8-Bit Clue 3

 I zoomed through this clue.  The game appears to be Space Invaders.  Knitting isn’t as smooth as I worked like, but the floats are getting looser.

My overly enhanced stash got some additions.  Eternity Ranch Knits is going out of business so I did my bit to help them out.

Note that despite the horrors that USPS is going through, they delivered the yarn a day earlier that it was supposed to arrive.  Well done.

8-Bit Clue 2

 I swatched.  I washed and blocked the swatch.  I got gauge in both directions.  Still, my sleeve has fewer rows in it than the instructions call for.  I am going to live with it.  It is a tiny bit snug but other knitters report that it loosens up after washing.  I think if I had gone with the sleeve for my body size it would have been way too big.

Now it is back to the easier of the two pair of shark socks.  If I get bored (more like when I get bored),   I have a choice.  It will be the Emberly hat or socks knit from the yarn with the yak fiber in it.  What an exciting life.

Indie Untangled

 Indie Untangled is something I happened upon during my National Park obsession.  They continue to offer yarn from various dyers on that theme, but also other things.

I am in their Where We Knit yarn club.  This month we are knitting on a camping trip in the Pacific Northwest.  The yarn’s from the Earl Grey Fiber Co. and the pattern is a hat by Vanessa Smith.

Indie Untangled is doing a virtual trunk show in October.  There will be shopping, of course.  There will be interactive Zoom classes, a bingo game, and other events.  $5 will get you a general admission ticket to a special section of their website that will be set up for the event.  One thing I thought was especially nice is that those folks whose finances can’t stretch to an event like this can apply for a scholarship.  Six people  will be able to take a class, get some shopping cash, and other goodies.  

 I have preordered a big bunch of mini skeins that are being offered from various sellers.  It is a bit of an indulgence, but since the show’s right after my birthday I decided it would be a fun present.  In the meantime, I will be hunting for fun mini skein patterns.

Mail Call

SpaceCadet’s July Yarn Alliance shipment has landed.  I haven’t been a part of the Alliance for several years.  This selection is quite different from the yarns I remembered.  I am a fan of MCN (Merino/cashmere/nylon)for socks.  This yarn is a more exotic cousin, MYN (the Y is for yak!).  I will be using this really soon.  The natural yak wool is the little patch of gray.  The thing in front is a cute little needle sizer.

I managed to go several weeks without giving in to temptations from Jimmy Beans.  Then a Shark Week kit appeared.  It is a mittens/mitts pattern by Spillyjane.  I don’t need hand coverings but I am a fan of Jane’s work.  I also have this thing about Shark Week socks.  I plan to do the kit as socks.

8-Bit clue 1

The sleeve for the body size I plan to do was huge.  I decided I couldn’t live with it and started over with the next smaller sleeve.  They get attached at the yoke.  Hopefully they can be worked into the pattern okay.  It was worth starting over.  I did a better job with the little boxes at the top.  Everything isn’t as smooth as I would like it to be, but it is much improved.

The game for this clue was Tetris.  I figured it out all by myself.  That is unlikely to continue through the whole sweater.

8-Bit Swatch

I did the swatch for my 8-Bit sweater.  The pattern allowed for the swatch yardage.  I felt better about using the yarn for it, knowing that I probably won’t be in desperate need of a few yards at the end of the sweater.  It was also a chance to see how different techniques look.  I decided to do big areas of single colors each with a single ball of yarn.  It is a royal pain to weave ends in, but worth it in improved appearance.  

The new version of Blogger is not playing nice with my pictures.  Let’s see if I can prove that I did the swatch.

A bit bigger than I expected, but it counts as a success.  The light color is peachy pink in real life.

Moon sweater is done!  But not blocked yet, big surprise.

All Together sweater needs one sleeve and the neckband.  I wanted to use a lighter pink, but nothing I had contrasted with the dark well enough.  Maybe I can get a shot of it.

Sweaters

The moon sweater is almost done.  I am so over it that it will probably take another two years to do 3 stupid inches of sleeve ribbing.

The All Together sweater is fun now and what I am actively working on.  The initial yarn choices did not work and resulted in many hours in the frog pond.  It was so bad that I zoomed through the sleeves of the moon sweater rather than unravel any more.  Then the sweaters swapped places on the boredom list. The good news was that the moon sweater had a whole skein of yellow left over that should work with All Together.

I had some unexpected money arrive so I am using a little bit of it for another sweater.  It is the 8-Bit sweater from Lattes and Llamas.  I think the inspiration is early computer games.  The pattern comes out in 12 weekly installments starting next month.  The yarn should arrive tomorrow.  Stay tuned, I plan to actually swatch!