State Fair Results

The Kentucky State Fair concluded today, so I thought I should head back out there and get a some photos of my entries in situ before I bring them home tomorrow. I had gone to the Fair on the day it opened, but I forgot my camera, so all I had were crappy cell phone pics.

While everything I entered earned a ribbon, none of them were blue (or red, for that matter), so I have to admit that I am disappointed with how I did. Overall, I think that each of the blue ribbon winners deserved their award, but I have a few quibbles with some of the other rankings. It's not major stuff, mostly technical issues with a few things. Oh, well. There's always next year.

My Cypri shawl earned a third place ribbon, which was a pleasant surprise, as I didn't really have any expectations on how it might do. My Rafters cardigan and Hanami stole both earned fourth place ribbons, which I'm alright with. The cardigan has been worn and washed often, and was a little felted as a result. The stole was entered in the always-competitive lace category and was up against a lot of really good stuff. All the ribbon winners in this category were beaded and knit from laceweight yarns. What ended up being the biggest surprise and disappointment was that my socks only earned an honorable mention (there were two honorable mentions in socks!). There was a lot of variety in the category this year, and the level of competition was definitely higher than past years. My favorite socks (aside from my own, I mean) were the second place ones (traditional stranded knitting). The first and third place socks were nice, and I thought that the fourth place socks had some technical errors, but did have a pleasing color combination. I'll just have to do better next year.

Aside from the knitting, there were plenty of other things to see in the exhibition hall. I always look at the needlepoint and quilts, and this year I discovered some fantastic baskets and leather work. The wood turning folks entered a lot of beautiful objects. Here are photos of some of my favorites:

That's it for tonight, Friends. Until next time.

A little of this, a little of that.

I just got back from a week at the lake, and while I mostly just spent a lot of time on the water, I did manage to do a few crafty things, including the following:

• I finished my worsted-weight anklets. I used the pattern for the Peace Fleece socks, but since I didn't have a lot of yarn, I just did a one inch cuff before I turned the heel. I think it might have been the second day we were there. My seven-year-old nephew said, "Oh, you finished your socks. Good job!"

• I bought a skein of yarn. Madelinetosh Tosh Sock in the Begonia Leaf color. It's a pretty reddish purple color. That's all the yarn I bought. I'll likely never again exercise such restraint.

• I worked a little on one of the sleeves of my "chain mail" Halloween costume. It was a boring slog of a sleeve that still isn't finished, and I still have the second one to finish before I can start sewing the tabard part of the costume. I'm going to go as Sir Galahad the Chaste from Monty Python & the Holy Grail if I can finish the damned costume.
• I finally finished the columbines needlepoint I started ages and ages ago. There wasn't much left to do - just the border - and I was making good progress, when I managed to break the only needle I had with me. Once I got home, I was able to complete it. Now all I have to do is take it to the needlepoint shop to get it blocked. Once that's done, I'll get it framed.

• I started a pair of Rhombus socks for my mother-in-law. I'm using a skein of Sundara sock yarn in their Chocolate Covered Caramel colorway. This should be good commute knitting.

Well, that's it for tonight.  Next time, I hope to have a State Fair update. Until then, Friends!

Some catching up to do!

For the last few posts, I've been promising that I would post some photos of my finished Amaya sweater, and today I'm finally doing it! See:

A finished sweater! It really was very easy knitting. If I could change anything (which is not going to happen), I would probably have gone down a needle size (or maybe even two), as the finished sweater really grew after washing. I even put it in the dryer in the hopes of shrinking it some, but I think it's just in the nature of the bamboo rayon be slinky. And heavy. Anyway, it's cute enough, and I'll just have to make sure I wear a little something underneath it since the fabric is a little sheer to wear unlayered.

I've also finished my Frankenanklet, made from sock yarn leftovers. Three of the yarns are ones I purchased at Sock Summit in the hopes of making something for myself and the fourth was from a skein I bought in Ft. Wayne. These socks were pretty simple knitting, even if they were done two-at-a-time on size 0 needles. I knit them toe-up until I ran out of yarn, then added the next yarn and the next until I had a pair of anklets. It was pure accident that a color change happened at the heel flap - I couldn't have planned it, but I'm glad it worked out that way. I may do this again with yarn scraps, but the next ones will probably have more color changes, as most of the leftovers I have now are shorter lengths. But what would I name them, now that I've used Frankenanklet? I'll have to think on that one.

I've also made a little more progress on my Columbines needlepoint. There's just a little more of the background left to finish and then I can move on to the border! I actually had to run out to the needlepoint shop to pick up one more skein of the background color - I was so close to finishing! I'm just grateful that the new skein is in the same dye lot. Whew!

Well, that's it for today, I think. Next time, I can tell you about my current knitting WIPs and maybe I'll have more progress on the needlepoint. Until then, Friends!

Back on track!

The knitting was so much better this week! Once I got the Rick socks back on the needles (a two-hour process, btw), the gusset decreases went really quickly. It seemed like it took almost no effort at all. It might have had something to do with my having done this once already, but whatever, I'll take completed gussets over incomplete gussets anytime. I've also made pretty good progress on the feet. I'm not sure how that happened, but for me, it seems like once I can get going on the feet of the socks, my needles fly. Anyway, I've only got about three inches left on these socks before I can call them finished. I'm SO looking forward to these socks being done!

I also made a little more progress on the Columbines needlepoint, slow and steady with the background. What's nice about it is that I don't have to concentrate all that hard on it, so it's a good break from the attention that the Rick socks require. I'm getting pretty close to halfway through the field, and more and more I'm liking how it's coming along.

So that's all I have for tonight, I hope next time I'll be able to say that the Rick socks are finished and that I've moved on to my next project. I think I'm feeling like taking a little break from socks. I'm pretty sure I need a break from socks. Until next time, Friends!

Home stretch? Not so much.

So, this week I thought I'd made some progress on the Rick socks, turning the heels and completing the gusset decreases. I'm not sure why I blew off the top-of-foot charts, though, but I did. What I got was a twisted foot to each of the socks that had no chance of being wearable. Of course, I couldn't really tell until I got the gussets decreased and had both tops on one needle and the soles on the other. Once I could see how twisted the socks were, I started ripping. A whole week's worth of knitting. So frustrating! I guess I'll just have to consider it another lesson in humility. Read the chart. Follow the chart. Trust the chart.

In better news, I've gotten a little farther along with the columbines needlepoint that I set aside for the Christmas knitting. I'm very pleased with how the background color is looking against the flowers. I'm so glad I chose a color with enough contrast. Now it's just slow and steady to get it done. With the 18 mesh canvas I'm working on here, that's 324 stitches per square inch. It's a lot of stitches!

Well, that's all for today, Friends. Let's hope for a little success.

Beginning to think about holiday knitting

October has barely begun, the trees are just starting to turn, and I'm realizing that there's something like 2-1/2 months until Christmas. And I'm panicking a little. You see, I had the ridiculous idea that it would be nice if I knit up some cute little owls as stocking stuffers for my nieces and nephews. I'm using the Big, Snowy Owl pattern from the Purl Bee, but I'm doing it in fingering-weight yarn. I don't think it will take too long to finish each owl, but however long it takes, I hope to finish 24 of them in time for Christmas.

I've also been making progress with the Scylla socks for my husband. This has been a nice, simple knit, perfect for my morning commute. I started the gussets this afternoon, so at this pace, I hope to finish these socks by the middle of next week or so. Once the yarn for my father-in-law's socks arrives, I'll get going on those.

The Columbines needlepoint is coming along nicely. I've finished all the foreground stitching and just have the miles of background stitches and the border stitching to do. There's no hurry on this project, so if I have to, I can set it aside. It's been a nice change of pace from all the knitting I've been doing, but I'm definitely a better knitter than I am a needlepointer. Maybe after Christmas I can focus on getting better at needlepoint?

Anyway, that's all I have for tonight. Until next time, Friends.

So, I started a pair of socks.

Like that's a surprise to anyone. After finishing my mother-in-law's Veil of Rosebuds, I was looking for another good commuting project. Since I didn't have the yarn to make Salted Caramels for my father-in-law, I decided to start some socks for my husband. He's been getting a lot of wear out of the Milo socks I made for him almost two years ago (!), so I thought it was high time he got another.

When we were looking through my stash for yarn for his dad's socks, he remarked that he liked the skein of Miss Babs' Windsor Sock yarn that I'd bought last year at Sock Summit. It's a good thing I bought that with him in mind! The colorway is called "Frankensock," which has a lot of lovely greens and blues and black. It's definitely a high-contrast hand-dyed yarn, so I was pretty careful about which pattern I was going to use with it.

After considering lots of patterns, I ended up deciding on Scylla by Fiona Lucas. It's a nice slipped-stitch pattern, with a little bit of texture thrown in to keep it interesting. It's knitting up pretty quickly, which will come in handy as it starts getting closer to Christmas and the panic knitting starts. The slipped stitches are a nice contrast to how the yarn is striping, and I love that I'm getting to do some toe-up socks for the first time in a long while. I'm hoping to finish them pretty quickly, so husbeast can wear them soon, and so I can get started on his dad's socks.

Well, Friends, that's all I have for tonight. Maybe next time I'll have an update on the Columbine needlepoint.

A good day for catching up.

It's been raining all day today, so I've been tidying up my craft room and organizing things. I did a big clean up a few weeks ago, so it wasn't too bad in there, but since I've finished the Veil of Rosebuds socks I wanted to get everything put away so I can decide what my next project will be. It needs to be something good for my commute, so probably a hat or some socks. I offered to make some socks for my father-in-law and so have been looking for the right pattern for him. I think I've decided on Salted Caramels for him because it's a nice, masculine pattern without too much patterning going on (for him) and enough patterning to be interesting (for me).

The only trouble is that I don't actually have any sock yarn that's appropriate for the project.

Hard to believe, isn't it?

Color? Gorgeous. Quantity? Good. Right for pattern? No.

With a tidy craft room, I went through my sock yarn stash and decided that none of it was right. All the pretty hand-dyed yarns were much too busy. The solids and semi-solids were not really his colors. And then, of the ones that were the right color, I didn't have enough to knit a pair of men's socks. Oh, well! I'll just have to buy more yarn!

Color? Nice, but not right for recipient. Quantity? Not even close.

 As it happens, I went looking for yarn today. I went to the three Local Yarn Shops here in Louisville, and didn't find anything I liked for these socks. One shop had some yarn I thought could work, but the yardage of the skeins was short. The second shop pretty much only had self-striping yarns, which were inappropriate for the pattern. And the third shop didn't have much sock yarn at all, and what they had was in colors I'd choose for myself, but not my father-in-law. I may end up ordering the yarn online.

On a happier note, I have indeed finished my mother-in-law's Veil of Rosebuds, and they have turned out beautifully! The Madelintosh Sock knit up so well and the colors change pretty subtly through both socks. It was a fast, easy knit, taking roughly two weeks. The lace patterning was easy to memorize, so I didn't have to think too hard on my early-morning bus rides to work.

I'm also making progress on my Columbines needlepoint. I've completed the flowers and have begun the leaves and stems. Once I get through that, I'll be able to stitch up the background and the border. The silk/merino blend yarn I'm using is giving lovely definition to the stitches and just a hint of shine. I haven't decided yet if I'll do the background in the little plain stitches or if I'll do a novelty stitch of some sort. I may head back to the shop for some advice. They're pretty nice there.

Well, that's all I have for this rainy afternoon. Until next time, Friends!

Zori, Finished!

It seems like ages ago that I promised to get my picture taken wearing my newly-finished Zori cardigan, so I'm finally delivering. One of my friends did the honors at our knit night (a week ago!) and I didn't like the pictures at first, but once I cropped my dopey expressions out of them, I liked them a whole lot better. And before you say, "but Sharri, they couldn't possibly be that bad," let me assure you that they really were. We're all better off with just the sweater pics.

I am very pleased with how well the sweater fits. It's just the right length and it has just the right amount of ease. I also love how soft the fabric is after blocking. It feels so nice against my skin. I can tell that this is going to be my go-to sweater once the weather finally cools off for good. One of my favorite things about it is that I think I found exactly the right buttons for it. Thank goodness I only made four buttonholes - each button cost $4!

I'm still working on my mother-in-law's socks, but I forgot to take pictures of them before the sun went down. Maybe I'll remember to do it tomorrow. I'll also take pictures of the progress on the Columbine needlepoint. We'll have them both to look forward to in the next post. Until then, Friends.

Starting new projects!

I finished my Zori cardigan last weekend, washed and blocked it, and by Monday it was dry. I was able to get the buttons sewn on that afternoon, but I didn't have anyone to take any photos of me wearing it, so you'll just have to wait until I can get one of my friends to do it for me at knit night. (I bet you're holding your breath for it, aren't you?)

Since I don't have any pictures of the finished cardigan, I thought I'd show you a couple other things I have going on. I've started a pair of socks for my mother-in-law, because the pair I'd intended to give her turned out to be too long. She let me know that she likes neutral colors, so I thought that the Madelintosh Tosh Sock (in Cove) that I bought in Indianapolis last year would be just the thing. I had also been wanting to knit Anne Hanson's Veil of Rosebuds, which calls for this yarn, so it was a pretty easy decision to cast on. The knitting is moving right along - mostly I'm working on it on my bus ride to work and any odd moments I have during the day. I hope to be turning the heel by the weekend.

I've also decided to dig out a needlepoint painted canvas I bought a few years ago when I was in Colorado. The image is of columbines, which I thought would be the perfect souvenir of my trip Out West. I don't know what I was thinking when I selected the yarns to stitch it. They were so awful. None of the colors were right, I didn't even buy all the colors I needed, and I bought two kinds of fiber. Seriously, I don't know what happened. Anyway, yesterday I went to my local needlepoint shop, M's Canvas House, to get more appropriate fiber to stitch this pretty canvas. The nice lady helped me choose lots of lovely silk/merino yarn and then she even taped up the edges of the canvas so I wouldn't snag my pretty new yarns. I can't wait to get going on this project! It will be kind of nice to have a non-knitting project to work on.

Well, that's all I've got for tonight. I hope to get my picture taken in the Zori cardigan this week so I can show off my sweater by the weekend. Until next time, Friends.

Ghost of Projects Past

So yesterday was another craft day with the girls. I didn't take any pictures, because I was too busy drinking wine and finding more chairs. There were a lot more people over than last time: 9 or ten of us, I think. It was nice to have our house so full! Thanks Whitney, Molly, Kristin, Heather, Cindy, T, Amy, Jan & Suzanne for making it so much fun!

The night before Bill & I were cleaning up the house, getting the place ready for everyone. While he did the kitchen, I did the craft room, as Cindy & Kristin were planning on doing a little sewing. As I was putting away the random ball of yarn & unused knitting needles, I came across some needlepoint projects that were close to finished.

It must've been 2007 when I had a work-related conference in New Orleans. Somehow, I managed to get a single room, so Bill came along. During the days, I went to my workshops & Bill explored the French Quarter (his travelogue is here). At the end of the day, he took me to the most interesting places, one of which was little yarn & needlepoint shop (the Quarter Stitch, which seems not to have a website). For reasons that are now lost to time, I didn't get sucked in by all the knitting yarn. I think it was something to do with all the needlepoint canvases covering the walls. After a lap or two around the shop, I decided to get this canvas, which very simply expressed all there was to say about New Orleans post-Katrina. I don't know if my purchasing this canvas & the yarn to stitch it up with made any difference, buy I hope it helped the shop a little. I remember wishing I had more money to spend while we were there, because the city needed it so. From bellhops to cabdrivers to bartenders, everyone we met expressed their appreciation that we had come and to invite our friends. I want to go back.

I also found a couple of other needlepoint projects, in differing degrees of completion. It seems like ages ago when Bill & I began dating, though it was only 13 years. I'm not sure when we started taking our summer vacations at his family's lake cottage, but one year I found a little needlepoint shop in Traverse City, which has been gone for some time now. They had some cute little canvases of old-school swimwear, two of which I bought.

I'm pretty pleased with this little swimsuit. I like the sparkly thread I used for the suit, the variegated yarn for the background and the novelty stitches I used for the flowers on the suit. I even like the little border around the stitching. It still needs to be blocked and mounted for framing, but I'm definitely happy with it.

It's a different story with this cap. I like the hat itself, and the flowers I did. What I'm unhappy about is the background. I ran out of thread for the background and only just got around to buying some more. Sadly, it's not quite right, so I'll have to pull it out (which will be tedious) and re-stitch it (which won't be so bad). It will also need a border, and I haven't confirmed if I have enough floss in the original colors to complete it. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

So, there it is, a few zombie projects that need some attention. I would like to finish them. Maybe my trip to Atlanta next month will be just about right for some stitching - depends on how tightly we're packed into that van. I'm sure I'll have plenty of time on the road to get a few things done, especially as others are doing the driving. Whee!


Until next time, then.