green.ketzle.net: knitting

it snowed, then snowed some more, then froze good and proper. and rather than brave the penguins' playground my road had become, we stayed home. and even while entertaining the small child, and doing laundry and making a cake, i found that little moment of peace and quiet i needed to turn the heel. i'm not totally happy with the corners, even after picking up stitches when i rejoined all the stitches, but they will do, especially as they shall be my socks and therefore no one shall be the wiser.

and a few extra minutes were found to make it to the last section of the shawl. all the increase rows are done, so it is all about the length at this point. i may or may not go as long as the pattern is written, depends on my patience and how long it actually seems to be. and the proximity of the party ...

28 november 2006 snow day

this, my friends, is snow, falling quietly last night. awesome! it has kept the whole family home today, and as there is no thaw expected tonight, we'll probably be trapped by a sheet of ice again tomorrow. and then there is the threat of another snowstorm wednesday night/thursday morning so we may not be back to our regular schedules until friday. rather fun, even if it makes me a little crazy trying to get any work done at home with both jim and sophie going about their business.

i've tried to keep up with the knitting, still small things, but regular output. i've finished both of the blue lagoon warshcloths so i need to weave in a few ends and whip up a little soap bag to have the set complete.

the woodland sock is ready for the heel. i feel the need to have serene quietness prior to turning a heel and have yet to find it. i may never find if we remain snowbound. i have no idea why i am so intimidated by a bloody short-row heel; it's not as if i haven't done it before, but each time i get all sweaty and nervous as if the sock is going to jump off the needles and bite me in the shins. for heaven's sake, i can always rip it out if it looks shoddy.

with the leftovers from the fair-isle hat, i whipped up a coordinating scarf -- 2x2 rib for the body, starting with a provisional cast-on and knitting until i was out of yarn, then i doubled the number of stitches, went down several needle sizes and feather and fanned on each end. killed all sorts of leftovers! and i now have a lovely christmas present for my aunt should she choose to visit for the holidays. even if she choose not to visit, i shall send it off; she is a photographer and i expect keeping her head and neck warm might be a good idea while she is out shooting the great outdoors.

and finally, i am re-using the sparkly yarn of many fibers [wool, mohair, nylon, acrylic, metal] that was frogged from a chickami many moons ago. rather than buy a new dress for the annual office party, i am instead making a festive shawl and will wear the black dress from three years ago. stash-busting and budget-saving all in one swift maneuver!

19 november 2006 houston, we have a hat

i ran into a skein of lamb's pride. and i have leftover kureyon from my rosedale. and i saw the pattern in magknits. knit, knit, knit and in a much shorter time than i had imagined at the outset, i had a hat. tension, not perfect, but the puckering is minimal and i expect it will settle down nicely with some judicious blocking.

11 november 2006 singletons

i have this new resolution-like thing going. if i find a single skein of yarn in the stash, i must use it right away. this will inevitably result in a surplus of scarves and hats and things of that ilk, but it will also result in stash reduction. i am all sorts of into the stash reduction. i even bagged up a giant trash bag with all the old acrylics and ratty skeins that had accumulated throughout the years. off to goodwill with it! [although i must confess, i was suddenly struck with the thought of pompom garland for the christmas tree this year, and i almost grabbed out all the red and green skeins; if the garland must be, it can be with other yarn in the stash]

so, while looking for the stash of happy meal toys [to donate to s's first grade student store] i ran across two skeins of single ply, kettle dyed wool. the first skein, more a worsted weight, became a three column scarf -- a knit column, a moss stitch column, a purl column.

the second skein, bulkier, became a mistake rib scarf. cast on 15, {k2 p2} to last three stitches, k3. repeat until out of yarn. i think i may pack these off the germany, for my uncle and cousin; i sent neck scarves to the females a few years ago so the men are owed.

and finally, new socks. i'll keep you updated but they are pretty basic, toe-up socks. one toe, almost done in socks that rock, harlotty colorway.

05 november 2006 more more

fire on the head hat!

okay, i think this small burst of activity is now at an end. maybe. i've got all sorts of small ideas rolling around in my head. i think i subconsciously realize there is no time for major projects, so the small ones look so very attractive. look! small! shiny! wheeeeee!!

04 november 2006 endings

one lion tamarin disguise, finished!

one hawk scarf, re-knit, and finished!

one hat, with leftovers from the reknit hawk scarf, started!

if i'm lucky, i'll finish the hawk hat and the fire on the head hat tomorrow. football watching makes for good knitting time. unfortunately, it also makes for good laundry folding time, so that may take precedence. and work is starting to rear its ugly end-of-year, push-for-revenue head, so this small burst of knitting may represent all of the fourth quarter knitting. i hope not, i truly hope not.

03 november 2006 more more more [more]

there are still more skeins of the strange fluffy yarn at the office. and still more of the skinny tan acrylic. therefore, we have another office project. these things are just flying off the needles and are making some coworkers very happy as i add to their wardrobes. this one is a skinny scarf, striped with the fluffy and a matching hat, edged in the fluffy. the girl who is claiming it is going to look like a golden tamarin.

back in february i knit this scarf; it was very long [13 ft] and very skinny and though i loved it at the time, its length has been irritating me this fall. so, while on a conference call, i frogged it. and then promptly started reknitting it. what with the warshcloths and all, i am apparently stuck in slip stitch mode, so slip stitch it shall be. so far so good!

sophie is impatient, as only a six year old can be. so i've started on her fire on the mountain hat. i knit the bottom band on halloween, sitting with my mom while jim and my dad took the small child on a second trick-or-treat run. and then made very good progress the next evening while listening to stephen king lecture/read at benaroya hall. very amusing and very productive. fabulous combination.

finally, warshcloth set number two, the beginning. it reminds me of the blue lagoon, therefore the lagoon set it shall be.

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