At least I made the bed

Although I should have cleaned the mirror, too:Ravelery beta t-shirt, "Where my stitches at?"*
A very sad attempt to photograph my Perfect Sweater, since it's actually cold enough to want to wear wool.



























Sundara Sock yarn, Electric Pear, purchased via the Ravelry ISO board




Knitting: basic sock in Araucania Ranco Multi.

*this is a women's size XL American Apparel shirt. The shirts are supposed to have negative ease, but I don't really like negative ease in a t-shirt, so I ordered the XL (37.5" bust, I think?) for myself and my 36" bust. And although there's been much discussion of a the "lack" of proper grammar in the "where my stitches at?" catch-phrase, as a writing teacher and a self-proclaimed grammar fan, I rather like it. I think it does a great job of conveying tone and attitude, which is more important than rigid adherence to silly and somewhat-archaic grammar rules. I think I've got to go with Winston Churchill on dangling participles.

WIP Wednesday

First WIP: the husband sweater. We're coming up on our 8th anniversary in November, so I figure I'm safe from the sweater curse. :) He just tried it on and the fit is fine. Aside from the fact that the underarms and saddle need to be grafted, and it needs a collar, it's a sweater!

This was my first EZ pattern (and my first man sweater), a seamless hybrid inspired by the wonderfulness that is BrooklynTweed. Some time ago, he knit a seamless hybrid, and I've been drooling over it ever since.

The construction is amazing--I had a lot of trouble visualizing it (but got excellent advice and encouragement from some Ravelers--thanks!) until I actually started, when it made so much sense I couldn't believe I didn't understand it earlier. This will not be my last EZ pattern--or my last seamless hybrid!

I'm also making progress on my melon scarf--I finally started the border. I didn't have enough yarn for the border the pattern calls for, so I've substituted the narrow point border on p. 183 (a la Grumperina)
A close-up:
I really like this yarn--Valley Yarns Alpaca/Silk hand-dyed in Camilla. (I prefer to think of it as Watermelon, however, as this is a melon scarf.) The color repeats are short, so I haven't had any pooling at all--just wonderful color mixes. And the yarn feels lovely--soft, but strong enough to handle sharp tips and manipulations.

The narrow point border is moving along pretty quickly--I've rounded two corners and am about a quarter of the way down the second long side. A few more nights of knitting and it should be done.

I've also finished the test knit I was doing for Mama Llama, and mailed it off.

I haven't made any more progress on my Stripes and Torchon lace scarf, though--it's having a time out. The border is fairly complicated, and lately I've wanted knitting that didn't make me think quite so hard. Stockinette and lace with 8-row repeats is more my speed, lately.

And soon--hopefully!--I'll have another couple of checks in the FO column, so I can cast on for something new! I'm thinking about Madli's Shawl (this is a Ravelry link), from IK--I've liked the pattern for a while, but haven't been able to find a copy of it. But I purchased the issue from someone on Ravelry who was destashing, so now it's mine, all mine! I've also purchased Anne Hanson's Honeybee stole pattern, so that's high on the list of possibilities. Or maybe another seamless hybrid. Or a pair of Fetching mitts. Or . . .

I have too many things I want to cast on for now. And lessons to prep for my class, alas, that will put them on hold for at least a little while.

In my fit of "I must have it now," I also caved to the pretty colors of the new Knitpicks Harmony Options set. I'm stalking my account to see when they ship--I don't have any interchangable needles, so really, I needed them. At least, that's my story and I'm stickin' to it. :)

WIP-ing along

Test knitting, turning this:Mama Llama silk/cashmere laceweight

Into this:
The pattern is fairly simple, but does a nice job of showing off the colors and the yarn, which has a lover-ly drape. It's a little darker than I've managed to capture in the photos--more bronze-y. Tres sophistoque!

I think I've got about three more repeats to go. It's about 7 inches wide by 60 inches long at the moment, pinned out. So it will be a nice length when it's all done.

On the kindness of strangers

One of the most amazing things about Ravelry is the way that it connects people. If I have a question about knitting, I can ask it there, and get an answer within minutes.

Casey and Jess have been generous with their idea, opening it as quickly as possible to as many people as they can. They are (or at least it seems this way) always online, making comments, offering suggestions, answering questions, cracking jokes. Their presence helps make Ravelry feel like a small, friendly community, even though it's made up of people from all around the world.

Ravelers have been generous with their time, editing patterns and yarns, answering knitting questions, offering advice.

The generosity of complete strangers--some of whom have become my friends inside the computer very quickly--is a wonderful thing to witness.

To wit:


Posh Yarns Beatrice in Claret (in real life, much closer to a nice claret wine color than the photo shows).
Posh Yarns Sophia in Pink
And Posh Yarns Cecelia in Lagoon.

All sent to me a Raveler who, having read my enthusiastic endorsement of all things Posh Yarns on one of the forums, thought that I would enjoy them. She didn't want money, or sock yarn, or even postage--just to send the yarn, which she had decided she would never use, to a good home.

All I can say is "Wow." and many, many thanks.

Many Melons

Melon scarf, from Victorian Lace Today. The yarn is Valley Yarn Alpaca/Silk, hand-dyed by the Kangaroo Dyer, in Camilla Pink. Cast on over the weekend, so I'd have some car knitting. The pattern is pretty easy--a 6-row repeat that's easy-peasy to remember. I've done about 45 out of 70 repeats so far.


I've also finished the center panel for the Stripes and Torchon lace scarf that will be my SIL's Christmas present, and made some progress on the Monkey socks.

The main impediment to knitting seems to be Ravelry--I'm spending way too much time there! I've volunteered to edit several books, in part so I feel like I'm at least doing something vaguely productive, rather than simply drooling over other people's projects.

Raveling

Ravelry-ing, that is!

I'm not sure how I managed to get on the list early enough, but Frecklegirl Jess sent me an invite a few days ago, which I jumped at.

Much to the detriment of all the housecleaning I had planned on doing this week, but so. much. fun.

The site, if you haven't seen it yet, is well worth the wait--it's a totally brilliant community. You can

• enter all of your stash, to see it at a glance;
  
• enter your needle collection and text your account when you're in the lys to see if you really need a sixth set of size 5 dpns;
• enter all your projects, in-progress and completed;
  
• enter projects and yarns you're considering into a queue;
  
• browse other people's projects and see their comments on the patterns;
  
• browse other people's stashes and see comments on the yarns;
• comment anything and everything;
• ask questions about yarns, stashes, projects, techniques; and
  
• do so much more I can't even hope to have a comprehensive list!

And it's definitely a community--I can't wait to finish my large rectangle shawl, in part because I want to wear it, but also because I want to post a picture there, as well. I got a lot of nice feedback on the Alpine lace shawl, which is motivating me even further on the large rectangle.

My sock pal is on, too, which means I've lurked in her stash--I've seen which yarns she has, and which colors she tends toward, making me feel more confident in my ability to find a yarn she'll enjoy. I've also looked at which patterns she's got in her queue, and am now debating whether or not I should make one of those patterns for her, or find something new and different. Hopefully this will not make her feel like she has a stalker. I must admit, it's made me feel a little like she has a stalker, and it's me.

Jess and her husband, Casey, have done an amazing job--every time I go back (which is often!), they've improved, added, and updated something else. They're still working the bugs out, and are adding people as quickly as they can, but are a) only two people who still have to sleep sometime and b) don't' want to overwhelm the system before all the bugs are worked out.

So if you're waiting on the list, be patient! It's well worth the wait.