Monday, March 12, 2007

Caution ... woman knitting ahead



I have been knitting, knitting, knitting. A friend of mine and I, and her dear husband took a road trip on Friday to Morgantown to the yarn shop . She was in search of a cotton/ wool blend for a cable project. I am going to be teaching her to cable soon. She surprised me by buying me a ball of Tofutsie. I have not knit with this yarn before, and was interested in how it would knit up. I cast on Friday night and this is what I have so far. It is very soft and the finished sock feels really nice. That whole Chitin thing kind of scared me though. It does have a "different" aroma to it but it is not too bad once you get used to it. The label says Chitin is fiber from shrimp and crab shells and is naturally antibacterial. Interesting , huh? Thank you again Henrietta and Smith for a lovely day.
And for the UFO resurrection. I am frogging a sweater I started years ago and have completely ignored. This sweater is from the Classic Elite Book Knitting the Classics. I love the sweater and the pattern, but I lost interest in knitting it ... and I found a mistake in one of the X & O's cables so I was going to have to do some frogging anyway. So off to the frog pond it went and is now going to be this sweater. A Fiona Ellis pattern, I think it is called A Gathering, I don't have the pattern right here, but I am pretty sure that is what it is or very close to that anyway. Hopefully I won't lose interest in this one. I am going to knit it sans I- cord gathering, much to DD1's dismay.
I am making some progress on the baby blanket, even though it feels never ending. I must be making some progress since the yarn is disappearing from the ball. With it being all bunched up on the circulars it is really hard to tell just how big it is, but I would guesstimate about 24" across. It is 400 stitches around , and seems like it takes an eternity to get around. Why, oh why, did I pick a sport weight yarn for this project. I am going to crochet a white shell border around it when it is done. I still am searching for the yarn for the baby dress she wants.





And for no other reason than because I had an empty set of needles, I started another pair of socks last night. Just a pair of plain jane stockinette stitch socks. These will go out into the van for the expected and unexpected waits I may encounter. Trekking 133 pastels. Well, I need to finish a pair of socks I am test knitting so I can get them in the mail. It is sunny and warm and beautiful here in South Central Indiana ... I hope it is where you are too.



Edited on March 12, 3:03 PM to add a lovely picture of some yarn my sweet, sweet, sister sent to me.. Just to brighten my day. Fleece Artist in the Hercules color. No one could possibly have a better sister than I do! Isn't it lovely, I took the ball band off to show all the hidden colors. I will have to wind this ... I do have another set of empty needles.... but what does it want to be???? Thank you Karen!

15 comments:

Karen said...

I like your Tofutsies sock, very nice (pattern please). And the baby blanket is gorgeous, love that pink. That Trekking is one of my favorites. Remember my foot length is 9"!!! Just kidding (not).

Karen said...

I wish I could see your beautiful smile in person! You are quite welcome (it gave me pleasure to do it).

Diane said...

I've heard so much about Tofutsies yarn. It looks like it knits up nice. The trekking socks are lovely and your cabling is impressive.

~Tonia~ said...

I have some of the Tofutsies yarn. I haven't knit with it yet, but want to soon. It seems like it could make some nice summer socks.

The baby blanket is so pretty!!

What a great sister you have. Do you think she would adopt as a sister? I have no siblings and I have missed out on so much there.

Shelley L. MacKenzie said...

Both socks look great! I haven't tried Tofutsies yet either.

Ok, where on the label of your Fleece Artist did you find the name of the colourway? I was looking again last night on my skein, and can't find any name...

hakucho said...

I have a sister named Karen...but she doesn't send me yarn ;)
Lucky you :)

Sorry you had to frog that gorgeous cabled sweater, but the new pattern is beautiful, too.

Happy knitting :)

Anonymous said...

Hmmmm I dont know if I could knit with something that came from a SHRIMP *lol*.. But WOW!!! You have been a knitting crazy.. love the sock...I'm lucky to work on one project lately I've been so busy. The blanket is adorable

Monika said...

So much nice knitting going on here! You have nice friends! I didn't like my Tofutsies, but I think I'll give it another try. I had over 600 sts on my Pinwheel blanket, mad it with mercerized cotton. You have the best SISTER ever! ;o)

Beth said...

Thanks for the Sheep Street link - maybe I need to take a road trip?

Alisha said...

You have so many great things here.

I love the baby blanket and am a sucker for sock progress!!!

Your sister knows how to treat a knitter!!!

Sheila said...

Wow you sure have been knitting. It's too bad about the sweater you are frogging. It looks pretty nice. But sometimes we lose interest in projects. The socks are great.

Angela said...

That Aran pattern is gorgeous, honeycomb, right? The trekking is nice. I always love their yarn:)

Ang

Helen Knits said...

Shrimp and Crab shell, hmmm sounds very different. We don't have that yarn here in Australia. I like to eat shrimp and crab but I am not so sure about knitting with it. The baby blanket and the trekking sock look lovely. Good luck with the Gathering pattern, hopefully you will get to finish it this time.

Beth N said...

It looks like you have been knitting up a storm! Love the baby blanket, sweater and socks--glad it is you knitting 400 stitches and not me. Missed you at chat last night.

kathy b said...

I love your baby blanket. I will not make another for awhile...they do take forever once the size gets up there, but they are darling.

Didn't know the tofutsies has a smell......no thanks then! I bet I would wrinkle up my nose while I knit it.