Thursday, January 31, 2008

WIPs

Tah dah! The replacement needles that Crystal Palace Yarns sent me. Aren't they pretty. J/k. They have already proved to be much better than the other set. I am using them to knit my monkey socks. I have finished the third lace repeat on the first sock. I am really enjoying knitting these socks. I am even thinking about frogging the slip up sock to knit a second pair of monkey socks. I alreay am going to have to rip the toe out, and knit the foot more because they are too short.

This is my cool monkey. I am in love with the colors. It isn't stripping like I thought it would, but I like the way that it is turning out. This picture doesn't show it exactly, but I am getting blocks of greens and blocks of purple/blues. I am on the 4th lace repeat already. (In this picture I only have 1 lace repeat done.)

Here is the back of my Cinnabar Pullover. I am done with the waist shaping, and am ready to start the armhole decreases. This is going very quickly, but all the stockinette is a little boring. After the armhole shaping there is some short row shapping for the sholders, so maybe that will break up the boringness.
And last, but certainly not least, the Through the Keyhole Scarf. This picture reminds me of a sushi roll. Mmmm..sushi, I love sushi. I am really enjoying this knit, but with my other two projects it isn't getting the love and attention it deserves.

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Monos Locos!

....Crazy Monkies. I finally joined the bandwagon, and cast on for a pair of Cookie A.'s Monkey socks. I am using the Jitterbug yarn I bought at SWAK In the City. I knit the cuff and first pattern repeat. It's amazing, and I'm in love. :) The pattern calls for US1 1/2 needles that will yeild a medium size sock, but I have a small foot (and no US1 1/2 needles), so I'm using US1 needles. Speaking of those needles, they are the replacement that I got from Crystal Palace Yarns. They seem to be a lot sturdier than the other ones. They came very promtly, and I'm expecting them to work a lot better than the last ones. Maybe I just got a bad set the first time.

I am really close to the armhole shaping on my Cinnabar Pullover. I am really enjoying knitting it. It isn't too hard, so it makes great TV knitting. I'm trying to keep up on it, so I will actually be able to wear it this season! I don't want to have to either a)wear it and sweat in OK weather, or b) wait until it gets cold next fall. I'll just have to finish it soon!

I was checking out Lime and Violet: The Daily Chum (link to the site is to the right), and found some new sock yarn that I want. They are a fairly new website, Sunshine Yarns/, and have some amazing colorways. The colorway I really want is WEASLEYS WIZARD WHEEZES - TWIST. It is so colorfull and gorgeous! I'm trying to finish up some projects, so I won't be buying any anytime soon, but I'll definitely keep my eye on it.

Sorry for the pictureless post. I'll try to post some later today or tomorrow.

Happy Knitting!

Thursday, January 24, 2008

FO's, Yarn, & New projects

Finished Objects
I finished my fingerless mittens. I really like the way that they turned out. For some reason the second one turned out a little looser than the first one, but not enough to make me re-knit it. :)




These are two dishrags that I finished last week. They are out of Sugar n' Cream. I think I used most of one ball to knit them both.


I also finished the Basketweave Scarf from Interweave Knits. I got it from Knitting Daily, so I'm not sure which issue it was originally published in. It is for my boyfriend. He already took it, so I didn't get to take a picture. I'll have to snap one of him wearing it!


Works In Progress
I bought yarn on Monday from SWAK In the City. I was planning on making the Tangled Yoke Cardigan, but I think this yarn will do better if I make the Cinnabar Pullover from Interweave Knits Fall 2007. I cast on about 3 times, but I think I finally got it right this time.












I also started the Through The Keyhole Scarf from The Knitter's Bible Knitted Accessories. I have about half of the center part of the scarf done. It is going really quickly. I am knitting it with Patons SWS. I really like the way the yarn feels. It is really smooth and silky.



Yarn

Loop -d- Loop Moss.


Patons SWS.


That's all for today. I'll try to get a picture of the Basketweave Scarf up soon.

Friday, January 18, 2008

Impressed!

A representative from Crystal Palace Yarns left a message on my blog, and after talking to her via email she is going to send me a replacement set. First off, I have no idea how she found my blog, but I am really grateful that they are replacing my whole set of needles.


These socks are the ones I just finished! Aren't they great?! Just plain stockinette with a 1x1 ribbing at the top. I really want to start another pair, but there are two issues with that. 1. I don't have needles. 2. I really need to finish by boyfriends scarf that was suppose to be part of his Christmas gift. I told him I'd finish it after I was done with my socks. I guess I'd better do that. ;) I have a three day weekend, so I should be able to finish it. We get Monday off from school because of Martin Luther King Jr. day.

Yarn I used for the socks: Jojoland Melody. Needles: Crystal Palace Bamboo dpns 6", US1

Happy Weekend, Happy Knitting!

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Disappointed...

with my Crystal Palace Bamboo double pointed needles. I am almost done with my third pair of socks, and I have broken one, and the other four are severly bent. One is on the verge of breaking. I just hope it lasts until I can finish the sock. I only lack the toe! I would like to see if they would replace the broken one, but I can't seem to find a website for them. Maybe I should contact the yarn shop where I bought them. In the mean time I want to purchase another set of dpns, but I'm not sure what brand/material I should buy. Any suggestions?

I am pretty new to sock knitting. I found a really cool chart to figure out how long to knit the foot based on your shoe size. http://www.knittinganyway.com/socks/socksizechart.htm

Monday, January 14, 2008

Fingerless mittens are wonderful!


It took forever, but I finally got my Ravelry sidebar/progress bar to work. I didn't think I was ever going to get it to work. I got the code from another Ravelry user, because I couldn't get the one Casey did for me. I would rather the pictures take you to my Ravelry account, but flickr's ok. At least I got it to work!







I wanted to make a pair of fingerless mittens out of the Esperanza yarn I bought, but I couldn't find many patterns that use chunky yarn. I decided to design/create my own pattern. I feel pretty proud of it! It is simple, yet functional. This is just the first one. I will knit up the second one. I jotted down the pattern as I was making it up, so once I finish the pair I'll share it. I just need to come up with a cool name for them.

School started this week, so this will start to get busy. I already have my first reading assignment due Wednesday.

Friday, January 11, 2008

Knitting while intoxicated....

is not the brightest idea. Now, I'm not talking about drinking. I'm talking about knitting (or trying to knit) a sock after taking sinus medication that makes me drowsy. It's not suppose to, but it always does. I had taken it earlier in the day, and just went to sleep for a few hours. Later that evening I didn't want to sleep, so I did my best to sit up-right on the couch, watch tv, and knit. It was going along fine....I was about half way done with the heel flap (of my second sock), and counted the number of stitches that were on the needle. I was suppose to have 28. I had 25. I left it alone for a while, got out of the sinus med fog, and recounted....still 25.



The sock on the needles to the right is the one that needs work on. I am going to try and figure out where I dropped those 3 stitches, frog, and re-knit. The other pictures are of the completed sock. I love how the colors fad into each other. The yarn is Jojoland Melody. It is a superwash wool that I bought from my LYS. It is just a basic stockinette sock.












YARN
Colinette Jitterbug
Colorway: Dusk, 77.
I love it!!!!

Misti Alpaca Chunky
Colorway: Puprle
I love it too!!
It was a Christmas gift.

Schafar Yarn Esperanza
Coloryway: ? Multicolored
This yarn is AWESOME!
It bought it with a gift certificate.












Sophie Purse I gave to my sister for Christmas. I lined it with a purple and yellow paisly print.








My dad, wear the sock I gave him for Christmas. He got the other one a few days later. :) I used Regina Tweed. They are blue with green, red, and orange specks. I guessed on how long to make the foot, and they fit perfectly. I was so excited. I really likes them too!






Wednesday, January 9, 2008

In-Between-Days

Christmas and New Year's are gone. School and classes will soon be here again. I have a few more days before the hustle and bustle of classes, reading, teaching, and studying start back again. I am working this week, but I don't really have to start using my brain for much yet :). I done have to go buy books sometime this week; have lunch with friends. I feel blessed though. I had a wonderful holiday break with family and friends. I got to travel a bit, and go snow skiing. It was so much fun, and completely exhausting (not just the skiing part, but the whole traveling around thing). I feel like a need a vacation to regain energy lost from my vacation. How goofy is that? All in all, it was worth it though.

I got all of my Christmas gift knitting done...even if they weren't all given to the recipiants completed. I did finish them all. Everyone like them, and the socks for my dad FIT! That was best of all, and it was my first completed pair of socks! I still haven't made the matching pair to the Slip Up Socks. I started another pair of socks for myself. I finished one last night, and I'm about to cast of for the next one. The first one went by pretty quickly, so this one should too. I am hoping that the yarn is going to be sturdy, and not wear out quickly. I do have to finish the Basketweave Scarf for my boyfriend..... I will be posting pictures of completed gifts and current WIP's soon.

A non-knitting topic: The 'non-knitting blog' to the right is my cousin's. He is currently living in Kenya as a missionary. Please pray for peace and safefy there.