Cable-palooza

So, blogging. It's been over a month but I've been keeping myself busy. March was a particularly full month at work but now things have settled in a bit. Taxes are done. I've finally made significant project on the Burridge Lake Aran Afghan. I now have two of three panels done (excuse the poor lighting).



I cast on panel number three on Friday evening. Even with the gorgeous weather keeping me from getting much knitting done over the weekend, I'm now through nine of 24 repeats of this final panel.



Still looks like I'll be finishing this project at the absolute worst time to properly enjoy a heavy wool afghan but I'll be glad to have it done.

Also keeping me busy has been The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I realize that I have jumped on the bandwagon late but I feel like the joke is on everyone else. I probably won't even be done with the second book (The Girl Who Played with Fire) when the final book comes out on May 25. It's enjoyable reading no matter when you read it and I haven't been spoiled so it's OK.

Spoilers = bad, even if there are somethings I can't wait for.  Like the new series of Doctor Who. Series 5 starts on BBC America April 17 for those of you disciplined enough to wait. Or for those of you that haven't watched it. I am completely sincere when I say that this new season is a perfect time to jump in. There's a new cast, new team of producers, pretty much new everything. I've seen the first two episodes and they're absolutely thrilling. Whether you watch episode 1 or episode 3 this weekend, a good time should be had by all.

More Actual Knitting Content

I've continued to work on the linen stitch scarf and have gotten pretty far. Between last weekend's Doctor Who (watched it twice) and discovering the awesome that is Modern Family, I've found that it makes excellent TV knitting.


Hand included for scale.

I wanted something more complex, though, and something that didn't involve hauling around a few small balls of leftover sock yarn with me. I bought the yarn for the Burridge Lake Aran Afghan (Ravelry link) when Lion Brand Fishermen's Wool was on sale at Michael's a few months ago and was just waiting for the perfect time to cast on. The too-large Vine Yoke Cardigan is still on time out so away I went on an afghan for my futon.



It's really making me want to knit an aran sweater, now. Maybe a baby one, though. I don't seem to do so well with the adult-sized ones.

Anyone For a Sweater Vest?

I've seamed the shoulders of my Rogue and now it's time to put the stitches on the waste yarn back onto the needles and also pick up along the neck, shoulders, and back, for the hood. I'm getting more excited about this the further I get. It looks a little more like a sweater now and a little less like an amorphous green blob.

My First Sweater

I've been working away on Rogue and it's going pretty well. The large expanses of stockinette with just the smallest bit of cabling make it a fairly easy knit that still holds my interest.



My goal for the weekend was to get the top of the kangaroo pocket knit into the body because it was kind of annoying having it hang off of the sweater. I got that far and it's back to really easy knitting until I divide for the front and back and have to do more shaping and start the hood.



Overall, I'm liking this sweater and I'm excited to finish it one of these days, weeks, months.

Die Strümpfe

I was going to save this until tomorrow so that I wouldn't have to come up with something to kick off NaBloPoMo but I was too excited. They're finished!

Sorry the picture's not that great but I have yet to master photographing my own legs and without some sort of large sock blocker they look kind of floppy on their own.

Overall, I'm happy to be done with them and can't wait to wear them.

German Stockings

OK, I swear that this is the last post of the day. I knitted entirely too much on a pair of German Stockings this weekend and had to share my progress. I knit almost the entire leg and I think I'm only going to get up to but not start the heel flap tonight. It's time for mindless television watching tonight. One last shot of the stocking, close up on the main motif this time.

I Have a Problem

Look familiar?

What, you mean I made a pair of Fetching before?

Do I need another pair of Fetching? No. Could I have at least knit a different kind of fingerless mitt? Probably. To be fair, I am at least working on something else.

This is the beginning of Tiffany for my sister's birthday in October. Apparently my obsession is not just with Fetching but with Knitty patterns in general. And finally, note to self: must remember not to tell little sis about the blog until after the mittens are in her possession.

DNA Scarf

I've finished Alisha's scarf. Ends woven in, all blocked. In fact, I blocked the hell out of that thing. It liked to fold in at the purled area between the seed stitch border and the mock cables.


And here it is close up

Pattern: Dr. Montville's Double Helix Seaman Scarf (minus the "Seaman" portion)
Designer: June Oshiro
Yarn: KnitPicks Andean Treasure in Summer Sky Heather, 4 balls
Needle Size: US 2 for lower and upper borders, US 4 for the rest
Date Completed: 30 May 2007

It'll be off to Alisha next week, maybe on time for her birthday. Yes, a scarf for a June birthday. I'm brimming with logic.

Odds and Ends

I've been doing a bit of knitting this weekend. First off, completely finished my Red Scarf Project scarf.

I'll include a note and some other goodies (like chocolate or a gift card to fast food or something since it's for a college student that will probably have midterms not long after receiving the package). Then it'll get sent off hopefully on Tuesday.

Way back on Thursday, I finished my Fetching gloves at knitting group.

There are a few things that I wish were better about them.

1. I forgot that the cables on the right glove were supposed to be forward cables instead of back cables like the left glove. I'm not too upset about this since I probably won't pay attention to which way the cables are going before putting them. I do have leftover yarn that I suppose I could knit a third one out of. It could act as a backup for when I inevitably lose one of them.
2. There are small holes from where I picked up stitches for the thumb. I won't fix them now, but for future mittens/gloves/hand wear in general I will knit the first round of stitches through the back loop so they are twisted. Thanks to Sarah from knitting group for the tip!
3. The picot binding looks a little sloppy. I may block them in some fashion to straighten out the points.

Overall, I'm happy with my new fingerless mittens.

I started my first pair of socks this weekend. I'm using Lorna's Laces Shepard Sock in the Seaside colorway (color #203) and using the Broadripple pattern from Knitty.

Hopefully I can work this out. I love dpns so I shouldn't have too much of a problem until the heel and toe.

Finally, I found some pictures I took at the Munsinger Clemens Gardens in St. Cloud this last summer. I thought I'd post a few to brighten up the winter blahs.


Here are my personal favorite, daisies.

The lilies were all out that day and gorgeous. This is just a small sample of all the lilies they had.

And finally, some lovely hydrangeas.

Red Scarf Project

I finished knitting my scarf for the Red Scarf Project here. It's an annual project organized by the Orphan Foundation of America. You can find out more about it here (Warning: link opens a .pdf file).

I made the scarf from Patons Shetland Chunky Tweeds in deep red. It's 85% acrylic, 15% wool and I found it pretty easy to work with. I got the pattern from the free patterns on Lion Brand's site. My only complaint was it was one of those dreaded skeins with two ends knotted together.

Right towards the end of a row and not long after I had started the second skein, I came upon that blasted knot. I generally like Patons, but that made me a little sad.

Overall, I think the scarf turned out OK. It's currently pinned out on my floor in my itty bitty apartment to block. I'll weave in the ends once it's dry and send it in next week with some added gift of some sort.