FO Friday #17: That's Better

Seeing as my sister-in-law is in labor as I type and my new little nephew should be arriving some time today, I'm thrilled to have finished this baby set:

This is an extensively modified version of Jared Flood's Turn A Square hat pattern and a troublesome pair of matching socks knit out of The Sanguine Gryphon Bugga in Box Jellyfish and Common Emerald Moth. I love these colorways together, the green just glows. Also, the hat and socks together used less than 40 grams / 126 yards of yarn, so it's great for sock leftovers. You can see the modifications I made on my Ravelry page. Also, this set is finished item #6 of the 13 SG/VG/CY in 2013 projects that I'm doing as part of my fiber goals for the year and #22 of the 50 total projects I hope to finish this year. Not bad progress, eh?

Proof that they do, indeed, match now. Also, flash reveals all sorts of messiness regarding the weaving in of ends!

Thanks for all the suggestions on what might have gone wrong with these little socks. I checked the gauge, which was the same, and counted all the rows between sections of the sock. Turns out I had somehow worked about 5 extra rows in the foot and toe of Sock 1... and then wrote down different instructions? Still not clear on what exactly happened (I blame airplane turbulance) but I ended up frogging back the foot of the larger sock and reknitting it to what I knew I had done for the second sock. I liked the slightly smaller version better anyhow.

As the Yarn Harlot says*, I've finished the baby knitting, so now the baby can arrive. Exciting!

*It did not escape my notice that the Yarn Harlot is also having bootie problems. It's like we're the same person**. 
**I wish. She's my hero.

WIPWed #27: Stupid Hubris

There I was, knitting along all smug-like, thinking to myself "I'm gonna whip out the rest of this baby sock tonight and it will be PERFECT and finished JUST IN TIME because my new nephew is coming along any second"... and then I finished. And it was not perfect.

Sock 1 on the left, Sock 2 on the right.

What the friggity-frack happened here? I'm honestly perplexed. I wrote down everything I did... as in 11 rows ribbing, 4 rows blue, 2 rows green, 8 rows blue, heel on 15 sts, 16 rows of heel, pick up 9, etc etc etc. Everything, in exact numbers, none of this "knit to # inches" business on an item so tiny. I even forced my friend to measure her baby's feet so I could make these fit perfectly! I like my socks to exactly match and these, clearly, do not. I was working on Sock 1 on the plane on the way to Tennessee and I know I frogged back a bit and made changes to the heel, perhaps I wrote something down incorrectly? But it's especially confusing because I knit Sock 2 to the instructions I wrote for Sock 1, and they are clearly not the same. Which do I frog then, Sock 1 or Sock 2?? This incident plus the 2 feet of scarf I had to rip out last week has me convinced that I should maybe give up on airplane knitting for anything that needs measuring... Only dishcloths and blankets on vacation from now on!


I left my other two active WIPs in the office so that's all the photos I have but I'm just a a few rows from the end of my Beautiful Briny Sea shawl and am making steady progress on my Budding Lintilla shawlette, too. Now to figure out those socks...

Check out other WIPs by clicking below!

You Animal!

It's either the biologist or the child in me (most likely both) that makes me really love zoos. I feel like I should hate zoos or feel more guilty about these wonderful "wild" animals being held captive for our viewing pleasure. However, zoos have played important roles in conservation and in many cases if the animal wasn't in a zoo, it would be in danger of poaching or extinction through more widespread, long-term, and very real threats like climate change and habitat loss. So really, in light of how the planet is pretty much going to break down and go haywire someday, keeping a few well-cared-for gibbons in an enclosure designed specifically for their needs doesn't seem so bad.

Man, that got dark (I should probably lay off the dystopian novels). Here are some animal photos from the Nashville Zoo to cheer you up!

We saw very athletic gibbons, playful cloud leapords, the rare and unusual ostrich flower, and the original angry bird.

 

We saw a pair of supremely happy tortoises, a curious porcupine, swift-footed meerkats, and graceful flamingos.

And there were domestic animals! A dead sunbathing alpaca, goats-in-a-bucket, goats-about-to-headbutt-overeager-little-ones, and the rare conservation breed of sheep, Cotswold.

They had one of those enclosures where you can go in and feed I-totally-forgot-what-kind-of-bird some nectar, I love those things. This photo shows me, my little-cousins-who-feel-like-siblings Megan and Austin, my kinda-freaked-out-Dad, and my dear Fiasco.

And some final photos, on top is my aunt and cousin Austin with their buddy the giraffe and a photo observing my family observing the giraffes. Bottom left is my Fiasco attempting to convince Austin to eat a bacon-cheddar-flavored cricket (yes, cricket). Bottom right is the Fiasco's face after Austin wisely refused and he ate the cricket himself. Mwahahaha oh man, it cracks me up every time.

I hope you enjoyed our little trip to the zoo! What's your favorite zoo animal?

Catch Up Catch Up

Man, my trip to Tennessee and the following busy week really did me in, I could not get out of my own way yesterday! I was supposed to go to the Rhode Island Sheep and Fiber Festival (which I went to last year) and spin with my guild, but I slept until NOON and then the afternoon sped away before I could catch up with it. Between that and the back spasm I had that prevented me from going to spin at another festival a few weeks ago, I feel like something out there is trying to keep me from spinning, which certainly isn't cool. Between that and the fact that I've been inspired by a newbie spinner documenting her "spinning journey", I think I'm going to make a goal to spin for just 15 minutes or so every single day... starting in June because the rest of May is going to escape just as quickly as the first half did. Anybody else want to spin along? I've integrating knitting into my daily routine, but haven't yet done so with spinning and I'd really like to get into a good rhythm with it.

BMFA Mopsy, colorway Ramalaba

Remember the Non-STR Blue Moon Fiber Arts KAL I told you about? Well, we're halfway through May and I still need to wind the yarn I want to use for it! Good thing the KAL goes through the summer. Especially since I'm working out a design using this yarn that I think I'm going to submit to Twist Collective if I really like the swatch. That means I might need to choose a different item to knit for the KAL... maybe I'll finally start the chunky lace shawl I've been wanting to make with De-Vine:

BMFA De-Vine, colorway Pond Scum

Anyway, I'm making lots of lists today to help with that crazy scattered feeling that comes with too little free time and too many things to do. Besides winding yarn and swatching for a design, I've been meaning to update my stash with the souvenir yarn I brought home from Tennessee!

Great little shop in TN!

Even though it was Mother's Day and I should've been spoiling her, when my mom and I visited Bliss Yarns during our trip she ended up buying me lots and lots of yarn. I was hemming and hawing over which skein to get (I had a weird feeling that I really didn't need any more yarn... STRANGE I KNOW) and so she ended up just getting me everything I looked at.

Goodies!

Top left is some 100% baby alpaca from Juniper Moon Farms that I will be using for a Huacaya hat. I was sad to give the original sample of the design away and want a pure alpaca version for myself, too. Top right is a skein of Madelinetosh sock in Mansfield Garden Party that reminds me of gardens, confetti, and cake sprinkle frosting all at once. Since yardage is a little light in Madelinetosh yarns I probably wouldn't have enough for a shawl so these will be silly-fun socks. At the bottom are two skeins of Madelinetosh dk in Cathedral, which is a fascinating brown-lilac-blue-iridescent color that I have no idea what to do with, but love anyway. In the middle is a skein of Miss Babs "Yummy" sock yarn that Mom picked out and ordered a pair of socks be made from, which I'd say she certainly deserves!

Phew, that's a few things off my list! Hope you're having a productive and/or relaxing weekend. :)

IS #23: May Flowers

Apparently, a week of busy vacation that involved very little sleep followed by a week of super late nights working on deadline knitting takes its toll on a girl. I slept a full 11 hours last night, which means I'm halfway through Saturday already with many of my plans out the window and a head that's a little too foggy to come up with a really involved Inspiration Saturday post. So, instead, have some pretty pictures of flowers from Cheekwood Gardens in Nashville, TN!

Don't they make you want to knit something botanical? Maybe like the leafy Rue de college hat or the Rosebud shawl? What's your favorite flower-y knit?

Oh, and here's the finished deadline knitting... 6 feet of knitting in 10 days, even with a midway frogging, is not bad!

What's been inspiring you lately? Link along and share!