Lots of Knitting Progress

When I was in college I had a friend who was seeing this guy. As it turned out, my friend was more into this guy than he was into her. At one point he didn't call her or stop by to see her for a couple of days. As time passed her emotions progressed from annoyed to irritated to concerned to downright angry. When this guy finally came around (probably late at night, drunk and in a mood) she asked him why he hadn't called or stopped by. He said that the first day he was legitimately busy. The second day he put it off because he thought she would be annoyed. Then as each day passed he figured he was just avoiding more and more anger. He called it the escalator effect. After her anger and disappointment ran it's course we laughed at the "escalator effect" label and I have used that term several times in the many years since college. (Lest you think "my friend" is a euphemism for me, rest assured I had NO boyfriends in college. Not for a lack of trying though.) I think I have been avoiding my blog for the last few days because of the escalator effect. How do I start a post when it's been a week and a half since my last post? None of the excuses I can think of sound plausible.

With that smooth entre into my post I will tell you that I have gotten a lot of knitting done in my hiatus from blogging. Here is my evidence.

This is the first of 4 or 5 lace scarves I'm making for holiday teachers' gifts. I know it doesn't look like much yet because it isn't blocked. When it's blocked the lace will look so much more delicate and pretty. This scarf is knit with Merino Lace weight yarn on size 4 (US) needles. I think the yarn is manufactured by JaggerSpun (the same company that makes the oh-so-popular Zephyr.) The mini skeins that I've had aging in my stash for about 6 years are wound off from a large cone. The name of the color is Garnet. This scarf took most of 2 mini skeins that are 200 yds and 1/2 ounce each. The lace pattern is Arches and Columns from The Art of Shetland Lace by Sarah Don. I used three repeats of the lace pattern. I started and ended the scarf with 5 garter ridges (10 rows). I also put a 5 stitch garter edging on each side of the scarf.
This photo was included in a previous post which contained a bunch of pictures. I promised to explain each of the photos in a subsequent post. The garnet colored yarn in the right of the photo is what has turned into the scarf above. So here you can see some of the scarves-to-be. I really like the purpley color (Merlot) at the top of the photo. I don't know what stitch pattern I'll use for that scarf yet. I also don't have a clear thought about who will receive that scarf. I just know that I'm looking forward to knitting that color.
This next shot is the sock I needed to finish to reclaim some needles. I need the needles to start my sockapal2za socks. I still haven't made a final decision about which yarn I'm going to use or what stitches to use for the socks. I'm leaning toward using my hand dyed yarn because that's what most of the comments suggested I use. I might have even received advice from my sock pal herself!

This sock (pictured) will be waiting a while for it's mate. I really need to force myself to sit down and write out some notes for making it while it's somewhat fresh in my head. I squished a wire hanger to the approximate shape of a foot to show off this sock. When it's off the hanger it doesn't resemble a sock at all. I still need to wash and block it. While it looks freakish when left unformatted, it fits really well and I'm looking forward to getting the second one made so I can wear them this winter. This one is really comfortable and it fits well!
So, let me introduce you to my current obsession. This is a top I'm making for A. It's an adaptation of Grumperina's Tivoli T with a smattering of Ballet Pullover from IK Summer 2004. The idea comes directly from the Tivoli T. The dimensions and method come from the Ballet Top in IK. I have to make modifications to accommodate the yarn I chose. It's Phoenix yarn by South West Trading Company (100% soy silk). I opted to use M1 increases along the raglan lines instead of the k in front and back increases that Teva Durham suggests. I like the lines of the M1 better. I'm also going to use Grumperina's idea to use two design lines (reminiscent of princess lines) instead of Teva's single, centered line. Since A is 9 years old and has the figure of a 9 year old (and not that of a 19 year old) I'm going to use small cables to make the lines instead of using the lines to add waist shaping. In my version the lines will be purely decorative. All that being said, I may change my mind about these cables when I see what they look like with the variegated yarn!

So there you have it - my long winded way of saying that even though I've haven't spent my time blogging I have not been taking a vacation from knitting! I'll try to post more frequently but I can't make any promises. I'm enjoying the extra time I get to spend with my kids.