Oops

I think Paul (that's my boyfriend) felt slighted yesterday because I did not credit him with the discovery of those crazy knitting needles that count your stitches electronically. Once again, I fail to give credit where credit is due. It's surprising how many times fiber-related and specifically knitting-related things turn up in the online blogs and websites that Paul frequents, which would seem to have nothing to do with knitting. World domination continues apace.

Magical needles?

Do you need smart needles?

Picture-rama

No posting for a while means I have a TON of pictures to share now. Since I discussed most of them in the last post, I'll just proceed without a lot of further explanation.


Black Forest Naturwolle Scarf in Rosenholz Coulorway is Complete

I finished this double-moss stitch scarf somewhere in Idaho (driving in the car between Sun Valley, Idaho and Ennis, Montana on the 4th of July, in fact.) It was no cheapy, since I like a wide scarf, and it took three skeins of this pricey yarn. But I think I'll enjoy wearing it, and it's certainly very warm.


"Son of Charlotte" Stashbuster Spirals Finally Finished

So, I FINALLY finished these socks from the Six Sox Knitalong. It took me long enough. The knitting has been done since April, I just couldn't bear to weave in the million yarn tails, though it wasn't really that bad, of course, once I actually sat down and did it. These include leftover yarn from some Fortissima Colori Jacquard socks, some Lorna's Laces socks (the Fluted Bannister pattern for the same knitalong, actually), and then tons of leftovers of KPPPM from my Charlotte's Web shawl (hence their name).


Rogue Nearly Done!

Next up we have the current status of Rogue. The sleeves and body and hood are all complete. I grafted the hood with a reasonable amount of success, though I think it could look better. Hopefully blocking will smooth it out a little bit, because right now I don't think it looks completely seamless in that cable, at least not in the reverse stockinette part. But then, I was just sort of winging it, and it turned out well enough. Not being a knitting perfectionist is pretty freeing. I figure I learn from the things that I don't do perfectly, and I'll be better at it the next time around.


Hood Cables

Here's a closer view of the hood cables. Due to my squatty row gauge, I had to lengthen both the body and the hood. For the hood, I just picked an 8 row pattern repeat and added 16 rows, which was a smidge more than I technically would have needed to compensate. I kind of winged it with adjusting the increases and decreases as I went, and it worked out just fine. The body was easy to lengthen -- I added three repeats of the simple cable in the middle. I was a little worried about the body, because I did not lengthen it at all from the armhole shaping to the neck, though technically I should have. I considered it, but the math seemed tricky, and so I tried it out as written. (Sure, I majored in math, but laziness is always my first preference!) Luckily, it fits just fine that way. It's nice that knitting really is so forgiving.


Lace Project Revealed

Yeah, here's that mysterious lace project to which I've been alluding. It's the Lovers Braid Pattern Lace-Edged Pillowcase from Weekend Knitting (as I've said before, one of my favorite knitting books ever.) I previously made a Leaf Pattern Lace-Edged Pillowcase from the same book (which you can see here), and I had a ton of yarn left over, so I wanted to make another. I kind of liked the idea of having a set that doesn't actually match. The yarn I'm using is different than what the pattern calls for - it's Katia's Mississippi 3 in white. (BTW, anybody know anything about that yarndex site where I found a link for the Katia? I'd never seen it before, but it seems interesting.) The pattern calls for a 100% mercerized cotton, and this yarn is a cotton/acrylic blend, but it seemed to work out okay on the other pillowcase, and though the ball band says to hand wash, I recently sent the pillowcase through the washing machine (but not the dryer) for the first time, and it seemed to hold up just fine. The finishing on these is very tedious, but the result is nice.


Cold Nights Camping?

That's okay! You can just wear your scarf while you are knitting it! Just watch out for that velcro on the coat -- since velcro is the enemy of knitting, no doubt about it.

And, finally, this is for Kim:


Harry Potter Books, UK Special Collector's Edition

My friend who started me reading HP did so by sending me the special edition of the first book. I enjoyed it immensely, and of course I wanted a matching set, which led to me ordering these from Amazon.co.uk. Unfortunately, the collector's editions come out several months after the initial release, so I have the latest book on order, but it won't be published until October. So don't anybody tell me anything that happens!! I may just have to borrow somebody's copy before then.

Whew. And thus ends the picture fest. Happy weekend!

The Sound of Silence

As is evident, I've been fairly quiet lately. A lot of fellow knitbloggers posted some very profound and sympathetic and moving things after the bombings in London last week, which I thought was a wonderful testament to the generally kind and supportive nature I usually find amongst knitters. Me, I wasn't ignoring it, I just didn't really know what to say. The world makes me sad and just plain tired sometimes. The outpouring of sympathy about the bombings in England does give me hope for the human race. But then again, a part of me must wonder, why aren't we this upset every single day, every time we hear about another group of innocent people killed by a bomb in Iraq? Is it because we somehow think it's not as bad to bomb "your own people" (however large the fallacies behind that notion)? Or is it because Iraq is considered a war zone, and we just expect that sort of thing there? Maybe it's because we think we can't draw the lines as clearly between good and evil in Iraq? Or is it just that familiarity and frequency breed numbness? I just don't know. Frankly, it all just makes me sad. And like I said, I am not sure what I really have to contribute to the dialogue, though I will add that hopefully no one thinks that I'm trying to diminish the horror of the bombings in London with what I've written here. It was a truly terrible thing, and my sympathy goes out to anyone affected.

But, certainly, as many others have noted, there is inherent value in continuing on with everyday things, however mundane they may seem in the face of human suffering and tragedy. And, so, on that note, I'm returning to what I came here for: the knitting.

--------------------------------------

I may have been unusually taciturn lately, but that doesn't mean there was no knitting. There has been knitting indeed. In fact, while I've been so quiet about my knitting, I've been on a sort of a finishing bender. It must have been finishing that afghan that tipped it off. I got a bit of a taste of how good it feels to finish an old, lingering project, and I wanted more. And so, somewhere in the middle of Idaho, I finished the Stashbuster Spiral "Son of Charlotte" socks. Then, in West Yellowstone, Montana I finished the Black Forest Naturwolle double moss stitch scarf. Now I'm getting dangerously close to finishing up Rogue - it just needs to be blocked, have the sleeves attached, and have the hems sewn up. There wasn't even all that much major swearing when I grafted the stitches of the hood together. Perhaps finishing Rogue will inspire me to block the cowl and crochet on the edging. And then what?? My WIP list will be so short, I won't know what to do with myself. Just the afghan and the small lace project I alluded to a while ago. Neither of which I really consider a "primary" project. Here I am, caught without a plan. Stay tuned.

Oh, as far as blog points of interest go, I guess I should point out that I added a button for the Rogue Knitalong in the sidebar. Yes, I joined the Rogue KAL back in the day, when it was actually an active knitalong. I'll confess that, now that Rogue is nearly done. I joined the Summer of Lace knitalong a while ago as well, and since I'm actually currently knitting lace, however coincidental, I figured I might as well fess up. Also, the Stashbusters KAL has morphed into a looser Stashbuster club, and so I decided to join them, since I don't think I have the fortitude to do any major KALs right now, but I have been doing a lot of stashbusting in my knitting lately. Obviously, the Stashbuster Spirals socks fit the bill. But in addition to that, the yarn for Rogue had been stashed for a while before I started that project. The Kidsilk Haze for the cowl marinated in the stash for some time, as well. The afghan yarn is my oldest stash yarn (call it "first in, first out inventory" if you like.) And the lace project yarn came out of the stash as well. So, clearly, this is the club for me.

I don't have my camera handy, or I would post some pictures. So you'll just have to trust me that they're on the way and tune back in soon to see all this stuff. And I'll even reveal this lace project, for which the excessive build-up of two cryptic references will no doubt leave you feeling that the unveiling is anticlimactic. (Lace! Unveiling? Bwah hahaha. Dorky knitter puns no extra charge.)

Getting Spammy

Okay, I realize I'm getting a little bit spammy here, with no actual content of my own, but you have got to go check out the links in Bonne Marie's post today, for that art is way cool.

An actual update from, oh, say, ME, will happen one day soon...

I wouldn't want to tell you what to do, but...

I'm going to do it anyway. If you don't already, you should be reading Crazy Aunt Purl. That Laurie is one funny chick. It's true, she doesn't seem to have much knitting content for a knitting blog, but you won't care, because she is the Southern Bridget Jones living in L.A. And she writes monthly "Hor-O-Scopes". And she has a cat named Chairman Meow. And did I mention the funny? You will heart her, I just know it.

Gone Fishin'

Okay, well, not really. More like, "gone to southern Idaho to sit under a tree and knit and read while other people do fun stuff like mountain bike." Anyway, I won't be back until Wednesday evening, hooray!

Have a great weekend!