Is that a FO and a half I see??

Okay, no smart-ass comments about it being forever and a day since I last posted. I know it has. I'm a bad, bad blogger. Yet y'all still read me. So you must love me... or something. ;)

But look... To make up for the non-blogging, I have a FO! A real, actual FO! (I know, who woulda thunk it, right?) Granted, it was an easy FO, and somewhat boring, but it was exactly what I needed.

Yup, it's another One Skein Wonder - with lots of mods! Stefanie used a yarn that gets a completely different gauge than the one I used. I used a skein of Brooks Farm Duet yarn (500 yards!! Woo!) - I thought that I was going to run out towards the end, so I purchased a ball of Rowan Kid Classic in a perfect brown color to match all the browns and pinks in the shrug. Anyways, the people at Brooks Farm say that Duet should be a DK weight yarn, when I bought it at Maryland Sheep and Wool, they told me it should be a worsted. I ended up getting 4.5sts/in on US8s and I like the look it has. Other than the fact that it sheds like no one's business. :) It's soft and warm, not itchy at all! With the gauge difference, I ended up knitting the largest size to get a slightly larger shrug. (If you remember my last encounter with the pattern, I measured 16.5" across my back, knit that and it was WAY too small.) According to my calculations, I should have gotten a shrug that was 17 or so inches across... it ended up being about 18. No biggie, but I found that it kept slipping back on my shoulders and I was adjusting it all day. I also lengthened the sleeves to full-length and belled them out.

I also unofficially joined another KAL - the Jaywalker KAL! I'm using some gorgeous Tess' Designer Yarn that was purchased for me at Maryland Sheep and Wool... Ann gave me this beautiful yarn and I finally found the perfect pattern for it! It had a short life as a mostly finished socklette, but I wasn't happy with how the heels turned out (one of my first experiments with a short row heel), so when I found this pattern, I ripped out the socklette and re-cast on for Jaywalker. I cast on for it the other week and finally sat down with it over the holiday and finished one sock!

Isn't it purrrty? (Please to ignore the really white leg...) The only thing about socks is that you have to knit another one. But, in the meantime, I'm sitting here at the computer wearing my one sock, happy as can be. I'll get around to casting on for it, probably just not this week. I was totally skeptical that this pattern would work in fitting my foot - I generally cast on 16 sts fewer than called for and my sock ends up nice and snug - but the chevrons pull the yarn in nicely for a decent fit. I made these about an inch shorter than called for and I like them muchly that way. (Now to remember all of what I did when it comes to casting on for the second sock...)

I've also been working on a scarf for the shop... We got in the Ella Rae book 2 which focuses on KFI's Angora and Whisper yarns. I grabbed some angora and decided to cast on for the Herringbone Lace Rib scarf - and immediately found an error. What're the odds of that? LOL! (If anyone wants to know what the error actually was, just email me at knitgirl at gmail dot com.) Once I got that figured out, it's been going along swimmingly.

It's an easy pattern, easy to memorize and knit while things are going on all around. If you happen by the shop and see me knitting, there's a 99% chance that this is what I'll be working on. :) The scarf is actually about twice as long as pictured now. It tends to go quickly once you're in a groove. I completed most of the second ball while watching the Season 2 Gilmore Girls DVDs this past week. (Just prepping for the Season 5 DVDs that should arrive next week from Amazon... Woot!)

An aside: I uploaded a ton of CDs to the iPod last night and finally took a look at how many songs I have on there. I have 35.9 days worth of music on there! Who knew I owned that much? I'm not even halfway through my CD collection yet! EEK! Well, if I'm ever stranded anywhere, I'll at least have some good tunes to listen to, right?

Comments

[Lara]

Finished sock = HAPPY FOOT!

YAY!

oo! and I get to see the OSW! WOO!

ok, I'm going to sleep now. zzzzz.

[Carol]

Sorry, cannot possibly ignore the day-glo white leg. It darned near blinded me.

[maeve]

i'm sorry, i have to sit down. Kristine is knitting, you're finishing things and posting - I swear, I hear the 4 horsemen coming down the street now. :)

[Ann]

LOVE the sock! (definitely better than the pooling of before). And the shrug - I must try it on! I love the duet. Yay for knitting!!

[stinkerbell]

very pretty!

I sure do hope one day to get to touch brooks farms and also find out what colour that is cause it is GORGEOUS!

[Rossana]

Oooh! Please wear or bring your OSW to the shop Saturday so I may fondle it!

[Sarah (in DC)]

I like the long sleeved OSW. It would come in handy in my freezing cold office today.

I started the Jaywalkers socks but got frustrated because they felt really stiff with very little stretch. Am I overreacting? When I am done w/Christmas knitting I will pick them up again.

[4-Ply Katie]

Can you post the modifications to the One Skein Wonder? I want to make one with elbow length sleeves!