Friday, May 09, 2008

New stuff

I have started the Pinwheel sweater in antisipation it will turn out better then the KIA.

New yarn: KnitPicks "Sparkle" 100% Nylon ladder yarn.
What to make: Undecided

New Toy: 54 peg loom. The spacing is narrower than the regular Knifty Knitter Loom.

New Circular Needles: 24 inch Bamboo Sized 1 - 15. The cable is plastic tubing and have no memory. The feel great.

Sunday, April 27, 2008

I stand corrected and I finished the KIA

The KIA has not met it's end; I pick it up and gave it a close look and it's still have value. I'm continuing the knitting and I have started the decreases to make the center back. I think it will work. I finished it and I'm not please with it. It's the yarn if anything; the construction is a bit dizzy too, but I was curious to know how it was made. I think I'll give it to my granddaughter.

Thursday, April 24, 2008

It's almost been a month

1. I haven't written here for a while. I'm working on a KAL dishcloth (first in months).
2. I finished the lace knitting, will not tackle the rest of the yarn until I have control of the stitches. The piece I did do is enough to tie around my ponytail.
3. The KIA has met an impasse, it will be frogged, and turned to another direction, still a vest, but I'm not sure of the style.
4. I have on the magic loop a pair of toe up socks in self striping sock yarn. The toes do not match because the yarn is starting at two different locations. I'm being impatient because I want to do both at the same time.
5. I finished a hat for DH in 9 days on needles
6. I finished a hat for me. (learning to do mitre squares).
7. I treated myself to the Knitpicks interchangable cable needles sizes 4-11, with 24" and 32" cables; and I ordered a pair of 60" (magic loop for the socks). I had to have 2 cable replaced because the screw in on one of both cables didn't work. I really like those needles.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

New type of yarn for me!!!!! and that KIA vest

My knitting friend Cindy gave me sock yarn that I've never seen before. It's wool,cotton,nylon and last but not lease Elastic!!!!! It's KnitPicks "Dancing", there is no name for the colorway on the band; so I'm calling it Wow-Sherbet. I'm using a pattern from Easy Knitted Socks that reminds me of a pattern in a Mon Tricot(sp)book from back in the "70's". The pattern is a two-needle sock, knitted flat from the cuff to the toe. The heel is shaped by short rows out of the sides like wings. Then the whole thing is seamed down the back. The yarn is very soft, so the seam won't be a problem on the bottom of my foot.

The KIA Vest (WIP and on hold)

The one thing I plan to change on the sock is the lace openings that runs down the legs and the side of the foot. Since the yarn is variegated, it's busy enough without lace openings. I ran into that problem with the KIA I have on cir's. Making the lace opening was a waste of time and If I had realized it before I reached the point of almost no return, I would have just knitted it plain. I have examined it over again, and the conclusion is to start over. But to do that without taking the entire piece off the needles, is to un-knit one stitch at a time until I reach perhaps 10 rows or so from the beginning. I discovered that by ripping back that way it was less frustrating then starting over again. I will leave some of the lace openings near the beginning and knit the rest plain. Perhaps this way I will come up with the right number of stitches and still have enough yarn to finish.

The KIA before I made the arm holes and discovered that I may run out of yarn.
KIA KIA work in procress

This is a close up of the stitches, it is difficult to see the lace openings.
Close up of yarn in KIA KIA

This will be ongoing while I work on the socks.

Saturday, March 08, 2008

Knitting Meme

What I've made on my knitting looms and what I have done knitting/fiber related:


Afghan - Not on the loom


I-cord – a few

Garter stitch - yes

Knitting with metal wire - no


Shawl - Not yet
Stockinette stitch - yes


Socks: top-down – yes, WIP

Socks: toe-up – Haven't got the hang of it yet
.
Knitting with camel yarn - What???

Mittens: Cuff-up - Yes, but frogged it

Mittens: Tip-down - no


Hat – OH yeah!

Knitting with silk a fine strand with wool for socks - not on the loom

Moebius band knitting - No

Participating in a KAL – Yes Dishclothes on needles

Drop stitch patterns - Not on purpose

Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn – You bet, Goodwill here I come!

Slip stitch patterns - A few


Knitting with banana fiber yarn – they make that???

Twisted stitch patterns – YES

Knitting with bamboo yarn – No

Charity knitting - some

Knitting with soy yarn – No

Cardigan – no, not on the loom


Toy/doll clothing - no


Baby items - no

Knitting with your own handspun yarn – Not that talented.

Slippers - Yes and No (Started but didn't finished)

Designing knitted garments – Yes but on my Knitting Machine
.
Cable stitch patterns – Yes on WIP socks

Lace patterns – no

Publishing a knitting book - No

Teaching a child to knit – granddaughter

Knitting to make money – Yes, with knitting done on my knitting machine

Buttonholes – No I just poke the button through the knitting

Knitting with alpaca - Want to, very pricey

Fair Isle knitting - yes

Dying with plant colors – no

Knitting items for a wedding - no


Household items, - yes


Knitting socks - yes


Knitting with someone else’s handspun yarn - no

Holiday related knitting - yes


Teaching a male how to loom knit – no

Bobbles - no

Knitting for a living – no

Knitting with cotton - yes, yes and yes!

Knitting smocking – no

Dying yarn - no

Knitting art - no


Fulling/felting - yes, and sometimes on purpose

Knitting with wool – It makes the best socks


Textured knitting - some


Kitchener stitch - yes
only with knitting needles!

Purses/bags - yes, but do I use them - not!


Knitting with beads – No

Swatching – All the time


Long Tail CO - yes


Knitting and purling backwards – Not sure,

Knitting with self patterning/self striping/variegated yarn - yes, I love the surprise patterns you get.

Stuffed toys – planning to, I got Amigurumi patterns

Knitting with cashmere – I’d like to


Darning – No way

Jewelry – yes, I love my bead loom

Knitting with synthetic yarn – yes

Writing a pattern - Not right now

Gloves/mittens – no


Knitting with linen - no


Knitting for preemies - a few hats


Short rows - It's time consuming, but the results are great

Cuffs/fingerless mits/armwarmers - It's in planning


Pillows – No, unless a pillowghan counts
.

Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine – Yes, Knitty.com

Rug – no

Knitting a gift - yes


Knitting for a pet? – My cousins.

Shrug/bolero/poncho – no


Knitting with dog/cat hair accidentally or on purpose? – Not any more, my cats are gone, but I still find bit of them in things
.

Hair accessories – yes

Knitting in public – Yes


Knitting with buffalo yarn - no, are you serious?

Knitting with pygora – no

Dyeing with food dye/drink mixes - only if I miss my mouth.

Dyeing with chemical dyes (acid, etc) - It that Rits?

Saturday, February 16, 2008

Loom socks

I have discovered that looming takes more time than I want. The socks are the "Weekend Socks", well it's been 2 weekends since I started them and I'm still on the cuff. I think it's the cables that are slowing me down. I have 3 cable rows done on each and I'm going to leave at that. I just going to do straight knitting until I get to the heel placement.

Monday, February 04, 2008

Looming again

I wanted to make a pair of socks, but I'm not ready to use my sock yarns and #'s 2 & 3 needles.
I got the Loom Knitting Primer and there is a sock pattern that uses the Blue Knifty Knitter loom - 24 pegs. I have two (yippee!!) so I'll be making them at the same time row for row. The yarn I chose is Simply Soft variegated instead of the bulky yarn called for in the pattern. The stitch pattern is a two stitch twisted cable. Let's keep the fingers crossed.