On My Needles || Effortless Cardigan

Look at that photo and tell me you don't love that colorway.  Green is my favorite color anyway, but to have so many glorious shades of it in one piece is pretty magical... or at least for me.  The yarn is Knit Picks Swish Tonal in Canopy.  I can already tell I'm going to love wearing this cardigan, so much that I might have to make another eventually.The Effortless Cardigan is just that: effortless.  Completely.  Since it's all knit in Stockinette stitch (with exception of the rib section at the bottom), it's a perfect mindless project for traveling or watching a movie.  I decided to start on it so I would have something to work on during our vacation to the northwest, and it really helped pass the time on our flights and in the car, or just during downtime at the hotel/campsite when I was too tired to do anything else.

At this point I'm about to bind of the body section and then all I will have left is the sleeves!  I can't believe how fast it's gone.  I'll probably be able to share some photos of the finished product in the next week or two, and with the way the weather has been going recently I might be able to start wearing it (for real!) by then too!  Thank you Mother Nature for giving us a 20 degree break from that horrendous summer weather.

On My Needles || Another Mantra

I enjoyed creating my first Mantra Scarf so much that I recently decided to chart out some different phrases to knit up as well.  The one I'm working on currently is for my best friend Sarah, but I have decided to continue making these and to offer them in my online shop once I have enough inventory to open.  The mantra woven into this piece is "Feel Everything", a phrase that has stuck in my head since I started listening to Fiona Apple's new album. I've been using fair isle technique for weaving in the floats, and this is my first attempt at English/Continental style knitting.  It's somewhat difficult to get the hang of, but I'm getting used to it (and my fingers are cramping up less).  I must say it's odd knitting with two strands of yarn, one in each hand, but I'm glad I've been able to practice a new technique and improve my skills through this process.  My hope is to finish this scarf later this week (time permitting - Oregon is coming up fast and I still have over a hundred bits of fungi to assemble for my first Decomposition installation.)  In any case, have a look!  :)

On My Needles || July 2012

I tend to keep a number of projects going all at once, so rather than highlighting a single work in progress, here are some updates on the items I've got going.  Not included are the mushroom caps I've been working on for my Wood Decay Fungi project, which I'm now leaning toward titling "Decomposition".  With that project I'm finally past the knitting stage and am working on getting the caps assembled and ready for installation.  Hopefully you'll see something on this by summer's end. Foundations

As I've mentioned before, this is an original pattern that I am designing as a gift for a friend.  The finished garment is a baby blanket, although it could probably be knit up in a super bulky gauge in cotton and would make a really cool rug.  I'm not going to say too much about it until it's finished and in its home, but as I'm a tree hugger, think about the title and that together and let your imagination run wild!  The yarn I'm using for this project is Knit Picks Swish DK in Bark.

Aran Braided Sock

I've been working on this for a few weeks now, since I finished my first pair of socks.  It's going somewhat slowly since I just pick it up here and there (mostly during my lunch break at work), but I love how the color striping lays out on the diagonal.  You've got the braid texture from the cabling and also the spiral of hues running down the length of the sock; it's gorgeous!  Can't wait to finish these up and start wearing them. The yarn is Staccato Sock by Shibui, which is a super wash merino blend with silk and nylon.  The color is #161.

Mantra Scarf

I've decided to expand on Mantra and develop charts for some new phrases and make an entire series.  Since I've been a little inspired by Fiona Apple's new album as of late, the phrase "Feel Everything" really stood out to me and I decided to use it as the next phrase.  I'm working on my continental style knitting so I can more efficiently weave in the floats.  If I can get it down pretty well then I think I will enjoy making a lot of these.  My yarn of choice for Mantra is Berroco's Ultra Alpaca.  The main color (background) shade is called "Moonshadow" in this current scarf, which I love.  It's not too far along yet, but here's what I've got so far.

On My Needles: Baudelaire Sock

J and I spent the weekend camping in Arkansas, which was a much needed excursion.  Aside from enjoying some peace and quiet and geeking out over minute details of the natural world as I often do (hikes sometimes take twice as long as they should because I constantly stop and look at things.... I'm married to a very patient man)..... I also picked up a project that I have not worked on in quite some time, the Baudelaire sock from Knitty's Summer 2006 issue.  I have a couple of things about this project: First, SHAME ON ME for taking so long to complete this.  I started this thing in the winter of 2010.  Of course, it was my very first sock and I probably could have chosen something a little less intricate for that milestone.  Honestly though, it's been sitting there all by its lonesome on my knitting shelf like so many other projects that I start.  I'm so bad about this!  (There is a beautiful Berrocco tunic in Lustra all knitted up and just waiting to be seamed together, abandoned for almost a year.  ugh)  However, I finished the first sock on our camping trip and am about to start the heel of the second so it should be done in the next day or two!

Secondly, WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH ME for not trying to knit socks sooner?  They are fast, fun, the yarn is always gorgeous and they feel amazing!  I had an aversion to wearing shoes in my college days, so this may be part of the reason but now that I work outside a lot and need close toed shoes, I see the value in a nice sock.  As soon as that first finished sock went on my foot I had an instantaneous vision of myself lazing about watching Harry Potter or what-have-you on my couch wearing these ridiculously comfortable and beautiful socks!  Of course, some slippers might need to be thrown into the mix there because (at least for now) I don't want to walk around in them on my wood floor that hardly ever stays clean for more than a day after I mop it.  Needless to say, I am now addicted to socks!  It's a good thing too, because I have a few skeins of sock yarn in my stash that I bought simply because the colors were too tempting to pass up (and probably spent a little more than I would have otherwise).  Plus, most of my socks have holes in them now, so there you go!  Win-win, right?

Here are a couple of insta-photos of sock number one and sock number two in progress.  I'll get some more after I finish the second one.... and don't be surprised if you see a new sock project go up soon after this one is completed.

I have a couple of feature ideas for the blog that I may be trying out soon, just to get things a little more structured.  For now, I will leave you with these: