new scarf in progress

Posted on November 9, 2007 by barefootrooster

I have been wearing my new legwarmers non-stop. They are so cozy and warm, and thin enough that they can either be concealed under jeans or used to display my love of the 80s. Now that they are finished, I am out of knitting sans counting — I need something for after a long day of work or for before my coffee has taken effect in the morning. Enter Purl Scarf #2, intended for a friend I will see later this month, stage right.

I started this last night while watching an episode of Heroes (via Netflix), and I already have about a foot completed. The jury is still out on Heroes — I am a bit lost now that I’ve finished all twenty billion episodes of Twin Peaks Season 2 (and caught up on Stash and Burn).

Details: Manos del Uruguay in a dark blue (color A?), Madil Kid Seta in an electric blue (no tags) and Knit One Crochet Too Douceur et Soie in Color 8645. I think. I’m using size 13s instead of 15s and I cast on 20 st instead of 16, just like the one I made for myself.

Also, in green Debbie Bliss Bolero Jacket news, I have finished the back and the right and left fronts. On to the sleeves. I like how quickly this is knitting up, but my progress also means that soon I will have to learn how to seam…

the confidence to ribbit (rip it)

Posted on October 30, 2007 by barefootrooster

I brought some waiting room knitting along to my Honda appointment. As I waited for my oil to be changed and for the nail to be removed from my tire, I pulled out the tiger sock — pictures here. About an inch and a half back, I found a mess of stitches — looks like I dropped a few and knit a few back together in order to get back to the proper stitch count. It looked like absolute hell — and then it hit me. I am over my fear of frogging! I took one look at that this morning and decided that it would not do, even though these socks are for me. This is my second pair of socks, and my first time working on size 0 needles. There are a few mistakes here and there, but overall, I am quite proud of how nice the heel looks. I haven’t actually taken this sock out of my bag to knit on for months, and apparently, in August I was fine with that mess of jumbled, tangled stitches. I am not okay with it today, which means…

I am no longer a beginner knitter! (Right?) I think it is a state of mind, more than anything, but for me, fear of fixing things has been one of those imaginary lines in the sand. There are so many things I want to learn, but the realization that I can rip something back and feel good about being able to pick up the stitches and re-do, rather than just unravel the entire thing and start over (or in this case, create a horrendous jumble) is liberating.

So that is what I did: rip rip rip, right in the middle of a crowded Honda waiting room. The other people looked at me like I was nuts when I brought out the sock in the first place, so I have no idea what they were thinking when I carefully removed my tiny pointy needles from my knitting, placed them on top of the magazine pile to my left and began gleefully unraveling the brightly striped sock in my lap. Before I could get all the way down to the cluster of errors, Mr. Super-helpful Service Man came to tell me that my car was ready, fixed tire and all. I shoved the yarn into my handy ziplock and followed him to the billing station…and they all lived happily ever after.

Be aggressive. B-E aggressive.

Posted on October 29, 2007 by barefootrooster

You know the rest. Right? (B-E-A-G-G-R-E-S-S-I-V-E, be aggressive!) Where am I going with this? Why, pom-poms, of course!

In anticipation of the giant yarn purchase that will be arriving this week, I’ve been feeling guilty about my WIPs, because I know the pile is about to double in size. I do not have a pom-pom maker (who knew such a thing existed!) and I’ve been putting off making my own out of scrap cardboard because I am lazy. I really have no other reason. Internet to the rescue: I found this tutorial for making pom-pom’s without a tool- Thank you, SkaMama! This was super easy and actually, quite a bit of fun. My pom poms are not entirely spherical, but there is an organic aspect to them that I really like. Ta-da! FOs abound. (Okay, there are two of them.) First up, the garter brim hat. I think I’m keeping this one.

This next photo was taken from above. I can’t believe my arms are long enough to make this work.

Here’s a side view, on top of the bowls and piles that currently cover my bright yellow 1960s table.

This hat is made out of one skein of Noro Kureyon, and I have to say, my fingers didn’t really enjoy this yarn as much as I was expecting them to. The colors are stunning, but the fabric is stiff. It is possible that I knit this too tightly (I think I used 9s) and that the yarn would’ve behaved a bit differently if I had used larger needles. Don’t worry, I’m not giving up on Kureyon yet. I made this over the summer, and it belongs to a friend who fell in love with it, and even offered to make her own pom-pom. I’m hoping she’s forgotten so that it will be a lovely surprise when it arrives in her mailbox.

Hooray for pom poms (and FOs) – Happy Monday!

mini-vacation

Posted on October 27, 2007 by barefootrooster

This weekend I am house and dog-sitting for a friend who is housesitting elsewhere here in town. In my head, this was going to be a relaxing mini-getaway. I’d bring projects to finish, some reading, the dogs would get to play together in the backyard, and all would be perfect. It hasn’t gone exactly as I imagined…

First of all, these three are CRAZY. They love each other so much that they have not stopped dashing, barking, chasing, rolling, lunging, etc. since Boh and I arrived. It is difficult to make progress on anything with the noise and the energy these puppies generate. Hard to be mad at them, though — they are adorable. After some Friday afternoon work-related errands, I found myself in the neighborhood of my LYS. There was a sign on the door about a sale on mohair. Danger, rooster! Do not enter! My internet yarn purchase earlier this week was sizeable, but it did not include mohair. I ended up purchasing 2 skeins of Cascade 220 Heathers and 2 balls of Madil Kid Seta to make the legwarmers in Last Minute Knitted Gifts. While the dogs make it hard to focus on the finishing I brought with me, I can handle this. Here are a few photos of my progress.

I bought my first pretty stitch markers last week from Aja at Zero Markers.

I love them! They arrived quickly, and with a few bonus stitch markers for smaller needles sizes — maybe these will motivate me to finish that tiger sock and begin the next one. One of the things I was hoping to accomplish this weekend (in addition to some reading in preparation for a meeting on Monday, argh) is a list of the projects I am planning to knit for other people. I’ve been reading lots of blog posts about holiday knitting, and while it makes total sense to try to focus on a few things, rather than try to knit something for everyone, this is my first holiday season as a knitter. My eyes are definitely bigger than my rows/hour, so we’ll see how I do. Stay tuned for my ambitious list. I’ll leave you with a few pictures of the sunrise — the dogs decided it was time to play at about 5:45 this morning, so I was up in plenty of time to watch the sky lighten as the sun came up above the mountains.

like i really needed an enabler…

Posted on October 24, 2007 by barefootrooster

So…I am at work, but I somehow managed to place a serious internet yarn order. Ravelry makes it super easy to figure out which things in my queue that I can make from my stash, and which projects require additional yarn. In my defense, I don’t really own a sweater’s amount of anything, as I didn’t quite understand the yardage required to make different kinds of knitted accessories and garments when I was getting started. Well (rooster puts her foot down) that ends today. Or, err, when my large box of yarn arrives…

I promise to confess to each purchase when it arrives, with full photo-documentation and my intentions for each skein.

Happy Wednesday!

garlic (and the weather allows me to debut a scarf)

Posted on October 24, 2007 by barefootrooster

I have a work share at my local farm. Last year at this time, I was rising before dawn once a week to schlep up to the fields in my work clothes to do things like weed winter lettuces, lay down and pick up drip irrigation tape, and plant garlic, all as the sun slowly rose above the mountains. Life was good. My work schedule makes a morning farm work share practically impossible this year, so I have the next best thing: a warehouse share. I spend a few hours each week restocking vegetables, sweeping up onion peels, making silly faces at the children who accompany their moms to veggie pick up — and, oh yes, volunteering to adopt veggies that don’t quite make the cut. Yesterday, I walked away with handfuls of loose cloves of elephant garlic.

Last night, I headed to a friend’s house for dinner, and brought a handful to share. We had a delicious Caesar salad — Papa Rooster’s own garlic-heavy recipe, actually, modified to include some scrumptious breaded calamari on top. Apologies — I ate it so quickly that it was gone by the time I remembered my camera.

In honor of the cold weather, please allow Boh to model a ribbed scarf I completed in April. I wore it yesterday, and it was ever so toasty. Details: Brown Sheep Top of the Lamb (2 skeins, I think). It wraps around my neck multiple times, which I absolutely love.

socktoberfest

Posted on October 22, 2007 by barefootrooster

I think I’m cheating a bit, because I started this sock in July, but I am still working on it. (By working, I mean that I am carrying it around in my bag this week.) It IS October, and it IS a sock-in-progress. The yarn is Fleece Artist in the Tiger colorway, and I do like it a whole lot. The stripes are very pretty, and I am excited to wear these someday. Emphasis on someday.

This is my second pair of socks. My first pair turned out pretty well, though I definitely had some laddering on the sole, and a few gaping stitches where I picked up at the heel. I tend to drop stitches when I work on these before my coffee has kicked in, or when I am trying to watch TV. Another thought: though I have never been into the hands free cell phone thingamajig, I see the value of being able to knit and talk on the phone at the same time…

brrrr! (also, I admit my fear of finishing.)

Posted on October 22, 2007 by barefootrooster

Good morning! It dropped into the thirties here last night, which means that I can finally wear all of the knitted things I have been working on out of the house. (You know, and people will think my layers are normal. I have been wearing some items already, even though it hasn’t really been cold enough.)

I’m beginning to get slightly nervous — I don’t want my blogging about knitting to get in the way of actually knitting! Soon I will run out of WIPs to share, which will give me no excuse but to work on these things I keep telling you about. First, another Fetching. These are going to be a gift, and I am remembering how fast and fun this pattern is! Take a look:

Disaster has struck — Boh just grabbed the Baby Bib O’Love (finished, sans button) and managed to gnaw through a single stitch. I managed to find the ends and attach them together with a not so pretty knot (spitting and joining doesn’t work for cotton, right?) and I think I can hide it by attaching an additional decorative button or something right there. I’ll keep you posted on that. Speaking on finishing, I made the Heartbreakingly Cute Baby Kimono from Mason-Dixon Knitting a few months ago, but I haven’t been able to work up the courage to seam it. I’ve looked at some finishing books and read some tutorials, so I understand the concept, but I’m scared. I know that I need to develop some comfort with finishing so that I can move onto more complex projects. I’m hoping that writing this down will force me to just try it so I can share the outcome with you. Here are a few pictures of the kimono:

I have some navy blue ribbon for the closure. This is a gift for friends who are pregnant — they just found out that it’s a boy! In real life, this is a bit brighter than a traditional sea foam green.

In Ravelry news, less than 300 people ahead of me now — I am excited!

in anticipation…

Posted on October 21, 2007 by barefootrooster

I am number 899 in the Ravelry queue! In anticipation of the access I will have to information on patterns and yarn, I took a little bit of time yesterday to photo-document my growing stash. In the beginning (about 8 months ago) I bought yarn and colors I liked, without really understanding weights and yardage. Translation : I have lots of single skeins for hats, mitts, gloves, etc. I am just now beginning to purchase enough of a single yarn/color to be able to “do something”, even though I may not be sure what that is. Here are a few of my more recent purchases — what do you think they should become?

This is churro wool. I bought this from Earth Arts at a local fiber festival I accidentally discovered while out running errands this spring. These are the natural colors of the sheep, which are the breed traditionally herded by the Navajo. From what I understand, this wool is most often used in rugs and weaving, because it is very strong. It is scratchy, but I love the colors. Perhaps a doormat?

This is Blue Sky Alpacas Suri Merino in Seamist. I have three skeins. This is most certainly for me — so soft! I bought this at Loop during a recent trip to Philadelphia. I’m thinking it should become a scarf or mittens or a neck warmer…something that will let me enjoy how nice this feels against my skin.

I am very excited about this: Elsa Sheep and Wool Cormo wool worsted in a gorgeous heather grey. I have 1000 yards of this, and I am thinking it should become a cozy cardigan with overlapping fronts. Maybe the Pimlico Shawl from Knit2-Together, or a Debbie Bliss pattern with a big ribbed collar?

Happy sunshine! It is clear and cold here today: a perfect fall morning. Boh and I have some frolicking to do, and then I’m off to watch yesterdays’ Rugby World Cup Final and consolation match. Shhh! I don’t know the outcomes yet.

early morning crowing

Posted on October 19, 2007 by barefootrooster

Mornin’ folks. There are multiple roosters crowing outside my window right now. Seriously. The sun is not quite high enough in the sky yet to allow me to take pretty pictures of the Baby Bib O’ Love I started (you know, the kind where the light streams through the window), so bear with me. The bib is done, minus a button. Pictures soon.

In other news, in honor of the Fall Fingerless Mitts KAL, I present to you Dashing, from knitty, intended for my brother, who spends a lot of time both training other people’s dogs and playing with his own adorable pitbull. I made these in Jo Sharp Silk Road DK Tweed (found on sale at my LYS) using size 7 needles.

I worry that they may be a bit tight, as I don’t have a good sense of how big around his forearm is, but they should be okay. Confession: midway through the second mitt, I said to myself, “I remember what I’m supposed to do on this cable row. No need to look at the pattern, Rooster.” A row before bind-off, it became clear that my second mitt did not have offset cables. Instead, they were all in the same column. Rip, rip, rip. These aren’t quite done yet — one more thumb to pick up, but they are a holiday gift, so I have a false sense of being in good shape for gift-giving. This is the first holiday season that I have been a knitter (well, since that unfinished scratchy scarf turned potholder my grandmother helped me on), and I’m not quite sure what folks are expecting. What are you giving as knitted gifts? Are you making ten of something, or choosing individualized patterns for the people in your life?

barefoot rooster

cockadoodle-doo: one rooster's ramblings

Tag Archives: knitting