Nerd-time Socks, a.k.a. Seeley Socks

Summer school has taken up the majority of my time but I managed to finish a pair of socks. Based on Knitty's Thuja in washable wool with a few modifications. The cuff was 1x1 rib but the body of the sock I kept in Stockinette with stripes for added interest. The tripe sequence was a ghetto Fibonacci sequence, multiplied by a factor of 2. In other words, not including the cuff: 2, 2, 4, 6, 10, 16, 26, 42, etc. But it was still very painful to weave in so many ends.

OMG pod person! or Small Steps

While I was home the other weekend I finished VK's Cabled Cardigan (#15) from the Winter 2006/07 issue--finished the knitting that is. And then the most amazing thing happened, I went ahead and blocked all of the pieces, all professional-like.

My mom even came over and admired my work; she usually just grumbles about what a mess I'm making. I mean she's right, but whose fault is it that I'm crafty? I certainly didn't teach myself to use the sewing machine or how to crochet miles and miles of chains. I was feeling pretty impressed until she looked at the sleeves which were on another board and asked "What are these extra pieces here?" Small steps, small steps. Here's the back and fronts, with bad flash lighting as a bonus:

The pieces are dry and waiting for me to seam them but no rush! I guess that means I'm only a pod person hybrid. Whew, what a relief.

Physics homework be darned...

School's been keeping me busy so that means I cast on for new projects. I started tabi socks for the pop and a purplish version of "Central Park Hoodie." The plum scarf is halfway through the fringing process and NOW the cold season here is over. Terrible timing on my part. No new pictures of any of my progress for the time being.

I did come across this weird collection of bugs though. Presumably they're some type of beetle but that's all I have to offer. How long have they been collecting on the tree and I only just noticed them recently? I'm losing my touch with nature.

Breakstudy

In the absence of being able to concentrate on a sweater--ok, I wanted an "easy" project--I started this seed stitch scarf. All of my scarves are storebought and synthetic, which is a shame considering my hobbies. This one will be warm, a little scartchy, plum-y, and squishy (thanks 100% wool). I was tempted to do some fancy cabling but then it wouldn't be the easy-I-can-do-it-while-watching-tv-knitting project. I might add that about 6 inches into it I made a mistake, didn't spot the mistake until about 8 inches later and I had to rip back and continue...all while watching tv.

Babies grow up so fast!

Ribbed Baby Jacket by Debbie Bliss

I started this for a baby girl I thought was 2 months-old. I had two days to complete the tiny sweater and only had the finishing left when I found out the baby is nearly 6 months-old. I suck at time estimation.

I used Wool-ease in a pea green color because the mother's favorite color is peridot. I ran out in the middle of the night and had to continue with something I had onhand. Cotton-ease in the same color family to the rescue. I'm going to stick with the brighter green for my second and final attempt.

Last-Minute Halloween

Halloween was fun this year, if a bit rushed. Made more fun by the fact that I put the siblings to work. This is a glimpse of their handiwork:



On the crafting front I finished the back for the VK Cabled Cardigan and cast-on for the left side. The $1.50 Cardigan is on hold until I have the heart to sit down and do the math for the decreases on the fronts. Knitting is rolling along but in need of attention is my overflowing fabric "scraps." I'm up to about three boxes worth, something that's hard to estimate accurately since I keep finding pockets of fabric in odd places. With the impending doom of having to sort and organize the fabric I want to escape and start a new crochet project or maybe even trade mountains and organize the scrapbooking stuff. [Crossing my fingers that the Bio midterm went well..]

Post-Weekend Update

Owing to two Midterms this week I've been knitting up a storm. The black $ 1.50 Cardigan has been frogged but not forgotten. The bunchiness wasn't working out, even after a light block. Instead, I restarted it in Cotton-ease. The brown shows off the stitch pattern much better. Already on the second skein!

The rejected black yarn is now the Cabled Cardigan from Vogue Knitting Winter 2006/07. The cable repeat is different for every row, ensuring minimal boredom. I fell in love with the tie closures and the fabric is knitting up super chunky (duh).

I also started some booties for the new baby. There may also be enough yarn left over for a tiny hat. I better hurry up.

Now Showing: BALLS

I've done some work on the cardigan and dug up the old gray sweater. But the most exciting thing by far was this marquee. Time to start my paper. Hooray!

Son of a Beach!

Yep, it was bound to happen. Cast on for the Dollar and a Half Cardigan and a few rows into the lace pattern it's time to rip it and start over. The lace pattern itself is intact. But I've got this blasted extra stitch at the end of the row. Kind of like when you've finished a nice section of stockinette stitch and there's a tiny snag, that you can't squish back into the fabric. And it just stares at you. That's what this extra lace stitch is doing...staring me down. And although I concede that this situation could have been resolved by pragmatic swatching, I like to dive right in (and flail).