Goodbye to Yellow and Orange

One last picture to finish off the yellow/orange Project Spectrum month. This is the flower of a Poplar tree. On to Green.

April project -- Stitch Markers

I was really not interested in knitting with yellow or orange yarn, I as I mentioned before, but thought making some stitch markers with these colors sounded interesting. So here is my Yellow/Orange Project Spectrum project. The metal is these markers is gold-tone, except one copper colored bead (still in the yellow / orange theme.

While at the bead store, I also found some really pretty beads in shades of blue, which also became stitch markers. For both of these sets, I used rings that will fit (hopefully) sock needles, a few for regular needles, and one that will go up to a US size 17 -- not sure if I'll ever need that, but there it is.

Scarf progress and new needles

I'm still working on the cabled seaman's scarf from the 2006 Pattern a Day calendar. Pardon the blurriness of the photo, but the flash just didn't highlight the cables, which is the most interesting part of the scarf. I'm enjoying this scarf, and I am learning the "workings" of cables -- which way they twist, etc. Fun!

We're in Lexington, and I bought a pair of Lantern Moon rosewood needles, size US7. These are the smallest rosewood needles I have. I am constantly worried about snapping them in half. Not very relaxing to knit and worry about your needles. Anyway, I switched the scarf from my US7 addis to these rosewoods. In her new book (Knitting Rules!) the Yarn Harlot mentions that she likes to knit with staight needles because it links her to all the knitters who have come before. Using these wood needles and wool yarn, I can see what she means.

Stitch Markers

I've been thinking about Project Spectrum -- yellow and orange. I don't have a knitting project planned with these colors -- just not my favorite (I'm all ready for green, though!). Instead I was planning on stitch markers -- I have a weakness for stitch markers.

So I went digging through my bead stash. No yellow. No orange. Told you they weren't my favorites. I did find some dark blue beads, though, so I went with those. Maybe I'll stop at Dandelion Beads in Lexington this weekend and pick up some appropriately colored beads.

Speaking of stitch markers, I joined the Project Spectrum Sheep club -- a different colored sheep stitch marker each month. For more info, click on the button on my sidebar (That's a picture of the sheep -- aren't they cute?).

Knitting Rules!

I just finished the Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's new book, "Knitting Rules! The Yarn Harlot's Bag of Knitting Tricks."

Again, she does not ever disappoint. Such a great book! I enjoyed every minute of it. I thought about listing some of the great lines from the book, but I don't want to spoil it for you.

It's different from her other books -- this one is not knitting stories, but is instead a book of -- well -- hints. These include a generic sock recipe, a few basic hat patterns, information about supplies and gauge. It make it sound dry, but that's why the Yarn Harlot is selling books, and I am not. Read this one. You'll laugh yourself silly and learn some great hints.

And, look, it's kind of orange, so it came out in the right month. It's the only orange thing I've found so far.

I ordered Mason-Dixon's new book today and pre-ordered Wendy Knit's new book. Waiting for my mail to arrive!

Dandelion

Knitting progress is such that a new picture of the same scarf isn't going to be that entertaining. The cabled seaman scarf is progressing; I'm almost ready for the ribbing.

Spring is just starting to stick out its nose around here. I'm so desperate for color and for spring that I actually took a picture of a dandelion today. Doesn't it just scream YELLOW? Another one for Project Spectrum.

Fun from Iceland

We're heading back to red for a moment, because I have something cool to show you. I got a card from Carola of Sheep and No City today (my Project Spectrum Post card partner for March).

First, because I love to look at stamps, take at look at the RED envelope (now, why didn't I think of that?) Cool stamps. I wonder why Iceland has a mouse on a stamp. The roses are beautiful. I think I owe Carola some stamps -- when I took her card to the post office, the post office guy just printed off the postage and stuck it on the envelope -- very unattractive.

And here is a postcard from Hafnarfjörður. Carola told me that near her are several streets named for waves -- different kinds of waves. Isn't that interesting?

Also in the brilliantly red envelope was corrugateded folder -- red, of course, sealed shut with a --wait for it -- red safety pinIngeniousus. Inside the folder were pink pull tabs -- visible in the picture -- and a CD with what Carola calls red music. I'm listening to the CD now -- it's wonderful music, and they are singing in -- I guess -- Icelandic. I'm very much enjoying it.

So, to celebrate the reception of such a great mail surprise, here are some facts for you about Iceland (which I just looked up, because I feel extra uninformed):

• Capital = Reykjavík -- I did know that.
• Area = 103,000 km² / 39,758 sq mi. (Glaciers: 12,000 km², lava: 11,000 km², lakes: 3,000 km², arable land: 1,100 km²).
• Name = Lýðveldið Ísland
• Icelandic alphabet: a á b c d ð e é f g h i í j k l m n o ó p q r s t u ú v w x y ý z þ æ ö

Project Spectrum -- Yellow

With all the blue and green knitting going on around here, I probably won't be knitting with yellow. So to contribute to Project Spectrum Yellow/Orange, how about some flowers?

These are from Disney (my trip last month).

I have no idea what kind of tree this is, but I like it, and I am guessing that it might be part of my yellow Postcard. How about some yellow flowers? Beautiful. No orange yet, and no good photos of my daffodils, but those are coming.

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.

GOLD and 4000 Hits

How about that gold medal? Isn't that great?

As of this moment, Sandpiper Knits has had 4000 hits from the time I began using StatCounter to count hits. Wow. Welcome.

Olympians Gold

There is it -- finished. I sewed the buttons on Friday evening, and wore it Saturday morning. If I could change it, I might alter the fit of the shoulders a little -- they are a tad large, but overall, it is wearable.

That's my Knitting Olympics project completed ON TIME (with around 48 hours to spare). It is also the answer to my knitting New Year's Resolution, which was to knit a garment that required gauge calculations.

YIPPEE. Happy dance.

Summary of Project

This project was done in response to the Yarn Harlot's knitting Olympics. Citius, Altius, Fortius. I chose this project as a challenge because my Knitting New Year's resolution was to knit a project with GAUGE.

Pattern source: Mountain Colors Simply Seamless VestNeedles: US size 7; turbo circular needles.

Yarn: Cascase 220, color 4006 -- a purple/burgandy/not really brown color. I bought six skiens. I have one left untouched and I knit a large swatch prior to starting.

Notes: I did not use the yarn stated in the pattern -- Mountain colors wool quarters, doubled. That yarn gave a gauge of 4 stitches / inch on size US 8 needles. My yarn and my knitting produced a gauge of 4.5 stitches per inch on US 7. I could have gone up a needle size, but I liked the fabric at this size. So I altered the pattern to match my gauge. It was supposed to be a challenge, right?

Knitting Dates: February 10 - February 22 (knitting). Finished on February 24 (buttons sewn on).

Vest Knitting is Done!

Hey! Take a look at the sidebar. Percentage of vest knitted = 100%!!!! Yippee!!!!!!

I don't have a picture, but the knitting is done, the ends are woven into place, the vest has been washed and is currently blocking in our bedroom, pinned to the floor.

I don't have photos because I blocked it at 1:00 in the morning. Who needs sleep?

DONE. Done. Done. Done.

Now I just have to go buy buttons, and sew them on.

And then the moment of truth. The point of all these gauge calculations. Will it fit?

Vest Update

I'm coming into the final lap on this challenge called the knitting Olympics. The vest is close to a reality. Last night I "seamed" the first shoulder seam as per directions, using a "double bind-off." Have I mentioned how slippery the turbo needles are? They are fine in normal circumstances -- fast when doing regular knit stitch. In this case, though, I was fussing at them. DH is trying to watch the Olympics (or sleep -- can't remember which one), and I'm doing the double bind off -- circular turbos and a third, aluminum needle. When I was close to the end, I stopped and warned the stitches -- in my best "MOM" voice -- to stay on the needle. They promptly, and without regard to my demands, slipped off the needles. Argh.

Anyway, bind off done, and I'm working on the right front of the vest. I've finished almost 30 rows, which is almost 5 inches. The right front is nine inches from the "arm hole" division, so four more inches, and then the final four finished inches, another double bind off, and its done -- except for weaving in a few ends, washing, blocking, sewing on yet to be purchased buttons, and picking off the occasional dog hair.

DH asked what kind of buttons I was going to use. Answer -- I'll put any kind of buttons on this baby as long as they are on by the time the torch is extinguished. Really nice, special, order off the internet buttons can be considered at a later date -- as an alteration to a finished article of clothing. This week she gets what Jo Ann Fabrics has in stock.

The color is so DIFFICULT to photograph. It's multilayered -- not brown, not burgandy, more purple than anything else. I've included this up-close and personal view of the knitting, not because the color is right, but so that you can see the variation in color this yarn has.

And hopefully all uneveness of stitches will be eliminated by blocking (she says, optimistically)

Molly's third

Yesterday was Molly's third birthday. She and I had a long talk. She is no longer a teenager, and she must stop eating socks and knocking the trash can over.

Notice how she is holding up one foot. Sometimes she does that in the snow, as if lifting one up will keep it warmer. Maybe if she keeps eating socks, I'll make her wear little socks of her own to take her outside walks. I'm not sure that would be pleasing for Little Miss Molly.

Olympic knitting continues at a rapid pace. I'm 48% done -- 43.5% was today's goal. Gauge is remaining constant and on track, so yippee!

Go...

So, I'm off and knitting. So far, three days down and almost three inches of knitting. I'll have to pick up speed if I have any hopes of finishing by the closing ceremonies. Lots of work this weekend, though, and not much time to knit.

I have a rate of 1 row per 10 minutes, a row gauge of 6 rows/inch, so that's one inch/hour (of course, I calculated -- this is the Olympics). I'm going to figure out how much I have to get down in order to finish, becuase right now I'm thinking, "Was I even in my right mind to think I could knit a vest in 16 days?"

Here's a picture of the progress so far, although the color is WAY off.

On Your Marks...Get Set...

Are we ready? Let's see...

• Needles? Check -- Turbos (of course), size US7, 24 inch circular.
• Yarn? Check -- Cascade wool, six skiens, wound by my support team (S, G and J) and me. The younger members of the team love the ball winder -- fun machine. For some reason, G (older son), really has the nack for holding the yarn exactly in the right position. J (younger son) just likes to play with the machine, and S (dh) is the expert swift. Six skeins wound and ready to go.
• Pattern? Check -- Mountain Colors Simple Vest
• Gauge? Check -- recommended gauge is 4 stitches/inch on size 8 needles. My gauge after swatching? 4.5 stitches per inch on size 7 needles. I thought about going up to size 8 needles, but I like the look of the fabric on the size 7. So, I have recalcuated all of the stitch counts based on my gauge. I measured the size of a vest I own and like, and have calculated stitches to yield a vest this size. Only problem? I've never done anything like this before. It's supposed to be a challenge, right? Well, it will be.