Aspinwall is a town in Pennsylvania where I had coffee once

Markus and I just got back today from a week in Portland Oregon. He had a Supercomputing Conference there and since I’ve never been to Oregon, I thought I’d tag along. While he did his computing stuff at the convention center, I went to 4 yarn shops, bought lots of sock yarn, knit a hat for my SIL, bought 2 knitting books and a western at Powell’s, and took a sock design class with Star Athena (who is a terrific teacher, BTW). Needless to say, my camera is still broken, so I bought a disposable camera for the trip. Gee whiz, I haven’t used one of those in years! Once I get the pictures developed and online, I’ll talk more about my trip because a blog post without any pictures is just plain sad.

In the meantime, here’s my latest sweater design. It’s called Aspinwall Pullover and it’s in the Interweave Knits Winter 2009 issue. It’s a man’s sweater knit in the round with stripes of colorwork across the chest and cuffs. David Reidy has commented in the past about the lack of designs for men in knitting magazines, so this one’s for you David! Wishing you a speedy recovery!!

Photo copyright Interweave Press

(I posted a small errata for this pattern here, Ravelry link)

Ishbel

I finished Ishbel and sent it on its merry way to my aunt. I think the shawl turned out lovely!

Pattern: Ishbel by Ysolda Teague
Yarn: Annadele Alpacas (50% alpaca/50% nylon) from the booth at the Waynesburg Sheep and Fiber Festival
Needles: size 6 US
Gauge: I don’t need no stinkin’ gauge!

The ball band didn’t say much about yarn weight or needle size, so I randomly picked needles (ones that weren’t in use at the time) and cast on. The skein contained a total of 450 yards, and I used exactly 337.5 yards. I made the smallest size stockinette and lace. It looked so tiny after casting off, but after blocking and stretching and pinning it grew to a 44″ wingspan! Never underestimate the power of blocking…

Part-time blogger

I seem to be turning into a part-time blogger! I think I’d first like to blame my crappy camera, and the fact that every post should include at least one photo, therefore, no posts for way too long. No, I haven’t gotten a new camera yet. *grumble, grumble* It’s also difficult to blog about knitting when I can’t really talk about or show my current knitting projects. I’m often working on projects I’d like to submit to magazines and I can’t divulge anything!

One thing I can divulge is that the “Pico Socks” have arrived at their final destination and have been really well received. My aunt said they fit perfectly! Whew! My next project will be to finish Ishbel and give it to someone who just received some bad news. That should cheer her up a little I hope! I’m also still working on a sock design with the lovely Pagewood Farms Denali sock yarn, but that’s about all I can say…

I had another great Halloween this year at Lisa’s. Here’s the motely crew in full glory…

(Thanks to Lisa for sending me this photo). This year I was Raggedy Ann, and Markus was Zorro. I was Raggedy Ann for Halloween when I was 3, then again during college, and then this year. As usual, Lisa’s house was mobbed with kids, and at one point there was even a line to get up to the front door!

Oh I almost forgot, check out Knitcircus Issue #8. I have a men’s sweater pattern in there called “Zipp”. It is pretty cool. It has detachable sleeves. That’s all kinds of awesome right there.

Done, done and done!

My aunt’s socks are finally finished! And only 4 months late… I hope she likes them!

Pattern: Morrocan Lace Socks (aka “Pico” socks)
Designer: Lisa Lackney
Published in: Knitcircus Magazine, Issue #4, October 2008
Yarn: Hazel Knits Artisan Sock, colorway Equinox
Needles: Knit Picks circular US 0 / 2.0 mm working magic loop

My Ravelry page says I started these socks on June 4, 2009. Eeek! I bought the yarn from rosiekittie’s stash on Ravelry. My gauge was way off from the pattern, so I ended up going down from a size 2 needle to size 0! I then started knitting on some horrendous bamboo dpns which ultimately sidelined me with an arm injury. Go figure. I ended up switching to a size 0 Knit Picks circular needle to finish the second sock. I really should have used the one long circular needle right from the start. And unfortunately switching needles partway through this project changed my gauge, but it’s not too apparent.

Mods: I tried to work the picot cast on but I wasn’t pleased with how it turned out. I ended up doing a regular longtail cast on instead which looks quite nice. I worked 6 repeats of the lace chart on the leg instead of 7. When I got to the toe shaping, I first knit it as written (the standard toe) but decided the toe looked too plain. So I ripped it out and worked the star toe from the Embossed Leaves socks pattern. Much better!

This pattern presupposes you’ve knit socks before, so don’t start with this one if you’re a beginner. I was a bit confused with the instructions for picking up gusset sts because it didn’t seem to be written in a logical order from needle to needle. But I’ve knit socks before so I was able to figure it out.

Yesterday while I was waiting for Lisa and Beth outside of the Union Project, I pulled out my knitting. I don’t knit in public to be a spectacle or to actively promote knitting, per say. I knit in public because I’m addicted to knitting, and if I have any moment to spare then why not be productive? I anticipated the usual comments from passers-by. 2 older ladies came over to admire, or rather make comments, about the socks. One comment was about how pretty the cables look. Ummm, it’s lace actually. Then came this one: “My goodness, they’re a little too thick for my liking!” Perfect, since they’re not for YOU! Seesh!

Sock, what sock?

I just designed a sock with that lovely Pagewood Farms sock yarn I picked up at Natural Stitches, and I think this design is a keeper. Definitely. It already has a name which I’m keeping a secret for now since I plan to submit this design (amongst the myriad of sock designs) to some publication or other. Since I’ve gotten to a stopping point, I thought I’d work on my aunt’s unfinished pico socks. I just completed the gusset decreases on both socks and it should be smooth sailing from here on out. The socks look much better in person, trust me, despite the fact that they are both different lengths. A bit of advice, do not switch needles halfway through a project, even if they are the same size.