Knitting update
It's been a long, long time and since Steve's been playing his XBox 360 for the past 8-9 hours, it's a good time to post.
I've been actively knitting (sorry, no pics, I suck):
River: Yes! I took River out of hibernation. I've finished 1 ball of the Kidsilk Haze. It was about 7 or 8 repeats, I think. The pattern says to do 12 repeats but I'll likely make it a bit longer. I also knit the beaded fabric for the knot. I wasn't going to, but I happen to have some nice beads that look good with the burgundy yarn so I went with it. This is for my mom, she can use the knot if she wants, or a brooch if she doesn't. Good thing mom is patient, because I started this more than a year ago now. Let's overlook the 6 months I ignored it, shall we?
Wyvern Socks: I am almost done with my short row heel on sock #2, we're in the home stretch. Almost. The leg of this sock seems to take for-freakin-ever, because the lace pattern is on all sides as opposed to just on the top of the foot. I was thinking of knitting this leg a bit longer by adding another repeat then ripping back the top of sock #1 and making that longer too. But at this point I'm getting sick of knitting these so they'll be perfect the way they are. I'm just anxious to start Larin's socks, I think.
Wine cozy: Because everyone needs a wine cozy in 90-degree weather. Actually, I need to give a gift so I decided to stash-bust and knit this. It was quick and easy and I needed a break from charted knitting so I made it. There you go.
Mariah: I haven't actually been knitting Mariah for a while since it's been so warm here. But since I last updated I've done a lot with her. The back and both fronts are done and ready to be put back on the needles for the yoke once I'm satisfied with my sleeve length. I added the small cable up either side of the cardigan fronts for interest. I'm continuing the cable pattern up the shoulder. I'm pretty sure I'm not going to knit the hood and do a cabled collar instead. I live in sweaters through the winter and like to be able to just throw my coat over them when I need to run out. I'm afraid the hood will make it too bulky to wear under a coat. My Rogue annoys me a bit because of the hood preventing me from comfortably wearing my coat. No, it's not as simple as pulling the hood out the back, because my coat has a hood too and then I feel like I have an extra head in the back.
My felted bag has been put in the ignore pile until I decide on a strap strategy.
I think I made something else simple too and I can't remember. Nice.
I also knitted a beaded wrist cuff after my knitting weekend away. I took 2 classes, one of which was a beaded knitting class. Beaded wrist cuffs are pretty big in Nordic countries, apparently, and they have many books devoted just to them. They keep your pulse points warm and therefore keep your body feeling warm. It works! I've only done 1 cuff because I had to borrow my US1s from my Wyvern sock to make it.
I also took a finishing class which was really informative. We learned things such as how using a garter stitch edge makes seaming SO much easier (I'm sold). We were told to do an 8x8 swatch instead of the standard 4x4 and to keep it, not frog it, because then you'll have a great piece of your garment fabric to pick up stitches and play with edgings and button bands, etc... I barely do a 4x2 swatch because I'm both lazy and anxious to start the project. The analogy was that great painters don't sit down with their canvas and just create their masterpiece from scratch, they sketch and plan it out first and that takes time. It makes sense, but it doesn't make me any less impatient.
I also learned Japanese short rows in that finishing class. They are beautiful and fun. I plan on getting much use out of them to shape sleeve caps and shoulders instead of the step-like bind offs that are usually spec'd in patterns. I HATE those step-like bind offs. No matter how well the sleeve is seamed to the shoulder I can always and forever see those spots where the corner is. Makes me crazy.
My summer projects are going to be socks for all 3 girls. I can't bear to knit with anything but thin sock yarn in the summer. I picked a random hank (to make it fair) from the bag for the first pair and it was Larin's yarn. She'll have some great turquoise/purple socks. I've already figured out the # of stitches I need for her feet, but still need to decide on stitch pattern, toe up vs. cuff down, etc... I've got time, as my sock needles are currently still working on the Wyverns.
I've been actively knitting (sorry, no pics, I suck):
River: Yes! I took River out of hibernation. I've finished 1 ball of the Kidsilk Haze. It was about 7 or 8 repeats, I think. The pattern says to do 12 repeats but I'll likely make it a bit longer. I also knit the beaded fabric for the knot. I wasn't going to, but I happen to have some nice beads that look good with the burgundy yarn so I went with it. This is for my mom, she can use the knot if she wants, or a brooch if she doesn't. Good thing mom is patient, because I started this more than a year ago now. Let's overlook the 6 months I ignored it, shall we?
Wyvern Socks: I am almost done with my short row heel on sock #2, we're in the home stretch. Almost. The leg of this sock seems to take for-freakin-ever, because the lace pattern is on all sides as opposed to just on the top of the foot. I was thinking of knitting this leg a bit longer by adding another repeat then ripping back the top of sock #1 and making that longer too. But at this point I'm getting sick of knitting these so they'll be perfect the way they are. I'm just anxious to start Larin's socks, I think.
Wine cozy: Because everyone needs a wine cozy in 90-degree weather. Actually, I need to give a gift so I decided to stash-bust and knit this. It was quick and easy and I needed a break from charted knitting so I made it. There you go.
Mariah: I haven't actually been knitting Mariah for a while since it's been so warm here. But since I last updated I've done a lot with her. The back and both fronts are done and ready to be put back on the needles for the yoke once I'm satisfied with my sleeve length. I added the small cable up either side of the cardigan fronts for interest. I'm continuing the cable pattern up the shoulder. I'm pretty sure I'm not going to knit the hood and do a cabled collar instead. I live in sweaters through the winter and like to be able to just throw my coat over them when I need to run out. I'm afraid the hood will make it too bulky to wear under a coat. My Rogue annoys me a bit because of the hood preventing me from comfortably wearing my coat. No, it's not as simple as pulling the hood out the back, because my coat has a hood too and then I feel like I have an extra head in the back.
My felted bag has been put in the ignore pile until I decide on a strap strategy.
I think I made something else simple too and I can't remember. Nice.
I also knitted a beaded wrist cuff after my knitting weekend away. I took 2 classes, one of which was a beaded knitting class. Beaded wrist cuffs are pretty big in Nordic countries, apparently, and they have many books devoted just to them. They keep your pulse points warm and therefore keep your body feeling warm. It works! I've only done 1 cuff because I had to borrow my US1s from my Wyvern sock to make it.
I also took a finishing class which was really informative. We learned things such as how using a garter stitch edge makes seaming SO much easier (I'm sold). We were told to do an 8x8 swatch instead of the standard 4x4 and to keep it, not frog it, because then you'll have a great piece of your garment fabric to pick up stitches and play with edgings and button bands, etc... I barely do a 4x2 swatch because I'm both lazy and anxious to start the project. The analogy was that great painters don't sit down with their canvas and just create their masterpiece from scratch, they sketch and plan it out first and that takes time. It makes sense, but it doesn't make me any less impatient.
I also learned Japanese short rows in that finishing class. They are beautiful and fun. I plan on getting much use out of them to shape sleeve caps and shoulders instead of the step-like bind offs that are usually spec'd in patterns. I HATE those step-like bind offs. No matter how well the sleeve is seamed to the shoulder I can always and forever see those spots where the corner is. Makes me crazy.
My summer projects are going to be socks for all 3 girls. I can't bear to knit with anything but thin sock yarn in the summer. I picked a random hank (to make it fair) from the bag for the first pair and it was Larin's yarn. She'll have some great turquoise/purple socks. I've already figured out the # of stitches I need for her feet, but still need to decide on stitch pattern, toe up vs. cuff down, etc... I've got time, as my sock needles are currently still working on the Wyverns.