Kitty in progress

So, I too have started my kitty hat, but I'm not nearly as far as Adrienne. I'm a little concerned that it may not fit, but I guess I'll figure that out when I've got them onto dpns. And if my head is too big, I'm sure there's someone out there who will be able to wear it. Oddly enough, it looks like my size 10 needles are about right. Weird, huh?

I love knitting on the round in stocking stitch...it's so nice and brainless! Hooray for brainless-ness! But at the same time, I love the way seed stitch looks. Guess I get a taste of both worlds here, huh?

Here, kitty kitty....

Yesterday was the official Kitty Hat-along kickoff! Here is my ball of yarn all wound up:



I didn't have 16-inch US8 needles, so I had to cast on using dpns. Pain in the butt, but manageable. I managed to get to the decreases, and stopped once I got to 56 stitches left on the needles. Here is the hat on my head, yay, it seems to fit so far!

Seamy adventures, part 1

So on Monday night I decided to start seaming up my Vintage Knits sweater-with-mohair-stripes. I have been putting off the blocking/seaming part for ages, because I am a total seaming novice and didn't want to screw it up big-time. But the suspense was starting to kill me so I figured I might as well bite the bullet and do it. And if it turns out crappy-looking....well, the entire sweater was a learning experience, one can't be perfect all the time, right? =P

Anyway. I seamed the right shoulder, then picked up stitches to knit the neckband, knit the neckband, seamed the left shoulder, seamed the sides....it took HOURS. I think I managed to watch maybe 30 seconds of the game (not including replays). Then I seamed the sleeves. I don't know what possessed me to knit my first sweater using such teeny tiny yarn, it made seaming a nightmare because it was hard to see where to stick the needle. But I really loved knitting with the 4-ply soft, so I guess that makes up for it.

Here are some photos so far, first of the body of the sweater, then of one of the sleeves more or less where it should be set into the armhole.





The next thing is to sew the sleeves into the armholes and weave in the billion ends, but I'm going to hold off on that for a little while because I'm tired of staring intently at tiny yarn. Also, I frogged and reknit the neckband because the ribbing looked too loose the first time around....but it looked exactly the same after the second time too....so I guess I will just have to live with it. Argh!

I started another Christmas project, but it is top-secret! Although I will say that I knit and frogged and changed my mind 4 times, so this has been a rather frustrating time, knitting-wise. But I am all better now, I hope! =)

Random musings

So, I have just realized that I currently have two major knitting projects going. The first is a Christmas present, so I can't show it. Actually, I finished the first of that series and am now on the second. The other thing I have going is that lacy shawl. I've been making pitifully slow progress on it because I find the kidsilk a little tricky sometimes. Plus, I really need to concentrate; the pattern is pretty intricate, so I can't just sit and do it while watching TV. I've already made a ton of mistakes, but oh well. Hopefully they won't be too noticeable. Here's a sample pic of it.

Not all that impressive, but I think the finished product will be nice. Sorry 'bout the blurry photo.

The kitty hat knit along? I'm ready to start too. Wanna set a 'cast on date'? How about early next week? That'll give me a chance to get some more of that shawl done before I abandon it for a while XD

A New LYS!

This afternoon I decided to check out Newbury Yarns, a new yarn store in Boston, located on Newbury Street (go figure!). I was actually in the area last weekend and was wondering where it was, but I totally missed it since it is located in the back of a building. So armed with the address this time, I thought I'd go check it out. =)

It's a cute little store, brightly lit with big windows, very neat and uncluttered, and they have a ton of pretty yarns. I didn't buy any (yay yarn diet!), but I did pick up a Vogue Knitting Quick Reference book, and some Eucalan woolwash, which is supposed to be fabulous for washing handknits. Since I was the only person in the store at the time I spent a long while talking with Aldrich, the owner, she is one of the nicest LYS ladies I've ever met. The store is organized mainly by colour instead of by weight/fiber, which took some getting used to, but it really looks fantastic and it's great for inspiration cuz you are immediately drawn by all the different colours. I have a feeling the current organization will be difficult to maintain once she starts having lots of customers pawing and pulling out the yarn haphazardly, though.

The store has only been open for 2 months, so she doesn't have all her yarns in yet, nor are there any price lists posted around the store (!!), but it looks like it will be a great place to shop. A lot of her handpainted yarns are taken from her personal stash right now, and she's got a ton of sweaters that she designed on a shelf in a corner. We were talking a bit about the cost of good quality yarn, and she pointed to 2 cubby-things filled with yarn and was like "this is $2,000!" Holy crap. If you think about how much all the inventory in a yarn store must be worth, it boggles the mind.

Anyway, I will definitely be heading back there in the future. They had the Noro knits book that you bought, Karen, and I was OH SO VERY TEMPTED to pick it up too. But I knew that if I bought it I would start looking at yarn, which would not be a good thing. =)

I'm a smuggler!

Okay, so the title was a bit sensationalized. But I did manage to get my knitting needles onto the airplane. The katia yarn that I picked knits up really nicely. The washcloth is actually pretty soft. Here's a pic of it.

I'd forgotten how quickly little stuff like that knits up! It's really nice and gratifying to finish a project. Oh, and I know what you mean about the dye from the yarn staining bamboo needles. The size 7 bamboo circulars that I used to make the washcloth are tinted this aqua colour from a sweater that I'm still in the middle of making.

Confusion...

I was reading the pattern for that cool Noro scarf you sent me (http://www.yarn-shop.co.uk/free-patterns/noro-scarf.php) and found that are there some instructions that I don't really understand. The short row section is where I start to get confused. Do you bind off the first triangle that you make, and pick up the row 1 stitch? And what do they mean when they say "turn"? Is it just flipping your work so you're on the other side now? And maybe I'm understanding things wrong, but SSK seems to be a lot like k2tog. *shrugs* Yeah...feeling a little stupid for not being able to understand the pattern.

Also, I finished up the trip knitting that I did. It's just a simple little dishcloth. I'll post a pic up really soon.