Preparations, and a FO

In preparation for NaKniSweMo, when I will be (mostly) faithful to one project, I have been frantically churning out small projects.

Here’s one: Saartje’s bootees, for a friend of mine’s niece. I don’t have children, and I don’t ever intend on having any, but I couldn’t resist the call of such an easy, quick, cute knit. This pair really did only take hours. I’ve already started a second, slightly larger pair in solid Koigu. I have one of the two done, but have been distracted by zeebee.

I’ve been looking for something to use my Malabrigo on, and this is perfect. Nevermind that it’s already sort of starting to pill, before I’ve even finished making it. It’s soft, and squishy, and red! I will be a very exciting sight when I wear both that hat, and my bright pink/purple gloves. Yes indeed.

FO – Mermaid Gloves

These are awesome, in my opinion.

Pattern: based on the Knitty pattern Pomatomus , heavily modified.
Yarn: Sweet Georgia superwash sock, Kiki, 2ish skeins.
I had a really good time making these gloves.  It was really fulfilling to see them appear from nothing, with no hard and fast pattern, but only what I was able to dig up on my own.  It’s like the final knitting frontier (sort of).  I’m looking forward to wearing them as soon as it gets cold, with my new navy blue wool coat. 🙂

I want to knit everything.

I finished my Mermaid gloves (pics tomorrow), and now…well, you know. I have a pair of Christmas socks to finish, which I can do with fairly little effort. I have a Snow White sweater to start in November. Still, I’m obsessively searching around on Ravelry for sweater patterns. So far, I’ve decided that I want to knit Eunny’s Deep V Argyle vest and Enid (Interweave Knits Winter 2006). Are you sensing a trend? Colorwork is my final frontier. Oh, and some of those damn cute baby booties, Saartje’s booties, because one of my friends has a 4 month old niece that could use some booties for Christmas, and it’s a super good use of my leftover sock yarn, and she said she might pay me. They won’t take that long, so what’s the harm? I’m so close to just finishing that one pair of socks for Christmas and nothing else, all so I can have more time to knit for myself. I’m selfish.

NaNoSweMo

I like to do things that motivate me, and I suspect this will. NaNoSweMo is starting up again this year, and I have joined!  It’s based on NaNoWriMo (write a 50,000 word novel in a month), but instead of writing, it’s knitting!  I’m planning on knitting Snow White, though I don’t really know if it actually have 50,000 stitches.  Math is bad.

Everyone is going to Rhinebeck but me.

I want to go, but I can’t for a variety of reasons.  The number one reason is because my husband is running a Buffy tabletop game on Saturday, and it isn’t feasible to drive 5ish hours for one day.  I didn’t start campaigning early enough, either, so my husband isn’t really convinced that it would be fun for him, and I didn’t have time to find an alternate activity for him.  Also, I’m vaguely poor (see yesterday’s post about joining a new yarn club), and lazy.  More the other two reasons than that last one.  I’ve never been to a knitting “event” before, either, so there is an element of anxiety.    It just seems like a really cool event, and one that has lots and lots and lots and lots of yarn, which is never a bad thing (in my opinion).

I’m whiny, I know.  I will just suck it up, stare at the pictures that all the other bloggers take, and start plotting for next year.

In the meantime, I will work really hard to finish my mermaid gloves this weekend, and at least one Christmas sock.  The Shelridge Farm yarn for my next sweater arrived last week, too, but I don’t have a size 7 circular needle, so no starting that.  Also, I’m not as pleased with the color as I could be: it has a little more orange in it than I would like.  I suspect I will get used to it, though, and it is still red, and very nice.  Regardless, I am going to be pious until the weekend is over.  Really!

Stuff.

Here’s a picture of my mermaid gloves, in progress:

I have actually finished this glove since the picture was taken (go go 4 day glove!), and am taking copious notes, so as to ensure that both gloves are at least mostly the same. There isn’t any actual pattern, but I found quite a few resources that helped me.  They will be done before it gets so cold that I need them, I think.

I decided to not continue with my Yarn Pirate Booty Club membership late last week, because I became aware of the Seasons yarn club (Sundara). I’ve been hoping to get into one of her clubs for some time, partially because she’s one of the best dyers of semi solid yarns that I’ve found, in my opinion.  It is about $20 more than the Booty Club, but I must have it, so…  Also, the Booty Club was cool/fun, but the yarn wasn’t ever really to my liking. I’m very excited to get my first shipment.  Soon I’ll be getting my partner for the Loopy Ewe swap, too, which is also exciting.

A collection of randomness.

I’m addicted to podcasts. 2/3 of them are knitting podcasts, but I also listen to a Harry Potter podcast (Mugglecast), This American Life, and The Savage Love podcast. Days that none of these podcasts are new are very sad days for me. This Monday, I woke up to discover that I was out of stored up podcasts, and went on a search for another knitting podcast to hold me over until my regulars updated. I discovered Sticks & String, a podcast recorded by an Australian guy. It’s really good! I’m always amazed to find new and exciting podcasts.

In other news, I’m gearing up for my winter knitting, and I have Decided (capital D) that I will finally make gloves for myself to wear.  I have the perfect yarn.  It’s Sweet Georgia sock yarn that is far too pretty to make into socks (and it appears to be resisting being turned into socks, too), and the pinks go perfectly with my brand new navy wool winter coat.  So.  The ravelry search begins.  Last year I attempted to make gloves, and failed miserably, mostly because I couldn’t really find a pattern that I liked, and I’m lazy and got tired of making glove fingers.  This year I will prevail.  And it’s the sort of project that I can make while also making Christmas socks.  You’ll see.

Another swap!

I signed up for The Loopy Ewe Swap two days ago, and I’m already excited. I’ve been looking around for another swap that will be as awesome as sockapalooza 4 was (I have high standards), and didn’t find anything to my liking. Then, some ravelry folks started up a swap based on their love of Sheri and The Loopy Ewe, and I was in! I too love her, and her store, and I like the fact that this swap is going to be smaller/more intimate. And I may get the chance to knit a shawl for someone, which I would love to do. Icarus is sitting on a shelf somewhere, pining, because I never wear shawls, despite the fact that I love lace knitting. That shawl will be gifted to my grandmother-in-law for Christmas this year.  I hope to be able to knit another shawl sometime soon.

Look!  A (slightly blurry) kitten!

Doing the dance.

The “I don’t have another big project but I want one but I really should start Christmas knitting” dance, to be precise. I’m wearing my stockings today, and have gotten many compliments, which only reinforces my need for the next project. It’s fall, so a sweater. I decided on a pattern that I’ve been wanting to try for awhile: Snow White, by Ysolde. I’m enthused. I know it will look good on me, and it’s in worsted weight yarn, which means it will knit up quickly. Of course, I’m finding it impossible to settle on what yarn to use. It’s really tough, mostly because I have certain yarn requirements (must be a brightish, super-saturated color, no alpaca), and a yarn I’ve never tried before. Now, this last qualification isn’t set in stone, but I’d prefer it. So, I’ve been aimlessly been searching the Ravelry yarn databases, looking for that perfect yarn. I must confess, I did consider buying a shitton of Shibui sock yarn and using it doubled, but that’s too much work, and expensive.

I demand perfection.

In the meantime, I’m working on the Thelonious socks for my sister, and a pair of random stripey sock for myself from oddballs.

***ETA: I found it! Shelridge Soft Touch W4!

FO: Evening Stockings for a Young Lady

My photography, as ever, is sucky, but…

Pattern: Evening Stocking for a Young Lady, from Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush
Yarn: Shibui Sock, 3 skeins, Midnight; size 1 needle
Mods: None, sort of.  At first I only made the cuff ribbing 1 inch (because I thought I would have enough yarn with 2 skeins), but I changed that back to the way the pattern intended.  Oh, I did do 5 extra repeats before I started the decreases, for length.

These socks turned out really well, as evidenced by the speed with which I worked on them.  I finished these socks in about 8 days, which is a record for me (knee socks, you know.)  The one complaint is that they could be a bit longer, despite the mods.  I really enjoyed the pattern, and I could go on and on about how awesome the yarn is.  I think I may have found The Yarn.  You know, that sock yarn that you’re always searching for, the kind that has all the colors you want, the right amount of squish, and the best fabric/stitch definition.  I’ve already started a pair of Christmas socks for my sister using this yarn (in Peacock).