Argosy

Done! I finished this about a month ago, but never got around to posting... Anyway, here's an in-progress shot of the blocking. It really makes a difference!



Of course, it's the middle of summer and 90 degrees out, so it'll be a while before I can actually wear it. Consider this a soft unveiling. :P

Forget Me Not!

...said little Argosy.



"I'd be perfect for spring, if only you hadn't ignored me for three months!"

-_-

So Many Projects, So Little Time

1. The reversible Rangers scarf is finally coming along slowly but surely now. But remind me never to do reversible anything bigger than a potholder. This is taking forever!!





2. I decided that one can never have too many fingerless mitts, so I did a search on Ravelry and thought the Axel mitts were really cool. The cuff idea is awesome! It's like the layman's convertible mittens, ha! But I wanted to knit from my stash, so I'm doing my own variation of it with good 'ol worsted weight yarn.





3. Also started Argosy a couple of months ago, but kinda forgot about it for a while... I also forgot to take pictures of it.

4. Short version of my lace-up armwarmers to match this scarf. I finished this a few months ago--though as you can see they're not really finished because I was to lazy to weave in the leftover yarn... -_-

Twinkle, Twinkle...

This post is about 3 months obsolete, but oh well. I'm feeling lazy, so this will be a picture-driven post about the Anthropologie knitting workshop on 10/9/07 and the scarf that followed...

First off, free stuff! Woo hoo!
bag


yarn


needles


Then came the demonstration.


Notice the ginormous ball of yarn.


My not not-quite-as-giant ball of yarn.


After the demonstration there was free food and discounted shopping, but I don't have any pictures of that. On to the knitting!

This is the pattern for the Diamond Scarf, which is what we were supposed to make. Compare the 15 mm "Buffy" needles to the regular size 6...? 8... (eh, doesn't matter) circulars. That's right vampires, be very afraid.


Then I figured that since I didn't buy any extra yarn to complete this scarf, I would throw caution to the wind and make my own little one-skein scarf. I always wanted to try knitting lengthwise, and since it would really show up on the chunky yarn and I wouldn't have to deal with knitting 500 stitches on one row, that's what I did. But I still had to squeeze about 100 sts on that needle. That was a pain in the--


See what I mean??


But somehow I managed without stabbing myself in the process.


Ta da! With seed stitch border and everything!

Oh Bother...

I had kind of put this aside for a while because I still didn't like the stripe widths, so I finally picked it up again today to do the dreaded frogging. I must have looked like a crazy person on the bus. But now for the really hard part...



How the heck do I untangle this mess??

Perfection to a Fault?

Is it crazy that I'm taking this apart because I decided it's 4 stitches too narrow and 2 stitches 4 st 6 stitches too short on the bottom? (notice the different pattern versions in the background :P )



And look, it's reversible!


Sigh, can't finish a scarf if I can't even get it started.



But in the meantime, here are a couple of pics of a recently finished project: fingerless mitts to match my brown stripy scarf! These were done quick and dirty because it suddenly got cold a couple of weekends ago. Tried to recreate the XO pattern on the first attempt, but it looked too sloppy, so I stuck with a simple stockinette for the most part. Had just enough leftover yarn to make the mittens. They're a little worse for the wear now, but soooo warm. Plus, I can still knit while wearing them!



"action" shot :P

Where did the day go?

I just wasted a whole day on Ravelry, oops. And I still only managed to fill in my stash (sans pictures) and needles. I haven't even touched the projects section yet. Did join some groups, wheeee! I'm so happy that there are hockey and Yankees fans that knit! Unfortunately, I have work to do and an exam to study for, so I probably won't be able to play with it much any time soon. But this is like OCD knitter's heaven!

In the meantime, here is my completed X's and O's scarf! Though it's more about random striping than XO's anymore. You can sorta tell that there are X's and O's in there... sorta... Nevertheless, here it is:





Next will be the new scarf I made this weekend! There's a little story to go along with it and everything. Hopefully I'll actually have time to post but my schedule is getting kinda hectic... It may be a while.

Mad skillz--or not...

My knitting skills were put to the test this morning. Here's how the scenario unfolded...

Knitting away on the train.
Precariously balanced coffee cup on the seat next to me.
Sudden influx of people at popular stop.
Nowhere to put my coffee!
Holding coffee in my hand, looking at knitting.
Coffee yarn coffee yarn coffee yarn coffee--Coffee and yarn!

So yeah, I managed to do 2 rows--one purl then one knit--before I finished my coffee and my hand started cramping up. (Btw, it's a lot easier to knit like that than purl.) I've concluded that while it is possible to do, it is slow-going and could possibly accelerate carpel tunnel syndrome. But, you know, I can do it! Hurrah.



Then when I got to the office, as if the knitting gods wanted to remind me that I am still a spazz at heart, this happened...

"Hmm, why is there yarn on me? Coming from my bag..."


"Hey, there's a trail on the floor!"


"Still going..."


"Oh my!"

---

Upcoming projects:
-another knit (birthday) cactus
-armwarmers for G
-amigurumi kitty (once I can find eyes for the little guy)
-Juno! (assuming I have the patience for it and can find the pattern)
-Farmyard Frolics

Marked Progress

4 1/2 days of knitting later and voila! 2/3 of a scarf! (Don't mind the weird curled edges. I'm hoping that'll disappear after some blocking.) Halfway to this point I stated wondering why my knitting was starting to feel so heavy. Then I looked down and realized I had a good chunk of scarf on my needles. Bulky yarn rocks!!

X's and O's

Sometimes simpler is better. I wanted something more interesting than the same-old stockinette for my uber-soft Lion Brand cotton, but wasn't happy with the result. Maybe I've just been too fastidious for my own good lately, but even after spending days knitting and un-knitting and re-knitting and un-knitting again, I completely scrapped this design



in favor of a more streamlined version.



While I do like the random x's and o's that would be interspersed throughout the scarf, as well as the xo border, it all looked too sloppy. (Apparently, cabling has that effect on gauge.) So just when I decided I was on course with my scarf design, I ripped it all apart anyway. I do like the effect, but not for this scatf. The new design still has the cabled x's and o's border at the edge, but instead of purling in the primary brown color, I started my striping early.



I'm still not sure which border I like more, but this one works better with the rest of the pattern. However, the original one looks more distinctive... oh well. I also decided to go with random stripe widths this time--because it's just more fun to knit that way--and came up with a method of carrying the dormant (for lack of a better word) yarn strand up while knitting the other color. Unfortunately, as you can see in the 2nd picture above, the background color shows through on the side where the yarn is being carried, despite my efforts to hide it. Here's an image of the back view, since that probably shows what I'm doing better.



Call me crazy, but I'm still not feeling 100% on this scarf. Hoping that when I block it, everything will magically work out. I just have to make sure I don't go on another ripping frenzy. I refuse to do so! This yarn probably can't take much more abuse anyway. (Did I mention this organic cotton stuff has a tendency to shed/fall apart?) With luck, my next update will be about a nearly completed scarf.

Hello Goodbye

So this pattern isn't going to work out with my baby cashmerino yarn either. Gauge is all wrong for the yarn... Texture is all wrong for the pattern... Nope, this pattern would be better paired with a different yarn.



But I did get something out of the experience... I learned how to do the I-cord cast-on! I love this cast-on. It's hard to capture on film/pixel/whatever, but it creates a nice smooth, rounded-puff edge. Very cute.



Goodbye Debbie Bliss baby cashmerino. We're only parting temporarily, until I can find a suitable pattern to showcase your defined texture properly. Hello Lion Brand Nature's Choice organic cotton (In walnut and almond. How ...natural and organic-sounding :P ) I don't usually put any stock in the whole organic thing, but this yarn is SOFT. Like really, really soft. I will make a thick winter scarf out of you yet!

Wavering

So I started knitting this yesterday after all. But now I'm not sure if I'm all that hot on this pattern anymore. Should I stick with it or find something else for my lovely baby cashmerino yarn?

An Equation

+



=

Argosy?

Of course, this is all just a theory right now, which has yet to be tested.

No, that's not a stitch counter

Yeah, so apparently earrings and scarves don't mix well. I had a little unbundling mishap when I got to work this morning...



Wait, here's a closeup.


Noooo! It's a yarn emergency!! Now, what I don't understand is how these things can hook themselves on so easily, yet be such an ordeal to remove. This probably the 5th time this has happened (same scarf, different earrings) and each time the earring won't let go without a fight. You can see the battle scars from this bout:



Not so bad from afar, but still...! I know it's there.

Brrrrr

It's cold. Really cold.

But at least my scarf has been getting a lot of use!











Coming up next week... Radical Lace & Subversive Knitting - Alternative Yarns!

Evening Out

...or 'A Knitting Miracle'
...or 'The Wonders of Wool'


I was all set to write about my pink striped scarf and was planning to rant about the stripes being uneven--but they're not anymore! It's like magic. Basically, I finished the scarf last month and blocked it and everything. When I was working on the tassels, I realized that the stripes at one end of the scarf were noticeably wider than the other end. Apparently I'm a tighter knitter now than I was four years ago. It annoyed me very much, but my efforts to get the smaller side to stretch didn't do much good, and I decided there was nothing left to do but accept the imperfection and pretend it gave the scarf character.

So I grabbed the scarf today to take a picture of it in all its tassel-y glory. The tempurature suddenly dropped by 50 degerees so I've been wearing it the past couple of days. Of course I found myself critically eying the blocks of color, except now the two ends lined up perfectly! I guess I don't have enough knitting experience to be able to explain this phenomenon, but I can't complain. On to the pictures...



Rosy Striped Scarf
2002?/2003? - December 2006

• Type: circular knitting
• Stitch/Pattern: stockinette
• Needle: size 6
• Yarn: Lion Brand "Wool-Ease" (Blush Heather and Rose Heather)

As I mentioned, I did circular knitting to make this scarf, so in essence it's a big tube that's been flattened out. 420 rows of 64 knit sts. (it's much easier to count rows when you have blocks of color). One good thing about the double-layer is that I was able to hide the trail of yarn that formed from switching colors on the inside. And I added the tassels--using a crochet hook to pull the yarn through--to keep the two layers together. Aren't they cute?