More yarn and something other than Devan

The left yarn tower is 900yds of recycled yarn I frogged from just the sleeves of the massive XXL JCrew sweater I got at Good Will. This will become either Mariah or Rogue. Center tower is all that I got from another GoodWill sweater - low yeild because I assumed the sleeves were knit from cuff up when instead they were picked up at the shoulder and knit down - I lost a lot of yardage before I figured it out. And the last tower is 1300 yds of lovely hand-dyed from Danette Taylor on ebay. It has not told me what it will become yet, but each skein is a different colorway, but a complimentary one, part of me is thinking moderately wide stripes of each alternating would look pretty cool.

Oh - and this photo is also evidence of my latest tool - a ball winder. Got it with a 20% of coupon from Joann.com and its a wonderful tool to have, especially with all the sweaters I'm recycling.


more yarn

And here we have my Clapotis, which has gotten no blog-love yet, so I figured it was due. I took this with me for car-knitting last weekend when we went to New Jersey. I was especially proud that I was able to remember rows 6&8 of the straight section, as I had forgotten to pack the pattern! I'm loving this pattern, and already want to knit more, but that seems kind of silly, as its almost spring and how many scarves/wraps can one person have?

clap-on

A Dash of Color

I agree with Yarn Harlot: February sucks(not her exact words). Its not helping that my knitting "priority" if I were to name one is this:


4 inches of agony, with 12 more to go.....

So I decided to give myself a little break. Witness:


some color

Buttonhole scarf for the PumpkinMan of my own design: Lion Brand Boucle, color JellyBean. Its oh so very complicated, so I'll provide a pattern:
-CO 11 stitches on size 11 needles.
-work in garter stitch til piece measures 20"
-next row: k3, bind off 5, k3
-next row: k3, CO5, k3
-continue in garter stitch for 5 more inches.

It looks a tad silly on him without his coat, but he seems to really like it: wouldn't let me take it off him this morning after trying it on.

Devilish Devan

How about some knitting content- would you like that? I would. I seem to have settled down a little bit from my bout of "knitzophrenia". I finished my first socks - made with 2 strands of WoolEase held together - they came out really well (except for mutant kitchener toes - I need to work on my technique.) I don't have a photo because I gifted them to my lovely sister-in-law, she seemed to really like them even with their Dr. Seuss toes.

After finishing those socks, I was able to settle down a bit and finish the right front of Devan, seen below with its brother blocking out a little bit. I can say that I am a confident I will finish this before The PupkinMan will outgrow the size I'm making, however, I can also say that I will never ever knit a sweater with sock yarn again. This thing is tedious. I dread doing the back - 110 stitches wide, all in stockinette and all in a solid color (except for the cute little patch of pattern near the neck line). I plan to cast on for the back today just to get it on the needles before my overwhelming sense of dread stops me.

Devan front

I seem to have relaxed on the urge to start another sweater for myself immediately, but I am still bouncing between wanting Mariah or Rogue to be my first cabling project. Mariah's arms scare me being a first time cabler (is that a word?) and Rogue seems easier in that it has shots of complicated cables, but they are small-ish areas and you get a break of lots of stockinette before you need to tackle another one. I have yet to finish unraveling the sweater that will provide the yarn for whichever I choose, so who knows perhaps the yardage I get will help me decide.

I've been memed!

Nimrodel has tagged me with the music meme that's been floating around the knitting blogs these days. Here we go:

1. Total amount of music files on your computer?
0.0 MB - I listen to music the old fashioned way still: purchased and/or someone made for me CDs only.

2. The CD you last bought is:
Facing Future, Israel Kamakawiwo'ole

3. What is the song you last listened to before reading this message?
Hmmmm, I had the radio on in the car, and I think the last song was Dresden Dolls "Coin Operated Boy" (I love that song!)

4. Write down 5 songs you often listen to or that mean a lot to you.

Meaning:
-Cecilia- Simon & Garfunkel: because my Dad and I always dance to it at weddings
-any song from the Mama Said album by Lenny Kravitz: this album was the backdrop to the time when hubby and I were first dating
-Wish you Were Here, Pink Floyd: reminds me of my cousin, and the angsty teen years we shared being one another's "sister we never had"

Frequncy:
-Didn't Leave Nobody But The Baby - Gillian Welch, Alison Krauss & Emmylou Harris : this is just an amazing combo of voices and I could listen to this over and over and over
-The Coffee Song - Ralph Covert: this is on a kids album I play for the PumpkinMan so I hear it a lot, its pretty cute - "M-O-M-M-Y needs C-O-F-F-E-E"

5. Who are you going to pass this stick to? (3 persons) and why?

Rhoda at GeoKnitting, she currently lives is a very cool place, and I love her blog and her knitting
Colleen, the SubwayKnitter, another Mass. knitter, and she's just finished her 1st pair of socks too!
Amy, the RedHeadedKnittingWoman, because we have twin Klaralunds and she just had a birthday

A stroke of genius

So, after all my talk about not having a focus and having too many things to work on at once, guess I what I did. I cast on for my first pair of socks. And then I cast on for my second pair of socks. One pair is Lion Brand Magic Stripes, and the second is a free pattern from Lion's website for worsted-weight using Wool Ease. I started the woolease ones after getting tired of having to knit sock weight yarn. I'm almost done with the 1st "big" sock, and the "little" ones in stripes will have to wait.

I'm a lunatic, and now I'm a lunatic who sees the lure of sock-knitting: turning the heel then doing the gussets while just following the pattern, not being able to really visualize what the result would be made this truly seem like magic and was just pretty damn cool.