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Between myself and the kids I have spent a good bit of time waiting for various doctor’s appointments this fall, during which time I was able to create a new look for my blog… I’m really happy with it, after bouncing around through several designs over the past two yearsthat weren’t quite “it” for me, one finally came together and gives my blog a fresher and more cheerful look than it has ever had before – but I’m sure it will continue to change and evolve

With a new look for my blog comes a new promise that I will try to update at least every other week. I was going to say weekly, but I know that may be asking a bit much… every other week is probably way too much! Other than schoolwork, I’ve been very busy making socks all summer, since I opened up and started offering custom sock spots on Hyenacart last spring. I enjoy making these, but I’ve found that I majorly overestimated my abilities and took on more work at the end of the summer than I was really capable of finishing quickly (I am still working on some of them), so while I will continue to offer custom socks spots, from this point forward those will available on a much much more limited basis and a slower schedule – probably only 8-12 spots per month, and less if I know that my schedule will be busier than normal (like right now), which basically means I won’t stock any time I am running behind.

In addition to some visual changes here on my blog, I also just finished working on a redesign of Tiny Lady Cooperative’s Hyenacart, and it’s set to go live at the end of this week, and I am super excited about it. As our congo has changed and evolved (and has grown much larger than the original group of 3!), the original cart design had become a bit dated. To unveil our new look, we are planning two big stockings for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. I am hoping to get some sock puppets finished in time – they are cute, and fun to make, and I know they’d be perfect for holiday gift giving

That is all for now, I expect a bigger update in a few days as I finish up more of my current sock orders (and yes, if you are waiting, I am getting them done, it’s just been very slow, and for that I really do apologize).

Weighing in at just under a gram on my dye scale, I think this is likely to be the smallest FO I’ll ever make!  But, I totally winged the pattern, guessed at how many stitches to start with, and happily, it fits like a glove — or would that be sock?  Yes, it’s a sock for an insulin vial.  You can make one too!  All you need is some scraps of sock yarn, a size 0/2mm 32″ circular needle (or set of 5 DPN’s), and about an hour (give or take, we all knit at our own pace, afterall!)

• CO 24sts loosely (not super loose, you just don’t want this first row to be tight), join sts and begin working in the round
  • if magic looping, you’ll want 12sts on each side
  • if using DPN’s, you’ll want 6sts on each needle
• k1 p1 for 9 rounds
• k 18 rounds even
• k1 k2tog around (16sts remain)
• k 1 round even
• k2tog around (8sts remain)
• break yarn and run through remaining 8sts, pull tight
• weave in ends

They’re a little loose right off the machine, as shown above, but once washed the cotton fulls nicely and the lycra activates, drawing in the knitting a considerable amount.  I estimate they shrank about 15% when I washed and dried them.  I didn’t actually expect them to shrink so much, so the foot is almost too short on these.

Then I tried some 8/2 Cotlin (50/50 Cotton and Linen) also with very nice results.  This stuff shrank more than the 100% cotton, so even though I added extra rows to the feet, the finished size is about the same (though I did knit the leg shorter on these).  I didn’t take a picture before washing, but these socks looked looser and more gauze-like right off the machine, but they too washed up very nicely.  You can see how stretchy they are comparing the unblocked sock to the one on the blocker (my second blocker went MIA sometime yesterday.. I still have no idea where it is – thanks, kids)

Since I have a LOT of 8/2 yarn in my stash from my abandoned attempts at learning to weave, I forsee a lot of these socks in my future – the knitted fabric is slightly thicker than I’d prefer compared to storebought socks (for me anyways.. they’re thinner than the socks my DH wears and thinner than wool socks), but the toes on these are seamless, which more than makes up for being heavier, since my #1 gripe about almost any sock is the seam over the toe – it’s uncomfortable, and too bulky even on the thinnest socks since to save money/time the toes on commercial socks are usually serged rather than linked or grafted.

I have a little bit leftover that is the rest of the brown to blue transition.

I also finished some more yarn last week… this is sort of sport-ish weight, and I’m not sure what I’ll do with it quite yet since it’s too heavy to go through the sock machine.

Then I Navajo-plied an entire bobbin I had spun some time back… it’s hand combed marsh romney and I’m rather happy with this batch compared to the rest of this wool I had carded and spun into a 2-ply yarn.  No idea what I’m doing with this yet, but it will likely become part of a weaving project in the not too distant future

And I’m nearly done with my  Kelso Cardigan!  All I really have left to do is graft the unerarms and weave in all the ends.

However, in the past week, I managed to go from this

to this!

Angelina of Zen String suggested in her group on Ravelry that we should all do a KAL with her yarn in February.. and chose the very popular February Lady Sweater (if anyone recalls, I’ve knit a couple of the baby versions, including one from handspun yarn for my daughter, and another for my neice that I don’t seem to have blogged about) and since she offered a generous 20% off on yarn for the KAL, how could anyone resist?  I chose to make mine from Verde Worsted (and OMG do I *love* this yarn!!) in Secret Garden, which quickly became a favorite colorway of mine when I made a pair of socks from it during the Ravelympics last year. I got a very late start on my sweater, not even winding my yarn until the 19th, but just 5 days later I had my new super cute sweater finished.  It’s surprisingly warm despite being rather short.   I had hoped it would block out a little longer, but it didn’t really seem to… it’s okay though, because I’m still totally thrilled with it!

In the past month I knit myself a sweater (Rogue from The Girl from Auntie)

I was a bit overwhelmed looking at the pattern, since it is 19 pages, but it’s all very clearly written out and detailed – which is wonderful when you’re knitting complex cables (especially for the first time – I’ve done cables before but nothing like these).  The charts look confusing at first, but if you follow along it all just makes sense when it needs to.  I thoroughly enjoyed knitting every bit of the sweater (well, except for maybe the last half of the second sleeve – I was ready to be finished by then!) and I can’t wait to get started on Eris, another pattern she has written.  I actually bought the Eris pattern back in June, and was promptly discouraged as I flipped through all 40 pages of the pattern… but now I realize that it’s not really that the pattern is that difficult, it’s just that Jenna is so great at making each step exceptionally clear.

I finished what may be the last pair of longies I ever knit for my kids.. since we’re not cloth diapering anymore and they’re pretty much only for the “cute” factor, I think I will be saving the rest of my “longies” stash for sweaters, hats, and other cool weather woolens.  The yarn is my own, dyed in the Red Mountain colorway – I absolutely love how they colorway knit up, and I have more than enough yarn left for a hat to match… or maybe just for a hat for me

I made my daughter a simple dress to wear on Christmas (and have plans to make many more with my fabric stash), it’s really simple, sort of an adaptation of my twirly skirt with a pheasant top bodice (similar to this tutorial but I cut my peices only about 7″ long to match the 6″ teirs of the skirt)

I’ve been working a lot on my sock machine too, I made about a dozen pairs of socks in December alone for gifts and as some custom orders, which for the most part went fairly well.  I didn’t photograph all of them since I was usually in a rush to get them sent off.  I have even set up the 1923 Gearhart I added to my collection in August up and have it knitting finally (I needed needles for it), and I even tracked down a 50 slot dial to match my 100 slot cylinder (which is not shown, that’s the 40 slot in the image with the 100 slot cylinder in the machine).  It’s in remarkable condition considering it was an ebay bargain, and while it has a few quirks, mechanically it’s in very good shape as well.  It makes the weirest sound while knitting though – a solid clicking due to the way the uplift cams are spring loaded, which is mildly amusing.

So far I’m still working out some kinks with the ribber timing and I’d like to find a solution to keeping count of my rows more easily, but I hope to soon be able to make some really fine gauge socks on it.

My two year blogaversary is coming up soon – I might just give away a pair of custom socks and possibly some yarn, so watch for that in the next week or two

Here are the old bearings next to the new ones… the new ones are so pretty

I’m quite happy at the moment…. with my now quiet Hitchhiker.  I was able to track down a replacement spring hinge and get that installed Friday, which did solve the whorl against the wheel issue, but at a cost – the wheel now has a bit more resistance while treadling the smaller whorl (and I imagine that would only increase with the smallest whorl, which I don’t have), but it’s really not too bad.  I’m willing to live with that bit of extra resistance, if it means a quieter wheel.

My little renovation project will still continue with repainting some parts of my wheel that have withstood some wear over the past 2 1/2 years, but it’s spinning better now than it ever has.

1. Mother of all bearings – mine are plastic, not sealed, and they sound like roller skates unless I drench them in oil… say every 20 minutes.  That’s far from ideal, and eventually they get gummed up and even noisier (soaking in hot soapy water and washing seems to help, but the cycle repeats).  I’m replacing these with sealed metal bearings, assuming I’ve ordered the correct size.
2. Brake band.  I noticed that mine makes a specific chattering noise, that I was able to troubleshoot down to blaming on the spring itself.  The monofilament wasn’t the quietest material in the world either, but a majority of the noise was in fact due to the necessary spring.  Monofilament on it’s own doesn’t really work out so well.  So I’ve replaced my brake band with 1mm stretch bead cord.  So far it’s working out *really* well.  It’s elastic, so no spring required, and it’s smooth and slick like the monofilament.   Time will tell how well it holds up, but I’m encouraged by how well it’s performing so far.
   
3. Whorl against the wheel.  This isn’t actually noise caused by the whorl traveling along the wheel (which does make some noise, but it’s not bad) but rather by the fact that the whorl isn’t held against the wheel with enough tension, causing is to bounce a bit as I spin.  This is impart due I think to a slight imbalance with the flyer, but neither flyer I have works any better, and some extra tension on the mother of all seems to solve the problem.  I’m somewhat convinced that this is due to the single spring hinge, so my plan is to replace the non-springy hinge with a spring hinge when I can find a replacement (I’ve found them online, but shipping is more than the set of 2 hinges is).

It will be interesting to see how much of a difference the new bearings and second spring hinge will make.  I will update as soon as I have replacements and can swap those out.

I’m also working on refinishing a few rough areas of my wheel, and finishing up a few parts I feel like I sort of left half-completed.  I have only been about 90% happy with how it turned out after painting it, but never really got motivated enough to fix what I didn’t like.  Now that my HH has reached 2 1/2 years old, I think some maintenence is due

I got distracted from my Lizard Ridge by a super cute hoodie pattern I’m testing.. I have about 2″ of plain knitting to go on the skirt and then I can do the lace part, then finish off the sleeves and work on the hood.  The test knits I’ve seen so far look impossibly cute – I can’t wait to get a little bit more done with mine.  If i like how it turns out, I’ll probably make a bigger one for Kaia

(excuse the lensbaby shot, it was already on my camera and I didn’t feel like swapping lenses to get a quick progress shot)

As if learning Flash and Actionscript 3.0 this past week wasn’t enough, the day before Halloween I decided to start on a *second* Lizard Ridge!  I’ve had the yarn for a few months and I was originally considering another blanket pattern, but the appeal of doing another LR was just too great, and I got started.  I’m knitting it all in one peice – no blocks or panels, and one week later I’m exactly 25% finished (6 pattern repeats in), and making steady progress.  I’m hoping to knock this out fairly quickly so that I can move onto some other smaller projects I’d like to get finished before the holidays.

I am absolutely loving how the colors (colorway #183) have been working out.

Celebrating Colleen at TLC was a resounding success, raising approximately $12,000 for Colleen’s kids.  I am just in awe at the generosity of all who were able to donate items for sale/auction/raffle, as well as those who spent freely to help show her family just how much she was loved, and will be missed.  I did my part by bidding on and winning the Vespa Handspun, which was spun by Sara from fiber dyed by Colleen.  This yarn is beyond beautiful.  I’m not quite sure what I’m going to make with it yet, but I figure I have a little while to decide – and even if I just stare at the yarn for a while, that’s okay to   It’s kind of hard not to – like I said, it’s GORGEOUS!

I did modify the body portion to make it two parts – a top and a bottom rather than one baggy bodysuit, since she’ll be wearing it to school tomorrow and they requested that costumes be potty-friendly, I thought it would be nice if she didn’t have to totally strip down That part worked out really well and I’m glad I thought to make it that way.  I even thought to put tags in it to distinguish the front from the back.

Clearly she’s not really thrilled about it though..

And you can see my pathetic, crumpled attempt at some wings.  Really, it seemed like such a great idea, but they got a bit mangled when I sewed on the velcro.  I think it would be better to make them with elastic loops for the arms – that way they might stand some chance of not looking so pathetic.

Now, don’t ask me what the boys are dressing up as.. I have no idea.  Seth has no idea what he wants to be, and I’m kind of counting on Odin’s costume from last year still fitting.  Perhaps I should try that soon

Shelly and I both have a lot of ideas on how to make things go a little smoother next year (or for any CSM demo, really).

sock knitter

Originally uploaded by yi
Yeah, that’s me – I was putting tags on socks!

Owl Hair Clip Pattern – 512KB

I got a new camera as a late birthday present, so I’ve been off taking pictures, not crafting. My son went back to school, my daughter also started preschool, and my youngest is trying his hardest to walk.

After my futile attempt at knitting 17 pairs of socks for the Ravelympics (I only logged 6 of the 7 I know I finished) I finally got the Legare out again Monday, and knit up a couple of pairs.. first a pair from this month’s Yarn Pirate Booty Club

and then some from some Panda Silk I wanted to try out.. I really REALLY like how it works up on the CSM, when it all goes right.  There was supposed to be another pair in another colorway for my sister, but um, we had issues and I’m not gonna go there.

I sat down today and made a pair of hairclips.. I’ve been wanting to do this for a while, I just didn’t get myself in gear to go get the goodies I needed. I love how they came out, and I’ll definitely be making more

We adopted two kitties Saturday from the Williamson County Regional Animal Shelter.  We had no idea they had a kitty special going on when we decided to get both of them either (and we were okay with paying two adoption fees).. which for some reason impressed the lady that did all of our paperwork… but it meant that we walked out with two kitties for less than we’d expected to pay to adopt one.  They are both too cute for words.. they camed named from the shelter but I doubt that we’ll keep the names (though we’ve not come up with anything better?  So they might stick… hope not!).

10 week old Calico “Heidy” (she’s the shy one.. I almost wonder if her name wasn’t a shelter employee being silly.  She’s a real sweetheart now that she’s warming up to us – she’s even starting to act like a kitten after just being here a day)

11 week old black/white “Dallas” (she’s a goofy girl.. might as well have a goofy name too?)

Both spayed and microchipped, complete with their first shots… for the bargain price of $75   We had been promising the kids we’d get a cat for months now, so it wasn’t quite an impulsive thing.. though getting two sort of was.  Really we just couldn’t decide, so instead of arguing over it, DH just went and started filling out paperwork.  He’s awesome.