I've been hit!

So this is as far as I got in Sock Wars. The person who was after the person who was after me claims my socks will be here tomorrow. whoops. It's a nice pattern, and I got to use some Knit Picks merino DK yarn I had lying around, so it wasn't a total bust. Confirms my utter loathing of sock knitting, though.



In other news, Zimmermania is sailing along. It's my favorite blog now, I check in several times a day to see what interesting things people have made.


The Seamless Hybrid is fast and easy. I love the yarn. I love the color. I'm having hem issues.


I somehow got the same gauge on 8s and 9s, but went with the 8s because my husband is hell on sweater elbows and the fabric on 8s felt more substantial (though it really was the same gauge numerically. who knows). For the hem I went to 6s and didn't swatch. I've made this hem countless times. Nary a hitch. Now, for some reason, my gauge on 6s is the same as my gauge on 8s and 9s. So the hem looks a little poofy to me. I'm hoping that it blocks out, or I'll have to run a lifeline, snip and frog it when the whole sweater is finished and either go with a hem i have to sew (gasp) or a rolled edge, depending on how sick of the thing I am by that point.

I've also been machine knitting, I have a little block of time on Fridays that I devote to the machine. This bag was last weeks project.


It took weeks because one week I swatched and felted the swatches, the next week I made the pieces on the machine and assembled them, and today I felted it. The pattern was me just calculating what to knit to get the felted dimensions I wanted with the pockets I need. I ran out of yarn, though, so while i have the necessary phone, iPod, calendar, and knitting journal pockets, I'm missing any other organization. The yarn is from Knitting Notions, and I love the depth of color. It's a warm grey, lighter than charcoal, but very charcoal-like in nature.

So while that felted I started my next machine project, the Wrap Jacket from Ella Rae volume one. I'm using some Rowan chunky I got on ebay in a sage color. I'm not thrilled with the color but I'm loving how the fabric feels on the machine. I'm surprised that the machine is handling it, it's far bulkier than any other yarn I've successfully knit thus far. At this rate it'll probably be 2 more Fridays before I hand-knit the ribbing and seam it up.

And last but not least, I've had some patterns accepted by Debbie Stoller, which I find awfully exciting. She's chosen to publish a hat/scarf set in her 2008 calendar and a sweater in an upcoming book. It's the first time anything I've designed will be published by anyone who isn't me, and I'm pretty pleased, I have to say. My dear friend Pam had a very sexy lap blanket accepted, too, so it's celebrations all around!