I can’t post about all the knitting I’m enjoying doing while it snows and snows because it’s all holiday presents. So have some pictures of snow.

I finally finished and kitchenered the band on Marguerite yesterday. So then I grabbed my 16″ size 6 circulars (the aluminum ones) and started picking up stitches. 16″ turned out to be a bit short for the whole hat to fit on without threatening to lose stitches constantly, so I grabbed the other size 6 circs that I have, which are 24″. As I was knitting it seemed to me that it didn’t feel like I was knitting with the same size needles.

I wasn’t. The aluminum ones are 4mm whereas the bamboo sets (circs are clover, dpns are crystal palace) are 4.25mm. Since I’d knit the band on 4.25mm bamboo, I figured sticking with the same “size 6″ would be a good idea, but the 24″ circs are a bit too long for the hat. So I gave up on circs utterly and switched to dpns.

In conclusion, this hat would be a lot more done if I lived in a country where different brands didn’t use different needle sizes but based them on a real measurement. Or I had a good interchangeable set and could put a 20″ cord on my circs.

I haven’t got much done on this yet. The yarn (Mountain Colors’ Weaver’s Wool Quarters, a swap present) is quite nice.

I haven’t done any knitting in two weeks. Sad, right? The last time I knitted was working on the stormcloud shawl while on the train to Philly a couple of Friday’s ago. Then I got sick on the last week of the marking period at work which meant spending last week totally stressed out with catching up on grading and planning. I was so out of it that knitting seemed like too much work.

But! I did get a shiny new toy and finish the Full O Win mitts, as you can see.

Now to send those and the hat off to a friend and do some more knitting for me. If I hadn’t been so blegh, I would’ve seen said friend this weekend for a housewarming party. Sigh.

I needed something I could knit during class last week, so I cast on Multnomah (Ravelry) in Wool Candy’s BonBon Bamboo Merino colorway Blue Dragee.  Multnomah is a simple triangular shawl pattern, just garter stitch and a feather & fan border. It’s lovely, though, and non-knitters looked at the picture when I said “this is what it will look like” and were impressed. Feather and fan is my favorite trick.

I’m still working on the scarf in Silver Sage, too, but it’s been proven that I can’t knit that pattern and pay attention to anything more demanding than an audiobook. (There was a lot of frogging the time I tried to knit it and watch tv. *sigh*)

I got a decent bit of knitting done during the video and discussions in class on Sat, and have knit at least a little on it most nights this week. (I just almost spelled nights “knites” umm…?)  It turns out the lack of knitting in my life since school started back up again was a need for uncomplicated projects. I’m a little over halfway through the garter stitch section so far:

I’m also working on the Full o’ Win mitts (ravelry) for a friend. Getting close to done on those:

Once I finish, I’ve got two more project ideas lined up. I bought this variegated sock yarn from Beemiceelf on etsy because it matches the colors for the school I work at. The plan is to make a pair of fingerless mitts for myself in it to wear at work. I have my blue ones still, but I figured it would be fun to have a pair that shows a little school spirit.

I also had the idea the other day to make up a hat pattern to match the diamond scarf.  I’m not sure how, exactly, to make that work but the idea has intrigued me. This would be more knitting for other people, since the scarf is a Christmas present for someone, but…I  have all this leftover yarn from the project! I do still plan to post the scarf pattern, but if I’m going to do the hat as well I’ll wait until I can post both.

I just updated my FOs 2009 page, which I hadn’t touched in an age. Looking at the page, I realized something: out of the fourteen projects on that page, exactly one was made for me. There are 5 projects made for swaps, 2 failed experiments, 3 presents made for family, and 3 hats made for donation. On top of that, what I’m working on right now is a pair of fingerless gloves (Full O’ Win Mitts) for, you guessed it, someone else. (I have also been working, slowly, on the Silver Sage scarf for myself all summer.)

My summer knitting resolution was not to buy any yarn. That one isn’t changing any time soon–with hubby going back to school, free spending money is tight. Good thing my stash has plenty of yarn left in it. Anyway, I think my fall knitting resolution is to make some things for me, dangit.

I made up this bag with the decorative purl ridges on a whim. As I’m a nerd, I based the number of knit and purl rows on Fibonacci’s sequence (1,1,2,3,5,8…). Since I’m a gamer as well as a knitting nerd, all small bags are automatically dice bags, but I’m sure you can find other uses for it. It looks good in one yarn or with contrasting colors for the purl stripes. Read on to make one for yourself!

Materials:

Single color: I used about  60 yards of Plymouth Colorspun (worsted weight) and size 7 DPNS.

Multi-color: I used about 30 yards of the MC (Mirasol Tupa, DK weight) and ~11 and ~15 of the contrast colors (random stash DK weight in blue and purple) with size 3 DPNs.

In theory any weight yarn could work. I went down a size or two from recommended for the needles for both bags for a tighter fabric. It does have to hold things.

Pattern: Cast on 60 stitches, join to work in the round.

Top: knit 8 rows; *k2tog, yo, repeat from * for 1 row; knit 8 rows

Main Body: purl 2 rows; knit 3 rows; purl 3 rows; knit 5 rows; purl 5 rows; knit 8 rows; purl 8 rows.

(Note on purling in the round–I find it waaaaay harder to keep from getting loose stitches at the end of each needle when purling for some reason. If you have a similar problem, I recommend marking your start of round and moving the needles over by a stitch on the purl rounds.)

Bottom: knit 3 rows; *k4, k2tog, repeat from * for 1 row; knit 1 row; *k3, k2tog, repeat from * for 1 row; knit 1 row; *k2, k2tog, repeat from * for 1 row; knit 1 row; *k1, k2tog, repeat from * for 1 row; knit 1 row; *k2tog, repeat from * for 1 row; *k2tog, repeat from * for 1 row.

(Note on decreases — you should be decreasing from 60 sts to 50, 40, 30, 20, 10 and 5 sts.)

Finishing:

You should be down to 5 stitches. Cut your yarn, thread onto a yarn needle, remove stitches from needles and pass the yarn through the 5 remaining stitches, pulling tight. Weave in ends.
Blocking: I needed to block the DK but not the worsted. If you have a mug or glass of the same size as your bottom, wetting and leaving over the glass to dry works perfectly. Remember, though, that we want to keep some of the ridgey nature of the purl rows, so don’t pull your bag too tight on the glass. Just try to get the bottom nice and solid and circular.

Cord: I used lucetted cord made from my yarn. You could knit i-cord or find a different cord you liked. Thread onto a yarn needle and thread through the holes.

Pattern notes for alternating colors:

Adding the contrast color rows is pretty simple: do all the purl rows and the knit row before in your contrast color. You want to knit one row before you start purling in the contrast color because what’s making the bump when you purl is the loop from the previous row.  This is how it worked out when I made the bag:

Top: knit as before, all in black

Main body: knit 7 rows in black; knit 1row blue; purl 2 rows in blue; knit 2 rows in black; knit 1 row in purple; purl 3 rows in purple; knit 4 rows in black; knit 1 row in blue; purl 5 rows in blue; knit 7 rows in black; knit 1 row in purple; purl 8 rows in purple

Bottom: knit as before, all in black

You will have extra ends to weave in, of course. I recommend carrying your contrast color up the inside after the first purl row.

Well, there you go. Please tell me if you make one!

I made this little drawstring bag on a whim while waiting for the last of my ingredients for a swap package to show. I thought “how hard can it be to make a drawstring bag?” and started knitting.  I was right– it wasn’t that hard! The result of my random idea to add texture with alternation purl and knit rows (based on the fibonacci sequence) is strangely structural and makes me think of a clay pot made on the wheel.

I love it. I’m going to be sad to give it away! Not so sad that I’m not going to try and knit up another one real quick before I mail the package though. Need to share the love!  After I knit up the second one I’ll write up the pattern for you, although there’s a rough draft in my ravelry comments on the original project.

So, you know what I just figured out? If you make knitted i-cord with two cast-on stitches, it comes out the same as making lucetted cord. Neato!

(Of course, as soon as I realized this I put away the knitting needles and got out the lucette since cord on a lucette goes a lot faster. Yes, I’m a craft nerd.)

I happened to join a swap that was ending right around my birthday, so I got an awesome day-late birthday present today. I’m developing quite the stash lately.

That is all.

I’ve got the rest of my photos from the DC Cherry Blossom Festival up now, if you care to take a look.

I finished it just at the beginning of Spring Break. Now that I know I can make one, the next sock project will be actually with a yarn I like and an interesting pattern. It will probably also not happen until fall. Who wears socks between April and October? Not me.

Speaking of which, does anyone have a brand/type recommendation for socks to wear to the gym? Every pair I own leaves my feet a sweaty, bright red, itchy mess after half an hour of exercise.  I usually buy socks for wearing in the cold and keeping my feet warm, not for exercising in. I’m one of those people who has permanently frozen feet in winter, and permanently hot feet in summer. Going to the gym to exercise rather than doing it at home has lots of benefits (machines! peer pressure to keep doing it! a trainer!) but it also means I have to wear sneakers. *blegh* So, sock recommendations?