The Stealth Project

This sweater is a only a stealth project because my daughter reads my blog and what I'm making is a gift for my grandson's birthday.  He'll be 2 on Monday but his birthday party is tomorrow.  She's too busy to read anything today, so here's a picture of the inside of the front piece.

You don't need the team of CSI to figure out that this is Elmo.  The back and sleeves are finished and being blocked.  Normally I will weave in the ends of an intarsia project as I go along but this one is small and not terribly complicated so I left all the tails to the end. 

Now the question is, can I weave in all the ends, sew the pieces together (it's got saddle shoulders) and work the neck ribbing by the birthday party tomorrow?  I hope so but, if not, there should be no problem having it completed for Braydon's actual birthday on Monday.

It's been so much fun to do intarsia again.  I love it and I've missed it.  I like the results, the challenge and making something out of  the chaos of all the yarns.  I have another project to do right away after this one and then I'm going to pull out my intarsia cushion that's been resting for a while.  It'll be good to get back to it again.

Unravelling

Again, many thanks for all the kind notess.  Your words have touched me.

After not knitting at all for the past week I've now picked up the needles again:  a few rows of a pair of socks and a stealth project.  The stealth project is coming along quickly and I hope that it's fast enough.  It's a sweater.  The front and both sleeves are finished and I'm hurrying to complete the back.  More on it soon.

Knitters aren't crazy about unravelling a project but sometimes it's necessary.  I'm one of those weird people who don't mind ripping out my work if it means the reknitting will make the project better.  I came across this little video in which unravelling means moving forward, not backward.  It's a machine-knitted 2012 calendar and you unravel the days (they're in German) as you move throughout the year.  It's clever, and at the end of the year you have yarn for something new, perhaps a new calendar for 2013.

Mom

I've been away from the computer for a few days because my Mom died last Thursday (my post that day had been written earlier and scheduled for the 19th).  I flew back to my hometown to be with family and attend the funeral and returned back to Calgary a couple of hours ago.  Even though she lived a very long life and had been ill for a some time it is still very difficult.  I want to take this moment to thank my friends who sent messages, cards and flowers.  Your moral support means a lot to me.  I'll be back to knitting and blogging soon.

He's a Keeper!

One day my Grandson was at the table with his Mom playing with Play-Doh.  She would roll it out and then give it to him.  Braydon held onto the two ends and started turning and twisting it.  When asked what he was doing he said "knitting".  It looks like circular knitting to me.  I couldn't be more proud!

This picture is a screen shot from a little video.    The file was too big to add here.  Maybe he'll knit something for his Grandma someday.

Rule of Four - Jan '12

The craziness of the Christmas season and rushing to finish projects is over.  Now, I can settle back and decide on my Rule of Four (plus Socks) list:

#1 - is a Stealth Project with details to come soon.  It's a sweater and the sleeves are finished.  I did both sleeves at the same time.  I had two balls of wool and would knit across one sleeve, then the other one.  This ensures that both sleeves are the same, increases in the same place, etc.  Also, I don't have that feeling of starting all over again when one sleeve is finished and the other is about to be started.  Now, onto the front.  I'm not knitting them in the traditional order of back, front, sleeve, sleeve.  This project has a deadline. 

#2 - Jigsaw Afghan.  I'm looking forward to getting more done on this afghan.  It won't be long until I start to think about the border. 

3 - It's been frigid here in Calgary for the last couple of days so a pair of gloves has moved up in the queue.  I have the yarn and patterns for three of the glove offerings from the Rainey Sisters.  I'm going to start with the Foxhall Gloves as I think that these will be the warmest ones. These are supposed to be gloves for men but to me they look unisex to me.  I'm calling this project as 1% finished as I've assembled the materials and wound the yarn (Jared Flood's "Loft") into a ball.

#4 - I'm going to finish up the Wibble Wobble Scarf and get it delivered to Inn From The Cold.  It got set aside over Christmas. 

C...C...C...C...Cold

Carole's list this week seems timely since we're having a cold snap here in Calgary:

"The Ten on Tuesday topic for 1/17/2012 is 10 Things To Do Inside When It's Too Cold To Go Outside"

1.  Knit, of course, but that goes for every day, doesn't it?
2.  Make a pot of chicken soup - did it.
3.  Play with Grandson - yes.
4.  Hot bubble bath - later.
5.  Clean out cupboards - in progress.
6.  Watch a movie which is set somewhere warm - yep, Midnight In The Garden of Good and Evil, set in Savannah, Georgia.
7.  Do the ironing.  Okay, okay.
8.  Catch up on email - in progress.
9.  Read - yes, "Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson".
10.  WHINE and hope for a hot flash. 

Zigmas's Socks

If I keep going like this I'll have no problem with knitting 12 pairs of socks (1 pair/month) this year.  A second pair is now off the needles.  This pair is for Donna Druchunas' upcoming book about Lithuanian knitting.  This is the first pair of socks I've made with worsted-weight yarn.  Talk about a quick knit!

THE DETAILS

Pattern:  Zigmas's Socks

Method: Cuff down, 48 stitches, 2x2 ribbing, pattern on legs and feet

Size: Lady's medium

Needles: US #4/3.0 mm double points

Yarn:  Cascade 220 Heathers - 1 skein

Color #9558 - very pale blue

100% Peruvian Highland Wool

Sweet Shawlettes Winners

Some people might think that Friday, the 13th is an unlucky date but for three readers of Rhythm Of The Needles, it's a lucky day.  Thanks to everyone who left a comment and entered the contest, and also to everyone who visited even if you didn't enter the contest.

I asked my daughter to choose three numbers at random.   She chose numbers 1, 24 and 33.  These numbers matched up with:

1.  Cyndi in BC

24.  Carol Griffin

33.  Jessica

If you will email me:  joanne  @  jconklin  .  com  with your postal address I'll get the books off to you within the next couple of days.  Enjoy your new book!

Squares-From-Sock-Yarn Afghan

I usually have quite a bit of yarn leftover from knitting socks so the question is, what should I do with the rest of the yarn?  I set aside 8 yards to make a block on my Sock Yarn afghan and I save some for my friend's afghan, too.  That afghan is in my storage unit right now and I'm looking forward to getting back to the project.  It's addictive, close to being completed and I miss it. 

One day, while browsing knitting blogs I came across another sock yarn afghan that I like a lot.  Check it out at Gail's Good Yarn.  It's it stunning?  It looks like a quilt.  So, I decided to make one that's very similar.

Here's what I did:

With 2.75 mm needles I cast on 1 stitch.  Then, I increased by knitting into the front and back of the first stitch on every row until I had 45 stitches on the needle.  Next, I k2tog at the beginning of every row until I was back to 1 stitch left and secured it.  Easy:  make the square bigger until it's the size you want, then make it smaller until you're back to 1 stitch. 

The square on the left is from the Fabel socks that I just finished.  The square on the right is from the S&S Socks from a few months ago.  And so the new adventure begins.

Like Gail, I plan to sew these squares together right away.  I'll make the seam as flat as possible so that the afghan will be almost the same on both sides, reversible.  When I started and finished the square I left a long tail which I'll use for the seaming.

This is going to be a long, slow project.  All yarn will be from stash, mine or others.  No new yarn will be purchased for this afghan.  I expect that it'll take a couple of years, at least, to finish up.  I won't count this as one of my Rule of Four projects.  Instead, it's a P.S. at the end of a pair of socks.

What I don't have is a name for this afghan.  I already have a Sock Yarn Afghan so I need something different.  Suggestions?

First Socks of the New Year

Earlier I wrote that I'd like to complete a pair of socks every month for 2012.  The first pair is finished.  Sure I started in 2011, on December 24th, but now I have plenty of time to start on a second pair this month.  The bottom line is that by the end of the year my sock stash will be smaller.

THE DETAILS

Pattern:  Generic

  

Method:  Cuff down, 60 stitches, 2x2 ribbing, stocking stitch legs and feet, short row heels

  

Size:  Lady's medium

Needles: US #0/2.0mm double points
(used my new Knitter's Pride Dreamz)

Yarn:  Sandnes Garn Fabel Superwash

75% wool, 24% polyamid

50% merino woo, 50% cotton

 

Made for:  Daughter, Jessica

  Notes:  One of my goals for 2012 is to complete a minimum of 1 pair of socks a month.  One pair down, eleven more to go!