WestKnits Sunday

On August 27, 2017August 27, 2017 By FogKnitsIn FO Friday, Shawl, WIP10 Comments

My Dotted Rays with a Speckle Fade is done! It’s definitely my new favorite thing!

I love the chevron border with it’s high contrast! The purple yarn is MadTosh EuroSock and it’s parter in striping was a skein of Magpie Fibers MCN. It’s super soft. I don’t mind having leftovers from that skein!

The body is four colors, starting over at the upper right corner, faded together. Hedgehog Fibers Skinny Single in Boombox! Western Sky Knits MCN!! and then two skeins of Hedgehog Sock. I was unimpressed with the Hedgehog Sock. It was very think and rather splitty. I can’t imagine knitting actual socks with it. I’d need quadruple zero needles for that. No, I think my money is on the Skinny Single in the future.

Like all good shawls though, it’s only exciting until the next one comes off the needles. With that in mind, I’ve started my next WestKnit.

I culled at the skinny little scraps and half balls from the stash. Sometimes I think the only reason I use fresh skeins is to turns them into leftovers. I really love scrap projects!

This one is Stephen West’s Spring 2017 MKAL. I didn’t have time to do it then and I was still bummed about not loving the Building Blocks MKAL in the fall. This one is called Marled Magic! Despite kicking off with my least favorite stitch — YO, K2tog mesh, I knew I wanted to knit this shawl when I saw what Stephen did with all those ends on the side.

The tails are all cut at deliberate lengths. Instead of weaving them all in at the end (nightmare!!) they’ll be braided together down the center of the shawl, into a big tassel off the point. It’s a clever little treatment. I can’t wait to try it out. I’m willing to deal with a tassel for it!

Tomorrow, it’s back to jury duty. UGH. At least I’ll have knitting time!

Actual Knitting Content

On August 22, 2017August 22, 2017 By FogKnitsIn Cowl, Hat, WIP3 Comments

One more tease before I actually have FO pics to share. This is the chevron edge of my WestKnits Fadealong Shawl, a faded Dotted Rays! It’s amazing! And you’ll always be able to find me in a crowd when I wear it! Hopefully it’ll make FO Friday this week!

As for projects on the needles, don’t worry…got plenty of those too!

Finally started a pussy hat for myself. I don’t like pink so I figured if I’m doing it, I should really do it. It’s from White Birch Fiber Arts. Her yarns are amazing but typically sock yarns. The striping definitely works best for socks so I didn’t have much reason to buy her yarns. Until…I found worsted weight at her booth during Stitches! Woot! Instant Pussy Hat Gratification here I come!

And, I’ve got the last of the horrible acrylic that shall not be named cast on too! I was summoned for jury duty yesterday. Not knowing what courthouse security would be like, I opted for the yarn I wouldn’t miss in the event of confiscation. No worries there though. I got to hurry up and wait with all the knitting I wanted!

Doing a basic brioche in the round cowl with it. I’m really loving the color play. I don’t necessarily like either of the colorways on their own but together in two color brioche, they’re really shining! So, back to the courthouse today, hopefully I can squeeze in more knitting time. The judge might want our attention though. Who does he think he is?

And here’s a couple random photos I’ve been meaning to share. There’s a large yarn bombing installation down by city hall. The goal of this civic minded project (because it’s a paid art installation, with lots of public input) is to connect the sprawling Civic Center Plaza with UN Plaza across the street. I don’t think they’ve accomplished that goal. Not to mention, if yarn bombing alleviated the problems created by homeless drug addicts leaving biological excretions on the sidewalks, San Francisco could be a much, much, cleaner city.

At any rate, before I go off on too many tangents, here’s the pictures. It’s kinda fun. They think it’s going to be there for 2 years. I think they have no idea how much maintenance it’s going to require.

It looks good for now though.

Welcome to Fogust!

On August 6, 2017August 6, 2017 By FogKnitsIn Misc, Shawl, WIP5 Comments

Fogust is here! It goes without saying, here at FogKnits headquarters, we love fog season! A lot! I love nights quieted by wind and fog. Everything calms down and the city becomes very still. It’s an amazing change from the hustle & bustle of daily life. aaaaaahhhhh! I love it! It’s good knitting weather!

I’m at the point with everything where despite making good progress, the photos continue to look the same. L to R, That’s the Faded Dotted Rays, the Shawl in a Ball and the Cat Sweater.

The Dotted Rays rows have grown to 450 stitches, slowing progress way down. Especially when this is so light and easy to pick up…

I finished the stitching!!

I’m going to attempt finishing the fabric edges and the hoops this week. I can’t wait to hang them in my bathroom! I’m tempted to go back and get a few more. First though, there’s knitting to do. I want to make sweaters and hats! I definitely feel a hat binge coming on!

The cutest socks!

On July 28, 2017July 28, 2017 By FogKnitsIn Misc, Socks9 Comments

Now for the second half of the knitters knitting for knitters part of the swap! The gift I was given! In a perfect twist of fate, the knitter who chose me was the knitter I chose!

I got kitty socks! They’re the YinYang Kitty Ankle Socks, a free pattern on Ravelry!

Without a doubt, the absolute best way to get hand knit socks is as a gift! I have half a sock I haven’t touched since January. Knitting them myself is certainly not the fastest option! And these were even in my queue!

They’re the cutest little kitties! I’ve been wearing as house socks. I’d feel bad cramming them into shoes. This is cuteness that needs to be shown off!

Thank you, Branka! They’re awesome and I love them!

The last bit of awesomeness from our party…the cake!

It didn’t come from a store! One of the knitter’s made it!!! It’s chocolate on the inside and there aren’t enough superlatives to describe it. It was delicious! My favorite part, though, is the care that went into the swatch. Those stitches look like stitches. They’re all pointing the right direction. They’re all in rows and columns just like they should be. There are four stitches in the swatch and correspondingly, four stitches on the needle. The ball of yarn is attached to the swatch, in the right place no less. All little details non-knitters don’t know about.

And now, it’s almost the weekend! Wooohooo! I’m fading away on my Faded, Speckled, Dotted Rays for the Westknits’ Summer Fadealong!

Color 4 is fading in. It’s more Hedgehog Fibers. I started off with Skinny Singles as the first color. The last two colors have been Hedgehog Sock. I don’t like the Sock as much as the Skinny Singles. Of course, the Western Sky Knits MCN in the middle puts all the others to shame. A little bit of cashmere really goes a long way!

My next color will have cashmere, an MCN from Magpie Fibers!! Not sure I’ll get there this weekend. I’ve gotten to the place where the rows are looooooooooooong. I’m going to try though!

Hope you’ve got some fun weekend plans! Happy Knitting!

WIP Wednesday

On July 19, 2017July 19, 2017 By FogKnitsIn Cowl, Shawl, WIP9 Comments

I’m back up to 10 WIPs. Did you notice how I tried to slide that piece of information right by you? Buried right under a big pile of stash acquisition! LOL! Knitter’s guilt, I tell ya…I think I might have to do a destash — for real. In the fall, I think.

For now, I’m assuaging my knitter’s guilt by giving one of the older WIPs some long overdue love. My Rockefeller. Here’s what it looked like, last you saw…

I still really like this photo. It doesn’t bother me that it’s been hanging out on my Ravelry page, right at the top for over a year. LOL. I would really like to wear this though. The yarn is Jade Sapphire’s Sylph — a cashmere-linen blend! Yummy!

The only bits left to knit are a process knitter’s dream, row after row of striped garter stitch. There should not be a hangup here.

Finger’s crossed that Knitter’s Guilt keeps me motivated!

I’ve also started and nearly finished another cowl with the yarn that shall not be named.

Even though it’s not totally finished, the knitting is done so really, I’m down to 9 WIPs.

I’ll try not to cast on anything new. I’m still pretty enamored with my Speckled, Faded, Dotted Rays, so it shouldn’t be too hard!

Despite frequent use of #beerandknitting, the knitting is pretty outstanding!

I’m going to start fading color #3 tonight!! Guilt Free!

Come back tomorrow to see my Surpreyes Bag from Stephen! Not only has it already arrived but it’s awesome!!

WestKnits Stash Acquistion

On July 15, 2017July 15, 2017 By FogKnitsIn Shawl, WIP8 Comments

It’s a WestKnits kinda weekend around here. I kicked it off with some WestKnits Stash acquisition. Not acquiring stash for WestKnits patterns, no acquiring Mr. West’s actual stash.

I couldn’t resist when this popped up yesterday. It’s a project bag. (Just this week, I was noticing all my project bags are full. After a long dip, my WIP count is back to 10. Don’t worry, I love it.) It’s a book. (The one I don’t have. What are the odds of that?) and it’s at least 400 g of Stephen’s destashed yarn. I appreciate his tastes in color and fiber so I think I’ll like whatever I get.

Especially now that I’ve made my next Speckled, Faded, Dotted Rays decision!

We’ve grown from the Hedgehog Skinny Singles Boombox and now faded into the Western Sky Knits Magnolia Sock with No Name. (so glad there’s no desert here.)

So far I’m loving what’s going on!

The next fade is going to have a bit more zing. I can’t wait! Who knows, maybe this mystery yarn will show up from Stephen and it’ll be the perfect thing. It’s simply fate working it’s magic. (totally not my fault when it goes wrong either.)

Stay tuned for progress, I think this one is going to proceed quickly!

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!