26 November, 2007
FO: Secret of the Stole
I feel just oh so chic wearing this.
Pattern: Secret of the Stole (*********), by DK the Nautical Knitter
Yarn: JaggerSpun Superfine Merino, in the colourway Basil.
Needles: US 6 Susan Bates straights
Modifications: None. I knit the smallest size as dictated by the charts, and this still came out huge! I blocked it on my bed, and even with both points wrapped around the edges, I still could have blocked it out more!
See? It’s enormous!
(I can’t stop photographing this! It’s so pretty!)
This was such a fun, easy pattern that produced absolutely stellar results! The JaggerSpun was an absolute champ to knit with and to block. It is beautifully soft, drapes like a dream, and is deceptively warm to boot. Everything I look for in a lace yarn! The green did bleed a teensy weensy bit when I soaked it to block, though. Just enough to turn the water a very pale shade of mint green.
The best part about it? I still have at least 400 yards (maybe even 500!) of Superfine Merino to play around with! Who’s the next victim lucky contestant?
Thank you again DK, for such a fantastic pattern! I can’t wait for SOtS II!
25 November, 2007
Secret of the… Turkey?
There’s been lots and lots o’ things happening here at Chez Knerdy. First, there’s knitting here; it’s just below all the food. Scroll down if you don’t care about the turkey.
All right. let’s start with a Thanksgiving dinner (the leftovers of such are currently my breakfast) worthy of Eunny Jang herself:
A perfectly roasted turkey.
Mountains of cornbread, a la Alton Brown.
A glistening dish of jewel-like cranberry sauce (interesting fact: I love to make cranberry sauce. It’s my favourite thing to make during Thanksgiving, but in all reality, I hate cranberries).
And a veritable field of Brussels sprouts, liberally doused with olive oil and a little salt and pepper, roasted until the outer edges are golden brown an delicious, and the insides are crisp and just slightly caramelized.
Not pictured: The world’s best apple crisp, the entire plate of various cheeses, all the frantic relatives in the kitchen, and enough stuffing to stuff… well, me (I could eat an entire tray of stuffing. If no one was looking).
We’re going to be eating turkey for weeks.
Secondly, knitting progress! Lots of it! Behold, the Secret of the Stole, a secret no more:
I finished her last night whilst watching “Ocean’s 13” (because it is hilarious), and I am quite proud of both myself and how the Stole came out. Thank you DK, for making such an engaging pattern!
Right now the Stole looks like a crumpled mass o’ ugly, but she has an appointment with the sink and some welding wires later today, once I finish my Thanksgiving breakfast. FO to come soon!
19 November, 2007
Turkey Day: 2 Days and Counting…
Yes, my dear knitters. It is indeed that time of the year (for the Americans, at least. The Canadians had theirs like, a month ago. Always so ahead of us, the Canadians). It’s Thanksgiving! I adore this particular holiday. It’s one of the few left that haven’t been commercialized. It has, however, been skipped over completely. The day after Hallowe’en, and I was seeing Christmas ads. I’m frightened. Very frightened.
This is going to be a “drive-by” posting, as I’m supposed to be studying for a Chemistry exam, and taking out the camera to photograph things is a wee bit suspicious. Here’s a quick update:
* I finished the foot of the second Cable Twist sock tonight at the Starbucks S’n’B I go to. I’ll probably turn the heel tomorrow, when we’re not doing jack shit in class.
* On Sunday, Clue 6 of Secret of the Stole was completed. I’m six rows into Clue 7. I’m almost sad that it’s almost over, and then I remembered the other three KAL’s I signed up for that start in January. God, this thing is going to be huge when blocked. I hope it fits on my bed.
* I’ve started to form a battle plan for Christmas knitting. It involves three yarn stores, my Ravelry queue, and most of Winter Break. Gods help us all.
Also, I was weak, and bought more sock yarn. The “de-stashing” board on Ravelry is a terrifying place. I bought two skeins of Lang Jawoll Jacquard in a very pretty sort of “forest leaves”-ish colourway. I’m thinking this yarn will be destined for a pair of Sidewinders, courtesy of the oh-so-talended Nona. I think vertically-striped socks will be fun. 🙂
Back to the studying. You probably won’t hear from me until after the Turkey Day fiasco is over. Friday is my anniversary (two years with The Faery! Wow!), so probably Saturday. I’ll aim for Saturday. Happy Turkey Day to the Americans!
12 November, 2007
It’s Not Easy Being Green…
When I woke up on Saturday, it was cold, damp, and rainy. Thus, everything was trying to escape the wet. Look who I found on my window this morning:
Snail! Such a cute little arthropod.
Here in California, we are finally getting the dreary, foggy weather that I love so dearly. It means that winter it just around the corner, and (frighteningly enough) that also means Christmas knitting. And a lot of it. I have a list made up of all the patterns I want to do (luckily, most call for just one skein of reasonably-priced yarn), and I’ve been rushing to finish my other projects.
Speaking of which, look! A sock.
Yup, it’s the first finished Cable Twist sock. I love the way this pattern came out! It’s very stretchy, the foot is nice and snug, and the leg is loose, but not too loose, so it stays up. I used a new bind-off for this one (I think it’s called the Lace Bind-off), and it worked beautifully! I think I’ll be using it more often for projects that need a stretchy edge. Here’s a slightly better picture of the pattern stretched out:
Mmm, stretchy goodness…
I was starting to get serious Second Sock Syndrome, and I was only on the first sock, so I bound off after doing twelve repeats on the leg portion. Once I tried the sock on, however, I forgot my SSS, and immediately cast on for the second:
Next time, I think I will try doing two socks at once. That way, I’m less inclined to get SSS, and I might finish quicker.
What’s that, you say? Secret of the Stole? Yes, yes. I’ve been working on it. I had today off, so I sat down and tried to catch up somewhat on the clues. I finished Clue 5, and am 1/8th of the way through Clue 6. I’ll be sad when the KAL is over, yet relieved: trying to keep up with the clues can be nerve-wracking sometimes! I’m still totally digging this pattern, though. My one skein of JaggerSpun Superfine lasted me all that way to Clue 6! That’s much longer than I thought. Looks like there will be leftovers. Hmm… (plot plot scheme)
As a parting shot, I present to you: Louie, the world’s silliest Dachshund:
The end.
4 November, 2007
Turkey Month!
November is one of my favourite months becase Thanksgiving is one of my favourite holidays. I hate its origins (“Hi, native people! We come bearing turkey and smallpox!”), but I love the whole family vibe, and I love the fall weather, and I love the crazy amounts of food/cooking that gets to be eaten/done.
God, I hope it cools down soon.
See, here in the San Fransisco Bay Area, we seem to be having a bit of a… heat spike, if you will. For the past few days, it’s been somewhere in the upper 70’s to the lower 80’s. That’s hot, especially for around here. Where’s all the fog? Where’s all the cold, windy weather that makes you want to cook large, comforting meals for your loved ones? I feel a little cheated. (pout)
So, to show you how little self-control I have, I bought more sock yarn:
This little piece of autumn-y heaven right here would be Paca-Peds, made by the fabulous Alpaca Yarn Co, in the appropriately-named colourway Harvest. Just looking at this yarn in the store made me think of picking apples off of the tree in the backyard, choosing just the right pumpkin for Halloween, and the cornucopia of colour that is always present on our Thanksgiving table. I had to have it. So I did. I do believe this yarn will be destined to become a pair of Monkeys, but only time (and swatching!) will tell.
Fear not, fellow knitters! Yours truly has still been working avidly on Secret of the Stole. It’s been to hot to work on my other projects (and the socks are my “going out project”), so it’s been getting lots of attention. Here it is, reclining in its Ziplock baggie home:
This thing is getting big! I can’t wait to see the finished product, especially since I’m getting really sick of the square-ish central motif. It looks pretty, but it’s getting boring. At least this part of the stole is getting knit up really quick!
To give you an example of the stole’s size, I will leave you with a picture of all the current charts lined up on my desk:
This is starting to get a little rediculous.
1 November, 2007
I Fail at the Internet.
When I first started this blog back in March (holy cow, March?!), I promised myself that I’d try to update at least twice or three times per week.
Yeah, I’ve so been failing at that lately. I haven’t been home very much over the past few days, and I’ve been so tired lately that I just come home from school, do my homework, and go to sleep. Oh, yeah. And I eat, too. Sometimes.
Anywho! I have managed to knit a little on some of the projects. The Cable Twist Socks are progressing nicely, although the continue to look like a flattened, alien banana:
(the yellow background does nothing to help this mental image.)
I’m still loving this pattern! It’s great and mindless, so I can knit on it while we’re doing critiques, or we have a guest speaker, but it’s still pretty enough that I enjoy knitting it. I also love Lorna’s Laces, and how the hand-dying of the yarn makes it stripe really, really subtly. Pretty!
Here’s another look at the yummy, spongy texture:
Mmm. Delicious.
I’ve also finally caught up on Secret of the Stole! Hurrah! I finished Clue 3 on Sunday, and am most of the way through Clue 4. This clue is where you get the opportunity to lengthen or shorten your stole, so I figured I’d just see how much knitting I’d get done this week, then go from there. As it stands, my stole will be approximately 71″ long when blocked, which is plenty long for me!
Sorry, guys, but I don’t have pictures of SOtS just yet. I haven’t had the time to pin it out to show off the pretty, pretty pattern! My theory, however, is that the pattern has something to do with crown jewels or precious gems, since it seems to have some sort of aristocratic/noble theme. That what this newest clue looks like to me! Lul, the mastermind behind the upcoming Spring Shawl Surprise, has a great picture of it on her blog. Go check it out!
That’s all for now. Happy November to all, and a happy (somewhat belated) Samhein, too! I’m going to go eat some more Halloween candy now.
The Knerdy Knitter 