April Showers...

are both occurring today, and not done. Cryptic?
Witness.
This:



made from this: (Trekking XXL, super-mc-awesome colors)



is now one sock plus this:



I have thought of them as my "April Showers" socks, since the colors capture all the best parts of April -- sunshine, rain, green, white clouds, and none of the thick gray crappy fog that is rolling past the window right now.
Ravellry-d HERE but I kind of lied (well, changed my mind), and decided that instead of doing dividing the yarn in two balls of roughly equal size and knitting from the toe as far they go (er, went), that that would get boring quickly (endless stockinette for the leg... where's the appeal? Now I understand lace/cable sock patterns), so I made a garter cuff for the first one, not pictured here, and cast off. They'll be ped-size. Cute.

But not done by the end of April. (Oh well...)

You may not be able to see the expansion detail on the sole of the sock, but that's a Riverbed expansion, from Cat Bordhi's New Pathways for Crack Sock Knitters. I may have arsed up the first sock's expansion, or else I've messed this one's up, since I've reversed the increase directional stitches for the second one, but since the expansion is on the bottom, i.e. out of sight, it doesn't make a lick of difference!!! (To me. If anyone sees the bottoms of the socks, I guess they have to potential to be aesthetically offended. Symmetry is overrated. I am not the first person to point this out.)

Since it's raining today and tomorrow, I can't take pictures (though I want to), but there are surprises. Like, Sweater-prises. (Not done yet.)

And, if you were wondering about the hand warmer dealies, they are the Greenaway Fingerless Gloves pattern from the most awesome Purl Bee website ... and this is the second time that I've knit them out of the same yarn -- Jo Sharp Alpaca Silk Georgette in colorway Maize. I'm not hugely into yellow, but I like the muted quality of this shade. It matches my imagination of Corn Silk, though I have no idea how it measures up in reality... the color quality of the photo, as mentioned, was abysmal. Next sunny day, they will be photographed. Also, I still haven't woven the ends in. This has not stopped me from wearing them in public.

Speaking of the Purl Bee, have you seen the new Whit's Knits pattern for a bamboo shrug? I've never thought of myself as an evening shrug or bolero type... nor, for that matter, of a lady-like fingerless glove type, and yet I keep coming back to them. And that's forgetting about the pom-pom socklettes!
Should I be worried?

I am a bad blogger...

It's not been as long as I thought it has since I last posted BUT I am long overdue for a post, as Adina mentions!!!
It's not even as though I haven't been knitting, either.
So: promises of pictures, later this week.
Seriously.


The light is AWFUL in my carrel in the libary, but this is one small little something that I've completed recently.
Er, they've been done for some time, but the ends aren't woven in yet. >_<

Sadly...

it's not a post chock full o' pictures. Busy schoolwork week, and busy applying for summer job stuff, but some knitting has gotten done.

(apologies for the CRAPPY CRAPPY picture)




is a LOT longer now.

It probably won't get done for the Project Spectrum deadline of March 31st, but I look forward to having a sweet and bright scarf, given the temperature has been dipping below freezing for the past few days.
LAME. March should be in lamb phase by now!!

(Is procrastinating exam studying by applying for internships better than procrastinating exam studying by knitting? You have a lot more to show in the short term for the knitting...)

ETA: Oh yeah, I changed the background color. I think that it's a LOT more readable this way.

Vacation Knitting plus Signs of Spring

I am back from the big cities!! (New York and Boston, to be precise.)
While there, I did many things, though I would be lying if I said that knitting and yarn stores did not play some small part in my enjoyment of both.

Beginning in the beginning, there was New York, where I mostly worked on my current shame sock (shame because I bought the yarn under the influence of yarn fumes in Webs on Super Bowl Sunday, and because even though I am annoyed with almost everything about it, I find myself wanting to buy yarn with the same girly-girl colors that I swear I'm really not that into).

Here is the sock on the beach at Coney Island:


Here it is with the rides behind it:


While at Coney Island, my friend Thomas and I got see the Coney Island Polar Bear Club plunge in:


After Coney Island, Thomas and I made our way back to Manhattan, and for me, on to Purl!



Credit where credit is due: Thomas took all the pictures with me in them. Note my awkward/crazed expression -- I was trying to go for an "Oh my god I'm really here!!" look -- a large part of my getting into knitting last year was through reading the purlbee, through which I've learned a ton about technique, inspiration, and all things knitting related. That, in combo with Last Minute Knitted Gifts, the book by the owner of Purl, Joelle Hoverson, is why seeing Purl felt as though I had reached Mecca!! (You know, in a yarn and commercial sort of way.)

I even got to meet Whitney of Whit's Knits, a feature on the purlbee -- she's an amazing designer with a great, down-to-earth yet beautiful aesthetic. Look at her stuff and get inspired!!

Jumping ahead a bit, I finished the mystery knitting:


This hat was my train knitting -- it is destined for J, and is a very belated Christmas/Birthday handknit. On St. Patrick's Day, while I knit this on the train from NY to Boston, the various conductors gently harassing people for not wearing green thought that it was amazing. I like it, too. I had little idea how stretchy two by two ribbing can be, and also little idea how much knitting a sportweight watch-cap (two strands of laceweight merino together) would require -- the fold-over cuff offers a lot of warmth, and the 11 inches of the hat offer a lot of lee-way for how much doubled up wool you want!

Specs:
Yarn: Knitpicks Gossamer (lace weight merino) doubled, in discontinued colorway Leprechaun (fittingly enough). You cannot imagine how bright these greens are until you see it in person!
Needles: Size 4, Addi-Turbos from my mother's needle stash

The new knitting projects -- jumping the queue, and I just don't care --

Whit's Knits Mary-Jane Slippers -- My Ruby Slippers!




Specs:
Yarn: Brown Sheep, Superwash Worsted, in Red Wing colorway. Bought at Windsor Button in Boston (one pointed yarn purchase, if there ever were!) -- the staff that day were super helpful, so don't pay attention to the one-star reviews they receive if you look the store up in a Boston yarn store search on google.
Needles: Size 6, maybe?

I am liking the pattern, and I'm understanding garter stitch better than ever with this. I think I've finally figured out how to pick up dropped stitches in straight knitting, something that has always turned me off of straight garter stitch projects.

And finally:



A little something something for me -- a small scarf in fluffy brioche stitch from Barbara Walker's second stitch dictionary in Blue Sky Alpacas' Silk Alpaca yarn, in colorway Papaya.
Luscious yarn, saturated coral color. Bought at Purl, and dearly loved already.

Here's to making it into Project Spectrum's "Fire" period, with two weeks left!!!

Remote Blog-Tastic!

Well howdy all --
I'm blogging from NYC. The mystery knitting proceeds a-pace -- I want to finish it on St. Paddy's day if possible, to milk the green and the Hallmark holiday for all that they're worth. No pictures yet.
And no knitting stores yet -- dang! Except for the saving money part.
We'll see -- maybe I can do some damage tomorrow. The nice thing about NY yarn stores is that they're open on Sundays...

Yoo hoo!!

C'est un(e?) chapeau!



Details:

Yarn: Valley Yarns, Berkshire Bulky -- Spruce and Fuchsia
Needles: 10, 24" circular, 8 dpns
Pattern: BS'd

Fun -- James asked me to knit a hat for him, and promised that he would pay for materials and a decent wage. I finally got around to knitting the durn hat this past week -- bulky knits up quickly, and is great to knit with for a change!!

Complaints: I found three knots in the green yarn while knitting -- ick! No telling on the fuchsia, and I haven't even plowed through the whole skein of the spruce one. Lame and two thirds! I hate knots in my yarn.
That all said, the Berkshire Bulky is great -- both for what it is (an inexpensive, quality yarn) and in general. The color palette is still a little too bright for my taste, but it's great for small, high octane color projects.

On the needles currently:



Well, I guess it's hard to capture that color and reasonable detail in the half-dark. With the flash, it's pretty much Slimer green (Have you seen Be Kind, Rewind?) ... the picture without the flash is a mite too pitiful for internets consumption.

Shh. It's secret knitting.

First March Post

First, apologies for the craptastic (registered trademark of the YarnHarlot?) pictures of Poinsettia, which I realized, after posting, is not spelled with an extra T. That's, like, years of misspelling that most ubiquitous of winter holiday floral arrangements. Oh well. If I can pressure someone into it, I'll post a real modeling session with it -- I make no promises about my ability to vogue.

To tide you over (har har), I have some more photos.

I finished the Socks that Rock Socks -- purple/orange/magenter colorway Covelite -- but, because it wouldn't be Christmas fun if I didn't need to rip the second sock out, there is this:



and this:



After finishing the heel, I merrily picked up the stitches, thought there seemed to be an awful lot of stitches on the needles, and continued to knit.

Not realized until a few (maybe twenty or so) rounds later that I had NOT TURNED THE HEEL.

So I unraveled the foot progress (far less merrily), painstakingly replaced the needles, and turned the freaking heel.
Stupid sock.

They are forgiven now, though, now that they're done.

Look Ma, no ladders!!



I could never stay mad at you.



Let us never fight again.

Thoughts:

Socks that Rock do rock, and mightily. This is some sturdy yarn, that split only because I was inept with pointy metal sticks that my mom calls "needles". I love the needles, too, which were a mixed up set of old-school dpns from the bins in the basement elaborate subterranean storage system in my parents' house.

Also, I'm never knitting socks or anything on bamboo double points again.

Even the momentary spots of lighting style flashing didn't bother me... but I would figure a way out of that next time.