Actual Knitting Content

There's a reason this isn't a knit blog ya know? I'd describe it more as the life blog of a knitter. Because no matter how turbulent my life may be - there is always knitting. And indeed there has been knitting, I think quite a bit has piled up during my extended blog hiatus.  So let's see if I can get it all caught up to date. First I think we'll step back to:

Holiday Knitting

This is Kirsten Kapur's Rickenbacker Scarf pattern. I modified it by leaving off the ruffle and it's also shorter, I used almost every scrap of a skein of Be Sweet Bamboo gifted to me over a year ago.

The end result is gorgeous but knitting with it was a special kind of torture.  I've never used bamboo before and may never again because that stuff was the splittiest yarn ever! Seriously, why is it always the pretty ones that have to be so difficult?

Next up:

State of the Sock Knitting Report

Finally finished my Artichoke Socks:

They are lovely to look at and lovely to wear. I knit them up with Lorna's Laces Shepard Sock in the Apple Hill colorway. I have no valid excuse for why it took me over a year to complete these, other pairs of socks were started and finished while sock #1 languished in a project bag. Then one day the urge to knit on them again took hold of me and I just stuck with it and knocked out sock #2 in about a week or so.

I can also show you my new Staggered Lace Socks:

This is a test knit and a prime opportunity to dip into my stash of beloved Hazel Knits yarn.  No matter how much I try other yarns, this one is still my fave - to knit with and to wear. The colorway is "Blacklight" and it's not just any old plain black, when you turn it to the light it has a purple sheen!

Speaking of purple, let me introduce you to my current Sock-In-Progress:

I'm using the Broadripple pattern and some of the great whack of Cascade Fixation and other similar yarns sent to me by my good friend Beentsy.  I tried other patterns but something about this one just works, it does a great job of livening up the stripes and making them more interesting. I've got plenty more of that yarn in my stash, but this was the only multi.  Since we're on the subject of Cascade Fixation, I think we can segue nicely into...

New Project Categories

Behold, my very first ever actual garment!

After knitting miles of scarves, stacks of hats, and a decent amount of socks, venturing past accessories into the land of real garments was on my mind while I was at Stitches West in 2009.  Then I saw the pattern in a booth, bought the yarn and needles, and cast on while hanging out with Snuffykin in the lounge area outside the exhibit hall. The pattern is Joan Somerville's Fixation Tank and again, no valid reason for taking a year to complete it - there's certainly nothing wrong with the pattern!  I got bored and put it aside for a few months to focus on other projects, picked it up again only to put it aside when trying it on every few rows became an inconvenience.  Then the Knitting Olympics came along and gave me last push I needed - I took home a gold medal! I'm not entirely happy with the finished object but I will wear it and I learned enough that I'm ready to tackle something similar.

I also decided it was time to try my hand at knitting a shawl:

I'm using the Araucania Ranco I purchased from the Loopy Ewe last summer. I've heard that anything making a rectangular shape like this one is actually supposed to be called a "stole" but since the pattern is the Meandering Vines Shawl I consider it a shawl. And I've dubbed this the Stressless Shawl, because the stitch pattern is so regular I can stop at any time and easily find my place again, there's absolutely no decision-making, I just keep knitting, knitting, knitting, knitting, knitting, knitting...