Month: February 2017

Finito!

Here you see a pair of newly finished, freshly laundered stripey socks!

socks

Yarn: Knit Pick Swish in Rainforest Heather – 1.5 balls; Knit Picks Wool of the Andes Superwash in Oyster Heather – 1 ball

Pattern: Vanilla socks using the Fish Lips Kiss Heel

Needles: US 4/3.5 mm

These socks were a quick knit. I knit them in 2-round stripes, which were strangely compelling. At first I had planned to do jogless stripes, but this was way too inelastic and might have undermined the integrity of the sock (doesn’t that sound like such a smart thing to say?), so I decided to skip the jogless-ness and just change colours like normal.
seam

square

Lessons from Socks

  • If you knit on anything long enough it eventually gets done
  • It’s ok to break a large task into bit-sized chunks

first-socks

  • Use nice materials – socks don’t take that much yarn and you can enjoy them as you knit and once they’re done
  • Knitting the same thing twice sucks (but is really rewarding when you have warm feet)
  • Warm feet make me happy
  • Fit is important. Sometimes it’s worth frogging and restarting to ensure a good fit
  • Socks are some of the most useful and appreciated things you can knit
  • Stripes are addicting and make everything go faster

Currently on my Needles

Well, friends, I have been good and only worked on projects that are on the list to be done. Luckily, a few things on the list are projects yet to be started, so I began a pair of socks (not for me). Incidentally, I’m trying a new thing this year where I have a goal of knitting socks every month. I don’t have to finish a pair, but I want to start them. Last month I knit some Rye socks for me, and this month is for stripey green socks.

sock

Let me tell you, friends, worsted weight socks go so fast! And 2-round stripes are ridiculously compelling. You fly through the needles, and then it’s time to change colours. Just like magic!

What’s on your needles?

Fastest Project Ever!

So if you’re like me you have about a million swatches floating around your house. You occasionally think about a) making something with them, or b) throwing them away, but in reality they simply languish alone and unloved. I have a solution (that is not sewing them together to make a blanket): make a coffee cozy! Admittedly, this solution is better for larger swatches, but smaller ones could potentially be seamed together to make the right size.

Here is what I started with (I promise it’s greener than it looks):

swatch

After using the tails to sew a seam (Score! No extra ends!) this is what I have:

20170215_121133

Tadah! Just like magic.

Goddess

Saturday night was one of the best evenings of my life. My husband and I celebrated Valentine’s Day early. He bought me flowers, we dressed up and went to a fancy restaurant, and then we went to hear Renee Fleming live in concert. Now, in case you don’t know, Renee Fleming is a goddess, and my favourite (living) Soprano (my favourite Soprano of the past is Maria Callas, if you were wondering). Renee is first and foremost an opera singer, but she has also branched out into some other genres such as Jazz and Indie. You probably know her best from the soundtrack of the Lord of the Rings.

Her concert performance was breathtakingly gorgeous. She was a goddess, but at the same time so human. After the concert she came out to meet her fans, take pictures, and sign autographs, and guys, I met Renee Fleming!!

renee

She kindly signed her autobiography for me and smiled for a picture. I told her she was an inspiration, and she said, “You’re a singer.” Guys, Renee Fleming called me a singer (granted there was a tiny bit of a question mark in there). That makes it official: I’m a singer (I told her, yes, I was).

In the words of Anne Shirley, this marks an epoch in my life.

Getting Done

So the funny thing about making a list and then setting out to check items off said list is that things get done! Since my last post I’ve finished a washcloth I started ages ago, and all but finished a pair of mittens. I lost at yarn chicken, though, so these will have to wait just a little longer.

Pattern: Diamond Lattice Mittens by Emily Ringelman

Yarn: Knit Picks Swish Worsted in Conch – 1 1/2 balls

Needles: US 4,5, and 6 (the cuffs are supposed to be in 4, but on the 2nd mitten I had left my 4s at home)

Modifications: I knit the cuffs opposite to the K2, P1 rib specified in the pattern. I like the look of a K1, P2 rib better.

Wardrobe Plans

Part of listing my making plans is deciding what pieces I really want to add to my wardrobe. Karen Templer from Fringe Association wrote a few months ago about intentionally planning her wardrobe, and planning her making around the holes she wanted to fill. So I’m taking a page from her book, and thinking about what I have, what I want, and what I need.

I’m relatively new to the whole “hand sew your own clothes” thing, so I am intentionally not tackling pants of any kind. Which means I have a lot of shirts planned, mostly in knit fabrics because I like wearing them. Here I have a long sleeve cream shirt, an aqua shirt with lace, a red shirt (in woven fabric) that is already partway done (and now that I have a dress form I can drape it like a boss), and a fluttery summer shirt.

Knitting is something I’m much more comfortable with. I plan to make the Maia Tee in linen, Song of the Sea, a Hitchhiker with my handspun, and I’ve already started Favorki with alpaca handspun.

Last up, I have 2 full outfits. A sewn jersey top in rose (I’m unsure about sleeve length – thoughts?) worn with a beaded black square skirt (this seems very elegant, but I’m not sure how often I would wear it. I’m much more of a pants type of girl). Also, a long sweater in a white-green ombre worn with jeans and boots. This sweater may not happen for a while, but it’s lovely to dream of.

What are you planning to make?

Making Plans

I don’t know about you, but February always seems so grey. You can’t ignore winter anymore, and inside is boring by now. I realized yesterday that my knitting isn’t helping any – I have so many projects started that I’m not making significant headway on any of them. So I decided to make a list (I love lists) and start working my way down it.

list

It’s a long list, mostly of things I’m in the middle of.

Firstly, a washcloth I started ages ago.

knitting

Second, spinning. Kitty is helping me with quality control.

kitty

And I pulled out my Green Thing. I love this pattern and these colours. Why have I not been working on it???

shawl

I look forward to finishing some more things soon. Watch this space!