Leaping for Joy

Okay, maybe that's overstating it but I couldn't resist the play on words. After all the opportunity only comes around once every four years.

I do have a lot to be happy about, though. For instance, I have found an attractive and practical way to organize some of my stash. Before my daughter, Jessica, moved back home last month I was using the dresser in her old room to store the part of my stash that wouldn't fit into the old hope chest in the living room. (Yes, a hope chest and a dresser full of yarn--do you understand now why I am on a yarn diet?) When I cleared out the dresser for her use I had nowhere to put my yarn and just piled the bags in a corner of the living room--not exactly attractive or practical. Last week, however, I purchased five cloth-lined wicker baskets to sit under the tables in the living room, one for sock yarn, one for shawl yarn, and one for sweater yarn.

Another, which sits close to my knitting corner, holds my current projects, while still another contains needles, hooks, manuals, and other knitting tools.

I tend to let my knitting projects take over the living room so it feels great to finally have a place for everything and everything in its place.

Another reason I am feeling happy is that at last I have some finished objects to show off!

First up is a pair of socks for my mother:

I'd started knitting them for myself but I didn't like the way the pattern was turning out. She said she'd gladly take them off my hands...er, feet. The yarn is DGB "Confetti".

Next, the completed pair of Barcelona Socks:

I absolutely loved knitting these socks and plan to make them again someday in a plainer yarn so that the pattern really shows off. Considering how seldom I make anything twice, that's really saying something.

And, finally, I present Rusted Root:

This sweater knit up pretty quickly--that is, when I actually worked on it! I definitely like the finished result, even though I had a couple of issues with the pattern. First, if you are expected to do K2, P1 rib, the number of stitches you are knitting should be divisible by 3. If it's not, there should be instructions to increase or decrease the stitches accordingly (fortunately, I did the math before I started ribbing). Second, I wrestled with the instructions for working the waist shaping. It wasn't that I didn't understand them, I just wasn't sure I agreed with the technique, which was to decrease one stitch on each side of the bodice every three rows, five times. I am used to seeing waist increases and decreases worked in pairs on either side of the bodice over a greater number of rows, rather than just on the back portion in such a concentrated area. In the end I gave in and did as the pattern instructed (except I added two more decreases) but if I was to make this sweater again (which is unlikely--see above) I would probably work the decreases more traditionally.

Yesterday I really pushed to get Rusted Root finished because tomorrow I am casting on for not one, but two knitalongs (am I crazy or what?). The first is a pair of socks for the March Sockdown project for the Sock Knitters Anonymous group on Ravelry. The second is The Sweet Sheep's March Sweater Madness. All I know right now is that the project uses worsted weight yarn and is knit from the top down. We get to choose from three patterns, to be revealed tomorrow. Stay tuned for details--it promises to be an interesting month!

Sounds Logical

I'm a logical knitter. No surprise there. What kind of knitter are you? Take the test and find out!

Can it really be almost two weeks since I've blogged? You'd think I'd have a FO or two to show for my time but the truth is that I have been rather unfocused lately, resulting in a number of half-finished projects. Case in point, one half of a pair of Barcelona Socks:

For obvious reasons, I've nicknamed this sock Gaudy Gaudi but even though it's pretty lively I like how it turned out. Once I got the gist of the leg chart, I found this sock a joy to knit. The colourful yarn helped to brighten up some grey, gloomy days, while the everchanging stitch patterns (one each for the cuff, leg, heel, and foot) held my interest and prevented me from getting bored.

As is my habit, in an attempt to ward off the dreaded SSS, I immediately cast on the second sock but, alas, I stumbled upon Rusted Root and fell hard...

I am knitting this sweater out of Cascade "Sierra", colour 42, (from my stash, no less). It is knit in the round from the top down and, as you can see, I have made good progress since beginning it about a week ago.

In addition to these projects, I have also been working on the Graphic Hoodie, the M-I-L socks, and a pair of plain socks. In short, my knitting is not suffering from a lack of time, just a lack of fidelity. Note: I am a logical knitter. Nobody said anything about being loyal.

Barcelona Revisited

While browsing Ravelry yesterday afternoon I followed a link to Mona Schmidt's blog and found a reference to Barcelona Socks, aka November Mystery Socks. Mona designed this pattern for the Sock Knitters Anonymous group on Ravelry but also posted each of the four clues on her blog throughout last November. The socks, she explained, were inspired by the architecture of Antoni Gaudi, and the accompanying photographs instantly brought back memories of my September trip to Barcelona. I decided on the spot to knit the socks, sight unseen.

Upon further investigation I learned that Mona recommended using a solid or semi-solid yarn. I was disappointed because I didn't have any solid yarn on hand that I thought would reflect the bright colours often found in Gaudi's work. However, when I checked out the Barcelona Sock gallery on Ravelry I discovered that Mona had ignored her own advice and had knit her pair with a bright, multicoloured yarn! Well, I thought, if the designer, herself, can do it, why can't I? My skein of Sunshine Yarn's "Field of Flowers" immediately came to mind.

A look through my Barcelona souvenir book confirmed that the yarn colours would not only echo some of those used in Gaudi's works, they would also reflect the many, varied shades of tropical birds and flowers found in the stalls along Las Ramblas, a popular tourist attraction in Barcleona's Old Quarter. The yarn also brought some more personal experiences to mind, like posing with this brightly-coloured "living statue"

and photographing this eye-catching candy display in the marketplace.

My philosophy is usually "less is more" so I may find that between the the crayon colours (they're much brighter in real life) and mulitiple stitch patterns these socks have a bit too much going on.

On the other hand, they will be a wonderful reminder of the three action-packed days we spent in Barcelona, trying to take in all of the sights and sounds of this beautiful city.

Winter Fun

What a great weekend! On Friday night my sister, Anna-Marie, my brother-in-law, Doug, and Cameron and I headed up to Clinton, BC to visit my parents. Since we've had so much snow lately we were keeping an eye on the weather reports and traffic cameras, and in the end decided it was safe to go. Of course, as we all know, weather reports can not be entirely depended on and we discovered this for ourselves when we drove straight into a major snowfall about 55 km into our journey. The dilemna: Do we turn around and go back through the snowstorm or keep on driving, hoping for better weather up ahead?

We decided to keep on driving, which turned out to be a good choice. We soon encountered clear skies and dry roads, which we enjoyed most the rest of the way there. Despite driving through a few more snowshowers, we safely arrived at our destination, welcomed by the smell of fresh cinnamon buns.

Although some light snow fell overnight, the next day was cold but only slightly overcast.

I made sure to get a photo of my Cabled Yoke Pullover

Bundled up in our warmest winter clothing, we drove 17 km to the site of our vacation property. With their blanket of snow, the cabins and grounds and surrounding views look vastly different than they do the rest of the year. It is fun to walk around the yard, noting the tracks of various animals that pass through there in our absence.

Me, Cameron, Anna-Marie, and Doug

My parents, Gene and Zee

As lunchtime was quickly approaching we didn't linger there long. We had big plans--it was off to the lake to build a fire and have a weiner roast! What a hoot to build a fire on the lake and eat hotdogs in sub-zero temperatures. You can't imagine how good they tasted!

The rest of the weekend passed quickly, with more good food, good wine, and good company. The drive home was beautiful but uneventful, as we enjoyed snowy scenes but bare roads the entire way. As I write this a few snowflakes have begun to fall but a warming trend is predicted for the remainder of the week. I'll be sad to see the snow disappear but will have this weekend of winter fun to remember when our typical west coast drizzle returns in full force.

Colour My World

I had a lot of fun yesterday afternoon experimenting with stranded knitting. I sat down with several resource books, including The Art of Fair Isle Knitting and The Best of Interweave Knits, and tried out the various methods of knitting with two strands of yarn. At first they all felt awkward but in the end I decided that I was most comfortable holding one strand in each hand, picking with my left hand and throwing with my right. Once that was established I ripped out my original swatch and knit a new one using this method so I could see if I was getting the proper gauge for the Graphic Hoodie. I think it looks rather nice!


In the end I decided to go with a smaller needle and I eagerly cast on for the real thing. Here's what I've accomplished since last night:


Now that the ribbing and border are complete, I have to work in "lice pattern" (lovely name) to the armholes. I am finding this a very addictive knit and am enjoying the rhythm of switching back and forth between two colours.

The weather continues to inspire me. After experiencing snow showers off and on all day, the forecast is for an additional 15-20 cm (6"-8") of accumulation over the next 24 hours. Yikes! Although it's back to work tomorrow, I look forward to a cozy evening spent knitting and enjoying the winter weather.

Snow Day

It proved to be a very productive weekend. Not only did I thoroughly clean out my bathroom cupboards (a job long overdue), I also finished my Cabled Yoke Pullover. Yay! I am very pleased with how this sweater turned out. As you can see, it blocked beautifully. It should keep me nice and warm this coming weekend.

With the Cabled Yoke Pullover out of the way, I decided it was about time I got around to making 2008 my year of lace, considering that we are already almost all the way through January. I have been anxious to knit Aggie but didn't want to rush into anything. Such an exquisite yarn deserves an equally exquisite pattern and I am delighted to announce that I have found it: Muir, from Knitty, Fall 2007. The laurel leaves look like they are floating on the openwork background and the pattern lends itself well to the beige and green tones of the yarn. I've completed one 32-row pattern repeat and am delighted with the results. Only twelve more to go!

Yet another snowstorm has hit our part of the world. It's hard to know exactly how much has accumulated because the wind has swept it into drifts in some places and left the ground almost bare in others. A big snowfall is still enough of a novelty for us that I actually enjoy shoveling the driveway! With that out of the way, I plan to spend the rest of the day knitting. This afternoon I am going to begin swatching for the Graphic Hoodie.

Since I have done very little colourwork I want to do some practice knitting before I cast on for the real thing. I've always loved the look of Norweigan sweaters and like Veronik Avery's modern take on their traditional design. I think it's the perfect project to work on as I sip hot chocolate and watch the snowflakes swirl outside.

Catching Up

Sometimes real life kicks in and blogging falls by the wayside. This has been one of those weeks. However, despite dealing with a family crisis, I have been able to get a surprising amount of knitting done, and in some cases, undone...

Case in point: the M-I-L socks. I gave the Flow Motion Socks an honest go but they just weren't working. Despite experimenting with various needle sizes and reworking the ankle increases and heel flap several times, I was unable to come up with a way to make the foot narrow enough, without the making the ankle and heel area too tight. In the end I frogged the sock and went looking for a new pattern, this time a top-down.

I finally decided on "Unst" from Knitting on the Road and am working the cuff pattern throughout, in which the "columns" and "arches" are separated by a purl stitch. I figured the ribbing would make for a snugger fit.

(Question to self: Is "snugger" a word?)

I continue to have issues with toe-up socks. I knit Monet as planned, with a plain foot and a short row heel, then began the leg in 1x1 rib.

But even though I am only about 4" away from finishing the first sock, I am going to rip it all back and begin again with a top-down, now that I know I will have enough yarn for at least a 6" leg. I know there are many practical reasons for knitting socks toe-up but I have yet to knit a pair that fits me properly. And I just plain old don't enjoy knitting them, and isn't that the point?

With all the knitting and unknitting going on, I'm happy to report that I did actually complete an entire sock this week, this one for Cameron.

It is a plain top-down sock with a heel flap made from SRK On Your Toes DK Boot Sock Yarn in shade ON240724.

I have also managed to knit a fair bit of my cabled sweater. I finished the cable band without too much difficulty and joined the two ends with a 3-needle bind off (I had begun the band with a provisional cast on). I picked up the stitches along one side and knit the entire top yoke. Finding the turtleneck a bit too high, I ripped back the last cable repeat and have put the live stitches on a strand of waste yarn until the sweater is complete. Then I'll decide if I want to leave the neck as it is or make it even shorter. I then picked up the stitches on the bottom of the cable band (for some reason this process went much more smoothly than for the top) and worked in stocking stitch, dividing for the sleeves and body when instructed. I have just begun the cabling on the bottom of the sweater and once that's finished I will pick up the sleeves and knit them.

I've been a wee bit frustrated with this pattern. I am all about symmetry but apparently Patons is not, so I have had to make adjustments to ensure that the yoke and body cables are distributed as pleasingly as possible. Patons is also apparently not up on their math, since 2" + (5 x 1.5") = 9.5", not 8.5" as they would have you believe. I couldn't figure out why my body measured a good inch longer than it was supposed to after I worked the waist decreases, until I realized that their instructions and schematic were incorrect. But after a bit of frogging and figuring and fiddling I am back on track and hope to have this sweater finished in time for next weekend, when we head to my parents' for a little outdoor winter fun. I thought about including a photo of my progress but right now the sweater doesn't look like much. However, I did transfer the stitches to some spare yarn and try it on and it looks like it will fit perfectly.

Finally, a look at the last of my Christmas purchases.

Kind of ironic that I should choose this clock at the very time I decided to go on a yarn diet but I do agree with the sentiment. After all, it could be interpreted as "Time for more yarn...from your stash". Right?