cosmicpluto knits!

summer already?

Interweave Summer preview is up!

I actually love a couple of things – nothing’s really grabbed me lately in Interweave. But things to make from this one: Looking Glass Top, Marseilles Pullover, Fairy Net Blouse. And maybe others, depending on my mood when the issue actually comes out!

Meanwhile, I’ve started a new sweater from one of last year’s issues, so pictures to come soon.

knitters’ eternal question

What do I knit next?

Charlotte’s Web
Pattern: “Charlotte’s Web” by Koigu
Yarn: Jaggerspun Zeyphr in “Steel”, worsted weight
Needles: Denise US9
Finished: March 6, 2006

Ah, Charlotte. Just as beautiful as the first and second times I knit you. This one, being much heavier yarn, has a really nice weight and warmth to it without being stifling. Would it be odd to wear my grey Charlotte as a scarf with my grey coat?

Vneck’s almost done too – just need to figure out what to do with the neckline and weave in the ends. Hmmmm. Ribbing? Or just simple single crochet?

So….what do I knit now? I’ve got shawl options – flower basket shawl outta my handspun, leaf lace shawl with elann baby cashmere. I’ve got sock options – Pomatomus from knitty in Cherry Tree Hill? Uptown Boot Socks in Knitpicks Essentials?

I’ve got sweater options – I want to start Breezy Cables from the latest Interweave for a jacket, but I’m not sure it’s really going to be useful or get worn (I’m going to use Elann Highland Chunky). I’ve got some super yummy handdyed Shelridge Farm W4 (washable worsted weight wool) for some sort of cabled cardigan, possibly a pared-down Must Have. And I’ve got a bunch of ultra luxe Artyarns Supermerino in brown for a girly springy cardigan, but starting that would mean winter (and heavy wool sweater season) is ending! Not like we had much of a winter, anyway…

Obviously, that’s not ALL the sweater yarn I’ve got, but it’s what I feel like working with. One of those.

Sorry for the rambles. I’m sick at the moment, blame it on that! I should go make some soup.

that olympics thing

Whoops, been a few days, hm? Well rest assured I haven’t been slacking! I’ve been studying (I have two significant-weight quizzes this week as well as an assignment due), spinning (still haven’t taken photos of some other finished yarns) and knitting (titbits, and a new Charlotte’s Web – more on that later). I don’t even really ahve time to write this, but who needs sleep, right?

Which brings me to my next point – since I don’t have much of anything new to show you, how about my Knitting Olympics project? I haven’t actually signed up officially – Kelly, send me an invite?

Let me warn you – it’s, uh, ambitious. I really am off my rocker.

(There’s a fabulous finished one here.)

“Limerick” by Louisa Harding, from Rowan 28. A few things…

1. No beads. (You can’t even see them in the photo, eh? It called for 2500 beads, prestrung!)
2. The yarn it calls for is Rowan DK soft, long discontinued – with a gauge of 26 stitches/10 cm. The smallest size is 44″.
3. Therefore, I’m going to use fingering weight yarn, Louet Gems Pearl (freshly ordered) and aim for a gauge of 7.5 stitches/inch. Should give me a 39″ or so sweater, which is workable.
4. Knitting back and forth? NO THANKS. I’ll be modifying this to be a seamless raglan.
5. I have a big test on the 14th, and an assignment due on the 15th. Takes knitting time away.
6. However, I have reading week the following week (20-24th). Adds knitting time, but there might be other things I want to do during that week.

Sooooooo. One more thing.

6. I don’t really expect to finish this in 16 days. BUT (and don’t tell me that’s not the Olympic spirit!), I intend to try my damndest! I’ll definitely be swatching beforehand to get a feel for the pattern and will probably try doing one-handed stranding (Nordic memories was two-handed, but really haphazard since the CC stitches weren’t every often).

Forward!

(Yeah, I’m SO nuts.)

now and future knits

Since I don’t have much else to say, how about a rundown of current WIPs (shouldn’t that be WsIP?) and planned future projects.

WIP
Silky Raglan – I finished one sleeve tonight, with less than two balls of the grey! I’ve just started the front (or back), so I’ll see how it goes with the yarn amount. I can always unravel my swatch…
Vera Knee Socks – I put the first, incomplete sock on waste yarn so I can start the second one, but have I? Nahhh.
Star Gazer Lily socks – I’m past the heel turn on the first sock. Meh.
Modular skirt (aka Koigu Skirt) – I’m done the first tier, and am done 6 of 9 hexagons from the third tier. It’s really good subway knitting, as I can do about one and a bit sections of the hexagon per ride. I’m going to use the brown Knitpicks Palette for my contrast colour; although it’s not merino, the colour is perfect.
Katy – One more sleeve seam, a couple ends, and I’m done, done!

Planned future projects
- black cashmere mistake rib scarf
- black pullover, possibly glampyre’s v-neck pullover
- Patons Urban Aran, as a cardigan, out of Elann Highland Chunky from last year.

- Nordic mittens from Interweave (here’s an awesome example)…I wanted to use the brown Palette for the main colour, but since I’m using the ball I have for the skirt, I’ll have to order more (darn!). I’ll do that when I order the yarn for the next project…
- Nordic Memories pullover from Interweave.

I think I’m going to use Knitpicks Merino style, in similar colours (Hollyberry and some kind of yellow…I’ll have to go look at the colour cards).

Other projects I’m thinking of:
- cabled riding jacket from loop-d-loop, in cascade ecowool (already have the yarn)
- some kind of cabled sweater out of Shelridge Farm W4
- socks, socks, lots of socks!
- presents…maybe just a few this year.

Whew, looks like I’ve got projects for the next couple months! There’ll surely be something shiny and new that I’ll just haaave to knit, but for now I’ll keep all this in mind!

seeing red

Gahhhh. Last night as I worked on the first sleeve of Cloud, I realized something was off…

Then I realized what I’d done…I’d figured out the total number of sleeve stitches, and provisionally cast that number on to do the yoke. But, I had forgetten to count the underarm gusset stitches – so I had 14 stitches too many! Wayyy to much.

Sigh. Well, it’s back on track, and I think I might do something different with the neckline this time – it’s still a v-neck, though.

Speaking of red, here’s some yarn I wound up today:

See a theme? On top is more Koigu for the skirt, in the middle Silky Wool to swatch/start a pullover, and on the bottom is Blue Sky cotton for a pullover a la “Simply Marilyn” from Interweave. Smaller gauge, though.

I’m in raglans up to my ears! The Silky Wool and Silky Tweed I bought at the KW fair are going to be put together in a pullover with grey sleeves and a red body. I’m going to make a BIG swatch and be very careful about my calculations, so hopefully it’ll actually come out fitted! The Blue Sky cotton will be another seamless raglan (I think seams in this weight will be too bulky), but with a cable and a few other interesting details.

Ah, red. Such an autumn colour – my favourite season!

my little cabbage

I finished up the Mon Petit Chou hipsters, and they are so cute!

You can probably see some clear elastic sticking out near the top, I haven’t quite figured out how to secure that in yet. I laced up the sides with the same yarn. Here’s a modelled (and cropped) shot:

Mon Petit Chou
Pattern: from knitty
Yarn: Elann Esprit in “Ruby”, 2 balls
Needles: Denise US 6
Started: September 2, 2005
Finished: September 4, 2005

I also managed to finally finish a go with the flow sock. I think the next one will be faster (I hope).

The colour’s very accurate in that picture – and as you can see, my light tent technique really does consist of me just sticking my project under my topsheet.

I’ve been spending some quality time with my wonderful swift and winder, preparing for some new projects.

Check out that stack of handspun goodness on the right! That’s for a shawl – there’s going to be another colour as well, but that one’s still drying. In the middle are some lorna’s laces sock, for the second go with the flow sock and some sort of knee sock, probably. On the left is a stack of Elann Highland Chunky that’s been knit twice and is still holding up – I’m planning on doing the “Urban Aran” from Patons. I’ve already started once, but then I realized that I was way off on the sizing and ripped it out. I hope it’ll work out this time.

One last thing – my cheap retractable tape measure finally died, and I killed it. I pulled it out too far/too fast when trying to measure Cozy, and something broke inside. I need a new one.