Tickled To Death

Today was a gorgeous day here in NYC! After I completed my morning run, I decided it was too nice of a day to stay inside. The sun was shining brightly with a light wind in the mid 70's. What a perfect day to spend in the park!

Astoria Park is just a few blocks from my apartment. It sits right along the East River. I packed my knitting, book, snacks, blanket and headed out. For the 2 hours I was relaxing in the park, I believe the sun shined for a total of 45 minutes. I think Mother Nature knew I was heading outside and decided to let the clouds roll on in the sky. Nevertheless, I didn't let it stop me from enjoying myself.

I watched a couple posing for pictures with their dog (which couldn't be bothered to look at the camera), girls trying to sunbathe in bikinis (still a little chilly to be doing that), children playing soccer, guys throwing a frisbee over my head, boats strolling on down the river and plenty of people taking naps on their blankets. What fun! I myself knitted on my Retro Ribs Socks and read a a couple of chapters of "The Golden Compass" before getting too chilled to sit outside any longer.

Since this is an extra long weekend for me due to the holiday (I normally have Fri-Sun off and now with the holiday, I will have Mon off too), last night I told myself I wanted to try and complete 3 FO's by Tuesday. As you can see by the picture, I have my first FO of the holiday! I completed my Retro Rib Socks this evening.

Yarn: Lorna's Laces - Tickled Pink
Needles: Knit Picks size 2
Started Sock #1: March 25th; Completed May 21st
Started Sock #2: May 21st; Completed May 24th

I absolutely love how they turned out and this yarn is so yummalicious! I can't wait to get my hands on some more Lorna's Laces. Now I won't be starting my next pair of socks until SOS08 starts on June 21st. I am ready. My sock mojo is back.

Lastly, I just have to say I adore Yarnmarket.com. I received my yarn from them yesterday and can I just tell you, they saved me from having to do any frogging on my Lacy Skirt. They had a skein of Hempathy in Dye Lot 10! Woo Hoo!

New On The Needles

Exhibit A:
Retro Rib Socks from the Favorite 25 Socks book
Yarn: Lorna Laces Shepherd Sock; Colorway - Tickled Pink
Needles: Knit Picks Fixed Size 2
Start Date: March 25, 2008

I have completed Sock #1 up through starting the shaping of the gussetts. This is my first experience knitting with Lorna Laces sock yarn and I am absolutely in heaven. I had no idea how the colors were going to pool and I am quite pleased with the turn out of it.

The only thing I have to say about this pattern is that I should have listened to my gut when it came time to divided the stitches and do the heel flap. I am happy to report that with this sock, we did not have the double amount of heel flap rows (as I did with the Cable Sock). I successfully divided the stitches and looked them over before continuing. Everything looked good but it seemed strange on where the division fell. At the point, my gut was saying, "Hey maybe you should see if there is errata for this sock! Just in case you know?". However, I plunged forward did the heel flap, picked up the gussett stitches and then started working back in the round. When it came time to do the first round of the insole stitches pattern I knew something was terribly wrong. The pattern did NOT match up with the types of stitches on my needle. At this time I was too tired to investigate further.

Note To Self: Check For Errata Prior To Starting A Pattern

I checked on Thursday and guess what everyone? Sure enough there was a mistake in this pattern and it went all the way back to when I divided the stitches. I haven't frogged yet, but will soon.

Exhibit B:

Mini Poncho by Meema Spadola from Interweave Knits, Fall 2005

Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted; Colorway - Col China

Needles: Knit Picks Options Size 10

Started: March 30, 2008

I bought this yarn over the Christmas holidays down in South Carolina with my sister Mary Beth. I had heard of all the ravings of knitting with Malabrigo and drooled over the opportunity of doing so. I had purchased two skeins of this yarn. This is not the original project planned for this yarn. However, the concept is almost the same. The previous project was going to be a wrap.

This one is a Mini Poncho. It is knitted in 1 long rectangle and then one end is seemed to the top edge of the other end. I am not going to incorporate the flower as in the original. Instead I have buttons that I will use to make it look like it open and closes.

Exhibit C:

Gathered Pullover from Interweave Knits, Winter 2007

Yarn: Berroco Ultra Alpaca; Colorway - Oceanic Mix

Needles: Knit Picks Options Size 8

Started: April 1, 2008

I had committed myself to finishing my Knitty Thermal before I would allow myself to cast-on for the Gathered Pullover. I even did myself one better by not casting on for it until I made more progress on my Tilted Duster (Update in another post). So I thought April Fool's Day was as good as any to start it up, especially since we are starting to get a little warmer weather. I want to be able to wear this sweater before it gets hot, hot, hot!

In addition to the Lorna Laces yarn, this yarn was purchased on my yarn crawl with Kim and Shameka a few weeks ago. Yes, these yarns did not sit in stash for very long. Knitting with this yarn is absolutely wonderful. As you can tell by my progress pictures, it's hard to put down. In five days I am at the point of working the left front. All the center front cabling is completed. All other stitches are on holders waiting to be worked. This is a very fast knit!