Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Fancy Silk Socks

Yarn: Regia Bamboo -- 50/50 Bamboo and superwash wool. Fancy Silk refers to the pattern name -- a la Nancy Bush from the book Vintage Socks. 5 months to knit a pair of socks. Longer than usual because I ripped back the first one from mid-foot to before the heel. You can't see from the picture here (hint -- you can always click on my pictures to get the full size) but there's a vertical lace in the rib that needed to land along side the foot -- I missed the first time and didn't realize it until halfway through the foot.

Stash Reduction: 2 balls (I know, I know socks don't count...)

Now I get to pick out another pair to start. I bought a bunch of patterns at my LYS from this designer. So maybe I'll knit one of those...since the stash diet I seem to have an endless supply in sock yarn, go figure...in the meantime Wendy Knits (see link on sidebar) put a picture of her fridge a few weeks back. I've always thought refrigerators were interesting, so here's mine. Enjoy!

Saturday, April 21, 2007

Ribwarmer

Looks more like a vest made from one of those woven mexican blankets. I dug deep into the stash for this project. Some self striping Noro wool blend bought for a ribwarmer. 6 sks. I used a variation that allowed me to knit the two fronts and join them to knit the back in one piece! It's a bit long though. There are several things I think I'd do to make this more...um...wearable; 1) shorten the armhole depth; 2) round out the turns for the fronts and back (like the original pattern); 3) short-row some bust-darts. This would make it more bolero-style and I may even do it sometime soon in a wool silk! It was a bit stiff coming off the needles and it definitely improved once I had it washed and blocked. Very fun to knit -- esp with the striping!

stash reduction: 3.5 sks.

Thursday, April 12, 2007

Self striping?

What do you think?
It's one skein of Lorna's Laces Lion and Lamb in Purple club. At the top of the picture what the yarn looked like when it was dyed. The colors actually started pooling, not striping and it all started quite by accident. I didn't even notice, focusing instead on the stitch pattern I was trying out here. Don't ask, it's a long story. Anyways when I started to see what was happening it became of game of how long can I keep it going? I don't usually try this on purpose -- in fact I abhore pooling in any other project, but this? I think it's cool!

Stash reduction: 1 sk