So I’m in the middle of a trip with my research group, and we have just started doing some work at an observatory in a small-ish town in Germany.  We’ve been here for three days, and thus far I have found a new yarn store every day.  Three yarn stores, three days.  Auf wiedersehen yarn diet!

Yay! It’s finally finished and blocked!  

Pattern: Pinnate Shoulder Shawl, from KarenJoSeattle – Great pattern, great blog, great blogger! When you cast on and start working the pattern, you have a sneaking suspicion that there is a stitch missing, but just trust the pattern. Really. It’s not technically symmetric (Scientists/mathematicians, just don’t think about it! If I can do it, you can too!) but it looks symmetric, which is what really matters.

Yarn: Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece – love it! It’s mostly cotton with a little bit of wool, so it has a bit more give than 100% cotton, but it doesn’t have any of the negatives of wool. It is notorious for bleeding, and I did have to wash it about a zillion times before the water ran clear, but I’m hoping that I got all the extra dye out. I used US6 Addi Turbos, which is larger than the needle size recommended in the pattern. Karen knits really loosely, so this didn’t surprise me. Just match your needles to your yarn.

I tried really hardly to get good pics of the shawl ‘in action’ but I failed miserably. It’s about 9″ wide and 65″ long, and I used two skeins almost exactly. It works well as a little shoulder shawl (hence the name) and as a scarf, too. In exchange for not having action shots, here are some ‘artsy’ ones instead.

=)

The lovely Keri (warning: music) asked for an update, so here ya go! =)

This week I had a test, homework due in each of my classes, some plots to finish for my research, a research trip this summer to plan, and a qualifying exam to study for. Needless to say, I didn’t do much knitting. (In case you’re wondering, the only thing different about this week was the test. Everything else is pretty steady.) The only knitting time I’m getting is on the bus, which limits me to portable projects. (My pinnate shoulder shawl and Ian’s scarf are sneaking up on being done, but stuck at home for now.) So here’s the rundown:

Pacific Sunrise Socks. Yarn is from Mambocat, standard sock pattern with 1×1 rib on the top. Switched to the blue (also by Mambocat) for the toes since I don’t have much of the Pacific Sunrise. Between the fact that the yarn is a tad too thick for the needles and that I do asymmetrical toes (they fit better, but take more concentration), these are not the most pleasant knitting right now. If I only get 15 minutes to knit, you bet it’s going to be on something fun. ; )

Tidal Wave Socks. Heel needs to be turned. I definitely don’t have the concentration level for that right now.

So, I made this:

Plain Jane Washcloth. Sugar ‘n’ Creme. Garter border, stockinette inside. Non-stressful. Took three bus trips to finish; my kind of project!

Then I started this:

Another washcloth, based on the Baby Genius Burp Cloth from Mason-Dixon Knitting. Super-easy; soothing to knit.

So, yeah…it’s pretty boring around here knitting-wise. But it makes me happy. =) Hope y’all have a great weekend!

I’m still alive, don’t worry.  But I don’t have much time to blog about anything…  Luckily, sometimes other people do it for me:

Jack’s New Sweater

(The Ravelry Project Page is here.)

Also, Shannon from RS Knits is having a contest to promote her new Etsy shop, which has super-cute stitch markers.  Swing by her blog to check it out!

And now, back to work! Ciao! =)

As you may or may not be aware, tomorrow is Mardi Gras. It’s kind of a big deal in Louisiana, and so we have three whole days off of school! Woohoo! Of course, this means that our profs have given us extra work, because heaven forbid we have any fun or catch up on other stuff that needs to be done, but it also means it’s a tad bit easier to squeeze in some concentrated knitting time between problem sets. As I’ve mentioned before, I tend to pick projects that are portable and don’t require much concentration so they can be knit on the bus, but occasionally there are parts of the pattern that require focus and a place to sit that is not careening around corners. WIPs tend to pile up when they hit that point, and they sort of hang over my head, nagging to be finished. I’m happy to report that two of those nagging WIPs are now FOs! Yay!

Yarn: Lion Brand’s Magic Stripes in Color #207, purchased on sale when the Hancock Fabrics in CS went out of business.  It’s an ok yarn, but not the softest I’ve ever used.  The self-striping aspect is awesome though! =)

Pattern: The Yarn Harlot‘s Generic Sock Recipe from Knitting Rules! A great recipe that I highly recommend for first socks. The rest of the book is great, too – you won’t regret purchasing it!

The only thing I don’t like about these socks is the bagginess around the ankles. I have really skinny ankles (which I love) and didn’t take that into account. I decreased from my CO of 64 sts to 60 sts about halfway down the leg to try to add some shaping, but they need more decreases to fit properly. Alternatively, in the future, I might just keep the ribbing going all the way down to the foot on generic socks like these, and pick patterns that are ribbing- or cable-based when I want fancy socks. Here’s one more gratuitous action photo:

(Ravelers, project page here.)

On to the second FO:

Yarn: SWTC’s Karaoke, a 50% wool, 50% soysilk blend. It’s a soft yarn that’s very pretty, but very frustrating to work with. It’s poorly spun and so it tears a lot while knitting, even without being under much tension. I thought this might be just a problem with my ball, but I saw that many other people mentioned this in the comments on the yarn page (sorry, link is for Ravelers only). It also biases a bit, which can be seen in the edge of each rib. So, as pretty as it is, I probably won’t use it again, except maybe for felted projects where the biasing won’t show, and the many ends to weave in will be hidden better. The color variation is quite nice though, and subtle. You can see it best in this pic:

See how it’s brighter pink on each end, and more cranberry-colored in the middle? It varied in a matching pattern on both hands, which made me happy. =)

Pattern: Cheryl Niamath’s Fetching, published at knitty.com. A great pattern, and a quick knit, unless you catch Second Wrister Syndrome (very closely related to Second Sock Syndrome). I had a pretty bad case, so these took me about a year from start to finish. In actual knitting time, it’s only a few hours.  (Ravelers, project page here.)

It’s been my observation that knitters are the only people who really ‘get’ fingerless gloves, aka wristers.  Yeah, they look sort of 80′s, but they are so tremendously practical; I use them much more often than actual mittens or gloves.  They are perfect for slightly chilly days, and for the many hours I spend working on the computer or on homework in cold buildings.  So don’t hate.

And speaking of homework, it’s time to get back to it.  Hope you have a Happy Mardi Gras!!! =)

Custom-made by my friend Jennie:

Remember Jennie, the non-knitter?

Aren’t they exquisite?

But what’s that underneath the beautiful stitch markers, you ask? Why it’s everything you never always wanted to know about calculating light echoes around variable stars and cataclysmic events! And on that note, I should get back to those calculations…

PS – The markers aren’t as big as they look in the photos – the type on the page is just really small! =)

Remember the little slip-up in my destashing efforts I had a few days ago? I had a big test of my will power the very next day. I needed to get a purple ribbon to complete one of the mystery gifts (the purple one, duh), which meant venturing into Michaels and/or Hobby Lobby. I went to Michaels first, because it fit well into the path of my other errands. Turns out, Michaels doesn’t have a fabric section, so they don’t sell ribbon by the yard, and I certainly didn’t need a whole roll, so I was going to head to H.L. when I noticed a very dangerous thing. Everything knitting-related was at least 30% off. Everything. Yarn. Needles. Notions. Everything. I probably spent 20 minutes touching different yarns, fantasizing about all the projects I want to make (Ravelry link, sorry! It will be open soon, they promise!), thinking about all the people I know who are having babies, etc. (Is there something in the water? Everyone is pg!) Anyways, it turns out that I do have a bit of self restraint, and so all I bought were these:

One tiny crochet hook (for fixing potential mistakes on my sock) and some stitch markers (I lose them all the time).  I’m so proud of myself. =)

(PS – Got the purple ribbon at H.L. – and didn’t buy any yarn there either!)

Inspired by Nicole & Jenny, Knit from your Stash 2007, and Stash knit down 2008 (sorry, that link is for Ravelers only, but you get the gist), I was going to try and do some serious stash busting this year. Mine is not overly big, but it’s big enough that I shouldn’t have to buy yarn for a good while. Well, it’s January 5th and I’ve already failed, haha. I’m on a quick trip to CS with my brother and brought along the Pinnate Shoulder Shawl. I got some good work done on it:

(The tape measure is measuring one foot.)

There’s only one problem:

Crappers. Out of yarn. Did I plan ahead well enough to bring the other skein? Nope. I do have my A&M scarf with me, but that’s only to be worked on during A&M sporting events. Leaving me project-less for the rest of the weekend and the two-hour car ride home. No bueno. Luckily, I happen to know exactly where the B/CS LYS is, so I stopped in and picked up this:

which is now on its way to becoming a pair of Tidal Wave Socks:

The yarn is SWTC’s TOFUtsies, which is made from wool, cotton, soysilk, and chitin. Soysilk is made from tofu manufacturing waste, and chitin comes from the shells of crustaceans. The chitin is naturally antibacterial, making this the perfect sock yarn! So far I like the feel of the yarn a lot. It’s a bit splitty, but not too bad. Don’t count on these getting finished anytime soon, though…as soon as I get back to BR and my needle stash, I’ll be casting on some Anastasias with the yarn HH gave me for Christmas! Yay!

Hopefully I’ll manage to keep the yarn-buying in better control for the rest of the year.

Read more about my Christmas here.  And have a safe and happy holiday!!!

Remember the pink fringe? (I know, I know, it was weeks ago…) Well, it’s attached to this:

Last fall (2006), my friend Jennie and I were in San Antonio to watch the Ags BTHO Army, and planned our day around accidentally came upon the Yarn Barn. Oops! Then we accidentally bought some yarn. Double oops!

Despite my best attempts, Jennie is not a knitter, even though she is super crafty. That’s ok though, because she is a very good recipient of knitted items. There’s a lot of discussion on Ravelry about “Do Not Knit” lists, and I hate to admit it, but I have one, too. It includes people who:

(a) don’t appreciate handmade things in general;
(b) haven’t appreciated things I’ve made them in the past;
(c) I just don’t think would appreciate the time and energy I put into knitting;
etc.

Luckily, Jennie does not fall into any of these categories. Instead, she falls into some of the best categories of all, as a person who:

(a) pays for yarn and then lets me knit with it;
(b) actually wears the things I knit for him/her*;
(c) sends a hand-written thank-you note.
*Bonus points if it’s not the warmest/softest/cutest thing they own.  Humor me, at least occasionally.

Jen, I will knit for you whenever you want! But anyways, back to the scarf:

Yarn: Good question. The middle of the scarf is done in one skein of some type of Noro, probably Kureyon, though I’ve misplaced the ball-band so I can’t tell you for sure. The main colors are turquoise, lime green, seafoam green, hot pink, grape, and dark aqua:

Both ends and the fringe are made from some variegated pink yarn, again no ball-band, but it has a bit of sparkle spun into it. Up close it looks like:

Even though I never would have put these yarns/colors together, they are totally Jennie’s style, and turned out pretty nice together:

Pattern: The Yarn Harlot’s One-Row Scarf.  This might be the perfect scarf pattern.  Jen’s is the third one of these I’ve made, and I’m already partway through a fourth.  I love it. =)

I hope y’all have a very Merry Christmas!  I asked for a swift, and can’t wait to play with it!!! =)