FO: Milo Socks

Technical details
Ravelry project page
Pattern: Milo Socks, from Sock Innovation, by Cookie A.
Yarn: Yarn d'Amour Rhea, in the colourway Silverado, dyed specifically for me! Yarn is Cotton & Tencel, sheepless sock yarn.
Needles: 2.75 mm
Notes: I love cables. I love love love cables.
Socks went really fast, and I didn't have too much trouble memorising the cable pattern. Will knit again once these ones wear off (I haven't worn them yet, though).

FO: Tuscany

I began knitting through the internet. A bit after I did, with a couple of FOs under my wing, I decided to invest more into it, and bought a book, No Sheep for You (rav). No Sheep seemed like a great choice, because I can't wear animal hair either. It has proven an invaluable resource over the years, and has helped me find suitable yarn substitutions.

Ever since I got it, I have wanted to make Tuscany. However, it is very difficult to find DK silk, and more so if you are attached to both your kidneys, as I am! Having discovered the wonderful yarns of Colourmart, I could finally do it!



Technical details
Ravelry project page
Pattern: Tuscany, by Amy Singer
Yarn: ColourMart Silk 20/60NM DK Weight, in Mid Brown
Needles: 3.75 mm
Notes: I am unbelievably glad I took the shawl out of my bag the day my lunch box, full of Thai curry, spilled inside it. I could have cried.


I found the pattern really easy to memorise. While I still carried the chart with me, I barely needed it, and had no problem knitting in the bus.
The shawl used about 1 1/4 cones (exact yardage still TBD, but about 1 1/4 to 1 1/3 cones), so I still have plenty of delicious silk to make something else. This makes me happy.

FO: Diamond socks

The second pair of socks of the year is finished!
(The first pair was another pair of boyfriend socks, which I planned to tell you all about, but didn't. It's easier to take pictures of my own feet than coordinate to take pictures of somebody else's. Maybe one day. If you are good. And send me cookies)

Diamond socks Technical details
Ravelry project page
Pattern: Wanida Socks, from Cookie A's Sock innovation
Yarn: 2 balls of Crystal Palace Panda Cotton in the Lacquer Red colourway (discontinued)
Needles: 2.25mm for the ribbing and 2.5mm for the sock, both bamboo dpns
Notes: I did 13 rounds for the ribbing. The heel flat was 16 groups of purl-knit repeats. For the foot, I completed the chart twice, and then did until row 6. Because I was so close to close the diamond pattern, I did the centre YOs and double-decrease from row 7 in the 1st row of the toe set-up, which I think really helps closing the pattern.



Fluff: I love my socks!
The pattern caught my eye every since I bought the book. I knew I had to pair it with a solid yarn, and that gave me the best excuse to actually buy some Panda Cotton, after which I had been lusting for a while. I was lucky to find a UK supplier, Cafe Knit. I have a little review of the yarn nearly written up, so I will post that when I have had a change to actually wear it. The socks/yarn feel really warm, so I am hoping it will keep my toes from falling off.



The socks were fun to knit, and very quick. I can't help thinking they look like ballet slippers, with the criss-crossing of the diamonds. The pattern is not terribly difficult, but not too easy either. The general feel for the diamond pattern is not difficult to get hold of, although you still need to keep an eye on the chart regularly, so it's not mindless knitting.
One thing that is not so much an errata as a less straight forward instruction is in the change from the leg to the heel flap: the way the instructions are written, it doesn't make a lot of sense. But if you start the heel flap on Row 2 (purl) of the two row repeat, everything suddenly falls fine into place.


I really enjoyed knitting the socks, and am very pleased with the final product.

Two finished projects with a side of snow

As you probably all know, the UK is under quite a lot of snow at the moment. It hasn't snowed over here since Wednesday, but given that the temperatures have not been above zero for the last week and a half, everything is still as white as it was on Wednesday.

The snow on Wednesday completely halted a lot of the country. Public transport wasn't running (no buses or taxis) and, as I wasn't going to walk to work (although some people did), I had a quiet snow day at home. I spent most of it knitting, and managed to finish not one, but two projects! They are the first projects I finish since October, so I am doubly pleased with them. I have tried not to flaunt my knitting too much: after going off knitting when I was so tired, I have tried to preserve what knitting mojo I have so it doesn't disappear, like preparing a fire.

The first finished project is the already-mentioned Peaks Island Hood. I selected the yarn when Ysolda was visiting Get Knitted, and it was a monogamous project: I didn't knit anything else while working on it (preserving the sparks). I took it with me during the holiday break, and finished it on Boxing day (the knitting part). I finally wove in the ends and blocked it on the Wednesday, to make sure that I had something to protect me from the weather on Thursday! (you may be able to see that I don't have buttons for it yet, but I'm holding it with a shawl pin)


It was a simple knit, but with the right amount of exciting to keep me entertained. I discovered I really like seed stitch! The only problem is in my choice of yarn, at least for now: Blue Sky Alpaca's Organic Cotton. It is absolutely lovely and soft, buy oh my Bob does it shed! My black winter coat as a subtle orange fuzz to it, and the entire house is covered in orange fluff!




The second finished project was cast-on, knit, bound-off, and finished off all on Wednesday! Now I have moustache! I have been wanting to knit Incognito since the latest Knitty came out, and it was the perfect opportunity. I used bits of yarn I had laying around: the blue-grey is my last ball from Wisteria (I have gotten a lot of mileage out of that yarn), the orange is left-over from above, and the black is from a jumper's worth of yarn I bought last year, for which I've not found a proper use for yet (it's Debbie Bliss Stella, suggestions welcomed).


Incognito was a very fun and quick knit, and I am very proud with the way the duplicate stitch came out.


I can wear both things together when it's really cold, and I have been keeping my moustache on at work (I have a cold and it's nice to have a warm throat). Sadly, my co-workers don't find it nearly as funny as I do. I love my 'tache!

Bluerose socks (FO)

Yesterday I went to the local CFS clinic. This was a very scary trip for me; I've been very tired for the last 15 months for no obvious reason, and while I really want to know why, I did not want to have CFS.
Turns out that I don't (I don't fulfil enough of the criteria for it), which simply means we still don't know what is wrong with me, but I needed all my strength, and wore my Bluerose Socks to my appointment.
Let's talk about socks now!

Technical details
Ravelry project page
Pattern: Blackrose socks (Knitty|Ravelry)
Yarn: Organic Cotton Sock yarn, by YarnAddict Anni
Needles: 2.5mm dpns
Notes: Very quick pattern, and very easy repeat. I really enjoyed making these socks. The heel was fun to turn.
The yarn is an absolute dream, unbelievably soft. It does shed, though, and my toes were fuzzy and blue when I finally took the socks off. But it doesn't matter. I want to fill a bathtub with this yarn and bathe in it.

I used a modified version of Under Dutch Skies' Anatomically correct toes, but without actually tracing my feet. I decreased 1 stitch every other row on the pinky side until I had done a quarter of the decreases, and then decreased 1 stitch every other row on the big toe, and 1 stitch every row on the pinky. There were some adjustments on the decreases to make all the decreases fit nicely on the length of the toe, but that was the jest of it.
     


My socks and I are ready to go to work!

Yarn and brains

This past Sunday, as it was the last weekend I was going to be in London for a while (Alex has finished his placement and is now back home!), I headed out to I Knit. Frankly, I was a bit disappointed, mainly because I was expecting a much bigger shop. Most of what they had was animal hair, and then a bit of cotton. I was starting to become disheartened, when I found this.

Habu silk and stainless steel yarn (rav link). I about fell over, and in love. So I now have plenty of stainless steel yarn, and plan to make myself some chainmail.
Ok, perhaps just a shawl.

It has stainless steel! *squee!*







Oh, noes, the flying brains are attacking!

It is a common joke between Alex and I that, if we found each other's brain lying around, please try not to kick it, just pick it up and dust it off a bit. So I made a brain as a silly surprise for when he got back. Does it even look like a brain?
     
The brain is made using hyperbolic knitting, the basis of which is just simply to knit through the front and back of every stitch to make it grow hyperbolically. The spine and bulb are some i-cord with increases (can post exact instructions if there is demand for them). I promise it looks more like a brain when you actually hold it, but I found it very difficult to capture its brain-ness in the pictures!

FO: Alex's (finally) socks

Last Thursday, I finally managed to finish another pair of Socks for Alex, the so-called Finally Socks (I'm sure there was a reason for this name). My plan was to finish them for this week, but the knitting gods conspired for me this one time, and finished them ahead of time. Just barely so: they were drying overnight in the sockblockers, and I had to take them (with full sockblocker assembly) into work so they could finish drying. I got some interesting looks!

The socks are made using the Universal Toe-Up Sock Formula (rav), 2.5 mm needles and Zitron Trekking Pro Natura in grey.
The rib pattern is a k3,p1,k1 tbl, p1, over 72 stitches. I started it around the same time as I was working on Bottom's Up, and was loving the tbls, so I decided to incorporate them in the pattern.

I had to knit the cuff of the first sock twice, because it was way too tight the first time (for the cuff pattern, I just turned the middle k in the k3 into a purl). I fixed the problem by knitting 5 rounds of the rib on 2.5mm (as the rest of the body),5 rounds in 2.75mm needles and using a very stretchy bind off, as learnt from making Ishbel (rav) (p2tog, slip stitch back to left needle). This combination of patterns and needles worked very well, giving Alex no problems getting them over the heel, but still staying up.

The k tbl is almost hidden: if you look at the sock, you can mainly see a k4, p1 pattern, but there is a p1, k1 tbl there, I swear! I like that it kind of gives "hidden" stretch. It forms a much tighter rib when it's relatively unstretched, but there is extra hidden there!

FO: Code Monkey

Code Monkey get up get coffee
Code Monkey go to job

I am a code monkey. My co-workers are code monkeys (though the term became a lot more popular after I joined the company). We love Jonathan Coulton's Code Monkey song.

Crocheted Code Monkey came to work :)


He sit down pretend to work


Code Monkey has GIR background


Code monkey not alone (2!)


Code monkey is an amalgamation of the Monkey and the Corporate Zombie from Creepy Cute Crochet (amazon|ravelry), done with my trusty 3.5mm hook and some peaches and creme.

Code Monkey turns and leaves. Has tail.


Seriously, Code Monkey recommends Code Monkey song. Go watch.

FO: Book cover

Occasionally my books get a bit damaged in my bag, as they have to share space with plenty of things, like knitting, pen knives, the occasional screwdriver set, tape, planner, phone, iPod... you name it, it's there. I am hopping that this will protect them a little bit, because I'm not about to start reading not carry enough stuff for an expedition to the Himalayas.

Technical details
Ravelry project page
Pattern: Improvised, based on the stitch Aran Rib 2 from The Knitter's Bible (amazon|ravelry)
Yarn: Rowan All Seasons Cotton, in Tornado (leftover from Wisteria)
Needles: 4.5mm, dpns



Notes: It felt quite good to improvise a pattern based on a stitch. I mean, it's not very complicated, but I had attempted about a year ago to do something similar and I just couldn't get it to work. A bit of thinking and measuring books got me the right size, and then I alternated the cables with a bit of a rib, so that it could tailor all sorts of paperback sizes (there seem to be about 3 common front dimensions, but obviously an enormous array of widths).



I have just finished Tau Zero, by Poul Anderson. If you like hard science fiction, I strongly recommend this book. Not only is very well written, but how many books you find with suddenly a couple of pages on general and special relativity, and what happens as you get faster and faster?


Now I'm reading Valis. It is quite an "old" copy, from the first paperback edition in the UK. I really like K Dick, his books always make me think, and that is never a bad thing. Plus, I get to play the "guess how many drugs he was on when he wrote this chapter" game. Seriously :)

FO: Sizzle

Project: Sizzle (related blog posts)
Pattern: Sizzle, by Wendy Bernard
Yarn: Rowan Luxury Cotton, in Brick Red
Needles: 3.75mm

Woohoo! I finished Sizzle!

This has been a very long process, as Ravelry tells me I started it on the 29th July 2008. It hasn't quite taken me a whole year, but close.

I knitted the back first. Half-way through the front, I realised I had messed up the shaping, and had to rip half of what I had knitted. Sizzle was then put in the I'm -annoyed-at-you corner, and left to sleep for a couple of months.
Then I picked it up again and finished knitting it. But it was winter and cold, so it was put in the weather-isn't-nice-for-this corner (which is located in the same place as the annoyed corner).
I took out of hibernation once more in March/April, and I managed to block it and started seaming it. Then I discovered my mistake: the front and back were different lengths! (more on this later).
So I unseamed one of the sides, and left it in the if-you-are-around-I-might-work-on-you corner, which is located on the living room table, as opposed to a drawer.
Some time later I tugged and pulled at the sides and weaved in the top half of the shell (from the start of the bust increases up), and the shoulders. Which I then unpicked to add some rows at the shoulders and make the top slightly longer. I then tried to do a 3 needle bind of at the top instead of the grafting, which prompted another unpicking and adding extra rows, as a 3 needle BO does eat some of the rows.
At this stage, I finally liked how it looked when I tried it on.


Seaming the rest of the sides proved interesting, although thankfully there was no more ripping to be done. When I put the front and back together, the front was longer (hence the pulling etc). So I seamed to try to incorporate that into the seam. The first seam ended up having the front a couple of rows longer than the back, but because the end is open, it looked fine. However, along the second seam the back was longer than the front. Thankfully, trying it on showed that the fit was still fine, so there was no need to rip again.

Adding the neck and sleeve borders was trivial, and was done this weekend, finishing it off at S'n'B. A quick go with the iron later, and I finally have my ordeal-filled Sizzle. I must confess, that at several points during the trying-to-make-it-work-seam process, I was very tempted to just rip it all off, and start again from scratch, this time knitting it in the round. I guess I'm lucky I didn't have a very down day, although ripping it would have been quite cathartic.


 

Were I to do this again (which I could, it's a nice project), I would certainly do it in the round, and if you are thinking on trying it, I would recommend it!

I might go to a party next Friday, and that might be a good time to wear it.

Of computer bits and shawls

Several things have conspired against me in this past week. For starters, my computer decided to start making funny noises. It sounded like something was stuck on one of the fans, but when I peaked at it, I couldn't see anything, so I decided to leave any investigation for the weekend, when I wasn't tired and there was plenty of daylight.
Then I got a bad tooth. One of my wisdom teeth has decided to start hurting (and I mean really hurting, triggering migraines and all that jazz), so until I got my diet of painkillers sorted, nothing besides curling up in a dark room with a hot-water bottle on my cheek was appealing.

The good news are that I have a dentist appointment for tomorrow, and I have fixed my computer. Alex and I spent a while playing with it, unplugging different fans until we established that the problem was on the graphics fan. Conveniently, we had a spare graphics card lying around (as one does), and now my computer is quiet again, so I can be here more than the bare minimum.

Alex also decided to get the cleaning on, so we've spent part of the day taking the sink appart and resealing. Yep, it's as exciting as it sounds, and even worse. Thankfully we are done now (it's not actually that long a job), and I got some pictures taken of Ishbel. I wore it to work on Friday a loved it! It's an amazing shawl. I'm planning to make a bigger one, because it's just beautiful.
   

Also, I can use it for my next career as a highway robber!



My shawl was made using the Ishbel pattern, with 3 balls of Rowan Cotton Glace and 4.5 needles. It's a wonderful and very easy shawl, and I will recommended to everybody

A quarter of a century old!

As a present to myself, I have a day off and a finished Wisteria. I'm off to town now!

Non-stretch fetings (FO)

Hurrah, I finally managed to get around taking pictures of my new pair of fetching! This should also come with a brief apology for the lack of content, but you have no idea (actually, you might) how tiring several hours of heavy weight-lifting (at least 65 kg) are.

Technical details
Ravelry project page
Pattern: Fetching, by Cheryl Niamath
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Pure Cotton in red
Needles: 3.75mm dpns, plus a cable needle
Notes: This fetchings are, so far, resisting much better the stretching (which was the hope) and the crutches. I also like how they match my nail polish. I very rarely wear it, but I was house-bound yesterday, and wanted something to do. It was either bright red or pale, so I went for striking. And then I paired it with my fetchings, and was happy.
Incidentally, I love the first shot. The colour is more true in the second one, but I love the crispiness of the first one.


Look, an action shot!

PSA: Winter Knitty is up! At time of posting, the site is slow and ocasionally down due to the entire knitting world trying to access it, but hopefully the craze will subdue in a couple of hours.