birth of my FLAK

I ordered Janet Szabo's FLAK pattern a while back. The reviews I've read have been overwhelmingly positive and I do love an Aran sweater. Ordered some Wool of the Andes from Knit Picks (also do love Knit Picks) and have commenced swatching.

I do not love swatching.

I've started with 4.5 mm needles because they felt right. The last time I knit an Aran sweater I used 4.0 mm needles and the sweater turned out a little smaller than I would have liked, though I got gauge in my swatch. Hence the switch to 4.5. Preliminary stitch count, however, indicates that I'm going to have to drop down to 4.0 again. I'm going to finish this swatch and then knit another on the 4.0s. Then I'll wash 'em both and see where we stand.

See what a good little knitter I'm being? Knitting multiple swatches and washing them too! The washing part is a first for me.

Ms Szabo also strongly suggests swatching the cables. I bought plenty of yarn and probably have a few good years left so I'm going to heed her advice. And I'll start the sweater in, what, 2015 or so? I think my goal will be to have the swatches done before the Olympics. Then I can do the traditional cast on during the opening ceremonies, though I hold no delusion that I'll finish the project before the games end.

Meanwhile I have a pile of mindless projects to keep me busy when I couldn't be bothered with cables. I'm still working on the basic sweater from Jacqueline Fee's Sweater Workshop. I'm doing it in plain stockinette, solid colour, incredibly boring. There's a first sock kicking around the floor somewhere. And I'm crocheting a very simple baby blanket for charity.

The Monstrosity

I proudly present my sweater sampler from The Sweater Workshop by Jacqueline Fee. It was quite entertaining to knit and while many of the techniques covered are old hat to most of us, there was enough new stuff in there to keep me interested. The author thoughtfully included a hanging loop at the top so that one can display the sampler proudly on ones basement wall, which is where mine resides in anticipation of many questions and curious looks.

I liked this project. It was a fun little exercise. Now on to the basic sweater.

yarnsport!

That's a new Olympic event I'm developing. It's all about collecting flying yarn at baseball games.

We had a fabulous time at the Blue Jays Stitch and Pitch last night. The Blue Jays did not have such a great time but that's okay, it was all about the knitting. For me Yarnsport was the highlight and I confess I missed much of the baseball because I was having so much fun watching my family play. You see, in addition to the lovely stuffed loot bags that are traditional at these events, the wonderful organizing ladies threw balls of yarn and extra loot bags into the crowd throughout the game, causing feeding frenzies that rivalled the scrambles for fly balls (at least two of which ended up in the knitters' section as well). My family turned out to be quite adept at yarn catching. Each of my two daughters snagged a ball of Bernat Softee Chunky and my most excellent husband caught a loot bag for me. Of course he donated his loot bag to me as well, so I came home triumphant with three tote bags! An excellent haul.

The daughters and I did a bit of trading - I offloaded all my ribbon yarn and received a donation of sock yarn - and here's what I ended up with (keep in mind this is the booty from three bags after a bit of trading):
- one ball Red Heart Light & Lofty
- one ball Bernat Soft Boucle
- two balls Bernat Softee Chunky
- two 100g balls On Your Toes sock yarn (ka-ching!)
- three balls Patons Decor
- one ball Moda Dea Sassy Stripes

I was slightly disappointed that rather than free admission to the Creativ Festival they only gave us $5 off coupons this year. Oh well, every little bit helps.

And if you're wondering why I was only a spectator in the fabulous new Yarnsport event, it's because I was knitting furiously on the basketweave baby blanket. I think I completed at least three inches last night and am well pleased with my progress. An excellent night overall.

I can't resist, I must blog.

I am so excited about my knitting again! The slump is over and I'm rarin' to go.

This summer I've completed a few projects and frogged one. I finished a chemo hat that I sort of unvented out of some leftover baby blanket yarn, and then I did a second one. I need to do one more to donate them to my charity group. I finished a couple of pairs of socks in Knit Picks Felici (love x 100). I'm half-finished a basketweave baby blanket and just have ends to weave in on a crocheted baby afghan. That's a bigger job than one might have thought. And I ended up frogging the Adamas shawl I was making for #1 daughter. I just wasn't feeling the love.

So now what? I bought Jacqueline Fee's Sweater Workshop and am working my way through the sampler. Interesting, if not exactly exciting. It was buried in our renovation hell for a few weeks and I'm eager to get back to it. Also buried in the renovations is my pattern for the Wonderful Wallaby. I can't imagine what has become of it and am considering buying another copy. I just bought some Patons Classic Wool in a deep purple at the annual Spinrite tent sale and thought it make a great Wallaby. Other tent sale purchases include four bags of Patons Astra for charity projects and four bags of Sugar and Cream cotton for...well, I dunno, probably accessories for my shiny new kitchen. The colours don't match the kitchen at all but I can live with that.

I also bought a set of the new Knit Picks Zephyr needles but haven't tried them yet. Again, I was hoping to Wallaby with them. Think, if you were a Wallaby pattern, where would you hide?

plodding

I'm considering discontinuing the blog. There doesn't seem to be much point right now, does there? I deleted my webring buttons because, not surprisingly, they do not appear to be working any more. Knitwise I am still feeling uninspired, but... BUT! I have been knitting a bit. In fact I'm close to the toe of a second sock! And as I mentioned earlier I've started a basketweave preemie blanket that is perfect for knitting while reading.

We're heading up north this weekend in hopes of spending a week on the beach, but the forecast is not encouraging. The silver lining is there should be oodles of knitting and reading time while we watch the rain. And by the time we get back I intend to show off my finished socks. I did short row heels on these ones and was thrilled by my success on the first one, but I seem to have screwed up picking up a wrap on the second one and there's a little visible boo-boo. I considered ripping back but decided that I really don't need something else to slow me down.

You know what I think I need? A project using thicker yarn and straight needles. Everything I've been doing lately has used thin yarn and circs or dpns and I think my hands want some worsted and straight needles. I'll get to work on that when we get back.

[bleep]-ing Harmony needle tips!

Apologies for the harsh language but I have had it with the KP Harmony tips and am swearing off them. Recently I contacted Knit Picks about one of my 5mm tips separating from its metal connector thingie and they promptly and apologetically sent a replacement set. Today I used the replacement set for the first time. I will give you one guess what happened. They lasted maybe an hour and I swear I was not knitting with any unusual violence.

[ deep breath ]

In my endless quest to regain my knitting mojo I have started a simple baby blanket in a basketweave pattern. I'm thinking some mindless TV knitting might get me back in the swing of things. I'm also working on sewing up some crocheted squares for another baby blanket, but as finishing is not high on my list of Very Favourite Things I expect it will take a good long while.

Now to find an intact 5mm tip to continue work on the basketweave blankie. Argh.

More evidence that I've lost my will to knit: I found the latest Knitpicks catalogue boring! I was mildly intrigued by the stuffed critters on the cover, but when I looked at them inside they looked sort of crappy. There were a lot of baby and small kid clothes, which are not of use to me because my kids are big, and I found most of them unappealing anyay.

This may be a bit out there considering my heap of unfinished projects, but it's entirely possible that I need to start something else to get my mojo back. Sometimes that works. Sometimes it doesn't. But who can say no to an excuse to cast on?

There has been a little bit of progress on the two pairs of socks, but very little. Stay tuned for further exciting updates.