If you grow up in New York, you must...

Jaywalk that is. So yes, how can I resist not joining this KAL and knit up Grumperina's fabulous Jaywalker pattern. There's a reason that this pattern speaks to the knitting masses. It is a golden ticket to not walk at the crosswalk. Perfect yarn for this pattern is the Lorna's Laces in Miata that I received from Margot! Too bad I missed out on the Bloomin' Feet because this would have been the pair that I would have chosen to knit.

Adventures in Fair Isle Knitting

So a couple of weeks ago...namely at the beginning of the year, I decided that I needed to expand my knitting horizons and learn a new technique...fair isle or stranded knitting. The match was struck when I saw Jess' fab Norwegian stockings and blog jumped to discover the Norwegian KAL. It was going to be quite sometime until by Folk Socks book came in and I was able to travel to my LYS to pick out yarn for the stockings...SO MJ plugged me into Bea Ellis and her fabulous kits. I ordered the Traditional Norwegian Hat and it arrived lickety split! Then of course was the simultaneous quest for the yarn guide, which proved crucial to the success of this project.
I was so eager to start and finish the hat for my nephew's birthday that I ended up starting and frogging this project twice before the third time was the charm. First, I miscounted and cast on too many...FROG #1. Then I twisted the join and somehow in my own little fog world didn't realize it until I was about to start the chart...FROG #2.
But thankfully, all the planets were in alignment and I was able to go on my merry way.
I started the hat for the third and final time on January 14, 2006 and finished on January 21, 2006. The kit came complete with the yarn for the lining...in a navy and then E and I chose from Bea's website the Dale Heilo colors for contrast #6031 and then main was #5774, which we matched up to my nephew's winter coat. The yarn guide made my life SOOOOO easy! No frustration whatsoever in stranding...although I didn't relax enough for the long strands and the hat did pucker a bit before blocking.
Speaking of blocking...thanks Amanda for your hints as afterall this was only my second trip down the blocking land.
I soaked for 10 minutes with a 1/3 cap of Woolite, rinsed, and placed on a towel on the floor, folded said towel over, stepped around a bit, and then placed on a medicine ball to shape and block.
Hopefully my sister will take some pics of my nephew modeling his new hat so all of the shots will not be next to lifeless objects.
So next up will be the stranded fun of the Finnish Socks from Folk Socks, flipping the predominate main to red and the contrast to off white in Dale Baby Ull. Wish me luck!

A Flickr badge has the evolution of this project captured underneath the profile and now for a static pic of the finished hat!

Finished Sock Gallerie!

I so loved working with the Fleece Artist yarn that was gifted to me during SP6 from Killer Peach that I booked through knitting the socks for the Red Hot Sizzling Socks KAL hosted by Becky.





Pattern: Slipped Stitch Rib from Sensational Kniited Socks by Charlene Schurch

Yarn: Fleece Artist Merino (Ruby Red, I think, it actually didn't say of the tag)

Yarn Source: SP#6 Killer Peach

Needles: Lantern Moon Ebony #3 double-pointed (on 4)

Receipient: Yours truly

Sock #1 start: January 25, 2006
Sock #1 finish: January 28, 2006
Sock #2 start: January 29, 2006
Sock #2 finish: January 29, 2006

Notes: This was a quick and fun pattern...easy to memorize and I said earlier Fleece Artist is wonderful fiber to work with (I still have some leftover...and yes it is still in a blob!)

***********************************************************************************
In reverse chronological order, here is completed sock pair #2:




Pattern: Baby Cable Rib from Sensational Knitted Socks again

Yarn: Trekking XXL #100

Yarn Source: The Knitter.com

Needles: Brittany #2 double-pointed (on 5)

Receipient: Hubby for a belated birthday gift

Sock #1 start: December 10, 2005
Sock #1 finish: December 20, 2005
Sock #2 start: December 20, 2005
Sock #2 finish: January 22, 2006

Notes: Another fun pattern that was easy. I loved watching the colors develop with this knit. Everytime I brought it to my LYS, everyone oohed and ahhed and now there are a lot more cheerleaders egging on the owner to stock Trekking.

************************************************************************************

And last but not least, the Harry Potter socks that I have already mentioned:





Pattern: My own, simple 2x2 rib and then stockinette with the self-stripes removed for the heel a la Alison.

Yarn and Yarn Source: Sunshine Yarns- 100% merino in Gryffindor

Needles: Brittany #2 double-pointed (on 5)

Recipient: Son for his 10th birthday

Sock #1 start: December 20, 2005
Sock #1 finish: December 31, 2005
Sock #2 start: December 31, 2005
Sock #2 finish: January 3, 2006


Socks are still on the horizon as a pair will be part of my participation in the Yarn Harlot's 2006 Knitting Olympics and then there's sockapalooza!

Since I was tagged...

Becky tagged me with the request to share my favorite pair of store-bought socks. It was very close race between a pair of running socks and a number of pairs of hiking socks. Hiking won...with a pair from REI mostly because it was my first time in one of their stores...outside of Atlanta. Wow! I love wearing these socks around the house mainly because even though we live in Florida the thermostat is controlled by my Colorado-missing hubby and my feet are always cold. The heel is very padded too!





And of course, I also joined Becky's Red Hot Sock KAL. It was a tough choice again...I originally thought it would be my secret pal Lorna's Lace in Miata from Margot but there was too much pink and purple in the colourway. I finally arrived at another secret pal gift from Killer Peach of Fleece Artist. I want to cast on except the skein had a big run in with both child and dog...hence the tangled web!





Stay tuned for a new show...Adventures in Fair Isle Knitting (and Blocking)!

If at first you don't succeed...

I was bound and determined to find a yarn guide to make my life easier when I started my journey into Fair Isle...especially as a Continental devotee. I knew that the Clover yarn guide was available at JoAnn's online but lo and behold my local JoAnn's didn't have it in stock. So then I called all my LYSs...nope. Then venturing across the bay into another county...called two LYS. No dice! Keep in mind that my Bea Ellis Traditional Hat kit arrived on Thursday and I was itching to get started...hat is for my nephew's birthday at the end of the month. Called 2 more JoAnn's and then tried my last hope...Stitchworm in St. Pete (which is combo needlepoint and knitting store). Didn't think it was worth it but EURECKA!!!!They had the yarn guide!!!! And so the hat is cast on and about halfway to goal with knitting up the lining!

Thin on the Holiday Gifts

But it's not what you think...it wasn't from procrastination or startitis or the mounting pile of UFOs. It was from knowing my limits and my tendencies toward 2 out of 3 of the above (okay really 3 out of 3). So I stuck to the plan of knitting a realistic goal of two holiday gifts.
I actually knit my hubby's Hanukkah gift very early...I was done with his reverse rib scarf (really the Children's rainbow scarf from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts) in manly Noro Kureyon colors in early October.
Then I loved my felted purse so much that I went with a modified pattern of the Booga Bag for my friend Jill for Xmas. Her version is with 3 different shades and skeins of Cascade and then some novelty Lion Brand yarn I de-stashed (when I didn't know any better). I was done 3 weeks out!

Jill's Xmas '05 felted purse

And it's a Harry Potter Birthday!

Gift-wrapped Gryffindor socks

And next in the chain of events...

Opening up Harry Potter Gryffindor Socks

And then the modeling of the socks made with Dani's fabulous Sunshine Yarns!

Modeling socks made w/ Sunshine

And away Harry goes on his broom with his accompanying Gryffindor scarf!

Harry Potter on his broom

E's birthday was great and he thoroughly enjoyed his gifted socks...and finally a post with the scarf that took blood, sweat and tears to complete. Have to thank Stephanie for the inspiring idea to wrap the socks with a special and personalized label!

Thy Covet...

I have been in a covetous relationship with Colinette's Absolutely Fabulous Throw for quite sometime and now even more so since Caroline...the owner of my LYS, Knit n Knibble finished hers.

  

Caroline encased in her fab throw!





And now this afternoon in my visit to Amanda's blog I came upon another item to covet...Crossing in Translation.

NOTE TO SELF:
I must control the urge to purchase at YesAsia and add to my yarn stash again!

Ravings!

Ravings in a good way...some off knitting discussion. Starting off with the fact that I love NPR...I always discover some incredible new music when I listen to All Things Considered. So I want to rave about two new discoveries...the Heartless Bastards (very gritty and classic rock style) and Imogen Heap (if you like Sarah McLachlan you will thoroughly enjoy Imogen). And of course, I have girlie girl stuff to share. I had used the Obagi skincare line (lots of blingin' leavin' with keeping up with this regimen) to help with my splotchy pigmented areas (of course it all blossomed when I was pregnant many moons ago)...so I was looking for an alternate and discovered DHC. It is a skincare line out of Japan and it is superb...good prices and they send you free samples with every order (you can even pick them).

Noro scarf and felted bag

Noro scarf and felted bag

Playing around with flickr as I have been having problems posting with Hello and Picasa.

Top 5 for 2005

1. New Technique: Where do I begin...I re-discovered knitting. Taught myself to knit my first sock and since made 3 pairs with lots of others in progress (all toe down and even one with short row heel). I felted my first and second bag...which was quick fun in fact! And toward the end of 2005, I learned entrelac. I also learned lace knitting and how to block thanks to the excellent instructions by Stephanie.

2. Favorite Finished Object: My Flower Basket Shawl. My first lace shawl experience and I couldn't have done it without the instructions and encouragement of Amanda and Becky.

3. Favorite Knit Along: Toss up between FBS Redux and sockapoolza 2!

4. Favorite Shop: Well of course my LYS...KnitnKnibble. I love going there to hang out and knit with other like-minded ladies (and a couple of men). It is such a bonding experience. I also discovered quite a number of great online stores when I can't find what I am looking for at KnK. And actually just this past Friday I discovered a LYS that is closer to the house (and Roz carries loads of Noro!) called Fiber Threads.

5. Favorite Tool: I love all of my Brittany needles...it used to be my Denise Interchangeables(ease factor of course) but I love the feel of the birch in my hands (very sensitive with my RA). I also enjoy my sheepie tape measure (sometimes prying it out of the hands of my son). Still hoping and wishing for some rosewood or ebony (put on my wish list at KnK).


Resolutions for 2006

1. Education: As in the earlier post from today I want to learn Fair Isle in addition to the magic loop technique.

2. Better blogger: Need I say more. Plus I want to design a header for the top and also make the whole place a bit snazzier. For goodness sake, afterall I was an art major in college! Should be easier now that we have a wireless router so I can update at freewill except for needing the desktop to crank up file photos.

3. Yarn diet: I will try anyway to de-stash and finish my many UFOs before falling off the wagon and getting back to startitis.

4. Read: I had a challenge with a reading group friend to read at least 60 books in 2005...got to 59 (which was a feat in and of itself with trying to balance knitting and reading and the fact that since I have kept a reading journal for the past 6 years the highest number that I reached in the past was 44). So in 2006, 60 it will be.

5. Clean eating and exercise: Prior to breaking my foot in Fall 2004 I was in excellent condition thanks to tapes from Beachbody...yes the infomercial speaks the truth and I was able to keep my toned look for a year and a half. But I fell out of exercise and haven't been consistent for quite sometime. So the plan is to get back into the shape I was in for my after pic this year.

Anybody else up to share their goals for 2006 and their top 5 for 2005?

Happy 2006!

Started off with yet another resolution to keep things a bit more current around here. So it's new year's cleaning at Knit Happened. Hence, the updated what's on my needles and some updated buttons with KALs. After realizing that the entrelac technique involved in the Lady Eleanor Stowl wasn't as frightening as I had anticipated I decided that the next new technique for the coming year was going to be learning Fair Isle. In my Internet travels I discovered a Norwegian KAL which has invaluable info and a very nice moderator. I was originally going to start with the Norwegian Stockings a la Jess but thanks to seeing the beautiful hats that MJ's made with Bea Ellis kits I decided that first up will be a Traditional Hat for my nephew's birthday. I am a true Continental knitter...pretty fast when I get cooking and I did discover that I can keep the yarns separated and not have to teach this old dog new tricks by using a gizmo called the Clover Yarn Guide (but I do plan to try holding both yarns any way in my left hand but it is my plan B).

Up later this afternoon will be trying to figure out why the links to the last set of pics that I had associated with my 12/6 posts were broken links. Hence for the moment there are no pics anymore with those posts.

And now that I have set the blog to moderate comments I won't have any more spam comments!