I’m Knitting As Fast As I Can

I bet you thought I forgot to show you what I made from the yarn I knit up on the Ultimate Sweater Machine and dyed purple. Have no fear. My computer time has mainly been spent adjusting to a new laptop and the new Windows Vista operating system (which just totally saved my arse when I let the battery get too low *phew*). In any event, here are the particulars.

After dyeing the yarn as I described in this post, I unraveled it and wound it into a center pull ball:

Then I set about finding an appropriate pattern.

My first choice was the Marsupial Bag from the first Stitch ‘N Bitch book.

(I’m not sure why the color is so off in this photo — the yarn is purple, not blue.)

It’s a great design, but after I was quite a bit into the bag, I remembered all the reasons why I dislike knitting it. Those left twist stitches are a pain to work and I don’t like the line of loose ladders between them. So it was frogged.

Then I started a Sophie bag, but abandoned it before the base was completed.

For some reason, I was just not feeling the Sophie love.

In the end, I just made up the design as I went along.

After felting, I finished it off with a 70s-era daisy pin.

I have a little more than half the yarn left so I’m thinking of making a second little bag that moves from light to dark instead of dark to light.

I had breakfast on Saturday with a neighbor I haven’t talked to in months. Toward the end of the meal, she reminded me that I had borrowed her Ultimate Sweater Machine quite a while ago and asked if I’d made anything with it. Um, the answer would be no. But embarrassed by the gentle reminder, I pulled it out the other day and started fiddling with it.

Wow, you can sure knit stockinette stitch fast on this thing. I knit up a whole skein of Lion Brand Fishermen’s Wool (465 yards!) in the time it takes to brush your teeth.

The obvious question is, “What the hell is she going to do with that?”

Don’t worry, I have a plan. And I’m sure the observant among you know what it is.

No sense dragging this out any longer. Here’s your third and final clue to help you guess the name of the sock pattern. Someone should get it pretty quickly now.

The last clue was visual, this one is verbal. Ready?

“If you made 3 1/2 pairs of socks from the seriatim sock pattern, you’d have seven soles.”

Easy peasy!

After I reveal the name, I’ll take Kathleen and Christine up on their offers to help me set up a Flickr group so you can post photos of your socks.

While I’ve got you here, I thought I’d also disclose what I made from my skeins of Caron Felt It yarn:

Yup, it’s a mini Nantasket Basket. Actually, I followed the pattern exactly as written; I just used a single strand of yarn instead of a double strand.

The yarn was . . . okay. Nothing special, but nothing I would avoid either. It felted nicely and fairly quickly considering the basket was not very large. Here are the “before” and “after” photos for scale.

My washer was happy, too, since the yarn did not throw off very much fiber. So, I’d say it’s a good choice for felted projects. Just don’t tug on it too hard; it’s a loosely spun, single ply yarn and it’ll break if you’re rough with it. Also, given that it is variegated, it’s not a good choice for a felted pattern that requires a double strand of yarn. I think the colors would just blend into each other and look muddy.

This basket is destined for the And Justice For All silent auction.

Laurie generously donated several bars of Blessed Juno soap to go inside. Let’s hope someone bids on it.