Starting Color Affection

I picked up some yarn at Knitty City while we were in NYC.

It was a planned purchase, because I am dying to knit Color Affection and the yarn wasn't in my stash. Really.
I chose three colors of Madelinetosh Merino Light, in Boxwood, Vanilla Bean, and Graphite. The Boxwood will be my main color and the Graphite will be the edge. Can't wait to get started, and I only have another 4 rows to knit on the Amberwell, it knit up incredibly fast! Especially with the drive back from New York yesterday.
January One had a post, Fat Tuesday, on color and value comparing color photos to black and white. It is well worth reading. I took a chance with my three colors and shot them with Color Splash. The values are probably too similar, but I'm not changing. It is a great exercise though, and I plan on taking my iPhone with me to the yarn store every time I buy yarn, (in the far distant future, of course).

Scrumptious Finds a Project

I found a small shawl called Amberwell by Judy Marples. Interesting triangle with a garter and stockinette band. The big appeal to me is the edge is designed to be as deep as your yarn amount allows. It is zipping along, I'm on the eighth repeat of chart A. Amberwell is written for fingering weight, but the Fyberspates Scrumptious Sport is looking good. So happy to have finally found a project for this truly scrumptious yarn.

Crinoline, Semele, and Parasol

I have two lace projects on the needles at the moment. Crinoline is a beautiful triangle pattern by Alina Appasov. I'm using stash yarn, (yes, I still have not made any yarn purchases) that I bought at Spinning Yarns. It's Plymouth Yarn Dye for Me Merino Silk Cashmere 2 ply. It was marketed as lace, but it is fingering to me. So the shawl is going to be heavier than I hoped. It's fine for a first try of this pattern, I'd love to knit it again sometime with true lace yarn. I have knit 10 repeats of Chart B and will probably knit about 18. I'm using Rose-Kim Knits shawl percentage spreadsheet (Shawl Progress Calculator) and my scale to determine the approximate half-way point. There is a 5 into 5 stitch that you are directed to knit through the back loops. I found this to be very awkward. I looked up similar stitches in Nancy Bush's Estonian Lace and Elizabeth Freeman's Laminaria. They gave me "permission" to knit through the front and I was off! Alina also gave me her nod of approval through the Ravelry forum of her designs.

Semele is a lovely pattern by Asa Tricosa. I started to knit it a while ago with one skein of Seasilk, but decided it was not going to be enough yarn for the size I was interested in and I frogged it. Also frogged the Fartlek hat that I was knitting with the Fyberspates Scrumptious 4 ply I bought at The Yarn Sellar in York. I was coming out too large and didn't have enough stretch for me. I'll try the pattern again in a pure wool. The good news is that it looks beautiful in Semele. The bad news is that I only have one skein and I'm looking at the projects on Ravelry and they used TWO! Guess I'm frogging this again...I do have 3 skeins of Knit Picks Shadow (1300 yards) in grape jelly and that would use some more stash.  Now what to knit with the Scrumptious? 

I finished my Parasol stole. After blocking the ribbing went back to its original state. It's too narrow to be called a stole, but it is a very cozy (as Henry is demonstrating) scarf. This project was that cause of much overthinking and indecision. In the end I just told myself to get on with it and finish the thing. I used Dream in Color Everlasting DK that I bough from Webs. Unfortunately, the last skein was noticeably different, as happens with some yarns. I know I shouldn't buy such yarns over the internet... 

The other issue is that the ends are different because it is knit end to end rather than two halves that are grafted in the center. I felt more anguish over this than I should have done, because it doesn't bother me as I wear it. If I were to knit the pattern again, I would probably knit it in two halves and would definitely make it wider. 

Socks Done, and Another Birthday

I finished Kenny's socks on the 17th. He wore them for the first time (other than to try them on) in honor of my birthday yesterday. I'm very pleased with how they turned out. The waffle rib breaks up the colors well and makes for a stretchy, snug fit. I loved the Sherman heel. Will have to try the toe and heel again.

I also finished my second Priscilla's Dream socks. Had lots of knitting time last Saturday as we drove to North Hero, Vermont for some most excellent skating on Lake Champlain.

Now I'm trying to get going on my Parasol Shawl. It's about half way done. Looking forward to getting out my new swift and winding up the third skein today.

I was asked to knit something for the Old Berwick Historical Society's 50th Celebration this fall.  Looking through my stash and favorited shawl patterns to find something fun. Hmmm. Reminiscence by Lily Go currently has my attention. It looks like it would be comfortable to wear and it is knit bottom up, so the construction would be interesting. I'd rather not by yarn for it, so I don't have a huge range of color choice, purple, red, green, and white. And then I have to decide if I can part with it.

My last stash enhancement arrived. This is the last skein from the Knitspot Fall into Full Color club.
It's very pretty handspun from NewHue.  The bins are officially closed to any incoming yarn. I placed an order at Knit Picks today. Didn't order any yarn, just a couple of books and notions while their books are 40% off. And a small project bag...after all, it was my birthday.

Socks for Kenny

I started socks for Kenny. He got to open a package of yarn on Christmas, so I felt that I should start them quickly. The yarn is Mountain Colors Crazyfoot in the Red Tail Hawk colorway. Bought the yarn at The Yarn Sellar in York. (one of the last purchases of 2011...) The color is similar to some Lisa Sousa yarn I knit into socks for him, but he likes it. He doesn't have big feet, but I wanted to be sure I had enough yarn so I'm knitting them toe up, two at a time, magic loop. The pattern is the waffle rib from Charlene Schurch's Sensational Knitted Socks. Easy enough, but I've managed to mess it up twice on the instep. Oh well, it will be in his shoes. The pattern is three rows of 2x2 rib and one row of purl. Looks good so far. The purl row helps to break up the colors. I used Judy's Magic Cast On. It worked beautifully. There is a lot of support for that cast on on the web! I just used the description on Knitty and it was easy to follow. I have never knit heel flaps toe up, and certainly not two at a time. This will be a learning experience. Usually I "run home to Momma" and put the sock on dpn's to do the heel.