I just needed some needles...

And this is what happened.

Penny approves.

So I've been having some problems with my #3 bamboo circular needles. They hate lace weight yarn and slow me down to the point of swearing. Doesn't make for a pleasant evening for me or those around me. So I decided that to make all these Xmas gifts I'd buy myself a present and try some fancy addi needles. Now apparently every yarn store in RI is closed on Monday and I just wanted to stop on the way home from work. I decided to try the fabric place, I was hoping they'd have Inox needles at least, my shawl is progressing very well on the Inox needles and I can't take this aggravation much longer. I arrive to find everything in the store is 20% off and they have Addis! I was elated. I puttsed around for awhile looking at the yarn selection, should have gotten some malbrigio for a scarf for my aunt but that didn't occur to me while in the store, just on the way home of course. Anyway I grabbed (for no real reason) some Berrocco Jasper in the most beautiful greens, and some pink and black Berrocco pure merino. The merino I have plans for, they will soon be Christmas gifts the Jasper I don't, I actually feel bad for getting all but the pink. Oh well. So I then go over to the needle selection and guess what size they don't have. Yep. #3s. Not fair, not fair at all. They didn't even have 3s in straight or susan bates! Is everyone in RI making stuff on that one size needle! So that was a huge bummer. The aggravation will continue until I decide what to do. I don't particularly feel like stopping again and the shops that are further close by 5. I'll never make it. So I think I may work on a non Christmas gift tonight just to make myself feel better. If anyone ever reads this blog and has a suggestion for my Jasper please let me know. Good smells are coming from the kitchen so I'm off, I like being the second one home :-)

Tis the Season

For Christmas knitting. I'm trying to be proactive this year and start early enough to knit something for most people, we'll see how that goes... Anyway I ordered some yarn from my favorite Internet retailer Jimmy Beans Wool and it arrived a little over a week ago. The folks at Jimmy's are great. I ordered on a Wednesday at 8pm and my yarn was here by Friday, I'm across the country so that's pretty freaking good. I'm always contacted if there are any issues by the friendly staff and the candy that arrives with the yarn is a nice treat :) You must try them.









Now I normally wouldn't show an xmas gift in progress because I'm afraid someone will look at the blog and spoil the surprise. My sneaky little sister for sure. But since this will never get to the intended recipient (said sneaky sister), in fact it's days are likely numbered, I'll show you what I've been up to since Campanula.

It is my shedir from knitty about half done. On one ball of Rowan Calmer in tangerine. I normally don't knit loosely and I hadn't read any one else running short on yarn so I foolishly ordered only one ball. Had my LYS carried Rowan I may have gone back for more but the combination of not really liking the way this is coming out, hurting my hands, and not being the color she requested I'm giving this one up. Just very annoyed I spent so much time on it. grr. It is a nice pattern but that being said I doubt I'll attempt it again. So she goes from top of the list to a lower position. She's the only one who got a knitted item, a sweater to boot, last year. I will get her a hat as she has requested by the end of the winter, I have some yarn in my stash that will do nicely I think.

The only problem with ordering online is that the yarn doesn't come wound into a nice little cake and you have to spend hours, over two nights winding the skein, all 1460 yards... I give you before and after:

Yeah. It sucked. And that thing the yarn is wound around is an empty toilet paper tube and the whole thing is sitting in my pencil dish so it doesn't unwind and I have to do it all over again. I am not doing it all over again. You can't say I'm not creative right? I do need a ball winder, I have a B-day coming up and the hub-unit, seeing and hearing my pain will oblige I think. He's not fond of angry Kate. So the blue will sit for awhile but the white is being used as we speak for a gift to my mom. She may get sneaky too when she learns about the blog so you'll have to wait for pics. This is lace weight and will serve for several gifts this season. The blue is prettier than this picture, with less daylight photographing my stuff well is getting tough. It is Lane Borgosesia and is very reasonably priced while being so soft. I'm liking it so far. Work continue on the Print O'the Wave stole in between so I'll put up pictures of that next time. Now it's late and after 2 days of winding that stupid yarn I am off to knit it.

FO Campanula

Here she is!

Yarn: Plymouth Royal Bamboo, 100% Bamboo 11 skeins
(should have bought 12)

Needles: Plymouth Bamboo US4, Inox circulars US2 40", Susan Bates US4 DPN

Pattern: Campanula from Knitter's Magazine Spring 2007

I love this pattern. It was so fun to knit I worked on it exclusively. I do not however, love the yarn. In fact I will never buy it again. Not because it isn't wonderfully soft and has a nice shine but because of the 11 balls I purchased more than half were composed of several pieces tied together. One ball was four separate pieces, the last being less than 1 yard long! How am I supposed to make it through a row with such a small piece? It also unravels very easily. It's very unfortunate because the colors of this yarn are beautiful, the feel is very nice, and I was so excited to try knitting with bamboo. Not worth the hassle though. I am a few yards short but am not buying more yarn, I think the crocheted tie in the front will work ok, it fits through the eyelets better and is less bulky, I didn't lace myself up too well for these photos but it'll work, trust me :-) Many thanks to my A-man for taking the pics. He knows how to score points.

The pattern was very well written and didn't contain any errors I'm aware of. It would be a great project for someone interested in doing lacework who would like to start with a more substantial yarn or just someone interested in a change from stockinette or cables. It took me about 2 months to knit, mostly evenings after dinner so if you have more time it might move faster. This was also the first garment made for myself and the first I spent time blocking correctly. It really really makes a difference and I won't neglect blocking ever again. I wet blocked this by soaking it in the sink for a few minute and then pressing the excess water out between a towel. Then pinned out to the required measurements with T-pins that were not easy to find...

The plymouth bamboo needles are very nice, as are the Inox circulars which I'm using for my Print O'the wave stole (more pics of that WIP soon). I don't have the funds to try the Addi circs but Inox seem to be working fine for me.

Well, if I think of more to say about the wonderfulness that is Campanula I'll update the cyber world, I always love seeing how various yarns and patterns work for other knitters.

Off to knit!

Crap

I am one I-cord short of finishing Campanula. Crap. I already had to go to the LYS to get one more skein to finish it and am not buying another for a couple yards of yarn. Thank goodness I sewed it together before making the I cords. I crocheted a chain for the front tie and That will have to do for now. That doesn't please me after my 14 day work week. Too tired to post pics, soon though.

Pushing Daisies button

What's keeping me from finishing Campanula

That and the crazy amount of hours I have to put in at work for the next few weeks. What a girl must go through to fund her knitting habit. This is Eunny Jang's Print O'The Wave stole. It's my first real lace project and I'm loving it already. It's going to take me a long time (already frogged once) especially since I plan to start some Christmas knitting soon but I'm sure it will be worth it. Campanula was a good intro to lacy patterns and left me wanting something more intense. The yarn is Alpaca with a twist Fino (a splurge but less than what a sweater would cost and oh so worth it) and I decided to use Inox US 2 circulars. I don't want it to be huge so I'm hoping this size works out well. Seeing the finished product on other blogs really helped the needle size decision. Wish me luck!

My first post!

Ok so I'm officially a blogger, kinda neat :) I'm still getting a hang of things so this blog will probably change a bit once I figure out how to change parts of the layout. Sometimes things aren't as easy as you expect them to be... This will be a quick post since I'm already tired of fiddling with my blog today (probably not good for the first day). The absolutely gorgeous corgi you will see all over this blog is Penny, she loves knitting. I can tell this because the second I take out my knitting she's in my lap watching the needles move around and occasionally getting bopped on the head. Now for some knitting content. My current project is Campanula from the spring issue of Knitter's magazine. I'm a big fan of blogs with pictures so here is one from when I started back in June.

It is all blocked and sewn together, I'm just struggling to force myself to knit the I-cords that are threaded through the eyelets on the sleeves and front. Not my favorite part. More details on yarn and needles when I post the finished sweater. Thanks for reading my inaugural post!