it's a bowl w/a handle!...it's an ice cream scoop!..it's

...my first sock with turned heel and picked up gusset stitches!!

wahoo!

it can be done! and all i had to do was follow the directions! who knew!

see you at the toes!

bag inventory

the bedside knitting bag collection has gotten out of control.

each of my projects has it's own bag. i thought of myself as a finish one project start another knitter, but my bags tell me otherwise. i find myself shame faced. with christmas knitting on the mind and needed needles in the bags, i decided to take stock of what exactly is in the bag pile.

the red verigated mohair/angora scarf was the first to go. it didn't even make the picture. though it looked quite lovely in the pattern i was knitting up, i realized i probably wasn't going to give it to my mom. southern california doesn't really call for mohair/angora scarves so i will need to think of something else to knit for her as well as something else to do with that beautiful yarn.

next was the lovely but deadly slippery poncho. after plying my sweet friend with tortilla chips, salsa and those cute little mini pizza's from trader joe's she loves, i asked if she would seriously ever wear the poncho once it was fixed and finished. or should it be ripped apart with the intent that something else would be made with the yarn, like a tank top or t-shirt she could wear a camisole under. inbetween bites of tortilla chips and salsa, she agreed. two down.

last spring i started a basketweave scarf with some left over yarn, also for my sweet friend. i had plans to put ruffles along the bottom to snaz it up. i took it out ot the bag and realized how absolutely boring it was with the yarn i was using. i am not even going to check in with her. she needs a much snazzier scarf then this yarn will be able to provide. three down.

the bag holding the diagonal scarf out of blue chunky frog tree is once again accompaning me everywhere to be knit at whatever function i am at. though it looks more like a stole than a scarf, it is knitting up so well and looks so beautiful i am anxious to wear it AND free the needles.

and then there are the orange socks. though they don't get dragged about they are being worked on. i am proud to say i turned my first heel last night! now if i can only figure out how to pick up stitches. i better soon since i plan on knitting more socks for christmas! one bag left.

the bag with the pink summer skirt. this is the one that will probably languish around the longest. the hope of knitting this up so it could be worn for indian summer is not happening. not just because i ripped out two and half inches of knitting and started the skirt all over again, but because indian summer in the san francisco bay area does not seem to be occuring this year. so this can be my breather project. an easy, mindless knit that can be done inbetween all the deadline knitting.

now watch indian summer start tomorrow!

the gala

last week i was knitting my socks off.

my work place had a big 60th anniversary celebration this past weekend with dinner, dancing and a silent auction. i volunteered to donate a knitted stole with hopes the local LYS would donate the yarn in exchange for being mentioned in the program, donors list, etc., which they gracisously decided to do.

the original plan was to knit up the feathery lace stole from exquisite little knits. i picked out this lovely deep lavender sports weight alpalca yarn from frog tree yarns that was just divine. a little heavier than the mohair called for in the book, but i thought i would see how it knitted up. i was ready to adjust the pattern as necessary. so i did a few swatches, figured out what needle size i needed and cast on. the pattern is pretty simple, nothing i have not done before but for some reason i could not get past row three without having a extra stitch here or there throwing off the pattern. i spent the first two days casting on, knitting two or three rows, finding a flaw, unknitting, ripping out, casting on, knitting two or three rows, finding a flaw... i could have gone on like this until i got it right except for the fact i had to finish this piece QUICKLY!

so late one night, or early one morning, they intermingle a bit, i decided to put aside the lace stole for a quick knit shawl. i pulled out an oak couture pattern i had knitted previously and knew to be easy and quick. and easy and quick it was. i was knitting up to the last minute but the shawl came out lovely. it is just a triangular shawl with a yarn over edging. very simple but out of the lavendar alpaca, soft, warm and elegant. and it sold for $60. i was glad it had found an appreciative home. and doubly glad the buyer did not notice how one end had that frayed look of being ripped out to many times!

it's just k2p1

so, on the whole it has been a good week...weathering the transition between summer and school for two high schoolers who approach early mornings very differently; juggling the logistics of who needs to be where when and how will they get there; as well as balancing all that goes on at the paying job of two parental units has been busy, but on the whole, good.

i was off work last week so was able to spend friday afternoon at the LYS, a true treat. i had jumped off the precipice and agreed to teach beginning knitting if a beginning knitting teacher was needed. so when i walked in friday to discover a bkt was actually needed for the very next day i tried not to panic. and it ended up going very well. pat, the student, was a real fun gal who had a basic understanding of knitting. she learned alot, laughed alot and ended up having a good time, looking forward to her next lesson. so that was good.

i spent sunday madly finishing the shawl i was making for a friend. and that went well. besides the fact the color was real orange, and i keep forgetting to take pictures of my finished knitting projects before i give them away, my friend absolutely loved her gift and had fun showing it off to everyone at work. so that was good.

but then it came to my sweet friend's pink tennis skirt. since i had finished the shawl, the next projects in the line up was a shell for me and a skirt for her. i had finally found the correct gauge for my shell. so i just needed to swatch hers. so i swatched. and swatched. and swatched. found the gauge and even cast on. except i had gotten used to using crystal palace circulars and was working with clovers. the cotton yarn of her skirt dragged on the clovers; i found myself pratically fighting every stitch. so, late one night/early one morning, after finishing the second row of 186 stitches of k2p1, i ripped it out. next day, went to the LYS and started to swatch on some crystal palace needles. and of course, the gauge was different. same needle size, different gauge. on the verge of not being good. easier knitting though, which was good. so i bought two cp needle sizes i did not have and went home to continue swatching. finally found the gauge on the same size needles i was planning to use for my shell. since i am to frugal to buy two pairs of the same size needle, the shell moves back to the line up and i start her skirt with the hope i can finish it in time for her to be able to wear it to school during the last of the warm season.

now i have done ribbing. i rib quite a bit in sock making. so when this pattern called for 2 inches of k2p1 ribbing, i thought, no problem. i can rib. but for some reason i can't. i can't get this k2p1 rib. i knit merrily along, then take a look at my knitting to find in some places i have k2p2 and in some places i have k2p1! so backwards i knit to correct the mistakes. just to find i have done them again! and again! and yet again! very early this morning, i was on the verge of ripping the whole thing out and once again starting from scratch, when the calm, less emotional voice whispered in my ear that my perspective may change if i slept on it and took a look at the ribbing later. and miracuoulsy i actually listened to the calm, less emotional voice, gathered up yarns and needles and put them in the bag to be looked at rationally in the daylight. it may not be today's daylight, but it will be some days' daylight.

until then, i may take a look at some more shawl patterns.