Two for one

I've hardly picked up the pointy sticks at all last week. I was too tired in the evenings. But yesterday I made up for it and finished two projects.

The first one was Loksins! by Ms. Too Much Wool. I can't say I suffered from SSS (Second Sock Syndrome). On the contrary, I suffered from seperation anxiety. It was hard to let go. ha ha ha.



The other project was my mitered square towel. I ended up sewing it together in the sewing machine, using variegated thread.



I tried to hand sew it before but it wasn't working out the way I wanted to. Besides, this was quicker. The variegated thread worked well.



And now it's hanging on the stove.



There is also a photo of all of the towel.



I had lined up the squares to all be oriented the same but when I was done I noticed that that was not the case. But I like it like this too.

About Loksins! and Knitty.

I've been working on Loksins! during my trip and sometimes during the class (without taking my attention away from the class). I have finished one sock and am almost down to the heel flap on the second one. I really enjoy knitting lace. It makes the knitting very interesting and it's fun to block (or in this case put the socks on) and see the lace pattern come to live. When I put the sock on for the first time it hit me how romantic the pattern was. These really are luxurious socks.

Now however, the yarn that I'm using is NOT luxurious. It's not horrible, but it´s not great either. It does split some and once in a while are blobs of fibers comes along the string. But what do you expect of $6.50 per 100 gr. yarn made in Turkey? The color by itself isn't exactly beautiful but I chose it specially because of two things. First, it was a light color so the lace pattern shows better and second, it is kind of skin color and I can use it for dolls. I want to try to knit dolls.

Another thing about these socks that surprised me was that I actually enjoy to knit them on 4 dpns as opposed to knitting socks on 5 dpns. I guess I don't have as many needles getting in the way and you are not as likely to yank one of the needles out.

They fit really really well. And I think that is in large part due to the fact I knit them on 2.25 mm needles (US1 I think). I've been knitting socks on 2.5 mm needles and it seemed a little too large. The monkey socks are for example a little too large. I started Loksins! on 2.5 mm, but my kids yanked all the needles out and they just seemed too large. So I started over on 2 mm circs and I knit down one leg before I admitted to my self that they were too small and I couldn't even get them over my heel. So third time was the charm. This pattern is wonderful. I encourage you to get it and thank you so much Cassie for creating it and making it awailable for us.

Now to the next topic.

Knitty

The Fall 2007 issue of Knitty came out today. The front page pattern just jumped out at me. It's called Muir (after woods named after John Muir, a big figure in Northern Californian history). I-can't-resist-it. Must-start-knitting. Just kidding. It's not like I have yarn or needles for it here in the hotel room! ha ha ha

I'm also head over heels with Cherie Amour. I want it. It's perfect for me.

I love the pattern on Q as well. I don't like the toe but I love, love, love the leg pattern.

It's been a while since I've been so excited about Knitty. They have great patterns, don't get me wrong. But it has been awhile since I've been excited about any patterns at all.

Ég hjarta New York

I´ve been writing about my trip on my Icelandic blog so y'all have to go over there for any details, but I can tell you that I had a great time on the plane (planes actually because I had a layover in Charlotte, NC) traveling without small children for the first time I can remember (my memory really only reaches back where they were born anyways, he he). I made the most out of it and knit and listened to knitting podcasts the entire time.

I eventually found my mum´s socks (while I was looking for something else) and here is what they look like.



Here is how they looked like when I started them.



I made the socks with ONline supersock and used the toe up sock pattern from Ann Budd from Interweave knits this summer. I actually started using this instruction for Turkish toe.

I timed it so that I would start the second sock at the same place on the pattern repeat as the first. That made them a little short (but not too short) and I ended up with a lot of leftover yarn, so this yarn goes a long way. Maybe I can use it for something for the kids. Perhaps socks?

Tales of the Traveling Knitter

Since I finished the big blanket I´ve been flirting with the sewing machine (without anything presentable to show for it) and knitting on couple of smaller projects. I started Loksins! for the third time. This time with 2.25 mm needles. The first time I used 2.5 mm and then 2 mm but this time I hit the right size needles it seems. I´m also back to 4 dpns (instead of the 2 circs I was using before (2 mm)) and I have to say that I like 4 dpns a lot better then 5 (dpn=sokkaprjónar). I´m having a lot of fun knitting the socks so I don´t really mind starting over. I never got really far anyways. I really enjoy knitting lace and that helps. I´m going to teach beginner´s lace knitting class at my LYS later this fall. The girls are a little intimidated by lace and don´t realize how easy it is.

Another big knitting news is that I finally got a ball winder! It´s for winding up all the yummie yarn I´ve been getting when my mom was here. One type of yarn I got was Angora by Elsebeth Lavold. This yarn was calling me and begging to be knit.



It wanted to be a hat. It´s knit top-down. I started with 4 stitches and then just started knitting and the pattern just appeared and everything fit into place. The yarn is so soft and yummie. It´s going to be a great hat. I don´t know if I can just use 2 hank and then make 2 (one for each daughter) or if I use part of the second hank for the hat and make matching mittens. I´ll see.

Tomorrow I´ll be going to a training school in Mahwah, NJ. I´ll fly out early in the morning and wouldn´t be back until Friday evening. I´m hoping to get a lot of knitting done. Traveling without kids - what a privilege!

Working on Ravelry

I´ve been spending all evening on Ravelry adding yarns and projects, including the rest of the stash enhancement and all of my 2006 projects, respectively.

August has been a great S.E.X. (Stash Enhancement eXperience) month and I finally have a real stash! Including some sock yarns and my first grown-up non-Lopi sweater yarn. This one is for my husband. Why do one for him and not for me? I was gifted some vintage patterns and one man´s sweater was just too awesome not to make. When yarn.com had it´s sale on Elsebeth Lavold yarn (and others) I used the opportunity and bought a whole sweater´s worth (25 skeins) of Silky wool (35% silk) for 50% off.



I finished the blanket I was working on almost exclusively and now I´m working on Cassie´s Loksins socks. I started them with 2.5 mm on 4 dpns. I actually liked the 4 dpns better than 5 dpns, but my girls pulled them out and I started them again with 2 mm circulars (from knitpicks,com) since they seemed a little big on 2.5. Now I´m worried they are too small.

Today me and my mom went to the knitting club at the library. It was a lot of fun as always. I brought some of my FOs to brag, he he.