S.E.X.*

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*Stash Enhancement EXperience...big time! I got a big box of yarn in the mail yesterday from my mother and sister!

This first batch I'm sure was mostly destined to become an afghan like this. Not sure why mom changed her mind. She had an afghan like this many years ago when she lived in here in the desert. I've tried several times to make one but just never could get it right.This was to be a baby afghan as you cans see from what Mom has done so far. I passed this on to Youngest Daughter as she does far more crochet than I do and is far more adventurous in her work, like my mom. I'm a real "meat and potatoes" type of crocheter.
This is the bag my sister sent for mittnz and such. The shrug went to the frog pond. The white and purple was just too much of a contrast and I like the variations in the purple so over dyeing was just not a good thing. So I made a trip to the LYS to see what I could find to use along with what I had.A purple skein of Cascade 220 and a skein of Kid Seta, a mohair silk blend, did the trick. I am now doing two rows of each set and they compliment each other very well. This time it's just a simple drop stitch pattern for the sleeves and maybe something more adventerous for the back.

Look at these very cute baby mittens that go with this very cute baby hat!

Shrug!

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Well, I didn't work on socks at all yesterday. Somewhere a lightbulb went off and I thought of a project I could make for my Eldest Daughter in Hawaii. As I don't have a stash of nice cottons, I'm always at a loss. So I thought a shrug would be a good idea. It'll be a narrow shrug, just sleeves and a bit of covering on the upper back. Very simple in construction: A rectangle that is as long as the sleeve length plus the distance across the back. Sleeves will be seamed and the back left open. Kinda like the Modesty Shrug. So, I started out with this pattern for the sleeves: Row 1: K1, YO, K2tog; Row 2: Knit; Row 3: K2, YO, K2tog; Row 4: KnitThen I switched to cables for the back: Row 1: Knit; Even Rows: Purl, Row 3: K2, C4B; Row 5: Knit; Row 7: C4F K2; Row 8: Purl
Those took me to almost the center of the back. Seeing I don't have measurements, I'm doing four repeats of: Row 1: K; Row 2: P; Row 3: K; Row 4: K; Row 5: P; Row 6: K. Those rows kind of pull together to form a soft ribbing that runs the perpendicular to regular K2, P2 type ribbings. It'll pull together if I make the back too wide, or pull apart some if the relaxed measurement is too small. At least that's the theory. Then I'll do the cables and the open pattern to finish the knitting.

The only iffy part is that I don't have enough yarn to do both sections identically. The part I've done is Malabrigo and Idena Mohair Lux. Very soft and slightly furry. I have some other purple and some handspun white mohair that combined is the same weight as the Malabrigo and Mohair Lux. I just don't know if it's gonna look like a clown shrug then with the two halves slightly different.... I suppose if it does, I can dye the whole thing a deep purple and that'll be that! Fortunately Eldest Daughter loves purple!

Monday Mourning: A Tempe Brennan Novel by Kathy Reichs

rating: 3 of 5 stars
A good book! I didn't have any good guesses on who the perp was until close to the ending. I did figure it out before Tempe and Ryan did, but not till the end which is okay.

Tempe is brought in to help identify three skeletons found buried in the basement of a pizza-by-the-slice joint. Although the police are willing to write them off as "old" bones from the last century, Tempe's not. With the assistance of her best friend, Ann, visiting from North Carolina and her heart throb, Ryan (who has suddenly been acting a bit stand offish and cool) and finally the police, she discovers who the three individuals are, who killed them and why.

Although the formula for Reichs' books is pretty predictable and the highly intelligent Temperance Brennan looses all her common sense to meet the killer face to face alone, it's still a good read.

These books are the very minute basis for Bones, a TV show on the Fox network. The only things the books and show have in common is a forensic anthropologist name Temperance Brennan who works with a hunky law enforcement investigator. Both the show and the books are good in their own rights, but don't expect to find the lab, the lab assistants and the Smithsonian in the books.

The Calling by Inger Ash Wolfe

rating: 5 of 5 stars
What a great murder(s) mystery! It was a little slow in the beginning, but it picked up pace until it was a page turner in the last 150 pages or so. Although all the way through the book we knew "whodunit" how he was going to be caught and if he'd ever be caught was always up in the air. The ending was unusual, but very very good.

View all my reviews.

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Bellamoden has a unique item in her etsy store. She'll sell you several small balls of sock yarn (100 g total) so you can make your own Dobby Socks!

Speaking of Dobby Socks: Check out Kathleen's! Wow!

May 9, 2007

Baby socks done!

Fraternal socks again....and this time I thought I'd CO in the same place in the yarn repeats so I'd have at least almost matching socks. Oh well...great conversation starters!

And I CO the next sock! This is an adult sock....for who I haven't decided yet.

I'm using this yarn I dyed up in February.

I'm working on a hat for Michelle "upstairs." I was gifted with four skeins of LB Homespun and am using one for the next hat. Again, it's a "I'm making it up as I go along" hat. I am making a 6 x 17 inch rectangle. I'll seam it up, pick up sts along one end of the tube, and finish off the top. I like the way the garter st stretches to fit without there being a definitive cuff. And garter sts is about the only thing I'm willing to do for any length of time with Homespun. I dislike working with yarn, but do like the look of the finished item.

Dances with Wool explains the "natural" way wool was combed and carded before these tools were created. Just one of those little bits of information to throw into a conversation that will end it quickly! Unless you're around other fiber workers!

Knitting at Noon has the pattern for that mitered blanket that so many people seem to be making. Another good use for small amounts of yarns!

Everwhelming Liz has issued a Sock-In-a-Day Challenge. You can pick "your" day over a two week period and have 18 hours to make the sock. If you can't dedicate a day to it, then you can dedicate 18 hours to make the sock. No miniature or baby socks, though. Once you finish and turn in the pic of your sock, you'll be entered into a drawing for two tiny socks like these made from your choice of her left over sock yarn! Sounds like fun! I may have to just go sign up. I should be ready to work on the second sock of the ones I just cast on in that time period! EDIT: I just signed up for it. Come join, too!

For those cat lovers The Daily Kitten will give you a good dose of cute. I entered a picture of one of my cats when he was little!

That, should you want to know, is a knitting loom. (Knifty Knitters in the craft stores.) I got them back when I despaired of every learning to knit. They do make neat hats and with all the different sizes, one can make just about anything with them: sweaters, socks, bags, shawls, afghans, toys, scarves....

My daughter's been asking me to make her a shrug.... I'm thinking something simple The more I look at them, it's just a long rectangle folded in half lengthwise and sleeves seamed..... I guess I'll make one for my grand daughter first to get a feel for it. My daughter wants it snug...nothing hanging loose at all.... Anyone have any experiences to share about making shrugs?