SAM3 - June - done!

Many thanks to everyone who suggested various options for my mis-matched Spunky Pink Elephant yarn. You came up with a lot of really good ideas! Some of my favourites included the Stash Buster Spiral pattern, which has been on my to-do list for a while; going with dark leg and light heel and toe on one sock and light leg and dark heel and toe on another, which I may try some time because it sounds interesting; and mixing them up with another skein, possibly doing a stranded or mosaic pattern. Many of you suggested various forms of striping, either alternating several rounds or (gulp) alternating single rounds. I know that can be done, because Pat has done it with some Koigu, shown in the top entry here , and near as I can tell she's still quite sane. :-) But, it really sounds like more work than I'm prepared to do for a sock, so I took the other piece of advice that popped up quite often -- put it aside and use it for something else.

Instead, I decided to make some new black socks.

Or rather, some socks using my New Black yarn.

Spunky Eclectic fingering weight, all in one hank, and the colour is consistent throughout.

I admit, though, that I was quite surprised to see the taupey colour come out, because it wasn't at all evident in the hank. I guess it got over-powered by all that pink.

I like it! They look quite snazzy with my new runners. :-)

So, back to the Pink Elephant. I decided to knit them up a bit to see just how different they were. Turns out they were as different knit up as they were in the ball.

The pattern is Elvis the Elephant and a lot of fun. Although the pattern calls for the trunk to be knit up separately and then sewn to the head, I just made an extra increase round and carried on with the body instructions. These are each knit with one strand from each ball on 2.5 mm needles. And because they're babies, I figured they needed a mommy.

She's knit double-stranded, using one strand from each ball, on 5 mm needles. I left out the tusks on the babies and didn't bother with the mouth pieces.

I can now go make first post to the Knitted Toys KAL, which I joined eons ago but haven't knit any toys since then.

Les Victoires

Thank you all for your warm wishes on my blogiversary, and thank you, also, for playing along in my little give-a-way. The original intent behind starting this blog was to help keep me on track on my various projects. I'm not so sure it's been successful on that front, but it's certainly been a lot of fun. Now if you'd all stop posting your wonderful projects and patterns and beautiful new yarns in am effort to lead me astray, I'd appreciate it. (Kidding!)

Many of you were able to guess the correct landmark number of comments, but one of you was actually home sick in bed and rather than knit actually took the time to count them. That's dedication! I was glad to see that Mr. Random Number Generator thought that dedication should be rewarded. Earthchick, you won by guessing the correct number -- 1500. And Meg, you won by actually posting the 1500th comment. Congratulations to you both! Earthchick seems to be veering a little bit into the sewing side, so I'm hoping to tempt her back into knitting by sending her some yummy yarn. And Meg ... well, you see, Meg seems to have this awful fascination with, um, well, what can you say ... novelty yarn scarves. I'm sorely tempted to send her the most novelty-ish yarn I can find so she can make one for herself rather than just stalking other peoples'.

This week in knitting: I wasn't going to join this round, but one look at my sock yarn stash said I better keep going, so I clicked away and am now a member of Sock-a-Month 3. That meant, of course, that I had to get started on some socks. I managed to get two done past the heel turn. I didn't like the fit of one, so I ripped it. I decided on a different pattern for the other, so I ripped it too. Hence, no new knitting to show you. I think every post should have at least one picture, so I guess that means that I have to recycle some previous FOs. :-)

CarrieK asked to see the inside of my Fake Isle Hat. Her wish is my command:

Complete with darned in end up at the top.

I will admit that the colours are starting to grow on me .... a bit. I do wear it, and it helps that I can't actually see myself when I'm wearing it.

And I've been obsessing about that cat's eyes -- you know, like I really have nothing better to do. I found something else that I like a little better.

They're still kind of spooky, but hey, I'm calling him done. Does anyone else find it strange that I can obsess over what constitutes the eyes, but then can blithely just glue them on over top of the old eyes with nary a care?

Oh, and that's snow you see in the background, not lint. ;-)

The Cat 'n the Hat

I seem to have joined another knit-along - Cover Your Head



As you may guess, this KAL involves hats. As you may also guess, since I'm working on my stranding, I knit a stranded hat -- the Fake Isle hat from MagKnits.

Now, before I say anything else, I should indicate that there have been some wonderful examples of this hat posted about blog-ville. For example, look here and here, to point out just a couple of them. I warn you now that what follows is not what I would consider a wonderful example of what is really a wonderful pattern.

Before I show you my monstrosity, let me state here and now that I really don't like 16" circular needles. Yes, the stranding goes much smoother without the joins you get from DPNs, but I find knitting with that short a circ to be hard on the hands. However, since my head is nowhere near 24", I guess it's a "suck it up" type of situation.

Brace yourselves:



I attribute the lack of wonderfulness purely to my own poor choice of colour of Kureyon. I was trying to expand my colour horizons, and I think I went a bit too far. I am so not an orange, green and purple kind of guy. This is Kureyon No. 185, and pattern colour is Patons Classic in Dark Natural Mix. I originally tried to use a dark brown, and it worked at the beginning, but it kind of got lost and I had to rip back and go with something lighter.

As I was knitting along, I began to get concerned about the depth of the hat, as I wanted something that would cover my ears. Midway through, I switched to the row counts for the larger size, hence the three row stripe in the middle. I wish I would have thought of that sooner and made the lower one three rounds as well, because it looks weird with them different, but there was no way I was going back again.



On the plus side, I was able to practice catching floats, and I think I figured out what I was doing wrong before. And then I got cocky and played with the patterning on the top so I wouldn't have to catch them any more. I added that little dagger-type shape so it looked a little less like a flower.

Now, I'm really not into fashion that much, and I generally wear what I like and what feels comfortable. Yes, I am probably a prime candidate for What Not to Wear. Clinton and Stacy, come and get me any time. But, despite my lack of fashion sense and my need to keep my ever-increasing forehead warm, while I have worn, and will continue to wear, this hat, I admit that while doing so I feel kind of like this:



Turning now to more pleasant things, thank you for your suggestions for alternate cat eyes for my Fibre Trends Here Kitty Kitty kitty cat. I liked very much the idea of embroidering them on, and I tried. I really did. I will not tell you how many hours I spent trying. In the end, I had to cover them up with little bits of felt.



Kind of spooky looking, but better than what's underneath. Whiskers on kittens are a favourite thing, so I couldn't leave them out. Monofilament gives the right kind of translucent bristliness.

And just to prove that my toy cat is cooler than I, here he is, sitting in the snow.


In the Other News Department, when I switched over to the new Blogger, I noticed that I was coming up onto my first blogiversary, so I guess that means it's time for a contest!!! I liked the idea of a "500th comment" thingy, but after adding up my comments, I realized I missed that boat -- by a long shot. I had no idea you guys were so chatty! :-)

So here's the deal: I am coming up on a different and higher landmark type of number for comments. Email me what you think this number is (email addy is in the sidebar) and I'll put all correct answers in a hat (possibly the one above!) and pick a winner. In addition, the person who leaves that actual landmark comment will win. So two prizes, one for guessing the number and one for being the number. What will you win? I'm thinking ..... sock yarn. I'll pick something nice especially for the winners. Fair enough?

New Kats on the Block

I tawt I taw a puddy tat.


I did! I did! I did tee a puddy tat!


Another fun and quick knit from Fiber Trends. Here Kitty Kitty, Pattern No. 219X, made out of Lett-Lopi. Mods: no fun fur because I wanted to see how it was shaped.

I found this pattern to be a little more confusing than the other one I did. When the body was finished, I had absolutely no idea how that mis-shapen piece of knitting was going to turn into anything, let alone a kitty. At one point, the pattern references the cast-on edges, and I couldn't even identify those without a lot of puzzling. I attached the legs where I thought they went and still had no idea. It wasn't until the head went on that I could envision how it all came together. Note: If you do this pattern, when it says to attach markers, use different colours, and write down which colour went where.

I couldn't find any cat eyes in the craft stores this weekend, just googley eyes, so at this point he's still kind of blind.


And because he has no eyes, he also has no guts.


But he does have attitude!


And what does Tidget think of this?


"Do you expect me to share my litter box?"

Actually, MissT, yes, I do expect you to share your litter box, because you also have a new step-brother!


This is Muushuu, a seven-year-old male long-hair Siamese, who is now living with me because his previous owners' son has developed allergies. He's cuddly, smart and extremely soft. Tidget and Muushuu are presently still in negotiations over who has priority seating on my lap.

Nuts

I have four socks on the go, all ready for heels, and I don't feel like doing them. I don't feel like working on the Swallowtail shawl. I don't feel like working on any of the various sweaters that are just sitting there waiting. I am fighting the urge to cast on even more projects. More socks. An afghan. I *must* cast on. Anything.

I lost the battle.


Another fun pattern from those clever Fiber Trends people, this one is No. FT-229, Nuts about Squirrels. He's cute, eh! Lots of fun to knit too. Do I need a felted squirrel? No. Have I forgiven all those rotten little rodents for digging up my tulips last year? No. But this squirrel, I like. As long as he stays out of my garden, that is.

I figgured that since I had a new toy, Tidget needed one too, so I made this:

It's the Catnip Mouse, pattern courtesy of Wendy. I filled it with the catnip that Abigail so kindly sent me as part of my package for Mama E's newest Big Adventure, Pay It Forward.

Do you think Tidget likes it?

I think she's gone nuts too.

In the Other News Department, I decided not to do an Amazing Lace Challenge No. 5, the Unlikely Model, because, well, I sort of think I already did it. I have no visible progress to report there, so no pics, sorry.

In the More Other News Department, it's great to see garterlac dishcloths popping up everywhere. I am pleased to report that Stacy very kindly formatted the pattern into a PDF and Sarah has very kindly agreed to host it on her site. You can get it here and I'll update the sidebar to include that link. While you're at Sarah's blog, check out the cool garterlac bathmat that she made -- and she provided the pattern for it! Thanks so much, Stacy and Sarah!