green.ketzle.net: knitting

this is the pair, if you recall, that upon their first wash suddenly sprang holes all through one of the pair. so i darned. and then more holes. so i darned. holes? yes! darned. and now? a hole in the other one. i realize i am pretty hard on socks but this is ridiculous. socks i have worn far less often have not found themselves with a single hole. everyone loves socks that rock so i am guessing i just had a bad skein, one spun improperly or slightly cut with a box cutter when the package full of it was opened at the yarn store. or maybe it is just plain bad.

since i will no doubt be darning another hole in this one any minute now, i felt free to try the patch method again, this time with a non-superwash wool. let's see if it felts a little, providing a good solid fix. if it doesn't i can easily pick it out and try the old-fashioned way.

like i did with this one. my oldest pair of socks, their first hole. german sock yarn wears like iron. i may move to use it exclusively for socks and save all the pretty hand-dyed, designer yarns for shawls and scarves and the like...

24 january 2010 on my feet

i am so clearing out the basket of works in progress.

new socks! that had a new hole in the one that has been sitting around for ever and ever. it was a very clean break which makes me think i probably stabbed it with a pair of scissors or something. but i wasn't in the mood to fix so i instead picked up stitches above and below and knit a little patch and grafted and then tacked down the ends and we shall see how that particular maneuver works out in the long run. i am all about finding new ways to patch the socks.

i used an after-thought heel with four decreases. i made a pair with six for my sister, that gave a more rounded heel. i might try that for myself next time.

19 january 2010 on my shoulders

another piece off the needles.

i do not have a place big enough and flat enough to block this properly, so i pseudo-blocked the thing and it will do just fine. it does remind me that i have the shoulders of a linebacker and the wingspan of a condor -- i really need to remember that if i want to make an actual shawl shawl as opposed to a shawlette or glorified scarf.

as a glorified scarf, i quite like it. but i don't know how often i would actually wear it. i wrapped it 'round my neck and wore it to work and the store and while it did not annoy me, and looked quite lovely, i did not like that i was constantly fidgeting with it to make sure it wasn't sliding off one body part or another. it may well end up being gifted. or it may not.

10 january 2010 two and a pair

and another one bites the dust.

i finished the second blue mitt wednesday or thursday, then went back to work on the scarf. i was a little irked that the differences between the two skeins were so glaring, even when i used the two skeins alternately for several inches to try and minimize the effect. ah well, most people won't notice it at all, especially when the scarf is in motion.

they look so small but actually stretch to fit even my large hands comfortably and without looking strained.

05 january 2010 a slight diversion

monday night, as i was working on the blue lace scarf, i started really thinking about what to make if there was yarn left over. and how i'd have to guess how much was left over and how that would annoy me. so i thought, hmmm, maybe i decide what i would like to make with leftovers, then make it and then use all the yarn leftover from that to make the scarf as long as it could be.

so i started mitts. fetching mitts, to be exact...

so, one of the unfinished objects is now complete.

it is also short, but as i received the most lovely copper shawl pin for christmas, from the mama, it is of no consequence. there are matching earrings as well, which make me very happy.

i still like the colors of this yarn, which is why i bought it so many, many moons ago, but it is a bit itchy, so it will get limited use with regular necklines. mayhaps i should find myself a turtleneck or two.

in theory, i was to have the week between christmas and new year's off from work, a week that was to be filled with knitting and socializing with visiting family. in practice, i was at work the whole week. i really want to finish up the three major things that have been lingering forever: the blue jeans scarf, the hawk socks and the noro glitz. i may be completely delusional, but i have a hope if i finish them, it will unblock all the knitting mojo and i shall have a fabulous knitting year. or, work may continue to consume my soul and i'll be lucky to make two presents for sophie's teachers.

next up, finish the blue lace scarf. i am almost done with the first skein and will use as much of the second as i need to get a decent length. once i see how much i have left over, if any, i will decide whether there shall also be a hat or mitts or just a flower, to tack on for decorative purposes...

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