Weaver's Wool Quarters

Just a quick note since everyone is dying to know. I got the Mountain Colors yarn at my LYS, Acorn Street. I don't know if they have any left. They don't have online ordering but you could give them a call.

Ripple Effect

One Sherbet Ripple done!

The cast on for the second and have finished about 14 rounds or so. This sock is so easy and fun to knit. It's not complicated and doesn't require a lot of attention but it's not just knit, knit, knit ad nauseam either. It's a happy middle ground. And making a sock on 3s is very appealing to me too. I don't enjoy knitting on teeny tiny needles.

Lottie/Hottie is still moving along nicely too. I didn't get a chance to snap a photo of it. I was too distracted by all the new yarn that's been accumulating on my desk. After my online shopping frenzy I announced that someone should restrain me if they saw me about to buy more yarn. Well, let me tell you, not one person has tried to stop me and look what happened!



I found Mountain Colors Weaver's Wool Quarters on sale. On sale, people. A mere $9.99 a skein to use to make some lovely socks or gloves. These colorways are Obsidian and Red Tail Hawk. Aren't they lovely?
Then--now this is not my fault--Nanette sent me this Pingouin sock yarn as a thank you for some soap I sent to her.



It looks like there will be many socks in my future.
Now this last one I already confessed. I bought Cotton Ease to make a sweater for a friend's daughter's birthday. The horses were clearly disturbed when more yarn showed up on the desk.

Knitting is Sexy

I accidentally posted the link to Rachel's cool Cafepress shop all by itself the other day. We already know that knitting is sexy but in case you want to inform others you can go stock up. I, of course, discovered that some other people also find knitting sexy...

After Stitch 'N Bitch last night I realized that I forgot a decrease row in Lottie (should I call it Hottie? Damn, I'm bad at this nickname thing). I pretty much had to rip out everything I did when I was out last night. I managed to reknit most of it this morning. One of the knitters I met last night told me that Lion Brand Cotton Ease has the same gauge as Cotton Angora. Woohoo! I've been wanting to try it so I got some in the lilac color to make a sweater for a friend's daughter.

Today I taught knitting to some students at my son's elementary school. The school nurse had decided to try to teach the older (4th and 5th grade, I think) students in the Bilingual Orientation Center how to knit. She made needles for all of them out of dowelling and Fimo clay. Some of the kids just don't seem to have the manual dexterity yet to manage both needles. A few kids really got the hang of it but mostly they were adding stitches like crazy, dropping stitches and making holes. None of them speak English very well so it was difficult to give clear instructions. I'll try to get back in there to help some more in the next few weeks.

Sherbet Ripple

It seems like most knitbloggers are not content to call a pattern by it's given name. They rename them to claim them and make them their own. I think I'm too lazy for that. In a half-hearted effort to create a unique title for my current socks I came up with Sherbet Ripple. Thrilling, isn't it? Why can't I come up with cute names like Pumpkin Fluff or Roguesberry? Ah well.

Sherbet Ripple is growing rapidly. This sock is fun to knit. I love working on two circulars. I was up past one last night turning the heel. I couldn't put the damn thing down all day.



I finished the back of Lottie and am 40 rows into the front. It looks pretty grey and dull in the photos. I'll try to find a way to make it look more exciting.

And come up with a cool name.

The Pick Up Artist

It has been a really long time since someone tried to pick me up. But tonight as I waited for the other members of my knitting group to arrive someone did. I'm a New Yorker. I don't smile at strangers or make small talk. Now folks in Seattle are a little more relaxed. So it wasn't terribly surprising to have some middle aged guy see me knitting and ask what I was making. I was working on Broadripple on two circulars so it looks a little unusual. I curtly told him it was a sock and put my head down and kept knitting. He started asking me more and more questions about knitting. I tried to keep my answers short but civilized assuming that his order would be ready soon and he would go. Then he pulled up a chair and sat down. I put my head down further and pretended to count stitches. He starts asking about sewing and crochet. I feign ignorance. Then he says, "So, what do you do when you're not knitting?" Without looking up I said, "Raise my children." Then he left.

The back of Lottie is complete and I'm about 30 rows into the front. I'm ready to make the heel flap on my first Broadripple. I'll post pictures tomorrow.

Exhausting Weekend

What a busy weekend. My youngest son turned four on Saturday and we had a house full of kids. Then I had to take my older son to his best friend's party and then home so we could babysit for friends. Sunday was spent at the zoo and an egg hunt. I've been getting only about six hours of sleep a night for the last month or so. I almost fell asleep at eight last night.

But I didn't. Instead I continued on knitting Lottie. I'm almost done with the back now.



I also finally got moving on Broadripple.



I've got the hand of knitting on two circulars now and the pattern is simple enough that even I can remember it.

Lots of news on the Shapely Tank Knitalong blog on everyone's progress. Check it out.

Banner Day

I had a great knitting day today. I met two other knitters for coffee this morning for a few hours while the boys were at soccer camp. We knit, we chatted. It was lovely. I got to meet Amy. And baby Claire. She slept the whole time allowing her mom time to work on her Audrey for the Audrey Knitalong. I decided not to bring my Shapely Tank since I had only a few inches left to go on the straps and wanted to keep it with the front piece to make sure they matched up. Ditto for the left front of the GE Cardi. What's a girl to knit? I cast on for Lottie. It is going so fast. After knitting on 5s and 4s, knitting All Seasons Cotton on 7s is just flying. I'm almost through the first skein.



When I got home I finished the straps on the Shapely Tank. I barely pinned the front and back together and asked my five year old to take my photo.



Please note that I never intend to wear this over a shirt again. Particularly a big, boxy shirt. But I just wanted to be sure that generally it would fit. And it will. Now I'm torn between wanting to seam and finish knitting it immediately and waiting to do anything else until I take my Finishing for the Finicky class in May.

In the meantime, I also cast on for the Broadripple knitalong. I want to learn how to knit on two circulars. Here is where I am right now.



I messed it up the first time. I just didn't quite fully understand the two circulars process. The second time I had to put it down to check on my son's birthday cake and I didn't divide the stitches properly. I think I have it now and need to just sit somewhere and work on it without trying to bake and read email at the same time.

Things are picking up over at the Shapely Tank Knitalong blog. Join us!

The Shapely Tank Knitalong has a blog! It's not as snazzy as the Audrey Knitalong blog but it'll do for now. Any knitalong folks who want to post to the group blog just need to email me. Theresa is making her tank in the round and has posted instructions on how you can do it too. Chris has nearly finished her tank! I will hopefully finish knitting the back of my tank tomorrow. I'll try to take some pictures.

More yarn came from Patternworks. Koigu, baby!



I'm not really sure what I want to do with it all. I will need to do some creative thinking to find a way to make matching socks since I have ten different skeins of yarn each in a unique colorway. A Charlotte's Web shawl comes to mind of course. But what to do with the other five? I'm (very) open to suggestions.

I got a skein of Manos too. Just 'cus.



I was very inspired by this post by Leigh. She made herself some gorgeous yarn. I'm really wanting to learn to spin now. She also had a link to this site with great crockpot dyeing instructions that produced this incredible yarn in my favorite colors.

An Embarrassment of Riches

Things have been pretty busy here at Rose-Kim Knits. On Monday evening I emailed one of my knitting groups that I would be knitting at a local coffee shop in case anyone wanted to join me. Well, a dozen people came! We took over the whole place. It was a very nice evening and I managed to knit part of my tank with shaping without screwing up my pattern. Yeah for me.

I got a package in the mail on Monday and then another yesterday. Here's the haul. There's Rowan All Seasons Cotton in Mellow which I'm using for afghan squares from Debbie Abrahams's book.



I'm also using it to make Lottie. I ran into my office and started swatching right away. I didn't even eat lunch. I think it will be great and the gauge is spot on. This bundle of goodies came from Elann. I ordered it on Sunday afternoon and here it is! Amazing. I got a bunch of Sock It To Me Esprit.



I'll pick a color and use it for Broadripple. I just joined the knitalong. There are over 200 people signed up for this knitalong. I wanted to start swatching the Esprit too but I didn't have any size 3 dpns. I emailed my neighbor Megan to see if she had any I could borrow. Not only did she have them but she walked them over to my house! How's that for service? I'm also going to borrow a pair of size 3 circulars (Addis!) from another knitting friend and see if I like knitting socks on two circs.

I also got Bandolino in Rose which I want to use to make Sam. I started swatching that too. This yarn is okay. It's very inelastic which I suppose is typical for cotton. I don't think my needles are right for it. I think metal may work better for it. I will have to experiment.

I tried to set up a blog for the Shapely Tank Knitalong. Freakin' Blogger keeps giving me the same ftp error message. Wes and I Googled the error message and found dozens of entries in several languages with the same complaint. So I set it up at Blogspot but now when I tried to add a new member it gave her an error message. Sigh. I thought about switching to Movable Type but I can't make heads or tails of it. I challenged (maybe ordered?) Wes to figure it out last night and he couldn't.

I'm more than halfway up the back of my Shapely Tank. The back is looking quite beautiful, if I do say so myself. The front is looking pretty rough after being reworked so many times. But the back is great. Third (or fourth) time's the charm, I guess. I won't make any predictions about how soon it will be done since that seems to be the kiss of death for me. But I do hope to start Lottie soon.


Jessica, I'm waiting for you.

Wild-N-Wooly

This weekend has been filled with knitting and fiber. On Saturday I went with my family and a (very patient) knitting friend to the Wild-N-Wooly Sheep Shearing Event. It was a cute little festival set up for small kids. They had lamas, alpacas and little lambs to pet. They had face painting and pony rides for the kids. There was sheep herding demonstrations, sheep shearing and spinning demos. Plus food and all the usual fair type stuff. You know, like tap-dancing clams.



I cut out early with my friend and we went on a tour of Bellevue's (two) yarn shops. One was large and stocked with lovely yarn and over-priced. And it's one of those stores that organizes the yarn by color. Why do they do this? It's so not helpful. It's looks pretty but so not helpful. But they have awesome sale bins overflowing with Anny Blatt and Bouton d'Or yarns. I held myself back. The second store was small and didn't have a really wide selection. They did have the new Cascade 220 Superwash. I didn't know they were coming out with that. It seems a bit pricey compared to the regular 220. A little over $10 a skein at this store. Then we went and had iced tea, Chinese food and did some knitting. A good afternoon.

I continued knitting when I got home and finished the left front of the GE Cardi. I had also started the back of the Shapely Tank. It's gorgeous. I've got the whole short row thing down cold, I'm used to the yarn, my stitches are lovely and even. The front is going to look like a train wreck in comparison.

I ordered a truckload of yarn this weekend too. I got Debbie Bliss Cotton Angora in Pale Blue for my beloved Mia. I also got some super cheap sale stuff to make one of the other patterns in the book. And I ordered a variety of solid and prints in the Sock It to Me Collection Esprit from Elann. I got some Schoeller Stahl Bandolino for yet another sweater in the Cotton Angora book. When will I have time to knit all these sweaters?

I also suffered a brief spurt of startitis tonight. I was digging out another ball of yarn for the right front of the GE Cardi when the other yarns in the bin starting calling to me. I want to use up my remaining Homespun from the No-Sweat Pants for the Critter Knitter's Knit-a-thon. I cast on to just make a big garter stitch square while I watched Criminal Intent. My needle developed a splinter which pricked my finger and snagged the yarn. I wasn't in a mood to go hunting for sand paper and an emery board did not do the trick so I put it back down. I also pulled out my Kidsilk Haze and considered--briefly--casting on for Birch. But the KSH scared me off again. That and the 299 stitches I need to cast on to start. I think casting on will be one of the biggest, if not the biggest challenge, on this project. I see that number and just lose my enthusiasm. I also dug out my Mission Falls 1824 Cotton for a Bottoms Up BOC. I can't decide on a stripe pattern so I put that back down too. So instead I worked more on the back of my Shapely.

For a taste of spring check out this lovely (newly completed) Arabella sweater from Rowan 35 at Knitting and Other Stuff. It's darling. I love the colors.

Springy

As you may have already heard. The new is up. Run and check it out.

I finally finished the front to my Shapely Tank. I don't know if this means that I found my brain or if I've learned to knit without it. I can only get easier from here, right? I'm going to order my yarn soon for Mia. I might start a knitalong on this too so let me know if you're thinking of knitting it also.

I bought these last night.

The pink is not quite so garish in person. They make me feel happy.