Summer scarf

We got this new yarn in at the shop I work at, its by Misti Alpaca and it is called Misti Cotton. But don't be fooled, it has 15% silk in it! This is NICE yarn. I decided it would be good for a summer-weight scarf, and I had been wanting to knit a scarf in a mistake rib like my friend Jen thinks she accidentally did on her first ribbed scarf (which actually looks really really cool), but mine did not turn out the way hers did. I don't know if it is because my yarn is thicker and my needles are bigger or what. But I still like it. I'm knitting this up on size nine needles and the color is 314 Light Blue Twist. By the way, I've recently discovered the magic of Crystal Palace bamboo needles. I'm a big fan of metal needles, but these days they are hard to find unless you want to go to Wal-Mart, and I refuse to give them one red cent. Anyway, these are really highly polished and really smooth, so it almost feels like they are metal. I looove them.

Long-term WIP

I've been working on this since about February. I guess that's not that long-term... I have some things that have been on the needles a lot longer.

This is Hello Yarn's Irish Hiking Scarf
I am knitting this in Dzined's sportweight Merino/Hemp blend (55% merino wool/45% hemp) in Natural on size six needles. I think it will only take one skein. I decided not to do the garter edge and just slipped the first stitch of each row purlwise. I don't have any problems with curling or anything. I wish I had knit this in a size eight needle so it would be less dense, but I'm not willing to rip it all out. I think I'll put fringe on it when I'm done. I actually knit this up in a worsted weight version of this same yarn, in a reddish pinkish colorway on size 10 needles and I hated the way it turned out. That will eventually get ripped the hell out and made into something. This one will be okay for a basic scarf when I need something a little boring, ha.

One Skein socklettes!

So Thursday night I went to the midnight showing of the new X-Men movie (btw, very good, very destructive, very tragic, very sad) and so I started these and showed up early, allowing me to get all the way through the turning of the heel on the first one. Then I went to Cleveland this weekend, and finished them up in the car on the way home! The pattern is from Leigh Radford's One Skein. I used bamboo DPN's and the recommended yarn, Lorna's Laces Sheperd Worsted in Blackberry. I ended up deciding to go down to a size 7 needle instead of 8, like you're supposed to use, because my feet are a size 6.5 and the smallest size is for a women's 7.5-8.5. Plus sometimes I knit loose. I'm really excited about how nice this yarn is, it was lovely to knit with. The pattern was actually super-fast, even considering the fact that it involved cabling, which was annoying for the first cable round or two. But after that it went fast. And I'm really happy with the way they fit, there are no gaps or bagginess. Here are some pictures... the color is a bit more purple than in these pictures, but I guess they're close enough.

Anniversary scarf

So last Thursday was my two-year anniversary. The boy-toy and I are both broke so we decided no fancy gifts. We went out to a nice dinner instead, and I knit him this scarf... what did he get me? I guess that's TBD, as when I gave the scarf to him (albeit two days late) he said "uhhhh... I thought we weren't doing gifts!" Ha...


This is Sheep In the City's My So-Called Scarf
It is actually just herringbone stitch, knit with two skeins of Manos Del Uruguay in Prairie 104. I used almost the whole two skeins, and the recommended size 11 needles and cast-on 30 stitches and it was plenty long (70 inches). I love love love the way the herringbone stitch shows off the Manos colorway. I think I'm going to eventually try this scarf in Noro too and see how that looks.


A close-up of the stitch

Welcome, Me

So I decided to jump on the blog bandwagon. In general I think blogs bite, I think it is arrogant to write about yourself and what you did that day just to eventually complain about people stalking you... but then I discovered knitting blogs. Ok, so there's a blog with a purpose. Of course, I don't expect non-knitters to care much for this blog, as I won't be discussing my latest trip to the mall or the funny thing my friend said the other night at a bar... unless of course it is yarn-related! I do, however, reserve the right to throw in the random book review or recipe, since books and cooking take up a good chunk of my life (mmmm, basil). Ok, that's my intro.