YOP#6 week 12

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I am losing track of the weeks 😛

I didn’t knit last week.  I had my monthly Church ladies meeting on Tuesday, and other things throughout the week.  Tyler is being a social butterfly during this senior year and it feels as if I am constantly running around.  I know this is a blessing, or at least will seem like one when he is no longer around to chauffeur but for now I haven’t felt as if I had time to get myself into the knitting groove.  Still I  had done quite a bit by end of last Sunday and worked a few rows into the past few days.  Picture:

 

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My favorite part of the pattern is that XO portion right over the ribbing but the crown decreases, which you really cannot get a feel for in the picture above are also clever.  My knitting is a bit uneven and I am at that part where I am considering moving to dpns.  For some reason I cannot find my 16″ circulars and have been working with a 24″ circular.  I even purchased some Aero 3.25 mm 16″ long circulars last a couple of weeks ago and wouldn’t you know it but they are 3 mm.  Anyway my knitting is fairly stretched out at this point and it is either dpn–which I have no issue using at all–or using a different brand of needles which means different needle material.  I would probably buy some bamboo needles since I like bamboo.

 

Many years ago, when I lived with the ex, he gifted me with the $ to purchase a complete set of needles, dpn, circlular in 16 & 24″, and I pretty much got rid of all the other brands I had which makes not finding my Aero/Inox/Bernat needle in the appropriate size after all this time annoying.  I know the place of origin has changed numerous times over the years so I assume my good ol grays may not be the same good ol grays available nowadays.

 

I think this may also be part of the reason I haven’t knit much. I am rambling now :-/

 

yarny days and knitterly evenings

Tea–YOP#6 Week 11 post

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It seems as if the only times I post is for YOP.  Mainly because I have been good about staying on track with my highly mutable list. Woo hoo

I finally finished the My Cup of Tea Socks.  I guess I shouldn’t say finally but it basically took me a week to sit down and graft together the last toe so yeah not too inspired to finish.  The yarn was purchased on Etsy from Hedgehog fibres in 2009 so deep stash being used up here.  I am going to end up giving them to Tyler and here he is modeling the socks:

My Cup of Tea socks

My Cup of Tea socks

 

The yarn was darker and glossier pre-knitting and washing.  The water was pretty green when I dunked them in for the washing and I suspect it will continue to bleed for a while.  Tyler has been asking for them while I was knitting them but I told him he was out of luck.  I am a sneaky Christmas gift knitter that way o.0.

Anywho they were laid out to dry Friday night and I started winding yarn for some tamalicious fun.  Hey I have news!

So before we went on vacation last month I was looking for some papers I had on my desk and the desk basically gave up the ghost when I moved it to check to see if they had fallen off the back or side.  It was one of those inexpensive particle board desks from Target I believe about 15 yrs ago for the kids and has been moved multiple times.  Anyway it kinda collapsed and instead of having the beloved one reassemble it I threw it out in a fit.  Which means I am concentrating on the yarn piles that were on my desk.  Which takes us back to my first YOP post and a list check up so to speak.

I originally listed several piles or bags of yarn to tackle along with general project goals since the yarn piles were too numerous for me to get through.  The first list of yarn piles started with my desk yarns and it makes sense that I now focus on these items since the desk is no more.  They were:

On the Desk:

  • kypria
  • hedgehog fibres fingering in merino, bamboo & silk @350 meters per Etsy listing = My Cup of Tea Socks
  • the yarn for Angharad
  • Lamoramere-gift from Angela on my birthday eep 12 yrs ago.
  • yarn for 2 tams <missing a few colors here or there. Purchasing piecemeal due to job hours being cut. (purchased 7.15.16)
  • 400 yds of cashmere-gift from Stitching girl Toni years and years ago
  • and sock yarn remnants. Some of these remnants are practically full balls for example the orange Eidos I used for stripes on my gentleman’s railway socks

Project wise we had (I edited my wording to make it easier to track):

1)Socks:

  • Husband 4 pairs 3 pairs
  • Tyler 3 pairs 2 pairs
  • Myself 3 pairs

2)Sweater for me.

3)Something Lace

4)Purchase Reef Yarns

& “My Tams. Please I need the preciousness.”

 

AHA this digression is going somewhere.  My friend Lorraine, aka Sheriff of Knittingham, aka Twisted Traditions designed a lovely tam I admired called The West Wind, based upon a painting of the same name by Tom Thomson. She is a fabulous designer if you are unfamiliar with her work.  Anyway I had all the colors but 2 called for in the tam and, as you can see above,  it was one of my on both the desk piles and the project list.  I started winding the yarn Friday after washing the socks and they are lovely:

The West Wind yarns

The West Wind yarns

This is another stash buster project for me, despite having to pick up a couple of balls, because I had the yellow, dark green, dark blue, burgundy, and pink in my stash.  In fact they had been in my stash so long that they were in hank form. J & S yarns switched to ball form in 2002 per their blog.  It is also a fairly simple project with only 7 colors.  Compare that to the Midnight Tam which calls for 11 shades and  you can imagine how much easier it is to work.  Also it starts off with a XO pattern which is easier to work than something pictorial such as the Neeps Heid.

And if that were not enough I almost felt like crying when I started knitting it.  The pure joy of working fair isle is so overwhelmingly happy making I cannot even begin to describe it.  I suspect I will have a FO soon unless I put off weaving in the ends forever {It took about a  year for me to sit down and weave in the ends for Neeps}

 

yarny days and knitterly evenings to all

Elka

YOP#6 Week 6

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Hurray!  I finished Kokkeluri.  Not much more to say about either the yarn or the pattern I haven’t said before…. tempted by the ‘blousy flower’ I had to cast these on.  I didn’t enjoy the knitting at all in part because it breaks the rules: maintaining color dominance in stranded knitting, and length of carries.  The non repetitive nature of the flower meant I was tied to my chart AND I should have strayed from my dpns to some other method of circular knitting.  I did enjoy the palm pattern, have done the braid before and always love it, and think I may prefer the i-cord cast off over the i-cord cast on.

I was surprised by how much I disliked the knitting.  I have knit neep head and enjoyed that process.  Usually if I like one thing a designer does I like everything.  Not because these designers don’t branch out of my comfort zone, they do, but because how they tend to think about and present the process works for me.

My husband and children both exclaim about how beautiful they are but my eyes zero in on the uneven knitting.  I don’t recall ever having such problems before so part of me blames the pattern although it could just be me and my rusty knitting skills.  Either way, I will rely on EZs comment on years and multiple washings curing such faults.

Anyway I finished these up Friday night.  I broke up the remaining bits into small nightly chunks.  Monday get to decrease section of mitten body, Tuesday finish decreasing mitten top, Wednesday do thumb, Thursday do i-cord finish, Friday weave in ends and soak.  The mittens are still damp and are being guarded by my mitten monster:

Mitten Monster guarding Kokkeluri while it dries

Mitten Monster guarding Kokkeluri while it dries

 

The mitten monster is also a sock monster and sweater monster and shawl monster.  He is a general all purposes blocking, drying guard.

I have cast on some socks for myself: My Cup of Tea designed by Robin Lynn.  The lotus pattern  used on front of socks remind me of dragon scales 🙂

 

yarny days and knitterly evenings

Elka

 

YOP#6 week 3

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Not much progress on my mitten. Frankly it looks the same as before 🤔

I ordered yarn to round out my tam yarn packs.   I also started buying some yarn for a sweater pack. Most of the colors seem discontinued now and I have lone hanks to compare to the newer limited offerings. I used to love J & S yarns over Jamiesons primarily because J & S had tweeds. Now all those seem to be gone. Of course they do have lovely heathers but with the range shrinking I get stressed trying to find suitable substitutes.

I also ordered Janine Bajus’ upcoming book which may help me deal with color substitution angst.

The fair isle/stranded color work obsession got some serious competition this weekend. A friend built me a blocking frame!  I brought that home last night. Lace has always been a favorite but since I so recently completed a shawl I was hoping to get a few other things done before casting on another. Now I don’t know….  Knitters ADD in full force over here.

yarny days and knitterly evenings

Elka