Knitting Progress

I've been working away on my knitting. There has been a little progress on the Auburn Camp Shirt. Then, I finished the first of the beaded socks and started the next one. The second sock looks almost exactly like the picture that I took of the first one, at this point. I did cast on for another sweater, the Bamboo Pullover, using the pattern Stripes Go Round by Lana Hames. I'm not doing the stripes, though. The yarn for this one was originally knit into my Green Tea Raglan, which felt to weighty. For that sweater I used 2 strands together. On this one, I'm only using one strand and knitting at a loose gauge. It feels lovely.

Finished!

I finished the Green Tea Raglan, this morning. I figured it was the perfect day for it with the cooler temperatures and a day off from work!

Its a little snug around the neckand the bamboo makes it feel heavy, not too warm, just heavy. The fabric drapes beautifully, but is a little more figure hugging than I expected.

Serpentine Socks

On Saturday, I started this month's Sockamania pattern, Serpentine Socks. They are toe up, with a gusset heel. I finished to this point, last night. The cabling is fun, but it makes for slow progress. In order to make the cables without a cable needle, I knew that I waould need to use metal needles as the stress is too much for my wood needles. (They bend nearly in half, otherwise.) However, the metal needles rub on fingers, so I can only work on these for a while, and then I need to put them down. Because of the complexity of the pattern, these are not riding with me too and from work. That certainly helps the fingers.
Instead, I've been working on the Green Tea Raglan as my commuter knitting. I've become accustomed to the moss stitch and am able to work it without watching what I'm doing. Every so often I make sure to look at it, just in case and once in a while have to tink back because the knit stitches are all lining up, instead of off setting. Such is the way with knitting moss or ribbing stitches for me. Its no problem and I'm pretty used to this. Its all worth it for the beautiful fabric that the Bamboo yarn is becoming. Only 2 1/2 (out of 10) skeins of yarn to go! (I think that I may be cutting it kind of close, so the amount of yarn is a fairly good means of determining how much knitting is left to complete.)

New Stitch Markers

After my husband left for his softball game, tonight, I pulled out the beads, wire and tools to make some stitch markers. Here are the sets that I finished tonight!


















Unfortunately, I had to spend about 40 minutes cleaning off my sewing/craft table before I could work! It seems that I never really know how it gets so bad...I guess I'm less organized than I thought! After all that cleaning, I was also able to use my swift & ball winder to finish winding the rest of the yarn (only 2 skeins) for the Green Tea Raglan. I finished off the last one that I had wound, while riding in the car this afternoon and was disappointed that I didn't have another with me.










I was on a roll, so I also decided to finish the French Market Tote. I used cardboard and a seal-able plastic bag to give it a sturdy bottom and then used this fabric that I had in my stash to line the bag, creating a pocket. I hope she likes it!

The Latest Knitting Progress

I accomplished quite a bit of knitting these last 4 days. First, I finished the front and the second sleeve of the Green Tea Raglan. I also cast on for the back and have nearly 3 inches done! Its going great, but I decided to take some time to knit lace. I was ready for a challenge, so I started the Mystery Stole on Saturday, finishing the first clue on Sunday night. Its beautiful and the beading technique used in the pattern is new to me. This has taken some getting used to, but I have the hang of it, now. I've also been trying to finish up the cuff of the second River Valley Sock. I only have about 3 pattern repeats left to go. I really want to finish this by Friday so that I can get into the drawing on the Sockamania blog. At least I have to wait for the next clue on the Mystery Stole before I can continue knitting on it. This way there is no temptation to work on it while I'm trying to set some goals for myself on other projects.
Yesterday, I was home from work, not feeling well. So, I pulled out the Civil War Shawl and finished around 12 rows!! This is represents lots of knitting time as each row takes 35-45 minutes to complete. The MS3 started me knitting lace, and I just couldn't stop. The CWS was a great outlet for that desire to knit a complicated lace pattern.

Quick Progress Update

I started the shoulder decreases on the front of the Green Tea Raglan, and finished the front last night! Its hard to believe how fast it went once I started decreasing. I'm ready to star the second sleeve, however, this pattern suggests a needle that is one size larger for the sleeves than for the body. (This is so that the gauge is more similar between the stockinette stitch used for the sleeves and the moss stitch used for the body.) When I started the front, I had to use the larger needle to take the stitches off my smaller needle. (I only have one size 7 circular and it was on the Market Tote.) So, this morning, I put the tote back on the smaller needle, so that I could reclaim the larger, size 8 circular. Somewhere I have another size 8, but this seemed like good motivation to get my bag finished before finishing the sweater. I am a little closer to being finished with the knitting than I thought, which is good. There is a deadline for the bag, but I think that I still have plenty of time. I knit several rounds on it in the van pool on the way to work, this morning, but it still doesn't look much different than it did before. I'm hoping to finish the body of the bag and start the handles, tonight.

A Lazy Sunday Afternoon

Yesterday, my husband and I attended church and then spent the remainder of the day with my family at my parents' house. Everyone was there, except one brother. We played had a great beef stir-fry for lunch, played some cards, and I had a few hours to knit as we all talked. It was a nice day and I wish today could be another like it, but I have to work. I finished up to the heel of the second River Valley Sock and up to the armhole decreases on the Green Tea Raglan. Sorry, no pictures, today, but they are both showing progress, which I love!

No Time for Blogging...

I've been so busy knitting, lately, that there seems to be so little time for blogging! {giggling} I have about 10 inches done on the front of the Green Tea Raglan. Its a fun and rather quick knit.

Since I've been spending all my knitting time on this one, I haven't progressed any on the River Valley Socks, or any other project for that matter...

A Knittin' Weekend

I used most of my weekend to knit! On Friday night, I finished the first River Valley Sock. When I arrived home from dinner at my in laws, there was another package waiting for me. This time it was from the No Sheep Swap. My pal sent a box of yummy raspberry tea (one of my favorites and I was out of it!) and a skein a of Phoenix Soy Silk. Since, I finished the sock, I cast on for a hat with the new skein. I made Odessa from Magknits.com. I finished this project on Saturday and then cast on for the second River Valley Sock. I almost finished turning the toe. Upon checking the mail, on Saturday, there was another package! This time it was yarn that I had ordered from Sarah's Yarns, teal 100% Bamboo! I quickly set about to find a pattern. I settled on Green Tea Raglan from Interweave Knits, Spring 2007. I finished the first sleeve and started the front! Like I said, I really had time to knit this weekend. It was so fun, probably because I didn't do any housework, either. Of course the house doesn't clean its self, but my husband was working on it off and on during the day on Saturday. What a sweetheart!

On Saturday, I met with a friend for tea and crochet lessons at Village Yarn and Tea. (She asked me to continue teaching her where another friend of hers left off.) While we were getting started, another customer was watching us and my friend C invited her to join us. She, too, is new to crocheting, so I ended up helping them both. It was fun and I enjoyed getting to know another needle artist along the way. We set up time to do the same thing, next Saturday, and L (the new knitter/crocheter friend) was invited to join us, too. Surprisingly enough, I did get about 1/4 of the hat done and all of the River Valley Socks knitting during this teaching session. Neither needed as much help as they thought that they did, so it was easy to get some knitting done while talking and helping. I usually have a project with me to work on when I am teaching (I've only ever taught 2 people at a time, never more than that!) so that I don't feel like I'm hovering/watching every stitch. When I've been the one learning, I've always found it easier if I'm shown and technique, left to practice, but still knowing that the teacher is nearby to answer questions when they arise. Most times, this has worked well for both me and the person I'm teaching.