Textured Argyle and more...

Here it is. The infamous Textured Argyle. I haven't had a lot of time to work on it (well, duh, since you still have needles sticking out of it! ) but I'd promised the pics last week. Oops...

• I don't know if you can tell in the pic, but the first row of diamonds (with the red twisted with a blue) are purled rows, then the dark red (believe it or not with a green) is stockinette st, then the yellowish diamonds are again purled and so forth. Each section is offset by small one stitch cables. This is how the diamond definition is set up.

• I did that to the bottom of the cuff and then simple straight stockinette for the rest of the sock with a short row heel. Let me see if I can get that other pic to upload here also. Woohoo! Yup, I can upload. Now I have to learn how to set them where I want them and I'll be ready to roll. Youngest daughter promised me that she'd help me do that, but she's still in bed. So maybe next time.... Why? Because I'll have more pics to upload.

• Why again? New paragraph, that's why... I finished the MIL's Wool Peddler's Shawl. I got my order from Knitpicks last Saturday. I can't tell you how excited I was to come home and find that box sitting on top of my mailbox. So I whipped it open, checked out my yarn and put together my new Options interchangeable set of cables. Put together my size 7 tips on a 24" cable and cast on Saturday night. It's funny because I thought the garter stitch beginning would be SO simple. Well, it took me 3 tries to keep that center increase row both centered and straight. But once I got the hang, yes, it whipped up pretty darned fast.

• Now, my MIL is tall. She's 5'10" or thereabouts, so I did add one more row to the lace bottom section. And, boy, that was slow knitting cuz you're working about 300 sts in each row. But I also experimented some and I can now knit "continental" even faster than I can knit my good ole 30-yrs-of-experience American. It took a while to get somewhat easy on the purling, though. That one slowed me down a lot because the first row I tried purling, I got it backwards so all the sts twisted when I went to knit. So I knitted the next row through the back and then regrouped. Took a while, but I figured it out and can now purl in the continental manner a bit faster than molasses...

• Anyway, so I got all excited. One shawl down and 9 whole weeks before.... Oh, wait! I have to reveal two other things during the making of this shawl. I've written to Knitpicks because I can't believe it, but my cable pulled right out of the connector. Luckily, I had just knitted my last row and only had to cast off, but I went to turn the work and BOOM! I'm sitting there with my knitting in my lap and my needle in my hand. Thank goodness it was the last row and I didn't have to try to pick up 300+ stitches. So I pushed all the stitches together on the good end and continued to cast off. Whic leads me to another thing I learned.

• New paragraph... I don't know about you, but my cast off stitches are never in tension with the rest of my work. They're either too loose or too tight. And the ends never lay flat. They either pull or ripple. Yech! Yeah, yeah, everyone tells you to cast off _loosely_. That never works for me. It's still different than everything else. So I tried something new.

• Please note that this will only work if you work this last row on a cable needle and you'll see why. I knit that last row and then moved back to the beginning of same row. IOW, I haven't turned my work at all. I simply move from the left side where my yarn leader is dangling back to the right side where I began that row. Then I simply slipped my first two stitches to the right needle and slipped the first stitch over the second. Slip another stitch from the left needle and pass the "first" slipped stitch over the new one. Etc, etc. Knitting is already done. You're just passing the stitches for the bind off. End result? That edge lay flat and true like never before. Not too loose. Not too tight. Perfectly in sync with every other row I'd knitted.

• Seriously, give it a try. You'll be surprised.

• Okay, next note. I pulled out the swift and ball winder yesterday and balled up the lace weight merino and alpaca skeins I'd bought for the Aunt-In-Law's shawl. Funny, when you put the balls next to each other, it's not that pretty. But start casting on and the alpaca in Moss Heather adds a really nice subtle contrast to the darker Lost Lake Heather in merino.

• Anyway, I get upstairs last night and begin to cast on. Yarn leader is too short for 240 sts. I tear back and cast on again. Yarn leader is too short by about 10 sts. So I tear out and cast on a third time and this thing is looking mighty short. 240 sts or did Cheryle Oberle mean 340? I pull out the book again and look. Yup, 240 sts. Problem is that the yarn is supped to be DK weight and not fingering as I'd read (about 5 times). Actually, I think my problem is that I kept looking at so many different patterns that I forgot what yarn was needed for which project... So here I am with yarn that can't be used for the pattern I want or, if I switch to another pattern, I don't have enough yarn to complete it. I was thinking of switching to the Bird's Nest Shawl, but I only have half the yarn to complete it. I'll figure that one out and keep you posted.

• In the meantime, I can start a pair of fingerless mitts to replace the ones that Shelby doesn't have anymore. I don't want to say that she lost them or accuse someone of stealing them. I think it was more a combination of both. She put them down and forgot to grab them and they were gone before she could retrace her steps. Course, as I told her in no uncertain terms, the design is 100% unique. So if she sees someone wearing them, I expect her to run them to ground and tackle them.... LOL!

• Now, before I interrupted myself, I was about to say that, as of this Tuesday, we have nine (count them, NINE!!!!) weeks to Christmas. At least three projects in the hopper to be completed prior to then. And I simply have to figure out something for the Hubby. He keeps complaining that his feet get cold, so I want to make him a pair of socks. I have a reason now for him not to be suspicious. My mom wants to make a pair for my brother and, considering he's in North Carolina, it's a bit difficult to measure his foot. But my DH's foot is a bit longer and a bit bigger than my brother's. So if I measure Mark's foot and subtract a quarter inch in length and a half inch in diameter, it should work. And I'll have Mark's measurements also. Maybe that's what I could use that merino and alpaca for. The merino would add memory and "bounce" and the alpaca will add warmth. And the two shades of very subtle green will be nice and conservative compared to my socks in loud parrot and "fire"...

• It's a thought.

• Have a wonderful week! Nine and counting... Yikes!