What's on the needles right now?

I was wondering what's on your needles?

I have a Harry Potter Scarf , my first project I started that I am still working on. Round and around I go. It's the never ending scarf.

My first pair of socks on magic look that I am just about ready to do my first short row heel.

A hat using some patton's SWS

a washcloth from weekend knits

This summer I knitted a cable scarf for my husband Jeff. He likes his scarves really long, so it seemed to go on forever, too. Right now I've barely started a cable hat to match his scarf. Only a couple of rows and I'm not super motivated to work on it.

Maybe when the weather gets cooler, dancesong_97, you'll feel like working on the hat. Must seem tedious after having worked so long on the scarf! (I knitted a scarf that ended up being about 7 feet long, I think - I thought it would NEVER END!)

A few days ago I started a new project, a vest with a great yarn I got half price (Berrocco Optik, which has a mix of metallic, black, beautiful blue boucle and occasional rust color boucle strands). I'm using a pattern I found on Knitty.

I should also get back to the sock I started knitting a couple weeks ago (it's almost 3 inches long now!), but I'm nowhere near turning the heel. One of the dpn's got away from me (and is still among the missing) and I lost interest for awhile till I realized I could substitute a dpn from another set of the same size. Then I got bored.

I have lots of UFO's, too, some 2 or 3 years old. But I'm determined to finish my Optik vest, so that's my priority now.

I'm working on an afghan for my brother for Christmas. It's a pattern from The Little Box of Knitted Throws - one that's meant to be knitted in the school colors of your choice. My brother loves the Indiana Pacers, and his high school colors were also yellow and blue, so that's what I'm using to knit it. It's very bright (too bright probably for most tastes), but I'm pretty sure he'll like it. It's also nice because it's a fairly easy pattern to knit (doesn't take a lot of concentration), so I can watch TV while I'm knitting.

I need to darn in the ends on a wool sweater.

I'm working on sock 1 in a bamboo-merino blend (lovely, soft stuff - great for warm-weather knitting!).

I'm considering knitting a raglan sweater from Oat Coutre, but I need to decide on the yarn, first.

Well, if you count projects that are "active" (still working on them) then I just finished sock #1 for my friend Mykel, need to cast on sock #2, and I have my backup feather-n-fan scarf that I'm always working on between projects. I might finish that thing some day.

I've got three blankets "on the needles." I like to knit squares :)

One Moderne baby blanket a la Mason Dixon Knitting--although after the first few squares I quit following the pattern and am just adding squares wherever I want, whenever I get bored knitting the square I am on.

One log cabin baby blanket also a la Mason Dixon Knitting.

Finally, a "no sew" mitered-square blanket--this time from the Mason Dixon blog, but I bet it will be in their new book. It isn't actually no sew...more low sew, because you knit mitered squares onto mitered squares until you have a group of four. I had a bit of a hard time with this one until I figured out that there wasn't the same number of stitches after the SSK and KTOG as there are before. I just figured that, of course, there would be since I was knitting a SQUARE. But, I didn't take into account the fact that stockinette stitch isn't as wide as it is long...blah blah blah. I really like the squares that Ann or Kay did with some garter stitch rows in the middle, but evidently it messes up the shape of your square, and I am not smart enough to figure out how to fix it.

1 baby bib in peaches 'n cream cotton; 2 lamb's wool baby hats in a basic rib (knit flat/not round and I am doing them both on the same needles for quickness); and 1 kitty pi.

If you have cats, the kitty pi is great. It is wool and you felt it. You basically make a flat-bottomed high-sided bowl for the cats to sleep in. I don't remember the site but if you do a google search you'll find it easy enough.

I recently took inventory of the stash and now remember all the winter accessories I am supposed to be working on. I want to finish at least one of the 3 WIPs before I experience castonitis again, but I don't have much hope. :)

I'm almost done with my SIL's birthday Cozy blanket from knitty.com...it seems to be taking forever but it is over 5' long. I love the ease of the pattern and the alpaca yarn I'm using though - very soft.

I have a clapoti (also knitty.com) started - but the birthday project interrupted.

I have a 2nd sock started that was my travel project, but somehow got overshadowed by the need to knit big for a change.

I have a 2nd sock for another pair that will be for charity, but I have too many other things going with semi-deadlines to want to work on that right now. Also it is wool - too hot for summer.

One wrap in a ribbed pattern and my second pair of socks

Two Rowan sweaters on the needles

One hat I'm designing

One sweater I am picking apart to change the neck opening because I didn't like how it turned out.

One lacy scarf I was designing but hate the less expensive mohair synthetic blend- it is back to kidsilk haze for me.

I am afraid I slowed down over the summer. It just seemed too sticky to knit but now that fall is approaching I'll go nuts with projects again.

In fact I have a knit shop outting planned with a friend this weekend- that's bound to be trouble.

Right now I'm one sentence through the "Crime Scene Scarf" from issue 4 of Craft Magazine. The scarf is yellow with black "POLICE LINE DO NOT CROSS” written across it. It rocks!

I started it last Saturday and hope to be done in the first week in September. Then I can crack into my new Punk Knits book and make the Sid Vicious inspired sweater for the fall.

-the Mistress

Hi Mistress - Were you at the Cambridge LT pizza party? I was there knitting the combination scarf made from about 18 different yarns.

I haven't seen issue 4 of Craft yet - I can't believe they're up to 4 already! I hope I'll get around to actually doing some of the projects. I was thinking of making the denim shoes in issue 2, but I've been working on knitting, embroidery, and weaving, so I haven't felt inspired to make shoes recently. I'll have to see if my library has issues 3 and 4 yet. I talked them into subscribing, as I can't bring myself to pay the cover price.

i like the idea of a police line scarf; there should be a scarf with "hazardous materials keep away" on it, too (maybe red letters on yellow?) And the Sid Vicious sweater sounds intriguing; maybe I can find a picture of it somewhere?

Marensr - I hope you'll enjoy your knit shop outing this weekend. Yarn is good. My last knitting store visit ended up costing me about $100. And I'm still not sure what I'm going to use all the yarn for :) I don't knit very much during hot weather, either. I usually prefer to do embroidery in the summer.

Today I stopped in at Michael's for some crochet cotton and found Bernat's Bamboo yarn. It's very silky and shiny, and I couldn't resist it. I've started swatching for a scarf in a pale green shade they call Dill.

#Mistress I too am curious about the Sid Vicious inspired scarf

#13 MaggieO It is dangerous especially given my current yarn stash. . . How do you like the bamboo yarn. I have been wanting to knit something with bamboo.

I am knitting socks in a yarn that is between worsted and sport. They should be great house socks in the winter. These are the first pair I have ever made! I am following a terrific tutorial a cometosilver.com (look in "write" and find the link in a sidebar). My husband thinks it is a riot to watch me knit and consult the computer every few minutes.

I'll have to check out cometosilver, florahistora. Thanks!

Marensr - I'll let you know on the bamboo yarn. I haven't decided yet on a scarf design. I swatched the pattern on the ball band, but I don't think I like it. And I'm going away for the weekend, so I'll have to try out some other ideas next week. So far, though, I can say the bamboo yarn is very soft and luxurious. I'd expected it to be more like linen, kind of stiff. But I think it feels like silk (at least the Bernat is, anyway).

Thanks MaggieO, I'd love to hear what you knit with it.

I have a friend who is allergic to wool and alpaca, but really wanted a pair of socks for the holidays. We thought it would be fun to do a pair of mismatched 'ragbag' socks in random colors. I got 4 different colors of Wendy/Peter Pan yarn and am knitting them up on US 2/2.75mm needles. They are quite soft and the colors are a lot of fun to work with. They should make some fun socks that she can wear around the house.

I'm also about to start on a shawl for myself. The yarn is a chocolatey-brown blend of alpaca from my father's farm. It's a worsted weight and is incredibly soft. I have approximately 1300 yards, and just need to decide the pattern. I'll probably do something relatively simple and in a triangle, but I don't want it just knit plain.

Right now I'm working on a pair of fingerless mittens in a beautiful blue baby llama yarn and a raglan baby cardigan in lots of different colors. The cardigan is my main focus as it is going to be a Christmas present this year.

I just finished 3 hats, everyone on my Christmas list is getting one. Well, except my mother because she doesn't wear them. I found a pattern for a dickey (looks like a turtle neck detached from its sweater) and that is what I'm trying to do right now.

I just finished the King Harald cap from The Art of Fair Isle Knitting, and have returned to the Cathedral Mittens I've been making from Homespun Handknit. I had some difficulties getting the thumb right. At first it was far too small, and then when I ripped back and picked up extra stitches I started the pattern a half-repeat off. The third time, though, seems to have been the charm.

It's a beautiful pattern. I've got some pictures up here:

http://jinjifore.blogspot.com/search/label/cathedral%20mittens

Like teaspoon67, I'm also thinking about the holidays. I bought some Schaefer Esperanza in the Coretta Scott King colorway today, to make a hat and scarf for my dad. Last year, I made a lot of socks. Last year, I started knitting in September. This year, I'm thinking my family will be getting hats. A lot of hats, knitted in big yarn...

The earlier mentioned cable scarf (my first experience with cables) is long finished and the husband loves it. A matching cable hat (my first hat!) is almost finished as well. I've also knitted two little red riding hoods from Knit 2 Together and am working on a third. Next up a hat for my sister and an entrelac scarf for my mother in law.

I knit the same way I read (and quilt, and….just about anything else): I start way too many projects, and I am driven far more by delicious anticipation than I am by any need to finish. Knitting is probably the worst, because I especially love fine gauge yarns – my projects would take ages even if I focused on one exclusively.

Waiting in stacked baskets in my bedroom, to be worked on as the mood strikes, I have:

1) A Fair Isle cardigan in alpaca (6 stitches to the inch), knitted in the round with steeks. I drafted the pattern using designs from Alice Starmore’s Book of Fair Isle Knitting.

2) A vest in a mosaic pattern that looks a bit like stacked bricks. The “mortar” is a black mohair bouclé, and the “bricks” are a Koigu KPM and Wildfoote Sock Yarn knitted together. The sock yarns are both variegated reds, but with different color ranges and different repeat rates. The overall color effect is somewhat reminiscent of smoldering coals or flowing lava. The bottom band, button bands, and neckband will be done in garter stitch, using the two reds.

3) Another vest in a different mosaic pattern, this one with a wild combination of yarns in greens, blues, purples. I had been too busy with quilting, and hadn’t bought new yarn in a while, so when I ventured into a yarn shop a couple of years ago, I was absolutely stunned by all of the specialty yarns. I bought a skein of this and a skein of that. I think I took the pattern from a sweater in Vogue Knitting magazine, but I converted it to a button-front vest and added pockets. The pattern consists of a series of 4-6 row mosaic designs, but I am using 7 different yarns, so the pattern repeats fall on different color combinations each time around.

4) A large pillow cover in a fine cotton yarn, using patterns from Knitting Counterpanes: Traditional Coverlet Patterns for Contemporary Knitters by Mary Walker Phillips.

So, with all of those projects, what am I actually working on? I stumbled onto Colinette Jitterbug, a fine merino yarn that comes in amazing colors, so of course I had to have some. I was torn between Raphael, in the colors of a summer sunset, and Jay, which has all of the brilliant blues of a Steller’s Jay, but the store had only a few skeins of Raphael, so Jay it is.

On the skein, the colors look very watery – mermaid colors – so I have been swatching the patterns from the Creatures of the Reef shawl from Fiddlesticks Knitting. It turns out that Jay knits up much darker than it looks on the skein, and the Creatures are not showing up well, so I will have to make different plans for both the yarn and the pattern.

Oooh! My LYS had a couple single skeins of Jitterbug in their "orphan basket" with the sock yarns. I grabbed a skein of Fire and am waiting to make it into a pair of socks for myself.

If they decide to carry it regularly, I may very well see about creating a shawl one day. I wish you luck on your project, oregonobsessionz!

>25 Demiguise:

I got the Colinette from Woodland Woolworks in Carlton, Oregon. They have more fine gauge and shawl yarns than I have seen anywhere else around here. And, in case you must have more Jitterbug after you make those socks, they have a thriving mail order business.

>26 oregonobsessionz:
I have mail ordered from them and they were helpful and prompt as I recall. I am so impressed with all of your projects! I am going to hunt for the Phillips book, sounds interesting!

#24 by oregonobsessionz--The "brick" mosaic vest sounds beautiful. I'd love to see a picture of it when it's finished.

>28 Jinjifore:

Don't hold your breath...some of my projects take forever! I start knitting, then wander off to quilting, or reading, or gardening, or...

I have always said I need 30 hour days!

Maybe I will try to take a photo of the mosaic pattern.

> 26

Thanks for the site link and info on the Jitterbug! I'll likely be bookmarking them as most of my yarn aquisitition is done by mail.

*wanders off to explore some more*

I have a blanket for a baby on the go as my colleague at work is expecting and I have taken the plunge with socks - I bought a kit and have started ok - not got to the heel yet - 5 needles oo-er

I have a blanket for a baby on the go as my colleague at work is expecting and I have taken the plunge with socks - I bought a kit and have started ok - not got to the heel yet - 5 needles oo-er

I have a baby sacque going for my expected first grandchild due in April. This is the second sweater I've made for the baby. I knitted almost all the first sweater in the first week after I got the news of my DIL's pregnancy. The first was a cream colored kimono style sacque. The one now is knitted from the top down and has red and white stripes in the yoke.

I have a soft and fluffy prayer shawl going right now for a chemo patient and am also working on baby hats for the nursery at a local hospital. All that in between cross stitching and sewing!

I am making a Christmas stocking for my hubby to replace the one he got in 1951 from his aunt. She made one for every new addition to the family. I got mine in 1974 - the year of my marriage. Now I am taking up the mantle. This one is a bit tricky because I have no pattern. Don't you love graph paper!!!!

I also have a baby sweater almost finished except for the button and collar band.

Add to that I am finishing a pair of socks out of some truly incredible yarn from Regia - automatic patterning - makes me giggle!

Christmas is a year away - right?

Afghans and sweaters and scarves, oh my! There are so many wonderful projects listed here!! I'm currently working on a Sharfik designed by Grumperina in some wool a friend brought back from Ireland for me. It's a wonderful rich red with flecks of yellow, turquise, and purple. It's lovely. I'm also working on a striped hat and scarf set for my brother-in-law out of Ultra Alpaca. I also have a lacey shrug out of Plymouth Royal Bamboo. That fiber is amazing! I plan on making more summer weight projects out of it.

I've got an "Irish Hiking Scarf" in progress (photo on Flickr, project on Ravelry).

I'm currently teaching myself how to purl and am making a flannel in plain cotton in stocking stitch for my partner and knitting patches for a "snuggle rug" in garter stitch for the two of us, in eyelash yarn, which I intent to have finished by the end of April when it is starting to get cold here. Plus a scarf in eyelash yarn.

The rug came about from over purchasing eyelash yarn when I started knitting. I've made a scarf from each colour and find this is a good way to use up the extra four balls of each colour. I love the way it feels, but will be glad to finish it and go on to something else! lol

I finished the "Irish Hiking Scarf" and have started a lace scarf in a mohair/nylon blend (project on Ravelry; photo on Flickr).

ILoveAGoodYarn, If you're still learning to purl, I have a scarf pattern you might be interested in. Only a third of it is purl, but that should be enough to get the hang of it. I have it on my blog and I've put a pattern page for it on Ravelry, too.

#39 AnnaClaire: Oooh, lovely scarf! Both the pattern and the yarn you've chosen are fantastic!

Wait, which scarf? The gray cabled, the mohair, or the one I designed?

(I ask because the amount of credit I can claim varies from scarf to scarf to scarf.)

#41 AnnaClaire: Sorry, your 'project on Ravelry' one - the reddish-orange lacey-looking one (don't you just love my description skills?).

Oh, you mean this scarf:


Thanks -- It's actually a surprisingly easy pattern, once you get the hang of it, though I thought to draw up a chart from the text directions in the stitch dictionary.

My projects seem to take forever, because I work on so many at a time, and I prefer fine gauge yarns. I did manage to finish something though - a market bag based on the Everlasting Bagstopper pattern from knitty.

I used the hemp yarn recommended in the pattern, and it feels very strong. I didn't like the goofy looking drawstring through the bag. Instead I made a small inside pocket to stow the bag when not in use. Now all I need to do is find suitable material for the shoulder straps.

I have been knitting for several years, but still consider myself a novice.
Finished a couple of scarfs just in time for the cold weather to come back and now I have picked up a throw (blanket) that I started last year and got bored with, I really want to finish it even if it just for the feeling of accomplishment.

I've got a big ice-blue kitteny-soft scarf I need to learn button-holes for before I can finish it (it's going to have abalone buttons). I also just started a green scarf for my lover.