Time to Go Darker

Yes, time to add a vampire....or a serial killer...or something else on the emo side.

Okay, really, just time to start using the darker yarns in my colorway.

Current progress:

It is starting to come together.

I am doing the segments in various knit-and-purl patterns, to add some complexity and keep it interesting.

Here are some detail views.

Progress

Here is where it is:

It is going well, but I think I need to bring in more color pretty quickly.

In true life, the bits of color show more than the pictures indicate. It has been fun figuring out the various pieces, trying to keep the design balanced, and thinking of something different to do, to keep it interesting.

I'm going to have to watch that the proportions don't grow, by having me pick up more stitches than I should, which is my tendency.

New One Started

This one is going to be all about the middle.

The middle yarn is a glittery colorful yarn, a gift from my Denver relatives.

My friend Sandy put together a subdued colorway for me, and then when she added this yarn to it, the combination came alive.

I took an entire two days to get this one properly started, because I was trying to visualize where I was going to go. My initial idea was to have the center segment, and then other segments wrapping around it, but I also kept seeing long pieces with the center yarn showing through in between the ridges.

Finally, it occurred to me that I could have both. When I get a little further away from the middle, I'll start adding bits of the middle yarn as contrast.

The middle will have the lightest yarns in the colorway, shading out to the darker yarns at the edges. Each segment will have another yarn sweetening it, so the lightest will have the mediums as contrast, and the mediums will have the darks. The darks will probably have each other, with the middle yarn showing up here and there.

I'm going to call it Mirror, or something like that.

Fourth 2010 One Done

Here is the final form of the Spiral.

It came out faintly oval, around 4 x 5 feet. It probably could have been blocked out round, but I decided not to block it on wires because it was already big enough.

I'm pleased with it. This is one that looks nicer in person, because of the different textures which don't show up so much in the pictures.

Here are some details.

This was done in the same colorway as my previous one, because I enjoyed the colors so much.

But the next one will be a new colorway, since I now have several pre-created ones taunting me with their color goodness.

It Shouldn't Be Smiling

Well, it didn't work out quite how I imagined.  Here is current progress:

I thought I could just keep knitting on either side, and the circular sides would stack nicely, making a straight edge at the top and bottom. Instead, my knitting is smiling at me.

Now what do I do? How do I use what I already have? (Well, that's why I call it Conditional Knitting.)

What I finally decided was to try to fill in these areas and then start knitting around the entire piece. Instead of making this piece into a rectangular oblong, the final piece will be circular.

At least, that's the current theory and hope.

Here is what I'm doing.

I picked up along the part that was essentially straight (it turned out to be 36 stitches at my gauge), and then I'm knitting one from the side each time I get there. Since I have three stripes of eight stitches to fill in, I will add 24 stitches on either side. By my count, I will have a few stitches over 400 for the final entire circle, so 8 segments of 50 stitches, give or take a few, and then I'll continue the normal circle increase of 8 stitches in every other round.

Again, in theory. Here is another picture of the middle, which I really like. Let's end on a happy note.

Swirl and More Yarn

Current progress:

The original inspiration had the swirls going towards the corners, but as I knitted, I kept fretting over how to do those corners--how to square the circle and the swirl.

However, as it grew, I came to understand that maybe I didn't have to square it off. If I just kept going on either side, keeping the curve, then I would have a sort of oblong afghan, and that would work fine. So that is what I'm trying.

Here are more details.

I also wanted to finish the story of my weekend. I've found that I am far more likely to knit with wound or balled yarn as compared to the same yarn on a cone. I just like the look of wound yarn more. So I was winding some yarn from various cones, as Sandy looked through my stash. And I forget if I brought this up or if she did, but we were reminded of these commercial yarns that have been intriguing me for a while. Both of them are several things wound together.

The color mixes were fun to look at.

Inspired by these, and on the heels of my magic balls and Angelica's beautiful yarns, Sandy got me started mixing some of my yarns, particularly with the coned yarns. Then we also started creating mixes with some of my thinner yarns, since I rarely knit on small needles anymore, and yet, sock yarn is so enticing, I keep buying it.

Anyway, the results were so beautiful, I kept at it until the end of the weekend. I didn't knit at all until Sunday night!

Here is a closer look.

The colors don't come out very well, so I'll ask you to trust me, they would make your fingers itch to start knitting.

I have so many things calling me to knit with them. What a great problem!

Yarn Yarn Yarn

My friend Sandy came over for a yarn orgy, and this time I thought to take pictures (unlike when Loree was here and she picked out lovely colorways).

We pulled out my entire stash. It's mostly oddballs (single balls) sorted by color.

Then the fun begins.

It starts with a couple of yarns.

And then yarns get added and subtracted.

And other piles grow, as we look through the bags, or as parts of a pile become their own piles.

And when they reach a critical mass, the new groupings get bagged up, and I have colorways all ready for future projects.

And afterward, I want to start three new projects, because the colors are so intoxicating.

But I don't.

(But I hear them calling......calling...)