Being the good little knitter I am, I have finally, finally lined the funky felt tote bag. And there to the left is the proof! I accessorized the lining with a few pockets (one that zippers) and needle holders, and I included a divider that is attached only at the sides, so can be moved back and forth as needed.

The felted tote now proudly joins the ranks of Finished Objects.

The pink cabled scarf is the “mystery project” started just before our road trip early this month. I cabled studiously through the entire road trip to make this gift for my friend L’s birthday. Today when we met for lunch her ESP must have been in high gear because, although she had no idea what her gift was (or even that it was knitted) she wore a perfectly matching pink blazer.

Check in the Finished Objects Gallery to the right for the particulars on both these projects.

#1 Son mentioned that he though the dark gray yarn I was planning to use for his gloves (promised last spring, but… well… the weather got warm) was maybe a little plain. I suggested adding a fair isle snowflake or somesuch to the back of the gloves because that sounded fun, and he liked that idea. When swatching, I just grabbed some other yarn from the stash to strand with the gray to check gauge, and what surfaced to try was some leftover Wildfoote sock yarn in variegated reds and oranges. Not quite standard, but it was striking. #1 Son liked the orange, so I picked up some orange in the same Frog Tree alpaca as the gray.

I cast the gray alpaca on to my US#3 Clover circs. A few rows in, I realized I needed smaller needles for the wrist ribbing. Alpaca is so slick and slidey, I couldn’t imagine knitting it on Addi Turbos. In desperation, I hauled a pair of Inox Gray circs from the mothballs.

I remember when I first tried the Inox I decided I didn’t like them. Now I’m wondering why. The gray surface isn’t nearly as slidey as most metal needles, although it doesn’t grab as well as bamboo. It’s somewhere in between. The joins, although they’re at a strange angle, are very smooth (and I’m picky about my joins). And the points are really, really sharp. I will never turn my nose up at these again!

Of course, all of this means that I’m now down to three projects in my “must complete” list. Only three projects. Only three…

Must… Not… Get… Distracted…

Just a reminder that tomorrow is World Wide Knit In Public Day!

So take your knitting out into the world and let others see how fun it is! Maybe we can inspire some new knitters.

On my own knitting front, I’m about 8″ into the sensational shirttail sweater and I’ve twisted the cable four times. I’ve been tired in the evenings for some reason — or maybe it’s just that my house is so quiet lately — and I can’t seem to get more than a couple of rows knit each evening. I’ll keep plugging away at it though. Like knitting socks two at a time, since I’m working on the back and both fronts all at once it will take longer, but when I’m done then all that much more will have been accomplished.

I wanted to get another pair of socks started but I didn’t like the test swatch I made. So I’m looking for a different pattern. I’d like to have some socks on the needles as traveling companions. The sweater is a bit bulky to carry around.

I am loving knitting with the Noro Kochoran! It’s knitting up into a wonderfully soft fabric that’s a little fuzzy, but not furry. I’ve had to tink out a few stitches here and there, and it’s not difficult to do as it would be with alpaca or mohair.

Since I’ve been concentrating lately mostly on socks, there’s one big difference I’ve noticed: US #10-1/2 feels like knitting with broomsticks! I’m so used to US #2 or #3. The big needles have slowed me down. I can’t seem to find my rhythm with them. But even so the sweater is knitting up quickly. I have about 3″ finished and I’m finding the pattern easy to remember and almost mindless to follow (i.e. good TV watching task).

In the lessons learned department: I’ve been knitting socks two at a time. I decided that could work for sweaters also. So, using three of my Noro balls, I cast on for both sides of the front and for the back all on one big circular needle. Now, it will be nice to have the cables on exactly the same rows on all three pieces, to know that the armholes match up and the V-neck starts at the same place on both sides, etc. But keeping three balls of yarn untangled is a talent that I don’t seem to possess. I have to stop every couple of rows and untangle everything. I should probably give up and to back to doing one piece at a time, but I’m too stubborn to admit defeat. Besides, I keep remembering how nice it is to finish both socks at the same time… and that never-worn sweater I knit when I was a kid that had a front 1″ shorter than the back because I got tired of the project long before it was finished and thought I could “fake it.”

With my short attention span, I think I’d better just keep untangling.

How do you keep your yarn straight when knitting with multiple balls?

I’ve selected my next knitting project. I wanted something a bit more adventurous than another pair of socks, and I think this sweater, called Sensational Shirttail will be just the thing.

I found this in The Best Of Knitter’s Arans & Celtics book. I like to wear big. slouchy, comfortable sweaters. This pattern has enough cables and moss stitch to be interesting without having so much pattern that it requires a great deal of thought. And, on size US 10-1/2 needles, it should knit up fairly quickly, thus satisfying my short attention span and almost guaranteeing that I can get it finished before it’s cold enough to wear it.

Of course I required a great yarn, so today I headed over to All About Yarn to see what I could see.

And this was what I found!

This is Noro Kochoran in color # 31. It’s a yummy blend of 50% wool, 20% silk and 30% angora, and is hand dyed in Japan. On my monitor the picture is fairly close to the correct color, but is maybe a bit dark. The major color is sort of a greyish sand, with rust, white, blue, grey and brown. It should go with anything.

Now I just have to find the perfect buttons!

Click either of the pics for the bigger version.

Saturday night #1 Son, E (#1 Son’s girlfriend) and I caught the last showing of Revenge Of The Sith at Tigard Cinema.

I’d like to go on record as stating that I’ve been a fan since my friend C and I stood in line at the Westgate Theater for the opening show on the opening day of Star Wars (for all you kiddies, that’s the title A New Hope was originally released with and watched a helicopter disgorge actors dressed as Princess Leia, Chewbacca and Darth Vader who wandered the theater searching for a seat.

I’ve watched A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back and Return Of The Jedi countless times. I’ve seen The Phantom Menace twice. I’ve seen Attack Of The Clones once. I don’t have much desire to see either again.

Revenge Of The Sith is being touted as “the best Star Wars movie since The Empire Strikes Back.” Is it? Well, it’s the best of the last three movies (i.e. episodes I, II and III). But is that really saying anything?

None of the last three movies offer a swaggering swashbuckler a la Han Solo — or really even characters we care much about. The Phantom Menace, for example, foisted Jar Jar Binks on an unsuspecting world when it instead could have developed the other characters.

The acting in Revenge is probably the worst of all of the Star Wars franchise, with wooden delivery and the characters spending too much time whining at one another. The special effects were mostly OK if a bit cheesy and Yoda, as always, kicks ass. But there was one point were the oh-so-scary effects elicited nothing but giggles from the audience. And special effects alone, even good ones, cannot sustain the length of this movie. The film should have been cut by at least 30 minutes and could have been improved by a few plot twists. I suggest perhaps dropping Jar Jar Binx into a pool of lava.

George Lucas claims that during the pre-release marketing showings grown adults were weeping. I felt bad only because of the amount I had to pay for tickets/snacks to get in. The audience was a mix of all ages, from toddler on up. The theater was 1/2 empty — a bad omen for the showing, but a good thing as it allowed us to sit far away from from obnoxious and inebriated boys who had been behind us in line.

I, for one, do not believe the movie earned its PG-13 rating. No child at my viewing was too scared to remain in the theater. The violence is mostly bloodless and more reminiscent of video games. While waiting for the movie to plod its way to the inevitable end, I amused myself by determining what the levels will be in Revenge Of The Sith The Video Game and exactly who you’d have to kill to advance.

In the end, I felt decidedly lukewarm (pun intended) and doubt that I will pay to see this one again.

Mom’s take on Revenge Of The Sith: (OK… two because it is Star Wars after all. But wait to see it on cable.)

Here’s the picture of my completed sock scarf, all washed and blocked. As we all know, it is a blatant rip off of Jerry’s version of the sock scarf.

Except mine doesn’t look anything like his.

For one thing, mine is a lot fatter, and at about 4 feet long (because that was all of the yarn I had) it’s 1/2 the length of Jerry’s at 8 feet. His is striped, mine is ribbed. He worked both sides of his top-down. I started at one toe and worked toe-up and then top-down on the second sock.

It’s all good. 🙂

I’m glad to have mine finished. It was a lot of fun to do, though, and worked really fast. I might make another one some time, if I get ambitious. I like the way that the fish-tail cables turned out.

This is a picture of the Wildfoote socks as of last night. It’s hard to tell from the picture, but there is a fairly subtle lace pattern between the ribbing on the front of the socks.

I’d messed the pattern up at one point and, after unsuccessfully attempting a “fix” with a crochet hook, ended up tinking out about 6 rows.

If the weather holds out the way it’s been so far this March, there won’t be much call for wool socks until next autumn. But if I can get them finished fairly soon, I may get a wearing or two in before summer.

The next planned project is a pair of socks for #1 Son. If he doesn’t decide on a color soon, though, I may knit up some cotton yarn I have laying around. That would be a pair of socks that I could use! I may also knit a second alpaca pair for my friend, who is going to wear out her socks because she refuses to take them off except to wash them!