I Am Easily Distracted

I'm plugging away at my spectrum scarf. It's moving along a little faster now that I've got a rhythm going with the Russian joins but it's still tedious. I've finished 6 out of 16 color sequence repeats. (The pattern calls for 12 but I'm not making the hat so I figured out there is enough yarn for 16.) I decided my favorite colors are the two greens, Jelly and Fern. They're both pretty on their own but are even prettier when they're combined. I got to thinking that it would be fun to make something stripey with just those two colors so I started looking through my books for a pattern that would work and found Viola in "French Girl Knits" by Kristeen Griffin-Grimes. A trip to the yarn store was exactly the distraction I was looking for so I got three each of Fern and Jelly. The two knit together look like this:

I've decided that I'm not going to do the stripes because I don't think the pattern, which is for a cardigan with short sleeves and lace detail in a contrasting color at the neck line and on the sleeves, would look good with stripes. Originally, I thought I'd use Jelly for the lace trim but I don't think there will be enough contrast. I think a very pale lavender would look nice but I won't have to make that decision for a while.

I've also finally finished the first of the Fair Isle socks.

This is very gratifying since I've gotten this sock down to the toe and ripped it back to the cuff twice. I was beginning to think I wouldn't be able to make them work and finally decided that I didn't mind if the foot wasn't patterned. I think they look better this way and they're certainly more comfortable.

Fun? Did I Say Knitting This Would be Fun?

I cast on for the spectrum scarf, which was a long, tedious process since it's a provisional cast on. Then I proceeded to the setup row, which was a long, tedious process because it involved many, many short rows, which meant much turning while working on two different circular needles, which were determined to get tangled up with each other, the yarn holding the provisional stitches, and the two strands of working yarn. But I persevered and was finally able to settle down and knit the scarf, which is a long, tedious process because you have to do a Russian join at the end of every other row, which prevents you from getting any real momentum going. It looks like this after two repeats of the color sequence. Only ten more to go!

It's very pretty but I can understand why no one on Ravelry has knit this thing.

Baltic Sea Stole is Done

and I'm really pleased with how it turned out.

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The colors are gorgeous and suit the pattern perfectly; very cool purples, blues and a little bit of aqua.

What Would Elizabeth Zimmerman Do?

The Baltic Sea stole is finished. I blocked it this evening so it will be ready to have its picture taken tomorrow. Blocking lace is very gratifying. It goes from looking like a used tissue to looking like, well, lace. It's the perfect time to do the "modest but triumphant jig" that Ms. Zimmerman recommends. The problem with lace, however, is that it can be difficult to spot a mistake until it's blocked, when it (the error) becomes glaringly obvious, like this:

I suppose I could pretend that it's intentional, in the spirit of the "humility block" that everyone but the Amish seems to think was included in Amish quilts so the quilt wouldn't be perfect, or I could just admit that it's a mistake and then dance a modest but triumphant jig because, mistakes and all, I love this wrap. It's the Faux Russian Stole by Kate Nagorney and  Ann Swanson from "A Gathering of Lace"  knit from Ellen Cooper's Yarn Sonnets Fine Merino.

These pictures don't really capture the color accurately. Its a beautiful dark teal green. I'll take more pictures of it tomorrow when I'm photographing the Baltic Sea stole. 

Enough with the Socks Already

It's time to work on something other than socks. I should finish the Baltic Sea stole this weekend so it's time to think about what to work on next. I have some good summer projects in the queue.

These are for the spectrum scarf from Winter 2008 Interweave Knits and a pair of gloves.The scarf is a two row chevron stitch pattern and is knit with two strands of Rowan Kidsilk Haze, changing one of the two colors every other row. The gloves will be knit with a strand of the Rowan Kidsilk Haze and a strand of the Rowan Felted Tweed. Chevron patterns are fun to knit and Kidsilk Haze is a gorgeous yarn, which makes me wonder why it took me so long to find the time to make this.

This is for Alice Starmore's Hat Trick, which is a set of three Fair Isle hats. I don't need three Fair Isle hats, so I'm going to make two hats and a pair of mittens instead.

This is Jamieson & Smith 1 ply cobweb. It's for a modified version of Mediterranean Lace by Maureen Egan Emlet from "A Gathering of Lace." The plan is to omit the center square and just make a rectangular shawl. This will not be a summer project; this will be a many years, and probably a many tears, project but I'm okay with that.

This is Alpaca with a Twist Fino and it's for the Maikell Shawl from "Knitted Lace of Estonia" by Nancy Bush. It's for my mother, who wants a scarf and not a shawl, so I have to modify the pattern. I started this once before and wasn't happy with the way it was coming out so ripped it and put it away but I think it's time to give it another shot.

Yet Another Pair of Cabled Socks are Complete

The good news is, these are done. The bad news is, they're still pink.

I'm really pleased with they way they turned out, except for the pinkness. The cables are 3 stitches (a knit, a purl and a knit) and are separated by 3 purl stitches. I crossed them by putting the first two stitches on a cable needle in back, knitting the third stitch, returning the second stitch to the working needle, purling it, and then knitting the stitch remaining on the cable needle.

The cable crosses on the cuff get closer together as they get closer to the heel but are uniform on the top of the foot.

These are 72 stitches worked on size 2.75 needles. The sole is 27 stitches and the top of the foot is 39 stitches. There are six sets of cables at the toe, each of which is reduced by two on the penultimate row, bringing the stitch count down to 27. I closed each set of cables by slipping the first stitch, passing the third over the second, slipping the second, passing the first over the second, returning the remaining stitch to the working needle and purling it.

Yet Another Pair of Cabled Socks

I don't really like pink but I had the yarn in my stash and it's perfect for cables.

This is Regia Silk 4-ply. I'm using 2.75 needles and cast on 72 stitches. The pattern is very similar to these:

except the cables and ribbing are K1P1K1 instead of K2P2K2 and I crossed all the cables the same way. I'm really happy with the way these are turning out. The Regia Silk is very nice to work with and the cables really pop. I don't know why I choose this color since I'm not a "pink" person but there it was so I will soon have a pair of baby pink socks.

Well... I Don't Know

I don't love them but they're done. I suppose sometimes that's all you can ask for.

The bottom line is, I just don't like this colorway. The green and the blue are too light so there's too much contrast. I'm happy with the pattern. They're very comfortable, not a pain in the neck to put on and they'll keep my feet warm while I paint my toes. In retrospect, a more neutral color would've been a better choice but I don't have a lot of neutral colored sock yarn and the point was to use up what I had.

For the open toe, I did six rows of ribbing around the entire foot, then cast off all but 24 stitches, cast on 8 more and then did six more rows of ribbing on these 32 stitches for the big toe.

It looks a little funky when the socks are off but I can live with that.