Arch-shaped stockings

My husband said that I should call these the Hershey Kiss stockings. I’m still trying to decide if they sufficiently satisfy my chocolate cravings.

Schoolhouse Press publishes a pattern packet called “Arch-Shaped Stockings” (if you follow the link, you’ll need to scroll down a bit) that contains 6 variations on a sock shaping that sucks itself right up against the arch of the foot. As my arches are quite high (plantar fasciitis, anyone?) I found the premise to be interesting; most of my socks are a little baggy under my arch. Lo and behold, the finished stockings fit my arches (and the rest of my foot, and my calves) perfectly!

The pattern was mentally engaging and lots of fun, although my somewhat extensive sock knitting experience was extremely handy; I wouldn’t recommend this pattern for beginners. They knit up much faster than stockings usually do; colorwork, in my experience, always goes faster than solid color knitting. I think that it is because the stitches in colorwork have more vertical height. Fewer rows are required to knit a given length, yielding a faster project.

I used the Vuorelma Satakieli yarn which is suggested in the pattern and also sold by Schoolhouse Press. Although the yarn was wonderful to work with, I wouldn’t use it for stockings I planned to give to anyone, or at least anyone that I wanted to still like me: it’s a bit itchy. I can and do wear uber-scratchy Shetland wool right next to my skin on a regular basis, so I’m OK with itchy. I think that I’ll have to wear them the next time I ride my bike to church!

Read Full Post »

Useless

Knitting is a fairly useful craft. Sweaters, socks, even lace shawls – they are all fairly functional. Crochet, not so much. I have a crocheted snood that I wear on a regular basis, and some crocheted socks that are quite comfy, but most crochet is relegated to decorative function only.

Tatting – now I haven’t quite figured out what is is useful for. At least it is easy! It is also quite cheap. High-quality mercerized cotton thread for tatting and crochet generally doesn’t run more than a few dollars a ball (this is what initially attracted me to thread crochet as well) and basic tools are fairly inexpensive as well, although antique and vintage tatting shuttles can go for quite a bit. Yep, you guessed it: I spent my weekend learning to tat.

Speaking of thread crochet – a few weeks ago I picked up a Japanese book full of thread crochet patterns, mostly doilies. The book have so little English that I’m not even sure what the title is, although I can tell that the designer’s name is Ondori. I can tell you that the international crochet chart symbols are everything they’re cracked up to be. The patterns are beautiful and the charts wonderfully easy to read! It is the kind of book that makes one want to sit around and make doilies all day.

I’m also on something of a spinning kick. I’ve spun quite a bit here and there, mostly sampling the different types of fibers available, but not generally enough of anything to do a project with. A few nights ago, however, I finished and skeined about 200 yards of heavy two-ply laceweight in a 50/50 merino-tussah silk blend that I bought from Lynn’s Texas Fibers while at Kid ‘N Ewe last fall. The fiber is lovely and silky, and as you can see from the photo I’ve spun and plied it quite loosely in order to preserve that lofty silkiness.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Lest anyone think I’ve been slacking off in the knitting department, I also have to show Attempt #3 at making a shawl out of my Habu bamboo laceweight. My first and second pattern selections refused to play nicely with the yarn, so now I am seeing how it goes with the Hidcote Garden Shawl. So far, so good… which is what I said regarding the first two projects… I really do like the yarn. Knit up, it has a drape and flow that is like nothing so much as water, and should make a nice shawl for hot summer days.

I’m also on another pair of socks, of course, even though we are well out of sock-wearing season. This pattern is out of the Holiday 07 Interweave Knits. This is my second project out of that issue, which was quite good and sold out very fast. I guard my copy very carefully, and intend to make a few more things from it still.

.

.

.

Seen from my bike:

A hang gliding class! You can’t tell from the photo, but they are at the top of a nice hill. I’ve seen this class a few times now, either standing at the top of the hill, or hauling the glider back up from the bottom. One of these days maybe I’ll actually see someone in flight!

Read Full Post »

While I wait for that extra ball ‘o yarn…

I have ordered, and am waiting ever-so-patiently, for the extra ball of yarn for that @#$! sweater. In the meantime, I am at least getting lots of other stuff done!

The photos of the alpacas are from last Saturday, when I went with a group of friends to three yarn shops south of here. The primary purpose of our visit was to visit the Yarn Barn in San Antonio, which will be closing soon. We also visited Yarnivore, up near the SA airport, and returned to Old Oaks Ranch, home of the alpacas. Nicki and Sally have already blogged about the trip, so I’ll skip the commentary.

I’ve gotten lots done on the Lightweight Mountain Peaks Shawl, although it isn’t very evident from the photo. Lace never looks like anything until it is blocked.

Also in progress is “Arch-Shaped Stockings,” a pattern I discovered on Ravelry. Users of that service can look up the patter there. The first stocking is going surprisingly fast, although this photo was taken after I decided that I did not like how my decreases were going and ripped out several inches of work.

Also in progress is a new sock, the Coriolis from Cat Bordhi’s New Pathways in Sock Knitting, and a felted cover for my long-overdue, shiny new cellphone.

Now, if that yarn could only magically arrive here overnight – I want to finish that sweater!

Read Full Post »

Green socks, for a wonderful husband.

While posting about the other socks yesterday, I forgot to include my husband’s new green socks!

Knit with Knitpick’s Essentials, in a nice dark green color, on 1.5 mm needles. I forget the actual color name. This is the second pair which I have made for him out of Essentials. He really seems to like the feel of the yarn, it holds up extremely well in the wash, it has plenty of yardage (after knitting a size 11 men’s sock with a 7″ cuff, I still had plenty left over from each ball) and it’s cheap! cheap! cheap! So, there will be more Essentials in both of our futures. I think that I’ll order undyed yarn for his next pair, so he can still have a nice plain color that he likes, and I can work on my dyeing skills.

He’s quite happy with his new socks, and was very nice about posing for photos. This weekend, he even made me an apple pie! What a nice man.

Read Full Post »

Works in progress, and an early Christmas gift

Twelve inches of the Venezia pullover, done. Another few inches, a whole ‘nother sleeve, and the body still to go. I haven’t done any complex Fair Isle work before, so this requires my total concentration. Given that my husband is prone to jumping up and down on the couch and yelling at the television whenever either football or hockey is on, total concentration has been a bit hard to come by in the past few weeks, so I’m quite pleased with my progress so far.

Before I ordered the yarn for this sweater, I did a search to see what other knitters had to say about the pattern. Everyone said the same thing, and I’m joining the chorus: The colors won’t photograph well. On the computer monitor, the look totally different from real life. When I get a bit more done, I might try taking some photos with my SLR film camera that doesn’t oversaturate the colors so much.

My next Fair Isle sweater, all ready to go. Once again, the colors aren’t showing up right. Frustrating. They really do look very nice in person. That orange skein in the middle, for example, is more of a heathered topaz. One of my friends thinks that I need another light pattern color, but I think that the project is complicated enough. These are for the Owl Eyes Fair Isle Pullover, from Sweaters from a New England Village.

Simple socks, in a plain dark green, for my husband, who is neither simple nor plain, but likes his socks that way.

And, last, an early Christmas gift for me, courtesy of some early Christmas money from my mother. My knitting no longer will be carried around in a beat-up old freebie convention tote!

Read Full Post »