Multidirectional Diagonal Scarf - finished (last month...)

I figure I have enough things to post about to try to do at least 3 posts this week, so I'll continue to clear up the blogging of my recent knitting.

I blogged here about (among other things) the Noro Silk Garden Multidirectional Diagonal Scarf I was making for a charity auction at work. Well I finished it on time, have pictures, and and proud to say that it made more money than the yarn cost, which has to be at least the minimum goal. Not too much more, mind you - big moneywinners in that auction seem to be apple picking with G***** M****, a former CEO and major name in the field (how many people have a "law" named after them?); as well as the ubiquitous "front row parking spot for a year" which seems to go for several hundred dollars at many campuses but isn't offered at mine (we're too practical at my campus...)

Anyway... here are a couple of pictures!

Note the lovely afghan on which this is modeling... a Mom special of course (the largest thing I've knit so far would be my felted bag...)


As for the picture.. ignore the odd fuzziness of the model, aka me... it was raining out and hard to get the lighting conditions right. I ended up tweaking the contrast a bit to make the scarf colors look more true-to-life, which ended up making me look a bit paler-than-life

All in all - a fairly quick, easy knit, definitely recommended if you have a self-striping or variegated yarn with fairly long color changes. The Silk Garden did end up coming out softer in the wash, though the mohair still had a bit of itch to it. And all the hay washed out :)

FOs: Early Christmas hat, baby booties

I've been somewhat delinquent in posting my knitting here recently... some of this is from sheer busyness, some from the problem that KT refers to here, and some because I'm kind of knitting serially at this point and only have one thing at a time that I'm working on.

But I have utilized a unique method to get around the second problem - knit a Christmas gift and then send it early! Since he's received it, here's Andy modeling Carl's Early Christmas hat:


(yes, it came out a little big for Andy, but Mom assures me that Carl has a large head :). Carl, if you're reading this, you can always flip the bottom up for a brim!

Pattern: "Sideways Hat" from Not Just Socks by Sandi Rosner.
Modification: Using a stranded pattern (from Crusoe socks on Knitty) instead of straight stockinette for the body of the hat. Idea stolen from here
Yarn: Knitpicks Memories, "Redwood Forest", now discontinued. I still have one skein left.
Needles: US 2 but really 3.00mm and not the 2.75 that is generally assumed for US 2. Dang metric / US confusion

Notes: A hat with fingering weight yarn on size 2 needles takes a while, but I really enjoyed the stranded pattern and the way the color changes occurred. The yarn is not so much self striping as continually variegated. And I could tell if my gauge changed - I started knitting more tightly in the section to the right in this picture, and suddenly the colors weren't moving diagonally anymore. So I loosened up, and it returned to the nice diagonal movement.

This is the mystery project pictured here and here :)

I sent it early, in hopes that it would be useful for cool fall days and nights on the east coast. He tells me it's warm!

One more quick FO picture, and then it's about bedtime (which for me is normal time tonight, unlike for my East Coast family and friends Red Sox fans, who stayed up past midnight watching them win the World Series!). These are baby booties for a work friend's twins - but I took quite a while to knit/finish them, and I'm a little afraid they won't fit any more. and for obvious reasons, they can't be re-gifted to anyone else!

Pattern: "Easy Toe Up Baby Socks" from The Magic Loop booklet by Bev Galeskas.
Modification: Rather amateurish colorwork to add in their initials. Striping on the cuffs.
Needles: US 3 (I think...), 32" circular.
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino.
Notes: Took me far too long. Of course, I took a break to knit the diagonal triangle scarf (which I need to blog! It's finished and done and sold for charity!). Hopefully still will fit the twins - I think at least the girl's will; I did hers second and worked a bit more loosely. They're only 14 weeks, but apparently growing fast! I need to just give them to my work friend ASAP, but he works in a different building and I keep forgetting...

I enjoyed the toe-up method (the magic cast on from the booklet is great - you use it and don't have to do any dividing or grafting for the toe), but got gusset holes in the short row heels on all 4 socks, despite knitting my wraps and everything. Next sock I think I'll try a different toe-up heel technique. Anyone have one they love?

Fall into Autumn Dishcloth Swap - with pictures!

OK, well, it wasn't really "tomorrow", but I did dig up batteries for the camera and take pics of my swap goodies! I needed to, since I wanted to start using the towels, dishcloths, and vanilla lotion!

In fact, this morning we did some volunteering at our local middle school with the local volunteer group SOLV. We do this twice a year (at different parks and schools in the area), and are never sure quite what to expect. In the past we've planted trees and flowers, spread mulch (barkdust as they call it here), helped put together a walkway at a school, and pulled tires out of a local wetlands. Today we cleared a ton of wet, soggy leaves out of the courtyard of the school (amusingly, the courtyard isn't covered by their grounds contract since it is technically in the school!), trimmed the bushes and trees in there, and pulled blackberries from the corner of the grounds.

In short, it was cold, wet, very tiring, and rewarding. Even Andy admitted it was "a little fun", even though he'd had to be cajoled over when we woke up and it was pretty much pouring. So... when we got home, I immediately headed for the shower and used the lovely vanilla shower gel from the swap. It smelled so good! Thanks again, Cynthia! Hopefully you are having a wonderful time on vacation!

And... I got my swappee's gift mailed out today. And in the process of visiting for the first time a post-office-inside-new-mini-mart down the street, I discovered a great-looking independent coffeehouse. They've been there for 6 months and I had never noticed them! I forsee some visits in our future - with free wireless, board games, and comfy couches, they're comfier than our neighborhood Star$$, even thought they're not quite walkable.

Phew! Not a ton of knitting content, sorry. I'll post more once present packages arrive! Oh, well, if you insist - here's a sneak peak at a corner of the dishcloth I made for my swappee. It's taking its first bath in the hotel sink in Phoenix last week :)
(hmm, blogger's image upload is not working. Well, here's a linky instead.)

Edited because I forgot to add - it's the beginning of game six - go Red Sox!

Fall into Autumn goodies!

My F into A dishcloth swap package arrived today! I swear I'll post pictures tomorrow (tonight I have been busy getting my swappee's stuff ready to send - and I need to dig up fresh batteries for the camera that eats them), but I just wanted to send a quick "thank you so much!" to Cynthia! 2 adorable dishcloths and several patterns, a great variety of kitchen towels to replace our ratty old ones, yummy smelling vanilla body butter and shower gel, yummy tasting halloween chocolates (from a gourmet tennessee candy store!), and of course yarn! I love the sugar'n'cream colors - the blues in them will go extremely well in our guest bath.

Thanks so much! Pictures tomorrow, I swear :D

Cactus Pr0n

I wanted to just post a few (heh!) pictures of my week in Phoenix. The work I was doing was really sporadic, requiring me to BE THERE NOW! but only occasionally - most of it was waiting for the times I had to BE THERE (which oddly almost always ended up at 3AM). I know this is very vague, but it's really not all that interesting; it was just annoying and a bit amusing. So I did manage to do some desert hiking / geocaching in South Mountain Park on one day, and to visit the awesome Desert Botanical Garden on another. Thus, I have many pictures of cacti to present. I also visited a very nice LYS (not much of a website, though) where I picked up yarn for hats for Andy and myself (baby alpaca for me; non-wools for him), and sat and knit a spell with the locals.

But anyway. I want to show off these cacti! So, so different than the vegetation in rainy Portland!

These are growing wild in South Mountain Park, encountered while geocaching. I was very grateful that the AZ analog to a parallel pile of sticks is an artfully arranged pile of rocks, and not a spiky pile of cacti!


(self-portait in the desert with camera balanced on a rock)


From the Botanical Garden (which conveniently has a take-your-own-picture stand):


(there was also a butterfly exhibit in a nice humid tent-type thing)




I should note - not only does the camera lens have spots, it is now deciding that perfectly good batteries are drained after a very short time (and when we put them in another device, they are still "full"). So we are probably in the market for a new camera - any suggestions, either raves or cameras to avoid, are welcomed!

Still here, too

I just got back from work travelling (during which I did manage to knit - and visit 2 yarn stores) followed by pleasure travelling (induced by work travelling having taken longer than expected and the proximity of the Grand Canyon to Phoenix, site of work travelling), and wanted to just pop up a quick note similar to KT's. Still here. I don't feel like butt (I'm sorry, KT, and hope you feel better soon...), but I'm sure I will tomorrow. Andy being a huge Patriots fan, he TiVo'd the Pats v Dallas game today to watch when we got back - at 11PM! So it's 1AM and we're watching football, with work looming tomorrow morning. Only 4:10 left though, and to be fair I could have gone to bed much earlier - but I had to get my email cleaned up anyway.

Knitting accomplished recently: finished charity diagonal scarf; finished dishcloth for exchange (I need to pack that package up ASAP); half done with unspecified Christmas project. Also found 3 geocaches in the desert in Phoenix!

Apologies for the run-on-sentences; that's what happens to my brain when I'm tired :)

Flock and Fiber!

Well, after a rather icky day Saturday (broke my laptop; things fell apart at work and I had to go in twice; many pages during the day and overnight), Sunday was rather better. I made good progress on my diagonal silk garden scarf (almost half done!) - though in fairness, I had brought it in to work when I went in the second time Satruday and did a few rows during some dead time (at my desk! Yarn not allowed in the fab!). Here it is modeling in far and near view. I am loving the colors - from pastel to intense, this yarn has it all, mostly in blues and purples with some greens and golds thrown in. It also has really uneven plying, bits of hay and thread, and some knots for joins. All of which I had read in others' blogs... but I think it will be worth it in the end.

Sunday afternoon I dragged Andy not-too-unwillingly to the Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival, which was about 25 miles away in the rural area outlying Portland to the south. It was really nice - kind of a cross between a huge yarn and roving bazaar and a county fair. I got to pet a camel! We said hello to many llamas, alpacas, goats, and sheep. We saw lots of spinning, and I fondled lots of yarn and petted lots of roving, and did some stash-increasing. Almost everything has a purpose, either a project in mind or as a gift, so I don't feel so bad. I am not sure what to do with the 100 yards of bamboo that was on sale for $4, though! (I thought about a preemie hat for the 20 hats project, but it's not machine-dryable :( ).


Here are a few quick pics and yarn pr0n for my loyal readers...


Hello, llama!


Mother-daughter alpacas. Nice haircut, mom!

The real reason goats have horns (maybe he's allergic to wool? heh, heh, heh)




Pair of antique spinning wheels for sale. From Germany and Maine!





Amazing colors of roving - I think that's what it called, anyway the really soft fluffy stuff that isn't quite yarn yet. This was just one of many, many vendors, but I didn't take any other vendor pics - I was too busy inspecting the goods!


Prize-winning hand-spun skeins. It was fun to read some of the judges' comments, especially comparing the "novice" and "expert" categories.


Career opportunity?







And finally... stash enhancement /yarn pr0n :)
















Some good sturdy Idaho wool in significant colors, Socks that Rock (Oregon local, of course!), some nature cotton that was only $4/skein (I'm thinking dishcloths), and the aforementioned Madil Eden bamboo. And yep, that's some Oregon coast handmade soap for my swap pal. The nice older lady who makes the soap was a bit bemused by the idea of strangers on the internet sending each other dishcloths and soap, but she was happy to give me tips on what my partner might like.

That's all for now - I still need to blog Japan and SF, argh! Too much to do! But now I'm going to finish watching Monday night football and work on the silk scarf :)