All Knitting, All the Time

As promised, this post is all about the knitting. While tooling around in the RV heading to points northwest, I spent most of this trip reading about 7 months of medical journals and free CME (continuing medical education) topics in my attempt to stay caught up with "the literature." Actually, since I am all about the free CME, my goal is to do it the month that it comes to the house via snail mail or e-mail; so, I can stay caught up and get all the hours that are required. Admirable goal, but up to now, I have been rather noncompliant...but I digress.

I did do some knitting on the trip, and I have evidence. First, there are some completed projects:



I finished the little mitts out of the yarn I scored in May at the Ranger game for "Stitch-n-Pitch." The ball bands have disappeared. I don't know what the fiber content for the gray yarn is, but I hope it holds together when washed. It is a papery-feeling ribbon with a chain of what appears to be sewing machine stitching down the middle.







Here's a little project I designed for a friend and local artist who hand-dyes yarn. The pattern will soon be available at on her website at Madeline Tosh. Check out her yarn. The colorways are fabulous, and the yarn is really yummy.








The blue is really a purple in both of these hats that I made for graduation gifts.










Still OTN (on the needles):

I bought this yarn at the DFW FiberFest last year. It's by JoJoLand and it is really nice stuff. I started the fingerless gloves in December, and have been struggling to complete them since then. There is something about the pattern that I do not quite get, but I've never made gloves before. I had knit the small part of the fingers that you do knit on the one on the right, but I decided to just frog that part and start over. I will have to ponder about that a little longer.

I am using a pattern I found on the internet here.


I bought this yarn from the DFW FiberFest this year. It is hand-dyed yarn by another local artist, The Accidental Knitter. I just loved the colorway. It's called Chili Fest. (I keep calling it Chili Feet.) It does remind one of chili peppers, but I also think of Christmas or even watermelon.

Anwyay, I had to have it, and I am making a pair of socks. I am using the Magic Loop method and am knitting both at the same time. They are just plain, vanilla, stockinette socks with a picot edge on the cuffs. I'm letting the yarn do the talking.


I had purchased this yarn several weeks ago when Louisa Harding was visiting one my LYSs. I couldn't very well be in the presense of a knitting rock star without showing some admiration for her talent, even if it meant that I would be breaking my yarn diet, now could I? It was worth the sacrifice. I didn't snap a pix of the book, but it's a shawlette out of her Beachcomber Bay Accessories Collection.

I substituted two of the yarns, and other than trying to decide if I really want to have that fringe, and I am leaning towards maybe not, I am following the pattern.


Meet the ribbon top from hayul. I bought this yarn last summer and promptly started knitting a very simple top with cap sleeves. I was using a pattern with the exact look I wanted but made out of a completely different yarn. I knitted merrily along, until I got to the beginning of the sleeve part, and things went awry. The yarn I am using and the yarn that the pattern uses are two different guages, and this situation wasn't a problem until this point. So, as I was knitting something else at the time that I had to finish by a deadline, I put this top aside. I dug it out to take on our trip, and decided to change some things around on it. Take a good look, because the next time you see it, it will be a pile of balled up ribbon yarn. I think I am going to frog the whole thing and start over.

When I complete one or two of the above WIPs (works in progress), here's a little something waiting in the wings:


I had made a pair of socks out of this colorway of Opal yarn. It is Zebra from the Rainforest Collection.

A few months ago, I threw that pair of socks, as well as a couple of other light-colored hand knit pair, into the washing machine. One fingerless mitt I had made decided to jump in with the socks, unbeknownst to me. That little mitt is navy blue. My Zebra socks are now black and gray. It was a tragic day in the life of Merry Karma, that day was.

I thought about it for a long time, and finally decided that I really did want to knit another pair of socks uising this colorway, because I really do like it very much. I still can wear the other pair, and I will. They look fine, but I *know* what they are supposed to look like, and I feel a longing in my heart that only knitting another pair can remedy.

Finally, I will show you my souvenirs from the trip:


I bought a skein of Seasilk at the Beehive Yarn Shop in Victoria, BC. I am going to make the shawl on the pattern attached. They had one hanging up in the store, and it was quite lovely. It screamed Merry Karma appropriate attire; so, I had to get it!







At Tricoter, I purchased the current Vogue Knitting and Interweave Knits. Both have some projects that are Merry Karma worthy. I cannot think about that today...I have plenty on my plate for now.

The yarn is some Blue Sky Alpaca Bulky that the kid picked out for me to make him a hat in black and gray. His school colors are black and silver - we had to wing it a little.







Alrighty then...I am finished. This post took quite a bit of time, but I've been teasing the internet with promises of posts of my knitting and it was time to deliver.

Merry Karma out.