Whirlstrom Studio

the 2008 Craft Summary list is pretty short:

3.5 pairs of socks

One Cable Net Sock (the second one)

Koigu RetroRib Socks

Lorna Laces Pinstripe Socks

Sundara Violet over black Diagonal Cross Rib Socks

Finished and Blocked Rowan KidSilkHaze Birch Rectangular Shawl

Malabrigo Silky Merino Amoroso Clapotis  (no photo yet)

Cashmerino Steel Blue Fetching Mittens (no photo yet)

Sewn Bags:

3 Box bags (Sold one on Etsy, the other two are still available) Whirlstrom.etsy.com

1 Un-Paper Bag ( I use this to carry my knitting in the summer)

1 recycled Library Bag (We use to carry kid books)

1 Fruit patterened Lunch Bag (Used as Purse, lunch bag and now mini diaper bag with two diapers and a small pack of wipes)

Not finished but all the knitting is done on the Drops Rowan Glace Cardigan

2009 Forecast

Finish Drops Cardigan

Make something with Red Rowan Biggy Print sweater or slippers

Cardigan with eco wool

4 pairs of socks

mini felted bags

felted clogs

more sewn bags

Posted by wstudio at 08:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I don't know what possessed me to pick this project from Knitty. It took forever! Size 0 needles, lots of stitches, cables, knits, purls and on and on. I knit the cuff 1 repeat shorter than specified in the pattern and knit three repeats for the foot. I did do the cabled heel which was a big challenge, especially for the first sock. I purchased the Lorna's Laces Sock wool in Feb 2007 and finally finished this project in the last days of Feb 2008. For some months I didn't knit much on these socks, but with laid off time winding down I wanted to get these done and off my list so I put a concerted effort into these.

Posted by wstudio at 04:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

2008 Review 

Even though I felt like I was always knitting it seems like I didn't knit that much last year. My finished projects were:

1 Felted Bag: Wobbly Circles Tote

3.5 pairs Socks: Embossed Leaves, Jaywalker, Lang Jawoll cotton, One CableNet sock

1 Child's Jacket: Cable Yoke Jacket

1 Scarf: So-called-scarf

1 Cardigan: TuttiTwist Cardigan reknit the sleeves, seamed and stitched (still need buttons)

Most of my time was spent knitting the CableNet sock...Ah, about 3 months. I knit a lot of it while watching season 1 and 2 of 24 and the rest in the car about a half hour every weekday morning. I have less than half of the second sock done so maybe about 2 months more...

2008 Forecast

Socks: Second Cable Net sock, retro rib, others?

Scarfs: Finish Birch, Start River

Rowan Glace Cardigan

Use Rowan Biggy Yarn for intended cardigan or improvise something else

Mini Felted bags

Sewing: Box Project Totes

Jewelry:  Glass Beads to use to make Bangles and Bracelets

Posted by wstudio at 09:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

 No photos,  but a little progress. I finished one Jaywalker sock and have knit the leg and heel of the second sock. These don't take long at all and the pattern is super easy to remember.

Not so much progress on the second cable net sock...Usually my husband and I carpool but we had to drive separate all week so no car knitting and then a few days I did errands at lunch so no knitting. Maybe next week.

I've been accumulating lots of fabric from here and there on and off the web and I want to get down to sew. mostly bags. With our son, we are have been accumulating little kits of equiment , like to-go bags, that we need for certain activities. So that we can leave the house fast when we can.

Posted by wstudio at 07:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I finally got some self striping yarn from Vesper. The toxic colorway was the last stuff left, but I like greens and browns. The green is super neon not seen since the 80's. It will fun to watch these stripes form. i will probably knit plain stockinette socks with this. I had thought about dying my own self striping yarns because there are some great tutorials out there but I would rather knit or ... sleep.

Plus I got some Lorna Lace's sock yarn from my favorite seller in the colorway pinstrip. I didn't ask if this was a self striping yarn but it will be neat if it is.

I also got two books on socks, Sensational Socks by C. Chruch and Favorite Socks from IK knits.

I'm still slogging away at the Cable Net socks from Knitty with Lorna's Laces socks in ceder. I do a row or two on the way to work but most days after work I'm too spent to think and knit. I'm past the gusset have made it a dozen rows of the foot. Will I really be able to knit the second sock?

Posted by wstudio at 12:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Last weekend after dinner at our favorite japanese/hawaiian noodle place in Oceanside with my husband and in-laws, I dashed into JoAnn's and grabbed a bag of PomPoms with the idea that I would make a mobile. I used some 24 guage stainless steel wire that we had around the house. It was in a coil so I had to sort of make it straight. Then I strung the pompoms using a needle and thread, tied all the parts together and balanced away. My son loves this mobile especially when it moves in the breeze. This looks better in person than in the photo and looks a better than I thought it would, which is not usually the way quick projects work.

Progress on the cable net socks is slow. Somehow it took me a week to figure out the row setup for the heel flap. I had a tough time decoding the complicated instructions. Knit row 1 of chart C between the redlines 2 times.  lots of other writing. except for size C should knit beyond the red line. Oh and by the way skip a cable crossing in the first row only.  

Posted by wstudio at 06:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

For my newest project I picked CableNet Socks from Knitty. Crazy! So far I've knit almost three repeats of the leg chart. I would have been a lot futher (two more repeats plus cuff) if I hadn't thought that I knit it wrong and ripped it all out! Ouch. My husband, son (10 month old) and I are all carpooling to work and daycare on most days, so I've been able to knit about an hour a day. Not bad, except this is three weeks of knitting. Yup that's right three weeks/three repeats. I figure it will take another 4 weeks to finish this sock and then another 7 to finish the second. Maybe I'll get faster? I like this yarn, Lorna's Laces Socks in Ceder, that got on ebay from Birds 'N Yarn. This amount of knitting time is really giving me good value of hours per dollar spent on project/yarn. That's the way I think about shoe and clothing purchases too. If something is expensive I can rationalize it if I will wear it everyday or at least once a week for a year.