Weekend in Vermont

This past weekend I went with Honey to Vermont for a couple of Circus shows. There really isn't much to relay about the trip. The weather was lovely and I got to actually spend time with a few people that I've met at the shows. Of course, the only pictures I took ended up being far too dark and I've been unable to successfully clean them up so far.

I was able to sneak in a little yarn shopping. There was a gift shop in the tiny town we were at and at the very back there was a small yarn shop, which was stocked with some pretty nice stuff. I couldn't resist picking up this:

2 skeins of Araucania Nature Cotton in sage green. It is incredibly soft! I haven't seen the yarn locally, so that was all the incentive I needed to buy it. I've no idea what I'm going to make with it yet. Thankfully, I don't have to worry about dye-lot if I end up needing more. It's all hand-dyed, so there will be variation no matter what! :)

And the 28hr round-trip drive gave me time to knit this...

Trek's Sock

I've finished the first sock and have started the second. I'm just past the cuff now, but hopefully I finish it up this weekend.

The yarn is really lovely to work with, although it is pooling something awful. Even so, the sock is still quite pretty. I was originally going to do a fancy rib pattern, but the darkness of the yarn hid the pattern. Instead I went with a simple 2x2 rib for the cuff and stockinette for the leg & foot. I did a slip stitch heel for a little oompf.

Now I just hope they fit! :)

The Owl Has Landed!

Hallelujah! The new sock yarn has arrived! My poor owl is getting quite a workout with all my indecision on this project! The red isn't as dark as I had hoped, and there is a little bit of orange in the yarn, but I think it will work perfectly with the pattern I have chosen. I just hope my fair Gryffindor pal will be pleased.

Off to knit...

Oy!

Kris flew out to NY on Wednesday to do sound at the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival for the Circus. He was supposed to fly home last night but his flights were canceled due to weather. They were supposed to get him out today. He just called, his flights were canceled AGAIN! Grr.. the best they can do is get him on stand-by for a 6am flight tomorrow morning, so he extended the rental on his car and is driving home. He should be home by early afternoon tomorrow at the latest. (sigh)

I did finally block the Not-Quite-Straight Scarf and I'm very pleased with the results...

before blocking

after
detail photo

As biased-knit scarves go I prefer the snowy triangle scarf, but this is still quite lovely and certainly very easy to do. I really like knitting on the bias with variegated yarns.

I'm also making good progress on the Wheat-Ear Cable Yoke sweater for Autumn. I've finished the front & back (up to the join)and am about 1/4 way through the sleeves (knitting both at the same time). Gotta get this finished by the 13th for her birthday!

And, the second batch of yarn arrived today for the Hogwarts Sock Swap. I went with the Scarlet that is stated in the books rather than the burgundy that was used in the movies and most used when knitting Gryffindor items.
Avada, what do you think? This is a pretty good representation of the color (on my screen at least; it's definitely scarlet). If it's too bright for you I have no problems sending it back and getting the darker color. :)

Oh! I also got my downstream pal's Sockapalooza package shipped off to Germany on Saturday! Domestic packages are supposed to go out this coming weekend, so I should receive my package sometime next week! Squee!

FOs, WIPS & Yarn Porn - Oh My!

Things are finally settling down a bit. We were away for the 3rd weekend in a row and I'm really worn out. However, I've done a fair bit o'knittin.
Behold!
The first Breeze sock for my sockapalooza 4 pal. I'm nearly finished with the second sock and hope to have it completed within the next few days. I really like the way these are knitting up. :)

This is the Not-Quite-Straight Scarf. It's knit on the bias and I started it while in Cold Spring. I completed it yesterday and will post the final pic once it's been blocked.

This is the yarn used for the above scarf. It was obtained by a swap on ravelry. It's a handspun/handpainted yarn that was originally purchased on ebay. Lovely pastel colors, that are surprisingly vibrant.

Finished socks made with Calmer. The pattern was self-designed using a Shetland Feather lace panel on the sides. The socks are very stretchy, which is a necessity in any socks knit for my mom. However, I'm not entirely thrilled with the design. Oh well, mom loves them.. and I highly recommend using Calmer for socks.. sooo comfy!

From this lovely little yarn shop in Chicago, the following were purchased...

Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock
in Bittersweet

Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock
in Mineshaft

Frog notions holder by Clover
(too cute to be resisted)

The yarns will be used for socks for Autumn & Kris, since they picked out the colors. Can't decide if I will be hanging on to the frog or if I will be gifting it in one of my sp exchanges.

Casting On

When I finished the Embossed Leaves socks I realized that I had nothing else on the needles! GASP! I thus immediately cast-on the Wheat-Ear Cable Yoke that I am making for my niece. I initially did a bunch of math to convert the pattern to a 25" chest and cast-on. I knit about 5 rows & realized that a) I'm not getting correct gauge & b) the needles are really too large for the yarn.

I therefore ripped it out and started again. This time I am using the directions as written for the smallest size, but went down 2 needles sizes. Hallelujah! I Have GAUGE! And, no more math required, since little miss has a 25" chest, but her arms & torso are 18" long already! (Yes, she is going to be really tall!)

I'm a little over 1/2 done with the back and I'm really looking forward to getting to the cables (stockinette can be so boring)!

Not to be satisfied, and frankly feeling a bit inadequate after seeing mammoth stash photos over on ravelry (seriously, get on the list if you aren't already! Love, love, love this site!), I stopped by the LYS on the way home from work & picked up the following.

I am planning on making (surprise) socks out of both of these. I'm thinking of trying Breeze for my Sockapalooza pal with the Hempathy. I'm looking for a pattern that will be good for the Calmer. These will go to my mom & will be cast-on first, since her birthday is in a few weeks. This yarn is soft, very stretchy & (most importantly) will probably hold up to my dad's laundry practices.

Yarn Porn!

I just received my Knit Picks order! Yippie!

They are running a clearance sale & I snagged some sock yarn at a fantastic price! I've never knit with their Memories sock yarn before, but according to the folks at Ravelry the yarn is supposed to knit up fairly well, although is highly prone to felting. Well, I guess I will just have to keep these all to myself then... darn! ;)

Spring Prairie

Hawaii

Rocky Mountain Dusk

Yukon

They also kicked in a couple color cards: Palette & Telemark! I love this store! :)

Oh, btw, I would love your opinion on something. I have been playing around at WordPress for the last few months & I'm getting heartily sick of updating the same info on 2 different blog sites. So, I'm going to get rid of one. Which should I keep? Take a peek at my other site & let me know.

Need Help With Color!

Went to my lys this morning and they didn't have a single skein of solid-color sock yarn! So after much searching on the internet I think I'm going to go with Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock Yarn, but I need help picking the color. My sock pal stated she likes just about any color, so long as it isn't too dark.

So, I'll be knitting these socks...

But which of the following colors should I use?

DenimSageLilacPeachOld Rose

Personally, I'm leaning towards the sage, but I could really use a 2nd opinion!

Kool Aid Addiction

I was so happy with the results I got on Saturday, that I went dye crazy on Sunday!
I wound my remaining 3 skeins of dk weight yarn into 12 skein that were approx. 1oz each and then dyed them using 12 different flavors of Kool Aid in order to make a color card and possibly knit a sampler. I ended up with 6 different shades of red/pink! I will have to scour my local stores to see if I can find any flavors I missed!
I also wound the sock yarn I dyed into a 2yd hank. This was the best picture I could get and it is still very difficult to see the variation, so below is a picture of the hanks dyed with those flavors... it's a little easier to make out the colors.
Now I just have to see if the stripes knit up properly! If so, I see many more skeins like this in the future! :)

I have to say that I am loving this technique for dyeing. In the past I've always used commercial acid dyes, that require lots of ventilation, gloves, goggles & masks or have added vinegar to the Kool Aid (as I was taught) and been very unhappy with the results! You still want to be careful not to breathe in the Kool Aid powder, but it is not nearly as toxic! Hey Kool Aid!

Kool-Aid Dyeing

I dyed 2 skeins of the KnitPicks Bare yarn using Kool-Aid. One skein of the DK and one of the fingering weight. Here's the results...
Dark red=Tropical Punch; light red/pink=Watermelon Cherry; Purple= Grape

DK Weight Yarn right out of the pot

Light Blue=Ice Blue Raspberry Lemonade; Blue=Berry Blue; Light (Celery) Green=Artic Green Apple

Fingering Weight right out of pot

Here they are drying in the sun.

It started raining about 20min after this picture was taken!

Unfortunately my camera is having problems picking out the difference between the light & darker blue. I think it's due to them being the same hue under bright light. In person there is a difference. You may notice that the fingering skein is longer, this is because I wound it into an 8yrd hank so that, in theory, the yarn will self-stripe when I knit it up. There is a good tutorial on this technique over at See Eunny Knit. Overall I'm very happy with the results. This is the first time I've dyed using Kool-Aid without adding vinegar. The yarn certainly absorbed it ok, we will just have to wait & see how color-fast it is.

BTW- The Spring Surprise is up at Knitty! Am I crazy for totally wanting to knit this?