Is Monogamy Boring?

I've made a sort of deal with myself. One project at a time, until it's finished. Until I've worked through my WiPs. Or the WiPs of my choice. And one project has been loosely defined as One project of my choice and One project for work, coffee, road trips, etc. At least until I've finished the Cheerleader's Endpaper Mitts. Which I haven't cast on for the second mitt yet.

What this means is there isn't much to show you.

The current WiP of choice are the Druid Mittens. Here we are almost half way up.


I've already placed the thumb stitches to the side and am making my way up the hand.


But they are not the kind of free and easy project I need for "social knitting". No, that would be Rosamund. The socks I'm making for Blue Fingers, bless her small, little feet. The project I haven't even added to Ravelry yet.


I can't give you too much more now or I'll have nothing to write about the rest of the week. Rest assured, details will be forthcoming. And as soon as the Druid Mittens are finished it really is back to the Endpaper Mitts.

If my dear, non-knitting friends have learned anything about the gift knitting process it should be that hand made gifts are two pronged. Savor the knowledge that you are receiving something from my needles. Perhaps you will savor it a good, long time. But after you have waited and wondered, "will it ever really be made," just when you have, perhaps given up, that's about the time your gift will be ready. And hopefully it will have been worth the wait.

Half Way There

It seems that I have been stricken with that scary affliction with which we Knitters are often cursed. Second Sock Syndrome. Mine has even developed into Second Mitten Syndrome. As much as I love some of my projects, the need for new has led me astray. But I am determined to get past this. I am moving forward, casting on and completing my pairs. And why am I so motivated? Because there's a whole lot of knitting that I have denied myself until the task is completed!

Leyburn is close indeed. One more pattern repeat and then it's time for the cuff. I've loved being part of the KAL and love the way the socks look. They aren't as challenging as I prefer, but they have been the perfect lunch break project.



Django. Love. What else is there to say. And until I make the second sock I can't cast on for Stricken, Marlene, Twisted Flower or any other Cookie A sock I'm hankering to make.



Longbourn. Ok I'm sneaking this one in. I just cast on last night. But Longbourn sounds like Leyburn so it counts, right? And I'm very happy to knitting with my Sundara stash. Very happy indeed.



Endpaper Mitts. The bane of my existence. Poor Cheerleader has been waiting for months. Although I love the color combo and the finished mitt in general, this has not been a happy knitting experience. I've ripped as much as I've knit because of silly, stupid mistakes. I'm not sure I like this stranded knitting thing. I adore the way it looks but the process? Still not sure. So ask me why I cast on for Longbourn!



And last, but certainly not least, my Druid Mittens. I am a Jared Flood devotee. I can't wait to cast on for the new gloves with yarn to match my Gretel. I'm not sure I share his love for tweed though. It looks great but the yarn is a bit of a pain to work with.



Maybe tomorrow I'll tell you about the continuing saga of the Charlotte's Web.

Nothing to Show for it

Thank you all for your warm words. The loss of a family member is always difficult. Losing my younger brother left me pretty out of breath. We lived such different lives, so far from each other, for so long that it had been a very long time since we had seen each other. I still find it hard to believe that we will never see each other again. Although Robert was a father of two, I will always remember him as the young boy with a beautiful smile, as the young man who helped me pack up the vestiges of college life in La Jolla and return it back to San Francisco. Probably the last time we spent a great deal of time together it was a road trip to remember. I am still coming to terms of how much I miss someone I should have been missing for years.

Although I have done a lot of knitting in the last couple of weeks, I have done just as much frogging and tinking. In layman's terms, Knit, Rip, Knit Rip and really, I've got nothing to show you. Half way through Mitt 2 on the Endpaper Mitts and I realized I'd gone terribly wrong.

Mitt 1 on left, 2 on right

Yep, I'd held the yarn in the wrong hand, again. I tried ripping back to the ribbing but the count just seemed off so I need to cast on once again.

And my Druid Mittens, well they were going fabulously. I realized that my bigger, longer hand needed a deeper thumb gusset so I continued on with the thumb section a few extra rows.

But when I got to the end of the pattern before the decreases I decided not to adjust and add more rows there too. Big mistake.

I worked late into the night on Sunday to finish them up only to find I was curling my fingers to get them completely inside. And so I ripped back to before the decreases and am adding in one more repeat. That isn't going as smoothly as it should but I am persevering.

I have read many times of the comfort knitters take in their knitting after the loss of a loved one. I admit now I always thought that was a bit much to believe. Never judge a man until you have stood in his shoes. The only knitting success I do have is the knitting I did in the days following my brother's death. Cast on Monday (MLK day) and finished up early Tuesday morning, Gretel is my new favorite knit.

For my big head and big hair, the shape is much better suited for me than hats I've previously made.

More details to follow, but for now, here is the Rav Link .

Contest winner to be announced Monday, so stay tuned. Thanks for hanging in there with me!

Life is Always Better when the Sun Shines

But then there'd be no reason for these:

Endpaper Mitts by Eunny Jang

Moving along quite nicely now. The Cheerleader has been quite patient, waiting for these. I had some interesting experiences with my first foray into stranded knitting...

Druid Mittens by Jared Flood

My Druid Mittens also seem to be moving nicely as well. I think this new yarn is a better fit. I've made it through my first bobbles without the yarn breaking. Now lets see if I can get the through the cable process without screwing it up. If I can get through that I'll know I'm on my way!

(Twist & Shout is thisclose to be being finished! I managed to finally cast on the right number of stitches, from the correct side. Now it's just a matter of knitting endless rows of ribbing, with occasional increases. I've set myself a five row minimum per evening and it seems to be working. I'm now at row 12. Only 27 more to go!)

Take 2

Druid Mittens. Remember them. Well I've finally cast on again. And I love the new yarn!


Harrisville Designs Shetland Wool.

Garnet.


Gorgeous!


Now let's get these done!

Catching Up

Amidst the coughing, wheezing, praying and eating there has been some knitting going on, even if much of it has become frog worthy!

Arietta
Still haven't finished seaming it. And what I have done isn't the best. Poor thing.

I'm planning on some quality time with her on Sunday. We'll see how that goes; best laid plans and all.

Druid Mittens
Love the pattern. No, LOVE the pattern. Love the richness and depth of colors in the yarn. The yarn itself, not so much. Yes it's scratchy as all get up, but it also snaps when pulled too snugly. How coarse and delicate come together in one yarn I have yet to figure out. At least I have perfected my spit splice abilities.


More importantly, despite my best efforts, I have made mistakes. And this pattern can afford no mistakes. So I've done a lot of ripping back. In fact, so much, I probably have done a whole mitten's worth of knitting. Not that I can prove it.

Here's the newest mistake I've found, about 25 rows back. One little cable crossed the wrong way.


Totally ruins the line of the thing. Oh, and they are a wee bit tight.


So do I rip back again? Can the yarn take it one more time? Or do I call it quits for this yarn and try again with something else. Because you know I found something else. I made it to Montclair (before I got sick,) to pick up a little something, something on Thursday evening after work. A few little something, somethings if the truth be told. Amongst them, a different, thicker, (and dare I say less scratchy,) Shetland yarn in plums with deep purples. Which means no more snapping yarn and a slightly bigger mitten.

For now the mittens are on hold.

Jeanie
Slow but sure progress. I love it. I really do. The yarn is gorgeous to work with as well as look at. And the finished product is truly elegant. But the knitting experience, let's face it. It's all ribbing. Fancy, cabled ribbing with drop stitches, but 1x1 ribbing nonetheless. I've finished the first ball of yarn. Finally! (Need to take a new picture!)

My Mini-Maiden will have more total yardage than the called for Smooshy so I'll either have leftovers or will make it bit longer. We'll see. All in all I'd guess I'm at the 40% mark.

And new to the game, the Malabrigo project, and I'm loving it! A true delight to knit with. Heaven. I guess it too is basically ribbing but there's a bit of shaping going on and it definitely knits up faster.

I'm hoping the blocking will even up those cables a bit. But is the color amazing!

Of course there are the multitude of UFOs languishing and an Amigurumi lamb waiting to be made for T's 6th birthday…

I'll get there. Eventually.

All Work and No Play

makes a tante a boring knitter.

Sorry folks. Not much to show for myself. Last night I went to a lecture. Tonight I spent three hours wiring up a friend's new computer and printer only to learn that the IT guy screwed up the something with the log in, thus leaving me with task of hooking up the old computer again. And then the printer didn't want to behave. And I have to say, this full time employment thing is really cutting into my knitting time. And what I did do on Sunday has now been ripped back pretty much to the beginning.

But I did take some pictures BEFORE I decided to be a perfectionist.

I told you it wouldn't be long until I cast on something new. And you know I've really been wanting to knit up Jared Flood's Druid Mittens. You the know the ones. The absolutely stunning mittens that grace the cover of Vogue Knitting, Fall 2008.

Now, while I love me some green I just felt the need to be a wee bit independent on this one. And since I love the all the colors going on in this yarn I decided to stay with the recommended yarn but just change the colorway.

So I went into Stix-n-Stitches in Montclair to see what I could find. And though they didn't have any of the colors I had chosen on-line, the yarn was being sold at a considerable discount. The requisite three hanks cost me about $6. Can you imagine, making the VK cover pattern, in the recommended yarn, and spending only $6!!!

So I picked two colorways, hoping that they'd grow on me; chose the lighter, more dynamic of the two and cast on. And I love it! Truth be told I did a lot of knitting before I realized how much. You see the light in my room seems bright enough but it wasn't until I took it all outside to photograph that I saw the true richness and depth of color.

The cuff went fairly quickly. And then the fun part. The palm patterning is very cool.


And I'm loving the cables. And the bobbles. Who knew?

And just when I was feeling I had this down I noticed it. I screwed up the cable crossing between the circles. And then I noticed I crossed the wrong way on the right braid as well.

So I've ripped back to right before that first 5 stitch crossing. Here's hoping to have progress soon. Because I am SO ready for Fall.