Purlene’s Corner

(aya here)

Yesterday was a gorgeous day, here in MA. I spent the day doing a bit of spring cleaning, with all the windows open, to air the place out. I ended up rearranging the living room furniture, and I finally hung up some pictures that I never seemed to get around to. I’m pretty pleased with the new layout, though the bunnies are letting me know of their displeasure – they keep going and nudging me and the things that have been moved, as if to say “Hey, this is your fault! THIS doesn’t belong HERE.”

I’ve been knitting on a pair of socks, Meida, from Favorite Socks:

I’m about halfway through the second sock. I’m just about done with the gusset decreases.

Though I really like the pattern, which is easy to memorize, I needed something else to knit on. So I cast-on for a hat – ames, the same slouchy hat that you knit, though I didn’t realize it until I finished it!

I knit it up while re-watching a few episodes of season one Battlestar Galactica last night. I decided to re-watch the series, now that I know how they wrapped it up, to see what I missed the first time around (the answer, of course, is that I missed A LOT).

I’m thrilled with this hat, and I just love Malabrigo. It’s so soft and such a tactile pleasure to knit with. This hat is definitely a keeper, though forgive me if I say that I hope that I don’t get any use out of it until next winter.

Two days of sun and temps in the 50s, and Spring Fever has definitely set in!

(aya here)

It’s a lazy Saturday morning here. I’ve got my second cup of coffee next to me, and thought I’d post some pictures from my latest finished socks. I finished these within the last week, and it’s so nice to have two pairs of finished socks so quickly.

These socks have been hanging around since November. I finally bit the bullet and cranked out the second sock. They’re just some simple socks, which normally aren’t hard to crank out, but the yarn was a bit scratchy, so I wasn’t a big fan. I *am* a big fan of the color though. They’re pretty:

The yarn is Lime & Violet’s Sasquatch Sock, in the Buster Keaton colorway.

This second pair of socks, I think I’m in love with them. Ames got me to cast-on for them, and I’m glad she did! They’re big comfy slouchy socks, and I know that I’m going to wear them to bits.

The pattern is Mock Wave Cable socks from Favorite Socks. The yarn is Claudia’s Handpainted in Yo! Sailor Boy! A pretty dark bluish-purple.

I’ve also got one Glynis sock done, from Sock Innovations.

I had this plan that I was going to cast-on for the second sock, and therefore have three finished pairs of socks during the Olympics, but then I got sidetracked when I saw a pretty pair of socks on Ravelry. I thought to myself, “Hey, I have that pattern! And, heeeey, I’ve got yarn in a similar color!”

So I cast-on for the Meida sock instead of starting the second Glynis. I’m an easily distracted knitter.

No picture of the in progress sock, but here’s the yarn that I’m using. It’s Knitpicks’ Palette in Grass.

I’ve had this yarn in my stash FOREVER. I think it might even be discontinued in this color now. I’m about halfway done with the first sock – it’s a quick knit because it’s a short sock. Not quite anklet, but shorter than I’m used to knitting. Maybe just 4 inches before the heel flap. I normally knit 7 inches before the heel flap. Picture to follow as soon as the first sock is done.

Now, it’s offf to figure out what to do for the day. More coffee first, and then I’ll decide.

Happy weekend, all! :D

(aya here)

So, ames came to visit last weekend, and it was wonderful! I missed her as soon as she left. :(

We knit lots and we watched lots of tv. Our typical m.o., heh.

She even talked me into knitting the same pattern (Mock Cable Waves from Favorite Socks) that she was working on, and of course, I listened. I almost always listen, because she has good knitty mojo, and has very rarely led me astray. HA HA, don’t get a big head. (or you can, and then that really cute green/pink hat won’t fit and you can give it to me. *covet*)

I finished the first sock tonight, and it’s absolutely slouchy and cushy and I love it.

Dark blue is a bitch to photograph, especially at night.

It’s a yarn-eater though. I normally have quite a bit of Claudia’s HP left over when I knit socks, but I ended up having to chip into the second skein during the first sock, about one repeat from the toe. I went and ordered a third skein last week, so I’ll have enough to finish the pair. The color is “Yo, Sailor Boy!” by the way. Exclamation included. :D

It’s fun because there’s no ribbing for the cuff – you just dive into pattern. Now, I love a nice ribbed cuff – a 2×2 or a 1×1, doesn’t matter, but every now and then, it’s nice to change it up. The pattern isn’t difficult, sort of a shift every couple of rows, and a few rows that repeat – but I just could not get it set in my mind, so I knit the whole sock with the book next to me. That’s okay though- it’s not like I don’t normally have a pattern glued to my side (especially when attempting a cookie a pattern).

It’s been a while since my last post, at least a couple of months. I went on a mitten tear – two pairs of fingerless mitts, and a full set of mittens for my mom:

They’re made with some really soft yarn – Misti Alpaca Pima Cotton & Silk. Since they’re actually indoor mittens, the yarn works. I wouldn’t recommend it for snowy adventures outdoors though. My mother is always cold, and on the days where she just can’t warm up, you’ll find her curled up on the couch under a couple of blankets, wearing a shirt, a sweater AND a fleece, and with mittens on. We keep telling her that all her meds have over-regulated her, but she doesn’t listen. So – MITTENS.

I also have a pair of zens that I’m ignoring.

I like the yarn, but they’re very boring. I’m almost halfway through the second sock. Maybe I’ll finish them up once the MWC socks are done. Or not. I’ve been wanting to tackle a pattern out of Sock Innovations, so they may have to wait.

After knitting almost exclusively from the stash last year, thanks to 8 months of unemployment, I’ve taken to rebuilding the stash. When ames was here, I added two yarns to it (see previous entry from ames for pics). I kind of sort of maybe added to it again, when I ordered that third skein of Yo! Sailor Boy!. Hrm. Okay, I added quite a bit. But, I have to squirrel yarn away in the case of new unemployment, after all.

More Claudia’s, this time in periwinkle:

Madelinetosh tosh sock in norway spruce:

Cherry Tree Hill supersock semi-solid in fuschia (it’s not really fuschia though, more of a bright cherry color, like kool-aid):

And lastly, some ShiBuiKnits in bare. These are destined to become those Austrian socks from Favorite Socks:

(ames! Always in green-ish, aya types in black, oh the fun of the shared blog)

It is Sunday of a fun fabulous looooooooong weekend of ames and aya being in the same place at the same time. HOMG.  I flew in Wednesday afternoon and we had dinner at aya’s parents’ house (mmmyum roast beef) and picked up the car that her mom was graciously lending me for my adventures on Thursday.  Then it was home to aya’s, where we did nothing.  Possibly there was a little bit of knitting.  Possibly not.  We were tired.

Thursday!  Poor poor aya had to work, and was very sad about it.  Oh, the pitiful text messages I got!  I slept in a bit, then hopped in the car to drive into the city and meet my friend Jo for lunch.  Jo and I haven’t seen each other in six years, and it was like not even five minutes had passed.  <3 <3 <3 She looks exactly the same, and we laughed and gossiped and giggled for almost two hours.  Also – the lobster bacon macaroni and cheese at Laurel is possibly one of the most amazing dishes I’ve ever eaten.  Aya came home, we played with her cute little bunnies, and started many tv watchings, beginning with The Plan, which is the Battlestar Galactica miniseries where everything is told from the Cylons’ point of view. Very good, but holy cow does Edward James Olmos like to throw in totally gratuitous (and fake) t & a. ANYWAY. Moving on.

Friday was yaaaaaarn daaaaaaay. We bought these!

Sheep Shop Yarn Company, Sheepfeet DK Merino, very pretty, and on SALE. We both have this, and need to pick a sock pattern. We’ll be all matchy-matchy.

Trekking XXL, my favorite sock yarn for gifting socks. I love it, I can’t wait to use it, and it will be fabulous.

Artyarn Handpainted Merino, Colorway 110 (wtf with the numbers, how hard it is to say pink, for pete’s sake). These are aya’s, and they’re so pretty. Artyarns does good work, man. Pretty pretty.

And there has been knitting! I started a new pair of socks on the bus to the airport Wednesday, and I’ll be finishing them today. No pictures yet, but it’s this sock . Mine is an odd but pretty slate grayish blue. Very nice, and I’ve almost finished the first one. Woo-hoo, I will finish it tonight. I’m loving this pattern, and raved about it so much that aya decided she needed to knit it as well. HA. Anyway, it’s the Mock Wave Cable from Interweave Press’s 25 Favorite Socks book. (I am chipping away at my goal of knitting every pattern in the book.)

We went to see The Book of Eli yesterday, which aya really enjoyed and I didn’t totally hate, and capped off the evening with three hours of Sanctuary, my current favorite tv show. (Last week’s episode, and then the two-hour finale of awesome from Friday night.)

Today? We stay in. Most likely. Who knows. We’re low on milk for lattes, and aya has a fancy new espresso machine, so we may be crawling out of the house at some point. I go back home tomorrow, sadness. I miss my kitties, though. Rabbits are cute pets, but they don’t snuggle.

aya says “type, minion!”

(aya)

I can’t believe it’s already November!  Sadly, my funemployment is coming to an end. I start a new job in one week. It was a good run while it lasted though.

After finishing Mom’s FLS, I got into a spurt of needing some quick knitting projects. So, I knit a hat:

And I knit some fingerless mitts (it is very hard to take a picture of both your hands when there’s no one there to help):

That was using some remnant Malabrigo that I had, and to finish off the skein, I made a coffee cup cozy, which would look nicer if it was actually pictured around a cup of coffee:

I’ve also started a scarf, with the yarn that I bought in Charleston:

Also, while knitting on the scarf, I started knitting on a sock from Cookie A’s new book, Sock Innovation, called Devon. It’s not much to look at yet, I’ve only gotten as far as finishing one repeat. Actually, the picture shows less than one repeat.

It’s a bit challenging. There’s a double decrease in a couple of rows of the repeat that took me a few tries to get right, since it involves taking a stitch from the previous round. But the results will be spectacular, and totally worth the effort. Here, have a Rav link of finished Devons. I think that my yarn choice will show the pattern really well. There’s  just a slight shading difference in it. That’s Malabrigo sock yarn in Lettuce, which I totally scammed from sparkli in a yarn swap (she got my noro sock yarn BLEGH and I got this gorgeous stuff).  The pattern is a bit lacier than I’d expected, but I know that I’m going to love it.

Speaking of Cookie A’s new book – I really like it. It has about 50 pages just on sock architecture – how to put together a good sock, its components, and techniques. Then it has about 15 patterns, most of which are pretty involved. Which is not unexpected, given that it’s Cookie A.

I was looking at my stash the other day, and I was stunned, that aside from the yarn for Mom’s FLS, that I’d only bought two skeins of yarn this year – the yarn in Charleston, and some Malabrigo sock yarn (another color than the one above – called violeta africana). I guess unemployment will do that. Talk about stash management though! I’ve gotten my in-home stash down about 20 skeins with the knitting that I’ve done. Of course, that’s all out the window once I start getting a paycheck again!  ;)

(aya here)

Ah, the joy in finishing this on time. The happiness of never EVER having to knit this pattern again!

I finished Mom’s cardigan last night, and I am ecstatic!  All that’s left to do is pick out and sew on the buttons, which I will do today, and then block the sleeves. The body of the cardigan is already blocked.

I think I’m going to go with silver buttons on this one, like I did on mine. I think silver would look better than gold.

Curious bunny…

…wants to know why  I wasn’t paying any attention to HIM.

The details:

Started: 09/16/09
Finished: 10/19/09
Pattern: February Lady Sweater
Yarn: Dream in Color Classy in Absolute Magenta (it’s more of a cranberry though)
Needles: US8 dpns and circs
Notes: I will never knit this again. Twice was enough!

In other news, it snowed out on Sunday. See?

It never sticks around for long in October though.

(aya here)

I finished up my toe-up zens this morning. I’m thrilled with them!

I used an after-thought heel, and went with a 2×2 rib. I used EZ’s sewn bind-off to finish them up, and it worked perfectly. Not too tight, and it holds the shape well.

Also, I managed to finish the body of my mother’s FLS yesterday. I’m going to block it a bit today, and then start the sleeves in a day or two, once it’s dry again.  The color in this picture is all washed out – it’s a gloomy day here today, and I didn’t use my flash, so that you could see the lace on it.

I have 16 days until my mother’s birthday, I’m thinking that’s time enough to get this wrapped up. *crosses fingers*

(aya here)

Been a busy couple of weeks on the blog here, with finished socks. And here’s another pair!  I started this while I was traveling on Memorial Day weekend. I started the second sock while I was traveling for Labor Day weekend, and I picked them up yesterday and started knitting on them again. I finished them about 30 minutes ago.

No-Purl Monkey, Sugar Bunny Blvd Emeline in Cranberry.

It’s hard to photograph the pattern using my flash. Here’s a close-up without the flash.

And, of course, a picture of my own sugar bunny, Stan, with the Sugar Bunny Blvd yarn.

Check out his hair, heh.

(aya here)

It doesn’t look like much yet, but that’s where my mother’s Feb Lady stands after four days of non-stop knitting:

I am done (done done!) with the boring garter, and the next row will be the first of the gull wing lace. Four rows of that, and then the sleeves get separated.

Close-up of the boring garter:

I have a mere 33 days to get this done – less, really because I need to wash/block it. So we’ll deduct two days for that. 31 days to knit this up. Thank goodness I’m knitting her the XXS. I’m hoping that will help.

I am going to knit on this exclusively, which means that it’s coming to Chicago with me this week. I really really want to bring one of my second socks with me, but I know me – I’ll knit on that instead of this, so I can’t. WOE.

(aya here)

I’m sitting here, waiting for the plumber to get back from his run to Home Depot, to get the pipes for under my sink. This is the current state under my kitchen sink:

Fun stuff, huh?

At least while I’ve been waiting, I got fun stuff delivered to me in the mail!

My mother requested that I knit her an FLS, since she liked mine so much. My one restriction was that it NOT be blue, so she picked out this DiC yarn, called Absolute Magenta. It’s more of a light cranberry color, if you ask me, but it is pretty. This is going to be her birthday gift, if I finish it in time (Oct 23) and if not, her Christmas present. Thankfully I’m knitting her the smallest size. Whew!

And, because I couldn’t just order the yarn that I needed for the FLS, I also happened to accidently pick up a skein of sock yarn. Couldn’t help it, it’s mmmmmalabrigo. In Violeta Africana.

I mean, who could blame me? Look at that color, and the shine. PRETTY.

I’ve been fairly good about knitting from the stash, but sometimes you just need some new blood in there, to inspire you. Which reminds me, I have a second No-Purl Monkey that I’ve been neglecting…