Saturday, November 12, 2011

Knitting Update

You may have noticed, I haven't been too good at doing regular blog updates lately other than the QAL... I am hoping that as we settle in and get into more of a routine here I will be able to get back into a more regular blogging schedule.  I have also been having a lot less time to read blogs and to comment when I do get a chance to read them - often I seem to be reading blogs in spare minutes here and there on my phone, when I am waiting in a line or something, and it really isn't easy to comment then.  So if I seem to have disappeared, I apologize!  I am really still reading many folks blogs and try to pop in and comment when I can, but I do miss getting to be a more active participant in this online community.  I actually had a chance both to catch up on my quilting and my blog-reading a bit yesterday with the holiday, which was really nice.

In any case, even though I haven't been posting regular knitting updates I have been getting a fair amount of knitting done, since I have a pretty long commute and am in a carpool, which gives me lots of good knitting time. So here is a roundup of my knitting projects from the past couple months (for more details like specific yarns used etc, all of these are up on my ravelry account):

2011 birthday socks

I finished Lawson's 2011 birthday socks, last mentioned here (I forget exactly when - definitely late but I think within a month of his actual birthday, so good enough).   I really enjoyed knitting those quick sport weight socks for him, so I promptly cast on a pair for myself using yarn which I had bought in Maine.  They really are so fast to knit, very fun!

purple and green socks

I love knitting myself socks and was tempted to cast on another pair after I finished those, but I decided that I should turn my attention to some holiday presents.  I had made a number of cotton/linen knitted washcloths as gifts a few years ago and had a request for some more this year.  I knit the peach one below in a feather and fan pattern, and then knit the two grey ones below in a waffle pattern and a garter stripe pattern respectively.

feather and fan washcloth

grey cotlin washclothes

I think that is it for knitted holiday gifts on my plate (although I may think of more), so I have turned my attention to making myself some new winter scarves and hats.  Most of our stuff is still in storage and while I have a hat and scarf that are not in storage, they aren't my favorites, so it seemed like a good chance to knit up some nice new ones.   Plus I actually don't love any of the scarves that I have now, even the ones that are packed up.  To start, I am knitting this fun lace scarf with a leafy motif, one of my favorite design elements.  I have actually made a lot more progress since I took these photos a number of days ago, so I am probably halfway done - I'm using knitpicks gloss fingering weight yarn and I just love it - it is so soft and squisy, but not pilly so far.

branching out scarf in progress

I have knitted a number of projects with lace designs, but this is the first time that I have really figured out how to read a chart and relied on that while knitting rather than written instructions.  I think that partially this is because the design is less repetitive/intuitive to me, so I haven't memorized it and really do have to look at the chart as I go.

center pull ball and lace chart

I also made a center pull ball for the first time, which worked very well.  I just wrapped the ball pretty much as I normally would, but was carefully not to wrap it too tightly at first and was also careful to leave the end hanging out the whole time.  I was going to link to a tutorial showing how to do this but all the ones I found involve either wrapping it around a paper tube to start, or your thumb!  So I guess I made up my own way without realizing it... it worked fine but one of the other methods might be more foolproof.  I especially like that now I don't have to worry so much that my yarn will roll all over the place if I accidentally drop the ball.  I actually dropped my ball of yarn at a movie theater once and it rolled down quite a few rows, then I had to go and retrieve it after the movie ended... and I tried not to think about what is on the floors of movie theaters where it had been rolling around, yuck.

7 comments:

  1. Loving your knitting projects! I have yet to try socks, but would love to make some eventually :) I am going to cast on a sweater for myself soon, so that will gobble up much of my knitting time this winter, I think!

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  2. I have just started knitting, I am totally in awe of your socks and the lacey scarf, WOW.

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  3. Love the socks!!! I never got the knack of knitting--quilting fabric is my fiber of choice.
    Seeing your projects makes me think perhaps I should give knitting another try...someday.

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  4. I am trying to learn to knit better (until now, all I have ever made is hats and scarves) and I am so impressed by your skills. All the pieces above are gorgeous! A quick question about the washcloths - do you just use them like "regular" fabric ones and wring out and hang up in the shower, wash occasionally in the washing machine when needed? And would I find more on this on Ravelry (just started exploring there too, it's amazing)? Thanks.

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  5. Wow... You're one of those cool girls who knits. Jealous! Love your socks; also, I've never seen crocheted or knitted wash cloths before, but they're beautiful!

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  6. So impressive! I can knit scarves... that's it! I'm determined to try and knit some socks but they may turn into scarves ;) They look so cosy and my feet are always freezing!

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  7. Lovely socks. I have knitted enough socks that I can wear knitted socks everyday! I finally started making some as gifts this year.
    Thanks for the link to the Branching Out scarf - it's lovely.

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