More September Knitting

In addition to LeLe's Square Shawl, I started two other projects in September. One was a pair of socks, which I completed; the other was a shawl, which I started at the end of the month and didn't complete until early October.

The socks were Wendy Johnson's Diamond Gansey Socks, from her book Socks from the Toe Up. I knit these socks for a fellow knitter, with yarn she provided. The socks were knit with Knit Picks Shadow Tonal in the Dusk colorway. The yarn was 30 percent silk, and because of the silk content, the socks aren't as stretchy as socks made of all wool yarn or of wool-nylon yarn. The ankles (to me) seemed baggy, but they fit the recipient, which is all that matters. I started these socks on 15 September and finished on 26 September. (As always, click on any photo to enlarge.)

The shawl was a test knit. It's called the Sabrina Shawl, and it was designed by Marisa Hernandez. It was a fun---and fast---knit, and the shawl is lovely. I knit this shawl in Dream in Color Smooshy (one of my favorite yarns) in the Visual Purple colorway. My shawl required a bit more than one skein of yarn (477 yards) and was knit on a US5 needle.

I started this shawl on 28 September and finished it on 06 October, so it only took eight evenings to knit. In the photo at right, I'm modelling the shawl at my LYS (local yarn store) for the lace knitting group I lead on Tuesday afternoons.

I've been thinking about bigger projects---sweaters, specifically---but I'm trying to complete several projects that have been languishing on the needles for a while before I start a sweater. I've also been working on my next-to-last Christmas project (a shawlette for my son's fiancee).

What are you knitting or thinking about knitting?

Susannah

The Danish Work Shawl

In August, I test knit the pattern for Marilla's Very Practical Shawl by Rachel Henry. The shawl is named after a character in Anne of the Green Gables, Anne's practical friend, Marilla. (As always, click on any photo to enlarge.)

This was my first ever attempt at a Danish work shawl. Although I liked the shawl, as a design engineer, I found the method of construction (which I was told was traditional) extremely inefficient. Since I can easily think of several other, much simpler ways to knit this shawl, I won't be knitting any more traditionally constructed Danish work shawls.

The bottom edging of the shawl was knit first. (The photo below shows the corner of the edging, which became the bottom tip of the shawl.) Then, with a lap full of edging, you knit the thirteen stitches at the bottom center and worked your way up the sides, increasing a couple stitches each row.


The lap-full of edging was a constant problem, with the two ends flapping in the breeze, so to speak, while the body of the shawl was knit.

Once the body of the shawl was knit, the top edging was knit on, then the final tail of the shawl was knit.


The shawl was BIG! The final dimensions were:
shawl body (excluding ties): 72 by 47 inches;
shawl including ties: 140 by 47 inches.

To help you better appreciate the shawl's size, the model in the photo is just under six feet tall, with junoesque proportions, and the shawl fit her with room to spare.

I knit this shawl with Dream in Color Classy in the Dusky Aurora colorway. My shawl used 1038 yards (4.15 skeins). I started the shawl on 03 August and finished it on 26 August.

As an engineer and a designer, if I were to create a shawl like this, I would knit the body of the shawl from the top down, then knit on the edging (neck  edging and bottom edging) and the ties. It would look the same---and use the same stitch patterns---but it would be far less awkward to construct.

It is not my intent to malign Danish work shawls, traditional methods of construction, or knitters who enjoy both. I do not know the history and traditions behind Danish work shawls. I don't know the reasons for the traditional method of construction. All I am saying is that this particular method of shawl construction did not appeal to me.

Susannah

August-September Shawl

My late August and early September shawl was LeLe's Square Shawl by Nancy Bush from her book, The Knitted Lace of Estonia. My shawl was knit in Fiesta Gracie's Lace in the Arctic Ice colorway. This gorgeous shawl looked challenging, but it used the same basic stitches as any other shawl. (As always, click on any photo to enlarge.)


The shawl was constructed from the bottom up. The bottom diamond panel was knit first, then the center square and side panels, then the top diamond panel was knit. Finally, stitches were picked up along the sides and from the provisional cast-on to knit the edging.

I encountered a slight problem, due to misreading my knitting. As I neared the end of the side and center panels section (which did not have the same number of rows in each pattern repetition), I realized that I had only two rows left in the side panels section, but six rows left in the center section. I had to fudge a bit to work out the problem, but the difference is barely noticeable. (I later determined that I had twice skipped two rows in the side panel section; when I should have knit yarnovers on top of the yarnovers in the row below, I started shaping the upper half of the diamond.)

I started this shawl on 17 August and finished on 13 September 2011. Although the pattern stated that 1100 yards of yarn were required, I only used 860 yards.

What have you been knitting? Have you planned your fall and winter knitting yet? I'm starting to think about sweaters.

Susannah

August Adventures in Knitting

My August knitting was less varied than any other month this summer. A great deal of time was spent test-knitting one garment, leaving little time to knit other things. Not that that fact stopped me from knitting---and finishing---other garments.

First up in August was Wendy Johnson's Phoebus Apollo Socks. My socks were knit with Cascade Heritage Sock Solids yarn in the Purple Hyacinth colorway. Although the pattern looks cable-y, there isn't a cable to be found. The moving stitches are created by cleverly placed combinations of knit2together, slip-slip-knit, and yarnover. (As always, click on any photo to enlarge.)

The pattern was interesting enough to hold my attention all the way to the top of the socks. The photo below shows a close-up of the pattern. The socks, which were knit toe-up (my favorite method!), have a slip-stitch heel with a gusset and K1P1 ribbing. Since I made these socks for myself, I used a sewn bind-off. (The stretchier bind-offs, such as the Russian bind-off and Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind-off, are too loose on me, but work well for other members of my family.)

I started these socks on 23 July and finished on 11 August. They were my second project for "Camp Loopy"---a camping-themed series of projects (with prizes) sponsored by The Loopy Ewe. (My first Camp Loopy project was the Roma Shawl.)

Next, I finished up a shawl I started last year. This is the Diamonds and Branch variation of the As One Stole. I test knit this pattern last summer, but had lots of yarn left after completing the ten pattern repetitions the pattern required. After giving the designer all the information she required about the stole, I made mine longer. My plan was to knit until I ran out of yarn, but I stopped after fifteen pattern repetitions, when the shawl was almost as long as I am tall.

The shawl was knit with Interlacements Spiderweb yarn in the 201P Blues colorway. I used 925 yards. After blocking, my shawl was 87 inches long and 22 inches wide. I started this shawl on 16 July 2010 and had knit 10 pattern repetitions by 24 August 2010. But it took me until 15 August 2011 to knit the five additional pattern repetitions, mostly because I knit many other projects in the meantime.

My next project was test knitting the pattern for a Danish work shawl. The designer has not yet released the pattern, so I can't blog about this shawl yet.

Next, I finished the Old Man of Storr shawl, which I started on 04 July 2011 for a "knit in the car" project. I only worked on this shawl in the car while my husband was driving. The shawl was knit with Dream in Color Smooshy yarn in the Ocean Current colorway.

I love the colors in Dream in Color yarn, and this colorway was no exception. The shawl was an easy knit, but although I followed the pattern exactly, I ran out of yarn partway through the fifth pattern repetition. (The designer had used DIC yarn, but knit six complete pattern repetitions.) I had to rip back two rows to have enough yarn to bind off the shawl, and even then I fell four yards short. The final twelve feet of the bind-off were knit with Dream in Color Smooshy in Romeo Blue, which was left over from a pair of socks I knit the BoyChild a year or so ago.

My final project in August was LeLe's Square Shawl by Nancy Bush, from her book, The Knitted Lace of Estonia. I started this project on 17 August, using Fiesta Gracie's Laces in the Arctic Ice colorway. I'll blog about this shawl in September, since I knit half the shawl in August and half in September.

What have you been knitting this summer?

Susannah

July Adventures in Knitting

I've been busy knitting (and not blogging), but I've also been waiting for a couple patterns I test knit to be released. One pattern still has not been published.

My July adventures in knitting started with test knitting a scarf for Esther Budd, the designer for whom I test knit HRH Kate's Shawl in May. This scarf comes in three variations (as did HRH Kate's Shawl); I knit the second version, as I did for Kate's Shawl. Choosing the same pattern variation to knit was probably a mistake; I was bored with it long before I finished the scarf. (As always, click on any photo to enlarge.)

The secret to scarf knitting is swatching and a bit of math. The final scarf should be 8-10 inches wide and about the same length's as the recipient's height. If you don't knit a swatch and block it, you have no idea how wide or long the finished scarf will be. My swatching and math told me the scarf should be 44 stitches wide and 66-68 pattern repetitions in length, so 44 stitches wide and 68 pattern repetitions is what I knit. Lo and behold, the final dimensions of the scarf were 10.25 inches wide and 75 inches long.  (I could have quit after 65 or 66 pattern repetitions, since the recipient, my husband, is 6 feet (72 inches) tall.)

The scarf was knit with Black Water Abbey two-ply sportweight yarn, in the Haw colorway. I used 1.25 skeins or 438 yards. I started this scarf on 03 July and finished it on 14 July. The close-up on the right shows the zig-zag pattern more clearly.

My next knitting adventure, another test knit, was a pair of socks---the Ornamental Socks by Angela Whisnant. It had been at least a month since I'd knit a pair of socks, so I was happy to knit these. The pattern close-up below better shows the design, which looks like a shamrock.

The socks were knit toe-up, in Schoeller + Stahl Fortissims Socka in the 1015 Blue colorway.  I started the socks on 12 July and finished on 22 July.

One bit of advice for anyone planning to knit these socks: Don't knit them for someone with big feet. The pattern repetition is very small, and even though I was knitting the socks for Niece-with- Smallest-Feet, I was bored with the pattern by the time I turned the heel.

My final project was a shawl I started in May. This was another test knit. I call it the Name Game Shawl, but the designer, MMario, named it "They Call Me MMario." He described it as "a warped version of feather and fan crossed with a left-handed swirl."

The shawl, which was worked in the round, was knit with Great Adirondack Silky Sock yarn in the Cantaloupe colorway.

The pattern repeats eights times on each round. The directions said to knit the vertical pattern repetition until "long enough." I did three vertical pattern repetitions, but if I had it to do over again, I'd knit four, since the shawl didn't block out as large as I expected.

I started this shawl on 09 May and finished it on 30 July. I used 2.3 skeins, or 830 yards, of yarn. This shawl was my "knit during lace class" shawl, which meant that I only knit it on Tuesday afternoons, except at the very end, when I used it as my "knit in the car" project, then finished it on a weekend.

The last project I started in July, a pair of socks, I'll tell you about with August's adventures, since more knitting was done in August than July.

What have you been knitting this summer?

Susannah

June Adventures in Knitting

The final pattern I test knit in June has been released, so I can now discuss my June adventures in knitting.

My first knit was a shawl, a test knit. The Cutting Ferns Shawl, by Fiddle Knits, is part of her Shades of Green collection (as was the first shawl I knit in May, which I called an Uncertain Shade of Red, since the yarn I used was a variegated red). The pattern for the Cutting Ferns Shawl calls for bulky yarn, but since my specially ordered yarn was purportedly shipped to another store, the designer allowed me to knit the shawl with worsted weight yarn. I used Stitch Nation Alpaca Love in the Lake colorway. (As always, click on any photo to enlarge.)

I started this shawl on 08 June and finished on 11 June. Seems amazingly fast, doesn't it? But the shawl has only 71 rows. My shawl has a wingspan of 58 inches and a depth of 20.5 inches---a bit small in my opinion. This shawl would be larger if knit with a bulky yarn.

The night I finished the Cutting Ferns Shawl, I looked around for something else to knit---something that I could knit in the car. Instead of starting something new, I decided to finish a pair of socks that had been languishing on the needles since 30 April. The socks were done except for the ribbing, so I was able to finish them that night.

The socks are Wendy Johnson's Serpentine Socks. I like the sock pattern very much, but unfortunately the yarn's color variations obscure the pattern. The socks were knit with Fiesta Baby Boom yarn in the Spring Chill colorway. These socks are going to be a Christmas present for one of my nieces.

Next I knit another shawl (another test knit). This is the Elvia Shawl by Usch Engelmann. This shawl was knit with five skeins of Jojoland Melody Superwash in the Cinnabar Flare colorway. This shawl's construction was ingenious. Despite the ruffle, the shawl was knit from the top down, with the ruffles on the front edges knit using short rows. I was intrigued by the way the color patterning of the yarn changed as I went along.

I started this shawl on 12 June and finished on 28 June. The shawl has a wingspan of 66 inches and a depth of 29 inches. I may give this shawl to my youngest sister for Christmas. She likes---and looks good in---peach and coral, and the shawl is light enough in weight that she won't get overly warm.

My final shawl for June was the Roma Shawl by Kirsten Kapur. I chose to knit the version with the willow edge border, and I'm very pleased with the result. This shawl can be knit with lace or fingering weight yarn. I chose lace-weight. I used Fiesta Gracies's Lace in the silhouette blue and snow colorways. I used a little less than half the skein of blue, and a bit less than one-fifth of the skein of snow.

I started this shawl on 16 June (yes, I really did start it before I finished the previous one) and finished on 03 July. It's a big shawl---the wingspan is 79 inches, and it's 39 inches deep.

The Roma Shawl was the twelfth shawl I started this year, and the eleventh one I finished.

In addition knitting these three shawls and finishing the socks, I also worked on a summer top, which isn't quite finished. I'll tell you about it when it's done.

What have you been knitting this summer?

Susannah

May Adventures in Knitting

My adventures in knitting in May were all shawls. All but one was a test knit. (The non-test knit was a shawl of my own design.) Interestingly, all of the shawls were worsted weight.

The first shawl I knit in May was one I call "An Uncertain Shade of Red." The shawl's designer, Fiddle Knits, called the shawl "A Certain Shade of Green," but since mine is neither green nor a solid color, I think my name fits my shawl. (As always, click on any photo to enlarge.)

Continuing a trend started with the last shawl knit in April, this shawl was constructed from the bottom up. The yarn is Dream in Color Classy in the Ruby River colorway, and I used 2.4 skeins (about 600 yards). The lower section of the shawl was knit with a US7 needle, but the center section (what I call the basketweave section) was knit with a US8.

I started this shawl on 06 May and finished it on 17 May. The shawl is lovely, and it's great for cold nights. I'll probably keep this one.

My next shawl was knit for my local yarn store, to display a new yarn the store is carrying. This shawl is my own design, and I call it "Aye, Aye, Eyelet!" My goal was to design a shawl that could be knit by someone who has never knit a shawl before.

The shawl was knit with Plymouth Kudo yarn, which is an Aran-weight cotton blend (55% cotton, 40% rayon, and 5% silk), in colorway 42, using a US9 needle. Pattern instructions can be found on my Ravelry project page (log-in required).

I started the shawl on 11 May and finished on 24 May. This shawl used two skeins of Plymouth Kudo (about 390 yards).

My final May shawl was designed to duplicate the shawl worn by H.R.H. Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, while on a run to the grocery store during her honeymoon. The fact that Kate was wearing a knitted garment delighted knitters around the world, despite the fact that Kate's shawl was almost certainly machine knit. A number of people have designed patterns they believe are identical to Kate's shawl, but no two patterns are alike.

I had the pleasure of testing the design by Esther Budd in a worsted weight yarn. Esther's pattern has three different versions of the shawl body. I tested the second version (see the close-up photo below), which, in my opinion, best matches Kate's shawl.

My shawl was knit with Dream in Color Classy in the Ruby River colorway. My shawl required four skeins (1000 yards) and was knit with US8 needles. Knitting the shawl went fairly quickly. The ruffle, which Esther nicknamed the "suicide ruffle," seemed to take much longer----and undoubtedly did.  There are more than 1300 stitches per round in that ruffle. (The ruffle was knit circularly.)

I started knitting H.R.H. Kate's Shawl on 25 May and finished on 03 June. This shawl, like its color-twin, was knit from the bottom up.

Two thousand yards of yarn knit in less than 27 days. That won't set any records, but it's nothing to sneeze at, either. What have you been knitting this summer?

Susannah

April Adventures in Knitting: Nupps and the Twisted German Cast-on

I've been too busy knitting to blog. Truthfully, at the end of April, I was too busy winding down the academic year and test knitting patterns to blog. And all through May, I test knit more patterns. Here, finally, is a report on my April knitting.

The first part of April was spent finishing a test knit for the Fickle Knitter. My Two Rivers Shawl, shown at right, was knit with one skein of Dream in Color Smooshy in the Into the Mystic colorway. The body of the shawl was knit first, then the edging was knit onto the shawl, with two rows of edging knit for every stitch along the bottom edge. It took longer to knit the edging than to knit the body of the shawl. (As always, click on any photograph to enlarge.)

The pattern was interesting, but easy enough for an advanced beginner. Knit two together, slip-slip-knit, and yarnovers were the most difficult stitches, and there were a few no-wrap short rows in the edging near the center point to give the shawl added depth.

The lower photo shows a close-up of the pattern on the shawl body and of the knitted-on edging.

I started knitting this shawl on 19 March and finished it on 08 April 2011. It was the fourth shawl I've knit this year. (Photos and information about the first three shawls have not yet appeared in this blog because I was unable to block them as I knit them, due to foot surgery I had right before Christmas.)

My April adventures in knitting began in earnest with the next shawl, the Liblikakiri Shawl (shown above). (According to the pattern designer, liblikakiri means butterfly in Estonian.)  This was another test knit. The Liblikakiri Shawl was my first experience with nupps. Nupps, if you've never encountered them before, require alternating knitting and yarnovers in the same stitch. In this pattern, the nupps were created by alternating five knits and four yarnovers in one stitch. In the next row, all nine of those loops were knit into one stitch. The result was a solid "blob," as shown in the close-up photo below.

This shawl, which also had cables, was knit in laceweight yarn. I used most of a skein of Knit Picks Shadow Tonal in the Deep Waters Tonal colorway. I started this shawl on 07 April and finished on 21 April.

My final April knitting adventure involved another test knit, the Anna Perenna Shawl, and the twisted German cast-on. The Twisted German cast-on is similar to the long-tail cast-on, but with an extra loop that adds a lot of stretchability to the cast-on. It is my new favorite cast-on.

My Anna Perenna Shawl, shown at right, was knit from the bottom-up, and the twisted German cast-on made the bottom nice and stretchy, so it blocked beautifully. Once the edging was knit, there were a lot of short rows of increasing length (to about 350 stitches) to add depth, then eight rows of garter stitch. I ran out of yarn, so my shawl is six rows shorter than the pattern. The shawl was supposed to have I-cord edging at the top, but I had to use a sewn bind-off.

My Anna Perenna was knit with two skeins of Madelinetosh Tosh DK yarn in the Cobalt colorway. I started the shawl on 23 April and finished on 05 May.

What have you been knitting this spring?

Susannah

March Socks

Spring has yet to make an appearance in northern Indiana, but these colorful socks added a bit of springtime to my days. Well, actually, to my evenings, since my days are occupied by work.

I only knit one pair of socks this month. I chose Wendy Johnson's Ribbed Ribbons Socks, from her book, Socks from the Toe Up. I modified the socks to fit my narrow feet by removing the first stitch of the pattern repetition. I also chose to repeat the pattern on the back of the leg. The socks were knit in Dream in Color Smooshy, in the Giant Peach colorway. I started these socks on 06 March and finished on 18 March, but due to the weather, which was grey and overcast, I was unable to take a decent photograph of them until the 25th. (As always, click on any photo to enlarge.)

In addition to these socks, I have nearly finished---I'm in the process of binding off---a large shawl, and have knit the body of another one, and begun its knitted-on edging.

What are you knitting to encourage spring to make an appearance?

Susannah

February: Two FOs and an Almost Finished One

February is a short month, which I usually think is good, since it is the depths of winter, but this month I could have used a few more days. I did knit a pair of socks---and most of a second pair---and have continued sporadically working on a shawl.

The first pair of socks was Wendy Johnson's Riding on the Metro Socks, from her book, Socks from the Toe Up. The socks were knit in Dream in Color Smooshy (my favorite sock yarn) in the Visual Purple (VS180) colorway. (As always, click on any photo to enlarge.) I had to modify the socks to fit my narrow feet, so instead of having parallel "columns" of stitches on the sides, my socks have only one column. They were fun to knit, although the pattern didn't make my "top five" list of Ms. Johnson's sock patterns. I started the socks on 01 February and finished on 25 February.

The second pair of socks, Ms. Johnson's Sportweight Socks with Gusset Heel, were knit with Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport yarn, in the Lakeview (504) colorway. The socks are an easy, fast knit. This pair, like the previous pair, is knee length. I started these socks of 24 February, although I didn't knit past the toe increases until I'd finished the previous pair. I finished these socks on 05 March. Technically, that makes them February-March socks, but I'm counting them for February, since I was unable to take a good photo of them until this morning.

I am also plugging away on my third shawl of 2011. There is no pattern to speak of, only the center and edge increases. The absence of a pattern makes the shawl a good project to carry around and knit on, but it's also rather boring. The shawl is about two-thirds complete.

I have not  yet blocked the first two shawls (Multnomah and Gaia), which I knit in January. I could not block the shawls when I finished them because I still had pins in my foot from surgery right before Christmas. But the pins have been out for nearly a month, and this week is Spring Break, so the shawls will be blocked this week.

After finishing the Sportweight Socks on 05 March, I started my March socks on 06 March. More about the March socks in a future post.

What are you knitting this month?

Susannah

January---four finished objects!

January has started off the knitting year well, with four (count 'em, four!) finished objects. The first couple weeks of the month, I was sofa-bound after foot surgery, so I did a lot of knitting. In January, I started---and finished---two shawls, Multnomah and Gaia, and two pairs of socks. The shawls haven't been blocked yet, so today's post is about the socks.

Regular readers of this blog won't be surprised to hear that both pair of socks were by Wendy Johnson. The first pair, for a knit-along (the Socks from the Toe Up KAL group, for those of you on Ravelry), was Sheri's Posies Socks. My Posies were knit with Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock, in the Grapevine colorway. (As always, click on any photo to enlarge.) I made some modifications to fit my narrow feet. I removed two stockinette  stitches on either side of the center panel. Then, because of a gap developing at the beginning of the round next to the side panel, I moved the side panels one stitch closer to the center. If I knit these socks again, I won't move the side panels; the crisp line up the side "seams" became, instead, a four-stitch column. My final modification was to use K2, P2 ribbing, which, in my opinion, holds socks up better than K1, P1.

I started these socks on 02 January and finished them on 29 January.

The second pair of socks was Ms. Johnson's Sunrise Socks. These socks were knit with Zitron Trekking Hand Art yarn, in the Atlantik 506 color- way. This yarn had some difficulty deciding what pair of socks (i.e., what pattern) it wanted to be.  The color repeats are so short that the color variation can obscure the pattern. These socks were ripped back to the end of the toe increases twice as I attempted to find a pattern that suited the color variation in the yarn. The Sunrise Socks were a good choice, since the patterning is minimal. The only change I made in the pattern was in the ribbing; I used P3, K3 ribbing, and added two stitches near the end of the first round of ribbing for a true P3, K3 rib. I started these socks on 04 January (I think---all that ripping back to the toes makes it difficult to remember) and finished them on 31 January.

Is your knitting year off to a good start?

Susannah

More December Finished Objects!

I'd better post photos of the rest of the knitting projects I finished in December. (Particularly since I completed my first FO for 2011 yesterday.)

The first item, the Frosting Shawlette by Erica Jackofsky (a.k.a. Fiddle Knits), was knit in July and August (27 July--11 August), but not blocked until the weekend before Christmas. The shawlette, which was a fun, fairly fast, and easy project, was still one from which I learned something new. I had never encountered bird's-eye lace before, but as you can see from the photo, the border of the shawlette is all bird's-eye lace. (As always, click on any photo to enlarge.)

The Frosting Shawlette was knit in Frog Creek Fibers Verdant yarn, in the Cinnamon Toast colorway. I liked this yarn a lot; unfortunately, the dyers are on an indefinite hiatus. This shawlette was my Christmas gift to my son's girlfriend.

The next finished object, another shawl, was also started in the summer. I designed this shawl to be knit with one skein of yarn, and started knitting it in mid-August. I knit on it for three days, then set it aside, and didn't pick it up again until the day after Christmas, and finished it in three days. When I picked it up again, I ripped out several rows and changed the pattern---unfortunately, not for the better. But it was my first triangular shawl design, and I learned several things from it, so in that respect, it was a success. This shawl was knit in Great Adirondack Silky Sock, in the Grenada colorway. Since this shawl was an experiment, I made it for myself.

My third finished object in December was a Lacy Karius shawl that I'd started in the summer. It, too, sat for a long time---in this case because I found knitting it very boring. It was knit with Socks That Rock lightweight yarn in the Bejewelled colorway. I had never knit with this yarn before, and although I liked it, it was thicker than I expected---closer to sport-weight than fingering. (Or, to use the Yarn Council's terms, more fine than superfine.) The colors are glorious; the pattern, as the second photo shows, not very exciting at all.

My final finished object for 2010 was the pair of socks I knit in December. These socks are Wendy Johnson's Basic Gusset Heel Socks. I knit them using Opal Antonia aus Tirol yarn, colorway 2802. I started the socks on 04 December, finished the knitting on 30 December, then wove in the ends and blocked the socks on 31 December. Since I wasn't sure I would finish the socks before or after Christmas, I made them for myself. : )

Did you end the year with a knitting blitz? I had hoped to finish a few more things, but...

Susannah

Finished Objects!

The past few months have been rough, but although I haven't posted, I have been knitting.

Just before Thanks-giving, after a bout of hospital knitting, I finished a pair of socks. The socks, Wendy Johnson's Van Dyke Socks, shown in the photo to the right, are being modelled by the happy recipient, The BoyChild (formerly known as Mr. BigFoot). These socks were knit with Colinette Jitterbug in the Velvet Damson colorway. They were a fun, and fairly fast, knit. (As always, click on any photo to enlarge.)

Early this month (on 02 December to be precise), I finally finished a pair of socks I'd started at the end of August. The recipient, who wears a size 13 (!!) shoe (and is the new Mr. BigFoot),  requested a plain stockinette foot, which I found incredibly boring. But socks are good hospital knitting, so after I finished the Van Dyke socks, I pulled this pair out of the "started but not yet finished" basket. These socks are another Wendy Johnson pattern---her Traditional Gansey Socks. I used a gusset heel on these socks, which seems to be bigger through the ankle area, since the recipient has a problem with swelling of his feet and ankles. These socks were my Christmas present to my dad, and he likes them very much. The socks were knit using Zitron Trekking Pro Natura, in the Denim Blues colorway.

I finished another project on 21 December---a sweater-tunic for my oldest grand-niece, which has been languishing in the "you-need-to-finish-this" basket since last February. (Some of you may recall that this was one of my projects for the Ravelympics.) The sweater body was been finished since January; all that was left to knit were the sleeves and the neckband. Because my grand-niece had requested that the sweater be long enough to wear as a tunic, I had to order another skein of yarn. My LYS (local yarn store) no longer carries this yarn, but I was able to find some online. After finishing the sweater-tunic, I had about half a skein of yarn left, which I used to knit a (rather-short) scarf. The photo at right shows both being modelled by the delighted recipient. This sweater was knit using Universal Yarn Classic Worsted Tapestry yarn, in the Playtime colorway. The pattern is a variation on Ann Norling's basic kid's sweater pattern. The scarf is a  K1, P1 rib.

I have three finished shawls and (with some industrious knitting tonight) another pair of socks to talk about, but I'll save them for tomorrow.

Did you have a finished-object spree this month? If so, what did you finish?

Susannah

Where has the time gone??

It's almost midterm, and I haven't posted since before the school year started. Needless to say, my knitting time is drastically decreased during the school year.

I have been knitting Brooklyn Tweed's Girasole Shawl (in Noro Kureyon Sock in the S40 colorway), a big circular shawl pattern test knit (in Great Adirondack Silky Sock in the Cantaloupe colorway), a smaller shawl of my own design (also in Great Adirondack Silky Sock, but in the Grenada colorway), and a pair of socks for the Boy Child (a.k.a. Mr. Bigfoot) (in Zitron Trekking Pro Natura in a steely-blue color).

I have accomplished the following since school started:

* the buttonholes are in the Coat of Many Colors,

* the sleeves in my grand-niece's sweater-tunic are half knit,

* an additional half of a pattern repetition in the wedding stole.

Not much to show for six weeks, is it? :::sigh::: But the junior mechanical engineering students are learning the finer points of mechanical design and analysis, the freshmen (two sections) are learning that college is *not* like high school, and my honors seminar students are enjoying reading Jane Austen and learning about what life in England was like during her lifetime.

What are you knitting? Hopefully, you're making more rapid progress than I am!

Susannah

Progress

I finished the shawlette for which I was test knitting the pattern on Wednesday (the 11th). I was afraid that I would run out of yarn before I reached the end of the pattern, but after I bound off, I had two whole yards of yarn left. That's about as close as I care to come.

With the wedding stole, on the other hand, I will have yarn left over when I reach the end of the pattern. Last night, I hit the 85 percent mark: I left off halfway through the ninth pattern repetition. (The pattern calls for ten repetitions.) I may add a few more pattern repetitions, to add a bit of extra length and to use all the yarn.

I will post pictures of the shawlette and the wedding stole once the designers publish the patterns and/or give me the okay to post photos of their designs.

I was waiting to finish the shawlette before casting on a shawl of my own design, but despite the shawlette being finished (not blocked yet---that's a project for later today), I still haven't started that particular shawl. I did, however, start Jared Flood's Girasole, as part of a KAL (knit along) with a group of ladies (mostly) and gents (a few) in one of my Ravelry groups. I've also started another, large shawl pattern test knit. The new large shawl test knit is a circular shawl, knit in fingering or laceweight yarn. I'm using fingering yarn because I didn't have enough (1400-1600 yards) of any laceweight yarn.

One of the reasons I haven't cast on the shawl of my own design is that I have been working, off and on, on the Coat of Many Colors---the Adult Surprise Jacket knit in various Noro Silk Garden colorways. The Coat of Many Colors now has buttonholes! (TCOMC has been waiting for its buttonholes since mid-January. In April, for part of a day, it had ugly one-row buttonholes. Now, however, it has nice, neat, three-row buttonholes.) I need to knit a couple more rows on the placket, then it will be time to bind-0ff. Long-time readers of my blog will recall that the placket row has more than 700 stitches, so knitting a row takes a while. Early in the week, TCOMC was my it's-too-late-at-night-to-knit-lace project; now the Girasole seems to have taken over that role. But I will finish TCOMC this month! Once the knitting is completed, I'll have to weave in the skillions of yarn ends on its back side. (The photo shows the state of the Coat of Many Colors in late January.)

I want to cast on the shawl I designed in the next day or two. I plan to knit it during the "Kick-off Celebration"---the Powers That Be's term for the mandatory three days of speechifying, meetings, etc. that faculty and staff are required to attend on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.

I have not yet cast on my August pair of socks. Socks would be another good project for the Kick-off Celebration, so I hope to get this month's pair started before Wednesday morning. Or perhaps I'll start them Wednesday morning, during the first speech of the day. This month's pattern is a more manly one than most of Ms. Johnson's patterns, so I was contemplating knitting these socks for the Boy Child. But given that this month is half over, I may not have time to knit for Bigfoot. I'll have to think about that some more between now and when I cast on.

Also on the needles---but about three weeks behind the rest of the group---is an Aran KAL. This sweater (called Ingvold Aran) is being knit from the top down. I'll be knitting a cardigan, but at the moment, I'm still working on my swatch cap. A lapful of worsted wool is a bit much in 90-plus degree weather (which is why I'm three weeks behind everyone else, since they live in cooler climes).

What are you knitting this month?

Susannah