Wednesday, October 29, 2008

My First Mystery Knitting!

I've always been a little jealous of people who decided to take part in all of that Secret of the Stole mystery shawl knitalong thing. I thought it would be really cool to be given a piece of the puzzle/pattern each week. But I am picky about shawls. And I knit them in DK or sportweight yarn, and not all shawls can be done in heavier yarns. So I was super excited when I found out about Through The Loops Mystery Sock on Ravelry. Sweet! Here's my finished sock (the basic version... there is also a cabled version)


They're knit in Socks That Rock Lightweight in Brick on size US1 needles and I love them! And they're done in time for NaKniSweMo, for which I will be casting on for my Tilted Duster (attempt #2)!

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Scarves, Scarves, Wonderful Scarves!

So I've been finishing scarves. I've had a major case of finishitis. Last Sunday I finished two Shifting Sands scarves. This one was started last December (hey, size 5 needles, can you blame me?) and uses the recommended (now discontuned) Sundara Sport Merino in some kind of wine colorway. Black over Merlot or some other wino color. The colors remind me of the movie Sweeney Todd, which in my memory involved a lot of black and a lot of blood. Behold, the Sweeney Todd Scarf!


Shifting Sands Number Two was knit on size 9 needles with Malabrigo Worsted in Bijou Blue. I now know, thanks to the two sweaters I've knit with Malabrigo, that this thing will look like shit in about five minutes. But for now, it is a nice, heavy, cushier version of the scarf.

This one was started back in May. What can I say, I take forever to knit scarves!

I also totally fell in love with Knitting School Dropout's Entrelac Scarf and I did something really shameful:

I knit the same exact scarf. I fell in love with the colorway of Noro Silk Garden, sought it out, learned entrelac, and knit a scarf out of it. And I don't regret it one bit! I'm just a tiny bit ashamed is all. Apparently some people find entrelac to be super-fiddly and annoying but I finished this thing in four days. Four days! Clearly I must be a sucker for entrelac, especially in Noro. So forget what I said about taking forever to finish scarves, apparently I'm a liar.

Moving onto something significantly more original (though not completely original, as it is based on a published pattern), behold my Fancy Lace Scarf that I finished yesterday!



This puppy is based on a scarf from Victorian Lace Today that has a boring name. I took the pattern and only knit one repeat instead of two and did a slipped stitch border instead of the knitted lace border in the book. It is knit with three skeins of Manos Silk Blend on size US 6 needles. And... it is seven (seven!!) feet long. Pre-blocking it was a mere five feet long but it sure as hell grew with blocking. I guess I didn't think it would grow so much because it is a DK weight yarn, but, um, I was wrong. So it wraps around twice or it looks slouchy and French (ew. I'm a Francophobe). I also started this scarf in May.

The last thing is a wannabe scarf. It's a cowl. Some say that the cowl is the new scarf. I've loved cowls for a long time and I'm kind of excited that there are so many "patterns" (some of them are pretty basic, hence the quotation marks) out there these days. Meet Gloria, or as I like to call her, Big Blue


She's knit with one skein of Malabrigo Chunky and size US 13 needles. She's pretty great. And Bee Tee Double-You, Malabrigo Chunky seems to hold up better than its worsted counterpart so far. This particular non-scarf was knit in just a day, woohoo for chunky yarn and size 13 needles!

Yay for November, hooray!

P.S. My arm is getting way better and clearly I'm knitting again. Thank goodness!

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Crap, Does This Mean I Have to Sing That Annoying Saving Jane Song?

Your results:
You are Supergirl
























Supergirl
88%
Superman
70%
Iron Man
70%
Spider-Man
65%
Batman
65%
Green Lantern
65%
Wonder Woman
63%
Robin
60%
Catwoman
55%
Hulk
45%
The Flash
40%
Lean, muscular and feminine.
Honest and a defender of the innocent.


Click here to take the "Which Superhero am I?" quiz...

Thursday, October 02, 2008