Monkey

I finished the sleeves of the Transformers sweater. So, to reward myself (and to avoid seaming!) I started some socks. I'm giving Monkey another shot. This one is so much nicer than my previous attempt. The yarn is Koigu, and the pattern is showing up much more clearly. I haven't knit socks in a month, and it was a good break. I think I'm ready to dive back in. On my recent visit to Pick Up Sticks, I picked up an armful of sock yarn:



From L to R: Dream In Color Smooshy in Cloud Jungle, Araucania Ranco in Multy, Araucania Ranco in green solid, Colinette Jitterbug in Velvet leaf, Artyarns Ultramerino 4 in color #144, Liisu in Calming, and Handmaiden Casbah in teal.

and I got this:




Dream in Color worsted for the Minimalist Cardigan. Take a look at these marvellous Minimalists: 1, 2, 3, 4.

See, I did more than Ravelry this weekend!

I was actually able to pry myself away from Ravelry to start something new. It's the Road to Golden sweater from Knitscene Fall2007. I was too lazy to knit a test swatch, so I charted out a few colour combos on a paint program. Still, I'm not sure I like these colours. I'll finish one repeat before I decide. I was aiming for something like this, but with the yarn in my stash. Her greens and yellow are more muted than mine. We'll see.

I'm in!

Just popping in quickly to say that I won't be blogging for a while!

I got my Ravelry invite this morning!

As Angela commented to me today, is that a blessing or a curse?

My userID is miknits.

Oh, and I visited Pick Up Sticks today for the first time. Amazing shop!

Not So Fun

Working on this sweater has been very unpleasant. It's definitely no fun knitting something for the second time. Sometimes people say to me, "your should knit and sell your stuff" or "you should do more designing", but right away I think 'No way!". Knitting is my refuge from stress. I could never turn it into work. I don't do well with deadlines and pressure.

I'm so glad I'm done with the torturous intarsia picture. The new bobbins were definitely better. Just the little act of pulling more yarn rather than unwinding the yarn really was more convenient. However, they still became a big, knotted mess on almost every row. I think it was because of me, though, and not the bobbins. Intarsia and I are just not a good match.

In other news, I'm now in the Ravelry hundreds:

Found you!
You signed up on July 10, 2007
You are #15480 on the list.
758 people are ahead of you in line.
18486 people are behind you in line.
43% of the list has been invited so far

Hooray!

Hello, hello!

So sorry for the lack of posts lately. It's been a very busy time, with homeschooling, lots of guests visiting, and recovering from our first "family" cold of the season. The weather here has cooled down quite a bit, which has made me want to knit so much more, but I've actually done very little in the last while. I did, however, finished the Tilted Duster, and have worn it a few times already.




The Peace Fleece is a very rugged and warm. It's quite a unique yarn. If you don't know the story behind it, the description from their site says, "A yarn company committed to helping historic enemies cooperate and prosper through trade." The wool is a blend of Russian, Romanian, American, Israeli and Palestinian wools. It's 70% wool and 30% mohair, and has lots of depth in its' colouring.

One thing I recommend is that you wash the yarn in wool wash before you knit. It's quite harsh on the hands, and there is lots of prickly plant matter mixed in. After you wash it though, it becomes very soft.

I knit the size small, with a couple of modifications. I cast on the large size sleeve cuffs, because I didn't want them to be as fitted as the magazine photo. I also had some trouble with the collar. The pattern said to knit a 5" collar; I followed the instructions and blocked the sweater. When I went to try it on, the top of the collar reached my ears. I wish I took a photo because it looked really ridiculous. Perhaps I stretched it too much during blocking, or perhaps the model in the magazine has an inhumanly long neck, I don't know. Anyways, I reknit the collar, and made it about 3 1/4", which turned out great. Because it's more shallow, I had to omit the first inside button. I love this sweater, and I'm certain it's gonna get lots of use this season!

I'm now off to check my blog reader. I haven't read any blogs in almost a week, so I can't wait to see what all of you have been up to!

Hurry, hurry!

7 out of 9 repeats done on the skirt. Nights are down to 12 degrees here. I need this sweater!

Birthday Boy

Yesterday, my eldest turned 7. Wow, where has the time gone? We had a small family dinner. Joshua chose pizza, so no cooking for me (hooray!). I wish I had some nice pictures to share with you, but my husband was on camera duty.

Since all wives have ESP when it comes to their husbands, I took this pic earlier in the day:

Like I wrote last March at Grace's birthday, if you stick a toy on an ordinary cake, you instantly become the best baker in the world.

Here's my picture (sugar was kicking in so I wasn't getting any co-operation):

Did you notice what Josh was wearing? His new sweater!! Turned out very nice, I must say! It was a definite hit. Um, I guess if you put a cool design on an ordinary sweater, you instantly become the best knitter in the world. Ha!

This picture was taken today:

Feeling a little deja vu? Yeah, me too.

You see, I have a 5-yr-old cousin who also loves Transformers. He was at the party last night, and kept commenting on how much he liked the sweater. Then, my aunt (who doesn't knit) told him that I would knit him one too. I stood there a little stunned while my cousin began jumping up and down with joy. It's not like I could say no. Then his mom asked, "Can you finish it by October 1st? We're going to China for 6 months.". As pictures of all the projects I have lined up flashed through my head, I answered, "Sure! No problem!". I guess this is the kind of thing that happens when you're the best knitter in the world.

Sorry for the lack of post this week. Progress is a lot slower when you're not knitting socks! (But that's about to change real soon; you'll see why at the end of this post) Josh's Transformers sweater is all done and blocking. The Tilted Duster is moving along slowly:



I went to Serenity Knits to pick up the long circular above. The always-helpful Karen mentioned she saw my last post, and showed me come cute bobbins that will help my adventures in intarsia be, well, less adventurous!



They're made of soft plastic that flip open and closed. It's firm enough to hold your yarn, but still allows you to just pull more yarn out (instead of having to unwind). Good thing she showed me these; my husband is insisting he get a Transformers sweater too. Any day my husband begs me to knit is a good day!

Of course I couldn't resist a sale on Koigu:



And last but not least:



Hooray! I finally have my hands on this book! I'm so excited to try out these amazing socks. Okay, enough blogging. I'm wasting precious knitting time! See ya!

Michelle's Intarsia Method

Here's a little tutorial for those who have never tried intarsia:

Row 1: Work according to pattern, adding colours on bobbins when necessary.

Row 2: Work according to pattern, crossing yarns at colour changes to prevent gaps. Occasionally knit using the tail end, not the bobble end.

Row 3: Work according to pattern, noticing screw-ups with tail ends. Rip back to previous row and fix mistakes.

Row 4: Work according to pattern, this time tangling all bobbins into one unfixable knot. Use scissors and cut yarns at random.

Row 5: Gently put down work, and walk away slowly. Make yourself some tea and take some deep breaths. Do not pick up knitting for at least several hours.

Repeat rows 2-5 until chart is completed.