I knit. Specifically, I love to do Aran work. Even more specifically, I’m currently working on Alice Starmore’s St. Brigid, which can be seen here at www.virtualyarns.com under the “back catalog” area. (I can’t seem to get it to open right now or I’d post a direct link.)
I also have curly hair that my sister refers to as my afro. You might think these things are unrelated. Except that I keep sticking my cable needle behind my ear as I work, where for some reason it instantly gets tangled and lost in my hair so that I’m feeling around on my head to find my tool. This morning I woke up with a cable needle still knotted into my hair. I’d stuck it behind my ear and forgotten about it.
Does anyone have tips on where to stash a cable needle between cables? Maybe one that won’t involve a hair dresser cutting stuff out of my mop?
In other news, I can’t stop knitting! When I’m worn out from working on the very complicated St. Brigid project, I switch to simple socks I’m knitting with Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn in a cool peacock color combination. I think I have about 30 pairs of handmade socks. So do my mother, sister, father, and grandparents.
Does anyone have any cool new knitting sites? Seems like everyone’s favorite is www.knitty.com. And there’s always Knitting Pattern Central as a source for free patterns. I could use some new stuff though.
Surely I’m not the only person with this particular addiction. What’s everyone knitting?
KnitPicks rules! I have done a couple of great projects with their Telemark and I love their sock yarn! I’ve also used Crayon for a kids blanket that turned out great.
There are no small knitting projects. Only small yarn stashes.
I moved recently. As soon as I find my digital camera in these leftover boxes, I’ll take some photos. I’ve tried to photograph the St. Brigid project before. It’s in a rather dark eggplant sorta color and doesn’t seem to photograph well. But I’ll give it a shot.
I just finished these awesome rainbow-y Noro socks. Great yarn, not talent, made the project. I’d love to have photos of those too!
I am addicted to knitting also. I went to a RenFaire and bought some Alpaca yarn. We were going from there to eat and to a movie. The LYS was closed, so I went to an imports store and bought some chopsticks so I could start knitting right away. Yes, I did knit during the movie, why not?
As for knitting sites, I’m assuming you are on Ravlery? Everybody is on Ravelry. I seem to find a lot of patterns there. There is a group of dopers there and a Terry Pratchett group. I do like knitty.com. I also love to look at the patterns at www.garnstudio.com there are some amazing fair isle patterns there but I’ve only attempted a fairly easy hat that wasn’t fair isle. It was actually knit and crochet and I thought I should work on my crochet skills.
Oh and right now, I’m knitting this.
Me? I’ve only completed 3 pairs though. And one of them was a picture of my (bright pink and purple) socked feet cozy by the fire at a knitting retreat…
I need to finish the other pairs I have on the needles. I have… 3?
As for cable needle, I usually put it in my mouth, or I weave it through my work so it’s handy (this I do especially when I put it aside).
I don’t use a legitimate cable needle. I thread a big darning needle, tie it to my work, and let it hang there until I need it. It works really well for holding up to about 8 stitches at once.
As for projects, I’m working on a big silly tam in robin’s egg blue Malabrigo and a pair of brown and speckly Koigu gloves. They’re going slowly, though; this full-time student business is kinda cramping my style.
I tend to do my cabling without a cable needle; but then, I’ve never done very complicated cables, either. A few months ago I splurged hugely (hugely for me, 'cause I’m hella poor) and bought a skein of Dream in Color Smooshie sock yarn in a lovely purpley bluey greeney color, and 3 little balls of sportweight alpaca which I’m working up into a lace scarf when I can stop petting it long enough to knit with it (I can’t help it, it’s a massive change from the acrylics I usually use!). I’m hoping I’ll have enough of the sock yarn left over after I make my socks to make a pair of fingerless mitts.
Ravelry has changed my life! I love how almost every yarn, every pattern, every THING knitting is just at my fingertips. Even so, I have a mystery yarn even they can’t solve over there. I had this friend, Rice the model, who would “find” yarn around campus and give it to me, or, in this case, leave it to me since he died. By leave it to me, I mean I took it out of his locker well after it was determined that he had no next of kin and I organized a memorial service for him. ANYway the label says Stagner Farms Fine Woolens and has no other information at all. No gauge, no dye lot, no fiber content, no nothing. And it’s called “Fine Woolens” but it feels like cotton. It’s weird.
I also adore Knit Picks. I have a really huge stash right now, so I haven’t bought much in the way of yarn lately, but I bought the full set of nickle plated sock needles, which I recommend (not of fan of two circulars). I am at the point in my knitting where I need pointy and slippery needles. So what if I have tons of bamboo from my newbie days.
This is my next project: http://www.interweaveknits.com/Galleries/bonus/fall_2006/swallowtail2.asp but I always have a sock on the needles (mostly Yarn Harlot “recipe”) and a square from http://www.amazon.com/Learn-Knit-Afghan-Book-Barbara-Walker/dp/0942018133. I’m all about Knitty’s Fuzzy Feet too, mainly because my husband likes them and wears them. As soon as the right yarn finds me I’ll whip up Clapotis as well. That one is all about the right yarn. I have some gorgeous Mountain Colors Mountain goat but not nearly enough. It’s reserved for Branching Out and Column of Leaves.
I don’t use a cable needle. I took a class from Annie Modesitt on cabling without a cable needle and the technique works great. I hating cabling until then, all that needle fumbling was annoying. Now I love it and am working on an intricate cabled sweater for my hubby.
I CAN do this, but I find it slower for me than the way I originally learned. I plan to “practice” cabling without a needle, but I seriously don’t think this is the project to practice on, know what I mean? That’s a great idea though, to just do away with it so I don’t have to keep track of it. I think it might make nicer cables too…no stretching things or making elongated stitches that can happen when you put stitches on an extra needle.
Right now, I’m working on some dishcloths for my Grandma. She asked me to make her a couple 4 or 5 years ago, and when I went to visit her last, I noticed that she was still using them, and they weren’t looking so good anymore. So, I decided to make her some for Christmas. This has also let me play with patterns and things in very small projects. The one I’m working on now is my first ever cabled project! (So far I’ve just been setting the cable needle down on the end table or couch next to me.)
Persons who are proud of the labor they put into their socks. My ravatar on Ravelry features one and a half rainbow-y Noro socks. ( it would feature two, but I misplaced sock one while knitting the second half of sock two).
I did too, but I haven’t really practiced it (she was our teacher at the retreat last year). Actually I forgot, I usually use a dpn as my cable needle. I don’t do much cabling in general.
I’m doing my first lace shawl. I’m up to the third of 6 pattern repeats on chart 1 of 4. Yeeeehaaaaa. I’m so proud of myself for deciding I could do it. And I can.
That’s one of the ones in my queue I think… I have so many though, so I’m concentrating on the one I have started. This is the one then I want to work on the newest kit(completely skipping Summer for now) but I have to finish this one first. I just finished the second body repeat, three more to go before the edging… This part is pretty easy, as long as I don’t lose which line I am on I can kinda skim along while watching a movie.
If I’m doing cables, I usually sit with one leg crossed over the other and just stick the needle I’m not using between my thighs (carefully!).
I’m curious about Annie Modesitt’s no-needle technique. I’ve got a copy of her book “The Knitting Heretic”, and I’ll investigate in case it’s in there. I love the way she thinks outside the box.
