UFO KNIT CLUB

Group on Ravelry

2008-05-30T08:08:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone ~ I know that I'm guiltier than anyone here for not keeping up with this blog (or any blog for that matter!) and I do apologize for that. However, I think it might be a bit easier for me (and hopefully others as well!) if we were to take this to a group on Ravelry. I'm YarnoraTale there and I've got a couple of you in my friends there now so how about if I start a group on Rav for us and I'll post the link to it here?

That said, not a whole lot of UFO'n goin on with me these days. I keep starting easy new projects and finishing those but my knitting mojo is soooooooo gone right now :(

How 'bout you?

Beaded mini sweaters ... but wait!

2007-12-14T13:39:00.000-08:00

Leah asked for a picture ... here you go:

These are all based on the pattern I posted here. I just string a dozen beads on before I start, put 6 on the purl stitches in the second row and 6 on the purl stitches in the second-to-last row.

The pink one has a knitted-on ribbed neck after the fact, and I made a loop with crochet chains from the remaining length of yarn.

But if I get tired of this pattern, I've found a dozen more mini sweater patterns from Berocco. Love the little cables, those I may have to try!

Woo Hoo...LOOKIT ME GO!

2007-12-09T11:40:00.000-08:00

Hey UFO'ers...I might be getting somewhere! I have 2 UFO's to share that are finished...pretty much :) But they are SO close that it's worth posting and getting excited about. I even took crappy pics because I'm so proud of myself. Actually, I've finished three but am not sure if I blogged the sweater vest weird thingee yet....I think I did but I'll have to check here in a minute.

Anyway, the Chevron Waistcoat from Knitter's...this was a blast to knit, was an excellent stash buster BUT I ended up knitting past my gauge and it was huge. I have to admit I cheated and let my Mom rip it out and redo the sides because she knew I would be so disgusted with it that it would end up at the bottom of the UFO basket for ages. Anyway, she finished the rib edgings for me as well and was knitting along and forgot the buttonholes...LOL! But, that's no big because the buttons I wanna use will fit through the knitting, I'm sure. (I SWEAR I did NOT ask her to knit the edging...I didn't!)

Yep, those are loose ends ratting me out and screaming "I'm still a freaking UFO!" (And the conspicuous lack of buttons ain't helping either.) I did the back before I discovered the wonderful way of knitting in loose ends on THIS SITE. I no longer have unreasonable fear and hatred of stripes because of this :) Anyway, on those nights when I'm sick to death of knitting (and sometimes it happens!) I can weave those babies in and put on my abalone buttons and be a VEST WEARIN' STASH BUSTIN UFO'in KINDA GAL!!! And honest...having my mommy help me isn't cheating, is it?

Then there's the Summertime Tunic from Interweave Knits (free pattern HERE) and this is such a lousy picture but it's cute. I need to wash it since the linen/rayon blend I used is really weird and waxed...the water is just disgusting when you wash it and I *should* have washed it before I started but it's very slippery tape yarn that would have been a nightmare in a skein so I elected to knit as is and wash later. I need to add the beads to the ends of the ribbon ties and put it on a mannequin or something to take better photos. It was a LONG time in the knitting since it's done on size 6 needles in stockinette...ugh. The bottom is cute...you knit the waistband on size 4's in rib and that part sits right about hip level for that sort of fit. I think it'll be great under jackets or on its own in summer *if* I care to bare that much and these days, that's iffy. Pushing 44 and things just ain't the same in the ol' arm department. Sigh....

UFO's actively in progress include the big blue bumming around sweater and some "black" rambouillet on a spindle that will probably end up being a chores hat for me. It's 4 oz so am not sure it'll work but we'll see. I'm certain there's something else handspun in a small amount in my embarrassing stash of handspun that can go along with it for a cozy hat.

The hugest sweater in the universe custom knitting order is coming along. 58" chests in sweaters on size 7 needles should be against the law or something but hey...I got myself into it and one day soon I'll be halfway through the damn thing. And I've got dye pots on the stove...getting 6 clean pounds of polypay fleece ready to process into variegated roving so we'll see how that goes...charteuse, turquoise, deep violet and white. I dunno....but contrast is the key, I hear, in variegated rovings being successful. Not sure about the polypay either but it's good to have a new experience now and then, eh?

AMELIA...we want pictures of mini beaded sweaters! How cute must that be?????

And who's doing holiday knitting? NOT ME! I *might* do some holiday spinning but have freed myself (somewhat) from holiday knitting this year. I may possibly knit my hubby a black alpaca scarf but it ain't lookin too good folks....

Tackling UFO's ...

2007-12-04T17:15:00.001-08:00

I ran across a great post on JoanKnits' blog, Joan's Wacky Dot System, which is a technique for prioritizing and finishing UFOs ... while still dreaming up future UFO's (grin!)

Me, personally, well, I'm still knitting mini sweaters; sometimes I do a stitch pattern on the front but lately I've knit them plain except I put some beads along the bottom border. Tres' cute and it helps cut into the bead stash, LOL. I must have beads on the brain because I've been spinning alot of beaded yarns lately too!

I did finally finish a fingering weight scarf on size 9's ... nice and drapey. It's a bit wider and shorter than I wanted, so maybe I will block it out. Hmm, does that mean it's not finished yet? I think next up is actually some weaving, as I joined a local study group and will be trying to keep up!

Well, no pictures, sorry(!) but the camera battery died and it's still in the charger with a red light.

Happy holidays all!

Not much progress, unless you call dreaming of new UFO's progress...

2007-11-26T14:37:00.001-08:00

I just haven't had much knitting "me" time! I'm working on a huge custom order sweater (size 7 needles...not a big deal, but we're talking 58" chest here ladies!!!) so there's that...I've been working on a big, run-outside-and-feed-the- creatures sweater for me, which may end up being huge (I'm in the Everything is Huge rut these days ~ intentional or not!) and the wool is kinda "eh" ~ I got it free from my Mom and it's from the mill where I work. It doesn't felt so I'm thinking this is a wash in the washing machine sweater and since creatures will be part of it's daily life, that's a great thing.

I'm knitting it loose and hoping it felts up just a tad and softens up that way. It's from Weekend Knits by Melanie Falick and is just a plain, simple, sweatshirt type pullover. Mindless which can be a wonderful thing :)

BUT...on the right there is my newest fantasy ~ Annie Modesitt's latest, the LL Swing Jacket....isn't it marvelous? The pattern is available right now on her site ~ I'm trying to think if I have something in my stash that'll knit to 4 stitches per inch and is 1320 yards or so. Wow...tough call! There *might* be a rose grey alpaca only I'm thinking, since it's 100%, that a garment this size would really stretch and be heavy out of 100% alpaca (and please, alpaca people, do NOT hate me forever for saying so!!!). Not sure if I have enough of anything to spin in stash but I could always dye up some of the wool/silk laps I sell and dye the yarn...I mean, I never save any for myself and maybe it's time I did!

My stack of magazines/books with post-it marked pages of crap I NEED to knit is embarrassing and so is my UFO basket, which is NOT a wimpy, tiny little thing with a handle. No. It's a tall, waste-can sized handmade basket, of which I must take a photo to share. Everything in there is all neatly zip-loc bagged and labeled though and all the mags and patterns and books are in a drawer. Sheesh ~ at least I *touched* all of them recently, eh?

I just have these several things that are so near completion and it's horrid that I dont' seem to have the mojo to just sit down and finish them! We're talking simple little finishing details on at least two of them...one is threading a ribbon through the front and back and tying beads onto said ribbon. I mean, C'MON GIRL....it's a summer tank so that's my excuse. Lame. Really. Lame. Sigh...

Anyway, I'm off to update my list and maybe try to work up the mojo to take on one of those little projects tonight...

Back on the face of the earth

2007-11-21T03:48:00.000-08:00

Just in case everyone thought I fell off the face of the earth, I'm back. It has been a busy summer (the usual stuff) and fall (my Dad was sick). On the up side, I did get the back of my cable sweater done. I'll post a pick next time I have my camera out.

Currently I'm working on a hat and mitten set for my husband. I have the had done and most of the first mitten. I think winter may be here permanently, at least for now, so I had better get cracking on that.

Karen in northern MI

OMG...did you all think I'd died and went to knitter's hell or something?

2007-11-08T18:01:00.000-08:00

Well, I didn't! But life has been unbearably crazy for me over the summer...I ended up closing my brick and mortar shop, taking on another 30 hour a week job and deciding that I needed to do fiber shows this fall. And...ahem...the house...

BUT...things are slowing down a tad and it feels good to be able to breathe again without crying because I want to crawl into bed and give up :) I got through it and I'm feeling pretty good. So good, in fact, that I FINISHED SOMETHING!

Nevermind that it's something weird...remember that Knit 1 funky scarf vest thingee out of my very own first handspun? There it is. I think it's a little big but I can live with that. The yarn was a challenge to work with a bit...different thicknesses and all that. And I had to spin up some merino/silk to make the collar. It's kinda cute and my best friend says she LOVES it (but isn't that what best friends are meant to do?)

And, since our house is still not even remotely close to being finished and we're in pretty-much-almost-winter and I"m freezing my a#$ off right now, I really really need to make a big cozy pullover that I can wash all the time because I'm gonna live in it this winter, lemme tell ya. I have some acrylic (egads...don't let me go there!) but I want WARM WOOL so I'm gonna thing about a blend of something. I could maybe spin up some superwash but I don't have that kind of time right now. Soooo.....anyone know of a killer washable kinda bulky wool or wool blend yarn that doesn't cost an arm and/or a leg??? Hmmm?

I organzied my UFO basket the other day and thought of all of you :) I have 2 projects that are sooooo close to being finished I can do it this weekend. That will bring my total to about ... oh...
7???? 8???? Sigh...and I have a ton of customer knitting to do this month.

Anyway, it's good to be back and I hope we can get this ball rolling again...I'm so sorry to have been away so long :( It's off to dinner and the CSI/Without a Trace mega tv viewing night!

Yayyyy! (Ancient UFOs within radar range)

2007-09-01T17:14:00.001-07:00

After a long knitting drought (maybe it's just one of those summer things), I finally picked up the needles again, and three of my dormant UFOs are now active again. Woo! Alas, I have only one photo, but that'll have to do.

The first is the sleeveless Sahara I started for a Sexy Knitters' Club knitalong a few months ago. I finally managed to get it to the point where I've joined the front and now I'm knitting in the round till the finish line, a.k.a. the bottom hem. (Well, I'm counting that as a finish line, anyway, even though it'll still need the armscye and neck edgings knitted on after that.)

The second is my long-put-off first pair of Big Black Socks for Socks for Soldiers. I discovered when re-swatching for the third and final item that I was knitting tightly for once, which gave me the right gauge on the needles I have for the BBS. Yayyy! I now have eight inches on the leg of the first sock ... four inches to go till I start the heel flap!

The last resurrected UFO is Brian's Duel sweater ... which I admit wasn't actually even into the knitting portion of its progress yet. But hey! I hand-dyed the yarn and had even managed to swatch, so that counts as being started, right? Anyway, now I have about five or six inches of the back done ... Exciting. ;D Here's the Duel sweater:

Duel sweater in progress 1.jpg, originally uploaded by JeweledClaws.

Oh, and that's "duel" as in, "I challenge the boyfriend curse to a duel," because this sweater is for my boyfriend. ;)

Anyway! Thought I'd post, since I had an update. Hope everyone else is getting some UFO-banishing goodness done, too. :D

Summer FO's!

2007-07-15T06:24:00.000-07:00

Boy we're a quiet group! I have a few things that I've finished recently that I wanted to share. The scarf wasn't on my list of UFO's. It's a gift for my friend Stephanie's birthday. Since I have an ever multiplying stash of sock yarn, I figured it was time to use up a little bit of it! The shawl has been a long term project. I spun the wool from a sheep named Ernie and then knit the shawl from the Lacy Prairie Shawl pattern from Folk Shawls. It's not quite as big as I'd like it to be but it'll keep my shoulders warm at night. The socks are for DH. He picked the yarn himself - quite the flashy guy! He knew I'd finished the first sock, but had given up hope that the second one would get done. I have bad cases of Second Sock Syndrome!

A couple of finished projects to share

2007-06-06T07:23:00.001-07:00

I had a wild hair and decided to knit something for my daughter. This is the first time I just sat down and knitted without a pattern. I think I turned out really well. Although I would make the skirt longer next time.

this is my shawl from the mystery shawl knit along yahoo group. I spun this yarn myself and that was a chanllenge becasue I am not all that great of a spinner yet and some sections were thinner than others. The boader was much thicker than the rest of the shawl so it does look heavier. Oh well, I like it so that's what matters

I have never made a hat before so one day decided that I was going to make hats. well the first two pictures are of Trinity in her lion bran mohair look yarn and the last two pictures are Autumn in here hat made with my very first spun yarn. 100% alpaca.

I still have to work on some of my ufo's from my list like Hunters train blanket and the scarf for my sister in law. but that darn sock went to the pond (rip,rip). My alpaca long cardigan is on hold right now since I'm using those needles for one of my new shawls that I just started last week. I guess you could say that right now I'm in a shawl craze. Well back to some knitting.

A little progress to share...

2007-05-30T15:31:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! Well, here's the finished bag which my mommy lined for me (yep, my mommy helps me and I'm not ashamed to admit it!) in the most perfect flannel plaid! The button is a vintage leather one that I had and it's perfect for it too...this is the first bag I've ever made for myself and it's adorable I think :) And Silver...I haven't forgotten you girlfriend!!! Have patience with me....)

On the other UFO fronts, I FINALLY blocked the annoying scarf vest and can now seam it and knit the collar, which is on a back burner since no chance in hell I can wear it till fall now. I think the next thingee I'll work on is either the Epic Sheep Shawl, the Lacey Riverine Heartstrings scarf in Jaggerspun Zephyr or the Size 1 needles purple lace sock so I have a pair :)

I have a new UFO to finish...the Summertime Tunic from Interweave Knits. On size 6 needles in miles of stockinette stitch. But I have 7" of the 12.5" required before I can split it and start the "neckline" which is kind of a misnomer in a way. There's a free pattern for it http://www.interweaveknits.com/freepatterns/ ~ it's really cute and naturally, I'm using a totally different yarn but I'm GETTING GAUGE LADIES!!!!! Wheeeeee...... go ME! It's a funky rayon/linen blend tape yarn that's going to be nice and drapey...I have a huge cone at the shop so while this is for me, it's also a store sample as well.

I'd take a pic but I deliberately left it at the shop so I would be forced to finish my Dad's boring birthday sock. He ADORES the socks I made him out of an 80/20 acrylic/wool blend yarn. They pilled up and looked horrid but he LOVED them so I'm making another pair out of wool-ease. He wore the other ones out in about 6 months so I can see myself making him many more of these. Ah well, they're fast and easy and they make him happy. He wears them with his motorcycle boots. Did I mention my Dad is a tattooed freak and biker at 62 years of age??? He's a really cool guy but I do believe he's gone over the edge :)

ba-ah humbug

2007-05-07T14:00:00.000-07:00

Finally a spot of good weather - yay since I've just come into possession of 10 (supposed to be 6!) California Red fleeces, 3 of them wet, and need to skirt, dry, and ship them off for processing. I've used OVNF and Zeilinger's before, so I may try Frankenmuth, just to cover the "big" bases. For the record, both OVNF and Zeilinger's did a great job!

So much for avoiding a new project, LOL. But just to make some UFO progress, though this one is so old it isn't even on my list, I ripped out the swatches for a sweater ... you can see them scrumbled on the right side of the photo...

This is supposed to be a blue sweater with embroidered flowers on the arms. I was thinking a blue vest with embroidery on the front. Well, some day. Maybe for DD when she's in college ... she's 7 now so there's time, right? right?? I hear you all laughing!

And now back to my regularly scheduled UFOs ...

2007-05-05T10:58:00.000-07:00

Calling Miss Silver ~ email me so I can get with you about your thingee (hee hee!) You can get the email addy off my website (link in the sidebar I believe!)

Fly by post here and no photo...boo hiss! Anyway, I've been dyeing myself silly and have not worked on a UFO in forever. Ugh. The dyeing is fun but the knitting shouldn't be suffering this much. I've been spinning like crazy too since I have a show on the 19th and need to have some stuff to sell there :) I'll be back someday soon!

I've finally updated my blog

2007-05-01T20:48:00.000-07:00

Wow, I can't believe that it has been almost a month since I have updated my personal blog. if you'd like to see what I've been up to take a look. Leah, I emailed your a question and the pattern that I was talking about the yarn for is pictured. I think that you'll figure it all out. Let me know.
http://knittingmomofaSIDchild.blogspot.com

Here I am...

2007-04-22T06:13:00.000-07:00

I do apologize for being a horrid blog mom and being MIA for so long! My personal blog has suffered horribly as well and I really do have to commit to fixing that. In my defense, I've been dealing with the remodeling, have since changed the entire lay out of my brick and mortar shop, am still nursing my very old and ill piggie, and trying to get the dye work done that I need to do.

The pic at left is something that was a UFO but is now a FO :) See? half the fiber is spun on the spindle in the pic and is now done! This was a colorway I was playing with and ended up testing out on a small amount of fiber I had laying around. This stuff makes me wish I could navajo ply, which I WILL learn one day. It wouldn't have made much sense with this since it's only about 60 yards in a 2ply. But the singles were really pretty!

Most of my UFO's are spinning projects right now. I still have the Sheep Shawl, which I've done a few rows on but that is an Epic UFO and will stay that way for awhile. The Target Mittens still languish, as does the Mesilla tee, the purple lace socks, the Funky Scarf Vest (I'm GOING TO WASH THAT TODAY DAMMIT!) the Lacey Riverine Scarf at the shop, and a pair of little cotton button up sox at the shop. But...by George...I THINK THAT'S ALL! hahahaha...really though, with the exception of the Sheep Shawl, that isn't so bad. One mitten, one sock, sleeves on a tee and a collar to knit. The Lacey Riverine scarf is about half done as well.

I did knit this up one day so it doesn't really qualify as a UFO...but it's out of my very own early spindle spun yarn and is done :) I've been obsessed with the book, One Skein Knitting lately and this is the little Umbrella hat in there. I have a show May 19th and wanted to have a couple handspun knit examples for it. This was a super fast, fun knit! I carried along two similar fingering weight yarns for it and it's cute!

This is a skein of yarn I'm selling, but the UFO status is that the pin drafted silk/merino needed a sample spun up (never mind that most of it's already sold and I only have 2# left!) and I did the above dye colorway on it, using a fun little heathered technique with a paintbrush that I'm now in love with! This fiber didn't spin up really smooth...there are teeny noils from the silk being processed but the resulting yarn is soft, lovely, slightly slubby with awesome drape. Another skein I don't really want to sell but will.

The top skein here is a total UFO since I still have 2 bobbins of it to ply. This is from a batt that my friend made up for me on her drumcarder with odds and ends I gave her. Some wool/silk dyed laps that were "waste", a small bag of silk noil, a little nasty matted dyed angora and some plain white wool/silk laps that were also "waste" (meaning they were the nasty bits I sorted out of what I sell) I discovered that I HATE spinning with silk noil but it's a fun, funky skein of yarn. I think the total weight of the batts was about 12 oz but it did spin up relatively bulky due to lumpy bumpies and will be fun to work up into something!

The other skein is the yarn from the spindle pic in the beginning of the post. Sigh...yet another small skein I'll obsess over, trying to find something teeny to knit. I have that problem...I spend a lot of time knitting my small bits...sometimes I combine them, but often, I try to find a little something to make with them that isn't a little bag. It's a challenge and I'm not sure why I do that but when I'm kind of bummed out or stressed, it's one of the weird things I do.

Thank you all for the b'day wishes...they meant a lot to me!

SILVER wins again ~ she guessed correctly about the mystery project, which I'll post about as soon as I get it back (lined) from my Mom. Yes, I ask my Mommy to line my bags. I know, I know...grow up and use your own sewing machine!

Socks

2007-04-21T12:15:00.000-07:00

I'm on a roll lately with finishing socks! This is probably a good thing since I've discovered The Loopy Ewe and I've been buying new sock yarn like a fiend!

Both of these pairs are knit from Opal. I started both pairs last summer. The red striped pair are for DH - I started these when we went to St.Louis last summer to visit DD. For some reason, DH started calling these Superman socks. The other pair were started for me, but DD came home to Maine two weeks ago and really liked them so I gifted them to her. I was surprised she liked them because she's never been fond of hand knit things until recently. In fact, since she's been home she's learned to knit herself and has started a scarf!

Two Socks on 1 Circ

2007-04-17T09:25:00.000-07:00

Okay, I'll admit this project wasn't on my list of UFOs. That's because I didn't list balls of yarn as UFOs -- if I did that I would need my own separate blog, and of course, yarn is not a project when it's sitting in the balls -- it's potential that could be realized in any one of a countless number of ways. Just because it's sock yarn doesn't mean it will become socks, right? Anyway, I bought this ball of Trekking XXL because I like ombre-type yarns, this one looked like it would be great with denim, and I was wanting to try knitting a pair of socks on circular needles. My last pair of socks was, oh, 15 or so years ago, done with sportweight handspun on double-pointed needles, and while I was proud of them and liked them I was not inspired to keep knitting socks. But I do like wool socks, and with the new yarns and the new popularity of sock knitting, it seemed time to try again. I decided to avoid second-sock syndrome by doing them both at the same time on one circular needle. I used a 32" size 1 from KnitPicks (I knit loose -- most people would use a 2 or 3 to match my gauge). I did cuff-down, no particular pattern, just a basic turned heel and a toe that seemed to make sense. I tried them on as I knit to get them the right size. I didn't want a big cuff to turn down or bunch up -- this height seemed right to me, somewhere between anklet and typical cuff height. I divided the skein into two center-pull balls and then put the two balls in a ziploc bag and fed the yarn from the center of the balls through small holes in the bag... this to keep the yarn neat and organzied (the one drawback to doing both socks at once is keeping the yarn from getting tangled and twisted up -- I think my zip-lock bag method helped keep this to a minimum.). Here's a picture of the socks in progress, on the needle, and one of them completed. I can't say that the sock knitting bug bit me, but I like these and I'm glad to have at least one pair of handknit socks in my wardrobe. If and when I do another pair (assuming I don't get a sock knitting machine, that is), I would definately take the two-socks-on-one-circular approach again. And I'll remember the technique for gloves, sleeves, etc. -- the technique is a definate keeper!

- Melissa

Happy Birthday Leah!

2007-04-10T16:32:00.000-07:00

As a birthday treat, here is my progress report (hahaha). Well, at least it's not April Fool's Day.

Respinning the purple yarn (my newest UFO?) -- on hold.

Knitting the Oregon Jacob Tote -- on hold, but itching to get worked on. Gotta find the tote it's in!

Miniature knitting -- had two new colors come in, so they got done instead of "old" colors. But I have now, I think, standardized on the mini sweater and my own "we hate finishing even _small_ things" knitting pattern (below, for your knitting enjoyment).

The Fair Isle Arm Warmers -- hey, this has been ACTIVE lately. May even finish arm warmer number one. But I think I may skein up the remaining yarn rather than knit #2 this summer ... maybe next winter, LOL. This yarn is seriously cool looking, if-i-say-so-myself (see the picture?)

On the plus side, I got all the tax paperwork organized and on its way to the tax man! So they may even be done on time this year unless he finds a spanner in the works.

Miniature Sweater Knitting Pattern
Use an appropriate needle for your yarn (sweater size will vary). Takes about 20 yards of yarn. Except, I stick to US3 for stuff finer than that, as knitting this with US1's kills my hands.

Cast on 12 stitches. If you want Knit 3 rows K1P1 rib. Knit a total of 12 rows, include any patterning you want. A little 2/2 cable up the middle looks sweet :-).

At the start of a right-side row, cast on 6 stitches, using e-wrap cast-ons (this is one of the sleeves). Now, K1, P1, K across to the other arm-edge, and cast on 6 stitches there, using e-wrap cast-ons. Yes, the arms end up slightly catywumpus from each other, but it really doesn't matter. Note, the K1P1 at the start of the row is so the sleeve edges sit flat. Cool trick, not original to me.

Now, you are on a wrong-side row, facing 6 e-wrap cast-ons. Work your way across like so: P1, K1, P until 2 stitches remain, K1, P1. (you should have 24 stitches on the needles right now ...)

You need to knit 4 more rows before you bind-off some neck stitches:
K1 P1, K until 2 stitches remain, P1, K1;
WS do P1, K1, P until 2 st remain, K1, P1.
Repeat. There are your four rows!

OK, now: K1, P1, K7, cast off 6, K7, P1, K1
And next: P1, K1, P7, cast on 6 (e-wrap style works fine), P7, K1, P1.

Now you need six more sleeve rows:
K1 P1, K until 2 stitches remain, P1, K1;
WS do P1, K1, P until 2 st remain, K1, P1.
Repeat two more times. There are your six rows!

Now we get to the tricky I-hate-to-finish step:
turn the sweater inside out and match the cast-on edge of the sleeve you are working on up to it. As you knit across the sleeve (just to K's this time, skip the non-curling purl), pick up and knit it with a stitch from the cast-on edge and cast it off; yup, K-with-picked-up-cast-on-stitch and cast it off, 6 times. Then K across the sweater and the other sleeve until 2 stitches are left, P1, K1.

Now, do the same-on-the-flip-side to the other sleeve ... just purling, pick up and purl a cast-on-edge-stitch with each stitch from the needle and cast the new purled stitch off as you go along, 6 times. This leaves you with just the body left.

Now as you knit and purl each row, at the start and end of each row, pick up edge stitches (I didn't slip first stitches for this very reason!) and knit or purl them together with the last and the first stitch of each row. (ed. note: I haven't tried skipping one and just, for example, doing the knit-together at the end of each row or something. It might work. If I'm in a rush, I'll try it -- it would be easier!)

Do as many rows as you did in the front -- 12 rows total. Cast off after the last row. Be sure to repeat the ribbing if you ribbed the bottom front.

Now you have two small ends to weave in (or push up inside the sweater).

Whew. I know this is "rough" but if you try it, let me know if it's totally mud or obviously flawed, as it's typed in off-the-cuff (hardeharhar).

-Amelia

Guess that Project!

2007-03-28T06:47:00.000-07:00

Another UFO is born! This one almost didn't make UFO status, since I *thought* I would finish it the day I started yet. Hahahahaha...how funny am I????

Anyway, I did meet one self-imposed UFO requirement before starting it...I finished a store sample scarf that I've yet to write the pattern for. Which was good...old shale on size 6 needles, longish scarf. Kind of an accomplishment for me:) Egads....I feel a marathon pattern writing day coming on soon. ugh. yuck. I should take a picture of it but I'll probably use the mannequin at the shop and try to be creative since it's going to be a pattern. Anyway, it turned out nice!

So, I had borrowed a few books from Mom, and was leafing through one of them and this thing jumped out at me. Particularly since I'd been sorting through my weird basket of little tiny balls o'handspun granny square crochet project. (I only crochet granny squares, btw. Nothing else) You know that itch you get looking at a book? The fever to grab yarn and needles and KNIT DAMMIT even though it means asking your DH to finish the dinner that's on the stove? It was that kind of project.

I had a few balls of handspun in there that were kinda big to dedicate to the granny square handspun history project and some small amount of wool/mohair on a cone and I commenced knitting right away and truly thought you ladies would never read about it on this blog. It so was not going to be UFO! It was a "study" I told myself, in how natural yarns mix when doubled and knit in no particular order. Ha. But I did discover that I really like grey and reddish brown doubled and knit together so the "study" was successful! I'm such a doofus when it comes to wanting to use up tiny balls of yarn...it's a sickness and I'm becoming a master at it, lemme tell ya!

So...what is it? Can anyone guess? The first person to get it right gets a small giftie from me!

Update on spinning and a new project

2007-03-27T20:44:00.000-07:00

This I think... No I know I'm in love with!!!! This is my first spun yarn after buying my wheel and receiving it 3 weeks ago. I went to have a class with the lady I bought my wheel from last thursday and she said " you don't need to be taught anything, Your a natural!" WOW what a compliment!. This is 100% alpaca. there is approximately 682 yards and weighs about 8 oz on my kitchen scale. This yarn is a bulky yarn I would most likely knit it with size 9-11 US needles. I'm not sure what I will use this for as of yet but, I'm sure something with be calling it name/

this is some wool that I tried to make into lace weight, but It does not have enough twist. I guess I will have to spin faster!!

These two pictures are of clue 1 of the mystery shawl KAL. I spun this myself!!!! I'm so impressed. this is a 50 merino and 50 silk from the Copper Moose in black cherry. There is about 840 yards in the ball and skein that needs to be wound up. I think I will do one more skein but just a little bigger and we'll see if that will be enough for the whole shawl. I'm not sure but I don't want to spin more that what I need. I'd like some left for some lace weight. I am using a size 7 needle.

OK, well that's all for knitting at the moment. I need to get to bed tomarrow Hunter has a appointment at the University of Iowa for testing for ADHD and Autism. We have to leave at 6:00 am and hopefully will make it home by 6:00pm. So, I need to try to sleep but I don't think I'll get much. To much on the mind:((

Happy Knitting

"That" Shawlette

2007-03-23T19:26:00.000-07:00

A while back folks asked for a photo of my shawlette. Here you go:

This is inspired by the Cashmere America Triangular Lace Scarf pictured here:
http://www.carylldesigns.com/patterns/CA_triangular_lace_scarf.jpg
which uses Barbara Walker's Roman Walk lace pattern. I used BW's Madeira Lace, which looks a bit like spiders.

Have y'all seen the Barbara Walker Treasury Project? I have to knit up a sample just for that! really, I will ... does that make it a UFO? the wanting to do it? hahaha.

And yes, Dorothy, that is handspun. So it doesn't always get "stuck" as yarn in my stash, LOL. It's "Over the Rainbow", a specialty colorway (read: one run only) from Crosspatch Creations -- the purple is wool and silk, the orange is silk and silk noil. All gone now, though a lady at Camp Burton last weekend was spinning the ones she'd bought last summer. Nice to see folks working through their stash!

Sad news and not much progress....

2007-03-20T13:47:00.000-07:00

I'm so sorry everyone that I've been away for so long...life has definitely been a challenge lately and Sunday I lost this little guy...Frank was very old for a guinea pig but that doesn't mean I was exactly ready for him to go :( He was a lovely little buddy and wonderful companion and I'll miss him very much.

I've been nursing my old pot bellied pig Bessie for a few weeks now and it's not looking real good for her either, but she's also very old (19).

Then there's the remodeling stress and Running a Small Business Stress and all of it together has made me pretty freaking listless. I hadn't even wanted to knit or spin or anything till the other day and I actually DID finish a UFO (Grey Ripples scarf shop sample) but I need to wash and block it before sharing. I have been slowly getting some dyeing done which feels good and my spinning wheel is definitely beckoning so I may take some quality time with it tonight. I've done some half-hearted spindle spinning too but nothing monumental to share there either.

I did manage to finally wash this little skein, which is what I spun up out of the Basil wool/silk laps I sell to finish the funky scarf vest. I *still* need to wash and block and sew that and hopefully this skein will be enough for the collar and to mix with the little bit of handspun left for some fringe. Love the handspun from the wool/silk laps...great drape and sooo soft! It's definitely spring here but I'm motivated to finish that thing and wear it at least once or twice before it gets too warm!

Keep posting away you guys...even though I'm quiet it's very nice to come here and see what you've all been up to! Looks like you're all doing some great work and that makes me happy :)

2007-03-18T16:12:00.000-07:00

Came up for air and thought I would check in. Bad news, I can't find the pattern I was going to use for the triple berry sweater. On the other hand, I'm going to give a go at designing my own pattern (gulp). I'm going to use the basic sweater pattern from The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns by Ann Budd and have been busy swatching cable designs. Yes, this will be a cabled sweater. The swatching is done and I have cast on, but now I'm a little scared since this will be the first time I've done any designing. The blue vest is making progress. I took it to work and am knitting during my lunch break.

Karen in northern MI

Look what I've been doing!!!

2007-03-15T20:47:00.000-07:00

This is my Ashford Traveller. (and my messy kitchen. Who wants to clean when this arives!!!!????). Well, now I just have to figure out what to name her. I know there are several people who have named there wheels. Any Suggestions????? Doesn't hurt to ask!!

OK, does this not look like a purple nightmare?????!!!! This is my first spinn on my wheel on Wednesday night. I actually don't think the the spinning was all that bad. But, I tryed to ply it and I have no idea really how to do that so that just might be the issue. Of course it's was a freebie so that's ok.

This is 3.2 oz of suri alpaca form Alpacas D'Auxvasse. I think I'm in love with this fiber. It is easy to work with and just so soft that you want to use it as a pillow. The only thing that I noticed is that it is a fuzzy yarn. I'm not sure if this is due to my inexperience or just the way it is supposed to be. I have not plyed it yet for I am waiting to have my first spinning class with the lady I bought my wheel from. I'm hopeing this coming Thursday.

This is what I am currently working on. It is a deep red superwash wool from The Sheep Shed Studio. I just have to keep reminding myself.... thin but not to thin. It's going well so far.

I would love to hear feedback from all you spinners out there.

Keep spinning

Miniature sightings ...

2007-03-08T08:38:00.000-08:00

I couldn't resist! With about 15 booth samples to knit and the first spring show next week, I've given up on the arm warmers (an in-progress project is usually a big booth hit, anyway -- people like knowing I'm just like them and can't finish anything!), not to mention the sock yarn spinning, and have been busily knitting minis. Descriptions available here ... photos below:

(Yes Leah, those are peas!)

Leah, I couldn't RUN AWAY!!!!

2007-03-06T15:16:00.000-08:00

Leah, I just couldn't RUN AWAY. I actually ran toward. I went today to look at the Ashford Joy and the Ashford Traveler. I unfortunatly had to have my son with me so I didn't really get a lot of time to spin but what I did looked pretty good for the first time spinning. SOOOOOO, I purchased one. I'm so excited that when I got home I ordered some fiber to. Everything should be here just in time for me to have to go to work next week, how unlucky could that be. Anyway, when I get her all set up and something spun I'll post so pictures of my progress.

"What's a UFO Contest" -- winner drawn!

2007-03-04T19:20:00.000-08:00

I wrote down all the entrants' names ... we had 5 entries -- woot! Lots of great thoughts.

My favorite remains the one that sparked the contest -- Melissa's email to UFOKnitClub that UFO actually means "Up For Other" projects. And Jennifer's comment on my blog posting about spinning adding to my stash (or not) - that I'm indulging (my word ) in stash transfer. Whew, escaped that one being stash enhancement. So the etsy package that showed up yesterday is "okay", LOL, since it's research on spinning, ha ha.

DS picked a random number from 1 to 5 -- he picked "2". So the winner, in my randomly written down list of names (that DS couldn't see while he wrote his number) is ... Elysbeth! yep, she wins again! The disco ball is now being plugged in ...

FLAK finished!

2007-03-04T10:47:00.000-08:00

I finally finished the FLAK sweater. I started this as part of a KAL last January. Since I have huge issues with Start-itis, it kept getting sent to the bottom of the pile. Last weekend, my Grandmother fell and broke her leg and died as a result of surgery. This week has been very difficult, but I have learned from my experience in hospice that it's better for me to work through feelings, than try to put them aside. So, I did lots of knitting and thinking this week. My Grandmother wasn't a knitter, but she would have been very happy that I finished this. She was the one who pretty much raised me after an abusive early childhood and she taught me how to quilt, embroider and sew my own clothes.

The yarn is Galway in Sage Heather. On my computer, it looks gray, but the color is really a soft green. I am such a loose knitter, that I used size 4 needles for the body and size 3 for the twisted ribbing. This sweater was a huge confidence builder for me. I learned how important swatching really is. I also now feel like I can knit any sweater to fit me, something that I've struggled with for years. Now what to tackle next before the Start-itis bug bites again?

questions about spinning

2007-03-02T11:56:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

I know that there are some of you that spin and I have some questions for you. I am considering buying a Ashford Joy spinning wheel, now keep in mind I don't know how to spin yet but am going to find some classes in my area. I want a wheel that is able to pack away from my three children who just can't seem to keep their hands off of things. So is this what would be a good choice??? Also, where do all of you buy your fibers from??? and what fibers are good to spin with for a beginner???? I hope that you can offer me some advice. Thanks

Wait, how does making yarn not add to my stash?

2007-03-01T19:30:00.000-08:00

OK, this is really a WIP. It was never a UFO. But now it may become one while I re-touch another UFO (spinning again ... hmmm, I sense a trend here).

First, we had this:

Actually, to be technically 100% correct, we had the fraternal twin of that, since this is the other four ounces-plus, to be spun as a 2-ply at 15 WPI rather than the 3-ply 18 WPI I've now done (oops, cat's out of the bag ...)

Let's see, I bought that at Madrona Fiber Arts, so that would have been January 26th.

Then, by last weekend we had this:

And just after lunch today (March 1st) we had this:

Hey, who put that shell there?

Now, "Hang on Sloopy" is taking a sensuous soak in the sink and considering renaming herself "Sunshine for Buttercups". I had to censor that picture, so here's the "dime shot" for you to check out the 18-WPIness of this Navajo-plied yarn:

Why is it in danger of UFO'ing itself, when there's just a two-evening session between this skein and its sock-dom (two evenings on a sock machine)? Well, I pulled out my Journey Wheel and got back into spinning _that_ sock yarn. Then I pulled samples of every commercial sock yarn I had onto a card, the sloopy, the JW's yarn, and even some handspun sockyarn I bought off of etsy just for this purpose (ok, I've cracked ... I admit it!)

Minor observations: most commercial sock yarns are 4 ply! some are 2 ply (the cotton/lycra, and Koigu). Opal and Lorna's Laces have the same plies and twist angle, but LL seems alot softer. Most of them have a twist angle of betwen 27 and 33; the handspun I bought is thicker (14 WPI) and less twisted (21 TAngle). Opal is finer than Regia -- 18 WPI Opal, 16 WPI Regia. But hard to see with the naked eye when looking at bare strands! So, I'm going to spin the second half of Sloopy to be about 15 WPI 2-plied with a 30 degree twist angle. Now I need my calculator to figure out what the singles' WPI and twist angle will be ....

Remember, just 2 days left in our "what makes it a UFO" contest! post your comments, email the list -- redefine UFO! define UFO! whatever. If aliens take it off the planet, is it technically a UFO? or a LISO (lost in space object)?

Another Pair of Monkey Socks Done

2007-02-28T00:15:00.000-08:00

I think I'm done with Monkey, at least for now. This second pair was done with some Lorna's Laces in Bittersweet that I picked up from a knitter who was destashing. Gorgeous stuff to work with! The pattern is a breeze, and for the record, I worked it upside down. I have issues with cuff down knitting. I'm strictly a toe-up kid. But seriously, this is a great pattern for novice sock/lace knitters. It's a breeze to memorize and fun to knit.

Progress Report

2007-02-27T03:50:00.000-08:00

I finally have a finished project! Over the weekend, I finish the hubby's scarf. Now I can move on to other things. I also finished spinning the berry colored wool for my sweater, however, I lost the pattern. Or rather, I have it hear somewhere, I just have to find it again. The only bad thing about the weekend is that one of the spinners was de-stashing and I couldn't resist and of course, just had to start on a new project using some of that wool.

Karen in northern MI

SPIRAL SHAWL FINISHED!

2007-02-26T11:45:00.000-08:00

Here it is! I posted a picture of this as a UFO a few weeks ago, talking about how I was to the border and procrastinating because the idea of doing a side-ways knitted-on border wasn't exciting me. I mentioned the idea of doing a different border that was knit in a circle like the shawl, wondering if I could make that work. Well, I decided to go for it, and it worked splendidly! I'm very happy with the results. The shawl is done in 100% cashmere from Colourmart.com, 3/28 heavy laceweight. It measures 64" in diameter and weights five ounces. The points on the lace edging could also be blocked to make softer scallops instead of points, but I thought the points went well with the spiral center so that's how I blocked it. This is my design, which I'm planning to write up and publish/sell in some manner. Feedback appreciated!

2007-02-24T05:50:00.000-08:00

I have been home sick for the last two days. With all the knitting time I've managed to finish two small things! Woohoo! The socks are knit from some Opal I bought years ago. I knit the first sock on bamboo DP's and hated them so bad I put the sock away. I knit the second one with my favorite metal needles and it went much better. Makes me wonder why I waited so long! I'm not sure if I'll keep these or give them away. The scarf is Argosy from Knitty. I loved this pattern! In my cold medicine fogged brain, I decided thatMike, one of my dobes would make a cute model. He didn't understand why I was humiliating him but he was good natured about it!. The scarf will be put away as a Christmas present, I think.

2007-02-21T20:34:00.001-08:00

Well, I have been hard at work. I have been working diligently on my shawl. I almost have clue 4 done and hopefully will have it done tonight. the shawl is the giant grey blob in the fist picture, You really can't tell what it really looks like yet from the picture. When It is all done, I promise to post a picture. Then I have a pair of socks for my daughter beside the shawl.
The second picture is of the completed pair of tube socks that was originally intended for my son, but I made them to small and they ended up being my 2 year olds. Oops. I promise him a pair of socks and I have some yarn on the way. hopefully to arive by the beginning of next week.

Happy knitting
Pam in Iowa
Mom to Autumn 7, Hunter 4 1/2, Trinity 2
http://knittingmomofaSIDchild.blogspot.com

Spinning Weekend

2007-02-20T17:14:00.000-08:00

Yippee, the kitchen is finally finished. Now I can start to work on my fiber UFO's. This weekend I'm going to a spinners getaway. My Mom's going to bring DH's scarf (yes, she's a spinner too) and that is first priority. Once I get that out of the way, I can work on my berry colored wool for my sweater. I'm going to take some other stuff also, but after that scarf I don't know how much more knitting I'll be up for.

Karen in northern MI

What Makes a UFO? (update) And Answers

2007-02-20T08:45:00.000-08:00

Okay, due-dates help, right? So, the due-date for the "what makes a UFO" contest is now officially 3/3/2007. On 3/4/2007 I'll check over all the entries, put names in a hat, and have someone here (a cat, if need be) draw one. Prize: one lovely blank knitting journal.

Re the Oregon tote, well, okay, it's the Tote Around ... and you can see it here: http://www.knitkit.com/ToteAround.htm. But the pattern is published/written in Oregon, so it's an Oregonian Tote ;-)

The rich colors in my sitting room are actually due to (a) the husband wanting any color other than white in the house and (b) him mis-hearing me when I said "salmon would be nice" -- he thought I said cinnamon! It worked out well, though, with cinnamon walls and a salmon ceiling (aka coral). The gold sofa was my idea ... it brings out the gold highlights in some of the art on the walls. The other choice was blue, but I wanted the room to be warm. For more crazy sofa ideas, I can recommend FunkySofa.

Other colors: my office is lemon with my peach wedding robe (kimono worn over a summer frock) on the wall (no I'm not Asian, I'm just creative); the "belle aire" blue in the bedroom; and the dusky lavender in the hall. The kids picked Barbie Purple and Mountain Blueberry (can you tell, one girl and one boy) for their rooms. The kitchen is wood-paneled, white pine.

AND THE WINNER IS.....

2007-02-20T06:17:00.000-08:00

Yep, Amelia has won the mug shot contest :) She posted a pic of herself with some spinning FO's and out of five of you that did so, she's the one.

So...Amelia...you can choose either yarn or spinning fiber for your prize and then either send me a photo of a colorway you particularly love or want or NEED or three of your favorite colors for me to use in your custom dyed yarn or fiber.

In other news, I'm in a serious UFO slump >:(

I was trying to get sick the other day (which I evaded by slamming Airborne and Vit C), and I couldn't focus on much so I putzed most of the day away by hand-washing a fleece. My silly scarf-vest is sitting on the coffee table staring at me but I can't seem to get into knitting right now at all! And I'm having the Big New Project Itch because I washed the darned fleece! I did it in a super slow, putzing fashion which I blogged about on my Yarn Tales blog and most people are horrified that I would do it that way but pffft on them...it's fun for me!

I'm way more into spinning these days and it does go like that sometimes but usually results in me wanting to start new projects. I am NOT going to do that! Well, not until I finish at least ONE FREAKING UFO!!!!! Will it be the mitten? The shop ripple scarf? The scarf vest? I know it won't be the remaining Yukon Sock or the Mesilla tee...hahaha!!

I'm actually thinking of ripping out the Mesilla tee, which is almost finished but I dunno...man, that's tough for me. It doesn't help that all my handspun is sitting out in a basket winking at me like a two-dollar hooker all the time, and one of my favorite skeins is sitting in front of the basket on a shelf wanting to be Mrs. Beeton knitty.com cuffs.

I did finish my Dad's other Christmas sock a couple weeks ago...did I even mention that? I know I updated my list :) He loves those things, Mom says he wears them everyday. They're worsted weight Bernat Aspen and LB Wool-Ease (mostly acrylic with some wool) Hmmmm...I know what to make him for Christmas next year, eh?

At my shop's fiber group Saturday, my Mom said she doesn't have UFO's because if something is sitting there not finished she just rips it out so it doesn't make her feel guilty! I was flabbergasted!!! Are you KIDDING me Mom???? She does have one UFO she can't tear out and it's a reversible cable scarf in angora/merino. That's it. I couldn't believe it. Wow...you think I'd have picked up some of that devil-may-care gene, wouldn't you?

I have finished a couple spinning UFO's so that's not all bad, right? I plied up a huge skein of some over-dyed alpaca (it was light brown and I over-dyed parts dark green - photo shows the unwashed skein) BUT there were some singles left on one bobbin and I found a little bit of fiber left over in a bag soooo...I'm going to finish spinning that to go with. I suppose that's just a half-a*$%ed FO. I did ply a little store sample of some romney/mohair off a spindle yesterday. That counts!

And then I spindle-spun some baby doll southdown and jacob roving ~ just a teeny little one ounce maybe ball I got from a friend to try...of course, there's no more to be had so I spun this pretty fine. I really love these colors together...it's a blue/dark grey/white. I thought about plying it with something else but I don't know...why shouldn't it join my collection of teeny sample skeins wanting to be something? I really want to see how this feels anyway plied with itself. I wish it had just been the southdown on it's own. I have almost-lace-weight ~ I spun it with a long draw, which took me forever to get down on a spindle but I really love doing it with the right fiber. Not sure how much it will poof but it'll probably be fingering weight when it's plied :)

That spindle is one of my very favorites ~ pretty light and it spins forEVER...I got it on Ebay because a lady's dh was giving it all up since he was allergic to the sawdust from exotic woods. Bummer, because that guy is an amazing spindle makin man! It's zebrawood.

Ok...enough rambling. Enough avoiding UFO knitting, or dyeing, or finishing the laundry or vacuuming the floor or cleaning out the rabbits' area of the garage cuz BABY, IT'S GONNA BE 33 TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

RUFO ...

2007-02-18T16:11:00.000-08:00

And then there's the rediscovered UFO. Really! Wow. Long story, lots of coincidence along the way ...

Coincidence #1 -- I was reviewing old journal entries and noticed alot of references to a "lost" project, spinning shetland locks from the lock into singles, to preserve the color variation in the locks (white to brown) in the yarn.

Coincidence #2 -- my computer has been SLOOOOOW. Did I say slow? slow. slow. slow. IE7, a few other software upgrades -- all had it on its knees.

Coincidence #3 -- the kids' computer died. And DH's old computer turned out to be dead on the table too, once it was dragged out and plugged in.

So, I got a new computer. But, as with all things new, I was short one converter-cable. Wait, I thought, I might have this. So I went through three boxes of the about 10 boxes I still have left to unpack (but, since I've run out of storage space, I've left them packed. All nik-naks, really, or extras, so it doesn't hurt) hunting for old cables/converters.

No cable-converter. But an old spindling project! Yes, you guessed it, the locks-into-singles project can now be resurrected. I started this way back when I was first learning to spin -- it might be 2 ounces total -- so it won't be the hat I originally thought, but it would be a cool part of a hat.

And the bonus find were my skeins of undyed Optim yarn -- yay!!! why they weren't packed with the other yarns, I'll never know. But now I have them again. Yay!!!

No, I haven't fully resurrected the UFO -- I've been working hard to get my new computer set up! And I have cleared the old one of all software except a web browser, in preparation for handing it over to the kids; it's behaving alot better, too, in its reduced state. Now I'm itching to reorganize my office ... I know what I want to do, it's a small matter of turning everything off, unattaching printers, power supplies, etc., and shoving boxes around under tables, tables around, & etc. What fun! Then maybe a treat, some time with that RUFO!

Spiral Rose Pillow Finished

2007-02-17T10:33:00.000-08:00

Here's a FINISHED OBJECT -- the spiral pillow in candy apple colored Cotton Fleece, to which I decided to add a knitted rose. Pillow and rose are all my design... should I start an afgan to match? (Is this a group to encourage finishing old projects, or enabling the start of new ones???).

I don't know if I'm too late for this or not, here's a picture of me. I was going to get one of my children to get a shot of me knitting or spinning, but that didn't happen, so I've pulled this one off our family portrait from just before Christmas and filled in my favorite color in the background.

Now, onto my definition of a knitting UFO ... when two of the following conditions are met:

another project is begun

the project is not touched for two weeks, and other projects are

the project is taken out of the main knitting bag to make room for something else

a problem/design decision causes the project to be put on hold

More yarn, or different needles are needed but haven't been ordered/purchased

My spiral shawl hasn't been touched lately (I told you the transition-to-border would do that!), but someone on one of my yahoogroups this morning asked whether or not a pi shawl with feather and fan in the last section had to have a border, and a light bulb went off in my head -- maybe inside of knitting on a sideways border I could end this baby by increasing and doing several inches of a lace pattern that scallops! I'll have to see what the old pros on the EZasPi group have to say about the idea, but I'm sensing a design idea change...

I've spun the singles and done half of the plying for the remaining yarn I need for my handspun sweater. I also took the red skein of Lambs Pride bulky that my 22-month old son kept stealing and petting and turned it into a hat for him. He seemed to like it, but still wants to make off with my yarn and needles!

That's it for now... knit on!

- Melissa

What makes a UFO for me

2007-02-16T14:28:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone, So what is a UFO for me.................. A blanket that I just found that I had started 8 years ago before my oldest daughter was born, now mind you in this time we remodeled the entire house while living in it. lost my job. Went back to school for 3 years and had 2 more children. Now I just have to find the pattern for it and I'll be in business again. But mostly I have an issue with cast on syndrome, I have ADHD and that is one reason that I knit, it helps to calm me but then the down side is that some days I can't decide which one to work on. so that's when I start something new. Right now I'm working on small projects like dishcloth KAL and Bookmark KAL so that I have the sense of actually accomplishing a project.

Amelia's Contest Question ~ What Makes a UFO, Valentine's Contest Drawing and My Progress...

2007-02-16T05:00:00.000-08:00

Hi there everyone! No, this is NOT ME wearing my FO (c'mon, make-up doesn't make that dramatic of a difference in my appearance and it's too freaking cold here to blow my do around in front of a fan ;> ) ... it's a pic from a Knit 1 magazine of the UFO I'm currently half-heartedly working on, using my very first handspun which is kind of funky but hey...why not? I didn't want to felt the handspun or make a boring bag out of it. I wanted it to *be* something, and I hope that I'll have the guts to wear it once it's done. I'm optimistic that this project will be done this weekend and photos will follow :) I'm probably going to have to buy a couple of plain long-sleeved shirts to go with the thing before I wear it. bummer, eh?

I just haven't been in a knitting groove at all...more of a spinning groove, really, which is good because some of my UFO's are spinning projects :)

I'm going to blog a little on my personal blog this morning about what this pile 'o funky hand-dyed, hand-combed Shetland wool became...don't get excited, it's just yarn at this point and not very much of it! I also used the nasty combing waste and actually spun that stuff up, which was weird and kind of fun. The dyed wool hung out in a grocery bag behind the couch for quite some time so it felt good to finish it. It's shocking how time consuming hand-combing can be and how little you get for your efforts in the time you spend on it but oh MY...the resulting fiber is so dreamy to spin!

Now...MUG SHOT CONTEST....I've actually written down your names and will be drawing them out of a hat (or something) and will post the winner's name tonight or tomorrow morning :) You should be excited if you posted a pic...there are only 4 of you so your chances of winning the custom hand-dyed yarn or fiber are most excellent! Before I draw names, just want to make sure I didn't miss anyone, OK? ~ I have AMELIA, LISA, PHYL AND PAM. Right????

And, our dear Amelia posed a question for us to win one of her lovely Knitting Journals so everyone....POST YOUR ANSWERS SO YOU CAN WIN!!!! The yahoo mail list is kind of slow, so I'm going to request some answers here to the blog. You can read her too-easy requirements for this contest here so read up on it before posting your answer/entry!

What Makes a(n?) UFO?

Hmmmmm.........that's an excellent question!

For me, it's hands-down starting a new project before I'm done with the one I'm working on, and that happens all the time! It's totally rare for me to finish a project without picking up something new along the way, unless it's a washcloth or ONE fingerless mitt or a bulky knit hat or a small felted bag that I do instead of a swatch to test a new wool yarn's felting properties...honestly, these are the only things I can think of that I've finished before picking up something else. Oh...maybe a scarf....but that's iffy. I can think of one, maybe.

And these are the reasons I do this:

1. The thing I'm working on is TOO HARD without taking a "no-brainer" project break (the Sheep Shawl comes to mind!)
2. The think I'm working on is TOO BORING (miles of stockinette, for example) and I need something TOO HARD to break the monotany
3. The dreaded SSS (Second Sock Syndrome) ... the though of casting on sock #2 makes me want to cry all over a new project (not normally a new sock!)
4. NEW MAGAZINES...sigh...I'm a sucker for knitting magazines and they distract me something awful
5. I LOST A NEEDLE ~ hahahahahahaha...this is a good one! Considering I own a yarn shop and this is the worst kind of cop out ever (bringing to mind the Mesilla t-shirt, still languishing in a basket....)

OK...that's it for this morning. Nothing exciting to post about, really, except the contest :)

Break from UFOs

2007-02-12T18:50:00.000-08:00

Took an afternoon off from finishing UFOs to create a felted valentine for my spouse. Fast, easy knit, and you can find the pattern at:
http://www.fiberfemmes.com/SeptOct2006/pattern1.htm

Update, sorta kinda

2007-02-09T17:46:00.000-08:00

Since I originally posted my UFO list, I've found a few others... and decided to add my WIP's, just so I get credit for something if and when I get them done! So take a minute, take a look at my list on the other blog, and tell me I'm a crazy woman for having so much started! I do finish things, really I do. In fact, here are a few things that I've finished since Thanksgiving, just so you know I'm not a hopeless dreamer:

Aqua Cashmere/Merino Ribbed Hat (I want to make a matching scarf -- maybe this should be a UFO!)
Fair Isle/Bohus Cashmere hat, toddler size
FairIsle Lace Girl's Cashmere hat
Cashmere Shawl (gift for a friend)

AND I did a small cap and baby shawl for a friend's new baby that I failed to photograph before giving it away.

All my designs (if that counts for anything!). None of these were ever on my UFO list, so they don't "count" for that, but I wanted to share anyway.

- Melissa

To FO or not to FO ...

2007-02-09T12:58:00.000-08:00

It's up to you to decide (grin). I've finished the spinning for the Jacob Oregon Tote (with Oregonian Jacob, no less) ...

This was started, oh, about 3 years ago? maybe 4? Probably 3. This spinning was happenstance, in any case -- I sent the fleeces to the local mill to be processed, and it turned out the staple was too short for it to be considered a good quality roving, so I decided to spin it myself (rather than put it in the rare breed kit I was assembling at the time) and knit the Oregon Tote pattern -- it was very popular in our local guild at the time. Now they all look at me blankly and say, "what?" when I say that's what I'm working on.

I can tell one of the skeins is still underplied (my buga-boo when it comes to spinning!) but I'm not sure if I'll run it through the wheel again or not. Maybe. I ran one skein through a second time to firm up its plying and it looks alot better.

I plan to continue working on this one ... it's a cute tote, and it would be a nice break from the jewel-tone Lopi project (hmmm is that on my list?) -- I knit a moebius basket from a nice Emerald shade, and now I'd like to do a deeper one, more tote-like, in the rich Amethyst hank I still have. The Emerald one now houses my superwash pencil roving I'm spinning for socks ... that's not on the list, because I started it after we started this ... but it's officially a UFO now too, having been pushed aside for other things. Hmmm. What "makes" something a UFO? Cooking dinner? no. Housecleaning? no. Putting up Christmas decorations? no. Starting a newer project -- probably! LOL.

Hey, that would be a good contest -- what's a way to tell that something's a UFO? Just one way per person, please, here or on the email list (and I'll cc email list entries to the blog ... ok now I'll email the list about this great idea! hehehe)

And here's a shout-out to Leah -- it's not Valentine's yet, and that's me in the picture! with my newly completed balls of Jacob! So now I'm in the running. Let's see more of us!

Mittens of Shame Redeemed!

2007-02-05T10:01:00.000-08:00

Oh YAY ME! YAY MITTENS! Yay for wanting to cast on Target Mitten #2!

I took the plunge today and decided to felt the Mittens of Shame (aka Target Mittens) a bit while I was test felting some yarn and contrary to most of my "try to fix by felting" projects, this one worked and so did the hat! The thumb weirdness is gone from the mitten and it fits beautifully now!

As a matter of fact the hat is Tres Cute, if I do say so myself! I even really like the little wierd flattening thing it did when I stretched it around the bowl and then set it down, (crown on the table hence the little bit of flatness) I did felt the hat a little more than I wanted, so took it out, rinsed and wrung, then tried it on my head...a bit tight but still stretchable so onto the bowl it went and I'll try it on a few more times before it's dry but I'm so pleased with both projects now and proud to deliver them to my snow-mobiling best friend ~ they're even better for her now than they were, since the felt is much cozier!

And since I can't ask all y'all to post mug shots and then bail out myself, here I am in a horrid self portrait (in a HAT no less...with no make-up...ugh ~ I'm much better looking when you can tell I have hair... and the hat is better looking on the bowl!)

I'm on a UFO roll though...I finished sock 2 of my Dad's Christmas boot sox and tossed those in the wash with the last cycle of my felting swatches, which I hope wasn't a horrid mistake and they aren't covered in felting fuzz. They're wool/acrylic blend so they won't shrink but...we'll see. I could've make a horrible mistake!

I'm going to cast on Target Mitten 2 tonight, I think, and get that monkey off my back in time for Anne's snowmobile trip next weekend :)

My mug and a few of FO's

2007-02-04T15:33:00.000-08:00

I I just posted my list on the other blog so I thought I'd come over here and post a couple of pictures! Here are 3 things I have finished since the beginning of the year. The socks were for my 15 yo DS. He has size 12 feet so it felt like I'd never finish! The felted bag I made to carry a sock project in the car. The little felted bowl was made from the leftovers.

I am an avid spinner and knitter and I'm hoping that I can get lots of encouragement to finish the things on my list. I have a very bad case of Star-itis! I did notice that I get about half done and then go on to something else. I'm trying to rotate throught the sweaters to work a little bit on all of them. We'll see how that works. I have projects all around the house and in the car - where ever I sit there is something to work on.

Lisa in Maine

New FO and Mug Shot

2007-02-04T11:03:00.002-08:00

Okay, here are the finished Monkey socks (finished this morning) and my aging mug.

Confession to make — I've already started another pair of socks. (red face) Bought some Tofutsies yarn and I couldn't wait to try it out. Just casting on, and I had to go to a size 0 Inox. I've used heavier laceweight. Still, they should be great for warmer weather.

Feeling like a slacker

2007-02-02T04:03:00.000-08:00

I just read everyone's recent posts and now I feel like a slacker (big time). The only progress I've managed is spinning a little more yarn for my sampler socks. On the other hand, the kitchen is now painted and just the flooring remains. Anyone have any ideas on getting my scarf project from my parents house before the 23rd, or my husband gets suspicious, whichever comes first.

Karen in northern MI

Happy Groundhogs Day!

2007-02-01T18:08:00.000-08:00

A updating post - the feather and fan shawl is languishing in a lovely bag (we've reached the empty OJ in the fridge stage). Actually, after looking at it mathmatically I decided to work on other UFOs that were more rewarding. Hence, I picked up the nubbly toes from my first handspun and have been knitting up, up and up. Following a variation of Judy Gibson's pattern. I worked them toe up because I thought I might not have enough yarn, but I think they will have nice indoor winter cuffs. More yarn than I thought. Yay! To cheer myself about the Black Bunny Crawl I do periodically go to Carol's Etsy and read dyelot names...Pixie Barf, Mixed Metaphors, Shag Carpet, and a beautiful soft Lily. And I engage in colorful dreams here Sigh.

And, for Leah, blog mom extraordinaire - my Mug Shot Appropriate because I travel all over the country and always carefully pack my coffee mug from Life is Good. It's a little piece of home.

My mug shot and pictures of UFO's for contest

2007-02-01T06:22:00.000-08:00

Ok Leah, I guess I should get my act together and post the contest information on the correct blog!!!!! As for progress on my UFO's -- last night I got a couple rows done on my mystery shawl. it is the gray one and the yarn is 100% cashmere!!! Wish I had clue 3 done. but I was side lined yesterday with a child home from school and lots of cleaning that I've been neglecting for toooooo long. So I cleaned. I was also waiting for my new addi turbo circular needles to come from UPS. They finally showed up at 5:30 last night and let me tell you they are sooooooo nice. This is the first time that I have used them and am in love. I hope to get some more work done on the house and my shawl today. I'm so excited I get to go get my hair done tonight. That is something that I have not done in over 6 months I just may add a photo of myself with my new hairdo latter tonight. Ok long enough. I'm going to work on my shawl while the kids are occupied by dragan tails. But first I guess I should tell you what they all are. The blue blocks are 6 of the 12 blocks for my sons train blanket, made from 100% cashmere from colourmart.com- Hunter has a disorder called SID/SPD so he likes things supper soft. The green scarf is for my sister in law also made of 100% cashmere and is half done. The start of my first sock ever is the pink varigated and let me tell you the k2p2 is getting anoying. I will stay with it because I WANT to learn how to make socks. the cream one is the candle flame triangle shawl from Dean Crane and is in 100% baby alpaca-- This is for MYSELF. and finally the gray mystery shawl its a KAL and as I said before I'm working on clue 3 and clue 4 comes out tomarrow, so I better get busy.
Happy knitting

Pam in Iowa
http://knittingmomofaSIDchild.blogspot.com

NEW CONTEST !

2007-01-29T20:15:00.000-08:00

I sent an email to the Yahoo Group about a new contest but wanted to post it here as well.

the I LOVE MY BELIEVERS CONTEST

An entry into the prize drawing for anyone who posts UFO progress with photos on THIS blog between now and Valentine's Day :) The progress reports need to be something from your list so if you haven't posted your list yet, get busy and post it on the List Blog ~ then get yourself back here and post your progress.

So...to be eligible for the drawing you have to:

~ Have posted a list on the List Blog

~ Post progress on something from your list with photos on THIS BLOG

~ BONUS ~ If you post an FO from your list with photos of YOU with your FO between now and Valentine's Day you get a double entry in the drawing. I wanna see your funny little mugs!

You'll have your choice of either custom hand-dyed fiber or custom hand-dyed, hand-spun yarn if you win :) I choose the fiber, but you get to give me some colorway suggestions (hence, "custom") so you won't have to worry about getting bright orange yarn/fiber if orange makes you hurl

READY ~ SET ~ GO !!!!

What am I...a snail????

2007-01-29T12:36:00.000-08:00

Ha! While I *feel* like I'm getting somewhere, I'm hard-pressed to show any progress. Sheesh! I'm a tad lost with what to do between spinning and knitting and I've made progress with both but...when I went to update my list, it sure as bloody heck didn't take long! Anyway... the scarf at left is the Ripples in My Stash design that I'm meant to be writing up for the website as a free stash-buster idea/pattern. It's bits of left over handspun alpaca and angora that I russian-joined and knit up in the Feather and Fan pattern. Really yummy and it's done but for the writing up (never a favorite thing to do but tomorrow's another day!)

My best friend's earflap hat is done BUT ~ heavy sigh ~ it's a tad big. I used the pattern from Knit Scene Fall 06 and it's meant to be a "tallish" sort of

hat, which is cute but I think it's a bit too tall since she's a pinhead like me. On the positive side, tall is kind of good in the I'm Gonna Felt It A Bit fixer upper process. It's not tight either so I think a tad bit of felting will be fine with this.

Then there are the mittens...oh MY. Now, I adore Norah Gaughn and the mitten pattern is from Knitting Nature, a book I slobber over regularly. The mittens were in Interweave Knits as an excerpt from the book so I went about knitting them up to match the hat. I've never knit mittens before but I know the Target Mittens are an odd type of pattern...knit on straights and then you pick up around the weird opening and knit the "thumb target" as it's called in the pattern. The thumb is wonky and it's either me and my eternal gauge issues or the pattern. I didn't even do as many rounds as the pattern called for and the thumb is like super long. Hmmmm....

I felt really good about these mittens at the phase pictured above with the magazine...they were fitting well, looking cute, fun to knit...YAY ME! Then...I finished them... I mean, lookit that thing below...is that not weird looking???

I could blame it on the fact that they aren't washed and blocked yet but I don't think that's gonna help much. It looks better on my hand but that thumb is still oddly long and bizarre. Oh well...I could have ripped it out but I decided to weave in the ends and make another one and if I hate them still I'll keep them for me (I don't hate them enough to not wear them...c'mon, they're mittens and they won't make me look fat and they're wool, right????) I may have enough of the yarn left to make her a better pair but she's very cool and will probably be OK with them. I may felt them up some, I dunno.

So, my FO's of shame are here for you to see and comment on. It's tough to make that second mitten but I MUST FINISH THEM and move on!

On a lighter note (ahem!) I did six rows on my Sheep Shawl yesterday. Whew...I'm smokin on THAT one...ha! But, if I have a tinking session on that baby, I'm shot for the day. I usually fix what I screwed up and try to end it on a postive plain knit row and tuck it away.

Then, last night I finished up a fleece combing UFO and actually spun, plied and washed the stuff! It's a very wacky hand-dyed Nasty-Part-Of-The-Fleece experiment, which I hope to blog about tomorrow morning. Pretty fun and one small skein of very weird yarn that makes me happy!

Progress! and oopsie ...

2007-01-27T18:17:00.000-08:00

Well, a more interesting title might be "how I didn't meet Stepahnie Pearl-McPhee (Yarn Harlot)". But only if I posted the photo of the Van Eaton APPLE fold'n'tote I was busy buying while she was chatting with people right in front of me. Yep, I could now tell you she was wearing jeans -denims- with pockets on the back, beltloops and no belt (sorry Stephanie!) Not that I was enamored or anything ....

So of course, the buying of this lovely little wheel was accompanied by a slide right OFF the no-fiber wagon into two lovely balls of sock fiber! LOL. Actually, both are superwash merinos. Yummy! Some from Crown Mountain Farms -- the stuff they spin and sell as Sock Hop yarns -- bright orange on white, for "Hang on Sloopy" and some from Blue Moon Fiber Arts -- same colorways as their Socks That Rock yarns -- in "Farmhouse" with maroon, yellow, green and more. So far my little Apple Blossom has taken well to the Sloopy colorway. Maybe this will be my "sock wheel". LOL. I read today wheels need to be used, so I'd best start up a bunch more projects! hehehe.

But this posting is supposed to be about _progress_ so here goes ...

finished the first pattern row in the fair isle arm warmer (first warmer). I'm thinking I'll go native on the second arm warmer and find some complementary slip stitch patterns. I can do the two-hands two-color thing, but fair isle just isn't my cup of tea, when it comes right down to it! But I will plug away on this one. It's really pretty, I'll give you that!
Made progress on the 3 year old (or older if the fiber "buy" date counts) sock spinning project -- I should finish spinning the singles within a fortnight if I keep making this my evening project. But Apple Blossom is intruding with her sock project, so we will see...
Returned to the Jacob tote bag project -- Oregon Tote, I think it's called. Knit, felt, and the handle loops through a hole to hold it closed. I spun up two bobbins, plied them, and then re-plied them to tighten up the loose spots. Still fighting my Schacht's Woolee Winder a bit, have a new oil to test on it.
Finished the Tofutsies socks. There's a photo on my blog here.
Felted the moebius tote -- just in time for the class tomorrow! LOL.

Hmmm, must go and see if I committed to more items in the List posting ... but that's all that comes to mind for recent accomplishments...

Happy spins,
Amelia.

Bad Influence.

2007-01-21T13:36:00.000-08:00

Why your parents worried about who you hung out with..... Bad influence provided by Silver, courtesy of Leah. I went to the Selfish Sunday Knitters and found this post about the Calorimetry. I didn't want one in the original colours but was certainly inspired.

Dyed, spun, plied, knitted. Wearing.
DONE!
Off to work on bigger projects.

Clapotis crosses Finish Line.

2007-01-11T15:42:00.000-08:00

It was a race folks, in the grand tradition of watching cars going many, many, many times around the track. It came out of the starting gate well, slid through the increase sections, bogged down ala Knittyd and The City in the straightaway, and scampered to an exciting conclusion after the decreases. It is finished. Okay, it wasn't fast, it wasn't priority but it is done. I blocked it, but think I preferred it unblocked so perhaps I shall wet down and let it snap back some.
The sproingy yarn and subtle colours are courtesy of Fleece Artist Bluefaced in the Wildflower colourway.

And in the tradition of all great incredible acts, I have already started to forget the tedious pain of the middle section and am fondling yarn set aside for a second one. Someone please intervene.

Welcome UFO Knit Club Team Members!

2007-01-08T04:42:00.000-08:00

I'm Leah, and I'm going to dive in here and post a little about the UFO's that have me feeling like I should DO SOMETHING NOW! Unfortunately, I'm a little burned out from holiday knitting and I'm having a really hard time getting motivated to knit at all! I have been playing with my spindles and doing some spinning UFO's ~ small projects that have been sitting in my basket waiting to be plied. I spent a few hours doing that last night.

This shawl is one thing I'm determined to finish and need to get back into working on, since I'm hosting a knit along for it, which has been really quiet and quite a few folks have dropped out. The shawl is hard! It's the Fiber Trends "Sheep Shawl" and we're knitting it in Jaggerspun Zephyr...I'm using the color "Suede" and it's just lovely! I can't work on this unless it's first thing in the morning and there's no stress, no distractions...sometimes I feel like I should lock myself in a closet with it! I'm about 90 rows into it.

This is my very first plied handspun and I'm trying to make this scarf vest thing but I just don't know...this particular yarn has given me fits from the start! I wanted to do the "Cleaves" pattern from Knitty with it but it looked awful so I tore it out after finishing a whole sleeve and started this. I'm done with the back and one side and need to do the other side and then sew it up and do the collar.

I just don't know...I feel like it's going to be super weird looking but I do really like the pattern. If I have to rip this out again, I'll be ticked! It's just an odd color for me to be working with, I guess, and if all else fails, the yarn could be a boring handbag :<>

And here is one thing that's really bugging me...it's the Mesilla t-shirt from Knitty that I meant to work up as a store sample last summer and still haven't finished. My excuse was that I lost a double point for the longest time (ha!) and now...ack...I just have to do the sleeves, then pick up for the neck and do the finishing work. It's pretty cute, with these picot edges and color bands around the neck and sleeves and was fun to knit in the round. I don't plan on adding the embroidery details. This probably should hit the top of the list, though, just to get the damn thing out of my guilt trip!

Then there are the Yukon Sox (it's probably a bad idea to give you guys links to patterns, isn't it? Not very UFO motivational!)

I started with a double strand of this alpaca, wool & nylon yarn that my husband had on cones for his sock knitting machines and they're still done on size 1 needles. Sheesh..I hope that's what I used. Ha...I need to write this stuff down! No...I'm sure that's it cuz they went Really Slow and I could only stand one 12-row repeat at a sitting. I finished one sock after about 6 months and didn't want to start the other one till I'd washed and blocked the first sock. I know, I know, BUT I pretty much knew what the yarn would do since my DH did make a few pairs of socks from it on his machines. I just didn't know how it would turn out with handknitting. It turned out really well though! I love this sock and am wondering what I can wear to show it off once the other one is done :) They're really pretty on and feel nice and make me feel girly and that's always a good thing!

This is not by any means my complete UFO gallery :) Just a few of the things that are at the top of the list, I guess. Honest opinions are welcomed, really! You can even call my handspun butt ugly if you want and I won't be mad! The Sheep Shawl is the sort of UFO that's going to be in progress for awhile. If that were the only thing I "allowed" myself to knit, I'd pull out all my hair and run away screaming! A little honesty, a little cheerleading and any and all suggestions ~ bring 'em on!