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05/25/2006
Rogue Progress
My WIPs baskets are getting a little less crowded:-)
It's been a lot of fun knitting on the Rogue again after a long break and I've just tried on the body: I've been worried about the hem turning out too bulky when turned, but it doesn't look like it's going to be too bad. Sewing the hem to the inside of the body is one of the things I'm most scared about right now. Too bad I didn't know how to work a provisional cast-on when I started this sweater. That should've been the time to learn. But I have some concern if the body is even going to be long enough to fit my bod, so some additional hem length is a nice thing to have. I'm going to decide whether to sew in the hem or leave it down. I did do a turning round, but with some blocking and wear, it might not look so bad.
Anyhow, I'm pretty psyched about the fit and feel of this sweater! It's snug, yet stretchy, which works great with the cables. 
10:55 Posted in Rogue | Permalink | Comments (8) | Email this
05/23/2006
Knitting Amnesia
At the breakfast table this morning, I thought- mmh, that sucks, I didn't get any knitting done last night... Uh, HELLO? I did in fact work on something AND finished it. Bizarre how memory works sometimes...
here's the major source of frustration that got finished- the modified Ganomy Hat version 3.3. I claimed to have finished back in December but had to rip it again because it was simply too tight and small and smurfy. I screwed up version 3.0 as well, when I made some mistake in the pattern and had to frog a few inches. After that it hibernated at the bottom of my basket. Two nights ago I picked it up again and in the course of the last two days, I had to re-do the crown twice. VERY hard to get rid of that smurf bobble up there... 
Now the 
earflaps are a tad long, but I kind of like the way it looks when they're up. Certainly looks different than the hats you can buy at the store. But flaps down? Maybe when we have a snowstorm...;-)
The hat is still quite tight and is very likely to give me incredible 'hat hair', but I don't care.
In my recent attempt to fight my cast-on addiction and actually finishing projects, I also got a whole lot of the Rogue's body done and finished the Regia Nation Color 'FUN' socks.
Stats:
yarn: Regia Nation Color 'Fun' (color 5399)
needles: 2.5 mm addi circs, first using the 2 socks on 2 circs method, then seperately again using Magic Loop method
pattern: Toe-up sock pattern by Wendy- very well-written instructions but I could definitely use more tips on how to cast off loose enough. I used 3.5mm needles for the final 2 rows and the bind-off, but it is still nowhere near as stretchy and comfortable as a regular cast-on edge using 2 needles for elasticity.
Additional thoughts: Those really shouldn't have been any longer than they are or I would've needed to increase a bunch of stitches for my oh-so-well-defined calves:-) The ribbing could've been longer and the bind-off stretchier. But hey, I'm so done with these. No more.
10:30 Posted in Hats , Socks | Permalink | Comments (9) | Email this
05/16/2006
Alberta on my mind
The Alberta Socks are finished! I kitchenered the toe Sunday night, for the first time without looking at the tutorial, I feel soo accomplished now;-) Check out the sister socks on Carola's blog - she did very similar socks in the Ottawa colorway and we even finished on the same day, how cool!
Some specs:
yarn: Regia Canadian Fashion Colors in colorway 'Alberta'
needles: 2.5mm Addi circs using magic loop
Pattern: basic sock pattern, used the short row heel instructions of Pricilla's Dream Socks ( IK subscriber-only pattern) using yarn-overs. Enjoyed it and like what it looks like.
Today I even got an apology letter from DHL customer service about those delivery problems with my sockapaloooza package- what's up with great customer service in Germany all of a sudden?!
Oh, guess which UFO I picked up last night? The Rogue. Yeah, I know, that sweater has been napping for a long time now... I'd forgotten how much fun it really is and how much I enjoyed working with that super soft merino yarn! And I'd also forgotten that I've been using a row counter and didn't have to take forever to figure out where exactly I was in the chart.
13:10 Posted in Socks | Permalink | Comments (8) | Email this
05/13/2006
The Sock Saga:-)
PEOPLE, GET READY- me and my socks have finally been united this morning!
After another unsuccessful visit to the post office yesterday, I got a call later last night that they did track the parcel down, hooray! I was at the post office at 9 a.m. to pick it up, and it was this huge box! The box and I caused a little bit of a stir, because I couldn't wait to open it until I got home, so I opened it right outside the post office:-)
My socks came all the way from Texas! And there were SO MANY goodies in the box- my incredible sock pal NanC spoiled me rotten! I was oohing and aaahing for a minute before I even got to the socks;-) Now the socks- I was speechless.
First of all, Nanc pick such a gorgeous yarn, Cherry Tree Hill Supersock in the beautiful Life's A Beach colorway- my favorite colors combined with an intense warm yellow that puts just the right kick into it- and the colors are so vivid!
And she made me Pomatomi... I took a million pictures, but unfortunately there was no-one to take a picture of my face when I saw those. Aaah! I've been so envious of several sockapalooozers receiving Pomatomus socks and I've been secretly hoping I'd get a pair myself;-) That's one of the coolest patterns ever, and I've just been a little too intimidated by it to start it.
May I present to you: my sockapaloooza socks in all their glory
THEY FIT PERFECTLY! They're snug, but not too tight, so they show off the pattern in a beautiful way. I couldn't stop looking at the socks!
Oh, and the length is perfect, too. Uh, I warned her my feet were really long... there are a bunch of people about that on her blog, too;-)
Now let's get to the rest of this much-awaited parcel-
first of all, NanC arranged everything in this cute (and handy) basket,
which she also decorated with these cool hand-made buttons
with pictures of the progress pix and her, yeah, creepy but cool Blythe doll posing with the yarn, a sockapaloooza button, and a 'take back the knit'-style one. Johanna instantly claimed the Blythe buttons as well as the cute pencils.
And, umm- what else do you see in the basket? KNIT PICKS Memories!!! In my favorite colors! I've been to the Knit Picks site so many times checking out their beautiful colorways, but they don't ship outside North America. The yarn smelled wonderfully of the almond soap, and NanC also gave me a stack of Kool-Aid for my dyeing adventures. She also wrote me a long letter- gotta love old-school letters on p-a-p-e-r:-)- and some gorgeous stitch markers with aqua beads on them.
I mean really- how amazing and thoughtful is this parcel?
THANK YOU SO MUCH, NANC!! YOU'VE BEEN AN AWESOME SOCK PAL! BIIIIIG HUUUUG!!!
Seriously, NanC left me comments all along, giving great advice and making me more and more curious, I wouldn't have minded a plain stockinette sock even. Receiving this package and these breathtakingly beautiful socks blew my mind!
Want a before and after shot? Those are very happy feet now!!
19:25 Posted in Sockapaloooza | Permalink | Comments (8) | Email this
Kool sweater!
I finished the little Kool-Aid dyed raglan v-neck sweater for Johanna last night- wove the ends in at midnight:-)
This knit up so quick, it didn't even make it into the sidebar...
Some specs:
- allegedly 100% wool yarn, but it has a compact acrylic feel to it. I suspect it to be a wool blend, but would it have taken on the dye as well if it were?
- dyed with Kool-Aid
- Super easy child's raglan pattern from 'The Knitter's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns' by Ann Budd. The fit is good, but in proportion to the sleeves, the body seems a bit too short. Could be a problem with Johanna's little potbelly, though;-)
10:40 Posted in Baby Stuff | Permalink | Comments (6) | Email this
05/12/2006
News from Regia!
Look! I got a package from Regia yesterday which apparently took a while to get delivered as well- it was stamped on May 4th, just a couple of days after I'd sent the complaint in.
It contained a letter stating that they were sorry I had problems with the yarn, and that knots were not entirely unavoidable, but they'd use my information to further improve their production techniques. And then there were two balls of Regia Crazy color in a beautiful colorway. How nice of them.
And how wonderful to get new yarn while I'm on a yarn diet:-D
19:30 Posted in Socks | Permalink | Comments (3) | Email this
My socks are in town...
...I just don't have them yet!
Had a notification in the mail yesterday, that DHL couldn't deliver my package on Wednesday and then they couldn't find it at the post office yesterday! Sniff! I've called customer service and they promised me to make my case top priority!
10:40 Posted in Sockapaloooza | Permalink | Comments (4) | Email this
05/11/2006
My sock pal got her socks!
Elise got her package! She's been a little impatient, but she didn't know her socks had to cross the Atlantic to get to Brooklyn;-) She sent me an e-mail today and said she was going to post pix soon!
The weird thing is, that in the sock pal info I received, it said she was blogless. When I checked out the other two Elises' blogs on the list, I did have a feeling that one of them would me my sock pal and had just forgotten to include her blog address in the info.
When I got the snail-mail address, I wondered if there could seriously be TWO sockapalooozin' Elises in Brooklyn... Earlier this week, Elise complained about not having received her socks yet, and that really tipped me off that she's getting socks from overseas...
And I was right!
Maybe I should start thinking about a career as a TV call-in psychic.
10:45 Posted in Sockapaloooza | Permalink | Comments (1) | Email this
05/10/2006
Dye-o-rama swap meme
My dye-pal already contacted me and I e-mailed her my color preferences, but maybe this helps as well... not that I'm too fussy;-)
Your favorite colors?
all kinds of green, dark brown, sand/khaki, blues, I have a huge crush on turquoise and teal since last year, and I've started to like an odd dabble of pink here and there (that was a shock at first)
Preferred yarn weight (Fingering, Sport, DK, maybe even Worsted)?
Fingering weight, I'm all about socks, bebe!
Do you prefer solid or multicolored yarn?
Multicolored. Although some of the projects I have planned also need solid colors as a MC.
If your buddy is able to do so, would you like a variegated, self-striping, or self-patterning yarn?
I really like stripes. Variegated is fine, too, but I'm over self-patterning yarn.
Would you be interested in a wool blend sock yarn (nylon, tencel, silk, acrylic, alpaca, etc.)?
Yeah, why not?
Imagine the perfect colorway. What would you name it?
Revenge of the Leprechaun?
What was the biggest appeal to you for joining this dye-along?
Getting an excuse to dye more yarn:-)
Have you dyed yarn/fiber before?
Yes. And I've been quite pleased with the results so far, although I couldn't say I knew exactly what I was doing.
If so, what’s your favorite dye and method?
Kool-Aid is fun, but I like other textile dyes because they offer more, uh, muted colors. I do a combination method where I dip the yarn in dye pots and then transfer it to the oven.
Do you spin?
Well, I have borrowed my mother's spinning wheel and I have an entire sack of roving here, but I've been a little too impatient so far.
Have you knit socks before?
Yes, a few. And I plan on knitting a few more.
Do you use sock yarn for just socks or in other patterns too?
I also use it in hats, mittens, and gloves.
What are some of your favorite yarns?
Trekking XXL and Opal
What yarn do you totally covet?
There are a bunch of sock yarns I drool over- koigu, lorna's and STR
Favorite patterns?
I love fair-isle but also easy-to-memorize ones.
Any pattern you would love to make if money and time were no object?
Probably something by Alice Starmore. But man, those are spendy!
Favorite kind of needles (brand, materials, straights or circs, etc)?
I prefer circs. Addis are great, but most of the needles I own are Prym/Inox.
If you were a specific kind of yarn, which brand and kind of yarn would you be?
I feel like I'm a merino/alpaca blend:-) Something sturdy but soft.
Do you have a favorite candy or mail-able snack?
Cho-co-late!
If you were a color what color would you be?
a dark leafy blueish green.
Describe your favorite shirt (yours or someone else’s)..
a quite short and close-fitting but not tight t-shirt with a cool print on the front. And the main color would be faded into all these different shades from wearing it a lot.
What is your most inspiring image, flower, or object in nature?
frost and turned leaves.
Tell me the best quote you’ve ever heard or read.
"the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace things, but burn like fabulous roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue center light pop and everybody goes "AWWW!" " Jack Kerouac
21:51 Posted in dye-o-rama | Permalink | Comments (1) | Email this
Knitting for sanity
Hey there,
I've been a little quiet because I've had some extremely unpleasant family issues lately, essentially escalated silly arguments...
Anyhow, I've been distressed about some of the conversations I've had and knitting helped me focus and figure things out in my head. Picked up the Kool-Aid yarn again and loved seeing how the colors pooled on the body, but also enjoyed sniffing the yarn which still faintly smells of fruity drinks:-) More than half of a new sweater for Johanna is done, it's going to be a v-neck raglan sweater according to The Knitter's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns.
The first 'Fun' Nation sock is finished, I'm happy with the length as it is now, so the knot was not that big of a problem, although it really bothered me. No news from the people at Regia, I'm somehow hoping to receive some kind of compensation, but Carola said she'd sent a complaint to Opal before and not even got a reply, so I'm afraid it's not exactly German companies' practice to just send you some free yarn in return...
I met with Elsa, the other member of our mini-S'nB this morning, and she totally caught the sock bug now and is almost finished with her first pair. I'd brought my sock books and she loved the 2-color knitting stuff in the Simply Socks book, which I've been wanting to start a project of for a while now. Looks like we're having a little fair-isle workshop next week!:-) Another fair-isle project that is really striking my fancy is the Squirrely Mittens pattern over at http://www.elliphantom.com/ - I just saw another pair of them at helloyarn.com and I LOVE them!!
The real pick-me-up today was the package I received from Natalie: a copy of IK Knits spring 2004 with the amazing Waving Lace Socks that she hunted down for me, along with a cool knitters' card, the cutest little nail files in a matchbook and some extra goodies. Thanks, Natalie, I really enjoyed this mini-swap!
13:31 Posted in Baby Stuff , Socks | Permalink | Comments (4) | Email this
05/05/2006
Alles neu macht der Mai!
I have a real personalized banner, hooray!
21:50 Posted in Blog | Permalink | Comments (7) | Email this
WARNING: sock yarn addiction can cause brain to malfunction!
That's what it should say on the ball bands. Seriously.
My brain has been severely affected by my sock yarn addiction.
I signed up for the Sock Yarn Addicts' Club on April 1st, which includes a 90-day yarn diet during which there can only be a single purchasing day. I thought it'd be great to give my sock yarn stash some rest, work on the existing projects and maybe start some new ones to use up what I already had.
Until Tuesday, on my trip to the post office which is right next to a LYS that always has these baskets of sock yarn out front, I thought 90 days really weren't that long.
But then I suddenly realized that I friggin' confused how many MINUTES an HOUR had with how many DAYS a MONTH had. I don't know if that's a serious case of mommy brain, or if I was just in an enormous state of denial.
OMG, what have I gotten myself into!? How could I be so DUMB?
Now I feel like I need to punish myself for my own stupidity now and there shall be no more purchases until the end of June. Promise.
Well, it's warmed up here in Northern Germany and I've had a great time at the mini S'nB on Wednesday, hanging out in the sun knitting with Elsa, who showed up having knit both cuffs for her socks and knit her first heel that day. Later that night I finished the first Pretty Petals sock. LOVE IT!
11:55 Posted in Knitalongs , Socks | Permalink | Comments (6) | Email this
05/02/2006
I'm on a roll!
I've been making some great mileage lately:-)
The striped raglan sweater got finished Sunday night, just in time for the weather to warm up... I'm quite happy with how it turned out, although the sleeves are not as long as I'd thought.
Anyhow, they may be long enough to fit Johanna in the fall. I also realized she didn't have any pants to go with the sweater, so I gotta pick up some jeans for her now- great excuse to go clothes shopping, hooray!
Last night I also turned the heel on the 2nd Alberta sock and it's almost identical to the 1st, maybe 3/4 of a row off, but who's counting?
Here's a new shot of the 'Fun' (haha) Nation Socks. They're going to be plenty long if I bind off after the yellow stripe, but that knot incident really bugged me. I sent an e-mail with evidence pix to the Regia customer service, I'll keep you posted on what's going to become of that...
Did you see I signed up for the dye-o-rama swap? I've actually done quite a bit of secret dyeing that I have not yet blogged about, and I'm lovin' it! I got my swap partner's address today, and I actually know her:-) Well, not personally, but I've read her blog before and she's cool! What a nice change being able to check out my swapee's blog!
The sockapaloooza socks will be off to the US today, and I feel comfortable about sending them after all the lovely comments I've gotten on them. THANKS!
10:30 Posted in Baby Stuff , dyeing , Knitalongs , Sockapaloooza , Socks | Permalink | Comments (10) | Email this