Colors, colors, and more colors

In the knitting guild, we have swap meets twice a year. Last March, I got several balls of someone's handspun. It's going to be a striped scarf. I love how different brown yarns can be!

Here's a finished (-ish) object from the Malabrigo Magic Yarn Ball swap.
Pattern: A Touch of Whimsy scarf
Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted, in Water Green (1 ball)
Needles: US 8. I used the Brittany needles Katy sent me, and they're lovely!
Cast on: 7/11/08
Cast off: 7/15/08
I really enjoyed this pattern. It's easy to memorize and interesting enough to keep your attention (which is a big deal for me!). The only problem? It's awfully short. So it might be frogged to make something else. The Malabrigo is too good to waste on a project I won't wear.

Here's a detail shot of the scarf. I love how there are cables and lace in it, but it's not too busy.

I also did some hand-dyeing this past week.

First, I made a giant skein. (Pardon the stuff on my dresser.)

I dyed it with egg dye in ~24 inch segments. It took about 15-20 minutes for the color to set in the microwave.

Here it is drying in my bathtub.

And here it is, all wound up and ready to go!

Is it just me, or do patterned socks get knit way faster than plain stockinette ones? It seemed like it only took a couple hours to do the whole patterned leg.
Yarn: Lang Yarns Jawoll Color Aktion, in the ever-so-poetic colorway 132.0188
Pattern: Spring Forward
Needles: US 1
Cast on: 7/21/08 (I think - it's been sitting around in my bag languishing in 1x1 ribbing for a while)

And now, a Basil update - remember this little guy? Look how big he is now! He spent the night at our house earlier this week. Aside from a couple of accidents, he did really well. (I think my brother feeds him sulfur bricks, though. Phew!)

Malabrigo madness

I have two Malabrigo FO's to show you!

Up first, we have a Coronet from Knitty.com in Peach Tree, with some variations - fewer cable repeats, more stitches picked up for the hat itself, and no flipped-up cable band.

This was a super-quick project - less than 24 hours from start to finish.

When I was at the Gourmet Yarn Company last week, I got a ball of Malabrigo Worsted in Noviembre. It's a mixture of dark green, rose, orange, and brown. The rose was so pretty in the skein, but as I said before, pink and I don't play nicely together. But one of my friends is moving to a colder state in a few weeks, and she loves dark rose.

I used a very interesting stitch for this scarf. It's called the Linen stitch. Every other stitch is slipped with the yarn on the "wrong" side - in front for the knit rows, in the back for the purl rows. The result is a dense but still draping fabric that DOES NOT CURL (woohoo!). Since each stitch is slipped once, you need larger needles than the ball band suggests (I used size 10 needles with Malabrigo Worsted). I love how the slipped stitches break up the color repeats. Another interesting aspect of this stitch is that the knit side is almost completely flat, like woven fabric, while the purl side has raised bumps.

Magic Yarn Ball Goodness!

I'm in the Malabrigo Swap Group at Ravelry, and the current swap is a Magic Yarn Ball swap - you wrap a bunch of goodies in yarn, making a "magic yarn ball." It's lots of fun! (Rats - I should have taken a picture of mine before I sent it. Oh well.) I got home from my Grandmother's house this evening to find this on my doorstep! Thank you, Katy!

It's a box within a box! Curiouser and curiouser!

I see green. Me likes. And a teapot. Me likes even better!

And the total count: a wee teapot (it's the perfect size! my other teapot's a tad big for one tea bag), a wee pot of honey, two tasty teas (English Breakfast and Earl Grey, which is now brewing), a tea strainer, a bag of pretty stitch markers, a Ravelry pin (!), two samples of Soak wool wash in Citrus and Flora (haven't tried those scents yet!), a pair of Brittany straight needles (size 8), a skein of worsted Malabrigo in Water Green (a color I've been coveting), and a skein of laceweight Malabrigo in Verde Esperanza (another color I've been coveting!). What a fantastic MYB! Thanks again, Katy!

Cute alert

I finished the Tura Maeve dress! It's just in time, too - the intended recipient will be delivered on Tuesday. I'm very pleased with how it (FINALLY) turned out. The hardest part was the skirt. It wasn't that it was difficult. It was the fact that there are (not counting the increase rows) 10,752 knit stitches in that little skirt. Thanks for showing me the pattern, Pat!

On Tuesdays, we have a seminar series at work. Usually they're interesting, but last Tuesday's was about the kinetics of drug absorption. (I think I just drooled a bit just typing that.) So I "ran errands" on my lunch break. And by "ran errands," I mean the Gourmet Yarn Company just got in a shipment of Malabrigo, and this lovely ball of worsted in Noviembre followed me home (as did another skein of Oceanos). I love the colors...for someone else. (Pink and I just don't play nicely together.) I'm knitting a linen stitch scarf for a friend who's moving next month. It'll get done much faster if I stop admiring it and just knit the thing! The linen stitch breaks up the colors and doesn't curl.

That's all I have time for now. Happy Fourth of July, everyone!