i like lemons

I haven’t had the chance to knit anything more than olives in quite a while, but this past weekend was a nice time to get back into it. A little bit of rain put me in the mood. I’ve started to work on a new pattern.

The above picture shows some of what I worked on over the weekend. I’m not going to say what it is yet, but I think (hope?) that it will turn out nice enough to show off the finished project once it’s complete. My goal is to finish before the end of this month.

Unfortunately I won’t be able to share the actual pattern for this project (I’ll explain why once I’m done), but as always seems to be the case when doing pattern design, I am enjoying the challenge of trying to figure out shaping and how to pull everything together.

I started my Arches & Columns Scarf over the weekend and it’s coming along ok. Very hard to photograph and get the pattern to show up. I did make a mistake a few rows in but I didn’t bother frogging and starting over. Just think of the mistake as adding “character” to the overall piece.

The scrap of paper that I have my basic basketweave/check scarf pattern written on is getting kind of ratty. I need to type it up and post it so that I can ditch the paper. I knit it at least once a year so I want to keep it handy. I’m hoping writing this here will force me to actually type it up, instead of going another year with that piece of paper.

Spring is here, as my red, itchy, teary, swollen eyes and sneeze attacks can attest to. We are starting to have near 70F degree days about once a week. With all the rain this year, the trees and weeds are spewing forth pollen like crazy. My black car is now a sickly yellow color.

Dyed some hanks of yarn last week and was able to ball them up over the weekend. Pictures and thoughts in a blog post this weekend. Overall I’m happy with the results, but I do feel as if I need to branch out into other colors, maybe earthy greens and browns.

I’m using undyed Knit Picks yarn to make Maryse’s Gathered Scarf. Might try dying it once it’s done, but I kind of like the natural color too. Ah! I just noticed that my wip picture has the inverse color scheme as Maryse’s :).

Wavering on the purchase of a DSLR. I had thought I was pretty set on the Canon Digital Rebel Xti. Now I am considering the Olympus Evolt E510. Buying any camera seems like an extravagance for me.

Living on a busy street has its moments of excitement. The other week a car crashed into an apartment building across the street. The car flipped, but it appeared no one was seriously hurt. Remember people, shiny side up!

All I want to do is sleep, sleep, sleep.

Either I am really late, or really early for Xmas, but I’ve been knitting the Fun Fur Kitschmas Tree pattern by Maryse. It’s another one of those “throughout the year” projects I’ve given myself.

I’ve only knit with fun fur/eyelash yarn once before and I had forgotten that it can be a chore. It leaves my fingers a bit sore, especially when using yarns with metallic strands. However, once done, the trees are so pet-able. It’s like you’ve got your very own muppet pelt.

Instead of the bulky weight Homespun that’s suggested, I’m using cheapo worsted weight yarn (Red Heart, TLC, Caron). All the trees are made using Ice Eyelash, except for the red one which is made with Lion Fun Fur. The Lion yarn has longer eyelash strands, which makes for a shaggier tree. I attempted a “haircut” to try to make it look better. I personally prefer the Ice yarn (eyelash strands are about half an inch shorter than the Lion) since it makes a tidier looking tree. I’ll probably just get some red Ice Eyelash and save myself the effort of further “haircuts”.

Remember to fluff the tree when you’re done. I gently “scratch” across the surface with the tip of a dpn to help pull the eyelash strands from between the stitches. I’m not going to do a permanent base because I like the idea of being able to stuff the tree (perfect use for plastic grocery bags) for display, and then unstuffing so it can be stored flat. Actually, the trees aren’t even stuffed in these wip pictures. None of the trees have been decorated yet, but I have plenty of sequins that will be put to use for that purpose.

I am having fun knitting these. Very enjoyable. I’m happy that I am spreading the knitting over the entire year so that it really is a leisure activity, instead of a holiday rush situation.

Gold
-9.5 inches high and 6.5 inches in diameter at its base.
-Followed Maryse’s pattern, but did 3 rounds between increases and purled the second to last round to prevent curling. Knit on US sz 10.5s, using ~2.5 balls (50g) of the Ice eyelash yarn.
-Undecorated, this one reminds me of a sad, dried-up tree a few months after the holidays.

Silver
-11.5 inches high and 7.5 inches in diameter at its base.
-Cast on 6 sts, knit one row as I-cord, divide stitches equally among 3 dpns, knit 2 rounds. *work increase round (kfb into the first and last stitch of each dpn, i.e. +6 sts), then knit 4 plain rounds; repeat from *. Purl the second to last round to prevent curling. Knit on US sz 10.5s, using 3 balls (50g) of the Ice eyelash yarn.
-I have a thing for tacky, tabletop, silver-tinsel xmas trees, so this one is a happy addition to my collection.

Red, white, green
-5.25 inches high and 3 inches in diameter at its base.
-Knit same as the silver tree, but using US sz 7s and ~.25 ball (50g) of the fun fur/eyelash yarn.
-Several more of these will be knit to use as little gifts, filled with candy or a small surprise, and with a cardstock or felt base to hold things in. Just think how cute it would be to give a tree to a friend with some earrings or a bracelet hidden inside.

More pictures at Flickr