Shelter in Place: Day 37

On April 22, 2020April 22, 2020 By FogKnitsIn Cowl, Hat6 Comments

I left the house today and immediately remembered why I like staying in: the sun. Ugh. There was way too much nice day out there for me. I’m happy to be back inside now, with the shade and my knitting.

I had lots of quality knitting time this weekend. I finished a second Tensfield hat. Still loving this pattern! It’s so inventive! Really unlike anything else. Doing some great stash busting too.

This second version, is Spud & Chloe Sweater. Because, rainbows. Obviously.

After getting my instant gratification fix, I cast on for something that’s going to take a bit longer, a Matchmaker Cowl. Another Martina Behm pattern with a fun twist. I haven’t gotten to the fun twist yet but I’m looking forward to it.

It’s been a nice soothing bit of garter stitch so far. I love the colors and this yarn is another bit of deep stash! It’s MadTosh DK from 2014. The variegated color is ‘Knitting is Dead Sexy’…the exclusive tour color from Stephen & Steven’s 2014 Tour (as in Stephen West & Steven Be). I’d say six years in deep stash is enough. This yarn is happy to see the light of day!

So I continue on this way, knitting flat, for a bit longer. It’s the perfect Zoom knitting with friends…the new knit night. Then the surprise bit to turn this flat piece into something round. Looking ahead at the pattern, I see some binding off and then rejoining to knit flat again. How does she even think of these things? It’s never even occurred to me to knit a circular garment by only knitting flat. I can’t wait to see how it turns out!

Procrastiknitting

On August 29, 2018August 29, 2018 By FogKnitsIn Shawl, WIP15 Comments

The only thing worse than looking for a job, is actually finding a job that fits and going through the interview process. Ask me how I know? UGH! It’s the worst. Had a telephone interview, it was successful enough to get me an on-site interview next week.

And so this week, I shall procrastiknit. Let’s hope all that nonsense about knitting to soothe anxiety is true because positive affirmations and repeated platitudes aren’t helping!

I’m not normally an anxious person but as I get older, the magnitude of these events seems to amplify. I’ve got a fair amount of prep work to do. They expect a presentation of my work and my experience. I’ve done the work. I have the experience. I even have PowerPoint.

The only thing I need to do now: Procrastiknit. It’s all part of the master plan. Step One: a bit of quiet contemplative time to clear my head, focus my thoughts, refine my message. Step Two: Domination. That’s how it works right?

I will say, all this purple helps! I’m loving my purple fade, even as it transitions into the grey section. Sadly, no one at this job will give me bonus points for a kick ass fade.

Yesterday’s procrastiknitting happened at a beautiful garden & historic site out in the ‘burbs. It was a gorgeous, foggy day…my favorite kind.

It’s called Filoli, a name made up by the man who built the place, from the letters of his personal motto…”FIght for a just cause; LOve your fellow man; LIve a good life.”

And live the good life he did. Mr. Bourn made his money in a gold mine. That rug was bought from Queen Victoria’s Isle of Wight house. Fancy Schmancy doesn’t begin to cover it.

Of course, times change and now the property is owned and run by a historic trust, so that tapestry on the left was donated by a local needlepoint group. It’s a lovely likeness of the clocktower.

And, this glass exhibit in the reflecting pool…not a Chihuly but Chihuly inspired, no doubt. And probably for sale. We’ve all gotta pay the bills somehow…

and so with that, I will transition from procrastiblogging to procrastiknitting and maybe even a little bit of PowerPoint later on.

FO Friday – Quickie Blanket

On August 17, 2018August 17, 2018 By FogKnitsIn FO Friday7 Comments

We’ve all been there. Will you knit me a…?

No.

The answer is always NO.

Furthermore, ‘No.’ is a complete sentence.

If you protest, you’re off the list. I used to drop people to the bottom of the list. These days, I’m ruthless. I do what I want. There is no list. There’s no possibility I’m going to knit for you. The answer is just no. I’ve gotten quite good at it. There’s no need for me to explain how long it takes or how expensive yarn is. I just say NO. After all,

No.

is a complete sentence.

So…don’t ask me how this happened. It might’ve been an out of body experience. A fugue state perhaps? All I know is I, for sure, 100% said no to a request of a blanket…ANOTHER blanket, even.

And yet, here it is.

Against all odds, I knit a blanket for someone who asked. Turns out, if you’re knitworthy, you’re knitworthy.

And, at the risk of encouraging copy cat requests, this was super simple. Everything came together in just the right way. Leftover yarn, big needles, no purling, fun stripes. Poof! Instant blanket.

While it is lovely to look at, it’s real beauty comes from it’s simplicity. It’s four mitered squares, each worked from the corner in and then grafted together. I weighed my yarn and divided in it into 4 equal lots, one for each square.

To work each square: CO 2 sts. Set up Row: KFB, place marker, KFB. Row 1: Knit to 1 stitch before marker, KFB, slip marker, knit to last stitch, slip purlwise with yarn in front. Repeat Row 1 until you run out of yarn.

Rather than bind off and then sew a seam, I kept my stitches live until all 4 squares were finished and grafted them together.

Easy Peasy…unless you hate grafting. That’s a topic for another day though. That’s not a Friday conversation!

Happy Weekend! Hope you get some good knitting time in!

WIP Wednesday

On August 15, 2018August 15, 2018 By FogKnitsIn Shawl, WIP4 Comments

Another WIP Wednesday! My Dragon Tail (aka Martina Behm’s Match & Move) is making pretty progress! It’s nothing but purples from here so it’s only going to get better. WOOooooo!

I’ve got a quick project on the needles too…Baby leg warmers.

They’re so cute and tiny. I think I can get small, medium and large pairs from the yarn I’ve got. Once I’ve gotten my instant gratification hit, it’ll be sweater time!

Kids are going back to school. Sweater weather isn’t far behind!

WIP it Wednesday

On August 8, 2018 By FogKnitsIn Casting On, Shawl, WIP9 Comments

Happy WIP Wednesday! That’s so much better than thinking of it as Hump Day, especially when there’s new WIPs involved!

This week I’m all about new travel knitting. Easy stitches and simple patterns are the name of the game. And of course, a bit of stash busting. I just love a pile of half balls.

First up, a quick mitered square baby blanket. It’ll be done before I know it (largely because I don’t have enough yarn, I’m ignoring that though.)

I weighed the yarn I did have and divided it up into four equal portions, one for each mitered square. I’ve got almost 3 squares finished! Gotta love size 7 needles. These squares are practically knitting themselves.

It’s really just a palate cleanser while I pondered my next shawl, which started with a pile of oddballs. At first it’s just throwing yarn in a pile.

Over the course of a few days, it gradually figures out a color scheme.

And then the fine tuning begins. Colors are added and subtracted. More stash is pulled out from the depths. I start to wind up new skeins.

I really love where these colors ended up! I think I’ve found the perfect progression for a fade! It’s a bit of a dragon in my mind. A splash of green for the tail, then fading purple through the body, up into a grey head. I love it!!

Yes, this is going to be fun and it’s garter stitch! Wooo! The pattern is Match & Move from Martina Behm (of Hitchhiker fame). The ultimate result is a triangle, worked sideways. I’m excited to really get this one under way!

WIP Wednesday

On June 20, 2018June 20, 2018 By FogKnitsIn Casting On, Scarf, Sweater11 Comments

After months of threatening, my next sweater is, finally, on the needles! It doesn’t look like much yet but it’s gonna be perfect! I can say this with authority because it’s a nearly identical copy of my last sweater.

The pattern is Vivido by Carol Feller. It’ll be my fourth one. It’s a cardigan with raglan shaping and a shallow v-neck. Nothing fancy, just a sweater that is comfortable and looks good. It’s easy knitting and easy math when doing gauge conversions. I really couldn’t ask for more. Unless maybe someone wants to knit it for me? :)

As for the yarn, I’m keeping the same stripes (Noro Rainbow Roll) but changing the main color (unspun Icelandic Plutolopi) from brown to navy blue. I’m actually expecting it to be significantly different. You never know what’s going to happen with Noro stripes, after all. I can’t wait to see it develop…the ‘stripes make you knit faster’ phenomenon has definitely kicked in! I’m making good progress.

Of course, I am easily distracted and this also fell onto my needles yesterday…

It’s been 3 months since I knit a Hitchhiker. It’s definitely time for another one! This is my 15th Hitchhiker, one of nearly 30,000 on Ravelry. I assume you already know how awesome this pattern is but in case you don’t…it’s awesome. There are literally 29,670 Hitchhiker projects on Ravelry. Imagine the people who don’t maintain Rav Notebook pages?!? There could be 50,000 Hitchhikers in the world! It’s amazing! That’s just how perfect it is.

Here’s the pitch, just in case you need it…

It’s garter stitch, gotta love no purls! The pattern is committed to memory easily. It’s perfect for difficult yarn…that variegated skein you just couldn’t resist but turns into a horrible nightmare every time you attempt to knit with it. The Hitchhiker’s continually growing rows in combination with the garter stitch tame those hard to use yarns. From horrible pooling and clown barf to lovely scarf in no time at all. And, perhaps most important, it’s easy to wear and always looks great.

Be warned though: this is knitter’s crack. You will be hooked. Once is not enough. The addiction is real. ;)

FO Saturday – Baby’s First Blankie

On March 17, 2018March 17, 2018 By FogKnitsIn FO Friday6 Comments

My third and final FO of the week…Baby’s First Blankie! The yarn is Goshen, from Valley Yarns, a cotton/tencel/silk blend, perfect for a summer baby.

I didn’t follow a pattern, just knit some stockinette stripes and threw on a garter stitch border. It went according to plan until…

…I read the yarn label. They’ve labeled this yarn as hand wash. PSHAW! These kinds of things make me a little crazy. I can imagine how they rationalize that choice but c’mon let’s attempt to live in reality. It’s a cotton baby blanket?!?! I just threw it in wash. Blankets need to be washable. I did, at least, put it in a garment bag.

I’ll let you know how it goes. In the meantime, I’m ~~playing Barbies,~~ shopping the stash for a selection of neutrals. I’m thinking Black Panther Wrap…

FO Friday – Dotted Grays

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

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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!

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?

WestKnits Fade Along

On July 12, 2017July 12, 2017 By FogKnitsIn Casting On, Shawl4 Comments

Stephen West’s latest knitalong is Fade themed. It’s not a mystery knitalong. It’s a pick any WestKnit design and fade it. Although, with so many choices, it is still a bit of a mystery what I’m going to do.

I pulled a bunch of skeins for consideration. There was a lot to consider.

Colors? Speckles? Solids?

Even if I could narrow it down to which skeins, deciding the order can still be scrutinized for days!

And of course, which pattern I wanted to knit changed just as often.

^This^ particular set really grabbed me. I think it’s going to be Exploration Station inspired. Pulling those skeins from the pile and setting them aside for that project helped narrow things down a bit! And it left 3 skeins of Hedgehog Fiber in the pile.

Obviously those beauties have WestKnits Fade Along written all over them. I finally settled on, at least, the skein I wanted to cast on with and a pattern.

I spent so much time making decisions I didn’t cast on until after bedtime last night but it’s a start! No one will be surprised to hear, I didn’t decide on anything else. Even after all that thought and attempts at planning, my best plan is to wing it!

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, eh?

Where ever this goes, I can tell already, it’s going to be awesome!