Sharing Is Caring

I made a thing.  Actually, I made many things, thought a lot, took many pictures, and then I made this thing.  It's my entry into the 2022 Mochimochi Photo + Video Contest.  I had hoped to have made something better, but I think it's good that I put myself out there and tried something.  This contest is awesome, and I really like seeing what everyone makes.  Today is the deadline for entries, so you have just a little bit of time to enter.    

Wednesdays are for the Random, Right?

I am working on a super-secret-deadline-lace project. If my calculations are correct, I must complete 27 rows, which totals around 2500 stitches (give or take, what with changing stitch counts) each day to finish in time. I have remembered to include time for blocking and drying. I am currently choosing to believe that my biggest challenge will be the sharing of the one magnetic board for my two current chart projects. Yes, they are both deadline knitting.

On a local Freecycle group, I saw a curious posting. Offer: Bachelorette Accessories

Yesterday's Ten on Tuesday topic has been detrimental to my productivity. I have been playing games and having fun.

I have lost part of a fancy hat I began knitting in September. I had the opportunity to check fit on the intended recipient, and it is nowhere to be seen. It is in none of the cleverly organized places it should be, and asking me where I last saw it is not helpful.

Scarves are often stubborn, tricksy, and false. I have been knitting on what is attempting to be the Red Corrugator of Doom often, and sometimes for extended stretches. It is not yet 36" long. I wanted to have at least three good scarves for the Red Scarf Project, but this second scarf is out to get me.

Not that I do not enjoy having you here, but I thought I would send you away in hopes that you will win prizes. The deadline is today to enter for Hillary's contest. You have a week to make it over to where Phyllis is giving away some beautiful fiber.

Cardigan, Begin Again

I mean this only in the sense that I have returned to regularly knitting on my EPS FIYC. It has sat and waited patiently for far too long. There are some other projects that are calling for their turn, but they must wait for now. I enjoy the mindlessness of this knitting. I did change my mind and added some shaping. I love that I can knit and knit on this without looking or paying attention. Still, it is not much to look at, and does not make for the most interesting of posts.

In more exciting news, I am in the running for prize-y goodness. The voting is open until May 14th at 6pm (EDT). I knit number eight, Shady Madness. All of the patterns for Sock Madness have been great. I want to finish the pair from the round in which I was eliminated. Then I can look to knitting the newest pattern. It has a cute, lacy folded-over cuff.

Little Bits

So much and nothing has been happening here. I am trying to figure out a better way of organizing my blog reading. I may need to read fewer, but I do not like that idea. I also do not like being so behind. I will find the right solution. I have many areas of life that need organizational assistance. I guess it is more of the process of life, eh?

I got another package this week. I am hostess of the Caps for a Cure October/November round. I am excited to be able to show them all off before I deliver them. We have over twenty-five already. I have a Koolhaas currently stalled on the needles in need of time to find my error. Otherwise, I am nearly done with the hat.

I read about this back in September, and meant to post about it before now. So far, my contribution consists of some hats and mittens, but I hope to knit more. It just takes a little time, a little yarn, and a little love. If you are so inclined to knit for the preemies, check out the link to Sarah's post. These things are so quick to knit. If that is not enough for you, there is a contest, too!

Speaking of little ones, there is no need for the preemie stuff for the newest addition to the Skanky Knitters Family! We just received word that we increased in size by 8 pounds, 15 ounces in the form of a new baby boy! Welcome to the world, Nathaniel Ryan!

I have much prep work to take care of today. The world-famous Kaitlyn is spending Monday with us. She is an adventurous girl, and I need to secure the environment in order to maximize safety and fun while minimizing the need to tell her, "No, don't touch," all the time. Spinning wheels and fabulous fiber are too tempting to not explore. While she learns to hear that not everything is available to her and that there are limits, I would like to do my best to not present too great of a challenge. I have a thought to take her to The Knitting Zone, my absolute favorite lys. For those of you who know Kaitlyn, fear not, I have a plan. We will see what happens. I guess I had better check first to see if they are open tomorrow.

From Socks to Sweaters

I do like my Tap Dancing yarn from Knit Picks. I am sad to say that it is discontinued. I brought this yarn out of the stash for the third round of Sock Madness. Apparently, it was not meant to become that pair of socks. After it rested amongst some other sock yarns, I retrieved it so that it might be redeemed. I knit one sock toe up through the heel turn, unsure of what patterning I would use on the leg. I began the foot of the other sock and knit on it on a Monday night. One Skank asked if it was a cast sock. You know, a sock meant to warm the toes of a foot encased in a cast. I felt a bit worried as I looked down and saw how huge it was. I had the same number of stitches as the other sock and it fit. I carried on and hoped for the best. Once the foot of the second sock was knit and the heel turned, I began the patterning on the leg. I had decreased six stitches in the ankle to accommodate the pattern. I chose Chevron from Charlene Schurch’s Sensational Knitted Socks. It draws in the fabric quite a bit. I knew this from past experience on a pair of socks that did not work out for me. These socks look a bit lousy off the needles, but they fit my feet. They are my illusion socks, and I love them.

Not wanting to end my time with this lovely yarn, I immediately cast on for a miniature sock to fit my keen new sock-blocker key chain. Brittany sent one for each Skank along with the Shedir she knit. I enjoyed handing them out last Monday. I did not begin on mine until after I had delivered them to the other Skanky Knitters. That just seemed fair. Anyway, is it not too cute for words? Brittany is so kind. This makes me even happier to announce that she is the winner of the Shedir contest! I will be packaging up her prizes and sending them out as soon as I can.

The Festive is nearly finished. I have most of one sleeve completed. I am making the sleeves a bit longer than they are written in the pattern. Then it is on to blocking, sewing, and frog closures. I looked at the closures at the store today, but I was unsure of which size I want to use. I will take the top to the store with me when I am done to make my final decision.

Seeing as I am so close to having a garment completed, I have left it in a pile and begun something else. I am working on the Baby Sweater on Two Needles; Practically Seamless, from Elizabehth Zimmermann’s Knitter’s Almanac. This is my first EZ pattern, and it is written a bit differently than others that I have knit. I have completed the garter-stitch yoke and have begun working the gull lace patterning. I am almost to the arms, and think I might try something different to make it seamless. EZ always encouraged us to be thinking knitters and to make our knitting our own, so it seems even more apt that I attempt to change this sweater. We shall see what happens. It may be a total wash, but that is okay. I am more than a wee bit shaky, and I think experimenting might be the best thing for me.

Another Star on My Chart

I finally finished my latest Shedir. Whenever I knit this hat, there is a point where my progress seems to stall. I continue working on it, and the next thing I know, I am zooming on to the end. I used Magic Garden Cotton Candy Baby DK. This is from a bag of yarn given to me years ago by a friend who was cleaning out her stash in preparation for a move. This was my first time using this yarn. It is a machine washable, 70/30 cotton/wool blend. It is soft and was nice to knit with, and I think it is a great choice for this chemo cap. I was disappointed that several times they had knotted together ends to continue the ball of yarn. That is one of my yarn pet peeves. Still, it is not such a big deal in the scheme of things.

So, how is your Shedir coming along? I have it on good authority that there is one headed my way already. There is still time. I am getting ready to package together the prizes.

Speaking of prizes, I will be sending out a little something to Becky, who spotted the mystery knit under my Arwen. I am sad to say that no one was able to correctly identify what I was wearing as the Ballet Camisole that I swatched and blogged about last year. It was a bit of a bugger to finish. I had to rip out the beginning (not easy to do) because I messed up where I joined in the second ball of yarn. The top sat for months while I figured out how I would fix the unsightly mess. I carefully put in needles and frogged the first few inches and re-knit the bottom and ribbing. Weaving in the ends with this yarn is a major pain. It is hard to do so invisibly. I have been unable to get a decent picture of it. After that, crocheting around the neckline and armholes was a breeze. I might not ever buy this lovely, silky, cool, and wonderful yarn again. I know that I am not rushing to knit something with the leftovers.

Home Alone

I have a greater appreciation for the quiet life we have. Our houseguest has moved on to the next leg of his journey, and now it is just the two of us. Still, we are glad to have had him down, especially since his health is not as we had expected. We had quite a time, and really enjoyed the wedding we all attended at Cheekwood Botanical Gardens in Nashville. No matter how wonderful a trip is, or how great a houseguest is, I am always relieved for things to return to the relative normal that is our life.

Before we headed off for Tennessee, I took a moment for myself to pick up a few knitting accessories. I experienced a happy surprise when I was able to purchase a new book at a nice discount. I love Sensational Knitted Socks, and More Sensational Knitted Socks might be even better. Ms. Schurch includes a chart of shoe sizes and widths with foot measurements in men's, women's, and children's sizes. She addresses issues of wide feet (the ball of my foot is quite wide), narrow heels, odd and even stitch counts on the heel and instep, and more. The stitchionary is great, too. This book is a wonderful resource. I know I will use it often as I knit socks. I hope it helps me to knit socks that fit even better. I will definitely be incorporating some of the things I have read in my latest pair of socks. It is another toe-up pair.

I am pretty sure that I have figured out what pattern I will use to knit for my Sockapalooza Pal. I am straying a bit from her two favorite colors. Instead, I am knitting socks which fit with one of her great loves. I am debating whether to show them here on the blog. I feel like they are such a great match with her, that if she were to see them here, she would know right away that they are for her.

So far, I have not received a single guess on the mystery tidbit from my last post. Maybe it is a bit more difficult to figure out than I had thought. I will give you all a bit more time to investigate. Since it might require a bit more work to find the answer, I have added more to the prizes. Speaking of prizes, I look forward to awarding them for the Shedir contest. You have until the end of the month.

Arwenagain

I have had some questions about how I changed the pattern to make my Arwen without a hood, and have received requests for extra photos. I am always happy to oblige, so I arranged another photo shoot. This time I braved the weather and went outside. A tiny token to whomever spots and identifies the bonus surprise.

First, however, I will tell you about my modification to make my Arwen without a hood. It was not a difficult modification. I was not sure just what I was going to do when it came time to shape the shoulder, so I followed along the directions and had my stitches for the center front in waiting on a holder. When I finished with all the other knitting of the sweater, I had decided upon an i-cord neckline. I went back and bound off the stitches on the holders. I sewed blocked and sewed everything together. After I had finished the shoulder seaming, I grabbed my dpns, and worked a three-stitch i-cord around the neckline, using a k2tog to attach as I knit. I confess that I grabbed the wrong size dpns and was nearly strangled when I tried it on the first time. It was no trouble to rip it out and work it with the correct needles. I like what I created here and the way it gave shape and structure to the neckline.

And now, to the pictures. First, we have a picture of Arwen without me. Then we have a close-up of the cabling, including a picture of some mystery cashmere/silk gift yarn. Did I ever mention that my Skanky Knitters are the best? Next, we have a couple of pictures of me wearing Arwen. These are better representations of the way Arwen looks on me. I like the way the cabling folds back naturally at the top. I do love this sweater. It is beautiful, comfortable, and an interesting knit. I enjoyed knitting it. It has inspired me to make more sweaters.

I am not getting nearly as much knitting done as I would like this week. We have a houseguest in from out-of-town. It has been an experience. Still, there have been some opportunities with the needles, and I have completed the back of my Festive and am nearly halfway through with the left front. I am considering making the sleeves a wee bit longer. The need to measure Festive makes it less suitable for on the go and in the car knitting. I need to get some socks on the needles. I have a couple of ideas of patterns and yarns to use. Whichever I choose, they are both suitable for relatively mindless knitting. I need that kind of knitting.

Speaking of socks, I have been stalking my Sockapalooza pal's blog to determine the right pattern for her. I am close to making a decision on yarn and colors. The introductions over on the Sockapalooza blog have been overwhelming. We have 1006 participants from 26 countries. I have clicked so many links, seen so many great things, and cannot remember where they all were.

While Sockapalooza has many participants, Sock Madness is down to the Final Four. The pattern will be released sometime today. This pattern sounds like it could be quite challenging. We have already been told that it is Fair Isle. It also seems like gauge could be deadly and difficult.

Share a Shedir

Shedir is the most beautiful chemo cap I have knit. I would knit this pattern for a loved one. I think it is very special, and I love including it in the rotation of patterns I knit for Caps for a Cure. In fact, here are some pictures of my latest that I neglected to include in my last post. I knit this one using Sinfonia. It is a 100% mercerized cotton yarn. I liked using it, and love that it is a readily-available, economical option.

I could go on and on about the ways I adore this hat, but instead I will get to the point of this post. I would like to challenge you to knit a Shedir to be donated to Caps for a Cure. Knitting this hat makes you feel like a Knitter with a capital K. It is a bit more complex than other hats I have knit, but the pattern has clear, well-written instructions. In conjunction with the challenge, I am offering prize-y goodness. I have been compiling goodies for this, and I think you will be pleased. Not only can you have the good feelings from knitting a challenging pattern and donating it to a worthy cause, you could be a winner. So, go ahead and knit a Shedir. You can send it to me or directly to the sponsored center. This round goes until the end of May. Just email me when you finish knitting your Shedir, and I will send you the details.