Knitting Magazines

Apparently, Magknits has shut down several months ago. I looked at their site for patterns a lot, but hadn’t noticed that it was gone. Another site,  Knotions, has put up some of their old patterns, and has some new ones of it’s own. Along with the Twist Collective, there seem to be more online knitting magazines than before. But, they could stop making magazines for years, and I have such a backlog of patterns that I want to do, that it wouldn’t matter. That’s why I stopped checking Magknits, just to cut down on my pattern consumption.

Socktober

I have been traveling, so I haven’t updated in a while. I went to visit Arizona, which I hadn’t been to in about ten years. It’s always strange to go back to a place you knew really well, and see how much it’s changed. Everything seems so familiar, but at the same time it’s not. I mostly visited areas that I didn’t spend much time at when I lived there before. But some areas were really different than how they were in my memories.I was too early to see the leaves changing on the aspen trees. The elevation where these trees were was at about 8000 feet, Hart’s Prairie. I really felt the elevation, especially the dizziness. Hiking seemed much harder too.

I also am going to try the Socktober challenge, and finish some of my second socks. I have Roza’s socks, Hedera, a couple socks from Cat Bordhi’s Pathways book, and some lace knee highs, that probably won’t be done anytime soon. I’m going to try to concentrate on Hedera and Roza’s socks.

Bamboo Socks

I finished my first Ravelympics WIP project. I started the Waving Lace socks, from the Favorite Socks book, in August last year. I let them sit almost done, and then when I worked on them I knit most of the foot in two days. I was surprised at how quickly they got done. I must have only knit two rows or something once a week, for it to take so long.

Now, I’m working on the Shaped Lace Tee from the Knitting Lingerie book. It’s a nice pattern, but kind of boring. I’m using Shine Worsted, which is actually pretty nice. I’ve heard that it can shed like crazy, so there are little bits of fluff in your lap when you’re done, but that hasn’t happened yet.

I got a new sewing machine, hoping that it could do free motion quilting, but it can’t, at least not without a bunch of attachments. I think I’ll have to invest a lot into a decent sewing machine. For now, I got a hoop and plan to just do small designs as accents, by hand. I can quilt everything else with straight lines, even though it’s kind of a pain.

Ravelympics

I’m going to participate in the Ravelympics, where you can either knit a new pattern, or you can try to finish as many WIP’s as possible, which is what I’m going to do. I have two socks that are almost done, one armwarmer, half of a scarf, and a sleeve that needs to be finished. I don’t know how much of the Olympics I plan on watching, since I don’t really have a TV. It’s only set up to play DVDs, since I normally can’t stand watching TV. I watched the summer Olympics last time, and liked it, so I may try to see some of it this time around. I chose projects that have been unfinished for about a year or more. I find new projects that I like more or seem more interesting, and start those. Hopefully I can get these ones done, so I can work on the new ones guilt free.

Quilting Bug

I went to a quilting festival last week, where there were over three hundred quilts. I didn’t take any pictures, though. There were mostly quilts for beds, and a special section for smaller hanging art quilts. Every type of traditional quilt pattern was there, and a lot of free form art quilts that looked more like paintings. I like those ones the best, since they use threads and embroidery to create texture, or color variations. It was really interesting seeing the variety, and how people used a traditional quilt pattern, in a new way. I only regret not taking my camera.

It made me want to start another quilt. I’m really thinking about getting a different sewing machine, that can do free motion stitching, or one that at least has a walking foot. The one I have is from the 60’s and it doesn’t really have any special feet. It can quilt, but not very well. The last quilt I made got all bunched up, and it was a struggle to finish it.

Upstream socks

I just finished these socks from Cat Bordhi’s book, New Pathways for Sock Knitter’s. It is the Upstream Pathway, using Trekking XXL #108 yarn. They took several months, even though they are stockinette. They were knit from the toe up. The toe and heel area were both different than any I had done before, and the gusset area was different as well. That’s the whole point of the book, though, is all the different ways to make socks. I’ve started on the Riverbed pathway, which has gusset shaping on the sole of the foot, as opposed to the top of the top, as these socks were.

Stream Snakes

I wish I could swim in the river, like this snake. It’s too polluted here, though.

There hasn’t been too much knitting going on for me; it’s way too hot. I started an applique quilt, that’ll be a wall hanging. It’s slow going, since it’ll be hand appliqued and possibly hand quilted. I usually use the machine, but figured I might as well try it by hand. I couldn’t find very clear instructions on applique. Everything I looked at had a different set of instructions, each one more complicated than the next. So, I’m just going to sew the pieces onto the background cloth as neatly as I can, and not worry about using the right technique. It’ll be a tree, with birds, leaves, and berries, surrounded by piecework.

Starsky Finito

I finished Starsky about a month ago, just in time to wear a few times, before it really became spring. I used Cascade Ecological Wool, which I really recommend. It is soft enough to wear next to the skin, even though I don’t think it’s merino wool. The yarn really stretched when it was blocking, so I was afraid that it stretched too much. But it shrank up again to normal size when it dried. I made the fronts one size bigger than the back, so I would be in between a size 40″ and size 44″, or the next size up. I don’t think I needed to do that though, but it fits really well anyway. I love this pattern.

This project is the one where I learned how to cable without a needle, and I knit it using my left hand. I usually use my right to hold the yarn. I decided to learn with my left as well, so I could do colorwork, holding yarn in both hands. I have yet to do any, but maybe during the fall I will. This summer, I want to do some lace projects, and probably crochet. I like doing lacy crochet projects in the summer. There are a lot of projects in the Summer Interweave Crochet 2008 that I liked.

Winding Down Winter

I’ve finished two of my four winter sweaters. I still have the Tangled Yoke Cardigan and Phyllo Yoked Pullover.  Starsky needs only a belt and Bianca’s Jacket needs buttons. Although now it really is starting to feel like summer here, so I’m wanting to cast on for my summer projects, Wildflower Tee from Knitscene  and something using Knit Picks new Comfy yarn. I got some in Pomegrante, and some of the new Felici sock yarn. I think I like the uneven stripes better, from past Felici yarn. This is the Patina colorway.

I also started some Hedera socks, using an unknown colorway of Cherry Tree Hill Sock yarn. I like the bright springy colors, and wanted to make a lacy spring sock.  I hope the lace pattern shows up on the sock. I think it will because the yarn is light colored. It is more light green than yellow, like it shows here. I probably will just be doing socks. I feel kind of burnt out on sweaters now, and I still want to finish the two I have on the needles before I start any new ones. At least I’m finishing some of my old UFO’s from sometime last year.

Spring Goals

I’m close to finishing two sweaters that I’ve been working on since last fall. Bianca’s Jacket, from Interweave Knits Fall 2006, and Starsky, from Knitty. I did both of them with my left hand, since I’m trying to knit mainly with my left hand. Supposedly, it’s faster, and I did notice that it’s faster when you knit ribbing. This year, I was going to knit only from stash, except I’ve already broken that rule. The big Knit picks clearance sale got me. But from here on out, I am going to just finish the projects I’ve already started. So, that will be like knitting from stash. Like so many others, I have a bad habit of abandoning a project and starting new one(s), when it seems like it will be a while before I finish. Like working on the sleeves of Starsky (or any sweater, really). They just seem to go on forever. But I have at least 10 unfinished projects, that might even take me until fall to finish.

This is Roza’s Sock, again from Interweave Knits. I started it last September or October. I don’t really like the pattern, but I do think it works well with the colors of the yarn. It’s Knit Picks Bare, dyed by Kool Aid.