New Kittens slow my knitting

Meet Lydia. Tiny new kitten. 1 lb 13 oz when we got her last week. Sweet and fast. The second pic shows a pen for scale but is blurred by her fast movement. She is about twice the size of her little sister.

Meet Mai Mai. Devil cat. So tiny she fits in a teacup. 1 lb 3 oz when we got her.

Neither cat can meow, they still just squeak a little. Play is furious for 3 two hour sessions a day followed by collapse.

And, of course, all kittens need toys. This is just after play has ended. Mayhem.

Some knitting happens during sleep. This is the last row of Aeolian.

I am really wanting to work on Mara, but that is too attractive right now for them. Cats like Shetland.

Goddess Knits Anniversary Mystery shawl is so nice. But Zephyr yarn is easy to bite through.

So I shall be even slower than normal but happily playing with my new distractions. Today I shall introduce them to the looms and see what happens.

SOTSII clue 3

I am still battling a bad flu and seem to be getting nothing done at all. While my head is too fuzzy to do anything, I find comfort in some types of knitting. I need 'stupid' knitting, mindless and fast. But there is one exception. I seem to be be doing ok on this project that would appear to be complex but is easy to read. The chart of SOTSII works up fast and is pleasant. I do count out all the spaces every row and write the numbers down before I begin - I am not crazy. But other than that, it feels like speed reading. It goes from my eyes to my fingers without stopping at my brain. That's good because my brain would just muck things up right now. I am not crazy though; that is a lifeline. I usually fly without them but I expect massive stupidity here and am putting in one about every 1/2 chart. Whew, this was enough for me -- back to my hot tea and lemon.

Organization Rant

Well here at Chez Fibergal knitting interest has never been higher. Unfortunately, my shoulder is still not working for a while so this afforded me the chance to do some auxiliary work on the knitting front – that bad word – Organize. Specifically, the Shetland fingering yarns got a full cataloging with weights, all label info, etc. All while fiberguy knitted socks.

Of all my yarns, the ones most precious to me are my Shetland Jumper weight yarns. Classes in the 90’s with Alice Starmore at the Tomato Factory got me started on my mania. I have used them for so many projects. Nothing is as comforting on the needles or in a sweater than Shetland yarn for me. Of course, I get lots of leftovers, especially from my own designs. Many projects, like tams, require just a few yards of each color. And frankly, a new project can be so expensive by kit that it will be out of my range. Cataloging allows me to see just which yarns I have and which I need for my next project. I am leaning towards an oldie but goodie, the Mara vest. It is a little garish, it comes with a good story, it is almost a mindless knit and very nice with denim. Either that or some strange design of my own. And yes, I do spin a ton of Shetland. But I save it all. I hope to have a library of about 20 colors in jumper weight, several pounds each, and then start designing for that yarn. So everything I do with commercial Shetland is like practice, right?

The thing that has me in a snarl after all that cataloging is brand. I used to love the Jamieson & Smith. Especially after I couldn’t get the Scottish Campion. Now that a lot of my favorite colors were discontinued, I am making the transition to Jamieson. A wonderful yarn, but strictly speaking, not quite compatible ypp-wise. And then there are all those color translations. Geez, just getting a database that worked was tough. On my color cards, I have Russet 297. On my skein, the same yarn is Russett (2 t’s) with number 124. Half my skeins that still had labels didn’t show up on any color cards, purchased at the same time as the yarn. Ok, trying not to freak out, I turned to the net to get translation charts. There were so many mistakes on those that it almost wasn’t worth it. And lots of labels that I held in my hand were missing from all charts. Now with the discontinued colors it gets a bit worse. Most stores I have spoken to have switched from J&S to Jamieson yarns, so I have to figure them into my translation table. What I really need is a master list that has the full list of manufacturer’s numbers and NAMES and equivalents in other brands. For instance, FC43 in J&S is sometimes called Corn, sometimes Honey Beige, sometimes Tan. Well, crap, no wonder I follow my own patterns and not other people’s. How the hell am I supposed to figure out what color they are talking about anyway????
Ok, getting a little worked up there. That is what spending the weekend typing and not knitting does for me. The reason for it all, the reward that awaits me is some creation that has 30 colors with incredibly subtle shifts and all in wonderful heathers with 9 colors in each yarn. That dream is what makes all this listmaking, the massive database, worthwhile. You know how I know this? I made color cards of my own, well, am making color cards. The incredible shifts of color are so tricky, yet our eyes can distinguish all the differences.




On other fronts, a delightful treat came in the mail today. Why had I not used this all my life? If you are a snipper or shaver, I can't recommend this enough. Get a sweater stone and you will be set for life.


Lastly, I am off on the EZ Feb baby sweater on two needles. I am using Jamieson and changed it to be in one piece with the sleeves done after (on holding strings now). Knitting with Shetland has me all mellow and happy. It is just so fun.

Swayed

What is it about mystery Knit-A-Longs that makes them appealing. Really, other people are picking your projects for you. Yet, I was really sorry when I missed the Mystic Waters Shawl and even sorrier that I missed Secret of the Stole. I did the Mystery Stole 3 and, very sorry, but I hated the asymmetrical wing. Now that is ripped back to the middle and sitting on my mantle waiting for SOME second half inspiration.

But missing some sweet shawl KALs really rankles. So I signed up for two recently and have really lucked out on the first one so far. I am in Secret of the Stole II (SOTSII) and loving it. Clue One was an easy, one sitting, almost mindless, pleasant knit. I had been working with the yarn and needle combo recently so I did not swatch but dived right in. What fun. Knitpicks Shadow in Redwood Forest on sale and from stash, Options #4 needles and my cd case to contain the yarn. Happy knitter.


I also signed up for Mystic Light KAL which I believe is still open. It doesn't start for a while. Even if I work on it late, I will have the files this way.

Between the shawl KALs and Selbu stuff, I feel like I am knitting flotsam once again. I almost fear reading what other people are blogging lest I look down on my needles and see it there. I do have a brain in my head, you know. I just wish my hands and needles could figure that out too.

Another holiday gift for you - adjustable width socks

You will find these in my sidebar as Quilted Leaf Socks.

You can adjust the sock's width by adding more or less stitches in the ribbed sections between the lace patterns. Visually, we don't usually notice whether a rib is one or two stitches wide. It is easy to stuff a few more in or just go down to one stitch each. Yet, since these are done in light worsted weight, those stitches can add up to a better fit. Download the pattern and see for yourself.

Enjoy your holiday present from all of us at fiberhouse.

And for those of you who are counting, fiberguy's socks are done and drying - more on them tomorrow.

First sock and no direction

What we have here is a first sock. Complete by fiberguy, toes and heels grafted. Second sock is up to row three to avoid the dreaded second sock syndrome. I am really proud of him.


I only wish I was doing that well. I have ripped out my shawl three times. Apparently I can't count OR read directions. I don't follow patterns often, usually glancing at them and use them as a general guideline. So when I actually try to follow directions, I can't seem to get it right. On page 111 of Knitting Around, I am told to cast on 20 and knit two rows (one ridge). Ok, got that. Then place markers at 2 and 19. Good so far. That would mean I have 18 sts between the markers, right -- or am I reading that wrong? Anyway, I YO on each side of the marked stitch every other row until I get 3 ridges, then YO, knit 1 across between the markers. It should be 18 + 2 + 2 (for each of the right side increase rows)=22 *2 (for each yo) = 44 between the markers. Ok, really off at this point. The pattern calls for 16 sts, increasing to 32. It only gets worse the further I go.

Now I don't really care about the garment as I am sure mine will turn out swell and be warm and wearable. But, clearly, I need help reading directions. I seem to be screwing up royally and just can't figure out where. I think I don't understand HOW to read directions anymore. If you have a suggestion, I'd love to hear it. Or maybe it is just a match for me with these particular directions. Did any of you read this and get it right? Not the garment, but the count? Even if I moved the markers to 2 stitches in from the edge on each side, it would give me 16 for the first ridge, but 2 more on each of the next two ridges.

Brain bad. Brain no work.


At least my fingers know what to do. I needed Steeler socks BAD. So my perfect gold and some new black went into a toe-up mucking about with peerie patterns. This is not blocked at all. I just noodled around until it was long enough. I don't know if I will do the second one the same. It made me realize that no where in my stitch libraries do I have anything organized by stitch count. Most have row count. If you wanted to search for all the peerie patterns you have that would fit into 64, 32, 16, 8, 4 or 2, how would you search except to flip through. I don't think I know of any site that organized this way either. I know that I can look at Knitting Fool to get stitch counts for some lace and textured patterns. But is there a book out there that would give me a chapter of say 16 stitch repeat colorwork?

[Washed out color on my first sock.]

What was I thinking?

Complete denial. It will fit. Really. My heel is this pointy.


Thank goodness somebody's sock is going well. Fiberguy's blasting through his first pair of socks. He did the whole foot portion in one go. Afterthought heels are coming along well. Decreases, both left and right are all in line. I made a pair of socks out of the same yarn for him and frankly, it took longer. He is driven.

My birthday shawl has begun. The yarn is yummy baby alpaca and it was soothing during recent treatments. Nothing like 4 tries with an IV to make you grab your shawl. [Special note to Denny - I couldn't have done this last treatment without YOUR wonderful shawl. Thanks for wrapping me in love.] I think I will do the old fashioned all garter and not add lace. Sometimes garter is great.

Meanwhile, I had a ravelry thread going on what can you do with one ounce of really fine stuff? My answer for this one skein was the old feather and fan. I have only 1/2 oz but it was 290 yds. So that makes 9280 ypp, right? It was a lovely sample given to me by Rita Buchanan ages ago. Silk, cashmere, merino in Rose Quartz form Lambspun. Don't they have nice processing? It took two partial evenings to spin and will be much longer to knit. But the longer it gets, the more I want to keep it instead of my original idea of giving it away. Does that make me greedy? It is so soft and shiny and lovely and simple. And yes, my ballwinder for this project is electrical conduit. I cut a gazillion of these for a class I was teaching and they are so handy to have around. I prefer a pipe cutter instead of a saw since my edges remain nice and clean. Cheap smooth tools and soft shiny yarn. Can you tell I am having fun?

Any other suggestions for only an oz of fine stuff, usually laceweight or finer are gladly considered. I wind up with a lot of single oz skeins and am getting tired of multicolored lace shawls. I wish we could search on Ravelry by weight of finished item.