That's a lot of moss stitch

Wow - my hands hurt. 10 days for the back of the Minimalist cardigan - here it is:



Pattern mods to date: instead of binding off the shoulders "stair step" style, I did short rows (wrap and turn) at the indicated points in the pattern. I'll do a three-needle bind off instead of a shoulder seam. Less bulky that way.

Looks like my gauge was a little loose near the bottom of the sweater - gauge measured just about right closer to the top. Still, only off by a fraction of an stitch/4", so not sure I can really do much about it. My swatching changing needle sizes made full stitch adjustments in the gauge. This is a very stretchy fabric though. I hope it doesn't start to sag when I start wearing it (something a 4" swatch will not tell me). The yarn is Knit Picks Andean Silk. Very nice to work with, very soft.

I learned something new

Last weekend I went shopping for shoes with handknit socks on, determined to find shoes to wear with such socks. After many hopeless attempts to get into my regular size, I asked the salesman (fancy store with salesman instead of my usual el-cheapo self-serve shoe store) to bring me the next size up. He said no, the next size up would be too long, and my heel would be slipping out of the shoes when I walked. What I needed was a wide shoe, to accomodate the bulky socks, and to go a half size DOWN. That's right, an 8.5W is the same length as a 9 regular. In the process of keeping the proportions right when they make a shoe wider, they also make it a little longer. I had no idea. I bought two pairs from him. They are very comfortable, and don't pinch at all with my handknit socks on. I may send him a holiday gift, who knows?

The plant

Woot! Still going strong -


Umm, anybody know what kind of plant this is? I lost the tag it came with.

Looking forward to another unseasonably warm week - I can't believe it's October. It just seems so wrong to be looking at pumpkins already. We just deflated the kiddie pool today.

Well, must get ready for the season premiere of Desparate Housewives - guilty pleasure you know.

Lookit!

Lookit!



Lookit!



Are you lookiting? (5 points to whoever can recall the source of this "word" and its context as originally published)

My plant is flowering! Pretty! And there are new buds on several of the other branches too - I may get multiple flowers - I can't believe it.

Minimalist sweater

No photo yet - my hands are aching too much tonight, and the lights not good. Umm, what the heck was I thinking, a whole sweater in Moss Stitch? Owie. At least its only 5 spi.

Typing hurts too, so good night.

Coronet

And the winner of the "what shall I knit next?" contest is....

Coronet

Pattern: Coronet
Source: Knitty
Yarn: Malabrigo in "Velvet Grapes"
Needles: US8
Time to complete - less than 1 week

This yarn was a gift from my very first SP ever - it has been marinating in stash since last summer. I wanted to do something yummy with it, but I wanted to minimize pilling, since I've heard that happens a lot with this yarn. It is so soft and lovely to work with - I can see why people get addicted. Of the 100 g skein, I had 23 g left over - wrist warmers?

A busy, busy weekend here, getting ready for DH's next business trip. He's gone all next week, but my inlaws are coming down for a couple of days to help out and visit with Audrey. Which means the house has to be clean, and some food in the fridge. Other highlights of the weekend - painted the trim around the garage door (steel blue), took Audrey to a swimming lesson, bought new work clothes for the fall (20% off at Eddie Bauer - woo hoo!), shopped for final SP package, and watched the first two hours of "The Seven Samurai", because we've never seen it. There's still an hour and a half left to go, I think that will be next weekend's entertainment.

Speaking of movies, I just got a call from a telephone survey that wanted to discuss my movie viewing habits. Since I have not been to a movie in the last two months, and can't remember if I have seen 4 movies in the last 12 months, she apologized for wasting my time and hung up. How pathetic is that? Ah well, that's why we have Netflix.

In other news:

Bud Watch

Jaywalkers

Jaywalker socks are finished! A quick knit - each sock took about 8 days, with about a month rest between them (life got in the way). I like the way this yarn worked with these socks - there was some pooling in the stockinette sections on the sole of the foot, but in the leg section, just short stretches of color. I ended up staying with the original needle size - recall I was worried it would be too tight in the ankle. Remembering that yarn tends to stretch with wearing and washing, I stuck with it and am pleased to say they were quite comfortable in their maiden wearing today.

Jaywalkers

Pattern: Jaywalkers (by Grumperina for Magknits)
Yarn: Brown Sheep Wildfoote in Lilac Desert
Needles: US1 bamboo

Bud Watch

You know, I think this plant is trying to flower. I'm not sure, because no house plant of mine has ever done that before, but I'm keeping an eye on it just in case.

Squee!

I have the best SP! Look what was waiting for me when I got home from vacation:




Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Mixed Berries, some hot pink roving,

And...


Snacks! Pomegranate hot tea, instant iced tea (blueberry and peach), fruit gummy snacks, orange chocolate, and a box of votive candles in an intense "Midnight Bloom" scent. Which translates into (French?) as "Plante Carnivore". Carnivorous plant. Not quite as romantic as midnight bloom, but more practical from a personal safety point of view.

Sense a theme here? I think this is Fruits and Berries month! In addition there was a "merlot" tinted lip gloss. (Think grapes)

What a lucky girl I am! My SP has really outdone herself - I need to "pass it on" and hit the shops for my downstream too - one more package to go!

And in spinning news:




I got about 200 yds of 2 ply yarn from my 4 oz of roving.

I finished (almost) my second Jaywalker sock over vacation. All that's left is to Kitchener closed the toe. Next post, I suppose.

Up next? Yikes, so many choices! I ordered the yarn (Andean Silk) for the Minimalist Cardigan (IK Fall 2007) and it arrived Saturday. But then, I have this new sock yarn to drool on, as well as some equally drool-worthy STR sock yarn from the Sock Swap this past spring. I bought 3 more skeins of sock yarn over the summer - tofutsies, Crystal Palace cotton, and Regia Bamboo - but those are going to wait until late in the winter, to be ready for cool summer socks. Rummaging through my list of projects to do - I see a couple of quick scarves and hats that I may push ahead of the cardigan. Oh yeah, I promised Audrey a new winter sweater too.
And there's still plenty of fiber to spin!

Later!