Thursday, January 11, 2007

Lace!

I got the socks finished and washed, and they were almost dry when I gave them to her. Forgot that wool takes a long time to dry, apparently, cause I haven't used it much before now. She loves them, although they're a touch big. She's gonna try throwing em in the washer and dryer to shrink em a bit. I hope it works. I must have had my gauge off a quarter stitch or so.

But, to cheer myself up, I picked up the pattern for the Peacock Feathers shawl today right after work, and started it at SCA fight practice tonight!! I'm so excited to be starting my very first lace project. I've never done YOs or read charts before, so that's been quite interesting.

My biggest problem will be to remember not to expect much in the way of looks until it's blocked. I know it'll look like crap til then, but my brain keeps expecting to see something.

I'm at row 15 so far, and hope to get to 29 or so tonight, or halfway up Chart 1. I'm off work tomorrow, so I should get lots done over the weekend.

I also am doing Fetching in Bernat Satin, and found out you can get 3 gloves from 1 ball, so I'll buy another ball of blue tomorrow, probably, so I can finish this pair and have enough for a future pair. Maybe a Mother's Day gift?

The sock in the Kingsfoil is still only at row 5 of the ribbing. I'm not sure if it's large enough for my foot; I'm doing 84 stitches on 2mm needles. I was aiming for the larger size of Jaywalker, but I think now that I see how short the color switches are, I'm going to do yet another plain stockinette sock, but maybe with some simple lace or eyelets, now that I know how to make those :D

I also bought some Opal handpainted (color 21) at the LYS; it's on half price, and there were 5 or so skeins, but I just bought one, as my budget's tight this month because of not working for a whole week so far. But this shawl will keep my interest for some time, I know, so I will try my best not to buy anything else til March.

Well, off to the laces! :P

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

I'm obviously not too good at keeping this updated, eh?

I'm making kneehigh piggy-toe socks for my friend's birthday. I started them once I got her measurements on Xmas eve, and am about halfway down the gussets of the second sock. I got a lot of knitting done today. I stopped the first sock a little short of the toe section, as I want to make sure I get the toes the same, as I've never done separate toes before.

I'm knitting these in Kroy Socks - Paint Box on 2.5 and 2.25 mm needles. I'm hoping to get to the same spot as the first sock tonight, then work on the toes tomorrow. I hope to hand these to her Thursday night, as I'm unable to make her party this weekend. Her birthday's the 12th.

After that, I got a few projects lined up. I got my Dicentra yarn in Kingsfoil from Crown Mountain Farms last Friday, and bought a set of 5 Pony 2 mm needles today, and am on the second row of ribbing to try grumperina's Jaywalkers. I'm trying for the larger size, given the smaller needles. I'm not sure if this yarn will work in that pattern, but I'll frog it if necessary.

I also bought yarn today for the Peacock Feathers shawl, which will be my first foray into lace. Might as well jump in deep. I bought 2 balls of Zephyr in Basil; after I got back home, I realized there was a color called Peacock, but I don't think the store had it, as there was only a smallish basket of the Zephyr. I must see if she'll order in some for me.

The store is Tangled Skeins in Dartmouth, and I've only been going there the last 3 weeks or so, but I hope to build a rapport there with the 'regulars' as it were. I'm on the shy side, but I'd really like to become part of the knitting community around here.

Well, back to these gussets. I hope to get pictures of the finished socks Thursday evening when I present them.

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

98.54 miles to go...

Well, I signed up for the 100 Miles by April 1 challenge, which I needed as a kick in the rear, as I've been neglecting my walking for the last 3 months or so. I went for my first walk today, and one of my regular routes is 1.46 miles, so that's what I did today to warm up. After a week or two, depending on weather, I hope to get up to the 1.8-ish mile route. I figure if I walk every weekday, I can take weekends off and still make the goal.

Edit: Just checked, and it's 105 miles to get to Pictou, Nova Scotia, so I'm going to try for 105 miles by April 1, then hopefully keep adding from there, see how far I can walk this year :D