Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Work-In-Progress Wednesday #2

Happy 4th of July WIP Wednesday!
See everyone else's WIP Wednesdays here!
I'll keep this short-and-sweet because I've got a bar-b-q (or as Connecticans say, 'picnic') to go to!


Color Affection:
Sanguine Gryphon Bugga
This shawl is still progressing nicely, however it is getting increasingly more difficult to figure out interesting ways to photograph a lot of stripey fabric all bunched up on a needle! I think I'm about halfway through the short row section now.


Lillypad Socks:
Verdant Gryphon Bugga
I finally got around to fixing my frogged mess from last week and have made progress on the heel flap, yay! I love successful and productive knitting. Maybe I'll actually finish this sock sometime soon so I can get the pattern out to testers and get this design on the road!



Super Secret Swatch:
Malabrigo Yarns Chunky
The super secret swatch has turned into a super secret knitted mess. The stitch pattern wasn't... cooperating... with the circular needles and now my knitting is stuck! I can't get it off the circular! I've been trying for days. The stitch involves wrapping the yarn a few times around the needle which works fine on straights but then runs into serious issues when you move from the needle to cord of a circular: since the cord is so much thinner, there's basically no way to get the stitch back onto the other needle when it's time to knit it on the next round. Grrrrrr.


Olive Theory Socks:
BMFA Socks That Rock Heavyweight
New project! I started the third design in my series of socks inspired by How I Met Your Mother characters. This one is for Marshall. I'm not sure how I feel about the pooling. I love the colorway ("Harlotty", named for the Yarn Harlot!) but it's doing some crazy things on the cuff of this sock. I'm currently undecided if I should keep going as is or try to get the colorway to stripe by changing the stitch count or gauge.

How much does the colorway of the sample item for a design influence whether or not you purchase or want to knit it? Do you think color choice has a big effect? Also, how do you feel about pooling (or flashing, as it's sometimes called)? It seems to inspire very love/hate reactions. I don't mind it, and I think sometimes people can do some really neat things with pooling colorways.

Anyway, gotta run, but have a lovely holiday and/or just a lovely WIP Wednesday!

12 comments:

  1. So many awesome WIPs! You really have an eye for picking gorgeous yarn and fun patterns. :) The shawl looks really lovely, and I'm totally in love with both pairs of socks. (Note to self: must get some "Harlotty"- super-awesome!!)

    In regards to the colorway of a knitted sample, I think that, at a first glance through a book, I'm most drawn to samples knit in colors I like. However, after many, many times leafing through the patterns (which I love to do when I get a new book), the colorways eventually become irrelevant, and I pick a pattern based on how fun it looks to make. I'm a process knitter all the way. :)

    As far as pooling goes, I've only experienced it when knitting socks, and I've always really liked the effect. I love it when a pair of socks turn out to be all crazy and wacky instead of tame and predictable. But I think this would probably be a different story if my yarn pooled while knitting a sweater!

    Happy 4th! :)

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    1. Thanks! :) I agree that it's often the color that makes me go "oooOOoOOoooh"! A good combination will get me every time.

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  2. Lots on your needles! Like your color affection colors.

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    1. Haha, I always have too many WIPs! And thank you. :)

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  3. I wanna see the lillypad socks all done! I wanna seeeeeeeeeee! Also, I think I tend not to like pooling. And color makes a big difference for me- at least initially. When I first saw the Rubus suberectus socks in the Knitter's Curiosity Cabinet, I wanted THOSE socks. In off white. Now that a few months have passed, I'm looking at my stash and considering some BMFA in Jasper for them.

    I LOVE the Harlotty colorway! And the Mal chunky color is gorgeous.

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    1. I'm working on them! :-D I bet Jasper would work great for that pattern. Nice and solid so it will still show off the stitchwork.

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  4. Wow. That is a good question. When I saw your new socks, I first thought it was 2 yarns creating that effect to go with the pattern. I think for me seeing socks like that and then getting that same effect in my own pair would be odd, but if you warned the knitters ahead of time it could work. I do love the yarn you are using, the pooling is very interesting indeed.

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    1. Yeah, the yarn is doing that all on its own, the pattern is just 2x2 ribbing so far. Crazy, huh?

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  5. Ah I love everything you are working on right now, I am jealous of your ninja sock making abilities. I am petrified to knit socks so yours are like magical to me. I have totally been there and get your pain with the circular knitting. The first hat I knit ended up like that. Happy fourth of July!

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    1. Don't be scared of socks, they are really not that bad! I learned from the sock section in the book "Knitting Rules!" by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (the Yarn Harlot). She describes it really super clearly and there are plenty of resources online for whenever you are ready to jump in. They are a little addicting. :)

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  6. Not only do you have a whole bunch of really great patterns cast on (including a mystery swatch, love those!), but you also have some truly amazing yarns shown here as well. I'm pretty much in love with the purple Bugga colorway. The yarn you are using for the Marshall socks is really great on the skein, but I can see what you mean, where the heck did that pooling come from? If it kept on spiraling down in that fashion, it would turn out really cool, but if not it might be very frustrating later on.

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    1. Thanks! I'm a sucker for colorways, the purply Bugga one is Fierce Snake. I don't think they dye it anymore but you can sometimes have good luck finding it through destashes on Ravelry.

      I decided to keep knitting on the Marshall Socks and just see what happens. Pooling adventures!

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