Come on Summer!

While we have had decent weather here lately for February, I can't wait until it gets warm again! (Please remind me of this in August when I am melting in the heat.) To help make myself feel a little more "summery", I just finished Zaftig, from knitty.





I am very pleased with it and with how it looks on. (Not that I would ever wear it outside my house I'm sure.) While I made the smallest size, it is still a little large in um, certain areas. Dang. Tissue, anyone?

One change I made was to shorten the bottom band down from 2.5 inches to a little more than one. I used an elastic band meant to be sewn into sport type waistbands and worn against the skin.





I wasn't actually planning on adding the elastic as called for in the pattern the entire time I was knitting it but in the end found it to be the perfect solution to control the roll of the stockingette stitch.

pointless but fun

bold the states you've been to, underline the states you've lived in and italicize the state you're in now...

Alabama / Alaska / Arizona / Arkansas / California / Colorado / Connecticut / Delaware / Florida / Georgia / Hawaii / Idaho / Illinois / Indiana / Iowa / Kansas / Kentucky / Louisiana / Maine / Maryland / Massachusetts / Michigan / Minnesota / Mississippi / Missouri / Montana / Nebraska / Nevada / New Hampshire / New Jersey / New Mexico / New York / North Carolina / North Dakota / Ohio / Oklahoma / Oregon / Pennsylvania / Rhode Island / South Carolina / South Dakota / Tennessee / Texas / Utah / Vermont / Virginia / Washington / West Virginia / Wisconsin / Wyoming / Washington D.C /

Go HERE to have a form generate the HTML for you.

Better late than never

(This is the post I wrote last week. Thanks to everyone for their kind thoughts.)

Hey look! My Christmas Cactus is blooming:





Maybe I didn't have it close enough to the calendar...

Sorry. Feeling a little goofy today. =)


I guess I am just so excited that I finished my first Opal 6-ply sock. I totally love it.



(Thanks to Steve for the photo help!)


I have decided that I will let myself have one sock and one non-sock project going at the same time. I'm sure some of you are saying "that's all?!", but for me the stress of having lots of unfinished items around is just too much. Besides, I can finish things more quickly if I am not working on a dozen projects at a time.

So my current non-sock project is Zaftig from Knitty. I found two balls of Fixation on clearance at my local yarn store and wanted to do something different with them. I really like the pattern, and I am hoping the smallest size will fit OK.

Change of plans.

I wrote a great post yesterday at work that was just waiting for me to go home and upload the photos.

But before I got the chance I found out my grandpa (Papa) was in the hospital in congestive heart failure. Of course it has been the only thing on my mind all day.

My great post seems a little frivolous now.

Hang with me and I will get it up in a day or two. I have some cool stuff I would like to share once things get better here.

Finally FO

After much ado, my Broadripple socks are done!






Specs:
~LB Magic Stripes yarn in Denim. I used approx. 1.25 skeins.
~size 0 dpns (two sets)
~Broadripple for sock weight yarn pattern

Notes:
I really enjoyed working on both socks at the same time. I am going to do it again in the future when I am able. (When I have two sets of the correct size needle, and am working from either 2 50g balls or a 100g that I don't care if the pattern matches.)


Up Next:
For lack of a better idea/ ambition to think of a better idea... more socks!





This is one of the new Opal 6 ply yarns, color number 1126. I believe it was originally part of the Southwest color line, but I could be mistaken. It is also going to be the first time I have used Opal, despite the fact that I have many balls of it in my closet.

Remember that scene from Lady and the Tramp?

You know, the spaghetti one? Well my Broadripple socks re-enacted it last night:






I'm hoping to get more yarn and finish them by the start of next week.


To everyone else who cares - have fun watching the super bowl tomorrow!

Yardage update

OK, so the LB Magic Stripes yarn has 300m per 100g, and Regia has 210m per 50g. No wonder I am running out.

I have repeatedly read on mailing lists and people think Magic Stripes is more of a sport-weight yarn - and I guess the yardage confirms that. BUT it sure don't seem like one to me! I am using size 0 needles, same as I use with any other sock yarn and getting the same spi as any other sock yarn. Maybe its just me...

Running short.

I have never run out of yarn in the middle of a project. That being said; I am about to run out of yarn for my broadripple socks. I had no idea that I would... I mean, I have always had sock yarn left over from each 50g ball. So now I am going to need more than 100g?! Dang. I didn't make the cuff much longer than usual (its still shorter than the pattern called for) and didn't think the pattern of increases and decreases would use more yarn than normal. So I ask you:

Do lace patterns usually use more sock yarn than plain? Or is there just less yardage with LB Magic Stripes yarn? (Need to check on that when I get home.)

Tonight is going to be a "no computer" night. I'm not going to turn it on when I get home from work because I have a list of things that need to be done around the apartment. Otherwise, it is too easy to get distracted with mailing lists, blogs, and Pogo. Nothing gets done and I stay up too late.