Chicago Illusion – This Tangled Skein

DNF

February 25, 2010

5:00 pm

Comments Off on DNF

Chicago Illusion, Knitting Olympics, Life of the Knitter, MrGreenjeans, Ravelympics, Unfinished Objects

I will not make it to the podium for the Knitting Olympics or the Ravelympics, unless I decide to call the homework swatches I knit up a Ravelympic project.

Mr. Greenjeans is still the same place it was when last mentioned – a couple of repeats into the cable/rib portion of the body.

The Chicago Illusion Blankie (an entry in the WIP category) got one pattern row done (four rows of knitting).

And the Yarnissima sock intended as both an entry in the sock category and the February Sockdown! for Sock Knitters Anonymous never made it to cast on.

Oh, and the hat? About 10 rounds in. Maybe 11.

I leave early tomorrow morning for Stitches West. Mr. Greenjeans is coming with me, but the odds of me finishing it are, well, zero. (In case you were wondering, I did find my hedgehog pencil case and packed it up as part of my “basics” kit.)

So, it’s a big Did Not Finish for me in all my Ravelympic events. Is it too early to start prepping for 2012?

Ready, Set, Wait

by beth

June 15, 2009

10:07 am

1 Comment on Ready, Set, Wait

Yarn

Baby, Beaded Knitting, Blankets, Chicago Illusion, Entomology, Illusion Knitting, In Progress, Knitting, Knitty, Mishaps, Miss Honeychurch, Shawls, WIP, Wollmeise

I’m all set to get started on Miss Honeychurch (which I keep calling Miss Honeydew – perhaps I need more fruit in my diet), except for one thing.

My yarn is somewhere between Ohio and California. My copy of A Room with a View is also somewhere between a shipping center and my house, but I expect it to arrive today. (A year of Amazon Prime is one of the best holiday gifts I’ve gotten. It is, indeed, the gift that keeps on giving.)

But I have my pattern and a short circular needle for swatching. My plan is to read the book and knit the sweater over the course of July and August. The sweater should will be done by Labor Day, which is still quite warm in this part of the country.

It’s not like I don’t have anything to knit in the meantime. The Chicago Illusion Blankie is coming along slowly:

Each charted row is actually four rows of knitting (two in each color). It’s going a little quicker now that I’ve marked every 10 columns on the chart for easier counting. And it only took ripping out two rows to get me to do it!

And my beloved blue skein of Wollmeise informed me that it didn’t really want to be socks (after I started a cabled sock not once but twice!). It wants to be the Entomology shawl. How could I argue?

250 beads down, 955 to go.

Hey, Look, Knitting!

by beth

June 12, 2009

10:11 am

1 Comment on Hey, Look, Knitting!

Yarn

Alphabet Blanket, Baby, Baby Knitting, Bibs, Blankets, Chicago Illusion, Debbie Bliss, Finished, In Progress, Knit Picks, Knitting, Sanguine Gryphon, Test Knitting, WIP

In my long blog silence, there has been knitting. Last night, I finished off a blankie for Little Miss.

Specs:
Pattern: Alphabet Blanket
Designer: Debbie Bliss
Source: The Baby Knits Book, courtesy of my library system
Yarn: Patons Grace, hot pink, 9 skeins
Needles: Addi Turbo Lace, sizes US 2 & 3
Comments: Bliss suggests her own (now discontinued) Wool/Cotton Blend for this pattern. I had this Patons Grace (originally intended for a pair of matching Reid sweaters for my niece and Little Miss) in my stash. Of course, using mercerized cotton for a lace blanket was not the best idea I ever had, but I think it turned out rather pretty, and I’m sure the various joints in my hands will stop aching really soon. I used Russian joins throughout, which are a little bit bulky in the DK weight cotton, but not noticeable unless you’re really looking for them. And since the Patons Grace had at least one knot in almost every skein, I did a LOT of joining.

I really need to make a second blocking board. I had to block the blanket folded in half.

I left it overnight and took it off this morning, spreading it over our coffee table, still slightly damp.

To celebrate completing the blanket, I cast on a new blankie, this time an illusion-knit one in Sanguine Gryphon Traveller. I’ve never done illusion knitting before.

Speaking of new-to-me techniques and finished objects, my most recent contribution to Knit Picks was in the May catalog.

The Fruity Bibs were my first go at intarsia in cotton. The Knit Picks Comfy, by the way, is incredibly soft. Just lovely, lovely stuff. The buttons are sweet little shell buttons I bought at Unwind, my fantastic LYS.

And speaking of Knit Picks, I ordered a batch of CotLin for Miss Honeychurch, about which I’ll have more to say on Monday.