Changes

April. I've not posted one damn thing since April.

Granted, I was busy with studying for my clinical national board exam (passed), was busy with family, and also work. There's not been a whole lot of fiber action.

I was going to get back to spinning yarn.
Nope.


I was going to knit three pairs of socks for myself.
Nope.


I was going to clear out my projects list.
Ah, kinda.


Then Photobucket decided not to host third party things, blah blah blah, unless one coughed up $400 a year to do so. Not on my budget. So I removed a lot of my widget off the side bar.

I still read many knitting blogs, even if so many of us have fallen off from posting daily. I don't know about for the others, but for me it's due to being busier and social media. FB is a major focus for me. I don't Twitter. I just got on Snapchat which I completely underutilize. And just reactivated Instagram.

I'm not ready to give up my blog.

So I'm going to try to post once a week here with a photo or two until Photobucket spasms again and blackmails me for my yarn photos.

Also, finished several items, but can't say what they are until the recipients open their gifts.

Blatant

I'm useless at fibbing, I'm usually laughing before I can get three words out in a lie, but I managed to pull off a bit of a whopper with a friend. She adores purple. I kind of dislike it intensely. Purple lies in the realm of my distaste for pink. However, she's in a bit of difficult period in her life, so I sucked it up and created this scarf for her. She stays over once in a while for work reasons, so I had to think of how to cover my tracks on this project. I actually managed to fib about it being a "border for a baby blanket" which it totally could be, but it wasn't. She bought the fib.

Section one was done side to side, alternating honeycomb stitch with garter stitch.
Section two was three kinds: garter, honeycomb, and seed stitch.

I cannot tell you how pleased I was knitting on this textured scarf. Even though it's purple.












Details:

Needle
US 8 - 5.0 mm

Yarn
Plymouth Yarn Encore Colorspun Worsted

How much?
1 skein = 200.0 yards (182.9 meters), 100 grams

Purchased at
Jimmy Beans Wool in Reno, Nevada

Season Of The Cowl

I finished the daughter's cowl (pink and cream colors) and then whipped one for me (blue and black).






Needle US 7 - 4.5 mm

Yarn used
187 yards = 1.25 skeins

Yarn
Malabrigo Yarn Silky Merino

How much?
1 skein = 150.0 yards (137.2 meters), 50 grams

Colorway
427 Party Pink

Yarn
Malabrigo Yarn Silky Merino

How much?
0.25 skeins = 37.5 yards (34.3 meters), 12 grams

Colorway
63 Natural










Needle
US 8 - 5.0 mm

Yarn Used
315 yards = 1.5 skeins

Yarn
Malabrigo Yarn Rios

How much?
0.7 skeins = 147.0 yards (134.4 meters), 70 grams

Colorway
195 Black

Yarn
Malabrigo Yarn Rios

How much?
0.8 skeins = 168.0 yards (153.6 meters), 80 grams

Colorway
150 Azul profundo

***

I realized in updating my blog today that due to my work schedule, my health issues, and personal losses in the past two years that my writing has significantly dropped. I miss writing, but I want to do justice to putting down the words. Since I'll be rearranging my schedule to fit in work, stupid exercise for said health issues, hanging out with the SnB once again, fun reading, knitting while watching documentaries (damn you, YouTube BBC playlists!), and I'm going to be studying to take my independent license exam this fall, maybe I'll do Sunday updates.

We'll see how it goes, yes?

Adoration Of The Hat

I love this hat pattern more than any other I have knit in the past 12 years. And you know that I've knit quite a few by now.

I knit it first in red and black for myself. I showed it to a friend who was smitten with it and I offered to knit one for him in his favorite colors, blue and black.

I love it just as much as in red and black.










* * *
Down and dirty details

Needles
US 6 - 4.0 mm


Yarn for cabled brim
Malabrigo Yarn Rios

How much?
0.5 skeins = 105.0 yards (96.0 meters), 50 grams

Colorway
Azul Profundo

Purchased at
Jimmy Beans Wool in Reno, Nevada


Yarn for crown
Malabrigo Yarn Rios

How much?
0.25 skeins = 52.5 yards (48.0 meters), 25 grams

Colorway
Black

Purchased at
Jimmy Beans Wool in Reno, Nevada

Smoke Around The Throat

It started out a bit fiddly and on size 5 16" circs. There was no way that cowl was going to fit around a regular adult noggin and not end up choking the life out of the person receiving it. So, I upped the circs to 24" and was much happier with it.

I am just delighted with the Vikkel braids ("horizontal knitting" or Estonian braid knitting) on it. And the lace panel wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be; I could easily read the yarn to see where I messed up on it and it was quick to show you when you messed up a row.

I didn't like the gathers on the one edge, so I finished with the the stockinette and Vikkel braid combination.








Overall, I'm quite pleased with the project. And the yarn is so deliciously soft. I'm pretty sure my "adopted" daughter will enjoy it.

* * *
Down and dirty details

Needles
US 5 - 3.75 mm

Yarn
The Fibre Co. Road to China Light

How much?
2 skeins = 318.0 yards (290.8 meters), 100 grams

Colorway
Hematite

Purchased at
Yarn Junction Co in West Des Moines, Iowa

The Plague's Younger Sibling Visits

The usual January Ick arrived on schedule. Luckily, it was only a booger-making cold virus going around at work. Definitely not the seriously awful plague from the last two years that have hit me hard. Still, the honking and hacking wasn't pleasant along with a fever at the beginning. The last few days have been lost in fever dreams and bizarre four-hour nap dreams. On my waking moments, I made it to the couch to stare at the television (difficulty focusing on reading) and do some knitting.

This was a fairly quick and very hard to fuck up pattern for hand warmers. (Basically you knit a rectangle to fit the length of your hand as you choose, fold it in half, stitch up to where you want your thumb to be placed, then stitch up the edge.) And in neon pink.

I joked with my friend who received them that she may have this unexpressed fear of being lost in snowbank at night. This yarn practically glowed in the dark it is *that* neon. And I certainly didn't need my Ott light to knit when working on them.

Crocheted the top and bottom edges. Whip stitch to sew them up as the mattress stitch is too thick for fingerless mitts.

I've messed about with editing controls to try to reduce the amount of saturation, but no luck. Shield your eyes as needed. My friend, however, *loved* the color.





Down and dirty details:

Needles
US 8 - 5.0 mm

Yarn
Plymouth Yarn Encore Worsted Solids & Heathers

How much?
0.5 skeins = 100.0 yards (91.4 meters), 50 grams

Colorway
478 Neon Pink
* * *

Next up are the thrummed mittens that are so damned delightful and charming to me. It's the puffs of roving and the wee hearts the pattern makes. I'm linking the pattern here (you need to be a member of Ravelry, it's free, to view it) so you can access the Yarn Harlot's pattern and my additional four billion photos of them.

These are going to one of my favorite people when I see her this weekend for breakfast (now that the plague's younger sibling has moved on). Although with this insanely warm winter (we had a short spell of negative temps in December), I'm not sure she'll be able to use them this season. Then again, it is only January and we've the entire bleak month of February to get through yet.






The blue of the yarn is most certainly not neon in its hue, that's the Ott light making it glow. It's a more deep blue, I refer to it as Tardis blue.








Down and dirty details:

Needles
US 7 - 4.5 mm

Yarn
Cascade Yarns 220 Superwash®

How much?
1 skein = 220.0 yards (201.2 meters), 100 grams

Colorway
813 Blue Velvet

* * *

I'm now working on completing another cowl for one of my adopted daughters. The Grey Smoke Cowl (link on the side bar to my Ravelry page). It's lusciously soft and if I liked grey, the delightful Kerri would be in danger of never receiving it.




After the cowl, I've two hats and a wrap that I'm looking forward to knitting. No new stitches like the brioche to learn, but I do have another color that I'm not fond of knitting with on one of the projects. Lavender. However, it's a gift for a friend. And if I can make it past the neon pink, the lavender shouldn't be too tedious.

Winter Things

After that brief severe cold snap in December, it's been a relatively mild first few days of January around here. However, it's still getting down into the teens during the night, and the winds are pretty wicked for making temps of 40's feel like 12 degrees, too.

I knit up a pink and white cowl for a friend. One thing I learned, I can barely get a handle on the fiddly nature of the brioche stitch, there is no fucking way I'm going to be manipulating that brioche stitch in 800 variations for a pattern. Not right now at least. So I improvised my way through this cowl.

I wanted to try Fair Isle and found that knitting it in the round, alternating the colors every other row, I really enjoyed. And that it's perfect for Malabrigo Silky Merino which becomes even more soft and with more drape to it after it's had a wash. The floats behind the knit stitches help the material to retain it's shape. I'm quite chuffed to report that the cowl fit my friend and she liked it!










* * *
Finished circumference: 25"

Needles
US 6 - 4.0 mm circs

Yarn
Malabrigo Yarn Silky Merino

Colorway
63 Natural

How much?
0.5 skeins = 75.0 yards (68.6 meters), 25 grams

Colorway
427 Party Pink

How much?
0.75 skeins = 112.5 yards (102.9 meters), 37 grams


Meanwhile, I've a sweater repair that is slow going due to how intricate the knit is, and how tender the yarn has become over the years.

And I'm working on the cuff of thrummed mitten #2, due to another friend by January 22nd!




Because we've still the rest of January and all of February to get through. And winter can be an ass.

Getting Back To The Spin

Handling all the beautiful roving, I pulled out the Spindolyn and started practicing my spinning once again. So far, not too bad. Another couple of hours (like 20-40 hrs) and I should be back where I was once before.

Hello 2017, Try Not To Be A Jerk Like 2016

So far, it's starting out okay with one finished object for me!

My ears are always cold during winter around here. I loath earmuffs as they never stay into place, and I lose earcuffs. So I modified a head warmer/cowl pattern and created a doubled up layer around my ears of delicious fiber thrum goodness.















* * *
US 7 - 4.5 mm

Yarn
Malabrigo Yarn Rios

How much?
0.65 skeins = 136.5 yards (124.8 meters), 65 grams

Colorway
150 Azul profundo

So Little Time, So Few Projects

Not an impressive list at all for 2016.

Sums up the year pretty well, I think.

Kitchen dishcloths and towel - January 26
Alec's blanket - July 7
Starry Night scarf - September 9
Orion scarf - September 12
Jade Fall scarf - October 22
Basketweave Scarf - November 12
DK cowl - December 17