green.ketzle.net: knitting

that is good news, because camp loopy project 2 should have been started on the 27th. i have the yarn -- red, white and blue! -- but am still waffling on the pattern. there is a part of me that wants to crochet, having ignored it for so long. but there is a part of me that is all over the garter stitch shawl. a decision will be made by friday, i hope.

today's state of the knits:

j's blanket -- 151 squares. i am doing okay with the original goal of averaging 5 per week, but that is going to mean this goes on forever. once all the camp loopy knitting is done, i may have to find a way to sneakily knit on this at home. somewhat problematic, as we are a closely knit family. pun only somewhat intended.

hogwarts: it's all done but the blocking and weaving in of ends and that is close enough for government work and uploading the picture to the loopy ewe website. project one: done! i can't decide if i want to block the top part out to make it less dense, or just let it be as is for the most part. decisions, decisions, decisions.

sothia: only three rows and a bind-off to go. the yarn leftover is starting to look a little lean, but i think i should make it; if not, i will just end a row early. these last rows, with their almost 800 stitches each, are rather a slog. but, it will be done by the 4th, when i will see my sister. she flew in this morning and is at my parents' for the morning before taking off for a drive around the state until wednesday. excellent maneuver on her part as there is now little doubt she will leave with shawl in hand.

17 june 2012 by hand

there was a slight interruption in the knitting this weekend.

my father is an absolute pain to shop for; if he wants something, he buys it for himself. and let's face it, there are only so many giftcards you can give a man before it starts to seem a little rote. so i was wracking my brains for a father's day gift he would actually use [ruling out scarves and the like] when i finally hit upon the perfect idea -- handsewn handkerchiefs. i found some tartan shirts at goodwill, cut out 12" squares and went to town with rolled hems. the plan was for 4, he got 2. not bad for starting the whole thing on saturday, i reckon, and i honestly think 5 years ago he would have had the 4; the numb fingers and inability to now thread a needle slowed me down rather a lot. but he liked them! so, hurray! somewhat less of a hurray is the fact i did not take a picture of the final products.

and now a quick update on the state of the knits:

j's blanket -- i have knit 145 squares out of the 600 total required. this is going to take longer than i thought...

hogwarts: all the happy little owls are knit and are now sitting on the beginnings of the 2x2 ribbing fence. i am so completely enamoured with them; i keep making jim and sophia admire the cuteness.

sothia: second increase has been completed, along with four rows of ribbing. 13 more rows until the next increase!

11 june 2012 bonus content

i am resurrecting the work project.

this was meant to be a gift for jim about three thousand years ago. the only redeeming factor is he doesn't know about it. but that is no excuse! i am going to try to knit at least one square a day during my lunch break. i tend to work through lunch and that is not healthy for children and other living things, so knit it is! i have finished 7 of 30 rows, and once that is done, there will be some sort of edging to square it off.

[bad webcam picture alert]

10 june 2012 holding pattern

the owls' eyes should arrive on monday.

i therefore knit to the place where the eyes are inserted on saturday. knitting, like life, has a wry sense of humour. once i hit about 8 or 9 inches of garter, i decided that the resultant 34 owls would be plenty. so, increase row, and the first cable row, which i did without a cable needle all the way through -- milestone! -- and then the line before the eyes. i am going to try the dental floss method of placing the beads but if it makes me crazy, i'll be heading for joann's to find a tiny crochet hook.

that left a perfectly good sunday, so i grabbed sothia and worked the second increase row in the pleat section, and then whipped out another four rows while i was at it. the circular needles i am using are proving to be too short, but i don't think i have another set of 6s? 7s? in a longer length available at the moment.

hogwarts is on a long cable; if i finish it in a timely manner, maybe i can switch sothia over.

04 june 2012 green? gray?

my home suffers from terrible lighting.

there is but one light fixture in all of the living spaces, and the amount of stuff we have crammed into it makes the placement of various lamps rather awkward. it doesn't really bother me, as i can always see what i am doing, but it occasionally leads to a surprise. i would have sworn this yarn was gray. but after having it out in the sunlight, i think it might be green. maybe grayish-green or greenish-gray, or an old school khaki.

in any event, while i did not get to knit as much as i had hoped while chaperoning at the waterpark, i did get in quite a few rows. the deadline is 6/27 and i am feeling pretty good about it at the moment. we'll see how i feel on the 26th. the former picture was after saturday, and this one from sunday. i am gratified i can see a difference.

i did manage to order some beads that i hope will look good. if they don't i will have to go looking in person, with the yarn, to make sure i am going to be happy.

green.girl knitting: commentary