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August 31, 2007
Let's talk about Yarn Overs, shall we?
They drive me NUTS!
I would have had actual knitting content today, yes, I started a pair of socks, but had to rip them out because of today's topic.
I have lots of books.
I have lots of knitting books. (It's my hobby right? I don't golf...not that there is anything wrong with golf...I am getting away from topic here)
Anyway...
This is how I make a yarn over:
Thank you Vogue Knitting. Do you know how many types of Yarn Overs there are? I may be wrong here, but there are several. Especially in England. At least English patterns say what they are!
Yarn Forward (YF)
The yarn forward looks like the Yarn Over that I do already. Next we have the Yarn Round Needle (YRN). Whoa! Could this be anymore difficult? Sure, the picture makes it look SO easy!
Then we have the Yarn Over Needle (YON) Which looks the same to me as a Yarn Forward, but it's between a knit and purl stitch.
Thank you Debbie Bliss "How to Knit" for that.
Next I have the Domiknitrix Book. This is what totally got me out of whack. I hope it doesn't sound like I am dissing the English people I am not. I love that they call them different things! (your great!)
But it makes sense! Especially if I am knitting the Charade Sock from here (it's in the side bar). Yes this makes perfect sense now. NOT!
Here is one more Yarn Over:
Thank you Debbie Stoller, Stitch and Bitch Book. This is they way I make mine.
I am not sure if this little rant of mine made any sense, but I guess the question I have is:
When I slip the next stitch as if to purl, knit the next stitch, YO, pass slipped stitch over both the knit stitch and the YO, it doesn't work the way I do my YO's. But if I do them the Domiknitrix way it does. I guess I should just shut up, quit being a baby and suck it up. Right? Yeah. I thought so.
Oh and a big thank you to Smudge! He held up all my books while I took pictures. He didn't like it. He was not harmed in anyway durning this. He may tell you differently, but he wasn't.
Have a great Holiday Weekend!
Posted by beth at 12:32 PM | Comments (14)
August 28, 2007
Finished Sock!
Yes, I pushed my self to get them done. I love the color of this yarn, but I am not all that crazy about the pattern. Here is a detail of my short row heels:
They don't looks soooo bad.... I really didn't like the bind off the pattern called for. It is the "sew bind off" or something like that:
When they are on it isn't noticeable, but when they are off they are kinda wavy... ah well. Would I make them again? Perhaps. But I will try another short row heel option. I know they are out there!
They are still cute. I'll keep um.
Specs:
Yarn: Colinette Jitterbug - Color: Fruit Coulis (1 skein)
Needles: US 1's - 2 circulars
Pattern: Toe Up Socks from the Summer 2007 Interweave Knits Issue
Okay, so I have 1 more gift certificate from my birthday.... It is to a yarn store. $20 bucks. What do I get? I don't need sock yarn... But the new Rowan book is out! So I get that. LOVE IT! Wanna see what REALLY REALLY wanna make? You know you do.
I will even buy the yarn for this! But not that color. I tried a mini swatch to see if I could figure out the pattern. Did!
Oh and while I was there guess what else I got?
Yep, some sock yarn. It wasn't that expensive! Shut up!
Posted by beth at 12:09 PM | Comments (11)
August 22, 2007
Hi there! Remember me? I'm your blog...
Yep, I have been swept away.... By what?
Well, I will let you in on a secret. Have you heard of a thing called Ravelry? Why of course you have. Silly. Yes, my invitation has shown up. Well apparently it showed up in April, but I must of tossed it out. Jeesh! And here I thought I was just left out. But really, your invites will come. And when they do you will be sucked up in it just like me. If you read this here blog and you are already on Ravelry well you will see that I am not all that caught up or savvy with it yet. But I am getting there. Oh and I am not that hard to find. Just look for Big Geek Beth.
I have been knitting and crocheting though... Here is my sock and my blanket:
I have finally turned the heal on this damn sock. I can't wait until it is done and I can move on to something else, which really never stopped me before.
Posted by beth at 12:48 PM | Comments (9)
August 16, 2007
Beth, stop teasing the cat!
You know he want's to......
Okay, so I can't stop working on my scrap sock yarn granny square blanket!
Kinda hard to tell how big it is, but it is getting bigger. It's not quite a lap throw yet. I am running out of yarn! It actually is turning out really cool. This could have looked like total crap, but I am mixing up the colors pretty good. This is the yarn I have left:
When all the yarn is gone, I will put it aside until I have more to add to it. I even worked a little on my sock! I am to the dreaded short row heel. I bet I have it finished by the weekend.
Here is Smudge looking over the blanket. He has to smell everything!
Posted by beth at 12:28 PM | Comments (12)
August 13, 2007
Guess what I did this weekend?
Mr Salt (Corn) and Ms. Pepper (Broccoli) over saw all production and were very happy with the end result:
About a pound of fiber and yarn. Some super wash merino and some just merino. Phew! Now I gotta spin it.
Posted by beth at 12:46 PM | Comments (13)
August 10, 2007
Oh my! I won another prize!
Yes, it is true.... I am either very lucky, or I just enter a lot of contests! I think the first. I don't enter a lot, but you do have to play to win right?
What did I win????
mmmmmm.... fiber...... yummm...... I love how the green is two differnt colors on two different sides of the batt. The purple is all the same color, but these are definately my colors!
How did I become so lucky? My pal Lisa was having a contest. THANK YOU LISA! That was way too nice of you! I love it! Now, what to make with it..... It is 4 oz of beautiful stuff! I will keep you posted!
I think I will lay off the contests for a while... give other people a chance.
Posted by beth at 12:55 PM | Comments (7)
August 06, 2007
Mama's got a brand new bag....
So I didn't get a lot done on my sock this weekend...
See? Why is this?
Lots of reasons. First, my son got back from a weeklong trip with his grandmother. I missed him like crazy! They did a trip through "Elderhostel" that took them to Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown and Yorktown. He had a great time. It was his 10'th birthday too while he was away! HE'S 10!!! OH MY! Anyway, he is back and I couldn't stop hugging him!
You would think that with him gone for a week I would have a ton of knitting time to my self! Nope. We did yardwork, ate GREAT food, and hung out with friends! Oh I did manage a few rounds of my Scrap sock grannysquare blanket:
Kinda hard to tell how big it is, isn't it? Here is a shot with my feet in it to show how big it is
Perhaps that is why my sock is not done! I can't put this down!
Which brings me to the title of this post. I like to hold on to some of my gift certificates for a while. I got a gift certificate from my friend "T-Bone's" great store "Razzberry" which is in Armory Square here in Syracuse NY. She has a ton of fun stuff. This certificate was from my birthday! I found a perfect knitting bag for me:
I love this store! Here is a detail:
Yay for new bags!
Posted by beth at 12:34 PM | Comments (11)
August 01, 2007
Oh dear, I forgot to blog......
Where does the time go? Really I have been meaning to post, but....
Anyway... I have some sock progress! These socks seem to be going a lot slower than what I am normally used to. I can crank them out in a week and half usually. These are taking a month! I have one sock done and the other going:
I am still on the fence about whether I like knitting toe ups. I can see the benefits, however, I do have holes on one side of my short row heel. Perhaps I will get better at that as I go along. The holes don't really bother me much. They aren't that big.
There has been a lot of crochet going on around blogland. And if you didn't know, that is what I did before I learned to knit. I love crochet and I am really happy that there are so many good patterns out there now! So while I have been checking out other blogs I came across Peeve's site and found her wonderful crochet granny square blanket using leftover sock yarn! What a GREAT idea!
I had to start immediately:
I have quite a bit of left overs:
This blanket of mine will either be brilliant or hideous! I guess we will just have to wait and see.
Speaking of crochet, I picked up this book last night:
OH MY GOD! I can't wait to start the punk bunny!
Posted by beth at 12:41 PM | Comments (16)
