wip.fo monday

(color is accurate in top photo)

remember last week when i showed that little cuff and said it was a wip turned rip?  well, not only did i cast on again in another yarn (the left over malabrigo arroyo from the pleats & arrows tunic), i even finished the pair in record time.  i want to say it took me two and a half days??? (!) crazy.  the pattern floated out of my head so if you were hoping for a link… so sorry.  but wait!  there’s hope!  i was thinking of posting the pattern as the recipe of the month on wednesday.  and there you have it.

this is fledge.  it was one of my ravelry links but a finished object none the less. again, a record time knit partly because i just love that madeline tosh prairie and partly because this is the sweetest, easiest, tiniest shawlette ever.  i love it & i’m already thinking about making another.

holy llama!

my first go at spinning llama this week.  this is no fo though.  this yarn is a work in progress, so stay tuned for the llama knitty gritty.

i also casted on another pair of socks last night, but the quarter inch of ribbing wasn’t exactly worth documenting here.  plus, i may end up ripping them out and using that yarn for another fledge.  it’s funny how i’ll be on such a roll and everything i’m working on seems so very perfect and then, SLAM!  i hit the wall.  that’s what happened last night.  i was working on swatches with the llama and they were all just sort of - eh.  so i thought, ‘i’m tired, and this is for a special recipient so… maybe i’m just overwhelmed.  take a break from this.’ i picked up the sock that i had been working on earlier in the day and ripped it all out, then decided on another pattern.  it’s still not doing it for me though - somehow - a quarter inch in.  blah.

i’m waiting on some yarn to arrive and then i’ll be casting on for a shawl i’ve been saving my pennies for.  maybe that’s it.  nothing can replace the project i really want to knit!

with that i bid you all adieu.  have a great monday & i’ll see you wednesday with the recipe of the month!

my self-loathing is showing

well, not entirely.  but i’ll get to that in a moment.

alright.  for wip.fo monday i began and finished this little sweater this past week.

i posted it in my ravelry link list a while back and it’s been on my mind ever since.  the pattern can be found here  and my edits/notes can be found here .

i really enjoyed making this little sweater though i didn’t follow the pattern very well!  ha!  it ended up perfectly sweet despite me.  the yarn i used was malabrigo worsted that mare had tossed into my lap after her own sweater disaster.  she felt like the yarn was cursed.  curse lifted, lady. xo

and for my self-loathing:

i don’t know what it is in my brain that suddenly decides socks are a great idea.  i’m NOT a sock knitter!  lord!  how many of you have seen or heard or read me bitch and curse and writhe in agony?  yes, one is too many.  so why do i keep putting myself through it?  i don’t know.  baby socks are fantastically delightful and do-able and dare i say, even enjoyable?  maybe that’s it.  i make some baby socks and think the big ones can’t be that terrible.  or maybe because that blasted yarn harlot always makes it looks so delicious.  or maybe it’s because the patterns are eye candy, or the yarn used for them more likely.  or maybe i’m just a masochist.  that must be it.  

so, now that i’ve gotten that out of the way… the details.

………………………………………………………………….

this is the pattern - which i really enjoyed.  well written, options, no fuss.

believe it or not, this was my first picot edging which was a little exhausting (because of the tiny needles flexing and bowing) but now that i’ve bitten the bullet as they say i’m very pleased with the result.  i can see how this particular edge can be used in a slew of other ways, too.

and honestly, i worked this sock start to finish in 3 days which is perhaps a record for me at that gauge.  i only felt crazy maybe three times and i’m actually eager to start the second one.  the surprise was that as i was knitting along (mostly) happily i realized the yarn was not really the best choice.  it’s madeline tosh prairie and although it’s the correct gauge and absolutely scrumptious, it does not have much spring.  i did the math and saw that i had laid down thousands of stitches and ripping was inconceivable.  i pressed forward into the unknown and…. as i had feared, it didn’t have enough stretch to even come close to fitting me.  WAHHHH!  but.  there are feet far smaller than mine pattering around here and i was gonna find some to fit.

a seasoned sock knitter would have known before casting on but as i’ve mentioned, i’m not that person.  live and learn.  the very first pair of socks i made were anklets and they didn’t fit either so they became alizah’s.  these fit mae as if i had patterned them after her specifications and so i guess what is meant to be will be.  perhaps by next monday i’ll have them finished and have pictures to share of the cutest little toes i know modeling them.

xo