How The West Was Spun

WIP Wednesday - 07/23/08

Project #1:  Eleanora Socks

I finished up sock #1 and grafted the toe.  My mum was able to try the sock on while she was here, so I know it will fit her perfectly, and I'll just make sock #2 to match.

Goal:  Cast on for sock #2 and start the cuff chart.

Project #2: CeCe Cardigan

I finished up a bit more than 1 pattern repeat (3 actually), so I am getting close to the point where the body gets set aside to start on the sleeves. 

Goal:  Finish knitting the body to where it is put on hold, and cast on for the sleeves.

Project #3:  New Socks

These little socks are actually moving along quite quickly.  They are just interesting enough not to be 100% mindless, but I can pick them up and work on them as if they were.

Goal:  Finish working the foot down to the toe and figure out what kind of toe decreases I want for this pattern.

All for now....

WIP Wednesday - 07/16/2008

Back again with another update!  It's been kind of a whirlwind week.  My folks have been visiting and just before they arrived, I got a large wholesale order (can you say 10 pounds of roving put up in 2-ounce twists?) so I've been trying to juggle a bunch of things.  I did, however, make some great progress on things this week.

Project #1:  Eleanora Socks

I wanted to have my mum try these on and I'm glad she did.  I thought I would need a bit more length, but they are perfect, so I can start the toe decreases.

Goal:  Finish toe on sock #1.

Project #2:  Cece Sweater

Yup - finished up to the point where I need to start the V-neck decreases.  I'm about halfway up the body at this point.

Goal:  Knit 1 pattern repeat.

Project #3 (New!) Socks:

I decided to go with a mindless pair of socks.  I had gotten a skein of an alpaca/wool/nylon blend in a sock club I was in before I opened the online store and frankly, I didn't really care for the dye job.  It was a flat, matte gray with splotches of blue and I couldn't imagine doing anything with it in that state, so I threw some dye at it and came up with a colorway I actually like very much.  I am designing these as I go and will likely have them written up as a free pattern at some point.  Easy stitch pattern, which I think does a nice job of breaking up the handpainted yarn.  I am just about ready to work the heel on this first one of the pair.

Goal:  Turn heel.

Very modest goals this week.  My mum is still here thru the weekend, plus I work this weekend, AND I have an infusion treatment scheduled for Monday, so I will be fortunate to get anything done on these projects at all.  We'll see if I can at least get these goals accomplished.

All for now....

WIP Wednesday - 07/09/2008

Some new stuff to list, since I cranked through several projects over my vacation long weekend.

Project #1:  Eleanora Socks

Making progress on these as well.  Not only did I get the leg knit and the heel turned, I started down the foot on sock #1. I would like to get the foot of these mostly finished up so my mum can try this on when she is here this coming weekend, and make sure they fit and I have the right length before starting the toe decreases.

Goal:  Work on the foot.

Project #2:  CeCe Cardigan

Here's a new addition - the CeCe Cardigan from Chic Knits.  I dipped into the stash for some Rowan's All Season Cotton in a very pale mauve color for this one.  I've gotten just under 7 inches knit of the body so far. (Can you see the lovely iridescent moonstone stitch markers Bea sent me?  Love em!)

Goal:  Finish knitting the body to the point where the V-neck decreases begin.

I haven't picked a project #3 yet, although I think it might be another pair of socks.  Or, I may throw the about half-way finished scarf I'm working on into the mix, just to see if that will motivate me to finish it.  I'll keep y'all posted.

All for now.....

WIP Wednesday - 07/02/08

With a subtitle of "Mice and Men".

Project #1:  Cobblestone Pullover

This is finished except for a wee bit of finishing detail left, and I have not subjected D to a photo shoot in the almost-100-degree weather we've been having. Emma, however, has performed a full inspection of the FO....

and pronounced it extremely nap-able. 

Hopefully real FO pics to follow by the end of the weekend.

New Project #1: Lace and Cables Cap

A friend of ours is undergoing second-round chemotherapy for lymphoma.  I didn't want anything too warm for the summertime, but it is still chilly, no matter how warm it is outside, when they are dumping a lot of nasty chemicals through your system, so I decided on a cute little (Free!) Ravelry hat find.  It's a little lace cap with cabled sections and a very cool set of decreases across the crown.  I'm working this up in a periwinkle blue/purple fingering-weight baby cashmere.

Goal:  Finish "body" of hat.

Project #2: Eleanora Socks

I didn't quite get the leg finished, but close - 8 out of the 12 repeats.

Goal:  Finish leg and work heel.

Project #3:  Mountain Socks

I finished the intarsia part of these puppies, and joined into the round, and just started working the heel flap.  The rest of the knitting is pretty straightforward.  (Although I am not looking forward to darning in the vomitous explosion of ends produced on the leg, let me tell ya.)

Goal:  Knit the heel flap and work gusset decreases.

And now for the Mice and Men reference.  As in great plans usually go awry.  D and I are actually not going away this weekend.  (We woulda left already if we had been.)  Thursday I came down with a really awful viral bug that I think he picked up at the seminar he was teaching the previous week.  (College kids + International college kids + overworked/overtired = a plague-esque nastiness).  I finally bit the bullet and went off to see an urgent care doc on Sunday, as I had shaking chills and was in the house wearing a fleece jacket and huddled under a winter comforter and could not get warm.  So after a few days of antibiotics (which I think are probably not really helping the virus, but kept it from going postal becoming bacterial), I appear to be on the mend.  But not mended enough that spending 2 days trailering to Wyoming, 2 days riding 60 miles, and 2 days trailering back to Utah in record summer temps sounded fun.  So we bagged it and decided to stay home. 

We'll hopefully get a few things done around the house before my folks arrive next weekend, and we'll likely take the horse boys out for a couple of day rides, but lots of napping (Emma is a pro - see above) and some knitting are likely on the docket for me.  And lots and lots of time in the AC.

All for now.....

WIP Wednesday - 06/25/2008

Project #1:  Cobblestone Sweater

I appear to have reached the light at the end of the tunnel here!  I have finished all but about 1 inch of "knit straight" garter stitch for the yoke and a couple of more decrease rounds, and that's it. 

Goal:  Finish up the knitting!

Project #2:  Eleanora Socks

I wound up taking these along to Strawberry River and did a bit of knitting on them.  I got a few repeats of the leg chart finished up.

Goal:  Finish leg chart.

Project #3:  Mountain Socks

Alas, nothing new to report here.  I didn't even touch these this week. 

Goal:  Get halfway through the leg chart.

This isn't really a project for my WIPs, but I did sign up for Carole's brilliant 10-Minutes-A-Day group on Ravelry, to get myself back into the habit of spinning more often.  Look what it's done for me already!

This roving is from Spinderella's Mill here in SLC, and the colorway is "Enchanted Forest". It's a mix of dark brown/black wool, green wool, green mohair, white silk, dyed silk, angelina and probably a few other things.  It's fun to spin and going pretty fast - I've almost got an entire bobbin filled already!

All for now....

WIP Wednesday - 06/18/2008

WIP Wednesday again!

Project #1:  Cobblestone Pullover

Considering that I am currently stuck in the garter stitch no-man's-land, I'm doing pretty well on this sweater.  I'm trying to knit, at minimum, a few rounds of the several-hundred stitches right now per day.  I finished up the decrease round 2 for the yoke, and I'm currently slogging through the "Cont even in garter stitch to 7-3/4 inches" part.

 

Goal:  Finish the "continue even" rounds and knit decrease round 3.

Project #2: Mountain Socks 

Now I remember why I didn't finish these socks - intarsia.  Blech.  Slow going here, as I am tied to the charts, and there are a bazillion tangled ends.  I did finish the ribbing and started the charted portion.  I'm going to try to get 5 or so rows more of the chart done, and that will put me at about the half-way point.

 

Goal:  Halfway point of the colorwork chart for the leg.

Project #3:  Eleanora Socks

I love these socks - the pattern is a very interesting knit.  It's not mindless knitting for me at this point, so I don't foresee cranking through these, but that's okay.  In this case for me, it's gonna be the process. I have completed charts 1, 2 and 3, and started chart 4.

 

Goal:  Finish chart 4 and begin chart 5.

I have sort of lightweight goals for this week.  Bhen and I are leaving on Thursday afternoon to drive up to the Strawberry River Reservoir area for another race.  Sam will go along with us, but D won't be available until Saturday afternoon - he's teaching a summer seminar on stable isotopes and will be there until after race-time on Saturday.  He and Sam will ride on Sunday tho.  We will be back on Sunday late, but I don't forsee that I'll have a lot of knitting time on these projects.  The 2 pairs of socks need charts, which isn't really camping-friendly, and the Cobblestone is at the point it's a big ol' lump of wool in my lap, and temps are supposed to be in the 90s here in the valley for the weekend.  We'll see what I get accomplished knitting-wise, but I'm not holding my breath for much.

All for now....

WIP Wednesday - 06/04/08

Please excuse the somewhat lack-luster photos today; it's cloudy and off-and-on raining here this morning.

Project #1:  Cobblestone Pullover

Here's where I am on the second sleeve - perhaps halfway or a wee bit more. 

Goal:  See if I can finish up this second sleeve - and then we'll get everything joined together on the long circs for the yoke!

Project #2:  Thuja Socks

I question where the heck my head is sometimes.  I'm knitting these (a pair for a women's medium foot) on size 4 needles, out of DK yarn.  Why did I not do this when I was knitting these for men's size 10 and 11 feet, and instead used skinny sock yarn and size 0.  WTF was I thinking?  Ahem.  Anyway.

Progress here - I cast on for sock #2, finished the short-row toe (a pattern modification) and started up the foot. There are only 40 stitches around, so this one goes pretty quickly. 

Goal:  Finish the foot up to the heel.

I'm still trying to decide what I want to add in for my next project #3.  I've got a couple of scarves on the needles, but I am a verrrryyyyy slow scarf knitter, so I pick these up and put them down when I feel in the mood to deal with them.  I'm not sure that I really want to set goals on them.  I think I'll probably do better if they are my "extra" knitting.

I did make the decision that I needed to go through my large steamer trunk of yarn - since the stuff in there is really out of sight/out of mind, even though I vaguely remember there is some good stuff stashed in there.  I went through that yesterday afternoon and pulled out a couple of projects that I think might be next.  I'd like to get through the yarn in the trunk and either destash it or find something to do with it.  Some of it has moved 3 times, and that means it's time to use it.  While I don't think I want to put the Starmore Henry VIII sweater on the needles yet (I've got all the yarn, just not the interest/patience right now for that kind of a project), I found half of a pair of heavy boot socks in 100% wool, plus the remaining wool and the pattern to complete them.  I'm thinking once the Thuja's come off the needles those would be pretty quick to finish up and also go into the orphanage box.  They are too thick for my tastes personally, but are uber warm.

I also found 1700 yards or so of a handspun, 2-ply Romney wool that I bought at MDSW in the Dark Ages.  It's hand-dyed with indigo over a natural gray, and the result is a very interesting dark greenish-blueish-blackish colorway.  It's mostly very light fingering weight.  I am considering it strongly for Cheryl Oberle's Highland Triangle Shawl.  I have it up here on my desk so I can ponder my other options while I pet it, but that'd be great to put to a good use.

I'll keep you posted.

All for now.......

WIP Wednesday - 05/14/2008

A quick WIP Wednesday post today - I'm getting ready to head out Friday for the Snake River Fiber Festival in Idaho Falls.  Please stop by the Wooly Wonka Fibers booth if you are there and say "Hi!".

Project #1:  Little Child's Socks

Sigh.  Not even one stitch on these.  They are too complicated for me to use as mindless knitting, so I've not made any progress at all on these with everything else on my plate right now.  Probably won't see any progress this week either.

Goal:  None - on hold.

Project #2:  Cobblestone Pullover

I finished up the sleeve increases on sleeve #1.  I also unraveled the cast-on edge and then raveled the sleeve back past the garter-stitch edging, and then picked up these stitches to rework the cuff.  Not very painful - I love this yarn.  You can frog and refrog and reknit and it still looks very nice.

Goal: Finish the sleeve decreases (MAKE NOTES!) and the cuff.

Project #3 (semi-new) Gentleman's Sock:

Nothing like mindless knitting and lots of hours driving in the truck!  I have not only finished the leg of the sock, turned the heel, did the gusset decreases, but I'm most of the way down the (very long - 11.26 cm) foot of the sock before the toe decreases.

Goal:  Finish this up!

All for now......

WIP Wednesday - 05/07/2008

Hokey doke - the seemingly never-ended scarf is finally finished and off the needles, so......

Project #1:  Little Child's Socks

Are now the top-listed project.  I did get a few repeats knit on these.  I've got 2 more repeats for the leg before turning the heel.

Goal:  Finish up the leg repeats.

Project #2:  Cobblestone Pullover

This has turned into my "knit when you can" project, but with multiple errands and waiting for the yarn skeiner to run, I actually have made quite a bit of progress on the sleeve.  I have 4 more rows, and then will be up to the last set of increases for the underarm "seam".  I think I've decided that I'm going to cut off the large garter stitch cuff, then pick up and knit probably 8 or 12 rows with spaced decreases, down to a smaller garter stitch cuff with less rows (and do that on smaller needles). 

Goal:  Finish all the increase rows.

Project #3 (semi-new) Gentleman's Sock:

I posted a pic of this a few posts ago.  The pattern is the "Gentleman's Plain Winter Sock" from Nancy Bush's Knitting Vintage Socks book.  Sorta-kinda.  I changed the heel treatment and tweaked some stitch counts to get what I wanted (which is mostly to use up the bulk of this large 450-yard skein of Alpaca Sox).  I'm working these up in another ginormous guy size to ship off to the orphanage.  This yarn apparently felts like the dickens, so cold water/hand washing will be perfect for it, and it IS extremely warm for its weight.

Goal:  First sock is already done and off the needles.  I have about an inch of the second sock ribbing done.  No specific goal, but we are on the road to Idaho for a race this weekend, and I think this will be my primary travel project, since it is exceptionally mindless and I don't really need a pattern to work on it.

All for now.....