Whew!  I have not been able to get into my blog. Somehow the log-in changed. Then Blogger said they didn't have enough evidence that this was my blog in order to help me. I finally got in by trying a list of possible passwords. frustrating.  Be back soon. i hope.

Pattern:  Montgolfiere by Stephanie van der Linden
Yarn:  Cascade Heritage - purple, Plymouth Happy Feet - brown
Needles:  Magic loop on US size 1 circular

A fun pattern.
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I striped the yarn with itself. I split the hank into 2 equal balls and did a 2-row pattern on the leg and a 1-row pattern on the foot. 

My purpose in knitting these this way was simply to practice technique and to see how it altered the fabric. After trying a few techniques, I decided on the striping method used by Eunny Jang on Knit Daily. It altered the fabric the least. You can see the slightly elongated stitches where the yarns changed, but there is no warping of the fabric. 

Pattern:  None, simple striping, picot edge cuff, slipped stitch heel flap.
Yarn:  Pagewood Farm
Needles:  Magic loop US size 1 circular

The colors remind me of the grasses in the fields in late June.

I have seen others wear their Baktus scarves this way, so I tried it. I like it.  The point is in front with the ends brought around to the front and tied. I then rolled down the top part. I might need to knit another Baktus.

I don't think it was me.... was it me?.... I don't think it was me..

I called a corporate business office located on a medical campus of several buildings to get their location...

Me:  Hello, I am calling for the location of your office.

Them:  "We are in this building."

pause...?!!.
thinking to myself: did someone actually just say that?!  Am I in an Abbott and Costello movie?
this person was serious.
wow.

Jaywalkers. I prefer to think of them as snowy mountain peaks.

Yarn:  KnitPicks Memories, sadly discontinued.
Needle:  2.25 mm (I think) circular, magic-loop style
Pattern:  Jaywalker, medium

I am still working on my other pair of socks. Those are progressing slowly as I have to follow the chart, and they stay at home. It is time to start another travelling sock. I pulled the Pagewood Farm sock yarn out of my stash and split the hank into 2 balls. I want to accent the stripes and limit pooling, so I am using both balls to create 2-row stripes. I need practice switching colors in-the-round, and this is a good project on which to practice.

Valentines Day is fast approaching.  With that in mind, I thought I would share a blog that I have had fun reading.  The blog is "Advertising for Love", a collection of personal ads from the nineteenth century.

I get excited when I see the pattern begin to develop.
(pattern: Montgolfiere by Stephanie van der Linden).

ripping. and ripping. ouch

I found an error about halfway down. I did a couple of rows of the wrong stitch pattern across the left back panel. I tried dropping down and fixing it, but there were too many stitches to fix. Since I am knitting this in one piece, this meant that I had to rip across the entire cardigan. What bothers me most is I didn't see it when I checked my work. Scary. 

onward.

I am preparing for the next sock project. The purple is Cascade Heritage sock yarn and the bottom is Happy Feet.  It is the first time I have knit with either one of these. The pattern is a slip-stitch pattern called Montgolfiere from the Socken Kreative Liste yahoo group (now a free pattern on Ravelry) and designed by the talented Stephanie van der Linden.

Oat Couture pattern: North Shore Pullover GU422
An oversize, blocky pullover to wear at home seems just the thing for staying cozy. I have seen this pattern knit up, and it looks nice on a wide range of body styles. There are 10 skeins of Cascade 220 in the stash that would be perfect.

There is a part of me that is always pushing me to do better. In different areas of my life it takes on different character and different importance. In my career it helps me strive and achieve, but in my knitting it tends to bully me.

I often change patterns to fit my likes and needs, but I look forward to patterns I can knit as written, no need for fine-tuning. I thought this was that sort of pattern, but then the part of me that likes to tweak things (the tweaker) began to intrude on my knitterly self...

• the tweaker said that my seams usually don't look good enough to be exposed to the outside like they are in the pattern, so my knitterly self decided to do fake seams in the E.Z. fashion.
  
• the tweaker said a fake seam in center front might not look right. so my knitterly self decided to do a cardigan so that there is a button band in front instead.
  
• the tweaker reminded me that I am not fond of knitting in pieces and seaming. so my knitterly self decided to knit the cardigan in one piece.
  
• the tweaker then reminded knitterly self that I prefer side vents at the bottom, so knitterly self said she will knit the pieces separately on one long circular until the side vents are done then join into one piece and do fake seams up the sides.
  
• the tweaker then said I might like a shawl collar, and the knitterly self said "shut up, no more".
  

so, I will knit it from the bottom in 3 pieces to approximately 4 inches, then knit in one piece with fake seams up the sides as well as the back. When I reach the armholes, I should be able to follow the pattern as is. one can only hope.

I have not decided on whether I will expose the seams when attaching the sleeves (per pattern) or if I will try to do some kind of applied I-cord thing instead. I can ruminate on that while I knit the body.

It will be nice for wearing around the house.