July 22, 2005

Huggable

Just a quick note to keep this thing updated. Heh.

I have been singlemindedly focused on the next afghan, and have, sadly, not even touched that one lonely sock lingering on the sock needles, even though it really wouldn't take more than a few hours to finish it off. Amusingly, the pattern I am using for the afghan is the same one I was using for the sock (it's a rather lovely basket weave). I'm using a pile of vintage Bernat Berella '4' yarn and I have to say, it is absolutely divine. I tried to take a picture, but it looks horribly washed out, even though the pattern came out great in the shot. So I shall just attempt to describe it for you instead. This is the sort of yarn you want - no, you *need* - to make a big, oversized, comfy sweater from, the type of sweater that you will wear all the time because it is just so marvelous and cozy. It's advertised as being a great yarn for afghans, and they aren't kidding. I haven't played too much with the 'current' incarnation of Bernat Berella 4, but if it's anything like their old stuff, I might have to make a few orders. After all, one can never have too many afghans, or big comfy sweatshirt-type sweaters, right? Right?

I have so far resisted the temptation to rip it out and make it into something for *me*, instead of something for someone else. But I am being strong and focusing on the fact that I can always get more (eBay is my friend, after all) and just because this yarn is a mix of deep blues and greens and browns and reminds me of standing in a deep, silent, forest where the trees are so tall and ancient that barely any light trickles through at all, and just because I occasionally have to stop and *hug* the slowly lengthening afghan, or smooth it out over my lap and admire how the colors mix with the interwoven strips of knit and purl, does not mean that I have to be selfish and keep it all to myself.

Anyway. I am off, today, with my knitting mom, to the TKGA convention in Oakland. I hope to find something cute for my Secret Pal, as well as maybe just one or two goodies for me (because since I haven't heard a peep from the person who's supposed to be *my* Secret Pal , I guess this means I just need to spoil myself!). But then, it'll be back to home, and back to my afghan, or maybe, just maybe, I'll be able to summon just a teensy bit of self control, and get that poor little sock done once and for all.

Posted by Jenipurr at 08:18 AM | Comments (4)

July 14, 2005

Cabling success

It's finally done! I took the cabled afghan to the knitting night at the library, and managed to nearly complete it there, then headed home and finished the last two rows. This morning I tucked in and trimmed all the loose ends, then tossed it into the washing machine to (hopefully) remove significant quantities of cat hair from all my 'knitting' assistants, then laid it out on the floor and snapped a few shots.


The full length shot

Close-up of the center cable pattern, and the 'filler' section of tile stitch for the middle.

Close-up of the Twining Trees motif

Oh, and for all my worrying about how to get the Trees to cable upside down, when I took it out of the washing machine, I couldn't immediately tell which side was 'up', short of staring at the fabric to figure out which way the stitches were pointing. Which is exactly what I wanted - yay!

Edited to add pattern information, so it's all in one place
Yarn: Red Heart, in Aran Fleck (since with six cats this had to be machine washable) - just under 5 skeins.
Cable Patterns:

  • Twining Trees
  • Ring and Bobble (I made mine without the bobble - this is the outermost cable)
  • Saxon/Celtic Braid
  • Tile stitch was from the Stitch A Day calendar
  • Center cabled motif was from this sweater by Estelle Designs
  • Bottom strip under trees was a simple side-leaning Twist 2 back, every 8 stitches bordered on top and bottom by 2 rows of moss stitch; the strip that borders the center panel is a simple Cable 2 (front or back, depending on the side).
  • Each cable set is separated by 2 stitches of plain old purl

Naturally, I immediately cast on and started swatching for the next afghan (which is going to be blissfully cable free, and thus will be finished in less than half the time). I'll have in-progress pictures of that by the weekend, I think.

I'm also now pondering what sort of socks to make for my SockpalTwoza pal. I've got one sock currently on the needles (from months ago, in fact), and I'd like to get it finished before starting a new one. So I think this weekend I'll be 'clearing off' the sock needles in preparation for something lovely for my sock pal. I'm thinking something lacy.....hmmm.

Posted by Jenipurr at 04:15 PM | Comments (15)

July 05, 2005

Slowed

We had a marvelous time in Las Vegas. I got a *lot* of work done on Kiri - both on the plane there and back, waiting in the airport, and also in the wee hours of the morning when I couldn't sleep at the hotel.

I've been dithering about the cabled afghan, but when it came time to write up the directions for the Twining Trees, reversed, it suddenly clicked and it was ridiculously easy. I'm about 5 rows away from starting the second (upside down) set of the trees, which means I am also about 5 rows away from being three quarters of the way done! This is especially good since there is a sizable pile of yarn growing on the floor outside the regular yarn closet, which is all supposed to be converted to yet more afghans before Christmas, so the sooner I get this one out of the way, the sooner I can start the next.

Not much knitting content since I returned from Vegas, however. I've done a bit here and there, but alas, I finally broke down and installed Sid Mier's Civilization III, which I've had since Christmas but have held off on installing for precisely this reason. So there've been a lot of late nights camped out in front of the computer, trying to take over the world (heh). And when I am in front of the computer, there is apparently an unspoken law (mandated by the feline population, that is) that I *must* have at least one cat in my lap (if not more) at all times. So knitting and playing just never can mix around here.

Posted by Jenipurr at 06:38 AM