Picking Up Where I Left Off

I've given up hope of posting regularly here. I'm having trouble with the left hand, arm and shoulder once again so my crafting time has been limited. I've been unable to do much of anything for any significant length of time. The state fair knitting is started and I'm currently working on a women's pullover. It will, along with the other knitting for the fair, remain a stealth project until after the fair in October.

I finally got back to beading this past week and made three bracelets with one or two more to go. The pattern is Bump in the Road from Step by Step Beads which is now Beadwork.


The top one is for my co-worker Tammy's birthday, the second one is for my mom and the third and unfinished one is for my sister. I had to modify the instructions for the toggle loop since it came out way too big on Tammy. I redid that one and finished my sister's Sunday night.

I'm participating in the Westknits Mystery KAL on Ravelry. We are currently knitting clue 2. I finished clue 1 yesterday and will work on clue 2 this evening. The first two clues are quite short but he has promised that the knitting will pick up drasticly with clue 3. This is my first Westknit pattern and so far I'm enjoying it.

I resisted the temptation to purchase yarn for this project and after much searching I came up with a combination I like. The yarn is Dalegarn Tiur in colors I call Mossy Green, Antique Gold and Brick Red.


In keeping with earlier plans I've been working with the knitting machine in hopes of using up some of the sock stash. I've got casting on ribbing and circular knitting down. I'm having some issues with the main bed. The stitches will knit fine for a while and then all of a sudden some of them don't knit anymore. I'll switch out some more needles and play around with the weight to see if that solves the problem. I'm also having problems with the short-row heel. Jan did a refresher for me at our meeting on Saturday some I confident that the more I practice the better I will get.

I still haven't had time to take a spinning class so that has been on the back burner for know. I've got a pretty full plate is it is so I'm going with what's already in the works for the time being.

Embossed Leaves

Specs:

Pattern: Embossed Leaves from Favorite Socks
Yarn: Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Potluck Water
Needles: 2 US dpn's and 2 US addi Turbo Lace for Magic Loop
Size: 9..5
Started: June 21, 2008 Finished: July 4, 2008

No mods except I knitted my pointy toe. The shape of my toes isn't suitable for round toe socks.


This is the back of the machine knit sweater I'm working. I made an error on the front and then made it worse so I'll have to start that piece over.

I've cast on sock #2 for sos08. They are a pair of plain socks for the moment in Online Supersock Fun Color. These will be for mom as I decide which pattern to use for the next pair. My biggest dilemma is deciding whether or not I'm going to knit any thing to enter into the state fair. I want to in a way, but I'm not sure if I want to devote my knitting time to the projects. I'll have to make a decision one way or the other.

In the meantime, I'm enjoying the usual afternoon thunderstorm. I love the sound of rain falling.

Butter Beans

Saturday morning I got up early and traveled with my sister-in-law to Blythewood, SC to pick fresh farm grown vegetables. We opted for the butter beans and corn. I was able to pick almost a half bushel which cost only $7.00!


I shelled all the beans Saturday and cooked some on Sunday. They were delicious. I haven't tried the corn. Mom is making creamed corn tonight.

I finished the first Embossed Leaves sock this evening.


It never ceases to puzzle me that I still have to consult the directions for doing the kitchener stitch. I'm sure part of the problem is that I so rarely knit socks from the top-down that I don't get enough practice. One day it will all click, but until then I'm grateful for Knitting Help.

This afternoon I cast a sweater on the knitting machine. I've been listening to the chug-a-lug of the garter carriage since then. I'm using the v-neck pattern from this book Caernafron Castle. It's not as complex as it looks so I"m hopeful that I can complete this one. It's for mom and I already have several on the to-do list.

I'm still working on the cushions and have switched to the assembly line approach. It's not necessarily faster but it is more organized. I'll use the long holiday weekend to knock this project on out.

The Knitting Automaton

Ka-chunk, ka-chunk, ka-chunk has been a familiar sound in the house recently. The garter carriage has proven a bit more formidable than I expected. In reality I've actually knitted almost two sweaters. There has been a significant about of frogging, rehanging and a quite a few not so pleasant words. Monday evening the back was completed and I'm on to the sleeves which I'm in the process of calculating. (Kathy - You don't have to all the math if you're following a pattern. I chose not to since I didn't want to spend days searching for something that used the yarn I chose from the stash.)


I'd like to know who decided that sweater backs should be knitted first. I knitted the front for the back which resulted in a significant amount of "rippage" because the charting book I'm using uses the "fully fashioned" shaping method. This means that back and front are knit different sizes as is the resulting armhole shaping. According to Ruth Lee, a well-known machine knitter and designer, this results in a more elegant fit. Right now it's not looking too elegant.

I'm going to do cut and sew for the neckline due to issues with shaping on the garter carriage. My stitches kept dropping the narrower the shoulder got and I eventually got tired and gave up. If anyone has suggestions I'd be glad to here them.

I've also been taking time to enjoy the flowers. They're finally making appearance along with the nice green spring coating that comes every year.




I'm praying that the Canna lilies will come up. So far I've only spotted 2 peeking out the ground. There are more lilies to move and azaleas to plant so the knitting will be on a slow simmer as the daylight increases.