Caricia

Oops... I showed you the blocking of Caricia, but forgot to post pictures of the finished knit in action. I don't think I've ever mentioned this before, but very few things make me feel as goofy as modeling a finished knit. Add a 10 year old photographer to the mix and well, you get what you get... but here it is.



(I just hate the back of my arms... cropping above the elbow is becoming essential for my own mental preservation. And Honey, suggesting that I just need to go to the gym is not going to make me feel better.)




Don't be deceived by the goofy photos though... I love this shawl. Love it! I love the lace pattern, the colors, the yarn... all of it. I wore it to church on Sunday as pictured.

Caricia by Anne Hanson (who is quite successfully keeping my love of lace alive)
Malabrigo Sock yarn in "Indiecita" (1 hank)
Size 4 KnitPicks Options.

Shameless

So I was contemplating the various household chore opportunities facing me today and I thought, “I know! I want to sort through all my yarn bins and make a spreadsheet of available quantities in different weights and colors!” I had already been to a VBS wrap-up meeting and a swim lesson, so diving into bins of wool in an un-air-conditioned hallway seemed like the natural next step.

I like to think of it as economical as well, because there are several patterns on my mind so this was like shopping… without spending any money! (This is where my husband nods his head and decides to overlook the piles of laundry.)

Truthfully, it didn’t take too long (since my yarn is about the only thing in my house that is well organized) and I was having so much fun that I didn’t notice the sweat dripping down my back until I was done. However, at some point… well at some point… I may have lost focus. I think it was the few skeins of sock yarn that had been stuck in the wool bin… or maybe the matching green skeins caught my eye when I opened the sock drawer to make some room… or possibly my current interest in using some of my sock yarn for scarves (I have a hankering for a turquoise one in particular… which I‘m sure was prompted by the brown shorts and turquoise shirt I wore yesterday with matching bracelets which left me thinking about how, while I‘m not a fan or turquoise in general, I really do like turquoise and brown together). I can’t pinpoint it exactly, but at some point I thought… “Wouldn’t it be fun to pull out ALL of my sock yarn and see just what colors I do have?!”

So, I proceeded to dump it all and began sorting it by color, pushing piles of laundry out of the way as I went. I must admit that by the time I was done I felt a bit like a 6 year old who has dumped out all the legos only to realize that he now has to pick them all up… but I did learn something in the process.

Actually, I learned a few things…



1) I suck up green sock yarn like a magnet.

2) I should stop buying nearly identical skeins of beige with blue and green undertones.



3) I have a fondness of red and pink that is unmatched by my wardrobe.



4) I don’t need any more blue sock yarn. Ever.


5) Filling a hallway with sock yarn makes no sense to children.

5) And I have one perfect turquoise hank for a scarf.



Now I just need a pattern…

WooT!

I'm afraid to say it... but I think it's gonna fit!



(Just try to ignore the toilet paper and dirty laundry in the background. I was very in the moment.)



Okay, so I've done a little pinning to get a feel for the fit. But so far so good.

I have the left front almost complete from last summer, so that leaves me with the right front and 2 sleeves. I think I can... I think I can...

I also got a great deal on a car wash today and am listening to a wonderful book, The Lace Reader, on my Ipod.



Not bad for a Friday.

The Lazy Blogger

Lazy blogger... lazy knitter... lazy in general... soaking up the summer for a bit. My allergies have been terrible so it seems that when I sit down to knit in the afternoon, I end up napping instead.

With so many WIPs, I've resisted starting a new project but I did download yet another shawl/scarf pattern today. Meanwhile, I decided to work on the one project that I'm least likely to ever finish... the Rowan "Martha" Cardigan. I'm almost to the armholes on the back so it's going fairly quickly (especially considering the extra time I've been devoting to sleep)... but I am constantly worrying about the odds of it actually fitting when it's done. I keep re-measuring and comparing it to current items from my closet... but I still worry. There's something about the thought of knitting a sweater out of 4-ply cotton (string basically) on size 1 needles that makes me tremble at the thought of it not fitting.

In addition to buying patterns in fits of fantasy, I've also purchased some of the greatest stitch markers ever!



They are beautiful, affordable, very lightweight, and notice the unique design of the row counter. It really helps me remember to move the number when I come to the marker. I got these from Jed's Joy on Etsy.

I also received the July installment of The Loopy Ewe sock club. These are so much fun to open!



Lovely reds! The little Namaste box was made in this color especially for this kit. And inside...



a cute little Loopy stitch marker. :)

I can't wait to knit these socks... but I must finish the back of the eternal cardigan first. I must! (Bets are open on whether or not I make it.)

Distractions Part 3: Lace

Along with the many other works dangling on my needles, I always have a bit of lace. However, in addition to the Malabrigo Caricia that I had in progress, I was really itching to knit a Girasole lap blanket with some deep red Malabrigo sock I have on hand... and of course there's still the Sea Silk that I had to have for the Trevi Shawl. What to do...

Well, I really wasn't comfortable starting another lace project with on already in the works. (Apparently I do have some boundaries.) So Caricia got bumped up to priority status and a sock went in my purse for travel knitting. Last week was VBS so I really didn't have much time to knit since my afternoons were consumed by errands and napping so I would be rested enough to inhabit a building with 250 children each morning. I had an administrative job this year, which I really much prefer, but those kids just absorb your energy as they walk by. I'm sure of it.

Anyway, this morning I finished Caricia! I took a few shots of before and during blocking because the process always reminds me of a butterfly opening it's wings for the first time.

Blah...



A good soak...


A bit of blocking...


(Have I mentioned how much I love these blocking wires?)



It's a nice warm day so it should dry quickly.

Now... back to those cardigans. Hmmm...

Distractions Part 2: The Summer Cardigan

Every summer I get the same itch... the desire to knit the perfect summer cardigan. Actually itch is a rather weak word to use here. Obsession would be much more fitting... as in an unhealthy, life-disrupting, brain-soaking, possibly expensive... obsession.

This summer is no exception, except that I have recently been informed by my dear hard-working husband that my yarn budget for the next couple months is $0. He is so generous and never says a word about my yarn buying so new yarn was definitely out of the question. Fortunately for me, I've been stashing very carefully for just such a time as this and have a few white yarns on hand including a bit of Cotton-Ease and some off-white Cotton Classic. As a matter of fact, I even have some white yarn that has been partially knit into cardigan hopes from summers past.



Not a bad start. The one on the left was one of the first perfect cardigans I found.



I found it in a Tahki pattern book and ordered the yarn online for a ridiculously cheap price. The yarn is Tahki Java, and upon arrival is was easy to see why it was so cheap. In a word, it sucks. It's like some nylon ribbony sort of string. Yes, I probably could've substituted... and as I recall I did try... but, well summer was probably over by that point.

Moving on...



I came across this pattern on the internet and it was so perfect that it involved tracking down an old Rowan magazine on e-bay and ordering a bunch of (not-so-cheap) Rowan Cotton 4-ply. The pattern is actually pretty addicting and the first side knit up in a few days. But that was about all the knitting of cotton on size 1 needles that my hands could manage so it was put aside... and well, I suppose my interest must have waned and that was that.

I do like this cardigan though and fortunately I made notes of all the minor modifications I made (probably a first - the notes I mean) and this solves the mystery of the missing size 1 needles.

Then last but not least is a Classic Elite Sundance cardigan...



Obviously, the biggest problem with this one is that it's not actually "white". But it is the closest to being done. As I recall, I had some concern about this fitting but I'm not sure I ever blogged about it (and my old blog pictures got all messed up because I'm a dork and apparently don't know how to use Flickr so I have to correct them all - argh)... but I do have a picture from last August.



I put it back on today and once it's blocked and has button bands, I actually think it should fit just right. And hey, if it's a little tight, who says I have to button it right? Right.

So out of the ashes of my UFOs come two potentially perfect cardigans. (I must admit I'm feeling remarkably resourceful about now.) And if they don't work out, there's always Kohls.

Distractions: The Sock Edition

It is a common fact of my life that the less I have to do, the less I will get done. Some people use free days for knitting or reading, but I use them for wasting. But this week, I am swamped with preparations for next week's VBS, the great de-clutter of 2009, and trying to learn Geometry to get a son through summer school... so it seemed like the perfect week to get a couple of blog entries up.

I have been knitting... but very inconsistently and on a variety of projects. I can't seem to settle on just one thing these days. I did finish a pair of socks.



Wanida from Sock Innovation by Cookie A knit with Claudia's Handpainted Fingering.
(pair #3 from this book for those keeping track)

And I started another pair (actually in between knitting the two socks above).



Kai-Mei - Pair #4 from the same book. I'm using Fiesta Baby Boom for these which is super squishy fun to knit with.

But then I was distracted...



These are Loksins and have been on my project list for months. I'm lovin' this pattern and you can never go wrong with Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in "Old Rose".

Hopefully I'll be back soon with some of the other distractions.