Ouch!

Never a dull moment on the bus. The lady sitting in front of me started asking random people around her if they wanted some of her Cheetos, and then seemed kind of surprised when they said no. I love my commute.

The sock conundrum

So I’m having some issues involving the “pico” socks (Morrocan Lace Socks).

1) I now have a knitting related injury from said socks, which was bound to happen because…

2) I’m knitting said socks really really tightly on size 0 bamboo dpns.

I love love love the Hazel Knits sock yarn, it’s gorgeous. I love love love the pattern, it’s cute as heck. However, in order to get the gauge listed on the pattern and on the ball band, I had to go down two whole needle sizes, hence the size 0 needles. And the socks still seem to be wider than expected, even with me knitting as tightly as I possibly can. This has really wreaked havoc on my left arm. So I’m now out of commission for a few days, I guess. What am I going to do at my knitting group tomorrow?

82472 Tank Top

Last summer I did a design for a yarn company’s spring 2009 pattern booklet. Since it’s almost summer, I thought I’d finally show off the design. I really like this top! Here I am modeling it before we had to part ways. *sniff*

The call for submissions asked for designs that were “70’s updated, 40’s reinvented, or tribal understated”. I went to the library for some books that explained 1940s fashion and came up with the basic shape for this top. Then to make it interesting for the knitter and the wearer, I added an I-cord, some lace, and a few decorative buttons along the right side, which I think turned it into a cross between 1940s and tribal (whatever “tribal” actually is). They accepted my design with only slight modifications, namely, make the armholes less deep.

FYI, proposal sketches you send to magazines and yarn companies need not be glorious works of art. Nor do they need heads. See above.

The yarn they supplied me with is called Rise & Shine by Reynolds. It’s a sport weight cotton yarn that is supposed to knit up at 6.25 st per inch if you follow what’s written on the ball band. If you want bullet proof fabric, that is. I managed to eek out 5.75 st per inch, which resulted in a much drapier fabric. Amazing what half of a stitch less per inch can do!

Unfortunately, I have no idea where you can purchase this booklet. My LYS doesn’t carry any JCA/Reynolds yarns or patterns, and they don’t even know of any place around this area that does. If you’re really clamoring to knit this tank top, I advise you to ask at your LYS and maybe they can order a booklet for you. It’s the Reynolds Spring 2009 booklet.