IS #31: Rather Uninspired

I'm sneaking in under the wire with a rather uninspiring Inspiration Saturday post. I have a couple of friends visiting from out of town this weekend and failed to plan ahead with a post! I've had another plan-ahead-failure, too:

So close yet so far...

After requesting leftovers from fellow Rockin' Sock Club members of one of last year's club colorways (Budding Twig) for my Budding Lintilla shawl so I could make it larger, I still ran out of yarn. The pattern is an asymmetrical sideways-knit shawlette that is pretty customizable. You basically knit until you have a particular percentage of yarn left and then start the edging. While I weighed and measured, I was cutting it a bit close and using larger needles than the pattern called for, so I lost the game of yardage chicken with a mere handful of rows to go. I hate that! Such a letdown! Thankfully, knitters are nice people and Ravelers are particularly awesome so I have a few more leftovers winging my way here to save the day. Yay!

What's been inspiring you lately? Link along below and let us know!

Keepin' It Loose

Happy Friday, everyone! I have nothing finished this week because my knitting time was practically nonexistent, but I do have a little progress to show!

BMFA Socks That Rock Lightweight, colorway Melusine and some Bugga in Blue Lobster for contrast.

That is the beginning of the second Tour-de-Sock pattern, Chicane Socks by Debbie O'Neill. I debated earlier in the week whether to knit the second sock of the first TDS pattern and (obviously) decided to start the new sock. For one, I'll take almost any excuse to start a new project, the beginnings of projects are my favorite parts. For another, I feel less guilty about all my stash yarn when more of it's currently in use. And finally, by the end of TDS I'm going to have a pretty difficult time ignoring all of the gorgeous half-finished pairs of socks lying around, so the motivation to finish them should be strong minus the feeling of repetition that sometimes happens when I knit one sock right after the first.

This was my first time knitting any sort of colorwork that involves a significant number of floats on the back of the fabric (those long strands of yarn you see there). I was pretty anxious about keeping them loose since carrying the unused strand behind the work tightens up the fabric and in a sock that needs to stretch over the heel, that's not great. In fact, a sock with a too-tight-cuff is pretty much the worst thing ever. To help prevent this I went up a needle size, cast on more stitches than I usually use with this yarn (72 instead of 60-66), knit CRAZY LOOSELY especially when going from the end of one needle to another (give the float a little tug with your fingers after you knit the next stitch so it doesn't snug up too much between DPNs), and I elongated the ribbing and shortened the leg overall so the colorwork part would hit lower on the calf when worn, which works better for my short and stout legs... in theory. I have no idea if any of that will help yet but the fabric seems like it has a decent amount of stretch so here's hoping!

Anybody have some good colorwork tips? I think the third TDS pattern is going to involve much more colorwork so I'm all ears.

Planning Is Just As Good, Right?

No. Not right. Planning what to knit might be pretty fun, but it is still not just as good as actually knitting. Unfortunately, planning is all I've had time for this week. Still, I think it's a pretty good plan.

L to R: Sock A, Sock B, Sock C plans

The patterns for the Tour-de-Sock are still a mystery (JUST TWO MORE DAYS, YAY!) but they did give some hints of what supplies would be needed to achieve each challenge so we intrepid knitters could prepare. Being probably 70% composed of BMFA Socks That Rock, my sock stash is pretty wild color-wise and many of the patterns suggested semi-solid or tonal skeins, so choosing was actually pretty tough. Sock A suggested a semi-solid with 15 grams of contrast color (uh-oh, colorwork) and I'll decide which accent to use when I see the pattern. The yarn is STR Lightweight in Melusine and the contrasts are Bugga leftovers. Sock B suggested semi-solid or tonal with about 500 beads of 2 different colors (YES, 500). I have no idea if I have 500 beads there but they'll have to do. The yarn for this is STR LW Rare Gem Water. Sock C suggests yarn with stripes or a long color change/gradient, so I thought my new BMFA BFL Fingering in SasSwatch might work nicely (and I'm itching to try the new base).

L to R: Sock D, Sock E, and Sock F plans

Sock D just required solid or semi-solid yarn and I couldn't decide between these skeins. I'll probably end up going with on that has already been wound but these are Bugga in Northern Purple Gold Beetle, STR LW in Tempest, and the full skein is Bugga in Ruby-Tailed Wasp. Sock E required solid yarn and about 50 matching beads, for which I will use STR LW in Bleck and some gunmetal-colored beads which don't quite match but look great with the yarn. Finally, Sock F requires 50 grams of one color, 50 of another, and 15 of a third (more colorwork!!). These little bits of Skinny Bugga in natural, Blue Ringed Octopus, and Ghost Moth should do nicely! We've been informed that Sock E will be the first challenge, which is sweet because it's already wound (lazy much?) and I'm excited to see what's going on with the beads.

Thanks for the lovely wishes about my new nephew... but he's still forthcoming so I didn't get to meet him on my trip back home. Poor SIL was in the hospital for 2 days and has been contracting for over a week but the little tyke just doesn't seem ready to come out yet. Hopefully soon! In the meantime, here's a happy photo I wasn't sure I'd ever get to see happen. That's my current nephew in the middle and my pending nephew in the belly on the right:

Isn't he a cutie? Now back to life so that eventually I can get back to knitting!

WIPWed #24: Knitting Spring

When looking at my works-in-progress together, it is clear that I am trying to knit all of the colors of spring at once. And you know what? That makes me extraordinarily happy. Here's what I've been working on lately:

Tiny Turn-A-Square:

The Sanguine Gryphon Bugga, colorways Box Jellyfish and Common Emerald Moth

For this WIP, I'm taking Jared Flood's free Turn A Square pattern and babysizing it for my future nephew. I'm knitting it with sport weight yarn on size 4 needles (instead of worsted on 7's) and cast on 80 sts. I'm doing just one bold stripe near the brim, then will do a series of thin stripes through the decreases. I've stashed a bunch of Bugga but I usually conserve it for the super special projects that I sometimes forget how wonderful it is. It's knitting up delightfully at this gauge (about 6 sts/inch). This little beanie should be done in no time and I'll probably make some matching booties as well.

 Budding Lintilla:

BMFA Socks That Rock Mediumweight, colorway Budding Twig

To say I am utterly charmed and delighted by this WIP is an understatement. I really love this thing. I think of myself as Not A Pink Person but there's something about the interplay between it and the bright springy greens and shots of coral in this yarn that I am totally into, and I love the way the short rows in the Lintilla shawlette pattern affect the stripes. It's an addicting little knit, for sure.

Spring-y Socks:

Play At Life Revelous Sockie Maki

This WIP is probably the springiest one yet. I adore the gradient yarn so very much and I just had to pick a delicate, lacy sock pattern to go with it. I chose Hunter Hammersen's Crocus Vernus socks, from her first Knitter's Curiosity Cabinet book. I already pre-ordered the second one, because really admire her design sense.

Copyright Hunter Hammersen

Knit up in my yarn, the socks will start green at the cuff and work their way through pale lilac to a deep purple at the toe. I can see it in my mind already and it's going to be awesome, don't you think?

Starry Petals:

The Sanguine Gryphon Zaftig Bugga, colorway Starry Night Cracker

Finally, this WIP is making me super duper sad that Zaftig Bugga (a hefty, worsted weight version of Bugga) has been discontinued because it is fabulous. Look at how plump, even, and gorgeous those stitches are! It's making such a wonderful fabric. This is going to be a Zuzu's Petals cowl by Carina Spencer. This is one of those rare patterns that I love so much I'm willing to knit it multiple times and I think it makes really great gifts. I actually finished another so quickly last week that it went from WIP to FO without ever seeing the blog. It's blocking now and I will show it off on Friday, but just as a little teaser, I knit it out of this lovely earth-toned handspun:

3-ply worsted weight superwash Merino/Tencel blend

... which did fantastic things in the pattern. Can't wait to show you! I think that's all I've been actively knitting in the last couple of weeks. Lots of new projects, not doing so well with finishing up ancient WIPs, but I'm sure I'll get to them.. someday. :)

Impracti-cowl?

Let me start this post off by saying this: I love the design of the finished cowl you are about to see and I do not at all blame the designer or the design for the tiny issues I have with my cowl. That said, I finished a gorgeous cowl and I'm not sure if it's practical for how I wanted to wear it, and therein lays my knitterly dilemma.

BMFA De-Vine, colorway Smokey Mountain Morn

This was the result of Star Athena's Mystery Cowl KAL, the pattern for which has since been named Sartorial Cowl. I think the pattern is a great match for this yarn, which grew a bit and relaxed nicely into the textured stitches after blocking. I still adore the yarn, its multiple plies gives it this great density and slickness. However, that density adds to part of my issue with the cowl: its heaviness and its length. There's really only one way to wear it:

And when worn this way, it's kind of like a 290 gram (10.2 oz) necklace. This sucker is HEAVY. This is mostly due to the bulky yarn, but the silvery metal buttons I bought for it don't help with the weight, either (although they matched so well). I have to sort of flop it over on itself like that in order for it to feel warm at all because it's far too large to be snug up to the neck:

And just a touch too short to be wrapped around twice:

I, quite frankly, don't know what to do! At this point, I'm really wishing I had  knit the small size, which would've been snugger around the neck but would've left me with a bunch of leftover yarn (mine was medium and large would've taken two skeins). I had wanted this cowl to be sort of an indoor cowl. My neck is always chilly at work and I wanted a little something to wear that wasn't really bulky and also wasn't a full-on scarf. I'm tempted to frog it and start over because the yarn is just too fantastic not to get worn, but it probably wouldn't get re-knit for months. I'm giving it a test drive at work today to see how it goes. What would you do?

IS #2: Chunky Lace

It's time for another Inspiration Saturday post! This week I'm all about chunky lace. Specifically, I've recently become enamored with the Cedar Grove Shawl design by Judy Marples over at Purl Bumps.

Photo from Ravelry pattern page.

Isn't it gorgeous?! I love so many of Judy's designs but haven't had the chance to knit any of them yet. I plan to remedy that first with this shawl, followed by her Harmony shawl design at some point. This shawl will be my Selfish Birthday Shawl. At the end of January, after all the holiday knitting is over and my most pressing design deadlines have passed, I will be knitting this for me. And I will be using the fabulous BMFA DeVine yarn that I've been blabbing about because I must have an excuse to stash more of that stuff, ASAP! Judy uses Cascade Eco for her shawl, which I have yet to try, but it certainly looks lovely here. It is a bulky yarn but the shawl is knit at a gauge that I think would work well for heavy worsted or aran weights, too, like Malabrigo Twist or Cephalopod Yarns Beastie.

Another chunky lace shawl that's been on my radar for a while is Ovate by Tori Gurbisz of Lachesis and Co.

Photo from Ravelry pattern page.

This shawl is knit with either one or two skeins of Malabrigo Rasta, the same yarn I used for my Syrinx Shells cowl design. While you could theoretically use any super bulky merino wool for such designs, I think it truly is the yarn that makes them great. Rasta is fantastic and fairly unique in its awesomeness. I have two skeins in a lovely deep gray waiting to become this shawl someday... and the best part about chunky lace shawls, besides being cozy and beautiful? They're done in a flash. They make great projects if you haven't knit many shawls and are scared to commit to a finer gauge one, or if you're just plain impatient!

Do you have any favorite chunky lace patterns to share, shawl-like in nature or otherwise? Please share in the comments, or feel free to create your own Inspiration Saturday post and link it along below!

Blogging in a Blur

I'm off at Rhinebeck but am blogging to you from the past so I can write about the Stitches East event before I have all sorts of things to say about Rhinebeck, so here we go!

Stitches East market floor

That is the only picture I took at Stitches, there were just too many things to see! It should at least give you a sense of the sheer size of the market floor-- it's at least twice as big as what is pictured. So many wonderful booths and vendors, so little time money everything.

Before hitting the market floor I took a class with Shannon Okey, which was my first ever knitting-related class. It was neat to sit in a room with like-minded people and think about knitting. We looked at images of runway fashions and sketched what knitted versions of those clothes would look like, our own interpretations. I surprised myself by really getting into it! I didn't know I had such strong feelings about runway outfits or about how to reinvent them. It was a really fun thought exercise and was cool to hear everybody's different interpretations.

Alright, on to the yarny goodness. I made my customary stop at the Webs booth to fondle Blue Moon Fiber Arts yarn in person. This is a rare opportunity as their yarns are mostly only sold through their website and dyed to order, so it's rare to see a bunch in one place that you could potentially impulse buy.

BMFA Luscious Single Silk, colorway Nisqually

Like that one! Blue-green merino/silk blend super soft singles yarn? Yeah, I couldn't resist. I also caved and bought one of the Sheep 2 Shoe spinning kits I've wanted for a long time:

BMFA Sheep 2 Shoe, colorway Single Cell Dating Pool

I'm hoping that will make some pretty socks someday!

I made sure to stop by the Malabrigo Yarn booth and finally meet some great Malabrigo Junkies in person! Not only did I get to meet some really nice people, I also got a free skein of a very rare yarn of theirs, Dos:

Malabrigo Dos, colorway Zinc

How generous is that, right?

One of my favorite fiber booths was Long Island Livestock Company. I grew up on Long Island and it is not known for its farms so it was very cool to meet the owner who raises her sheep and llamas, shears them herself, and is making a beautiful business out of it. Her booth won an award for best booth, too, so check out the link above to see pictures on her facebook page. I took home a little bit of Cotswald wool (a rare breed I haven't seen before) mixed with some sparkly firetar:

More breeds for my Spinner's Study, yay!

Finally, Zen Yarn Garden . Ooooooh, Zen Yarn Garden. It's probably apparent by now that I'm a sucker for hand dyed yarns, so when I met the owner at lunch and saw her gorgeous yarns firsthand, I really couldn't resist. I fell pretty hard for these two:

Serenity Silk + on the left, Serenity Worsted on the right

These yarns are really luxurious, the left skein being a heavy laceweight merino/cashmere/silk blend and the right being a worsted merino/cashmere/nylon blend. They are hand-dyed by a husband/wife team and are based in Canada. They are gorgeous and squishy and inspiring and I can't wait to knit with them!

Have you discovered any new fiber artists you are excited about lately? I hope you all have a great weekend!