Florida -- scarf and color

First, the cascade 220 in the green found a new project. It's a cabled Seaman's scarf from the Knitting Pattern a Day calendar. I was thinking about what to do with it, liked the idea of cables, and actually thought of the Irish Hiking Scarf, but then this Seaman's scarf appeared in my calendar, and I jumped on it. I like it so far. Here is the project so far, sitting on my pool chair in the Florida sun. The coffee stirrer is not for decoration. I forgot my cable needle, and the coffee stirrer was the best that I can do. I still haven't mastered knitting without a cable needle.

The visit to Florida (Orlando) included a trip to Epcot and The Magical Kingdom. It is winter where I live, and I'm just starting to see color. In Disney World, color is everywhere! So here are some pictures of red and pink to finish off the month for Project Spectrum. I'm sure you'll see more color from Disney in the coming months -- yellow, green, and purple for sure.

First up, pink petunias.

Then geraniums:

We had lunch in a Japanese restaurant in Epcot, and the soup was so pretty in its red bowl.

The evening ended with fireworks -- here's some pink ones. (And click here for a red Disney castle).

Cascade and Quest

Two new projects are underway (and these are not being knit from stash yarn -- well, maybe a little, but not really).

First, I purchased a beautiful dark green (color 9447) Cascase 220 to make the Knitting Pure and Simple Turtleneck Shell (having more confidence since the Olympics). I did some swatching, and really didn't like the yarn at the gauge specified in the pattern (actually using one needle size smaller -- US7). It just looked too loose for a shell. So I decided to hold off on that pattern and to go for something else.

I also bought some Cascade in color 9449, which is a very nice dark blue. With it, I bought a ball of Trendsetter Charm in color 617, which the Knitting Garden calls Blueberry Fields. I'm going to use these two yarns to make a felted bag, pattern by Fiber Trends. The pattern is called Fabulous Felt Totes.

I'm going to Florida for the weekend of my birthday, and thought the bag, with large bamboo needles, would be a good airplane project.






In the spirit of Project Spectrum, I also bought some pink Berroco Quest and some beads to make a pink scarf. We'll see how that goes. The Quest seems very slippery.

Firenze scarf

In the spirit of frugality, I've been trying to use some stash yarn in March for some projects. The Jazz scarf was from stash, and so is this one. It was knit using teal softwist from Berroco and Plymouth Firenze in color 438 (details and links in this and this post). I held the two yarns together -- six stitches -- garter stitch using size 17 (US) needles. I still need to wind in the ends, and I'm thinking I'll add softwist fringe with some beads I have that match the yarn color.

I really like the color of this one, especially in person. It looks a little washed out in the picture.

Bitteroot Socks

How about some finished socks? I first mentioned there in this post. They are knitted with Mountain Colors Bearfoot sock yarn in colorway Bitteroot Rainbow. I thought that was a nice way to begin project spectrum. I really love the yarn. Very soft. These are knit using a Double Eyelet pattern from Mountain Colors and size US 2 double pointed needles.

The only changes I made in the pattern was to knit the cuff a little shorter (by about an inch).

Thoughts? I'm not sure that I like lacy socks. These aren't terribly lacy, but they do have holes made by the eyelet, and I think I would rather not have those. I love the yarn, but wonder how it will wear. All in all, I think I like these socks better, even though the yarn is scratchier.

Sock pair #1 for the 200socks KAL.

Project Spectrum -- Saturday Jazz

We went to my son's Jazz Festival this Saturday. To have something to do during all of the waiting time, I took a skein of Crystal Palace Squiggle yarn in red, a ball of Berroco Softwist in red and a pair of US size 15 needles. With these, I made the this scarf, which I'm calling Saturday Jazz. One scarf in one day. The "pattern," which isn't really a pattern, was a six stitch garter scarf.

The music was great, and the scarf is "jazzy."

Now let me ask you this -- what kind of knitter finished the second sock of a pair up to mattress stitching the toe closed and then stops? Me. I have the second sock of a pair finished up to the mattress stitch, and I can't seem to find the time to complete it. Argh.