nipperknits

What To do?

For Christmas, the Boy got me 3 balls of red Softy. I love this stuff. I just want to throw it on the floor and roll around in it. I want to make something with it, but I can't figure out what. I would make a scarf, but most people have fuzzy scarves now. I can't bring myself to make something just like what all the little sorority girls at school will be wearing. And 3 balls would make an awfully big scarf. So, help me out here, what should I make? What would 300 yards of incredibly soft, fluffy yarn make? I figure, if I can't have the Boy around for Valentine's Day, then I need something big and red to wrap around me. And what better than something he gave me?

I've been reading lately about the Knitters Against Fun Fur. Both Jess and James have written very interesting posts about it. I want to weigh in on the issue. I like some novelty yarns, Softy for example, but it's a rare thing. If it's soft, if it's thick and furry, if it isn't scratchy on my skin; then I'm all for it. If, like most Fun Fur type yarns, it's scratchy, feels cheap, looks wimpy when knit up, I won't use it. So, while I can't proudly proclaim my hatred of Fun Fur and all novelty yarns, I can say I feel your pain.

Here a Sock, There a Sock

Everywhere a Sock, Sock...

These socks are going soooooo fast. I've turned the heel on the second Sockapalooza sock already. I'm so happy the second sock is matching the first so well. I made a point of starting at the same spot on both, but it's turning out better than I expected. My Sockapalooza Pal makes lots of socks and has commented that she likes her socks like this to match. I was a little worried, but now I'm quite impressed.

I was a little tired of looking at the pattern on the Sockapalooza Sock and anxious to start on my Nipper Ripple sock. Last night, I just couldn't take the temptation any longer. So, here's the first part:

Now I don't mind going back to the Sockapalooza Sock. I want to finish it soon so I can go back to work on the Nipper Ripple. (Can you tell I like the name Nipper Ripple? It's so much fun to say.)

Look at these cute knitted elephants! I was browsing through the knitting blogring the other day and ran across this site. What an adorable idea, PumpkinKnits!

And the Countdown Begins...

Learning Process

I have two finished things to show you today. And a learning process I had to go through to actually get one of the things done. Let's start with the easy one: The Panda Bear Hat.

Saturday I went to get another ball of Chinchilla for the Panda Bear Hat. While I was there, I got caught by some sock yarn. How could I resist such nipper-y striped colors? I think I forsee a pair of Broad Ripple socks in my near future. But I finished the Bear hat and that's what's important for now.
   
As you can see, I also finished the first of the Sockapalooza socks. This was the learning experience. I did Kitchener Stitch for the first time here. Normally, I would do a 3-needle bind-off, but I really wanted these socks to be nice for my Sockapalooza Pal. She makes *lots* of socks. So, when I finished making the toe, I went into my quiet room and sat down with Nancy Wiseman and read about how to do Kitchener Stitch. Let me say this before getting started: I do not understand how this works when you have yarn on the needles. I don't. I can't figure out what's going on. Nancy Wiseman has a very good suggestion to knit some extra rows in a contrasting yarn, pull your needles out, follow the path of the contrasting yarn with the yarn for your seam, then rip out the contrast. That worked well for most of my first try, but then something happened. I somehow managed to get off the path of the contrast yarn and when I ripped it out, there was a big hole in the toe. NOoooooo! I tried to figure out how to do it on the needles, but that was a great big disaster. I dropped stitches, I totally screwed up the seam. So, I did what any self-respecting knitter would do, I ripped. First, I threaded a piece of contrast yarnthrough the row I was going back to. Opened up the seam. Ripped back. Knit the toe again. And tried the contrasting yarn Kitchener Stitch again. This time, it worked! Yeay! I love learning how to do new stuff.