It’s Ba-ack…

My knitting mojo, that is.

Thank you, Adalisa, for suggesting I try Wingspan!

Here is the finished project.  Not the greatest picture, because my room has yellow lighting rather than natural.  The yarns I used were:

Denim Variegated:  Ethereal Fibers Nebula Sock Yarn in the “Bondage Password” colorway.  Melon Variegated:  Fleece Artist’s Special Nyoni in the “Melon” colorway.

Did the project on an old Size 4 circular needle that was my Mom’s, and bound off with a Size 5 bamboo needle.

I can already think of a couple of variations I would like to try on this pattern, too.

I’ve gotten a fair amount of knitting in over the last few days, thanks to Hurricane Sandy. We were very lucky — the Belt Parkway, with it’s bedrock base, is elevated pretty high at out latitude, and made a great berm against the water.  We have light and power, and have had them throughout, except for three hours or so last night, when Con Edison took down the power in a large area of Brooklyn (Homecrest, Sheepshead Bay, Midwood, and a huge chunk of Flatbush) in order to prevent further transformer failures while they tried to fix the problem.  I caught a nice nap while the power was down.

My next knitting will be to try to finish the socks for Stephen Colbert that I committed to doing.  I got all but about 2/3 of the feet done before my knitting mojo went on vacation, so I don’t expect it to take too long to finish them.

Not too much else to say right now, except that if you were in Hurricane Sandy’s path at all I hope that its impact on you and yours was minimal.  I know that so far, in New York State there are 26 deaths attributed to the storm.  And, while I know that that 26 deaths too many, I also know that Hurricane Katrina killed over 1,800 people in New Orleans.   Given that New Orleans is one city, and New York is a state, only 26 deaths in the state from something like this is an amazingly low count.  I also know the property damage is beyond belief, but — seriously,  folks — property can be repaired or replaced; people, not so much.

Anyway, to those of you in the area affected either by Hurricane Sandy, the earthquake near British Columbia, or any of the other disasters we seem to face on a more and more regular basis, please take care and stay as safe as possible.

See everyone next week, God willing and the water don’t rise again.

 

My Knitting Mojo Seems to be Returning

Thanks to the lovely Adalisa, who suggested that I try the Wingspan Shawl.  It’ an easy knit, and come out very pretty.  I’m doing mine in Ethereal Fibers’  Nebula Sock Yarn, in the Bondage Password colorway, which is a lovely denim variegated, with splashes of pale pink, and Fleece Artist’s Special Nyoni, in the Melon colorway.  I’m doing two wedges of Bondage Password, one wedge of Melon, two wedges of Bondage Password, one wedge of Melon, and two wedges of Bondage Password. I’m currently on the first block of Melon, and it look perfect next to the Bondage Password.

I’m also using the lovely stitch markers I purchased earlier in the year from KnittingsMyBag at Etsy.com.

So that’s what’s been happening with me knittingwise this week.

What have you guys been up to?

On Being a Lapsed Knitter

On one of my knitting lists, an acquaintance described herself as being a lapsed knitter.  While I will probably never get to that point, it’s a scary thought.

I don’t want to be a lapsed knitter.  I want to be chugging along with several projects on my needles, and a ton more in my to be done queue.

But when my knitting mojo vanishes for over two months, the thought arises that I am heading toward being a lapsed knitter.

Therefore, I am asking for help:  What projects do you use to kick yourself back into gear?  Suggestions for projects on Ravelry are welcome, especially if the patterns are free!  

What’s Your Favorite?

Moat of us have favorites.  This holds true for knitting and crocheting just as much as for authors, foods, or anything else.  So, here are some of mine:

• Things to Knit:  Socks, Shawls
• Knitting Needles:  My Size 00 Addi Turbo Laceweights
• Crochet Hooks:  My old Boye steel hooks
• Yarn Weights:  Sock, Lace
• Yarn Colors:  Blue, Purple, Rose, Peach/Coral; Burgundy, Cerise, Variegated
• Indie Dyers:  Kellee at Ethereal Fibers; Morandia at MIB Fibers; Melissa at Keegan Lane Yarns
• Designers:  Wendy from Wendy Knits; Annie Kuo Lukito; Elizabeth Zimmermann; Cookie A
• Times to Knit:  Watching TV; riding in a car
• Patterns in my Ravelry Queue:  543
• Types of Knitting:  Fisherman, Lace, Textured, Mitered, Fair Isle, Double-Knitting
• Type of Crochet:  Filet
• Favorite Sock Cuff:  Folded Picot
• Favorite Cast-Off:  Jeny’s Stretchy

Favorite Cast-Ons:  Mock Long-Tail; Queen Kahuna’s

So, those are my favorites.  What are yours?

Tools of the Trade: Knitting Needles

 

Photo Copyright ©2012, Deborah J. Wunder

Like most knitters, I have, over the years, accumulated a fairly impressive stash of knitting needles.

I have a ton of old-fashioned straight aluminum & steel needles in two lengths, an original Boye Needlemaster set, my Mom’s ancient (from the 1940’s) set in a red plastic case, bamboo straight needles, a set o French straight plastic needles with spring steel cores, a set of French plastic double-pointed needles with spring steel cores, aluminum circular needles in varying lengths and sizes, plastic circular needles in varying shapes and sizes, a few bamboo circular needles, various sets of double pointed needles in aluminum (including one from the 1950s from England), and Goddess only knows how many odd sets of needles of one kind or another.  We won’t even go into the crochet hooks, or I’d be here all night.

As any knitter or crocheter knows, these needles do accumulate.  Sometimes, you inherit a loved one’s needles; sometimes you need another pair in a particular size because the pair you have is already in use; sometimes a new thing catches your eye and you want to try it (casein needles, anyone?  Square aluminum needles?).

Every so often, I look at the drawerful of needles, the vase on my desk full of straight needles, and the jarful of crochet hooks, and contemplate thinning them out.  But how can I choose?  Each set or pair has a ton of memories attached to it, because they have all been well-used.

Even the oddities — the afghan hook, the hairpin lace pins, the lucet — have had their day in the sun.    I have not yet succumbed to the new Leisure Arts Knook, however.  Opinion on it seems very divided — the crocheters love it, the knitters don’t.  And since money is tight, and I both knit and crochet, I am not feeling greatly impelled to buy one.

The needles I currently find myself using most of the time are my circulars.  I have been knitting mostly socks over the last two years, and I magic loop, so I have two pairs of 00’s in the 24-inch length, and two in the 32″ length.  All our sets are Addi Turbos.  I love the action (they are nice, fast needles).  One day, I would love to own the whole Addi line.

So, tonight’s request is:  Tell me about your needle stash!  Did you buy the majority of your needles?  Inherit them?  Buy sets or individual needle pairs?  What needles do you use most often these days?