Weekend Knitting

I have been working on the Jaywalkers this past week and I am about 1/2 inch shy of the heel.

I have also been knitting a shrug for my cousin's daughter who just turned 18 and was the lead in the spring musical at her high school. The shrug pattern is free from Caron in Shadows in the color Martis Grey. You can find the pattern here:
http://caron.com/projects/shadows/sss_shrug.html

Pictures!!

I have been knitting away on the Jaywalkers. The SWTC Bamboo Lace Scarf is almost completed. A friend at work gifted me with a digital camera she and her husband no longer use. I thanked her profusely and am planning on posting lots of photos to this blog.

Ock! More Socks!

I started working on Jaywalkers by Grumperina http://www.magknits.com/Sept05/patterns/jaywalker.htm. It is fairly easy to memorize the leg ripple patterning. The yarn is Lana Grossa Meilenweit Fun & Stripes Color 619. The yarn is fingering weight and I am using US Size 1 needles. Luckily, the yarn has fairly long color repeats so the pattern is showing up quite well.



The other pair of socks I started working on is a pair in sport weight yarn with US 3 needles. The yarn is Fostissima Colori 6-strand in color 4007. I am knitting a plain 48 stitch pattern although I may take it out and recast on in a 56 stitch pattern. The needles I am using are my favorite type for double points. They are Bryspun from New Zealand. They are flexible and very comfortable. I got them several years ago at Village Yarn Shop in Rochester, NY, but they are available at a lot of LYS and online at elann.com.

SWTC Bamboo Scarf

This is a scarf I have been working on for about a month on and off. The yarn is South West Trading Company Bamboo (100% bamboo). You can see their website at www.soysilk.com.
The pattern is a simple lace pattern that a mother and daughter who attend my knitting guild were kind enough to share with me. I admired the scarves they were both wearing at a meeting several months ago and they told me the simple pattern. It is a basic feather and fan pattern.
I am using US Size 10 Takumi Bamboo knitting needles to knit this scarf.




These are the finished Patons Kroy Country Jacquard Socks with the short row heel. They turned out pretty well.

I have started another pair of socks for my aunt who last weekend said, "Uhmmm I had to darn the toe of the socks you gave me a few years ago. Could you make me a new pair, too?" I told her not only will I make her a new pair in wool/nylon, but I will be giving her the Sockotta Socks I knitted. They are 60 stitches around and too small for my feet. I always give knitted objects to people who appreciate them.

Yarn Stash Inventory

After 3 evenings of inventory, I can say that I didn't know I had this much yarn. It's confined to a smaller number of bins now. I won't have to buy yarn for at least a year. My official total is 56,700 yards (51,846.48 meters) not including UFO's. How does my stash compare to others out in blog land? Any comments?

I have decided not to inventory the magazines, patterns, and books. I store magazines on my dresser top and small bookcase in magazine holders. My books are in my closet on shelves or on the bookshelves.

Well, for now, I am somewhat organized. Scary isn't it!

Yarn Inventory

I have decided to inventory my yarn stash. The process began last night. I have so far documented my wool, sock yarn, and cottons. I am using a simple spreadsheet. Here is what I have so far: http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pyJnzSCzuSivPkn9lqiiRBw

My favorite yarns so far are the Opal Sock Yarn, the Alpaca Lite Sock yarn, and the Farmhouse Yarns (Grapes on the Vine - I love that color name!). Here is the link to the color card for Farmhouse Yarns http://www.farmhouseyarns.com/roxannescolorcard.html
The color of the Opal Sock yarn is 1079 as seen here: http://www.ptyarn.com/elements.html
The alpaca yarn is from a kit for some Nancy Bush designed socks which I bought at alpacapolooza several years ago when it was held in Syracuse at the NYS Fairgrounds. It looks like this event is usually held in October so I may have to check it out when it rolls around again this year. There was one room where the yarn and products were sold. Of course, I could just buy from one of the local farmers as well. Here is a link to the list for Central New York http://www.empirealpacaassociation.com/MemberFarms/

The Sock has been Heeled!

I have been working on the Patons Kroy Country Jacquard Socks for a couple of weeks now. If you remember, I tried the Priscilla Gibson-Roberts heel and didn't like the looks of it. I've switched to a plain short-row (wrap and turn) heel which came out pretty well. I don't think I would try this heel again. I like the heel flap with turned heel.

From 2007-03-04

This photo is a closeup of the heel I used in the reworking. The next photo is of the lunar eclipse on Saturday night. I used a digital camera and took it by holding the lens of the camera up to the binoculars. The rubber gasket of the binocular eyepiece fits over the lens of the camera.

From 2007-03-04