life is precious

i was shocked to learn that a good friend of my parent’s recently lost her mother and her daughter in a tragic accident. i can only imagine how much grief she is going through. it reminds me all too well that life is precious and that it can be taken away without warning.

please be safe while driving.

“no picture” finished objects and a new wip (with pictures)

i got so excited about the tutorial, i forgot to post a finished object picture of my rainbow brite socks…and these days the sun is in short supply. i so do hate posting pictures using my flash; everything looks so overexposed and cannot be fixed in photoshop. (i do have some great blurry pics of my socks posing with butter (K)).

 

{imaginary picture of finished socks}

 

chevron pattern from sensational knitted socks by charlene schurch
the sock club november yarn in confetti
started: december 29, 2006
finished: january 14, 2007
needles: 2-2.5mm circular needles
notes: started toe-up with figure-8 casted on 12, 66 stitches,
k1p1 ribbed cuff and invisible bind-off

OT: did you see that a new charlene schurch sock book is being released? more sensational knitted socks! ah!! amazon is taking pre-orders.

i also have some knitted facecloths that i started a while ago. my facewash has medication in it and discolors our towels. seeing that i was making these for the sole purpose of being destroyed, i didn’t even think to take pictures of them. but again, i think that i should at least record their existence. by the way, that book is only o.k., if you’re interested in it, check it out at the library before you invest.

 

{don’t these imaginary facecloths just wow you?}

 

4 knitted facecloths
various patterns from 200 knitted blocks by jan eaton
lion brand cotton-ease in pink and purple
started: a long time ago
finished: january 14, 2007
needles: can’t remember
notes: finished with single crochet edging

finally, i have started another sock. here is the yarn i chose:

socks that rock mediumweight – rare gem
the outside of the skein is a pretty mix of shades of reds,pinks and burgundies
but the inside has little bands of melon, lilac, and blue-green

the coloring is not even throughout the skein, so i think i’ll end up with one colorful and one not-so-colorful sock. it shows up more than expected, deterring from the simple cable pattern. here is a knitted bit of it (a tad overexposed) as an example:

whitby from knitting on the road by nancy bush
started: january 14, 2007
needles: 5 – #2 lantern moon dpn’s
notes: added another rib since the pattern pulls in,
maybe finish the first cuff then start the second because of the coloring?

despite the let-down from the color, i still love this yarn (it was a ‘bonus’ skein anyway). it’s a pleasure to work with! i can always overdye, right?

k1p1 invisible bind-off tutorial

this being my first real adventure in toe-up socks, i was a loss as to what bind off to use. sensational knitted socks didn’t have a recommended bind-off (did it?)…and i’ve read enough blogs to know that i needed something stretchy. a quick google search didn’t turn up much, although i did rediscover laurie b’s toes and heels webpage (it’s a fantastic collection of links for different toe and heel techniques…thanks!).

since you end at the cuff when you knit toe-up, the bind-off must be loose and elastic. it would be a tragedy to have (unintentionally) slouchy socks after all the time you put into it. i found a k1p1 invisible bind-off that i thought might work for me described in the twisted sister’s sock workbook. the wording was a little confusing, but i plowed on…and thought to put what i learned up on the ol’ blog to share with you.

it may seem like a lot of work, but i think this bind-off is espcially pretty and very elastic. i hope you enjoy it as much as i do!

k1p1 invisible bind-off tutorial

• after you have finished the desired length of your k1p1 cuff, break off a length of yarn about three times the circumference of your sock. thread through a tapestry needle to begin.
• note: the photos are associated with the text below it.
• please leave me feedback – this is my first tutorial!

• in the first stitch (a knit stitch) thread the needle from back to front. pull yarn through and snug gently.

• in the next stitch (a purl stitch) thread the needle from front to back. pull yarn through and snug.

• the yarn should look something like this.

• go back to the first knit stitch and thread the needle from front to back. pull yarn through. snug.

• slip this stitch off the needle.

• *in the next stitch (a knit stitch), thread the needle from back to front.

• go back to the purl stitch (now the first stitch on the needle) and thread needle from back to front. slip this stitch off the needle.
• the second stitch on the needle should be a purl stitch. you will need to thread your yarn through this stitch from front to back . BUT, you need to do this from BEHIND the first knit stitch.

• to do this, approaching from the back, put your needle between the first and second stitch. now thread the needle from the front to the back of the purl (second) stitch.

• it may seem a little awkward, but it will get easier.

• now, in the first (knit) stitch, thread the needle from front to back. pull the yarn through. snug. slip stitch off needle.
• go to *.
• continue until the last purl stitch.

• thread the needle from back to front on the inital knit stitch.

• thread the needle from back to front on the last purl stitch.

• now thread the needle once more on the inital stitch. pull yarn through. snug.

• last step!! pull needle through to other side. weave in ends.

• viola! a stretchy k1p1 invisible cast-off!

butter’s perfect hat – completed

i would like to introduce you to my fiance, butter.

i know, i know, why would i be engaged to a dairy product? much less a high fat one? truth be known, he was nicknamed before we started dating. we were both working at a dot com. i was in sales, he was in i.t. although we shared the same group of friends, i had no idea he was such a ‘ladies man’. you see, all the females in the office would always find him if they had any problems, computer-related or otherwise. oh, and he always wore yellow t-shirts.

like many companies at the time, ours was headed for a dot com fallout. i knew it. he knew it. we all knew it. in the end, we were both laid off. up until that point we were just friends by association. he would never stoop so low as to consider dating someone in sales; i never imagined that we would get along so well. but we did. and we spent a lot of time together passing the days until we found jobs. i call it dating in dog years…

butter’s perfect hat
my own pattern in kfi cashmereno
started: december 27, 2006
finished: january 14, 2007
needles: 2-#4 circular needles
notes: cast on 90 stitches, 2×2 ribbing for and 1″ or so,
gradual spiral decrease (dec,k x rows,dec, etc…);
i would probably use 99 stitches if i had to do it over again

every time i mention him on my blog i leave him a kiss. in ‘i.m. speak’ it’s (k). i know it’s a bit cheesey, but i admit to being a bit of a sap. long story short, we fell in love, moved in, bought a house….and are planning to get married sometime…anyone know of a good place to elope (we can’t seem to get the planning started!)?

progress pictures

so, when are progess pictures, too many pictures? a lot of bloggers like to build in suspense to pique thier readers’ curiousity. me? i’ll just let it out there. to hell with literary cliff-hangers.

please note the foot was photoshop’d so as not to scare you guys

i have to do these toe-up socks more often

and the pooling wasn’t so bad….i’m lovin’ these socks!!

“that blog” (pic intensive)

i wrote recently that my blog has become a stash blog rather than a knitting blog. well, i’ve been knitting. so there. butter’s perfect hat is still on hold (i don’t want to pick up stitches at the moment) and i have been working on my rainbow brite socks.

rainbow brite socks
chevron pattern from sensation knitted socks
started: december 29, 2006
needles: 2-2.5mm circular needles
notes: started toe-up with figure-8 casted on 12, increased to 66 and
(duh) did not center pattern on instep

i really really really really wanted the colors to turn out like what you see above…you know, rainbow-like….but instead:

pooling

i end up with syracuse and christmas colors….this is not what i was going for…and while it does not look terrible, i’m not satisfied with it. (of course, i love socks, so i will end up liking these in the end)

ANYWAY, i was saying that as of late, all i was posting was my stash enhancements. now, seeing that it is fiber friday and i have been knitting. i thought i would indulge…behold…my newest stash enhancements:

this is the lot of ‘em
socks that rock, cherry tree hill supersock and sock club yarn
me so happy!!

cherry tree hill
in black, cream, bark and african grey
via a fantastic end of year sale from sandra singh
(who by the way had it shipped that same night!!!)

the black
really nothing special about this particular skein except i love that i could photograph it!

african grey
i also love this color but the color is off for some reason.
it’s better in the above photos
(soooo many pictures, i think i was getting lazy)

midnight fire from the sock club
it’s almost buckeye colors….i love it….i’m almost a fan
lynne – you better update your site you booger!!

mustang salley – str lightweight
please ignore the ugly picture in picture…again, i was playing then laziness got the best of me

rare gem – str medium weight
these were gifts for the sock club members…i’ve seen some beautiful skeins…i’m only ‘eh’ about this one. there is actually some orange and lilac in mine as well….i’ll photograph it again if anyone wants to see it.

whew!!! there you have it…my new stash enhancements…have a happy friday and weekend!!

PSA: socks that rock rockin sock club members…you may not have received the email to sign-up for 2007…per the current STR KAL site, you still have a chance to sign up!

hats and tarot cards

do you remember your first visit to the public library? i do. we were living in west virginia at the time. my mother scooped up the three kids and carted us off to ‘the city’ to go read some books. (i suspect that we kids were getting too rambuctious…was it around the time that we decided it was a good idea to raffle off all of our stuffed animals with 10 cent raffle tickets?)

anyway, i loved the library. it was so much fun to browse through all of the books. don’t know why, but i was drawn to the ‘supernatural’ section. i loved to read about ghosts and witches and vampires and fantasy and stuff like that (so much so that i read bram stoker’s dracula at age 9). i was infatuated with first roman, then greek and then norse mythology. what a little geek!! at one point i wanted to learn about the art of fortune-telling. i bought a set of tarot cards….but they still lay at the bottom of my closet. someday i will figure it out. but in the meantime, here’s the result to an online quiz found via ruiningmyfun regarding my lost interest in fortune telling.

You are The Empress
What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

knitting-wise i’ve been working on a hat for butter (k). he has a smallish head and requested a new hat for winter. i’ve gotten the majority finished but i’ve frogged this a million times trying to figure out a decent way to decrease. i tried a gradual spiral-type decrease (decreasing every other row)….then a more abrupt, rounded shaping decrease…it’s current form is with raglan style decreases that square off the top….i don’t really like it….but i think if i frog even further back and do the same every other row it may be a perfect fit! what is your favorite type of decrease for hats (knit in the round?)

butter’s perfect hat
my own pattern in kfi cashmereno
started: december 27, 2006?
needles: 2-#4 circular needles
notes: cast on 90 stitches, 2×2 ribbing for and 1″ or so