green.ketzle.net: knitting

i just uploaded the picture, thereby completing all three assignments plus the extra credit for loopy academy, year one, semester two.

i ended up using a crochet hook to bind off, it went much more quickly. and i calculated the amount of yarn perfectly -- there is not enough left to have knit another row; so glad i bound off when i did, nothing would have annoyed me more than having to tink back and then bind off.

it could do with a little blocking, but for now, it is done.

i was all smug last night because even though i failed at the math, thinking two repeats of 16 rows = 2 rows a day with eight days left, i'd snuck in quite a few rows here and there and was ready for the last 6 rows.

then i read the pattern again.

i need one more 16 row repeat.

still think i can do it...

23 may 2015 all done but the bonus

so, all three main loopy ewe academy, year one, semester two projects are finished! and i didn't sweat i was going to make the deadline -- all finished ahead of time, all photos uploaded.

the felted fuzzy feet proved to be the most difficult to finish as the lack of washing machine made the whole maneuver very manual. i tried mashing them around with a potato masher in a giant pot of hot soapy water, and that got them started but it didn't really do the job. so instead, i put them, one at a time, in a square glass food storage container with a leak proof lid that was about 1/3 full of hot soapy water. and then i shook it, and shook it and shimmied it side to side. and shook and shimmied and shimmied and shook and eventually, success! felted feet.

once they dried, i started wearing them while sleeping and i am convinced i am sleeping better now.

i hadn't planned on finishing the honey cowl until the end of the month, but i got into a rhythm and before i knew it, i was almost out of yarn! i used up just about all of each of the two skeins and it ended up being about a foot across. very snuggly...

and i am still in love with the way the colors look on both sides of it. it was surprisingly hard to get a good picture of both the entire thing and the detail -- something about the colors just seems to defy photography. no matter, it is beautiful in real life.

i had a slight moment of panic when i couldn't find the wurm hat, though i knew i had finished all but the weaving in of ends. luckily, it had just slipped under some books and was rescued and finished. the small child loves it, so mission accomplished, but wasn't in the mood for a photo shoot. so here's perry!

i did change it very slightly at the end, slowing the rate of decrease so it wasn't quite so gathered at the top. i used up almost all the gray, and quite a bit of both the mint and black. i might have enough to make a pair of mini mitts -- something to think about if i run out of projects. ha!

so, that just leaves the bonus project. i am six rows of garter stitch away from finishing the fourth pattern repeat, which will happen this evening. that leaves 2 more repeats of 16 rows each to finish by the 31st. 2 rows a day will do it! but i think i will probably, hopefully, finish more quickly. the rows where the k2tog are a yarnover and a knit are so much faster than the rows where it is a knit and a yarnover. i cruise through the former, and creep, and swear, through the latter.

i've ordered and received my yarn for the first Camp Loopy 2015 project, so i am all set to start on that when i am done here. i even have the project all picked out!

12 may 2015 neon green

i might be a little over-confident.

technically, even though i have not used all the yarn, my honey cowl has used up enough of the yarn to qualify as a completed project. i'm not binding off yet, as i can keep knitting right up to the end of the month, but it started me thinking about the bonus project.

from the loopy ewe: pick a color or pattern name that reminds you of spring (favorite flower color, favorite place to go for Spring Break, favorite plant in your garden, favorite spring drink - lots of options!). you can use your "spring" yarn to knit anything you'd like, as long as the project uses at least 175 yards.

when that notice came out, i bought a skein of this brilliantly bright green yarn. it reminds me of new willow leaves, and tips of hyacinths pushing through the dirt, and bright green moss, and all the other screaming greens that go along with spring.

i've already completed one repeat! surely i will finish in time, right?

10 may 2015 happy feet

i was home from work for a few days last weeks, so decided to have a few power knitting sessions.

i still need a felted project for Loopy Academy, semester two, so out came the cascade 220 and my new 10.5 double point needles. or should i say, my new weapons of death. so pointy! and sharp! i kept pricking my finger when pushing the tip of the needle and i was worried about the cat when she would jump up to watch me knit/practice not attacking the yarn. you could definitely put someone's eye out with one of these, or stab a right good hole in them.

in any event, five chunks of knitting time resulted in two over-sized socks! now to find a creative way to felt them. my washing machine is out of commission so i may resort to hand-felting if i can't scam some time with my mother's machine.

04 may 2015 the secret

i finally found the secret to the honey cowl.

if i stop thinking of it as two stitches, the purl and the slip, and instead stick my needle through both, purlwise, and then bring the yarn up between the two stitches before slipping both off the left needle, i can handle it as a single maneuver. no more counting, no more two of anything in a row. it is only slightly slower than just purling, but i think quicker than purling and slipping. and it definitely keeps me on track. now i only have to worry if it is a p1-s1 start or an s1-p1 start -- and that's easy enough just by checking the last few stitches of the round of knitting before switching over to the slip stitch round.

i am more than halfway through, now. it still seems slow, even with the new trick, but i am fairly confident i will be done in time.

i am in love with the backside of this as well. i can't seem to get a picture where it is really obvious, but in the real world, in real light, it is so pixelated, the little green and blue bumps looking very painterly.

the wurm hat is all done except for weaving in the ends. i should do that, and take a picture.

green.girl knitting: commentary