Embossed Leaves
IK Winter 2005
nbat
Magknits
Argosy
Magknits
Cables and Rib
DB Wish U Were Here
Trellis
Hilltop scarf
Sockapalooza4
Diagonal Rib
Razor Shell Scarf
Hilltop scarf
Multicolor Odessa
Magknits
Berry hat
Mix of patterns
Skinny Scarf
Knitty Gritty
Uterus!
Knitty
baby pants
Alison's pattern
I can block a knife attack, I can block a kick coming my way, but I've yet to block a sweater.
I finally broke down and bought this...
Sure I could have made my own. In fact I've seen lots of people do this and they've come out really well! I really thought about doing it...but Joann's was having a 40% off sale, what else can I say?
Due to technical difficulties, I haven't been able to post until now. Darn the DHCP!! But, at least it made me feel a little less guilty for going to SIFF instead of working on knitting projects. (I've only seen 8 movies so far in 5 days, doesn't seem like very many really. I only have 9 more to go so far unless something else jumps out at me. There are no movies today though, and hence the time to post again!)
On Saturday, I met Zina, the thumb purler (sounds like a knitting warrior's name somehow, doesn't it?) at So Much Yarn to peruse the shelves and talk knitting. She's a real sweetheart and I feel lucky to have had the chance to get to know her better. We had some tasty treats at Macrina and after the coffee dude *finally* got our coffees done, we were on our way to lots of fun chatting and the like. We were very good and didn't buy one unnecessary ball o' yarn! Imagine that...me, leaving a yarn store, empty handed! It's a first I tell ya!
So we finally ended up at Starbundt since we had to move our cars and Macrina isn't exactly friendly for sitting and hanging out. We plopped down at a table where pictures were taken! And now I know how to do the thumb purl, albeit clumsily with uneven tension and I did show her how to do the 2-handed, 2-color knitting!
She is lightening quick with this technique...I feel like I was just born and trying to walk for the first time. But, now I know how to do it, and you do too!
I had my continental knitting class tonight. Traffic was amazingly bad this afternoon to get there too. Was it really because everyone was looking at the cop car on the opposite side of the road on 520 who had pulled over someone? annoying! Just keep driving people...watch the road...not the sides of the road on the opposite shoulder!
I digress...so the class, that's right...it was at Acorn Street and I finally made it across the bridge.
Once we started, go figure, I could purl way easier than knit. What is that??! I still, however cannot seem to hold everything so close to the point end. What exactly is happening there? How are people doing this without having the stitches so incredibly tight that it's not impossible to slide the rest of the stitches easily up? We worked on knitting every row and then we worked on knitting a row, purling the next, and I finally got the hang of it...sort of...I still don't have the tension right.
At least my stitches were even I guess, even if they were tighter than I normally knit.
Then, we broke out into 2 handed, 2 color knitting!! Now that was fun and weirder yet, I was able to knit just fine if I had my regular hand moving alternately. What's THAT about??!!
I was amazed actually how easy it was to knit with 2 colors and both hands...I didn't want to stop! I can see though, why when you do knit it, you go up a needle size while knitting it, and then back down to the pattern's regular size when knitting regular, plain stockinette.
I'll be meeting Zina this coming up weekend where she's promised to show me her continental thumb move! She uses her thumb to purl! I did find out that it's apparently a German way of knitting...it's so interesting there are so many styles. I'll try to take pictures, if she lets me. ^_~
I have no knitting pictures for you today, so this will have to suffice...
I finished up the back of my NBaT with the Japanese short rows, and cast on and got a good 1/4 of the front done last night...I'll post pics soon.
Something I've been thinking and wondering about...
For the 2 socks on the 1 circular...I used a tail from each end of the skein after it was wound into a neat little yarn cake. (mmmm cake) What I'm wondering is...does that matter? I know that yarn has a "direction" of nap. Go ahead. Feel it. Run your fingers one way and then the other. It will be rougher in one direction. Does this matter? Will it affect my socks? Is the difference negligible? Anyone?
Look who's knitting socks on a circular needle...check me out!
Sunday was my first Magic Loop class at So Much Yarn. Isn't it great when you go to a class and just a couple of key things really make it all worthwhile? Besides the fact that I learned to do a cross-over join (I usually cast on an extra stitch and move the last cast on stitch to the RH needle and then take the stitch with the working yarn and do a psso then tighten type of thing.) I learned to be able to knit w/o the annoying ladders on circs.
I never had a problem with ladders when using dpns, but I wanted to learn this other method because hey, knowledge is power. I had fiddled with this way of knitting socks, but didn't really know how tight to pull the yarn when ready to knit the 'front' stitches. If I didn't pull it tight enough, a ladder appeared! Wha..? If I pulled it too tight, the stitches at the end (and beginning) of the row were too tight and small. And, I noticed a peak was starting to form (yodelayheehoo). But how are you to gauge how tightly to pull when the needle is thicker than the cord that the back stitches are resting on? It's so simple. Just hold the 2 needles together. Pinch 'em.
Put the needle into the first stitch and knit as usual...there's no need to pull excessively tight or anything!
Now wasn't that easy?? Just keep the 2 needles pinched together while knitting until the 3rd or 4th stitch and then you can separate them.
One more thing...in the next picture you'll see one right thing and one wrong thing. See if you can determine which is which.
Did you get it? The right thing is that you always want to have the working yarn up and over the back needle before you pull the back needle forward and around to work the front stitches. Amazingly, this will help you to keep the yarn untangled (if you're knitting more than one sock at a time) and it will be in the correct position when you start to knit the front! The wrong thing is putting your finger between the two needles. This is what works against you and actually 'makes' ladders! Keep that finger outta there! That's not a pocket!
Oh, and no, the class didn't teach how to cast on for knitting two socks on one circular or knitting both socks at once. But, being the over-achiever that I sometimes am, I wanted to see if I could do it, and more importantly wanted to make sure that both socks were done about the same time even though this thick-gauged yarn is knitting up quite quickly. We're supposed to report back to class having the heel flap knitted so there's no question about getting that done!
I went to my Magic Loop class (more about this tomorrow!) at So Much Yarn today and it was fun to be in the yarn store before it was opened to the general public. It was so quiet and the yarn was so neatly stacked. I was able to take a few pictures before class started. Take a look...
Isn't this yarn store fun to look at? Wanna see more? Take a look here. Or here! And these don't even encompass the entire store!
Oh yes, and they're having a sale from now until the end of May on select yarns. Check out their website (link above) and it will take you to their homepage with a dropdown of yarns on sale.
p.s. I saw one of Shug-D's friends at the Acorn Street sale...and well, I only know her as her nickname of Mamma. Um, so when I saw her looking at yarn, I said..."...mamma??..." hahahaha now I know her name is Amy! It did my heart good to see her looking for yarn!
I don't know what it is, the shape? the size? the taste? Not sure, but gummy bears are just so tasty...and useful!!
Okay okay, so I kid! I don't really use the Haribo gold-bears on my knitting needle tips, but I did find these that you can use!
I'm off to devour my newly found gummies, that and start on the coconut cupcakes for SAFF.
So lots of fun things have arrived...a digital camera woohoo!! The only bummer part was that I thought that I could use the memory card from my old, sad camera. It turned out it needed a different type of memory...it needs SD instead of CF! Ah well, circuitcity had a huge sale and I got a 1GB SD card for $59.99. Killer price!
It couldn't have been better timing b/c when I looked outside after dinner, I saw this...
And if you thought the rainbow was pretty, I thought this wasn't half bad either!
From my new favorite online store: The Knitting Zone! I had really wanted to try Lorna's Laces in Shepherd Sport, but wasn't able to find it locally any place! (Oh, BTW, Acorn Street does carry it in worsted weight besides the regular tiny gauged yarn if you're looking for that. I had NO idea until I tripped over a basket of it on the floor. Yes, I'm so dainty. NOT.) I had heard the Knitting Zone was having a sale, so I stopped by to see what they had...and lo and behold...there was the Shepherd Sport I'd been wanting to try! I swear, I ordered it on Friday and um, I got it on Monday!! How can that be?! Does Mary have special yarn elves that speed yarn lots out across the states to us knitaholics??
What else...Ohhhh...Last Saturday a friend and I hit the LYS's. We stopped by a yarn store downtown that had to be one of the prettiest I've seen called So Much Yarn. I'm so happy I finally got to go! Of all days to not have a camera...but I'm going back this next weekend (ha!) for a magic loop class so I will take pictures of the interior. It has to be one of the more visually stimulating stores I've seen in a long while. You'll see what I mean soon.
For Weasley news, Tina emailed me to let me know she's completed the back and is working on the front! I can't wait to see the finished product. I'm still so thrilled that she was able to find the pattern at my LYS!! (and yes, they still have FOUR left) ^_~
I won't lie. I really would like one of these...
Not because I want to "tell" people that I've been knitting forever (b/c I only started seriously knitting last year). Not b/c it's the latest craze (b/c I refuse to pay $51 for one). No, it's just b/c I really like pink.
