Lizzardie Knits

Following through....

I started a cardigan!

posted by Lizzardie @ 3:29:00 PM 0 comments

Rockin' Sock Club

I finished my Monsoon Inside Out socks several weeks ago:



Pattern: Inside Out, from Blue Moon Fiber Arts (Rockin' Sock Club February Pattern)
Yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock Mediumweight, Monsoon, 1 skein
Needles: US 1.5 (toe, sole, heel, first repeat of cuff) and US 2 (rest of cuff)
Project Timeline: 3/10/07 - 4/5/07

In both the above picture and the next one, I have shown one sock right side out and one sock inside out. Here they are on my feet:



I liked this pattern, and I'm happy with the color. I really liked the garter stitch toe and heel, and the ribbing all the way around the sock. The cables I'm not entirely sure on, but they look nice on this sock. One thing I did that I may go back and change later on is that I knit the first pattern repeat on the cuff on Size 1s before going up to Size 2 needles. They are nice and snug on, but it's hard to get to that point (and hard to take them off). I'll probably leave that for the fall or something, though (I think I have enough yarn left over to do that and keep them with the same number of cables).

I attempted to do these two at a time, using Magic Loop. It was going pretty well, until towards the end of the sole when my yarn ball fell apart (I knit from both sides of the skein) and I had to start knitting them one at a time. Since I don't have a scale, and don't feel like investing in one, I will probably have to do socks one at a time with one-skein projects, since I wouldn't be able to evenly split the skein. No problem, at least I tried. I think that while doing the socks two at a time is nice in that you don't have that "I finished a sock! Ohh, but now I have to make second one. :-(" feeling, it went slower than my normal knitting.

My goal with the club was to knit all of the club colors with the patterns they come with. I do not think it's cheating to use Magic Loop instead of DPN or 2 circs, and there are some (minor) modifications that are necessary (sewn bind-off on the Inside Outs, for example). But all in all, I want to try different things and be exposed to new methods. I had not planned on finishing any of them in any sort of timeline, but since I did finish these so quickly, I am now making it a goal to finish each club kit before the next one comes.

And yesterday I got this:



I haven't seen anyone else post a picture of this yet, so here's the skein of Silkie Socks That Rock in Walking on the Wild Tide opened up:



I think the new base yarn is really soft, and I like the color... I just don't know that I'm a fan of the different colors of the different plies. Ahh well. The pattern looks easy but challenging (toe up, with a reverse heel flap) and has a knee high version. I've been wanting to make knee highs, but haven't found a pattern I like enough to take the plunge. So we'll see how I'm liking the sock at the end of "regular" height, and maybe I'll wind up picking up an extra skein of this to make knee highs.

posted by Lizzardie @ 3:45:00 PM 0 comments

New Project: Cropped cardigan with leaf ties

I am making this sweater to wear with a green dress I have to Scott and Julie's wedding. I say I'm going to knit things all the time, and, well, if it isn't a pair of socks, it probably doesn't get done (and even then, I have TONS in queue). A lot of times it's a matter of acquiring yarn, and then having enough things off the needles to put something new on. But! I'll probably finish my sister's shawl this weekend (at least the knitting part, I still need to acquire buttons). And I have 12 skeins (meant for two different projects that I may or may not one day go back to) of Knit Picks Andean Silk in cream that I think would be perfect. So this one is getting swatched and casted on this weekend.

I'm hoping to make a few modifications. Nothing major - I want to lengthen the sweater (I think short things make me look too boxy) and make the sleeves longer, maybe full-length, I'm not sure. Here's hoping I have enough yarn!

posted by Lizzardie @ 9:03:00 AM 0 comments

Friday Harbor Socks

Kristen's birthday was yesterday, and I am continuing to fulfill my promise of knitting socks for all of my friends as birthday presents this year:



Pattern: Knitting on the Road
Yarn: Schaeffer Anne, 1 skein (The Loopy Ewe called this color Summer Afternoon, but it's potluck, like all Schaeffer Anne)
Needles: US 2 (yarn held doubled)
Project Timeline: 2/24/07 - 3/8/07

It took me awhile to figure out what to make for Kristen. I had wanted to use a skein of Sunshine Yarns that I had (which is now currently in progress as a pair of socks for me), but Herb said his fuzzed up quite a bit in the laundry, and I want to see if it's him or the yarn before I give someone else a pair of socks from that yarn. So I thought Schaeffer Anne would be a good choice for Kristen - it comes in lots of bright colors and the Schaeffer Yarn Company is located in Interlaken, NY (Kristen went to RIT so she has an appreciation for the Finger Lakes region, as I do).

Now for a pattern for the lovely skein of yarn I got... Anne is both bright and made of mohair, so something complicated was out (no use spending all that time on a pattern that will be obscured after a few washes). But I didn't want boring. I thought the Friday Harbor pattern would be good, but it called for a much thicker yarn, and I did not feel like totally adapting the pattern... and it occurred to me that I could double the Anne! Now, this whole thing was an experiment, because the whole time I thought I was going to run out of yarn and have to start over. But, the yardage on the Anne held up (550 yards means 275 yards doubled), and the socks knit up really fast.

There is a nice little lace pattern on the sock:



The sock was easy enough that I'm not going to care if you can't see the pattern after awhile, though.

The one thing I will change when I do these socks again (because I will make myself a pair - I even have a great skein of Anne for it) is the toe. I do not have elf feet, and the toe of the sock just wasn't comfortable on my feet. I told Kristen I would reknit the toes if she wanted me to (she wears the same size shoe as me, but her feet are a little wider) but she says the socks fit great, so I'm not complaining. I think this one was called a rounded toe and the one from the RPM socks is called a pointed toe - maybe it's the other way around, but I would definitely substitute the RPM toe on these socks.

posted by Lizzardie @ 11:04:00 AM 0 comments

March Sock Club Yarn

Only one skein of yarn this month, from Sunshine Yarns:



Of the three skeins I've received (halfway through the club), this color (Deep) is my favorite. However, the one thing I am unsure of is that she has introduced a new base yarn - it's still superwash, but it has a tighter spin, making it both thinner and shorter on yardage (395 yards compared to the 450 from before). I'm happy to try it, I just hope I like it as much as the other yarn (and right now I'm kinda hoping future shipments will be with the old base yarn, since she's planning on keeping both, it seems).

The sheep notepad is really cute. :-)

posted by Lizzardie @ 10:58:00 AM 0 comments