ARGyle

Finally...it's done:



Modeled here by the lovely BabyGirl. A couple more pics:




It was really fiddly...I think that's the best way to describe it. Not necessarily hard, but very time consuming. If I was focusing really well, I could finish one repeat of the chart (one set of "argyle" diamonds) in about an hour. I found the chart as written to be kinda confusing to follow, so I changed it a bit. It was really small in the book, so the first thing I did was to copy it onto graph paper, so I could just work off it without the book. The problem I had with it was that the symbols' meanings changed depending on which side you are working. It's kinda hard to explain without seeing it, and I don't want to replicate the chart here because of copyright concerns. But for those of you that have it, this is what I did:



Every square is supposed to be 2 stitches; depending on where you are in the chart, you knit with the main color and then purl the contrasting color (or vise versa). For example, on the right side a blank square would mean "K1MC, P1CC" and a colored square would mean "K1 CC, P1MC," but on the next row it would be the opposite. Instead of checking the symbols on every square, and then checking to see what side I'm on, I marked a "C" or an "M;" if it's a "C" I knit contrast first, then purl main color. This probably doesn't make a whole lot of sense if you're not familiar with the pattern, but I really hope it does help if you are. It made my work go much faster.

So...two more project to finish by Wednesday! I should probably start one of them now...

Because I'm a DORK

Also, I added a "Follower" gadget to the sidebar over there --> so if you want, you can stay up to date on all my bloggy progress! What fun!

SQUUUUEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!

So, last February I went to Stitches West. I was sparkly eyed, and super overwhelmed; it was a Santa Clara Convention Center full of yarn. I found multiple beautiful Holy Grails of yarn including this:



Yum. It's called Valkyrie, by Blue Moon Fiber Arts; the whole line of colors is called Raven.



So, I went home, and rejoiced.
And then, I was all like, what the hell am I gonna make with this? It deserves perfection...it deserves poetic justice. Oh yeah. I'll go there.
So I searched, and searched...and found the perfect pattern for this yarn, you would have thunk it was made for it:



Huh. Look at this gorgeous piece of work...oh...what?

This sock was designed by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee specifically for Blue Moon Fiber Arts specifically for this line of fiber. Could you come any closer to poetic justice? Oh, sure you could... read the Yarn Harlot's description of where her inspiration when presented with this yarn came from:

"The minute that Tina told me she was painting Raven yarn, all I could think of was the famous poem by Edgar Allen Poe, “The Raven.” This sock has as many elements of that poem as struck me as reasonable… the wings of the raven, the gothic-inspired peaks of the “chamber door,” the colours reminiscent of the “purple curtain,” and the raven himself. Naturally, there could be no other name for this feminine, gothic-inspired lace sock, than the name of the tragically lost love herself… Lenore."

A quote from the Yarn Harlot herself.

Dude.

It's called Lenore.

sigh

I saw the sock pattern about 2 months after I bought the yarn. It was the perfect pattern for the yarn...but it wasn't available for sale until "late 2008." WTF does that mean? (Blue Moon Fiber Arts said around early fall 2008.)
That's, like, six months, at least. Suck.
Finally, in November of 2008, I found it. I ordered it.

And then I got bummed - I've been waiting forever for this pattern; finally, it was out, it was for sale, and it could be mine. But they would mail it to me.

MAIL?!?

Like....MAIL?!?!?!?

Those who know me should know that I never use bold & italics together. That is how serious this was.

Really, I was super irritated - why not just email me the pdf? Let me download it? Or something? Don't you know how long I have been waiting for this pattern?

Somehow I managed to survive long enough to witness the arrival of The Pattern.
IT came today.
It was TOTALLY worth it.
Behold:



How beautiful is that?



It came in its own sheet protector, perfect for slipping right into my binder. It's printed on nice, thick paper, double bound in full color. It's more than I could ever have wished for. Except for maybe the proper size needles to knit it on... But they shoud be forthcoming, as a well timed gift... go figure.

SQUEEEE!!!!!

2 & 1/2 Months Later...

You would think that someone who is unemployed would have so much time that they'd be blogging all day. It seems to me that wasting time while at work is so much more fun that blogging at home. Funny that.
Anyways, I have been quite productive on the knitting front. I'll try to post some here, avoiding those that will be gifted this holiday, although my readers number very few, some of those very few will no doubt be receiving knitted gear from me later this month.
My most favorite recent FO:



My fist Monkey Socks!



I'm really happy with how they came out. They're pretty, and super comfortable, and took me less than a week to make. I made the second sock in two days. I'm using real sock yarn now, so hopefully they'll stand up better than my Hederas, which are beginning to get a bit fuzzy.
I made a my first hat, with leftover yarn from the booties I made for Baby B, and gifted it to Baby M. Kindof a "we're all in this yarn together" thing, in my weird way.



Edges are a little bit curly, I hope the baby doesn't mind.
And my labor of love over the last few months, which I am proud to say was completed well before the baby shower, is the Moderne Baby Blanket for Baby B:



Really tough to get good pictures of this with my camera, but for scale, consider...well, it's huge. Each of the boards it's sitting on (there's 2) are 36" wide. Hopefully they won't loose the baby in it. But if they do, it should be a soft & warm place to be lost.
The pattern is in Mason-Dixon Knitting, and is apparently available for free if you go to their website. I looked for it, I couldn't find it, but if you have Ravelry, you can look it up there. Errata, should you get the pattern, is stangely not available on their website (?) but is available here. I would have done the edges differently, if I would have known how they would look - they look kinda like the wrong-side-out to me.

Currently:



The Uncle Argyle Scarf from Son of Stitch n Bitch, for brother J. He won't read this, he does even know what a blog is. So it's safe.
Cool huh? Here's the catch:



Get it? It's reversible. Have you knit a reversible piece yet? Good times. Do not attempt while trying to pay attention to anything mildly interesting, except maybe an audio book you can kinda tune in & out of.
Was really challenging at first, but it's getting easier (I could almost watch hockey while knitting it last night). I also manually copied the chart onto graph paper, which allowed me to make myself notes in each friggin square to remind me what to do without constantly checking the key. I won't try how to explain it here, because even explaining it verbally is hard, but suffice to say that the key is opposite on every other row. And each square on the chart is actually two stitches. And it takes some paying attention. Did I stress that enough?

Overall though, I'm really excited about it, and I've given J & Ma permission to steal it from him if he doesn't wear it. I might just steal it myself.

Lots of other projects have been done, but for reasons mentioned above I won't list them here for the time being. Lots more to do too...and I've made a vow to knit all the yarn I bought at Stitches West last year before A & I go back this year. I think I have a month or two, shouldn't be a problem.

On a sadder note, my camera has died due to a sequence of unfortunate circumstances including humidity, sand, sacred birthing stones, and an untimely tumble off the back of the couch. Picture quality will be lower for a bit until I can rectify this. Please bear with me. On the other hand, the sand & humidity was totally worth it. And the bruise on my knee is fading.