lisa’s place

I am not so much with the New Year’s Resolutions – they seem to mean guilt and disappointment for me… but I am going to make a short term goal. Let’s say, a 3 month goal (with the possibility of extension) to post pictures and descriptions of every crafty item I finish. In that spirit, here is the first:

Owl hat pattern from: http://www.ruthieknits.com/Site/Owl_Hat.html

Cast on: Friday, 4 Jan 08
Finished: Sunday, 6 Jan 08

My modifications are indicated in blue.

Yarn: 55-60 g Malabrigo Worsted Merino in natural Size 7 Knit Picks circular needle, appropriately sized to work in magic loop. Cast on 99 stitches, work in 2×1 rib for about 1 inch. Change to stockinette. Increase to 110 stitches in the next row. Work approximately 1.5 inches in stockinette.

Begin owl pattern:

Round 1: p3, k8
…
Round 18: p3, slip 2nd stitch on left needle over 1st stitch on left needle, increase 1 purl stitch, p4, increase 1 purl stitch, slip 2 stitches onto right needle, slip the first of these slipped stitches over the second, move the remaining stitch back to the left needle and purl it
Rows 19-26: Purl these 8 rows even.
Row 27: p9, p2tog
Row 28: purl all stitches
Row 29: p8, p2tog
Row 30: purl all stitches
Row 31: purl all stitches
Row 32: p7, p2tog
Row 33: purl all stitches
Row 34: purl all stitches
Row 35: p6, p2tog
Row 36: purl all stitches
Row 37: p5, p2tog
Row 38: purl all stitches
Row 39: purl all stitches
Row 40: p5, p2tog
Row 41: purl all stitches
Row 42: purl all stitches
Row 43: p4, p2tog
Row 44: purl all stitches
Row 45: purl all stitches
Row 46: purl all stitches
Row 47: p3, p2tog
Row 48: purl all stitches
Row 49: purl all stitches
Row 50: p2, p2tog
Row 51: purl all stitches
Row 52: p1, p2tog
Row 53: purl all stitches
Row 54: p2tog
Row 55: p2tog

Break yarn and bring it through the remaining 4 stitches.

Obviously, any number of types of decrease could be used for this pattern. I chose to do it this way to best fit my head.

Overall, this was a quick and really fun to knit project! Now… if the temperature would just drop down out of the upper 50′s, I might get to wear it.

Just a quick couple of pictures of the first (finished except for dealing with ends) Monkey sock! Oh… these are so fun! Pretty quick, too. They fit the foot really snugly, but don’t feel tight, but they stay up… hmmm…

Back to work…

So… the general crappiness that has engulfed my body lingers… not venturing far from my bathroom… but…

More progress on the knitting/crochet front (and a much cleaner living space).

The Chrysanthemum Tea Shawl starts to take shape (Wednesday night, maybe)…

A little blocking problem here … or… a little size problem with my blocking boards and teeny “dining” table. Either way, the damn thing just won’t fit.

My plan it to not worry too much about blocking it really well. The yarn is pretty floppy and the shawl is very soft and floaty, so I don’t even think that the block would “take.”

I am happy with the finished product at this point:

A big soft and smooshy doily that you can wear, what could be finer?

Finally cast on for those Monkey Socks with some really nice new yarn. This is a quick moving and pretty intuitive pattern to knit. I think it may take a while to memorize it, but it is pretty clear when you make a mistake (at least so far).

Hopefully, tomorrow will be a cool day lacking excessive bathroom visits Yeah, right.

Finally, finally, finally finished the Knit Picks CotLin socks!!!

I used Wendy’s Sportweight Toe-Up Sock with Gusset Heel pattern (one of my favorites – easy, perfect fit, and very simple to modify). I added a few stitches on each side of the instep about 2 cm before the heel began to accommodate this apparently larger-than-normal part of my foot. The top was finished off with a simple 2×2 ribbing (until I almost ran out of yarn on the first sock).

No idea why these took so long to finish. I was looking forward to the results and really liked the feel of the yarn. However, the yarn was pretty hard on the hands. Not a surprise, really, but it was extremely unforgiving (should have known from the cotton/linen blend) and made my wrists feel crappy. I like the finished socks very much and can’t wait to have some non-wool hand knit socks! Unfortunately, it is definitely going to have to cool off a lot more to allow wearing of socks of any type.

After the concert Saturday evening, we stayed in Florence, Kentucky. (Follow the link to see the “real story” of the Florence, Y’all water tower). On Sunday afternoon, we went to the Cincinnati Zoo. Such a pleasant surprise! The insect house was great and they had a bunch of mini aviaries so that you could get up and personal with lots of really cute and cooperative birds! Here are just a few: