Procrastinating (Adriana)

Ah, the internet. However did students procrastinate before it was invented? Or, more to the point, how did I procrastinate before Ravelry? Such a delicious time waste :)

I'm supposed to be working on my presentation for Leadership (seriously, it is as dull a class as it sounds) but instead I'm thinking about knitting. There hasn't been much knitting here since I last posted. The Gallery Jacket is now 9" long (woot!) but it looks pretty much the same as the last picture I took. Granny's socks are on hold since she had to buy special socks to increase her circulation and we're not sure what impact that will have on her handknit socks. I'll need to check it out in person when I'm home in December.

In honour of my trip to Toronto on Saturday to see yet another show (Sweeney Todd squee!!) I decided to show off a picture of my Granite Shawlette taken at the beautiful Elgin Theatre where I saw Drowsy Chaperone.


I've been wearing this shawlette everyday and I think it needs another blocking before its next trip to the big city.

I've got two tests next week which means that there will be more knitting time than usual as I sit on my couch and study. Hopefully there will be more interesting pictures for you soon.

Something New (Adriana)

Yesterday, while studying for my marketing test, I finished knitting my Granite Shawlette! (I love being able to knit while studying. It makes it much less painful) Unfortunately the ending of the knitting isn't the end of the project since I still had to graft those bad boys together. My relationship with the Kitchener stitch is rocky at the best of times so I decided to look for an alternative. After Ravelrying for a while (you know, looking things up on Ravelry) I came across Lucy Neatby's technique, seen here and here. I was a little skeptical but I decided to give it a try. I did most of it while watching Private Practice last night (which I'm still not sure if I like but it was better than watching the Ontario Election results which seemed to be on most of the other channels)

Without flash, colours most true here. This really is a very clever technique. You follow the lines of the waste yarn (the yellow one) to see how to stitch the two pieces together (That said, I haven't actually taken out the waste yarn so I'm not positive that everything will stay together when I do that)

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Post-grafting (with flash which makes everything looks so shiny!)


The back side (I guess I should take that out before I block it)

I've got to block today so I can wear it to see my shows this weekend!!
I almost forgot, there's something else I have to show you. Look what arrived in the mail yesterday:

Socks that Rock lightweight in Jingle Bell Rock (purchased on Ravelry)
This is my first STR and I love it soooooo much! I have a couple of pattern ideas (this or this) but I want to wait until it's closer to Christmas to work on it.

Knitting for Me Again! (Adriana)

I'm pretty much done my stealth Christmas knitting. I have the ends to weave in on one project and I still have to knit Granny's socks but I can blog about that.
A few weeks ago I asked for help deciding on a lightweight wrap for fall. The Swiss Cheese Scarf seemed most popular and I cast on right away using the lovely Regia Strato in Granite from The Jane. Unfortunately, since I was using a heavier weight yarn, I had to do some math (which I do enjoy but it makes things more complicated) and this project rapidly got less appealing.

This is as far as I got with it.

As I wandered through Ravelry I kept coming across gorgeous versions of the Clementine Shawlette from Spring 2007 IK. This one, done in Wollmeise Sockenwolle, especially caught my eye. Encouraged by Bertha (for whom I was the 1000th commenter!), I frogged the Swiss Cheese Scarf and cast on for the Clementine Shawlette which shall henceforth be known as the Granite Shawlette. I'm knitting both halves together at the same time because I'm worried about running out of yarn. I'm through the increase section and onto the straight knitting. This pattern is very memorizable but still interesting. I definitely recommend it.

Two at once

Close up on the stitch pattern. The zig-zag really shows off the striping in the yarn

I'd like to have this done for next week when I am off to the big city to see two awesome shows. I anticipate getting a good amount done this weekend since we are going to the in-laws for Thanksgiving (I'm taking this and my marketing study notes so you know what I'd rather be working on :P).
Happy (Canadian) Thanksgiving!