WIP's & Needles

WIP's & Needles....sounds kinda kinky doesn't it? hee hee... We all know it's not.

First...my big story of the week. I had bought a Crystal Palace size 1 circ awhile back. When I tried to use it the join was just terrible. My socks snagged on it so bad that it was an exercise in frustration to knit with.  Instead of throwing it away (because my upbringing won't let me waste anything) I put it back in my needle bag & went to HCW for an Addi Turbo size 1. Made the socks. Yay!

Fast forward to this past Monday when I started another pair of socks trying to get lots of projects lined up for my upcoming surgery. I used  the Crystal Palace needles forgetting what a pain in the ass they were. Well, after just a couple of rounds I was furious. So, I took a picture of the needles & fired off an email to CP. I was nice because that's how I am. Surprise! I got a very nice email back within 24 hrs & they said they'd send me a replacement. There had been a bad batch of needles using softer metal for the caps. Anyway, I got the new needles in the only a day or two later & cast on yesterday for socks on them. The new needles work great & you can clearly see how much thinner the metal cap is & how much tighter it fits the cable in this picture. Can you guess which needle is the new one? Thank you Andy & Crystal Palace! I truly love the needles. The cable is very pliable & it rotates which is cool.

Crystal Palace needles new & old


These are the socks. All The Math by Helena Bristow, Kroy Jacquards yarn

All The Math Socks

I love the colorway used in the Ravelry page for these socks & have found the yarn online in a couple of places.  

Seriously thinking of ordering it. I started another pair of socks last week and what's up with that because I have never been a sock knitter. I mean I've tried it a few times but it has never grabbed me. All the sudden, that's all I want to knit. Weird! Anyway, the socks I cast on last week are Sunrise Socks by Wendy D. Johnson. I am using Crystal Palace Panda Silk Print in a lovely colorway that has blues, purples and greens. I love this yarn!! It is very soft & lovely to knit with.

For good measure I'll put up pics of my progress on the Rambling Rows Afghan. I'm enjoying this knit although I don't like how the squares look at the sides where you pick up and knit.

And the Diamond Lace Scarf:

I am suffering from cabin fever today. It's going to be a long week. Recovery is boring. LOL. I have input all my needles & hooks into Ravelry database if that gives you any idea. And I'm thinking about paying some bills. Now, that's the ultimate in bored! There's only so many hours that I can knit on itty bitty needles. And why is Ravelry so slow today? Grrrrr!!

Happy Victoria Day!

According to my calendar it's Victoria Day in Canada. So, Happy Victoria Day y'all.

I finished Mom's Shawl & gave it to her for Mother's Day along with the Mother's Day Cloth. She loved them both. Here's the link to my project page on Rav which I am sharing with you. I'm sweet like that.

The Mother's Day cloth is from KrisKnits.
The Femme Fatale Wrap is about 80%. I have decided to give it to Letty when I finish it. I offered it to her at WHIBSIB because she was commenting how much she loves it. I told her that she could either have this one or buy herself some yarn & I would make her one. She chose the one that I'm making. I am going to make the back section about 1 extra repeat because she is a little larger than I am. I am making the small/medium size. The only worry that I have is how much will the Malabrigo stretch when I block it? I haven't taken a picture of it because black is so hard to photograph.

I started back on my 2nd sock last night and am up to the heel flap. My first problem is that i don't remember which pattern I used for the first sock. I THOUGHT it was the one on the wrapper for the yarn. I was almost positive so that's the one I've been using on the 2nd sock. Well, when I got to the heel flap I realized that it isn't because the pattern says to sl1, k1 on rs rows for the heel flap. And that's not what I did on the first one. Oh well. That's what I'm doing on the 2nd one. it's just a sock, right?

Anyway, here's the question: Do I slip as if to purl or as if to knit? Do I hold the yarn in front or in back? In other knitting when a pattern tells me to slip and I don't do anything else with that stitch on that row I always slip as if to purl w/yarn in front. That's how I learned from something I read somewhere over the past few years. But it's a pita to do that and then knit the next stitch across the whole row. Ya know? And it wraps the yarn in front of the slipped stitch.

What is the correct way to do this type of heel and does it have a name?

I started the Knitayear project on May 1st. Link to project page on Ravelry. I'm enjoying it although I don't know that I will continue with it. My plan is to bind off each month and start a new one. That will prevent it from getting so long. In the end I can seam them together and it will be a rug or wall hanging.

Here's a picture after the first week.

I really want to start the EZ 100th Anniversary Pi Shawl. I joined a Ravelry group called 10 Shawls in 2010 and they are enablers deluxe. The aforementioned shawl is designed to commemorate Elizabeth Zimmerman's 100th birthday. She was born August 9, 1910 (8/9/10). So, the shawl is designed using repeats of 8, 9 & 10. I think that's really cool. And my grandmother was also born on August 9, 1910. So it's especially meaningful to me. I bought KnitPicks Palette yarn in Aster. Purple was grandma's favorite color. She had a bedroom upstairs that was decorated in purple & white. It was all ruffly and girly and I loved that room. A few times I got to sleep in it and I always felt so proud when I did.

Truth Time

I don't usually have more than 3 projects otn at any one time. I've always been anal about that. But, last night I was searching for missing needles and discovered a terrible truth. I have 6 projects otn right now and am dying to start a 7th. Hence, the search for the missing size 6 needles.

So, it's time to fess up, face the music, tell the truth.

1-Paneled Lace Afghan which I started last summer and it probably won't be finished in 2010. I do work on it every Monday at the library for a couple of hours but it's slow going and I'm ok with that because it's my easy carry around project.

2-Alpine Lace Shawl - I started this last fall and while I love it, it takes a lot of focus and concentration because every row is patterned and I'm using beads, too. I do intend to complete it this year.

3- Serenity Socks - I started these in December 2009 and have one finished and the other is about 25%. I don't knit on them very often but I keep them in the car for knitting emergencies. I call them Serenity socks because that's the name of the yarn I'm using. I'm not real creative.

4- Grace's Blanket - started very recently using the Rambling Rows pattern and scraps of Cotton Tots yarn. I've almost run out of scraps so it's on hold until I can buy more which sort of defeats the purpose of the blanket.

5- Fischgratlein - This is an openwork shawl from a pattern called Fish Scales Shawl. I started it in a fit of "gotta find a new project". It will probably not get finished.

6- Femme Fatale Wrap - Started this yesterday and it's really fun so far. Pattern comes from Creative Knitting November 2007.

Oops....I just remembered there are two more. Ugh. One was my design for the LSSK design contest last summer that I never finished. Maybe I will. The other is a variation of the Fish Scales Shawl that I was working on. Need to frog it.

And I really, really want to start the Haruni Shawl by Emily Ross. I saw a picture of it on Ravelry and several people have used the Jojo Melody yarn and it looks spectacular. And I have 3 balls of that yarn that I bought to make the Spiral Scarf with and decided that I didn't like it.