green.ketzle.net: knitting

i actually had the entire week off. well, except for monday morning, but i haven't so much as logged into my work email account and that is some kind of record for me of late.

first we drove over the mountains and went to visit the grand coulee dam. the picture was taken from the top of a nearby hill that sports an odd little lookout/giant gazebo/stage structure that completely fascinated sophie. she sang just about every song she knew, and danced any number of dances. the breeze was fabulous and no one else was around so i let her at it. too bad i didn't have the video camera.

then we took a day trip to portland to sell some books at powell's, buy some books at powell's and drink our fill of cherry limeade at sonic. sonic's cherry limeade is like crack to me; i am perfectly willing to drive three plus hours each way for it. seriously, even without the bookstore maneuver, i'd consider it. and if their happy little mascot had truly been filled with the drink? he'd have been wrangled into the car somehow.

i finished the hat and wove in all the ends but i need to re-locate the ball of yarn so i can make the ties. i know it is somewhere nearby but it is paying hide-n-seek at the moment.

still worred about having enough yarn -- i think i am halfway through the pattern but a little more than halfway through the yarn. it may end up just a little shorter than it was designed to be.

quick update before i hit the road: mitt number one is almost finished -- just need a bind-off and a thumb. then i'll cast-on the second so it doesn't get lonely. i'm also thinking of over-dying to make it a little less bright. i think i'll knit a few swatches and try a few things and see if i like the effect.

the hat needs a similar amount of work -- a few more rounds, a bind-off and two ties. i'm thinking this may be for the newest nephew for christmas, but i might also change my mind before then.

and this is new. i am making a cami and shrug from fitted knits for my coworker. she has been invaluable to me time and time again so she deserves it. i have a bad feeling about the amount of yarn i bought -- it is more than listed as required, of a matching substitute, but the pattern sure seems to be eating yarn at an alarming rate...

19 june 2007 somethings old, somethings new

warning: picture heavy post ahoy!

guess what i did this week? i love the little piles of ends from projects with a lot of colour changes. it is so happy and fluffy and colourful that i almost forget the pain it represents...

so, ends woven in, and tie made for the denim warshcloth set. this will go to one of sophie's 'extra' teachers, with the sunrise set going to the other. i just need to find some nice soap to go in the bags, and then make some gift labels with washing instructions.

same with mrs s's wrap. i do so love this and i so want to keep it but away it shall fly! there is enough left over for me to make a smaller version, which i am doing, but i still want this one. badly. very, very badly. i also need to take a better picture of it before it goes to school.

another one is finished, but needs the ends dealt with. there were five knots in my skein -- i don't know if that is the norm for this yarn [fleece artist peter rabbit] but it rather annoyed me. it wouldn't split splice so weaving in it is. and while weaving i shall curse myself for not simply knitting with both strands for a few stitches, thereby saving myself this grief. afterwards, a gentle blocking before i put it away for cooler weather.

update on the work projects: i am experimenting with various crocheted edgings for the american girl blankets. i don't have enough of any one colour to do more than one round on each, so it may be a while before i find just the right combination. crocheting really does kill my hands -- i am going to have to rethink the idea of a crocheted afghan, methinks.

and it is obvious i have had fewer meetings and spare moments as the yellow portion of the scarf is moving along much more slowly than the purple half.

what's this? new projects? do i really need new projects? why, yes, yes i do. apparently. this will be a baby hat in variegated blues. you can't go wrong with a baby hat when there are still babies due at the office.

and i really have no excuse for starting these tie-dyed fingerless gloves other than i was tired of staring at the yarn. it was mocking me. really. they are intended as a christmas present so i am free to meander my way through them.

i am attempting to reduce the number of projects languishing on needles [see the list on the left sidebar]. i ripped out the chainmail cami [see the 16th of june 2004 -- there was no way i was going to wear it at the weight it was coming in at, so rip rip rip and now i must find a use for shiny lavendar ribbon yarn.there are three scarfs that need ends woven in and blocking, so they can be dealt with easily. the blue felted bag just needs some handles of one sort or another. the maisy blanket needs a backing -- that one not so easy but i want to make sure it is done before the end of the month. wish me luck!

wow, the harlot also decides to make the kauni cardigan and suddenly i am in the middle of a bandwagon. ah well, by the time i get around to it, maybe all the furor will be over. i have nothing against bandwagonning in general, but for some reason i don't want to be one of many knitting this sweater. maybe because it is symbolic for me.

anywhohow, here is the latest work project. in the gifted bag of oddballs there were two of what looks rather like lion microspun -- one purple, one yellow. it is about the splittiest yarn i've ever knit with, but i am stubbornly powering through.

it will be another scarf [surprise!] and since it is purple and gold, it shall be named the husky scarf. i'm not a husky, but we go to baseball games in the spring so i can wear it there. or i can gift it to one of the myriad huskies in my life. the purple skein weighed slightly less than the gold, so i did that half first, using all the yarn i could before switching to the gold. another week or two and it will be done.

oh, the pattern! it is friday from the may 2007 issue of magknits. here is the end of the purple side. so happy and pointy!

that was me knitting in the backseat at the drive-in movies last night; i let sophie have the front seat so she can see better. i wound the peter rabbit angora into a ball and started the softest scarf ever. every eight rows or so, i stop just to pet it a little. mmmmmmmm...

i really will break out of the scarf rut one day soon. i can feel my fingers twitching for sweaters, socks, shawls...

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