Finished: Wisp

All finished with my Wisp wrap.  Blocking really helped give it some extra length and opened up all of the lace.  For being a mindless, stash buster, I am happy.

I have been toying with what next and really, I'm not sure.  I hope to cast on Phillip's really unnecessary Koolhaas hat soon, but I am dreaming of something amazing for me......

Progress: Wisp

Drugs do nothing for my ability to knit, concentrate or be awake for that matter.  This supposed restful week of knitting bliss has been more like a week full of mashed potatoes, Gilmore Girl reruns and sleeping until drooling awakes me--not a pretty sight... But today I did pick up some left over Malabrigo Sock and cast on a Wisp wrap.  The pattern is mindless if there is such a thing, and to be honest, it is the only work my hands have done all week.  I am afraid my Wisp is going to end up tiny, but hopefully with a little blocking I will  have something that resembles an adult sized project....We will see.... it really is wishful thinking at this point. 

And because life is rapidly approaching normalcy, I am gearing up to start a new project or two in the coming days.  As of now I can't decide whether Phillip's head needs a Habitat hat or a Koolhaas.... Both seem equally difficult (not much) and time consuming... and even though I have the Koolhaas pattern I can't seem to get an image of a fully made Habitat in Berroco Ultra Alpaca out of my head.  

Sooooo, which do you think? 

    Koolhaas?

    Habitat? 

Be sure to let me know in the comments. 

Happy drugged knitting. 

Finished: 16 Cable Hat

I recently found a treasure...a skein of Malabrigo Worsted in Paris Night.  Malabrigo has been a little difficult to find lately (in my neck of the woods and on my regular sites anyway) and this particular colorway has seemed to escape me at every turn.  At some point my LYS had a bit of it... I naively thought "I will get it some other time..."  Yeah, right.  Anyway, I found it lonely and looking for shelter a few weeks ago.  I knew it would be a hat, but wasn't sure which pattern I would use.  I had been eyeing the 16 Cable Hat for a long time...so long that at some point the pattern wasn't available for purchase anymore.  Luckily, the designer reposted the pattern on Ravelry and Paris Night was just perfect for it. 

I had heard a lot of negative things about how large the cables were--how awful they were to knit--how holey they left the finished product.  None of these gripes were ever an issue for me.  In fact, after putting down my Rosebud (getting sort of bored with it), and my Damson (not sure I am loving it), it was the perfect distraction without too many bells and whistles.  And while I know Mal Worsted will always be one of those polar yarns to knitters, I love it.  With this pattern, the yarn worked up beautifully.  I can completely see knitting this hat over and over (and over) again. 

In other news, I have been watching Knitting Workshop DVD's with Elizabeth Zimmermann lately.  Ugh.  I feel quite lucky to have stumbled upon her advice, attitude and patterns, but I can't deny the twinge of jealousy I have for those who watched the program as it aired.  I have pretty strong feelings that every knitter ought to have the attitude that EZ has... she is such an amazing teacher and inspiration.  I am finding it hard not to stay in bed and rewatch every second.  If anyone has purchased the BSJ DVD I would love to hear your thoughts as I am considering making the plunge and buying (along with knitting one, obviously).  There are about a million websites and wikis devoted to the pattern but I can't imagine a better way to knit it than with the accompaniment of Meg. 

This week I have a tremendous amount of time off as I am gearing up for dental surgery---yay! (?)  I am hoping that I am not too doped up to get in a few rows, if not start another project entirely.  I have some Quince and Co. Chickadee that is asking for some attention, but we shall see. 

Finished: Anthropologie Headwrap

I feel as though my knitting has been slow moving but really, it has.  I have been working along on Damson, which is coming along quite well and  I have picked up my Rosebud for a few rows but nothing substantial to show just yet.. sorta.

I have taken up a few projects for friends lately, which is quite a haul from my normal knitting pattern.  Just a while back I gifted a pregnant friend a Columbia Cowl, made with the Malabrigo Gruesa that I picked up at my LYS's new year sale.  Surprisingly, I loved working with the yarn! I tend to hate thick and thin yarn but this one moved like butter and I never found a break or a piece too thin to work with.  

Overall, I am quite happy and my friend loved it. 

Another coworker asked me about making an ear warming type headband.  There are a million nice patterns strewn about Ravelry but I eventually settled on the Anthropologie-Inspired Headwrap, which turned out divine in Plymouth Alpaca Grande.  The yarn is soft and not nearly as pilly as I expected.  Even though she is moving along to California soon, I still hope she will get a little wear out of it, and even then it doubles as a headband should she decide to button it a little higher on her head. 

I recently picked up a copy of The Opinionated Knitter by Elizabeth Zimmermann, which I fully intend to immerse myself in in the coming days.  Can not wait! 

WIP's

I have been meaning to update my progress but that has seemed daunting considering the amount of projects I currently have in my bag.  Generally, I never have more than two, so casting on two in one day felt really out of character for me.  I have also been immersing myself in a few knitting books lately  like Knitting Around by Elizabeth Zimmermann and Knit Socks! by Betsy McCarthy, so even though I have been away, I haven't really because my knitting has been everywhere. 

I recently cast on Damson in Madelinetosh Sport in charcoal... wow.  I don't know why I kept changing my mind about this pattern--being paired with this yarn has seemed to awaken me.  I love the subtle changes of color.  I have been a little nervous about the yo's before the markers... just a little pet peeve of mine, but they seem to be okay. I imagine if I have made a mistake it will not become clear until I am too far to fix it, so oh well. 

On the same day I cast on Rosebud by Jared Flood in Malabrigo Worsted in Marine, which I bought via a Ravelry stash sale.  I absolutely love the color and am happy with the way it is coming so far. I was a little turned off when I downloaded the pattern and realized it was 6 pages long.  My immediate thought was "for a hat?!?!?!?!" but I am happy.  Hopefully it will be done in time to wear before the weather changes.

Lastly, I had been working a little (too) furiously on my Annabel cardigan.  I finished the raglan increase section only to realize my count has gotten off somewhere.  I haven't taken the time to go through and figure out where I've gone wrong yet, but I plan to eventually.  (Odd how I hadn't realized that all three of these projects are garter stitch!)

I have also picked out a set of stash yarn to make another ships & seaside by TOK.  Hopefully this time I can avoid another Kitchener catastrophe--no promises. 

With tomorrow being my birthday, I haven't been able to stop going back and forth on whether or not I want to make myself a "birthday sweater"... I haven't been able to choose just one pattern, and I can't really stop going back and forth on the yarn for this unnamed sweater/cardigan.  I keep telling myself that I may be happier buying a few splurge skeins--after all, this is the year of the stash.  I am positive there are some skeins of something hiding in my bins just waiting to be my next sweater. 

Planning...again.

I have been taking a short break from starting a million projects to sort of recoup from the following week of work.  I finally made a trip to my LYS to make a purchase... I wasn't sure what I was going to get exactly, but I knew I deserved something.  Ended up with a skein (okay, two..) of Madelinetosh Sport in Charcoal. 

I had been eyeing making a pair of Foxgloves, but now I am determined to work on one of my neglected queued shawls, like Haruni, Springtime Bandit or Damson (links on the previous post).  It has been some time--probably Imogen, since I've worked on some must-pay-attention lace and I think it will be perfect to keep me busy. 

I also have another project lined up for Phillip-a Jacque Cousteau hat in some brown Berroco Vintage and I have been working on planning another epic sweater for him with Jared Flood's Smoking design... It calls for bulky so it should work up much quicker than his Cobblestone, which is getting plenty of wear despite the 70 degree temperature (On a related note---is it really February? I feel cheated out of a few weeks worth of snuggling with my knitting while it is snowing... just sayin')  Other than the Madtosh, I haven't spent any money on yarn this year... I did sell a few things via paypal which afforded me the choice to order some yarn via Rav's stash pages, for what I think of  as free! Love it.  Get rid of something, bring in something new.  So far I have "ordered" a skein of Malabrigo Worsted in Marine (swooooonnnn) and Berroco Ultra Alpaca in a brown, probably for a pair of mittens for Phillip, should winter ever show up. 

I am off to work on the raglan increases of Annabel, hopefully to wind the Madtosh, and maybe to cast on P's hat. Too many projects, too little time.  

Before I forget.... I have been working through The Knitter's Life List! The book is amazing!  I have been getting out my pencil and check marking all of the things I have done in my knitting career thus far in each little section.  I really recommend it! Just reading the chapters has brought me a new appreciation for the art  and everything that that surrounds us in this gigantic, mega amazing craft.