At long last, a FINISHED OBJECT! Presenting...

FO: Yoda Sweater
Originally uploaded by purlgurl

Baby Yoda Sweater for Gretch's lil' boy to be...she's due in August, so I'm actually a head of the game. I think I'll knit a beanie to go with it. I thought i'd have yarn leftover, but will the seaming and making i-cords, I'm down to just a little jaw breaker sized ball.

It's a very cute pattern. If Gretch & her boy really likes it, I'll make them the next size up called not so baby yoda. I'll try to do as much as I can to avoid seaming, so I'll work the sleeves in the round again and see if I can knit the front panels along with the back at the same time.

Creating I-cord using a CSM aka circular sock machine

I love the fact that there's a Bay Area CSM group that is fairly close by (1 hour away). It's a great group of people that freely shares tips and techniques on using CSMs. Yesterday, one of the topics discussed was making I-cord using a CSM. The concept sounded so cool, I just had to go home and try it out myself. Perfect timing too, because I needed a few to finish up the Yoda Baby Sweater I made for a friend's baby boy to be. 

Here's how I created i-cord on my CSM (Legare 400):

1. Take out all cylinder needles except for those you need to make the I-cord. In my case, I kept 3 in place.
   
2. Thread yarn through yarn carrier.
3. Long tail cast-on the number of stitches needed for your I-cord (e.g. 3 for my baby sweater).
4. Transfer the stitches to the working needles on the cylinder.
5. Thread yarn through your yarn mast and make sure to use the heel spring to take up slack yarn.
6. Using your left hand to weight/pull down the tail of your long tail cast on, proceed to crank with your right. You may have to coax the first few rounds along as the stitches may need a little assistance in getting created. Once you get going, it should get a lot easier with each turn of the crank. 
7. Crank in the usual fashion, in one direction, clockwise. As the yarn goes past the last needle, since there are no additional needles on the cylinder and because the heel spring is being used, the slack yarn should be pulled up by the yarn mast. when you crank around back to the 1st needle, the yarn should be in the appropriate place to knit the next row.
8. Let me know if you have any questions or need clarification on the process.

Argh....I have TOO MUCH STUFF!!!

Oh jeeze. I'm just getting very depressed and disgusted with myself with how much STUFF I have. I'm going to make a middle of the year resolution to start destashing the over abundance that has taken over my house and my life! I'm not just including my yarn stash as that's the least of my concerns. I have purchased (more stuff-lol) an EZ Cube-esque light tent to photograph my stuff to list on eBay. I'm making a pledge to prepare and list a handful of things each week. It's just WRONG to have so much stuff. If it doesn't go on eBay, I want to either give stuff away to friends, donate them to local thriftshops or throw it away if it's of no use to ANYONE. I'm even planning on a garage sale next month.

OK, it's out there. Now...LET's DO this S#!T!!!

knitted wool swimsuit that won't felt?

i'm not sure how this will look on, but i wasn't able to resist clicking it into my cart. hopefully i got the right size. someone on ravelry mentioned that splish swimwear runs a bit large. i'm a TYR fan, but splish's designs are just so much more fun than the usual suits out there! 

still recouping from THE crash last month, but i've been swimming fairly regularly that past two weeks. it's about the only exercise that doesn't really hurt right now. i'm just getting back to my morning bootcamp (6-7am m-f) and i've made a commitment to going every day for the current 5 week session. my goals? to get the bootcamp's cool t-shirt for perfect attendance and to get myself prepped for muddy buddy in san jose next month. muddy buddy consists of 6 miles of running and biking with a partner (aka buddy). you each do the 6 mile course, while one is running the other buddy is biking, you trade off at the end of each running and biking leg and do obstacles throughout the course. the last leg of the competition is to do a commando crawl through a big mud pit! with my bruised ribs, i wouldn't be able to do it right now. i've got less than a month to get better. yipes.

i also want to dress up in some costume, but have not figured out something that won't get caught in the bike chain nor hinder me and my buddy going through the various obstacles. here's a vid of a muddy buddy in san dimas last year. maybe it will give YOU some inspiration to sign up! ;) it hasn't sold out yet. 

This weekend, I'll be a triathlon lurker...

Up until I dumped my poor ol' body over the handlebars during a bike dirt riding excursion a month ago, I was prepping for the Wildflower triathlon in Lake San Antonio, Monterey County, CA. The event transpires this weekend and I'm now the official cheerleader/wall flower of the group. I've gone back to easy laps in the pool for the first time this week, which I'm very happy about, but I have yet to go back to running and cycling. I still have issues going up stairs, as my hip and muscles surrounding the hip area are still bruised, lumpy and stiff with limited mobility in my left leg. Coughing, sneezing & laughing hurts because my ribs are also still bruised. I plan on bringing my knitting: Indigo Ripples & Wendy's Toe-up Sock so not all is lost. This is a weekend full of things I want to attend, but alas...Atleast I will be in the company of good friends...

Maybe you can check some of the cool happenings out for me?

• Alameda Antique Fair
• Maker Faire
• CNCH

picot hem top socks on a legare 400

picot hem top socks on a legare 400
Originally uploaded by purlgurl

using Laura's (http://handwerkstextiles.com/) hand dyed superwash wool, i somehow cranked out a pair (using the 72 cyll) out in under 3 hours! woohoo a new record for moi. i also mangaged not to drop a stitch during the 45 rows using the ribber on the 2nd sock too. another first! i am still struggling to find out how to get snugger fitting socks. the gauge SEEMS right (going to have to put a measuring tape to 'em) but they're still a bit floppier then i'd like them to fit. this pair is going to a friend for a belated birthday. i'm packaging it in a sushi togo tray, each one rolled up like a sushi roll. (pic later)

Three-position Lucas switch--DIM, FLICKER and OFF

The Lucas Lights joke; the three-position Lucas [purlgurl's brain] switch--DIM, FLICKER and OFF applied to me in the understanding of short rowing socks, specifically when it came to making the 2nd half of the toe. I tend to run before I learn to walk, so I've NEVER finished a handknitted sock, but I've finished a few pairs on my circular knitting machine. I can't really even claim to have the 2nd sock syndrom as I have never really finished a FIRST one either! I've tried toe up and it's variations a half a dozen or so times and have a few cuff downs in various stages of completion, but none have made it off the needles.

So, I decided it was time...mind you I still have yet to finish the first pair as I am JUST finishing the first toe portion. I started with Wendy's Toe-Up Sock Pattern. I've followed her blog on and off for a few plus years now and found it listed on Ravelry after an "easy sock" pattern search. All went well until I hit the section, "Now you'll work the second half of the toe"...yeah right! I read, them over and over and I just didn't get the instructions (sorry Wendy). I guess I'm lame. I prefer knitting instructions and things in explained in general with clear "a picture is worth a thousand word" images and good use of the English written language. So, I did a few searches and in googling "short row toe" came up with Jill's Short-Roe Toe Sock instructions. It was JUST what I was looking for and there weren't even pics to boot:

Short rows for second half of toe:

• Knit Row: Knit across to wrapped stitch, slip the wrapped stitch to the right needle, reach left needle under the wrap and pull the wrapped stitch out and onto left needle. Slip the (now freed) wrap back to the left needle and knit the stitch and the wrap together through the back.
  
• Yarn forward, slip next stitch to right needle, yarn back, slip the stitch back to left needle. (This stitch now has 2 wraps. When you unwrap it later, those 2 wraps will fill in where a gap might have occurred.) Turn.


• Purl Row: Purl across to wrapped stitch, slip the wrapped stitch to the right needle, reach left needle under the wrap and pull the wrapped stitch out and onto left needle. Slip the (now freed) wrap back to the left needle and purl the stitch and the wrap together.


• Yarn back, slip the next stitch to right needle, yarn forward, slip the stitch back to left needle to create another double wrap. Turn.


• Continue working the knit row and the purl row until you have worked all the wrapped stitches. You will be unwrapping two wraps from each remaining wrapped stitch.

THANK YOU JILL! I can now continue (using both patterns and maybe more) and more likely now to complete atleast ONE toe up sock in my lifetime. :) Muhwah!