hex spirals

In a comment in the last post, Devil Kitty says that she likes the way the spirals look like hexagons on the edges, but are more round in the middle. Me too! And not to get too scientific, but in Norah Gaughan's book "Knitting Nature," she talks about how bubbles are round when they are in single form, but that they form straight lines to make hexagons (or is it pentagons?) when they cluster. I guess the spirals are just acting like bubbles.
That's such a cool book--blending knitting with science is unexpected, but interesting. I may not remember the exact details, but I end up knowing the gist of things. Check it out!

spirals are fun!

Making the spirals has been fun, but putting the surface crochet on and sewing them together has been even better. I wasn't sure if I'd need to come up with a way to fill in between the spirals, but they seem to be going together just fine. I'll make a bunch of spiral scrumbles, then form them into round pillow shapes. I chose the colors from my stash to go with the denim/chambray colors of the dining room rug and table cloth, greens to match the paint color, and the other colors will coordinate with the many colors of Fiestaware that we have. It's a hodge podge, but I always say the more colors, the better!
By the way, the Jitterbug monkeys are still in progress. Ribbing is almost complete on the second monkey.


Last week my mom was visiting, and we did a great fused glass class at the Durham Arts Council. We made these 6 inch plates on Tuesday night and picked them up Wednesday afternoon from the kiln. Hers is on the left, and mine is on the right.
The class was a lot of fun, and we both recommend it to everyone. There are more classes this summer, taught by Sallye Coyle, a great teacher. Try it out!

spirals and monkeys

Making pillows made up primarily of crochet spirals is turning out to be a great zone-out project. These little guys are fun and easy to make, and right now they require no thought.
When I have a bunch of them, I'll separate them into individual pillow groups (I'm planning to make at least 4 pillows, maybe 6!), and then I'll add the surface crochet embellishment and join them.



These pictures give me a sense of how many spirals each round pillow will need.

















My other current project is the Jitterbug monkeys. Since Jitterbug has punk yardage, I'm shortening the monkeys by one pattern repeat in the leg. I just hope it's enough! If I run out of yarn, I'll improvise for the toes. They'll usually be in a shoe anyway.
This may be the most beautifully dyed yarn I have ever seen! Such colors! Yum.

scrumbles

Yes, I've decided to go ahead and embrace the word "scrumble." Though it isn't a particularly lovely word, it does seem to be the preferred name for freeform pieces. I've joined a freeform yahoo group, and everyone says scrumble. No one says doodle. I will follow the crowd on this one.
I got to teach a new group of freeform students this past Sunday. I was another great group of people, great class. One woman had already made a freeform purse attached to a clever little mesh frame. I'm inspired to do the same, since I have the same mesh frame in my stash. Maybe these scrumbles from class could become a purse:
There's also a new monkey sock going. Carrie Anne is making hers in the red Neon, and I couldn't resist. We're going to be monkey twins.
Henry needed to see what the birds were doing. Lucky for us, he keeps close tabs on what's happening in our yard. Saves us the trouble.

one little monkey

This is a comfy sock--can't wait to finish the mate. Even though it's in the low 90's, I like wearing them so much! If I wear them at home, no one will see them and think I'm nuts.

Opal revisited

Hurray, I've finally settled on a pattern for the Opal Neon. It's "Monkey" designed by Cookie A., and can be found in the archives at Knitty.com. Just as Cookie A. says, it's an addictive little design. I started on Friday.Coordinates pretty well with my purple music stand, doesn't it?

Projects, finished, halfway done, and unstarted

Unstarted: socks in Liisu hand-dyed yarn. This yarn has a small mohair component, which makes it feel very cozy. I'm looking forward to choosing a pattern for this one.For Sheila, here's a close up:
I didn't intend to make this a cat picture, but I really couldn't keep Henry off of these sweaters today. The Wigwam diagonal T is ready to wear as soon as it dries, which could be a while. I dunked it good. The slightly heavy gauge makes this a Spring knit, not a Summer T. My rosy cheeks would be a little too rosy in a sweater like this on an 85 degree afternoon.
The Iris Schreier P90 tank is coming along nicely. My only modification so far has been to add a few more rows before shaping the shoulders. I'm hoping to make the plunging V plunge a little less so.
Progress will be slow over the weekend--I have 3 rehearsals, a concert, and a wedding. Triangle concert-goers might be interested in the concert on Sunday at 3:00 at the Carolina Theater in Durham. The Chamber Orchestra of the Triangle will perform works by Dvorak. You can see part of the score in the first 2 pictures of this post!

a moment of silence, please....

.....for the Opal Neon socks seen previously on this blog. The first try was a bust because they were coming out way too small for this chunky leg. The next try failed because the stitch pattern couldn't be seen in the busy color pattern of the yarn. A third try is underway, and details will be withheld until there is some certainty concerning the sock's survivability. Sigh.

knitting update

First of all, let me say that I don't know why the pictures are positioned like this. They started out in a jumble, and I was able to move some of them so that they weren't overlapping. I guess I'm out of practice on blogging!


















Second, I will admit that there has been no progress at all on the Noro log cabin cardigan. I got motivated to make spring sweaters, and that's all I've been doing. Above, it's a diagonal T made from Colinette Wigwam. The front and back are both done, and one sleeve is almost finished. I should be wearing it today, but I got started on another one last week.
This is the diagonal tank, pattern P90 from Artyarns, and "diagonal" doesn't really describe it accurately. It's multi-directional diagonal knitting. None of the knitting is straight across. Fun! The end result is that the sweater is knit on the bias, which makes the fit especially nice. I tried on the sample model at Great Yarns last week and decided to go for it. The yarn is Ariel by Filatura di Crosa. There's not a good shot of the front of the sweater yet because it's cramped up on the needles. I'll take a good pic when the front is done. In the meantime, these close-ups show off the yarn nicely.




I hope to wear both of these items soon, then get started on another simple T pattern that I got at great yarns, but haven't picked a yarn for it yet.




Next I'd like to do something with some ocean blue Berocco Zodiac that I got from Cozy. Maybe another multi-directional sweater like the Ariel, maybe something else.

no sleeves yet

The log cabin cardigan looks like a sweater now, or at least a vest. Sleeves are next!