Category: knitting

  • is this what I get for trying to rush?

    So. My new Lucy was coming right along – got up to the yoke on the weekend. Pretty!

    lucy is alllmost done

    The yarn is Dream in Color Classy in Black Parade, and I did a slightly lengthened version with just 4 skeins! Motoring along, wanted to get it done early this week so I could give it a good washing and find some buttons (I’m thinking some little pewter ones we have at the store).

    diamonds

    Pretty pretty texture. I finished the yoke, with a slightly different neckband treatment this time (more on that with the FO post) and went to graft the underarm.

    uh oh!

    Um, notice anything? I didn’t put enough stitches on hold for the sleeve gusset! Crap. I did notice that the number of stitches was off once I got up to near the top of the yoke (and there were a lot fewer stitches) but I kind of ignored it and kept going. And this is why.

    But, since I’m REALLY not about to reknit the entire yoke, I fudged the grafting and it’s blocking now. We’ll see once it’s dry and I can put it on whether I decide to do something crazy.

    Nah. I really won’t rip out the yoke. So near-FO it is!

  • new toys

    new lens baby!

    A couple weeks back I ordered a slightly used lens off eBay and it finally arrived this week! It’s a Sigma 30mm f/1.4 (as I’m sure you can read). While I do like my 50mm 1.8 Nikon lens a lot, I’m just not fast enough with my manual focus to take good photos of say, moving objects (I can handle yarn and stuff that doesn’t move!).

    The Nikon body that I have (the D40) doesn’t have a focusing motor in the body, which is why it’s so small and light – but it means that lenses which aren’t marked AF-S (or HSM with Sigma) won’t autofocus. Like I said, I can deal with it for still subjects, but it’s hard for people and such! And pretty impossible for taking a self-portrait with (for my Flickr 365 project).

    So enter the Sigma lens. I LOVE IT. The only downside is that it’s a bit heavy (430 g, that’s nearly a pound) but I’m sure my arms can get used to it. Or else. And in addition to the new (to me) lens, I got a great Christmas gift from my best friend’s family – an SB-400 speedlight flash! I haven’t used it yet because I need to dig up some batteries, but it’ll force me to learn how to use flash properly. Most of the time I cringe when I see someone take a photo with flash (particularly with point and shoot cameras) but this one can be angled up to the ceiling for more natural light.

    oooooooh

    Mmmm, this lens is awesome! Anyway, my Lucy redux (knit in Dream in Color Classy in Black Parade) is coming along, but rather slowly. Now that all the Christmas knitting is done I ought to be able to push it out a little bit. I do want to cast on for a sleeve so that I have something in straight stockinette, which should be easy to get done!

  • poppy, otto and mousie

    So much knitting this week! I didn’t get these done in time to be given before Christmas, so I knit really hard and got them all done in just a couple days! Excuse the photos, the middle of the night really isn’t the best time for accurate colours!

    family portrait

    These super cute toys are all by Ysolda, for a couple of super awesome kids I know.

    otto

    Otto is a polar bear knit out of Coldharbour Mill Organic Merino (DK weight) that I picked up at iknit day in London back in September. Awesome yarn, great pattern, a little fiddly but what toy pattern isn’t?

    immobile mousie

    This little immobile Mousie doesn’t have legs mainly because I was sort of running out of time and yarn. Besides, it’s just going to get chewed on by a baby anyway! Knit in a crazy yarn-weight combo of Nature’s Palette sock yarn (pink) and Ultra Alpaca (the grey). A little too lifelike until I added the oversized ears!

    poppy!

    I finished up yellow-haired Poppy on Christmas Day – and I love her! Body was knit with the Coldharbour Mill Organic Merino as well, with her dress in a handspun silk (lucky girl) and scraps of black and yellow for her shoes and hair.

    (And I’m not some kind of knitting time traveler, I had a bit of an advance copy of the pattern!)

    Now that there’s only three weeks to go before I take off on my six-week trip, I’m freaking out a little bit (or a lot) about how much there is to do! Getting a visa (India), shots, luggage, doing packing lists and such, deciding what knitting to bring! And I’ve got a couple of projects I want to work up before I leave, too. Bit insane but we’ll see how I do!