I just took a look at the preview for the Spring 2008 issue of Interweave Knits, and I swear, there are, like, eight projects that I would happily make for myself. Eight. Unfortunately, there are also, like, eight projects that I have going on right now that I’ve promised to people that I should really be working on instead of dreaming about starting new things.

However, I did go through my entire stash this last weekend and cataloged and took pictures of it for Ravelry (Ravelry users check it out here). Among lots of other stuff, I have about eight sweaters’ worth of yarn, not including a couple of “ugh” projects that could potentially be frogged and harvested, so while I’m admonishing myself for lusting after new projects, I can at least take solace in the knowledge that I don’t have to spend any money on yarn for a while…

We bought a new coffee table at Ikea on the way home from my parents’ house after Christmas:

It’s a hair lower than our old coffee table, so it’s a little more comfortable for me to put my feet up on it, and it has more mass than the old table, which makes the scale better for our living room. The best part though?

The secret drawers on either end, one for me and one for Mike. Mine has plenty of space for all the knitting stuff that used to sit on top of the coffee table.

The little tote bag on the right was a gift last Christmas from my friend Katie, and it’s the perfect size for my knitting needles. She also made the little fabric bin that’s currently holding a sock project. Pattern books, my knitting tool kit, my new favorite knitting tool (the extremely fabulous Polder Pocket Scale, perfect for measuring how much yarn is left in a skein) — it all fits like it was born to be in there. I love it.

Pushing Daisies fans will have noticed the fabulous long scarf Ned wore in the Corpsicle episode. At about the same time I watched it, my brother requested a matching hat and scarf for Christmas, and Ned’s Toasty Scarf and Hat was born.

Ned’s scarf is a blueish gray, but my brother has an orange coat, so my version uses Cascade 220 Heathers in color 9408, a warm brown. I worked this on US 8 Options needles; information about gauge to come, along with finished length and yardage requirements.

Scarf
CO 52 sts.
Begin ribbed edging:
Row 1 (WS): (K1, sl1p wyif)x2, p3, *k2, p2; rep from * 8 more times, k2, p3, (k1, sl1p wyif)x2
Row 2 (RS): (K1, sl1p wyif)x2, k3, *p2, k2; rep from * 8 more times, p2, k3, (k1, sl1p wyif)x2
Repeat rows 1 and 2 until the ribbing is approx. 8″ long, ending with a WS row. (It took me 23 repeats plus one additional WS row.)

NOTE: At this point, you may wish to weigh the yarn remaining in your skein and subtract it from the original weight to determine how much yarn the edging used. This will help you to squeeze the most possible scarf from your yarn while ensuring you leave enough to complete the matching edge.

Begin basketweave cable pattern:
Row 1 (RS): (K1, sl1p wyif)x2, p3, *C4F (slip 2 sts to cn, hold front, k2, k2 from cn); rep from * 8 more times, k2, p3, (K1, sl1p wyif)x2
Rows 2, 4, 6, 8: (K1, sl1p wyif)x2, k3, p38, k3, (K1, sl1p wyif)x2
Rows 3, 7: (K1, sl1p wyif)x2, p3, k38, p3, (K1, sl1p wyif)x2
Row 5: (K1, sl1p wyif)x2, p3, k2, *C4B (slip 2 sts to cn, hold back, k2, k2 from cn); rep from * 8 more times, p3, (K1, sl1p wyif)x2

Continue as established until the scarf is the length you desire, less the 8″ edging, or until you have used as much yarn as you can leaving enough for the edging, ending with row 6 of basketweave cable pattern.

Work ribbed edging pattern to match the first end of the scarf. BO all sts in patt.

The intermittent blogger strikes again!

There’s so much to write about again, and why I haven’t just been writing as these things happen, I don’t know, but there it is.

I got my savior socks out in the mail to Kristin, and she likes them! Yay!

Yarn: Sundara Yarn Sock Yarn (100% superwash merino) in Hydrangea from the Petals Collection
Pattern: Calla Lily Socks by Sundara Murphy
Needles: Inox #1 dpns (my favorites)

Since she got stiffed by her original pal, I had to make sure Kristin got an extra special package, so I picked up a cool Paperchase lunch box and notebook at Borders, pulled a ball of Opal yarn from the stash, and threw in some chocolate, both foreign (Ritter Sport) and domestic (Scharffen Berger).

So I now have two skeins of Petals Collection yarn left: Dahlia, which is a vibrant orange with rosy undertones, and Lenten Rose, a gorgeous purpley-gray color. I love that yarn so darn much, and I love the socks that result, and I almost don’t want to use them up. So I’ll just let it sit in my stash for a while and see if any worthy sock patterns come my way.

For kicks, I checked the Sockapalooza 4 database today, and there were actually a couple of pals there who didn’t get a pair of socks. So I have a pal to save! Yay! I looked her up on Ravelry, and it doesn’t look like she has any Sundara experience, so I think I can remedy that! I don’t think I’ll post any pics, though: now that there are so few people expecting socks, it’s that much easier to track down the person making them for you.

You wouldn’t know it based on this blog, but I have been knitting the last couple of weeks. I made quite a bit of progress on the Cherry sweater over vacation, and then put it down for a while, mostly because I dread that I don’t have enough yarn to finish it, even though I ordered another (not of the same dye lot) ball of the yarn from Webs. And I can’t tell if it’s a gauge problem or not. I knit and blocked one of the sleeves first, to check gauge, and I think I have it. Now that I’ve knit the back, though, I just don’t know.

I knit up the other sleeve to try and compare the unblocked version with the blocked version and get a sense of whether the yarn is there or not before I keep going.

I started a couple pair of socks: another pair of Sundara’s Calla Lily socks, but in the Hydrangea colorway yarn, and Nancy Bush’s Anniversary Socks in one of the many balls of Opal from Deb’s stash, pictured above. The purple were supposed to be a head-start on savior socks for Sockapalooza 4, but it seems the first call for saviors went out while I was on vacation, and I totally missed the boat, and now I’ve missed the second call taking Michelle back to the airport. I have no idea who either pair will be for now.

I also started a Baby Surprise Jacket, again from Deb’s stash. She had some single balls of solid sock yarn, and bunch of partial balls of colors, so I’m combining to use them up. It’s straightforward knitting that I don’t have to think much about, which is nice. I also know I’ll be able to finish it with plenty of yarn, which is nice, too. My cousin just had her second child, and I think I’ll ship this off to her when it’s done.

And then there’s a bunch of stuff on my to-do list, things actual people will be waiting for. There’s a turtle for Teresa, the pink and orange scarf for Kay, and another pair or two of footies for Dee. I had done such a good job of clearing off my plate before leaving for vacation, and now my plate’s all full again.

I was just updating some stuff quickly over at Ravelry, and I realized that most of my projects at the moment fall into the gray/blue/purple range of colors. It’s weird. It makes me want to start the pink and orange scarf, just to have a little variation in color going on.

There’s more about the trip, but for the benefit of the lovely women at Wild Fibre in Savannah, Georgia, here’s my vacation s’n'b:


(Apologies for the lack of focus on that second shot…)

I had thought looking for yarn for my friend Kay’s scarf while on vacation might be a little silly in the south, so when I first walked into Wild Fibre, I was really surprised to find Malabrigo — toasty 100% merino wool — on display in front of the door. After talking with some of the folks from their Tuesday night knitting group, I realized there must be a lot of transplants from colder climes who either haven’t figured out bulky wool is a bit much for the low country, or knit for friends and family back at home.

I was made so welcome to their group and had a fantastic couple of hours of knitting while Mike was off checking out a local disc golf course. There are some storytellers among that bunch, I tell ya, and I was thoroughly entertained. Of course I didn’t leave empty handed, picking up a skein of Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Solid in Bark, and a couple of skeins of Debbie Bliss Pure Silk in orange (for Kay’s scarf, I think — there’s more coming from WEBS for that). I was just getting ready to leave when I spied some R2 Paper near the register. I commented to Mike that I’ve been interested in trying it out, and darn it if he didn’t talk me into buying some. The enabling stinker. I walked out with six balls in blue; I have no idea what I’m going to do with them.

Since Cass St. closed, I’ve been sad not to have an LYS nearby, and would have been happy to have them back. Now that I’ve visited Savannah, though, I want Wild Fibre to come to Fort Wayne, instead.

The Wearable Bam Boo sweater is done!

Yarn: Classic Elite Bam Boo (100% bamboo)
Pattern: Of my own devising
Needles: #6 Knit Picks Options
[I’m working on writing up this pattern, at which point I’ll link to it here.]

In other news, I did the preparatory stitching on the Dale baby cardigan, so it’s all ready to be cut at knitting on Wednesday. With that off my plate, I’ll be down to just three projects: the calla lily/hydrangea socks, the alpaca lace stole, and Mike’s sweater. I did some ripping back on it yesterday and got back into the cable pattern with little difficulty, so I’m thinking it’ll move along pretty well. Which means it will be time for me to hit my Ravelry queue and start a New Project! Yay!

It felt so good to move a couple of my projects from “in progress” to “finished!” Here’s the results:

Yarn: Zitron Trekking (XXL) color 105
Pattern: my basic rib over 56 stitches
Needles: #2 Addi Turbos (2 circs method)
This picture is the best representation of the color of the yarn, which I love. And they felt even better on my feet than I expected them to. I’m not a fan of the Addis (not pointy enough), but the 2 circs method makes it a lot easier to take socks to the movies and such and not worry about losing a needle in the dark.

Yarn: Knit Picks Bare 100% merino laceweight
Pattern: Mystery Stole 3 by Melanie Gibbons
Needles: #4 Knit Picks Options
I am so pleased with how this turned out. I boxed it up last night to get it ready to give as a gift, and with a piece of dark tissue paper just under the top layer, it looks pretty lovely. I’m finding myself somewhat hooked on lace, although not so much on the alpaca lace thing I’ve been knitting for a year and a half.

I’ve also made great progress on re-knitting (again) the Classic Elite Bam Boo sweater. The front and back are done, and I’m ready to work the math for the sleeves. Maybe I’ll wear it this summer yet!