Knitting Caboodle

I finished a pair of socks.

Sock glamor:

Do you know how hard it is to get a decent sock shot using your own feet? I suspect sock knitters all know.

This shot looks like my feet are shy… or I have to goooo.

I took these pictures in the middle of the day, and I’m wearing shark jammies.

Sock info:

Yarn: Berroco Comfort Sock (50% nylon, 50% acrylic)
Pattern: Classic Sock Pattern from Folk Socks by Nancy Bush
Needles: No. 3 steel dpns… how I wish I had some light bamboo No.3’s!

These are classic (hence the pattern name) top-down socks with heel flaps. I have big ankles (but not cankles… I hope) so I used the largest pattern size. It is a smidge loose so halfway between the medium and the large would have been a better size for me. Not that that stopped me from immediately starting another pair in the same large size.  I refuse to stray from the pattern after losing my knitting mojo a couple months ago. I definitely recommend Nancy Bush’s book… it is working wonders for my sock mojo!

The yarn is okay.  If you need a cool sock, this will do the trick.  If you need warm socks, don’t use this yarn.  The day I tried these socks on it was 63F in my house and my tootsies were so cold.  Now it is 83F and my tootsies are comfy.  Not that I’m wearing socks today because it is too hot… bare feet are the order for hot days when your a/c is broken.

I am so happy to be home. Vacation is exhausting… especially with a 5yo in tow. I am wiped out! But we had a great time visiting snow while we were there.

One very happy 5yo:

I took this picture of BC several hours after the snow started falling. The day before rain had melted all the snow. By the time the storm was over, the courtyard here was about 6 inches deep in snow with more falling. That may not be much for you all that live in snowy areas but it was plenty for one very happy little boy from Florida.

I had plenty of time for a vacation sock:

One sock… I finished the toe at home. As you can see, the second sock is on the way… can I avoid second sock syndrome?  If I do, I’ll show it to you a modeled picture.

There was one very major mishap on the road. Fortunately, I had my medical supplies handy.

Lamb suffered a rear leg blow out. BC handed him to me and told me I could fix it. Such confidence! I had no sewing supplies with me and yarn was not going to do the job. Lamb got a bandaid. I was completely surprised that the bandaid worked!  It is still working.
Lamb is a trooper.

I finished the bobbly, cably Frivol and my muse left.

Just like that - poof!

I tried to knit some socks with the nice, new yarn MC bought for me. The first try was too small… the second, too big… it gave me a headache to think about so I put it aside. The yarn probably needs to age in the stash before it can be knit.

I’m still waiting for inspiration. Seriously, a person might be driven to organize her craft area.

No, not that.  I’m going to read a few books.

I’ve been busy here at Chez Caboodle.

Not too long after the last post, I took the kitties to their vet. Since these kitties are senior citizen cats, I had a full blood panel done to check for any problems, and to give us a baseline for their remaining years.

Marble is 12 years old. He’s my one-eyed, old-man cat. Even though he is a very strong, robust cat, he has always had delicate health so I was quite surprised when the vet announced him the apparent picture of health! Except that he has gained weight the last few years. He is mostly an indoor cat now, he used to be a mostly outdoor cat. Very little tree climbing goes on inside the house.

Frazzle is 13 years old. She is exceptionally dumb but so sweet, I don’t really care she can’t figure out that I moved the litter box over 2 feet. She has always been our healthy cat so I was surprised to find that she has signs of kidney problems. I’m not totally surprised since this is fairly common to cats. I lost one cat several years ago due to kidney problems. She lived many healthy years before it got the best of her. I anticipate that Frazzle has several healthy years ahead of her. In the meantime, I have banned our neighbor’s cat, Sammy, from sneaking in since he likes to chase Frazzle. She doesn’t need the stress (I don’t either).

Mr. Caboodle and I also managed to celebrate our 11th anniversary. We went to a nice restaurant for drinks and dinner. It doesn’t sound like much but it is because BC stayed with the in-laws without any drama. That is huge for us… and it’s a fairly new development.

MC gave me yarn for our anniversary. Isn’t he the sweetest? He obviously didn’t get the memo that I’m trying to do some stash busting. Oh well, I’ll suffer through it!

I managed to use some stash to complete a hat. Here is a very sick BC modeling it (he has a virus, a black eye, and a dirty face… the trifecta of childhood):

The pattern is Frivol. The stash yarn is Lionbrand Woolease.

I got the idea to knit Frivol from Nuttnbunny. Her version is much more colorful. And you can see the cables and bobbles better in her pictures.

Frivol is a very fun knit. I finally learned to make bobbles. I didn’t make them according to the directions but they seem very bobble-like despite that detail.

Since I’ve managed to mention just about every member of our family besides her… I leave you with the world’s most lickingest dog:

Yep, I ripped this camisole out too. It makes me very sad but the gauge was off and it was too heavy with cotton yarn. On the upside, I have more lovely yarn for the future.

At this rate, I may never have to buy new yarn!

My stash is steadily growing even as I am trying to shrink it. It’s not my fault, really.

First, I was remiss in posting a big “Thank you!” to Kristen at AudioKnits. I won a contest and she sent me this prize of pretty blue bamboo yarn and scarf book several months ago. (There were some other things but I couldn’t put my fingers on them for this photo.) When Kristen has a contest be sure to enter because she sends the best packages! Thank you, Kristen!

Second, Pyewacket gifted me with sock yarn for Christmas. Considering the difficult times she has been going through, I thought it was the sweetest thing that she thought of me. Thank you, Pyewacket!

Finally, I frogged some old projects. Purple and gray. Time proved that I was not going to use them as knit, so I ripped them out for future projects.

I am done with shrugs. If it is cold enough for a shrug, I am cold enough for an entire sweater. There is no waffling. So I never wore the short purple thing or the gray shrug. I tried to convert the gray shrug into a Tubey but there was too much bagginess in the back. By the way, I love Tubey. One day I may attempt it the entire pattern.

Shark jammies… seriously, who would want to change into jeans when you have shark jammies! (I did end up changing out of my pj’s yesterday. I had to buy food. I’m still in them this morning and it’s getting late.) I made the pattern up from an old pair of the world’s most comfy pj’s that were falling apart a couple of years ago. I must remember to add more tush next time…

This is the latest scarf from the Sirdar stash. I knit it lengthwise… ouch. Now I know why I avoid lengthwise knitting, it takes forever and ever to finish a row. And this was a short, 5-year old size.

A better shot of the stripes.

It is a two-sided, broken rib pattern. Basically, you knit two or three rows of 1×1 rib then offset the next two to three rows of 1×1 rib… repeat, repeat, repeat. I still have enough Sirdar yarn for another scarf or a couple of hats but I was getting bored with it. So I started a new scarf last night using the remains of the Noro Cotton Iroha from the sweater Banff. It’s so soft and lovely to hold and cuddle while you knit.

Oh, resolution #2 has been modified. Green tea in the afternoon has been making me green. So it’s either white tea (black if I’m desperate) or nothing. Or water. Water is good.

Look! It’s Autumn in Florida.

My maple tree shed its leaves this past week.

Last year, the weather was so warm, the maple shed its leave one week and put out new leaves the next. It’s a bit colder this year.

Today the high is going to be in the mid-40’s. Tonight, the lows will be in the teens. If it is that cold here, you all farther north must be completely frozen. Drink lots of hot chocolate and stay warm, ok?

I’m still knitting my way through the Sirdar yarn in my stash. I knit two versions of My So-Called Scarf. I got the idea to do a solid version after seeing the one Sandra knit. I knit the striped scarf after seeing one on Ravelry.

I hope Sandra sees this because I cannot leave comments on her blog… my computer crashes everytime. I’m not sure whether it is my computer, Firefox, or my internet provider. Anyway… Hi, Sandra!

In closing, I want to introduce Organization to Chaos…

In this case, Chaos’s name is Frazzle. She is sitting on the bags I was attempting to keep away from the cats.

I finished the reconstruction of Banff. I added 3 inches of stockinette then reknit the 2×2 rib bottom. It fits! And it is so comfy and warm. I have been wearing since the cold blast of arctic weather arrived this week.

If you look at the middle of the reconstructed sweater (on the right), there is a horizontal line where I started the reknit. The line was not created by as a result of reconstruction. It was created by accidentally using US3’s instead of the larger size required.

I used the smaller circs to pick up the stitches before cutting, and then forgot to replace them with larger needles. If I wasn’t lazy, I would have unknit back to those stitches and started again. But I am lazy. And the lazy in me has decided that the stitches will loosen themselves up over time without my help. This yarn is so limp, it might work.

Pattern: Banff
Yarn: Noro Cotton Iroha (70% cotton, 20% cashmere, 10% nylon). Probably discontinued.  I have 5 skeins left in my stash.

Next up, a scarf:

The lace is a simple, 2-sided pattern: yo, k2tog, repeat.

I think the yarn in my stash is multiplying on its own. I keep knitting using this Sirdar yarn but the pile never seems to get smaller. I used all but one skein of navy to make this scarf.

Pattern: Openwork Scarf from Vogue Knitting Scarves Two (a big thanks goes to Kristen at AudioKnits for this book!)
Yarn: Sirdar Snuggly Aran (55% nylon, 45% acrylic)

And my clutter revisited. You all had great suggestions on how to handle clutter.  Thank you so much for your ideas.

I may have mislead you though… I do have storage. I have very little organization but I have storage. Like the smalled plastic drawers on wheels that Lisa, the Domestic Diva, suggested. I have other types of plastic drawers as well. By the way, if you need help reorganizing your craft space, definitely visit Lisa!

I also have shelves on the wall next to my sewing machine. Ribbons and fabric scraps are in ziploc bags. Larger pieces of fabric are folded and stacked (oh so carefully too). The green pillow on the bottom says something about cats at work, but the dog sleeps there.

I have more shelves behind me and across the room. The wire shelves hold my son’s toys (smaller toys are contained in baskets).

I still need to reorganize all these shelves.  I can never find what I need.

Currently, I have decided to keep the bag parts on a big board that I can pick up without disturbing the fabric. When I want to sew, I can move it temporarily.  After I put use this stash, I won’t be cutting out multiple bags parts again… only what I need for one bag at a time.

The sweater below is Banff. It is one of the first sweaters I made when I learned to knit (only 4 short years ago). I love this sweater, it’s roomy, it’s comfy, it’s soft. It’s everything I want from a sweater except that it is too short. I have a fairly long torso, and even though I lengthened the design (I also made the neck shorter), it still ended up being too short. Actually, it is too short for a short-waisted friend of mine as well. I had several choices: keep the sweater despite the length, give the sweater to charity, or rip it. Then I thought of another alternative… cut the sweater’s bottom off, reknit it so that it is long enough…

I saw this technique on someone else’s knitting blog a looooonnnnng time ago (no link… sorry). The pictures haunted me because cutting into a sweater to change it’s length was a scary thought when I began knitting. I could barely keep the stitches on a live needle. Ripping back a few rows was enough to give me mental hives. How could I deal with stitches in the middle of a sweater that aren’t on a needle?!

Several years later, I think I can do this.

First, I used a small circular needles (I used US3’s) to pick up stitches all around the sweater. You pick up every other loop leg (look closely, you can see this in the picture below). This prevents the sweater from running up into the portion I don’t want to undo. Since the sweater was knit bottom up, that probably wouldn’t have happened but I like guarantees.

Then, take a deep breath, and snip one loop leg anywhere below the circular needle.

Begin ripping.

Keep going.

Finally, the bottom of the sweater will be separated from the top.

I ripped out the bottom section completely, and started reknitting. You can’t just start knitting back down using knit stitch (since it was knit bottom up), you have to turn it around and purl for stockinette. If you use the knit stitch, I believe the columns will be off by one.  I could be wrong.  I didn’t experiment because purling is as easy as knitting for me.

I reknit (purled) 4 inches so far… I’ll post pictures soon.