alpaca is sexy

alpaca is sexy, originally uploaded by gradschoolknitter.

Sorry about the photo... it's about the best I can currently do. I have to use the mac cam 'cause a) I'm visiting the fam and forgot my camera and b) my camera apparently eats rechargeable batteries, 'cause no matter how much I charge them they no longer seem to work.

In any case, I'm really happy with how this turned out!

Details:
Pattern: Sexy Vesty (free download from ravelry)
Needles: US 7 for body and 6 for neck and arm ribbing
Yarn: 2 skeins Berroco Ultra Alpaca.
Mods: Needle sizes 2 sizes bigger than called for... and not because I wasn't getting gauge... it just seemed ridiculously small. Also, added 2 extra inches to the length... thank goodness 'cause it still seems a little on the short side.

socks for Cookie A

test knit for Cookie A., originally uploaded by gradschoolknitter.

About a year ago I think I posted that I would be doing some test knitting for Cookie A. These are the "Angee" socks from her book "Sock Innovation" (rav link), (Amazon).

And the closeup:



It was fun to test knit and see things before everyone else... and I got to try out a yarn (Colinette Jitterbug) that I hadn't used before. I liked the yarn except it dyed my bamboo needles orange, and the yardage is pretty short. (I have small feet, so if I had made them to my size it probably would have been fine, but these actually got sent back minus 1/2 the toe rows on the second sock to Cookie 'cause they needed about 1/10th of a second skein to be finished.) Plus my name is in the book as one of the test knitters! Wohoo!

the great gonzo's death defying exam socks

the great gonzo's death defying exam socks, originally uploaded by gradschoolknitter.

So this is a somewhat better picture... the colour is still completely off though. I had to borrow my roommate's camera, as mine apparently eats batteries alive and all of my rechargeable batteries are no longer working despite being charged two days ago.

I'm sure I'd get a better picture if I went outside but it's cold out! There's still snow on the ground. Of course, they're forecasting 20C/70F for Sat and Sun, so maybe then....

is this thing on?

OK, so I've been a little under the radar... I'm in exam mode (i.e. finished with course work and now have a semester to study for and write 3 exams that prove I've actually learned something over the course of the last... nine years of my life! EEP!) and have been spending most of my time in the library.

BUT, I am still knitting too! The order of the day is SIMPLE knits... stuff I can bring with me to the library, and is simple enough to work on while reading. Currently that includes anything garter or stockinette (preferably in the round!). So I'm working on a sock that I'm calling "The Great Gonzo's Death Defying Exam Sock". Someone please tell me I'm not the only one to remember the Great Gonzo, his fleet of adoring chickens and death defying stunts? Maybe I'm spending a little too much time alone in the library...

So, if you really want to see them, here is the worst picture ever taken of knitting. Not just by me, either.



Yes, that's right, taken in the library, by the mac cam, with the worst possible lighting ever. If I ever see the light of day and have access to a decent camera again, I promise to take a better picture. In fact, it's so bad, I'm not even going to upload it to ravelry yet.

Yarn: Storm Moon Knits "Muppets from Space" (hence the reference to Gonzo... see, I'm not totally nuts!)
Needles: US 2
Pattern: None. But! check out the coolest thing ever: Heels by Number. I found this this morning while trying to remember how many stitches to knit before ssk'ing on the heel turn. It has 6 different types of heels (all of which I want to try out now!) with the math all figured out for any number of stitches (in multiples of four) from 40 - 80!!!

P.S. This post broadcast to you directly from the MSE library.