WIP Wednesday

On April 4, 2018April 4, 2018 By FogKnitsIn Shawl, WIP7 Comments

It’s Wednesday and I have progress! There’s not much of a story here, but that’s kind of a story itself. It’s my favorite kind of knitting, miles of nothing but knit. Perfectly relaxing, stress reducing, stash busting, striped, garter stitch.

AAAAAaaaaaaahhhh. yes. I’m loving the dueling Dotted Rays.

They’re keeping pace with each other pretty well. AND, I’m keeping up with the end weaving. I can’t wait to see how they turn out. At this point, each shawl has grown so large that it’s mostly relegated to a large crumpled pile until it comes off the needles, revealing it’s true beauty. At least that’s the way I’m hoping it goes…

I’ve made a couple questionable decisions in the pink/red/orange/purple stripes. It’s completely possible to balance it out down the line though, so I’m putting faith in the process. I’m not expecting to be unhappy at the end. I’m sure it’ll work out. It always does, after all.

FO Friday – Connect the Dots

On March 23, 2018March 23, 2018 By FogKnitsIn FO Friday, Shawl3 Comments

New hat for the weekend! Nothing fancy, just a plain stockinette beanie with a little stripe. Easy Peasy.

The real story of the week is a bout of Castonitis. With all this finishing lately, I’ve been contemplating new cast ons. I may have gone a bit overboard once I got started.

First, a little Peanut Warmer for the impending nephew. It’s so tiny, size 0-3 months. It’ll be done in no time!

After that, I sorted my stash picking blues, greens and purples for a new Dotted Rays.

Of course, as I sorted all the cool colors out, a pile of warm colors that was just as appealing formed. And so, Dotted Rays #2 joined the cast on party.

Needless to say, this completely obliterates my strict 6 project limit. I’m currently at 10 and I’m not ruling out #11 this weekend.

Whoops.

I am imposing one rule, though. There needs to be, at least, a tiny bit of order.

If I want two scrappy Dotted Rays at once…I have to weave the ends as I go. So far, so good. It makes photos nicer and it actually helps with the knitting too…no extraneous tails to get tangled with the working yarn. Totally practical!

Now let me see what else I can cast on…

Happy Friday!

FO Friday – Dotted Grays

On February 2, 2018February 2, 2018 By FogKnitsIn FO Friday, Shawl10 Comments

2018-02-02_10-38-50_294

My Dotted Grays is done!

This shawl flew off the needles! The pattern is Stephen West’s Dotted Rays, one of my favorites. I think this is my fourth one (and it won’t be the last).

The yarn is from Gauge Dye Works. It’s a self striping yarn that employs ‘shawl striping’ which means the stripes are different lengths rather than a classic stripe where the stripes are all the same length. Check out my recent Hydrogen Shawl to see another example of shawl stripes.

Unfortunately, I thought this was classic stripes when I started knitting, meaning it doesn’t matter which end you start from. Turns out, it was shawl stripes and I essentially knit it ‘backwards’. Whatever, I like it this way, especially because it’s different.

I’m not even upset by the lack of color. I’ve got one more skein from Gauge Dye Works. It’s called Fade to Yellow.

I’m not sure what to do with it just yet. It’s gotta be something I can knit in the dark though. I need a new movie theater project stat! Bill Murray and I are going to see Groundhogs Day this afternoon!! Talk about FriYAY! Woooo!

Blocking Matters

On January 29, 2018January 29, 2018 By FogKnitsIn FO Friday, Shawl11 Comments

While I did knit this weekend, none of my knitting looks any different today than it did last week. The curse of solid color knitting. I did manage to block my Hydrogen shawl though!

And it grew! Yay!

Pre-blocking, with a couple inches to spare on either side of the fence:

Post-blocking, overhanging the fence panel by a couple inches!

It’s a great size now and I went up in needle size so it’s a loose, drapey, lovely fabric.

Also, Rainbow!! I’m looking forward to wearing it a lot.

Now, back to my sweater. Next time you hear from me, I want to have the body bound off!

Work in Progress Wednesday

On January 24, 2018January 24, 2018 By FogKnitsIn Shawl, Sweater, WIP3 Comments

I can definitely say it’s Wednesday. I checked the calendar! Can’t say I’m making much progress on my ‘work’ though. Every time I check, I’m not seeing much.

My striped Woolfolk shawl.

One of the balls is getting smaller, so I must be making progress. I think the next milestone will be running out of yarn prematurely. I’ve been trying to tell myself that it’ll be okay. (it won’t but ignorance is bliss.)

My Dotted Grays, aka a Dotted Rays in a lovely gray gradient.

I’ve crossed the halfway mark with this one. I can tell because the yarn had two gradient repeats. Of course, I’ve gotten to the part where rows are hundreds of stitches. Perfect process knitting. Doesn’t look any different from last week though.

My Noro & Lopi sweater

I must be making progress because I’ve nearly finished my first ‘plate’ of yarn. Holding it next to a finished sweater though, shows me I’ve still got a long way to go.

The long forgotten Rockefeller.

I just have to decrease down to 9 stitches to get this point finished. Maybe I’ll get there before this WIP hits it’s second birthday. Seems like it should be easy. Not sure what the 18 month delay has been about. Of course, the other side remains untouched. I’ve got a hundred stitches to pick up, then decrease down to 9 again. One decrease every 4th row. And suddenly, I remembering what the hold up is.

The good news is…there’s no problems here. I don’t need to figure anything out, I just need to get knitting! Progress…thy name is Wednesday! Ready, Set…GO!

WIP: Dotted Grays

On January 18, 2018 By FogKnitsIn Shawl, WIP3 Comments

My neighbor went to Vogue Knitting Live in NY and all I got was this awesome ‘Resting Knit Face’ tote signed by Stephen West!! I have the best neighbor!

It even matches my latest cast on, a shades of gray Dotted Rays. This is another skein from Gauge Dye Works. The base is an 80/20 merino/nylon blend with high twist in colorway, Fade to Black.

Garter stitch is my go-to when I’m leaving the house, so I’ve made lots of progress on this one. It’s been knit almost entirely on city buses and in dark movie theaters (which makes up for the complete lack of color)!

I have a feeling I’m going to like this one, despite it’s lack of color. There’s a first time for everything, right?

Rainbow Friday

On November 25, 2017November 25, 2017 By FogKnitsIn cross stitch, Shawl, Sweater, WIP3 Comments

Black Friday and it’s rampant consumerism make me crazy. I’m betting most of you reading this agree, or at least understand the value of handmade, so I’ll just limit my rant to that. And so, I celebrated Rainbow Friday…with progress on my Rainbow Shawls!

Even as on-the-go, back-up projects, they’ve made good progress. I appreciate that they’re both currently in green sections! Synchronicity confirms that everything is as it should be.

Then again, maybe I’m talking crazy talk. Bill Murray spent the day being ignored in the corner. I’m at the halfway point. Things seem good. I’m pleased with Bill’s progress so far. This means a knit-tastrophe is just around the corner, yes?

I’m doing my best to avoid that knit-tastrophe though. By starting a new cross stitch.

I was just going to pick out the colors but…well, you know how it goes.

I’m reeeeeeeealllllly going to avoid all these avoidances today though. Time to buckle down and get Bill out of the corner. Better to deal with any potential knit-tastrophe now. I’ve got 13 days and 10 hours until it’s Murray Time!!!