the Akamai Knitter

It seems like ages since I picked up a pair of knitting needles. Although I did manage to finish a big project, I just haven’t been able to focus. I suppose all those late nights have finally caught up to me. That doesn’t mean I’ve been entirely idle. Instead I’ve been doing a lot of spinning.

My very first 3-ply yarn. The roving is called Roots from Yarn Wench and it was an absolute delight to spin. I think it’s Merino, but I’m not positive.

Can you believe I started this project way back in May of 2007? How could I let it languish for so long? I suppose that if it weren’t for the fact that Margene inspired me to start spinning again, it might have been another umpteen months before I touched it again.

For some reason, I have a hard time balancing my time between knitting and spinning. It’s either one of the other, all or nothing. One thing’s for sure, when my mind is too weary from insomnia and Fibromyalgia flares to knit the lace that I love, spinning is the perfect cure.

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I’m definitely in the midst of a heavy-breathing love affair with cabled hats. I’ve been swept off my feet in a whirlwind of luscious yarn and needles. The product of this lovefest? Well, here’s two of my proud love children. ;-)

Pattern: (Left) Utopia Cable Hat

Yarn: Galway Colornep, Color No. 559

Needles: Size 8US/5.0mm

Started: February 16, 2008

Finished: February 17, 2008

This baby was really fun to knit! The yarn is soft and lofty. The little bursts of color gives the cables a varied texture. The scattered rainbow neps has just enough oomph to keep it from being boring, while the grey helps keep it a classic.

Pattern: Caramel Cable Hat

Yarn: Galway Highland Heather, Color No. 750

Needles: Size 6US/4.0mm

Started: February 16, 2008

Finished: February 19, 2008

This second one was a little slower to knit up then the other since I used a size 6 needles versus a size 8 needle. I still had a great time with it.

I did run into a slight snag with the size. The pattern calls for 4 repeats of the lower cable, but that ran a little too big to my eyes. So I just omitted one pattern repeat. Other then that, this was an easy breezy knit.

For those of you who are wondering, I’m using a cable needle. It’s just my preferred method and I clip along at a steadier pace with one then without one. (Actually, I use a short DPN rather then a cable needle because I can never remember to buy cable needles. Then when I do, I tend to lose them.)

In the midst of this mad fling with hats and needles, I might have neglected to give Quincy his proper due. I think he looks a little miffed. I hope he doesn’t eat me in my sleep. o.o

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Thanks to A Loose Knit Group’s goal of making hats for the month of February, I have discovered the pleasure of knitting simple beanies for gifts. These are super quick to knit, taking only a day for me to do.

Pattern: Just Your Basic Beanie

Yarn: Peruvian Sierra Aran in Chestnut and Knitpicks Swish Superwash in Jade

Needles: Size 8US/5mm

I don’t have much worsted or aran weight in my stash so I’m severely tempted to acquire more just to be able to throw a hat on the needles whenever I feel like it. They’re the perfect instant gratification project.

Only I’m running out of heads to put them on and I’m certainly not going to be wearing them in this tropical climate. So I’m searching about for a good charity to hand them off to. I’m hoping to find one with a domestic violence affiliation, but I’m open to suggestions. So if you have a favorite charity, please leave me the information in the comments. :)

A major plus to finding a good charity to knit hats for is the justification it provides for breaking my yarn diet. After all what could be more altruistic then yarn for charity? It’d be for a very noble cause. Really. Stop making those faces.

Did you catch the paw action in my first photo? That’s Scheyer vying for some attention. He’s made himself quite comfortable with us as you can see here.

Kitten love. How sweet it is.

Happy Tuesday everyone!

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Yesterday I had to shop for some new clothes for a trip I’m making to Maryland this year. I’ll be seeing an old friend (Ravelry link) and going to a certain festival some of you might have heard about it.

On the way to the outlet stores, I stopped by my favorite yarn store, Isle Knits. I needed to pick up some yarn to make some gifts for Carole’s five children. (That’s right. Count’em. Five children. She’s an amazing woman.)

I picked up a couple of Galway colors to make hats for her two boys. The grey is Colornep and the green is Highland Heather.

I particularly like the green. It’s a heather and I think it will make a beautiful cabled hat.

I also picked up some Noro Kureyon for a scarf. I’m not sure which of her three girls the scarf will go to, but I’m sure one of the girls will love the colors.

Hopefully, I’ll be able to shop the stash for the other two gifts I’ll need to make. If not, I don’t think it will be a terrible hardship for me to shop for more yarn for the presents. ;-)

Still, I’m going to try and put myself on a yarn diet until I go to Maryland. I’d like to save my pennies so I can go absolutely hog wild when I get there.

That being said, I didn’t just get yarn at the store yesterday. I also picked up a couple of other goodies.

I got a set of Hiyahiya double-point needles and a pair of Rosewood straights, because these are *tools*. We all need good tools for our craft. Without proper tools, our craft suffers. What should be an enjoyable experience can turn into frustration. So I think we owe it to ourselves to invest in tools we find pleasure in using.

*stepping off the soap box.*

Ahem.

I didn’t just treat myself to knitting goodies either. At the Nine West outlet store, I found a pair of the most delightful shoes. With the sale they were having, I couldn’t resist taking these home. They make me feel like Cinderella.

I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend! Have a good one. :)

(As for the camera saga, since I can’t exchange it, I have threatened it into submission. We’ll see how long that lasts. Thanks to everyone with advice on how to subdue it.)

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Did you ever have a gorgeous yarn that needed just the right pattern to do it justice? Were you ever stumped as to pattern choice? Yeah? Me too.

The yarn in question is from Fearless Fibers in the colorway Glorious Green. Isn’t it beautiful?

I first tried the Rococo pattern, but it just didn’t pop.

Then I tried the Waterfall pattern. Again, no go.

I also tried a beautiful pattern called Tendril Embrace, but that didn’t work out either.

I began to feel like either this yarn was cursed or I was. But I’m stubborn, so I wasn’t about to give up. So I decided to use a tried and true pattern that always seems to work no matter what the yarn.

At first I thought that it was a total bust. It just looked horrible to my eyes.

Then I tried it on and it transformed before my eyes.

I can definitely live with this. Want another look?

That’s right, Monkey to the rescue. Life is good.

Or at least it would be if my camera would cooperate. Did you all notice the disparity in color between the first few photos and the last three? It’s like a different yarn, but I swear it’s the same exact one.

Totally unacceptable. I have tried every lighting situation and camera option that I can think of. Nothing works!

So my weekend quest is to find a remedy to my photography woes. I’m praying that I’ll be able to exchange it. If not, I’m not sure what I’ll do. I’m just kicking myself for not exchanging it when I had the problem with the macro setting.

C’est la vie. Thanks for listening to me whine. :)

Have a great weekend!

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