Finishes and Starts

This week I not only finished the Inside Out Socks, but also the beaded cuff that I started (several times) while I was in AZ in March. Once the beads are on the yarn, the knitting is speedy--until you come to a bead stringing error, and need to rip out a row, cut the yarn, fix the order of the beads, and then continue. This only happened once on this cuff, and not until I was very close to the end, so it wasn't much of a problem at all. I haven't started stringing the beads for cuff #2, which will use the same beads / yarn, but will most likely have rows of beads rather than squares. I like how this worked out with my first pair, and it livens things up a little. Here's an on-arm photos, showing the cuff in action:

Yikes, my hand looks huge in this photos--I'm trying to convince myself that the problem is the angle of the photo, so if you feel differently keep it to yourself! No ETA on when I will start cuff #2, I've got to get fired up to string beads again, so it may be awhile.

While on the plane to LA last weekend, I started a new pair of Anemoi mittens. The beaded cuff and the inside out socks were too close to being finished to take along, and the Bohus and Wicked are too bulky. The patten is, of course, from Eunny Jang, and this time I'm using solid colored Louet Gems yarn. I love the way the variagated Sundara yarn looked in the last pair, but I wanted to try some colors that were more muted and less contrasty. Here's the palm:

and here's the top of the hand:

So far, so good, right? Today I'm too tired to work from a chart, so I've started yet another new project, this one for Project Spectrum. And did I mention that I started a new pair of socks this week, plain stockinette socks that I can knit in the car? So in the last week, I finished two projects, and started three new projects--hmmm, no wonder I'm slipping further behind . . .

It's Not That Distracting

Beaded cuff, as of Saturday Morning

Thanks for the nice comments about my weekend. I know that in the grand scheme of things that I don't really have much to complain about, but I am more than a little burned out right now and it makes me very grouchy.

Desiknitter (check out her Spiral Scarf, it's awesome) asked a good question about the Bohus class I took--why the class was helpful for knitting the actual sweater. The class used a chart just like the chart for the sweater yoke, which was excellent practice. The charts used for Bohus aren't quite like other charts--the sitch repeats from row to row aren't necessarily symmetrical, so you have to pick out the repeat for each row and follow it to the end. There are also a lot of colors to manage--up to four in a single row. The class was definitely a confidence builder in that area, and gave me a good idea of what is required in terms of concentration. This is not car knitting! On the most basic level, I don't think I would have bothered to order a kit from Sweden if I hadn't seen the original garments and used the same yarn that comes in the kit for the class project. Speaking of the Bohus, I've made some good progress, and will post more photos soon.

Recently I restarted the Beaded Cuff that I began while in Phoenix for Spring training, and I've been using it as my in-car project now that my second Inside Out sock is in the cabling section and is therefore unsuitable for the car. My commute isn't very long by Seattle standards, but there are a few very long lights on the route and it's easy to do a little knitting while I wait. Only. While. Waiting. Not. While. Driving. The projects that are ideal for car knitting fit the following criteria:

• very small: socks, beaded cuffs, maybe a simple scarf
• use circulars: less poking potential, less likely to slide off
• no or very simple pattern: no need to keep track of rows or complicated repeats
• not too slippery: the key is being able to drop the project onto your lap and drive as soon as the light turns green
• fewer stitches per row will make it easier to see progress

Sometimes, I hit most of the lights at the right time and don't get any knitting done, but in the last four days I've gone from the photo above to this (less interestingly posed) photo:

Beaded Cuff as of Tuesday Evening

Granted, I did get a little knitting in at work over the weekend, as I repeatedly rebooted my computer when it crashed for no apparent reason, but the vast majority was knit at stoplights or the Starbucks drive-thru line. I'm still surprised that I've knit so much of it in four days, a couple of minutes at a time. It's surprisingly tricky to photograph this sucker, but I guess I had the same problem when I started it the first time. Maybe some natural light would help?? The beads came from Confetti--the Bead Place, there are six different types of seed beads in greens, blues, and greys. My favorites are the metallic green beads, and my least favorite are the clear green beads. The yarn is Rowan 4 ply soft from the Needler's Nest, and the needles are size 0 Knitpicks. The pattern is Susanna's. I'm hoping to finish this cuff up this week so I can start a new on this weekend, on my trip to LA to visit some friends. The trick is finding time to string the beads, I definitely can't do that on the plane. Or while sitting in the car, waiting for the light to change.

Back on Track

After a stupidity-related hiatus (I left the pattern at home when I went to PHX), the Monsoon socks are back on track. I had a few offers for pattern help from some very kind Phoenix area knitters, but it was really too hot for me to knit much. Plus, I had a few other things to work on, so I decided to wait until I was home. Last night I finished the heel and switched to larger needles for the leg. I'm not yet to the first cable, so I'm not 100% sure that I switched to the right size needle--Knitpicks US#2--I should know in another couple of inches. I really like the way that other RSC knitters' socks have turned out, and the way that the stripes are shaping up. It does freak me out a little to see the sock growing in the leg-up direction, I haven't made toe-up socks before!

As for the new knitting I started in PHX, it has been ripped back and will probably be restarted on the Boston trip. I checked out the pattern, and I think I used smaller needles last time, so I'm planning to go down to US#0. Here's how it looks now:

I love the way the beads space out when I rip out the rows--they bunch up again in places, but are (or should be) very even. Maybe a future project would be a cuff that randomly spaces the beads like this?

The coooool greys

Although I brought along (and have photographic proof of progress made on) several knitting projects for my trip, I didn't plan quite as well as I should have. For instance, I brought two sock projects with me, but didn't bring the pattern for either one of them. The third project was the Print O' the Wave shawl, which is great for the airplane but not great for the ballpark or for evenings after a loooong day in the sun--too much concentration required. So I started a new project, with beads from Confetti-The Bead Place, and yarn (I think Rowan 4 Ply Soft) from The Needler's Nest. These are a repeat of the beaded cuffs that I made for my niece for Christmas, but there's a small problem:

I didn't have the pattern with me, but I checked out the photo of the finished cuffs and used it as a guide for string the beads into the right groups. Unfortunately, I didn't do a good job of counting--the number of stitches before the beads are placed is different on each side. And it took me a long time to figure it out. Booooo! I'll probably rip this out and start again using the pattern, since the knitting part didn't take that much time--it's the stringing of the beads that takes a whole lot of time. These cuffs will be more subtle than the first pair, and there are six different colors of beads instead of just two. I like the cool grey with the green, blue, and black beads--they're sort of the antithesis of the other yarn I bought in AZ, as well as the hot sun that has left me all red and blotchy. One of the colors is a matte metal green bead, those are my favorite.