extra rows

extra rows, a photo by gradschoolknitter on Flickr.

See that one line of purple in the midst of those 3 green rows there? That is not supposed to be there. Or maybe it's the first row of green that is out of place? Either way, I somehow picked this back up in the middle of a round and started over with one or the other when I was supposed to. The other side looks fine, you'd never know that there was a huge, honking error staring at you from behind. But there is.

So, do I rip back a considerable amount? Or just wear that side on the inside of the cowl? I'm inclined not to rip it out, but maybe it'll look worse in the light of day...

Last year's & new year's stashes

Duo tone mal cowl, a photo by gradschoolknitter on Flickr.

From last Christmas' yarn acquisition, I'm finally making a cowl out of the two colours of malabrigo silky merino that DH gave me. He gave me similar yarn this year that might make a hat or mitts to match... sadly no pics of that yarn yet.

What I do have, however, are pictures of two (yes two) knit picks samplers gifted to me by my in-laws. They were very generous and got me the Autumn Stroll Sampler and the Monochrome Sampler (which appears to have been discontinued/is no longer on the website).

My own pics of the yarns can be found here for the autumn set and here for the monochrome.

I hope everyone had a happy holiday and got all the yarn their heart desired!

Cabled <3

Cabled , a photo by gradschoolknitter on Flickr.

An (almost finished) Christmas hat for my niece. All that is missing is the pom-pom and a couple of i-cords to tie it under her chin. We won't seen them until after New Years, so fortunately I think I have more than enough time to finish it off!

Pattern is I heart cables and yarn is Drops Alpaca held double. Did the toddler size, since niece is 1.5 years and already wearing 2T clothes.

Haven't knit much this year (teaching and researching is time-consuming!) but I did get a lot of knitting-related stuff for Christmas! Will try to show it off soon, including the awesome light-box/tripod set-up DH got me! (Didn't bring it along with us, so a background of monkey-knitting-pjs will have to suffice for now.)

biased, garter, baby blanket

biased garter blanket, a photo by gradschoolknitter on Flickr.

I do love me some garter stitch on the bias. Not to mention using up all those little, soft, leftovers of sock yarn held together... perfection!

This is going to be the much-overdue present for a babe who joined my circle of friends and family this past year. If I'm this behind on baby things I'm not sure how I'm going to get to any of the holiday things I planned to make... but I'm going to try anyway! 26 days until Christmas.... although I do get an extra 10 before we actually head home to see my side of the family!

swedish stripes yellow toes

swedish stripes yellow toes, a photo by gradschoolknitter on Flickr.

DH lived in Sweden, once upon a time, and very much likes all things Swedish. Ikea, meatballs, and the combination of yellow and blue. (Yes, I know, there are lots more things about Sweden, and he likes most of them too... especially fish paste in a tube—no, really, it's a thing.)

Anyway, I got some yellow and blue sock yarn in my most recent international sock swap package and I thought it would be the perfect combo for him.

No pattern, just cast on 64, knit 10 rows of twisted 1x1 rib, and then 2 rounds of yellow, 4 rounds of blue. Jogless joins for the colour changes.* Short row heels and yellow toes (per his request).

*To work stripes so that the jog isn't quite so noticeable, do the following: Knit one round with your new colour. When you return to the beginning of the round, lift the first stitch in the previous colour onto your lefthand needle and knit it together with the first stitch of the second round of your new colour. You'll still be able to see a bit of a change if you look carefully, but it won't be so glaringly obvious...

mini prof

profe vest, a photo by gradschoolknitter on Flickr.

As a distraction from the sweater that may never end (although it has gotten sleeves since last seen, so that's something... but it doesn't take away from the fact that I'm going to have to do some major surgery in order to add more length to the body), I cast on one of the several baby gifts that I've been meaning/needing to make for the many babies that have recently come into the lives of my friends...

Thus the baby professor vest for the baby of a friend who is also in academia. I'm hoping it will fit him around Christmas time, and they happen to live in a part of the world where they won't necessarily need much more than this, even in their so-called winter.

Yarn is knit picks swish worsted, less than 1.5 skeins.
Needles: US 7
Mods: None

so far, so sleeveless

sleeveless, a photo by gradschoolknitter on Flickr.

I've been knitting away on my colourblock sweater in all my spare time (aka none), but I've finally bound off the shoulders and started the sleeves.

I'm trying to decide if I'll need to add any length to the sweater, but I might wait to see if it grows with blocking. The sleeves will be purple, and I might also use that for the collar but I also have enough grey (if I don't add length to the body).

Not very interesting, I know, but stockinette is about all I can handle right now!

thank gord for forgotten packages on a long Monday

Forgotten packages, a photo by gradschoolknitter on Flickr.

Today felt long. Longer than long. I don't really know why except that maybe it had something to do with my students not doing as well as I hoped on an assignment (yes, those things bum out profs almost as much as they bum out the students receiving the marked-up papers...) or perhaps because of the lunch meeting that was not really as stimulating as one might hope (although there was free food...)

In any case, whatever the reason, today felt extra long, and it was, of course, a Monday. But I did return home to find a package that I had almost forgotten about! I bought some yarn that a friend of a friend was destashing on Ravelry last week and it showed up today! Two skeins of blue moon fiber arts "socks that rock" (one lightweight, on the lower right and one mediumweight, upper/left) in mill ends colours. I don't know what I'm going to do with them yet, but the lightweight screams Christmas to me, so I hope that by December I'll have had the chance to make myself some Christmas-y socks, perhaps?

I had almost thrown out the packaging before I felt a little bump in the bottom, and when I felt around inside, I found these:



Adorable earrings shaped like balls of yarn with needles stuck in them!! I'm so glad they didn't get thrown out! The destashing raveler in question apparently makes them, so I'll try to get the name/url of her shop so that I can pass it along to anyone who is interested. ETA: her shop is Double Dee Designs!

Now to find some food and then to collapse... at least Tuesdays are generally short around here!

progress

Another terrible office shot, a photo by gradschoolknitter on Flickr.

It might be boring, but it's progress all the same!

I've come to the end of the teal (that bit at the top is all that is left) and I've started on a ball of grey. I'm going to knit about 2.5 inches of grey and then split for the sleeves. I was hoping to get a teeeeeeny bit more out of the teal, but the skein ends where the skein ends, you know?

Next time you see this, it'll be so much more exciting, what with the whole other colour of grey on top! Right?!

Autumn To-Knit List

What, so it's still summer-like weather where you are, too? So what?! This weekend is the official start of FALL, my favorite season (and a good colour palette for me) and I want to get into it already!

Things I *neeeeeed* to knit this fall:

1. Three... no, four baby things. 3 for babies already here, 1 for one soon to show up on the scene. I promised the summer mom's that they'd have something for their babes once the weather got cool... so maybe I should be thanking the warm weather for sticking around a little longer and giving me more time!

2. Holiday gifts? I'm not sure how many there will be this year, but I'm hoping to do something crafty for at least a couple of the people on my regular gift list!

That's probably it for things that are absolutely necessary... but of course there is always *want*:

1. My fingering weight st st sweater, which is actually coming along surprisingly quickly (update photos to follow shortly)!

2. Socks. Of course! We (meaning DH and I) can always use more socks. And I always seem to have more sock yarn...

3. Replacement gloves and/or mitts for me: I lost one of these last winter and they never did get reunited... and these mitts are finally starting to unravel/fall apart... they were the first projects I made when I got back in to knitting in 2007, they're super warm, and I'm sort of sad/in denial. I'll probably keep them around for another season or two, but they need backup.

I think that's it for me... what are you knitting this fall?

Sock swap 10 received!

Sock swap 10, a photo by gradschoolknitter on Flickr.

I just got my swap package from this past swap and even though I took part in the "frugal" group my knitter was way overly generous. Interestingly enough, the partner I sent to downstream was also my upstream partner! (We don't usually plan it that way but sometimes it just works out.) So, if you remember what my swap package looked like you will notice that we basically just traded green socks! hehe!

And a close up of the fantabulous socks, so you can see how well they fit:



Unfortunately my camera seems to have gone missing (I know it's around, I've seen it, but that's the way with moving... everything finds a new home and then I can't find it again), so I had to rely on my iPhone for these pics... hopefully it'll show up again soon so I can show off the slow, somewhat boring progress of my fingering weight stockinette stitch sweater!

There's still time to sign up for the next swap! Sign ups are open until Sept 30 and swapping/knitting will take place between Oct 1 and Dec 31!

Christmas not Christmas

Christmas not Christmas, a photo by gradschoolknitter on Flickr.

I saw these at a garage sale this morning and had an idea... the 5 in packages are new and were 0.10$ a piece. The three in the gold frames were a set for $1.00 and I actually want them just for the frames... and the kits mostly for the thread. I have an idea, and it might become a Christmas present, but I don't think it will be Christmas themed....

Cryptic, I know, but sometimes surprises are more fun when they are actually surprises!

faster than the speed of light

iss12_003_medium, a photo by gradschoolknitter on Flickr.

It's a bird, it's a plane.... no, it's my swappee's package!*

I sent it last Friday and she received it (in Europe, no less) on Tuesday!! She took much better pictures than I, so I'm posting them here to show you how well they fit:



I think the "will they fit" worry is even worse than the "will it get lost in transit" one... so hurray on both points!!

In other knitting news, I'm trying to make myself a colour-block style sweater... and by "trying to make" I mean "making it up as I go along". So we'll see how that works out. So far, it hasn't gotten a lot of attention:



but it is simple enough that I can work on it while I'm reading, etc, in my office (also pictured above).

*The sock swap is open again for sign-ups!! If you are interested or want more information, please come check us out on ravelry!!

monkeying around (again)

monkeys again, a photo by gradschoolknitter on Flickr.

I'm baaaaaaaack. In the interim I've moved, started a new job, cracked/lost a filling and (therefore) gone to the dentist... twice. (I have a phobia of dentists, so that's huge for me. That's right, I'm anti-dentite.)

I also, somehow, finally finished knitting my socks for the sock swap. I'll be packing them up and sending them this morning!

Pattern is the irreplaceable monkeys by Cookie A, yarn is cascade heritage, and needles are US 1 DPNs. No mods, except that I did a partrige heel (I think that's right... where you slip one knit one on the right side?).

'cause it's just not finished without buttons

Mom's bday sweater, a photo by gradschoolknitter on Flickr.

Although I finished knitting this sweater almost a month ago... and my mom's birthday was exactly a month ago.... I didn't get around to sewing the buttons on until today. In my defence, the sweater took an exorbitant amount of time to dry when blocking, and then I had to leave the country for a couple of weeks to help my DH finish packing up our old apartment... but still, it seems a little ridiculous.

In any case, the sweater is now *officially* finished! And, if you can't tell, it's definitely in a colour she likes (the bracelets and necklace were already on before I gave her the sweater to try on). And in good/bad news, it is currently cold enough to wear a alpaca/wool sweater. Apparently the weather/mother nature didn't realize that it is still the middle of summer.

In other knitting news, I also finished a baby hat a couple of weeks ago:



This one will go to my niece's soon to be cousin (to be born almost a year to the day that my niece was!).

Not a whole lot more knitting has been happening, since, as I mentioned, we've been packing up and preparing to move. Our stuff, in fact, has already been delivered to our new home and we will be on our way tomorrow. We're visiting family for a few days and gave our niece some early bday presents. I'm a little sad to miss her actual birthday next month, but I'm also excited (and a little terrified) to have a "real job"... hence the move.

Maybe I'll get a little knitting time in when I'm on the off-shift of driving? One can only hope!

blocking is magic

blocking the back, a photo by gradschoolknitter on Flickr.

Although it's a crappy picture (lighting is terrible today, plus the spot I usually block in is not really the best for photo ops), you can probably get a much better picture of how the vest I showed you the other day is turning out.

Moral of the story: block your knits, kids.

a brief and true report of the back of a vest

back o' vest, a photo by gradschoolknitter on Flickr.

It's been a long time, I know. Insert usual excuses here + lots of travel/new job/moving related ones too.

Above you will (hopefully) see a picture of the back of a vest that I have been working on for far too long. I started it almost one month ago and this is as far as I've gotten. I haven't even made it to the arm-hole shaping yet. Again, I blame travel/new job/moving type things for my knit-inertia. Knitnertia?

One thing I did finish in this last month, however, is this:



So that's something, I guess?!

Expect more vest pics soon. I want to have it done in the next 2 weeks AND I have tons of babies to knit for. At least 3 that I know of will be born in the next month...

3 day shawl

ishbel, a photo by gradschoolknitter on Flickr.

Started this on a Thursday, bound off on a Saturday... world record for fastest shawl?! Of course, I made the smaller size, and currently have nothing better to do... so at least I get something out of all my tv watching time!

Pattern is Ishbel.
Yarn is Madelinetosh Tosh Sock in logwood.
Needles: US 5
Mods: none, except that I blocked it wrong... there shouldn't be a point at the bottom, but rather two points on either side of the center, which seems counterintuitive to me. But for now I'm going to leave it as is.

So many things...

OppAtt #1, a photo by gradschoolknitter on Flickr.

It's been a busy week and the needles have been flying! I finished the first of the OppAtt Socks a few days ago and I am thrilled that they fit me. I was a bit concerned since the pattern really puckers in when not on, and makes the sock look really small. But it fits really really well, which makes me really really happy!

Here's another angle, for better pattern viewing:



Also on (and then rapidly off) the needles this week were a couple of baby hats:


The first was of my own design, a little elfish-style number, that may go to my niece's soon-to-be cousin (no, not ME... my SIL's brother's wife is due in August).


And a scrappy gnome hat, which is going to a friend who has an up-and-coming photography business and wanted some props. There might be a few more of these in the future... there are lots of babies being born in my circle of family and friends and this was an awesome stash buster for all those bits and bobs of leftovers that I would never get around to using otherwise.

just in time... for summer?

hoodie front, a photo by gradschoolknitter on Flickr.

yes, it did cool off here this weekend. no, it did not cool off that much!

I've been holding off on posting about this sweater for some time. I was hoping when I knit it (late Jan/early Feb, which probably makes more sense for the pictures, yes?) that I would find the time to write up the pattern and send it in somewhere for potential publication. Well, it's almost summer now, so I don't think that's going to happen. And since there has been a serious dearth of knitting around here lately, I figured it was as good a time as any to share it.

DH was extremely patient and a very good knit model, so I took a number of pictures from various angles:

the side...


the back...

And the quintessential knitwear model pose:



The pattern was my own, based on/adapted from a picture we saw online, from diesel I believe. The yarn was some dorset sheep's wool that I got last September at the WNY Fiber Festival, approximately 1155 yards. Raveled here.

return of the mojo

ishbel unblocked, a photo by gradschoolknitter on Flickr.

I did a lot of traveling in April (more on that in the not-so-distant, but not today, future), which one would think would give me plenty of airport knitting time... which it did. But aside from airports, I really didn't knit much. Nor did I knit the above shawl. That happened over the course of the past 3 days. After more than a months hiatus (or at least semi-hiatus, but airport time never counts for anything, does it?) I knit a shawl in less than 3 days. Started Thursday AM and bound off just a short time ago. Obviously it will need some major blocking, but that's the easy part.

So what about those lost airport hours? Well, they yielded this:



And not even all of that. I meant to cast on for the shawl Wednesday night, but forgot to bring the pattern (which is Ysolda Teague's Ishbel by the way) with me to knit night. Instead, I kept plugging away at this sock that won't seem to ever end, the first of the OppAtt socks. I'm a little concerned (ok, a lot concerned) that the pattern is going to make for a tight fit... in which case these will be put away for someone's birthday or holiday gift, someone with skinnier ankles than I.

swap package!!!

kai mei socks, a photo by gradschoolknitter on Flickr.

Squeeee! Just got my swap package from the 9th international sock swap! These socks flew to me all the way from New Zealand, and just in time! The pattern is the memorable Kai-Mei from Cookie A's first sock book. I had knit a pair of these for myself several years ago and just (as in less than a week ago) threw them out because a giant hole had formed in one of the toes and unraveled a large section of the underside of the foot. Irreparable. And somehow, my swap partner had the foresight to replace them for me!

The rest of the package was awesome too, as you will see:


100% NZ merino! And the colour! Swoon!


A project bag...


... filled with goodies!


And another, bigger bag, with a drawstring and a NZ pin!

Big thanks to my swap buddy! I love everything!

Want your OWN swap partner and goodies from anywhere in the world?! We are currently holding sign-ups for our next swaps, until May 31! You can check us out on ravelry!!

pugiversary!

pugiversary!, a photo by gradschoolknitter on Flickr.

“We are all a little weird and life is a little weird, and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love." ~ Dr Seuss.

I am so lucky to have found someone who is compatibly weird with me. So much so that I knew he would enjoy getting a knit pug for our 2nd year anniversary, which everyone knows is the pug year. Since we can't have pets in our apt, I made him one out of cotton instead...

Pattern: Pug with Anorak
Yarn: Knitpicks Cotlin
Needles: US 5
Mods: Smaller yarn and needles than called for. Didn't make the jacket due to a lack of time and the wrong sorts of materials. Gave him a scarf instead (in part because his head was a little wobbly).

vanilla and cashmere

vanilla and cashmere, a photo by gradschoolknitter on Flickr.

Socks! AKA signs of life, at least for this blog/blogger. Simple, toe-up socks for a WWFY swap.

Can you believe I have NOTHING to knit right now? OK, not nothing... oh and there's that craft yarn council course I'm supposed to be working on... but you know what I mean, right?!

a promise is a promise is a promise.

floppy ears, a photo by gradschoolknitter on Flickr.

As promised, this post is not about socks! Instead, I spent a few days this week whipping up this adorable little bunny from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. I made a few modifications, such as the yarn used (mostly a knitpicks cotton blend), being that it was worsted, I decided not to double it up. Also, the ears: instead of pinching the ends to sew them on, I sewed each on flat, to make them extra floppy. S/he really looks like they're going to take off when the ears are opened wide:



I also added the shawl, shown in the pattern on the elephant. The rabbit didn't have any accessories, which I thought was rather sad, and I wanted to cinch the neck in a bit too, so I thought a shawl would cover that up nicely.

Hoppy Easter!

one pair down...

sunshine socks, a photo by gradschoolknitter on Flickr.

I just wove in the ends on the sunshine socks I was making for the will work for yarn group.

These socks were surprisingly difficult for me... I couldn't quite memorize the pattern, which might have been due to the glaring errata. If you plan on making these socks, I would highly suggest checking the comments on ravelry which explain how the cables should be reversed on the leg and foot charts, not the set-up chart (as posted in the interweave errata).

In any case, they're done now, on to the next pair!

And now for something completely different...

cyc yarn, a photo by gradschoolknitter on Flickr.

Yarn! Ok, ok, so you've seen yarn around here before... but this is worsted! not sock! (or socks...)

I've recently signed on to teach some knitting classes at Michaels! I'm really excited to get back into teaching knitting... it's a lot of fun and the students seem to like it too! Hopefully I'll be getting on the schedule for April... if anyone is interested, send a me message and I'll let you know the wheres, whats, etc. Probably just beginners for now, but potentially more advanced things as time goes on.

So, why the yarn? Well, Michaels is a rather large company, with stores all over Canada and the US, so they want to keep consistent. To that end, they use the Craft Yarn Council's Knitting Instructor Course (and crochet, of course) to certify their instructors. So, over the next few months, I will be working on that... which requires you to make a bunch of swatches, etc, and I needed some nice smooth wool that would show off my stitches. Hence the Class Wool Worsted!

Stay tuned for the thrilling updates as I complete my swatching!

ce n'est pas un sock

stunts, a photo by gradschoolknitter on Flickr.

(but there is one below)

The bag you may have seen before... if not around here, then over at the MadridKnits blog... but the buttons are new. My mom picked them up for me, the sock one, because, well, if you've been around for any length of time you may have noticed that I knit socks... like, always... and the other, which is my fave, says "I do my own knitting stunts" and has some ominous blood dripping down the sides... she picked it up because of this incident. Ah, my mother is a witty woman... and a great artist, if you didn't know.

And, since this blog would barely be itself with a picture of a sock in progress, and we don't want to disappoint, voila:



One down, and a toe too!

Socks on a Sunday

Pretty plain Jane socks, a photo by gradschoolknitter on Flickr.

Heel turned on my plain jane socks for the WWFY group!

Speaking of socks, I'm contemplating some changes to the sock swap... it will still be international, but I am thinking about making it into two swaps instead of one. For those who like the current format (socks + goodies up to 30$ US), no fears, that will remain the same. But I'd also like to introduce a smaller swap for those of us (myself included) who are trying to remain a little more frugal these days. This second group would just send socks and possibly one small goodie like stitch markers or a chocolate bar... Anyway, there is a poll and subsequent conversation here on ravelry. I'd love to hear from anyone who has participated, who has thought of participating, or who might consider participating in either of the options in the future!

sunshine #1

sunshine #1, a photo by gradschoolknitter on Flickr.

one down, one to go!

a change would do you good

just a toe, a photo by gradschoolknitter on Flickr.

shamelessly stealing blog post titles from song lyrics, I know, I know

I cast on for the second set of socks for the WWFY group this morning. Sure, sure, I haven't quite finished the first set...


ok, so "not quite finished" means I still have a toe and a whole sock still to do...

... but I just needed something new. I've been feeling that way about a lot of things in my life lately... I keep threatening to cut off my hair... I feel like I'm on the brink of a big professional change... all kinds of things.

And so this morning I finally took the plunge... and changed my ravelry name! I've been "gradskoolknitter" since my first year in my PhD program, but having defended almost a year ago, it was really starting to seem outdated. I haven't changed anything on the blog yet, as that would require a whole lot more work and planning, but the rav name change is rather easy (although you only get to do it 3 times... so you've got to make it count!).

If you've made it this far, I'm sure you're wondering what it is... I will henceforth be known (at least on ravelry) as arteconsobras! The name is not just a random stringing of letters, but Spanish for "art from leftovers". I've been thinking about it for some time, and the name comes from a comment on this blog, in fact. When I posted about my finished leftover sock yarn blanket an anonymous poster (who signed "Susana" and I think I know who it is from the MadridKnits group) wrote "No siempre la gente sabe hacer arte con sobras. Me parece preciosa." Roughly translated it means "Not everyone knows how to make art from the leftovers. It's beautiful". I loved that comment and I loved the idea of "art from the leftovers". So after much mulling, I finally took the complement on as my knitting identity.

I promise there will be lots of artistic uses of leftovers in the near future!