by Michelle on May 25, 2008
Emma asked us to post a “first” in knitting, and initially I couldn’t really think of anything. I’m pretty adventurous, so there isn’t much I’ve *never* tried. Perhaps my imagination is failing me, though. 
However, I did recently learn a new technique which I used on my Twisted Sky Socks: knitting socks on two circular needles. Here they are again:
I love this technique so much that I’ve also used it for my latest pair, the Sorta Charade Socks:
These aren’t quite finished yet–I’ll get a much better picture once they are.
The Sorta Charade Socks are another first for me. I started out making a pair of the popular Charade Socks (I think you have to be on Ravelry to get the pattern), but ended up adapting that pattern to the sky architecture (used in my Twisted Sky Socks) from Cat Bordhi’s book, New Pathways for Sock Knitters. Basically, I ended up taking the stitch pattern from Charade and putting into the Master Sky sock architecture from the book. Not quite an original design, but fun and unique!
by Michelle on May 6, 2008
So we took a few pictures yesterday. We were down in Tualatin, meeting Mom for lunch, but we were about half an hour early so we made a little side trip over to the little man-made lake in the center of Tualatin. For the first year and a half that I lived in the Portland area, I lived on this little lake. I miss the view and the geese, although I do like our house and living in SE Portland.
Nik and I ate dinner here on our first date:
That’s Hayden’s Grill, and those are people dining lakeside while enjoying the sun, as Nik and I did on our first date. It’s on the south end of the lake; I lived in an apartment on the north end. (The path around the lake is only about 1/3 of a mile–all the way around–which is why I have a habit of referring to it as “the little lake.”)
The purpose of our side trip, though, wasn’t so much a trip down memory lane (although that’s always nice!), but rather for these:
The Twisted Sky Socks, brilliant in the sunshine! (I love the brightness of those colors–and people’s reactions to them.)
And, finally, Flair:
(Is my hair getting too long?)
And a bonus, since I grabbed it on the way out the door, too. My Dream in Color shrug, which I knitted, oh, last summer, I think, but never managed to take pictures of:
This shrug is from the Dream in Color Shrug pattern, and is knit in Dream in Color Classy (the color is Spring Tickle). I absolutely love this pattern, and this yarn. I still want to make another one.
Tomorrow is my loooong day at work. I’m hesitant to get my hopes up, but if today was any indication tomorrow should be one of the better processing Tuesdays. Which means I might be done by 6:30 instead of 8:30–at least so long as the day doesn’t begin with a note like this. (That’s from two weeks ago–scary start to the day.)
Unless I collapse from exhaustion by the time I get home tomorrow, I expect to be back with pictures of the in-progress Charade sock (pretty, pretty yarn!) and Follow the Leader shawl. Amazingly, I’m making decent progress on both. 
by Michelle on May 4, 2008
I think I could eat artichokes every day of my life. This was tonight’s dinner–along with some tater tots.
Well, the sun never did decide to show itself today so I didn’t take any knitting-related pictures (thus the picture of my dinner instead). However, I did finish the Twisted Sky Socks! They’re awesome and I love them. I have hope that the sun will shine enough tomorrow to get a decent picture.
Tomorrow is my mom’s birthday, and I have no gift for her because I have been completely uninspired. I do have yarn + pattern for a shawl for her, but haven’t started it yet. It would be nice if I could come up with *something* before we take her out to lunch tomorrow…but I may have to settle for, “I’m working on something awesome for you!” (which means I really need to get it on the needles so I’m not also lying…haha).
The yarn is awesome, Cherry Tree Hill Merino Lace in the color Green Mountain Madness (picture here). I also think the pattern I chose will be an enjoyable knit, so why haven’t I started it yet?
I think…I’m intimidated by having to wind that humongous hank of yarn into a ball.
So, maybe that’s what I’ll spend the rest of the evening doing: winding yarn. I have the lace for Mom’s shawl and a hank of sock yarn that also needs winding. (I finished one pair, time to start another, right?)
by Michelle on May 2, 2008
Do you ever sit down to write a blog post and nothing coherent wants to come out? I have all sorts of topics I could discuss, from knitting to upcoming house projects to Nik’s vision problems. But I’ve started this post about five times already and…meh.
So…I’ll save the majority of it until another time. I can summarize my knitting of late, though:
- I’ve done 5 squares so far for my Lizard Ridge. They’re gorgeous and I can’t wait to get more Kureyon to make some more.
- My Twisted Sky Socks are quite close to being finished. If I can keep my hands off the Noro enough over the next few days, I’ll probably finish them this weekend.
- The Noro has become quite the siren song for me right now. I ran out of skeins for the Lizard Ridge, so I hunted up a project that I’d started and abandoned some time ago–felted potholders for my brother. They’re in a pretty riotous colorway (165), to go with his colorful Fiestaware dishes. I did one and wasn’t terribly happy with how it felted, so I put the whole project in timeout. Today I almost completed a second one. (I have some ideas on how to improve the felting result, which may be part of my motivation. Also, if I finish the potholders and have a skein of Kureyon leftover, I can make another Lizard Ridge square!…I might be a little obsessed.)
Oh, and I also FINALLY finished sewing up all the ends in my Flair and blocking the darn thing. As soon as it dries I’ll sew on the buttons and TAKE PICTURES. You have no idea how long that thing has been sitting around waiting for me to put the finishing touches on it…
It’s really cute, though.
