Tag Archives: cascade 220

business time.

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I have no idea why I’ve had a little boy’s tie hanging in my closet. No idea. Until now. I’ll say it again: my dog is ridiculous. Alright, onto a bit more knitting.

Rusted Root isn’t quite dry, but I tried it on anyway last night, worried that it was relaxing too much, and instead, I think it will be perfect. No modeled pictures yet, but perhaps tonight — I’m going to see Wilco, and depending on the weather, I may debut the sweater. (By the way, I recommend Wilco wholeheartedly, in all forms. You won’t be sorry.)

I did put a little package in the mail to my mom yesterday, and because she has no idea I have a blog, I can share it with you now:

I took yesterday afternoon off to catch up on life a bit, and I wove in the ends while sitting outside in the parking lot of the laundromat. (Details: Peaches and Creme cotton, size 7 needles and a basic grandmother’s favorite dishcloth pattern worked corner to corner.) I also ran to REI to take advantage of their big sale (Boh has managed to search out and destroy several pairs of my socks over the last 14 months), and since I was already nearby, I went a bit further to the yarn store. Tough weeks mean treats, in my book, and I settled on seven skeins of cascade 220 heathers in a pretty deep blue/purple/grey — intended to be a long sleeve version of Wicked.

Took everything I had last night to pick up my second wedding present pinwheel instead of swatching or just casting on for Wicked or 28thirty. Must make progress on WIPs…or at least the pinwheel, as I am attending (and helping with pie-baking for) a pre-wedding party next weekend. Happy Friday!

umm, yarn alert.

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Two things:

And

Right.

So, the first picture is Peace Fleece, from kpixie. Over the weekend, while browsing through other people’s queues on Ravelry, I saw 28thirty, by the Zephyr girls, and the pattern and this yarn became an irrational need. In order to get the colorway I wanted (grass roots), I had to purchase a kit for the Everyday Cardigan — so now I already have the buttons and I’m sure I’ll use this pattern one day.

The second picture is from the WEBS Anniversary Sale — I am quite proud of the restraint I exercised with this order. (Give me a minute to explain.) This box is overflowing with yarn already intended to become gifts: enough Cascade 220 to make three more pinwheel blankets for weddings (though eventually I want one), two sets of 2 skeins of Berrocco Ultra Alpaca in manly colors, to become scarves for professors who wrote reference letters for me and provided guidance and advice during the application process, and then a bag of Ultra Alpaca in the colorway Yucca Mix, intended to become a cardigan that I hope will replace a commercial one that gets serious wear in my clothing rotation. All this, averaging under 6 dollars a skein!

That, my friends (in addition to my existing stash), should keep me plenty busy.

I am traveling for a mixture of work and play this weekend into next week — bringing the computer, camera and some knitting, so blogging may occur, but if not, don’t worry. No need to call in the cavalry!

Have a great weekend!

distraction #2.

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Again with the need to be knitting something that isn’t fiddly. I had at least 120 yards of leftovers from the third skein of the Cascade 220 I used for the pinwheel blanket, and somehow the magic of ravelry led me to cast on for the hurricane hat by Andrea Goutier (size 7 needles). This is a fast, fun pattern with lovely crown decreasing that maintains the purl ridge swirl ’til the end.

I may have a problem. How many hats does one person need?

I mean, I don’t have a grey hat yet…

Off to work.

pinwheels and a new project

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First of all, whoa! WordPress got fancy! (Overnight! This may take some getting used to.) Second, look at my pinwheel! Binding off 430 st took forever, as in, I had to call a friend to apologize for my lateness and explain that I was still casting off…

I really like this — which is good, because I am planning on making several. I followed the pattern exactly for this first pinwheel, and it only required about 2.5 skeins of Cascade 220. I think the size is just right for a cozy lap or reading blanket — perfect for the intended recipients. If you look closely at this picture of the center of the pinwheel, you’ll notice that it isn’t perfect: seems that when I switched from DPNs to the circular needle, I screwed up a YO or two. I realized this a few inches later, and a moment before I began ripping back, I decided against it. You see, this blanket is a wedding gift for a historian-to-be and his fiance.  They are new friends, and hopefully folks I will spend more time getting to know in New Home. This new friend and I spent a lot of time talking about scholarly processes, in a range of contexts. What better gift than a blanket with a few quirks? After all, marriage is process-oriented! These small “mistakes” will provide me with an entry point to write a little love note along these lines. Boh thinks so too.

He looks particularly worried, likely because he isn’t sure if we should block this to maintain the swirl of the pinwheel or if we should straighten it out. Life is rough when you have these kinds of things on your mind. Boh is also thinking about the Lace Ribbon Scarf from the most recent Knitty.

A friend had this on her dining room table yesterday, and a closer look revealed that this pattern is intended for sock yarn! I have been trying to figure out what to do with my February booty from the Yarn Pirate — gorgeous colors, but not really for me. Seems that the stars are aligned — or at least Knitty is aligned with my calendar of friends’ birthdays…

Alright — the sun is fully up, and it is time to get on with the day: long overdue breakfast date, rugby practice, dog play date, yarn shop outing…and then margaritas?

Ahh, Saturday.

spring sunrise.

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I had prettier pictures of the sunrise and the mountains this morning, but I wanted to share this one — see the leaves on the trees? So nice to see green around town here in the Southwest.

Also, even though I’m not sure that you can tell that I’ve made progress, here is a picture of what I have been referring to as the jellyfish:

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I’ve started the seed stitch border. It is hard for me to tell how big it is going to be — I want this to serve as a cozy lap blanket for curling up with a good (or required) book. I am planning to make a handful of these this spring as gifts, and I find myself knitting quickly in order to see if this is going to be the size I am envisioning…

Happy Friday!

pinwheel!

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What is this, rooster? A new project?

Yes, it is true. Yesterday I cast on for the Pinwheel Blanket from knitalong by Larissa and Martin Brown. I know, I know. I have several projects on the needles right now, but hear me out dear reader: I don’t have anything I can work on that (a) does not require looking at the pattern and (b) uses needles of a large enough size that I can look away from my work. (I can now carry on a conversation while knitting socks, but I still need to look at what I am doing to be sure that I am not dropping stitches left and right.)

Also, it seems that there are several upcoming occasions to celebrate with knitting. This Pinwheel is intended to be a wedding gift. It is growing rather quickly, after a healthy struggle with joining 5 st in the round and completing the set up rows. After a few cups of coffee and some podcast catch up time, here’s what it looks like:

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That’s all for now. The sun is shining, and Boh and I are off to one of our favorite places — the volcanoes — this time, with friends!

baking…

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Happy Birthday! I presented this cupcake to someone who is a VERY good sport about all the knitting his wife and I both talk about and do when we are together.

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(I also did some “real” baking — there is a loaf of banana bread on the counter, ready to take to Easter brunch.) I loved making this cupcake (pattern from One Skein by Leigh Radford). I wasn’t sure how it would turn out, given that I do not own any novelty yarn for frosting the cupcake, but I used Cascade 220 for the chocolate base and then 2 strands of Cascade 220 Heathers and 1 strand of Madil Kid Seta (all leftover from the LMKG legwarmers) and then used some leftover cotton to make a cherry on top.

More knitting to share:

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These (Baby Bibs O’ Love, from Mason-Dixon knitting, made from Peaches and Creme dishcloth cotton) have been languishing for at least a month, mostly because I couldn’t find a needle that would fit through the buttonholes…needed to dig out my misplaced travel sewing kit. Let’s hope I can get these in the mail faster than I was able to sew on the buttons! (Still thinking about adding a little bit of embroidery to the red one. We’ll see.)

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Beaufort, completed! (Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride Worsted, Size 8 needles.) I am a tad nervous that this will be too small for its recipient. It fit me snugly, right off the needles, and I have a small head. I dunked it in the sink with some wool wash and gave it a good tug, and it is almost dry. I think the yos in the pattern will open up with time, just like my Foliage did. I hope she likes it.

I had a Nutkin realization yesterday. You know, after I did 5 more repeats on the leg portion.

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That lovely doubled cuff I was celebrating a few posts ago? (Don’t get me wrong — it is very pretty.) Mine doesn’t quite fit over my heel. Good thing I checked before starting the heel. The thing is, I am in LOVE with how this yarn (Yarn Pirate Kalamata — my first Booty Club installment) is knitting up. I’m thinking I can add a thumb hole and do another pattern repeat or two and I will have the first of a gorgeous pair of fingerless mitts. (Does that also mean I get to decide on another sock to begin?) I will certainly keep you posted on my sock to mitt progress. Seems fitting that I was listening to the last few chapters of Frankenstein yesterday on CraftLit when I made this discovery.

Time to settle down with another cup of coffee, Boh, and some knitting. I love weekend mornings — I am always up with the sun, and on these days, I get to watch the morning become mid-day: sun rises in the sky, roosters crow, air warms up and I can fling open the doors and windows…

Enjoy your day.