KnitterPatter

Saturday, October 06, 2007

Random bits

Okay, these are things seen on other people's blogs, so it's not like there's any original content here if you happen to read those blogs. But they are just some things that amused me or that I'd like to remember.

First up we have Daily Lit, found via A Dress a Day (who also writes the fabulous Dictionary Evangelist blog, and I wish I knew how I could be her when I grow up (a dictionary editor -- someone paid to geek out about linguistics!) I love the concept of Daily Lit -- for free, you can read daily bits of novels via RSS feed or via e-mail (and as Erin points out at A Dress a Day, you can read it in your e-mail at work and pretend your working -- what's not to love about that??)

Next, check out this exquisitely beautiful Fair Isle sweater called Autumn Rose, found via Claudia's Blog. I haven't seen too many Fair Isles that I would really contemplate knitting and wearing, but this one tempts me mightily...

Finally, found via JenLa, fairly insane knitted toys. Tres amusing...

So, I keep saying that I really have been knitting over the past year, and my knitting friends from the Needlepoint Joint Thursday Knitters group could attest to that, even though the knitting has not been prolific or all that steady. However, I finally got it together enough to show some photos of what I've been up to. And I even got myeslf going in Flickr rather than Photobucket, because I am a lemming, and I want to be ready when I get my Ravelry invite, which should be in about 11 days, I'd guess, at the rate they've been adding people lately... Actually, I already did have a Flickr account from an incident a while ago when photobucket wasn't working correctly, but I just downloaded some slick Flickr Uploadr software for my Mac that lets me drag and drop from iPhoto and then upload a whole batch of photos, and it's really quite slick. I highly recommend it if you're a Mac user.

Anyway. On to the photos!

Feather and Fan Scarf
Feather and Fan cashmere scarf

Here is a simple feather and fan scarf made from two skeins of Mountain Colors cashmere in the single color Raven, which apparently they don't make any more. This is the second of these scarves that I made -- I gave the first to my mother as a gift some time ago, but never photographed. Then I made one exactly the same for myself, which I finished ages ago, except for weaving in the tails. Yeah, I don't think I have woven in any tails for well over a year now. It's all slacker knitting, all the time lately for me -- the point being just to be physically knitting, rather than any actual finishing.

Feather and Fan Scarf Detail
Scarf Detail

Feather and Fan Sock
Stalled Feather and Fan Socks, a lousy photo

Next up are the stalled feather and fan socks of old out of Apple Laine Apple Pie yarn in Army Surplus. I suppose these are stalled until I admit the inevitable. They are too small and need to be ripped out. And the yarn and pattern are too lovely to abandon entirely, so I think I will re-do them.

Maybe Not a Wedding Shawl
Not a Wedding Shawl

Here's the shawl I got the insane notion to knit for my wedding. That was rapidly abandoned as life careened out of control with intense wedding planning and an even more intense new job. It's the Mediterranean Lace Shawl from A Gathering of Lace. I don't even know if I have enough of the yarn I chose to finish it, some sort of Madil if I remember right without looking. Now I'll just say I started knitting it on the occasion of my wedding.

Here's a little detail, though lace still looks like crap before it's blocked, that's for sure:

Not a Wedding Shawl Detail

Next up is a scarf that I knit mostly on my honeymoon. I think this is another item that will likely be ripped out, because the two skeins of Manos del Uruguay that I used definitely do not match well, so it's a half and half scarf:

Manos del Uruguay scarf
Probably a Do-Over

Finally, another scarf out of Manos-like yarn, though I can't remember the name for sure, and I'm too lazy to get up and find the ball band right now, which is around half finished. I love the 80s color scheme of electric pink and black:

Manos-like 80s pink & black scarf
80s Scarf!

So, basically, you can see a lot of desulatory knitting has gone on. I've also worked on my Greek Key Afghan a bit lately, and I started some Christmas socks for Molly on Thursday (good thing she can't read much and isn't very computer savvy yet!)

Also, I note that several of those pictures suck. I don't know if I'm just rusty with the camera, or if my camera is starting to give up the ghost after one too many dips in rivers and snow banks and oceans (I know it's all weather, and those dips were mostly in the carrying case, but that probably only gets you so far...)

There. Whew! Long blogging is exhausting!