe this is why I only completed two skeins during Tour de Fleece!  It spun up delightfully soft and squishy and I just love how the colors came out.
DSC_3401 This is a roving from Twisted Fiber Art and is the Brilliant Roving (superwash BFL) in the colorway, Blaze.  It spun up to fingering weight and came out to 420 yards.  I’ve already knitted up a pair of socks with this and they are AWESOME if I do say so myself.  An absolute delight to spin and knit, definitely a roving I’ll be working with again.

And I think that’s about it.  I haven’t really made any more progress on the other goals, and should probably get started on that considering the year is well over half done.   :)

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April and May wrap-up

Posted on 4 June 2009
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Hah, I knew at one point during the year, I’d miss a month or get lazy or even give up completely on the resolutions.  So far, though, doing okay, and still chugging along.

Going back in time to January again for the knitting resolutions..

2. Knit two sweaters this year
Started one. It’s tough knitting a sweater in the summer. I had a big rush of excitement when I started, gushing over the gorgeous color, dyed by Becky of dkKnits and then set it aside about 30% of the way down the body to do socks and lace and other fun summer type projects.

3. Knit one pair of socks per month
Got both of those!

IMG_3881 DSC_1344_edit
April – Blue Angee Socks May – Twisted Devon Socks
Pattern: Angee Pattern: Devon
Designer: Cookie A. Designer: Cookie A.
Needles: US 1½ / 2.5 mm Needles: US 1½ / 2.5 mm
Yarn: Malabrigo Yarn Sock, colorway, “Impressionist Sky” Yarn: Twisted Fiber Art Kabam! in colorway, “Terrain”
-Ravelry Project Link- -Ravelry Project Link-
These were finished just in time to go to Stitch n’ Pitch with the Phillies.  Sadly, we were soundly beaten by the Nationals, but the socks told me that they didn’t mind.  The pattern is from Cookie A’s new book, Sock Innovation, and I’m absolutely in love with all of the patterns.  This one was pretty simple, but with a great effect.  And the yarn!  There’s a reason why we call it MMMmmmmmmalabrigo.  Squishy, Yum. Another entry from Cookie A’s Book.  Both the yarn and the pattern came together to produce an absolute delight to knit and wear, even if one sock somehow tricked me into knitting an extra repeat on the leg.  I’d go back and rip the longer top down to match the shorter one, but there’s a cuff-to-leg transition set of stitches that I wouldn’t be able to do if I knitted back up the cuff.  So, we’re going to call them unique and leave them as they are, unmatched and beautiful.

4. Spin four ounces of roving per month.
My poor wheel has been feeling woefully neglected. I did get my 4oz for May though.

DSC_1417 Corriedale from Maisy Day Handspun in colorway, “Water Lily.”  I never really liked corriedale, until now.  I got my hands on the raw roving in the past and did a little nose wrinkle – scratchy.  It’s not merino.  But, after it’s spun up and plied?  Not so bad.  I probably still wouldn’t make a scarf out of it, but it’s pretty and squishy and I rather enjoyed spinning it.  It clocks in at 285 yards and is about sport weight.

 

And that’s the wrap-up for the last two months of acheiving resolutions.  There has been more knitting, of course, that I haven’t detailed here, but with the garden growing, the lawn needing mowed, and a whole host of fun outdoors stuff to do in the lovely weather we’ve been having, knitting has mostly taken a back seat to a lot of seasonal things to do.

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March Wrap-up

Posted on 6 April 2009
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It’s time for another look at the knitting resolutions.

1. Clear the WIP queue from last year by the end of the month.
March down too, little to no progress.  Maybe by the end of the year eh?  I’ve re-started work on the lingering pair of socks that were struggling with second sock syndrome and should be done with those in a few days.  As some kind of explanation, they’re toe up (NOT a fan of toe-up socks) and rather complicated – not something you can really take along with you to stitch n’ bitch.  However, they are gorgeous and will be my first completed socks using the infamous Wollmeise.  I managed to get a spot on the sock club for this year and haven’t been doing the yarn justice yet.  I really hope to share those with you soon!

3. Knit one pair of socks per month
GOT IT!
Pattern: Lorna’s Laces basic socks
Designer: Kim Haesemeyer
Needles: US 2 (2.75 mm)
Yarn: Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock Multi
-Ravelry Project Link-
DSC_0143

4. Spin four ounces of roving per month.
Got that too.  Posted the results of that here.

8. Participate in another test knit.
See the socks above!  When the pattern is available, I’ll put the link here.

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February wrap-up

Posted on 4 March 2009
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Still working on the knitting resolutions!
1. Clear the WIP queue from last year by the end of the month.
February is gone and I haven’t really made any headway there.  I managed to start way too many new projects at once and not make any real progress on any of the big ones.  I did knit three hats though this month, so that counts for something!  This means that I’m officially dedicating March to clearing the WIP queue completely.  Once that’s done, I’m going to start a sweater.

3. Knit one pair of socks per month
So close on this one!  But, I think I’m still on track for 12 pairs for the year, so this shouldn’t be a big deal that I’m 4 days over budget.  February is short anyway, right?  Just finished up the socks tonight, so I’ll have photos of them hopefully tomorrow.

4. Spin four ounces of roving per month.
Boy did I ever make this one!  There were the four ounces of superwash BFL for Thorpe and then a whopping eight ounces of superwash Merino from Crown Mountain Farms for my Sunshine Surf Scarf.   I’ll post something more on that project later.

5. Dye more yarn and roving.
Got this one already too, though I hope to do this again throughout the year.  I attended a class at a local art center with the wonderful Pam Pawl who took us through the process she uses for dyeing.  It really made a lot of sense and I loved her method and great organization of the process.  I got to dye two skeins of yarn that the class provided (not great quality and really scratchy, but they’ll be wonderful for a felted project!).  With the leftover dye, I was able to dye some merino roving I had brought along.  Photographic evidence:
IMG_1466 IMG_1464 IMG_1465

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Project updates

Posted on 1 February 2009
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January end-of-month update:
The knitting resolutions haven’t all been met (already, I know!).
1. Clear the WIP queue from last year by the end of the month.
Didn’t happen!  I did clear out a bunch of things, but there are still two open WIPs from last year.  Not bad though..

3. Knit one pair of socks per month
Got that one!  One pair of socks per month is definitely manageable and I still have time to knit other things.
Pattern: Little Child’s Sock
Designer: Nancy Bush
Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm)
Yarn: Knit Picks Imagination in colorway “Wicked Witch”
-Ravelry Project Link- 
 
IMG_1259
IMG_1265 IMG_1269
Nancy Bush can write a pattern like nobody’s business.  It was so well written out, line by line, you just can’t but help be in awe of the time that must’ve been spent writing it out.  The book, Knitting Vintage Socks,  is becoming a fast favorite.  The yarn is super soft and fun to knit with although the variegation obscures the pattern mostly.  And see all that color pooling?  I know it’s something knitters strive to fight against, but I just love it.  It almost looks like tye dye on the stockinette part of the leg.

4. Spin four ounces of roving per month.
Didn’t quite make this one either.  I got about an ounce of this superwash merion from Crown Mountain Farms (colorway “Sunshine of your Love”) done for the spin and knit along at Ply by Night on Ravelry.  I’ve really gotta spend more time with the wheel in the evenings and maybe alternate nights between knitting and spinning.  Plus, there’s a fun project coming up for next month with roving from dkKnits that I’m pretty antsy to get started on!
IMG_1254

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Clapotis and resolutions

Posted on 17 January 2009
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First, I have an FO for you.  Meg, the dyer at Twisted Fiber Art, does such an incredible job dyeing striping yarns and her colorways are so gorgeous.  Plus, the Clapotis pattern is such a great all-purpose scarf pattern and is so easy to adapt to any type of yarn.  This one took a little while to finish since I kept it on the needles as my mindless knitting project.  I tend to try and keep one easy project on the needles as a travel project to take with me everywhere that I don’t really have to think about or need to refer to a pattern much.

Pattern: Clapotis
Designer: Kate Gilbert
Needles: US 5 (3.75 mm)
Yarn: Twisted Fiber Art Shiny in colorway “Portal”
-Ravelry Project Link-

IMG_1132

 

Now, onto knitting resolutions!  The Selfish knitters group on Ravelry have a thread for New Year’s Resolution knitting and Atomic posted some knitting resolutions on her blog too.  I decided to post a few resolutions since I’ve had them in my head anyway.  I kept it simple on the thread and posted just the first three, but thought about expanding it here and expanding it to include spinning as well.

  1. Clear the WIP queue from last year by the end of the month.
  2. Knit two sweaters this year.
  3. Knit one pair of socks per month – I had thought about doing the 52 pair challenge, but I think that’s a touch too ambitious, especially if I want to work on other projects too.
  4. Spin four ounces of roving per month.
  5. Dye more yarn and roving.
  6. Knit at least one pair of stranded socks.
  7. Finish holiday gift knitting throughout the year instead of all at once in December!
  8. Participate in another test knit.
  9. Work on an original pattern.

I think that gives me plenty to work on.  I also want to be a little more careful with my stash acquisitions and either buy on sale, something unique that cannot be found elsewhere, at festivals, or with a specific project in mind.  When I started knitting this past may I sort of got out of control and bought everything in sight.  It’s time to get a handle on it and knit more, buy less!

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