Thursday, May 31, 2007
May UFO
Posted by smug sheep at 7:33 pm 0 comments
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
So good they named it twice
Two confessions upfront:
To the yarn...
Cascade Pima Cotton. To be honest, I'm not crazy about the colours; they are a little 'off'. They are for projects from Fitted Knits.
Cascade 220. I got more colours than shown here, all intended for Noni bags. It's much softer than I expected, and the green colour is gorgeously heathery.
The Piece de Resistance - the Berrocco Bonsai. The colours and sheen are wonderful, and I can't wait to try them.
Posted by smug sheep at 6:14 pm 2 comments
Labels: new york
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Three shawls
Additional colours:
Posted by smug sheep at 5:20 pm 0 comments
Labels: charlotte's web, lace, multidirectional
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Simple shawl
I started on a quick shawl out of Cherry Tree Hill supersock a week ago, and find I'm close to finishing already! There are lots of stocking stitch sections with only a light sprinkling of simple lace, so I actually felt like working on it all week. The bank holiday last week helped too.
Sahara is stalled. I'm finding the pick up of stitches on the sleeve, and subsequent manipulation on dpns fiddly, so just don't feel like working on it. I would however, like to wear the top in two weeks' time, so will probably get back to it.
Don't even ask about seaming the sunrise circle jacket.
Posted by smug sheep at 8:46 pm 0 comments
Monday, May 14, 2007
Techniques I've tried
This comes from And she knits too
Do this regularly
Continental Knitting
I-cord
Garter stitch
Stockinette stitch
Socks: top-down
Participating in a KAL
Long Tail CO
Swatching
Knitting a gift
Sweater - well, at least two
Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine
Short rows
Knitting with synthetic yarn - now and then
Scarf
Cable stitch patterns (incl. Aran)
Cardigan
Knitting with circular needles
Purses/bags
Knitting with variegated yarn - addicted
Knitting in public
Kitchener BO
Fulling/felting
Knitting with wool
Textured knitting
Knitting with DPNs
Done it once
Shawl
Socks: toe-up
Knitting with silk
Drop stitch patterns - the infamous clapotis
Hat
Button holes
Slip stitch patterns
Knitting with alpaca
Shrug/bolero/poncho
Tubular CO
Lace patterns
English knitting (as opposed to continental)
Stuffed toys - a monkey
Dying yarn- Kool Aid
Domino knitting (modular knitting)
Knitting with beads
Plan to do someday
Afghan/Blanket (baby)
Mittens: Cuff-up
Mittens: Tip-down - no idea how this works!
Knitting with camel yarn
Moebius band knitting
Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
Knitting with bamboo yarn
Two end knitting
Charity knitting
Knitting with soy yarn
Knitting with banana fiber yarn
Olympic knitting
Knitting with someone else’s handspun yarn
Dying with plant colors
Designing knitted garments
Entrelac
Knitting and purling backwards
Rug
Knitting on a loom
Thrummed knitting
Fair Isle knitting
Norwegian knitting
Knitting items for a wedding
Household items (dishcloths, washcloths, tea cozies…)
Dying yarn - acid dyes
Steeks
Knitting art
Teaching a male how to knit
Bobbles
Knitting for a living
Knitting with cotton
Knitting smocking
Writing a pattern
Intarsia
Knitting with linen
Knitting for preemies
Freeform knitting
Cuffs/fingerless mitts/arm warmers
Cushions
Knitting to make money
Knitting socks (or other small tubular items) on two circulars
Baby items
Knitting with cashmere
Darning
Jewelry
Twisted stitch patterns
Knitting with your own handspun yarn
Slippers
Publishing a knitting book - I wish!
Christmas decorations
Hair accessories
No thanks
Knitting with metal wire - Grumperina's experience put me off
Gloves - all those fingers!
Knitting with dog/cat hair -revolting
Toy/doll clothing
Graffiti knitting (knitting items on, or to be left on the street)
Machine knitting
Knitting for pets
Posted by smug sheep at 6:07 pm 0 comments
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
This is not a plastic bag (oh ok, it is)
Posted by smug sheep at 5:44 pm 0 comments
Monday, May 07, 2007
Computer surgery
Major crisis with the laptop this week! I accidentally hit the Dell media button instead of the on/ off button, and this caused the whole operating system to implode. I seem to remember when I first learned to use a computer that we were told we could hit any key, and we couldn't break the computer. Not true!
After several hours of rebooting, trying safe mode, trying to boot from disk and finally re-installing Windows, we gave up. I've spent much of the weekend shuttling back and forth to the computer doctor, who managed to retrieve the data files. We then had to have a full factory reset. Touch wood, it's working again now, but needless to say, I'm keen to tape over the button that caused the problem.
On the knitting front, I'm making progress with Sahara. I knitted the lace neck edging before finishing the length, as I just couldn't assess how much it would ride up until the neckline was done. The lace is slightly fiddly, but the key is just to keep counting and checking on the increase rows. I picked up a stitch every second row, and did four repeats of the lace pattern instead of three.
Posted by smug sheep at 9:36 pm 0 comments
Labels: sahara
Saturday, May 05, 2007
Bleeding Cherry Tree Hill
I bought some CTH supersock some months ago, including some nice deep colourways. Listening to Lixie Knits It podcast, I found out that this yarn can fade badly. I'm thinking of starting my CTH shawl after Sahara, so was concerned to hear this. I decided I'd better prewash the deeper colours, but not to bother with the pastels. So I soaked them, and sure enough the green skeins started to give up a lot of dye.
Next step was the vinegar bath:
And even after that and two rinses, here's the water:
I am not impressed. The yarn is expensive, and I'm disappointed that I have to treat it myself. Thank goodness for Lixie or I would have found out after knitting a multicoloured shawl, and ended up with a muddy mess. Still might I suppose, but hopefully it will stop bleeding now.
Posted by smug sheep at 7:15 pm 0 comments
Labels: CTH