Fiberphile

Sockapaltwoza Surprise

Yesterday I came home to find a little brown box waiting at my door and I knew it could only be one thing... my socks had come, and all the way from Idaho. They're from Nicole, a self-proclaimed yarn hog who's been blogging since December 2004. Here's what was in the box:

The socks are knit in Lorna's Laces Wisteria colorway. I just love the colors there... all the blues and purples are so pretty together, and are right up my alley. This is my first pair of LL socks (although there are two pairs worth of skeins hiding in my closet), and they are just as soft as everone has said. Nicole also included some lotus green tea that I'm looking forward to trying, a refrigerator magnet that she made herself that's so cute, and a lavendar sachet that even matches the socks. There was also a lovely note she wrote to me that I want to respond to, but in advance of that, I'll just say thanks so much Nicole! Oh yeah, and the answer to every sock pal's question... do they fit? You betcha! Like they were knit just for me!

What's this?

I'll give you a hint... it's not what I'd like to be talking about today, but apparently when I downloaded my new Rogue photos today I forgot to hit save.

And another hint... it's not a knitted uterus, although that's what I see when I look at it.  No, this is the linen pullover I've started with some Maggi's Linen that I bought over the summer.  To give you perspective on the photo, that's a sleeve that was knit up from the cuff, then stitches were cast on at the shoulder and the body will be knit side-to-side.  I say "will be knit" as if this were most certainly going to happen, but this thing just isn't doing it for me, and more likely is headed for the frog pond.  Maybe I'll try again next spring, but right now the call of wooly fall and winter knits is too strong to ignore.

WIP it!

It was a really nice weekend in Charlotte.  I spent Saturday up at Linville Gorge climbing at Table Rock with friends, and Sunday was a lazy day cleaning up the house and working on some other home projects.  The cleaning really needed to happen because last week I had all the windows in my house replaced (yay! heat efficiency!), and there was still a lot of dust as well as some paint and wood splinters lingering despite my initial attempts to sweep everything up.  Along with the cleaning I did a little reorganizing and tidying up of a few more things that hadn't yet found a permanent home in the new house. 

Knit wise, I've finished all the seaming on the baby sweater I posted about last time and am slowly getting all those ends woven in.  In the meantime I've started two new projects.  Since I started packing for my move I've thought it would be best to just work on one thing at a time, but I've found I really miss the variety of having multiple WIPs.  Now that the boxes are gone I'm letting loose!  I'll start whatever I please!  Woohoo! 

Yup, I couldn't resist Rogue any longer.  I've heard others talk about it being an addictive knit, but I'd have never guessed how hard it truly is to put down!  You know how it goes... "I just want to see how this cable ends up..."  "Let me just finish the pocket..."  "Well of course I have to attach the pocket right now!"  I really had to restrain myself from bringing it along this morning when I left for work.  As you can see, I'm cardiganizing the pattern a la Claudia's directions which are summarized nicely here. 

I've also started a long-sleeve linen pullover.  I haven't decided whether I like it or not yet, and by the time I finish it I may not even be able to wear it anymore.  (Although the temperature today is forecasted to get up to 90', so I don't know if fall will ever really arrive.)  Anyway, because of my ambivalence towards it you get no pictures until it is more than just a partially completed sleeve. 

I got an email from my Sockapal-two-za pal last night saying she'd shipped my socks.  How exciting!  That means I might get some fun mail this week!  And that reminds me that I have yet to send out the socks I knitted.  Bad pal!  The socks have been done for ages, but I've been waiting to finish up one other little surprise I wanted to stick in the box.  Guess I know what will take priority over Rogue today... 

Whew! It's been a long time since I last blogged. It's been partly due to getting into the swing of things again at work, and partly because I just didn't feel right blogging blithely along about my fiber activities when the destruction that Katrina left behind has been on the minds of us all. Let me join others and extend my sympathies to all whose lives have been directly or indirectly affected by that storm.

I have continued to knit, however, and have mostly finished up my Manos Cotton Stria cardigan. Yes, in the photo it is finished, but I tried to get by with just five buttons, and after a couple of wears I think it really needs seven. So I'm going to rip out the buttonhole band and add a couple more holes. Aside from that I'm quite pleased with this simple knit from Knitting Pure & Simple. It's just an easy little top down raglan, but I think it will be a much used part of my wardrobe. I deviated just a little from the pattern directions and made the sleeves a tad longer than called for, and added some waist shaping. The great thing about good basic patterns is that they're so easy to tweak!

Over Labor Day weekend I went down to the beach with my family and at the LYS there I found some bright happy colors of Rowan Handknit Cotton in the sale basket that were just begging to become a baby sweater. I found a pattern there as well, a little fair isle cardigan designed by Norah Gaughan for Reynolds.

I cast on for this one on Monday night and felt like I was really cranking on it. By last night I was starting the finishing, and feeling quite smug about it, I might add! So. Shoulder seaming: check! Pick up stitches for collar and knit: check! Button band: check! Buttonhole band: che.... awwww!

Yup, I dropped a stitch along the edge. All the way back THERE. Last night I threw the pieces on the coffee table and sulked, but by this afternoon it's been all taken apart again, the stitch has been rescued, and I'm feeling good about it all again. Really with those colors I almost can't help but be happy when I'm knitting them!

It's just as well this baby sweater is going to take a bit longer, because I'm not sure yet what I want to knit next. The days are still very warm here in the Queen City, but the mornings give away the fact that the seasons are changing. There's one more linen knit that I'm thinking of doing, but I'm not sure. There would be the Cellini that I bought at ArtFibers, but I seem to have misplaced the pattern that I had designed there. I can't believe I would have done it, but I'm afraid it may have gone into the trash when I threw away the bag. Not a smooth move, Barbara. I'm also feeling drawn back to knitting some cables. There's Eris, Samus, and Kepler, but they all just remind me of how I want to knit Rogue. I have the yarn, I have the pattern, so there's a high likelihood that this will be my next knit when I decide it's time to work with wool again.