Jennie sits and knits

Starting over

2012-01-10T12:15:00.000-08:00

I haven't blogged for quite some time, but felt the need to write down what's going on in my life.

I'm aiming my life toward being more active and eating better. My former therapist once said, "I don't make resolutions; I make decisions." Last year, I decided my watchword of 2011 would be Simplify. This year, in the spirit of recycling, I'm using the same watchword. It worked well for me last year to make my life less complex when faced with a decision.

My doctor told me last week that exercising 5 or more days a week reduced one's risk of heart disease by 60%. I have been getting up at 6 anyway, but not really doing much. So starting last Tuesday (Monday being a holiday), I got up, put on exercise clothes, and turned on the Wii. I have Let's Dance 2, DDR Ultimate Dance Party 2, Wii Sports, and Wii Play. Lots of options. I exercised 5 out of 6 days. I'm keeping it up this week.

I also got hooked into the 100 Days of Real Food blog. I not only want to eat better, but I want to buy less prepared food. I got three slow-cooker cookbooks at Christmas, and made up a menu on January 1 for the next week and a half. Drew up a shopping list, showed up at Trader Joe's... which was dark. Bleah. Had to shop at Safeway, and was astonished at paying $95 for basics (NO prepared food of any sort). That included a bulk pack of chicken wings for an astonishing $2.99/pound. (The soup recipe called for 10 c of chicken stock, and the book included a recipe to make the chicken stock in the slow cooker, so I tried it out. It was ok... but I'm not sure I saved any money!)

I did a week of recipes out of the 100 Days blog last fall, and most were well received by DS. The whole-wheat biscuits were not--I failed to take into account that they would not rise much, and they were pretty much like thick pieces of cardboard. But I'd like to steer that way in general--whole grains, preparing foods at home, and bringing them for lunches at work. I also want to freeze a fair number of them to keep on hand for last-minute meals instead of something instantish.

We're well on our way, I think.

My menus:

I got 3 cookbooks for Christmas, and my son was reminded that he has the Emeril Lagasse kid's cookbook--and that he says he wants to make 3-4 dinners a week.

Monday--Spaghetti & Meatballs (Emeril), make chicken broth, turkey meatballs (Italian)

Tuesday--Turkey Meatball & Escarole Soup (Italian, but using chard instead of escarole)

Wednesday--Lasagne (Emeril)

Thursday--leftovers

Friday--Yellow Lentils (Indian, but using the red lentils I have and cumin seed for the carom seed that I don't have)

Saturday--leftovers

Sunday--make white bread to use in meatloaf, Top Ramen soup with lots of vegetables

Monday--Green Lentil & Rice Porridge with lowfat yogurt (Indian)

Tuesday--Slow Cooker Meatloaf (Slow Cooker Revolution)--I made this over Christmas break and it's YUMMY

Wednesday--Chicken Enchilada Casserole (make with canned sauce) (Revolution)

Thursday--

Friday--

Saturday--

Sunday--

Bicycle basket liner

2011-05-05T15:10:00.000-07:00

I bought a front bike basket for my bike a few months ago. The main idea was to have a basket in which my little dog, a Chihuahua/Pug mix, could ride. The first one I bought had wires with significant room between them--but was nearly half the price of the Topeak basket that I've linked.

When I went to put it on, the directions were confusing... and I found it had to be permanently mounted. If I wanted to remove it, it would require screwdrivers and wrenches. No, thanks.

The Topeak basket was a b*tch to install, and required some creativity for how to attach a bike light in front, but it's been great. It's not too heavy, not awkward to bike with (I was afraid that it would prevent me from seeing road hazards), and removes easily. The one thing we learned quite quickly was that its mesh is nearly exactly the size of my Chug's nails--that was a painful, bloody lesson. :(

I went Googling, and found a series of bike-basket liners that folks had made. This was my favorite, but unlike others, it has no pattern. I mused and pondered, and today I made a paper pattern.

My son and I have been watching Project Runway, but we rarely saw people make patterns--the show is more likely to show people fitting, sewing, cutting. They mention pattern-making, but don't show much of the process.

I'm here to tell ya: It's hard! I was lucky to have some newsprint from a recent Campmor shipment, but holding it in place inside the basket and making a pattern was definitely a trial-and-error (and mostly error) process.

Then I went looking in my fabrics. I don't have a lot (thank God--I do, however, own 31 miles of yarn), and rediscovered some lovely flower-print fabric that I'm newly enthused about making into curtains. But I did have a good-sized piece of some lovely gold-patterned fabric. I don't know what I'd intended it for (and it now occurs to me that I'll have enough left for pillow covers--new look for the couch!), but I'm using it for this, now.

I have patterns for the base of the basket liner (to be stuffed with fiberfill or with batting, for comfort) and for the outside. I'll put the seam at the back of the basket, and add some sort of stiffener inside. I'm torn between stiff interfacing and plastic mesh. (Opinions welcome!) I do want to include a pocket or two for his leash and maybe my phone.

I can't wait to have a liner--my deadline is June 5, the next Family Ride (scroll down a bit and click on Family Ride). We did the May 1 one and had a blast, but my makeshift basket liner slipped and poor Chester did get his nail caught for a bit--I managed to free it before he injured himself, but it was tense for a moment there.

I'm not sure if it'll be fine as is, or if I should add ties or some sort of magnet-tie-that-sticks-to-itself thing.

Really am looking forward to my basket liner, though!

Fun meme

2011-04-14T17:31:00.000-07:00

A meme I spotted elsewhere (no one tagged me)--

Out of the top 50 yarns on Ravelry (by number of projects):
Bold the ones you’ve used and would use again,
~~Cross out~~ the ones you’ve used and would not use again,
and italicize the ones you’ve never tried, but would like to.
Add comments as desired, and then pass the meme along to 5 knitters/crocheters.
Link back to this post and to the person who tagged you.

(Comparison to 2008: The only yarns that stayed in the same place were #1 Cascade 220 and #26 Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino.)

Ready? Here’s my list:

1, Cascade 220 Wool, 69497 projects – I like it, great yardage, good colors, could be softer.
2, Malabrigo Yarn Merino Worsted, 61991 projects. Never used it, but I've felt Mmmmmalabrigo in the stores, and am a little afraid of loving it. Spendy!
3, Red Heart Ltd. Super Saver Solids, 56976 projects I wouldn't necessarily choose it, but sometimes it's a necessary evil.
4, Caron Simply Soft, 51663 projects One of the nicer acrylics, a friend introduced me. This one gets to stay.
5, Lily Sugar’n Cream Solid, 47378 projects I do like making dishcloths, even though this hurts my hands a bit.
6, Lion Brand Vanna’s Choice Solids and Heathers, 40658 projects
7, Patons Classic Wool Merino, 40223 projects – Love the sweater I made with this. A little too many short fibers for my taste, but the price is right.
8, Lion Brand Wool-Ease Solid, 38033 projects I have some of this in my stash, but haven't knit with it yet. Seems soft enough, and the price was right.
9, Noro Kureyon, 30153 projects I've used Kochoran, so I know how enchanting the colors can be. But I also know weird plasticky fibers will be mixed in! Bleah! Plus, spendy.
~~10, Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride Worsted, 27181 projects~~ Ugh. The mohair makes me crazy.
11, Cascade 220 Heathers, 26893 projects Got some of this in my stash.
12, Lion Brand Cotton-Ease, 25755 projects
13, Noro Silk Garden, 25585 projects If I find it on sale...
14, Knit Picks Wool of the Andes, 24959 projects Seems scratchy to me. My sister has some.
~~15, Lion Brand Homespun, 4296 projects~~ Yuck.
16, Pisgah Yarn & Dyeing Co., Inc Peaches & Creme Solids, 22560 projects
17, Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick, 22225 projects
18, Lily Sugar’n Cream Ombres & Prints, 22139 projects I love my dishcloths out of this.
19, Cascade 220 Superwash, 21386 projects Seemed even softer than regular 220 to me. Plus, it has a soft spot in my heart, as it's the first yarn DS ever bought me!
20, Patons Classic Wool, 21006 projects Classic Wool Merino is up there at #7. Why are there two entries? Neither has much, if any, merino, IIRC.
21, Plymouth Encore Worsted, 3573 projects Affordable, washable, and soft enough; this one's a staple.
22, Pisgah Yarn & Dyeing Co., Inc Peaches & Creme Ombres, 18685 projects
23, Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride Bulky , 17260 projects
24, Koigu Painter’s Palette Premium Merino (KPPPM), 5094 projects Lovely stuff, but way too pricey.
25, Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock – Lightweight, 3723 projects Too rich for my blood.
26, Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino, 16850 projects Hate the low yardage in all the Debbie Bliss yarns.
27, Berroco Ultra Alpaca, 2286 projects Maybe some day, but maybe not.
28, Knit Picks Palette, 1765 projects Wish I could bold it twice. LOVE Palette. Pleasant to knit with, wonderful for stranded projects, lots of colors. My two small peeves: they keep discontinuing colors, and it felts.
29, Malabrigo Sock, 15036 projects
30, Red Heart Super Saver Multis/Ombres, 14548 projects
31, Rowan Kidsilk Haze, 3203 projects Yes,I know why it's called Cracksilk Haze.
32, Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran, 3751 projects
33, Manos del Uruguay Wool Clasica, 14030 projects Some odd colorways. Not crazy about the price/yardage.
34, Malabrigo Lace, 13692 projects
35, Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock Multi, 13534 projects
36, Knit Picks Swish Worsted, 12397 projects
37, Dream in Color Classy, 1838 projects SO spendy!
38, Knit Picks Stroll Solids, Heathers & Tweeds, 11834 projects
39, Zitron Trekking (XXL), 3348 projects I have some in my stash. It's really fine. Knit on size 0s? Gad.
40, Berroco Comfort Solids & Heathers, 11771 projects
41, Noro Kureyon Sock, 11661 projects I have some in my stash. Super thin and sometimes uneven. But the colorways, oh the colorways.
42, Dream in Color Smooshy, 11601 projects
43, Wollmeise 100% Merino Superwash, 11598 projects
44, Lion Brand Fisherman's Wool, 11473 projects
45, Garnstudio DROPS Alpaca, 11351 projects
46, Bernat Satin Solids, 11148 projects
47, Cascade Ecological Wool (Eco-Wool), 11107 projects Not the softest stuff, but the yardage is great, and the new colors are amazing.
48, Colinette Jitterbug, 2090 projects Beautiful colorways, but absolutely crap yardage, especially for the price.
49, Red Heart Soft Yarn Solids, 10851 It is really soft. For my friends who would felt something made from Cascade 220.
50, Hobby Lobby I Love This Yarn! Solids, 10741 projects. I might knit with this, but we have no Hobby Lobby.

I love kid socks

2010-04-23T14:56:00.001-07:00

G's first sock, done
Originally uploaded by RenaissanceWomn

I think this is the fastest pair of socks I've ever finished: 9 days. He loves them, and while I was knitting on them yesterday and showing him my progress, he asked me to finish them (1' of cuff ribbing in contrast color) so he could wear them today. I had to weave in a number of ends, but it felt great to lay down the pair on the chair by his bed at the end of the evening!

The yarn is from my friend Rabbitch, and I got it from her at Stitches West this year (along with some other riches). I made a full pair of socks for me, and G asked for a pair "just like yours"--except not: without the patterning, just a generic sock but in the same yarn. Fortunately, the skein was a generous 430 yards, so even after finishing the pair, I have several yards left over. I had thought to knit up the calf as far as I could go and then finish off with the grey, but once I got as high as it was, G said that was long enough.

I used the toe-up sock with heel flap pattern from Charlene Schurch's first "Sensational Knitted Socks" book, which is a little Chinese-menu-ish (For XX stitches, do this; for YY stitches, this; etc.), but most of it is pretty straightforward. The transition from the heel flap to the gusset stitches was a little challenging, as it required switching the yarn and then picking up stitches in an order different from theirs (as theirs didn't have contrast heels), but it worked out.

I also got to finally implement an idea that's been bumping around my head for a while: the use of a marked poker chip to keep track of sock-toe increases and of heel decreases. I started using it on the first sock's heel, so I marked one side "K" and the other "dec" with little pieces of sticky notes. Then, when I was on a "K around" side, I had the "K" side up, and as I got to the back of the heel, I just flipped it over. This way, when I got to the other side, I could just glance over and know that this was a dec round--and not end up with extra, undecreased stitches on one side and not on the other, which always seems to happen.

I used it again when I started the (patch) toe for the second sock: one round has M1 on the 2nd stitch in from the edge, all around; the other round is just a K round. It meant that the increases were even, rather than ending with 12 stitches on all needles but one, which had 9 or 10 (this always seems to happen, too). I love this new method. And when I walk away, or knock it off, I can carefully study my knitting to know which side to put up, and then don't really have to think much for the rest of the toe (or heel).

Oh, here's my socks from the same yarn. The bottoms of the soles are the same pattern as his. I love the pseudo-stripiness. The yarn is between an aqua and a teal, if the color seems a little turquoisey. They're called "Percy Jackson socks" because the pattern is Poseidon by Elinor Brown. If you don't fully get the reference, read "The Lightning Thief" by Rick Riordan.
Percy Jackson socks

Long time, no writing about knitting

2010-02-22T21:39:00.000-08:00

I've decided to start up writing about my knitting again, rather than publish 140-character comments.

I'm currently working on Alice Starmore's "Henry VIII" from "Tudor Roses," and it is a challenge... but apparently one I'm up to. I'm on row 30, which is great except when you realize I need to be past row 64 and well into the second set of 64 rows for the Knitting Olympics/Ravelympics. Well, at least it all looks good, and the worst mistake I've done lately is to knit two 10-stitch sections wrong, an action that was easily undone in the next time around.

The body is steeked (I didn't end up including it in the photo) so as to make a cardigan, and the openings for the arms will be steeked soon, in the second repeat of 64 stitches, I think. I made a tea cozy for me with steeks to give myself some practice. (No whiskey needed.)

Next on my queue is a smart scarf for G's teacher, for an end-of-the-year gift. I've chosen my Rowan Wool-cotton for it that I got on some sale or other. It's a sort of steel blue.

Coming up are some more fingerless mitts for my mom, who suffers from Reynaud's syndrome. Her fingertips go completely white sometimes. My theory is that if I can warm the pulse, the warm blood might help avoid some of the Reynaud's. I have a silk/wool size S sweater I'm going to unravel, retwist, and knit with.

And then, another sweater. I got some nearly-kelly-green yarn from Herrschner's in a bumpy, tweedy blend. I'm hoping it'll do nicely for a Rosemary's Swing Jacket.

I could go back and list the projects I've done since I last blogged, but I'm choosing to move forward on this. I'll try to update on projects and thoughts for the future. For now, I'm really enjoying what I am working on.

Phew, it's done

2009-07-10T10:57:00.000-07:00

Finished the tea cozy (felted, steeked, buttons and i-cord applied) and gave it to Mom for her birthday. She seems genuinely pleased. (I'll post a finished picture of it later.) It is still too large for her teapot, but does look nice, really. (Glad I felted it down!)

I had her try on the stranded sweater I had been making her, to prove to both of us that it was way too big. Yeah, by about 7". She does want it to be big, but it's ridiculously big. I unraveled it to the start of the stranding and will try again with size 9 needles, and see if I can still get gauge.

The other projects going on are

iPod cozy. This started out as a project for using up leftover sock yarn, and was to be a cover for purse-sized tissue packs. Then I needed a cozy for my new iPod, which was being protected by a cotton ankle sock. Finished it and it works great. (I still have another ball of that yarn and will make a tissue cozy for it. Unfortunately, Ravelry has no tissue cozies written for sock yarn!)
Birch from Rowan. I'm definitely getting on to the end, but still have more than 10 sections between stitch markers, so even though they repeats are getting faster as I have fewer stitches, it is not really racing to the end line. No matter; I've finally memorized the pattern and can do it anywhere. Still loving the Smoke-colored Cracksilk Haze.
Square for a love quilt. Lovely Witt passed away and we're making a love quilt/blanket for his partner. I struggled with it and forgot the wool at home (because I couldn't bear to think about it, I think) and bought a ball of blue-green Cascade 220 Superwash at a Portland yarn store. Found a neat heart-shaped cable pattern in a Melissa Leapman book, but the swatch is already too wide and I lost my place as to which line of the pattern I was on. *sigh*

In other news, I've worn my Swallowtail nearly every day, as despite the warmer-than-usual weather most days, the house is still a bit chilly, and Mom is averse to turning on the heat or making a small fire in her woodstove. I love that the alpaca is so light yet so warm.

Ta-dah!

2009-06-24T17:54:00.000-07:00

So I put aside Birch last night, picked up the tea cozy, and zoomed on it. Here it is, draped on my teapot:

What's left to do: wash and block, cut steeks, sew back, put on i-cord loops with buttons for faucet and handle.

I should have known

2009-06-22T14:23:00.000-07:00

I recently picked up a project I'd set aside months ago. It's Birch from one of the Rowan mags. I'm still enchanted by the pic in the magazine, and by the Cracksilk Haze in Smoke, a gorgeous medium grey with those enchanting silky highlights.

But my mom's birthday is coming up, and my sister wisely advised me to finish the tea cozy I've started from the Inga hat pattern. If/when I finish, it will be a lovely cozy that Mom will likely love.

The problem is, I can't put Birch down. And I'm not sure I'll have enough time to finish it and the cozy, both. Argh! Blast you, Cracksilk Haze! And you, lace knitting addiction!

How can this be so hard?

2009-01-02T10:12:00.001-08:00

I love knitting socks toe-up. It makes so much more sense to my brain.

So I started some socks on vacation with the Turkish cast-on, and went up to 52 stitches (dk weight), and knit along on my merry way. About 2.5" short of the heel, I stopped and went searching for a heel method.

Well, there are so few toe-up sock patterns, and it seems like the majority use short-row heels! I really like the heel-flap heel, so I searched around and ended up on Miriam Felton's blog, and followed her directions for the heel flap, but totally missed Step 2: gusset increases. So once had the heel flap done, I didn't know what to do, and picked up stitches like I normally do for top-down socks. I tried it twice, and they always looked peculiar, with a sort of extra heel at the top of the heel flap, which might work if you have especially large ankle bones that go right in to small ankles.

I finally flipped through "Sensational Socks" (or maybe "More...") last night and she has a GREAT example of toe-up heel-flap socks, all knit in different colors for the different sections. And there, I saw my folly: no gusset increases before the heel flap. I'm so much more used to top-down (as I like patterns and tend to follow them to the letter) gusset decreases that increasing before the flap never occurred to me.

So just now, I looked at the MimKnits link I blogged above and found my error. Back to it tonight.

I also started these on my Knit Picks Options Nickel sock dpns, in size 3 (the largest in that set). They are smooth and sharp (I really stabbed myself in a healing spot while at my sister's, and OMG, that really hurt), but pretty long and stiff. I saw a mention of shorter sock dpns on Ravelry, and remembered I have several sets of Bryspun dpns from when my LYS was closing. I pulled out the 3s, and it is really different. I think I like them better for socks, but am not sure. Also, they go down to 0, which I'll probably have to use for my Trekking. (OMG, people, the set is on sale for $19.99! Snap 'em up!)

I haven't actually done any knitting other than these socks. And I got so much more done over vacation than this week. Darn that work, getting in the way!

Lost my yarn-buyin' mojo

2009-01-01T00:19:00.000-08:00

After a serious review of my finances and the Christmas list, I made a vow on November 20 not to buy any more yarn. I kept it, but it was hella hard at first. It seemed like everyone had saved up all sorts of luscious and affordable yarns.

Then, I adjusted. I did buy fiber, but no yarn. (The only exception is some yarn I exchanged at a LYS, for no extra cost.) The pull was still there, but weaker.

I was tried when I got a gift certificate to a yarn store up near my sister. But once I got there, there was no yarn I felt like I just had to have. (It didn't help that the store is a bit upscale and the prices match.) Luckily, this yarn store also supported weavers... and spinners. The fiber room upstairs yielded some beautiful merino/bamboo roving that was calling my name.

Ironically, the above trip was after Christmas. I had forgotten that my vow was to resist buying yarn till after Christmas!

It turned out that I had lost my yarn-buying mojo. My stepsister sent me a GC to an online store I love. I peruse their yarns, and... am not excited, not even for the dyeable yarns. I found a project in my Ravelry queue for which I didn't yet have the yarn, but after I'd put suitable yarns in my shopping cart, I wasn't all that enthused about buying them. I clearly won't get to that project until 2011. I have plenty queued up till then!

My wise sister pointed out the GC won't expire. She says, "Let's just knit what we have."

Sounds good to me.

Choosing contentedness

2008-12-16T15:00:00.001-08:00

I haven't had much to post here lately, since I've been working on the same sweater since--I won't even look it up--about April, and messed it up more times than I can tell.

But I have done some things. I started and finished a cute little stocking ornament for an ornament exchange on my April 2000 Playgroup bulletin board (we were in an Expecting Club when we were all due in April):

I also started and finished an ice cream cozy for a good friend who's going through trying times. (She also removes the lid to Ben & Jerry's or Haagen Dasz and throws it away. I know.)

I tried it last night on some Haagen Dasz (I had to make sure it fit! and it was on sale. Coffee, and mint chip). Fit great.

And I did finally finish the sweater from ... well, I love it, so it's not from there. I think I do want to pick up stitches and knit around the collar and v-neck. It wants to fall off my shoulders all the time. But I was afraid I'd hate the color after all that blasted work, and... I adore it. Chilis and chocolate, it's called.

Hem looks a little weird in that photo, and yep, it's big, but I can wear it right now, and did you notice I got the sleeves to match? No mean feat there. By pulling out yarn from the balls to make the long repeats match, I now have like 10 small balls of yarn. And one full ball left. If you make it, you'll probably want to buy as many balls as they say, just to be safe.

I'm finishing up a rolled-brim hat for my son's Y-Kids teacher, my favorite one. And of course, she tells me last night that she was given a box full of knit hats. *sigh*! But I hope she'll like this one very much. It does seem her style and is a lovely teal. No pics yet; soon.

After that, I think I'll finish this tea cozy, after a pattern that's supposed to be a hat and more than half the knitters said it was big. Yep, it's big--much bigger than my teapot. I'm going to try to felt it down and cut steeks to let the handle and spout through. We'll see. I'm pleased with it anyway. It was my first attempt at Alice Starmore-esque stranding. I left the white as a solid and graduated through shades of red, with a splash of accent green, for the rest.

The white is Elsebeth Lavold's Silky Wool, and the rest is sticky/itchy Rauma Finullgarn from our LYS that closed.

I also picked up some Patons Soy Wool Stripes at Micheal's and started making cozies for the coffee cups at church. They're quick (crocheted) and really pretty, I think. These are to discourage people from taking two cups, as the coffee is very hot and it's sometimes hard to hold your cup. They can use these and return them afterward. I think I've done four. Here's the first one:

As for the title, I've been wrestling with "I don't knit fast enough!" and trying to get to the point of "however fast I work is good enough, and I love what I knit." I'm even looking forward to picking up set-aside WIPs and finishing them. I have 3 (maybe 4) balls of Cracksilk Haze for a Rowan shawl I've wanted to knit forever. The cast-on is 299 stitches and it's challenging, but I decided if I have to put stitch markers between every 8-stitch repeat, so be it. The grey of the KSH is so gorgeous and the silk adds such a lovely sheen.

And, after I finish the hat, that's IT for the due-on-Christmas knitting.

Unless I make soap for the other Y-Kids teachers and want to wrap them in dishcloths...

Not much news here

2008-12-02T14:30:00.000-08:00

I had planned to take my fuzzy orange Merino Stripes sweater up to my sister's, all knit up and seamed, but my lack of brain cells got in the way of that plan. I have now knit the front approximately seven bajillion times. First, I knit it just fine but didn't carefully strand the wool when I added a new ball, so it had that horrid stripe across the front instead of a careful gradation of colors.

Then, after I ripped back and stranded a new ball in, I put the V-neck way over on one side. Ripped. Did it again. Ripped. Put the v-neck in the middle, knit the full depth of the armscye, held it up to the back, realized I'd knit only 8" before doing the armscye decreases instead of 13.5".

Sighed a lot.

Ripped back again, restarted, carefully centered the v-neck, not too low (I hope), knit up to the end of the v-neck decreases... 3 too many stitches on one side. Sheesh. Did a couple of decreases, knit, knit, knit... "I must be done by now"... lay it over the back, looked good. Thought twice, held both up... nope, at least another inch more.

Finally finished that inch last night, but didn't do the 3-needle bind-off or any seaming.

Seriously, do you blame me?

Disturbing

2008-12-02T14:29:00.000-08:00

Good God. What do they do to the poor sheeps' bodies to make them into yarn?

100% sheep yarn

Knitting at Holidays

2008-11-19T18:27:00.001-08:00

As opposed to Holiday Knitting, of course--I'm knitting a hat for G's aftercare teacher and that is IT this year.

No, knitting at holidays. We're going up to my sister's this Thanksgiving, and I have to plan out what to take and work on. I hope to have my orange sweater done (holy cow did you realize it's NEXT WEEK? Good thing all I have to do is finish the V-neck, 3-needl3-bindoff the front to the back, sew the sleeves in, and sew the underarm/side seams!), so I'll bring that.

I also want to bring the grey FI sweater for my mom. I decided not to make it as a gift or even as a surprise. I want her to be involved, and to be able to say, after I do the waistband, 'Oh, that pattern doesn't appeal to me' so I can just rip back 4 rows and start over. It's also in a bulky yarn, so it should go quite quickly. It being a pullover (no steeks, no buttonbands, no buttonholds, no buttons) helps, too.

I also want to finish and bring (or vice versa) the FI tea cozy I've started. It is huge (as most folks found the pattern to be), but I'm hoping it'll felt right down to a good size. Or maybe she has a really big teapot.

Beyond that? Oh, I'm absolutely itching to start something new. (Whoah, big surprise, eh?) I'd love to start my Philosopher's Wool sweater, but I need to do more thinking on shape on that one. I was going to give it waist shaping, but then I realized that lots of folks in colder areas than this find their sweaters too hot to wear most places. This is due mostly to their method of weaving in the floats on every stitch. I could skip that, but I'm afraid that doing too much shaping will still cause it to have too much insulating properties. Also, I've heard the yarn changes after you wash it, so bummer! that I've already wound several colors into a ball, as now I have to re-skein it to prepare it for a bit of a bath.

In other fiber news, my beginning spinning class met for the first time last Sunday. It was great. I learned the long draw, over the fold. It is so much easier to learn this stuff firsthand than from a book or website. And so gratifying when you finally get. it. I had been worried that I would be too advanced for the class, having learned once (ha!) and spun off and on for over a year. The great news was that everyone else had at least spun on a spindle, so the learning curve was much easier all around. Yay! The teacher gave us Blue-faced Leicester to spin, which I'd been given a hank of before and found it harder than hell to spin (6" staple!), but spinning over the fold makes that long staple a benefit rather than a struggle. Our "homework" is to spin the rest of the 4 oz she had given us. Whee, homework that is fun!

Speaking of school, I went in on Monday and taught 10 third-graders, including my son, how to dye wool. The teacher allowed G to pick 9 others to dye with, and he chose all the boys! Agh, the pandemonium at times. But no one died or was strangled with wool, and they all seemed pleased with the colors going into the steamer. G said they rinsed and hung them yesterday and his was a very bright orange (should be, he used up almost all the orange dye liquid!). I had brought some backup Kool-aid packets, and mixed up second amounts of all colors, but they all got theirs dyed in the end, barely before the bell rang. Friday, the girls. We'll see how different. Wish I could find more colors of Kool-aid; the two huge stores in our city each have the same 5 flavors (including our behemoth $afe way).

Next, we'll knit!

I'm having a tough day

2008-11-04T13:49:00.000-08:00

I just cried in the office's shower. Life is kicking me in the ass and the head today.

This morning was G's IEP meeting. Partway through, I thought, "I'm going to be sad after this," because I had that feeling coming over me. I realized that it wasn't so much the content of the meeting (more on that in a sec), but like the first meeting, it is just hard to sit there and talk for nearly an hour about my son's shortcomings. I have to be firm and strident about them if I want him to get help, which is a bit change from being upbeat and optimistic way I usually approach them.

And yes, I was sad afterward. What added to that was that he doesn't have an IEP, and won't for the foreseeable future. Ironically, he improved so much over the summer that the aggressive and unsocial behavior we saw so clearly last Spring is nearly gone--so much so that he doesn't qualify for help under Special Ed.

Bittersweet, eh?

My kid is doing so well overall that the help I wanted for his remaining social-skills challenges is just not going to happen, at least not through the school. They ever so earnestly encouraged me to turn back to Kaiser for the social-skills group they have there. And here's another kick in the gut: that group meets 3:30-5:30 on Mondays. Ah. "What do parents do who work?" I asked. "Um, they leave early from work," she replied. Nice. That's 3 hours of every week I'd have to make up in some way. Thanks for the non-support, Kaiser.

I inquired further, and Kaiser does offer a support group for kids with Asperger's Syndrome on Tuesdays from 5:30-7:30 (and as I write this, I'm wondering when those kids get to eat)... and that completely conflicts with G's martial arts. Well, he's been wanting to quit soon anyhow. Wish granted! Crud.

The IEP meeting ended with just me and the school psychologist, who had me in tears with a story of a boy who's now in college and "still has his quirks" (ah, thanks for that) but had challenges like G and got a lot better. The mother had said, "How can I send him out in the world? Who will love him like I love him?"

Sigh.

Her report was littered with phrases that, to me, highlighted his ongoing social-skills deficits: "little eye contact," "wouldn't walk with me in the hallway, but walked in front of me," "scowled when I came to pick him up for the testing," and the like. I was asked in the meeting what my concerns were. I'd thought about this ahead of time, and said that my concerns hadn't changed from the first meeting--I wanted him to have help/support with his social skills and some sort of special treatment in the case of expulsionable or suspensionable behavior. I was offered a 504 plan, which is the ugly stepsister of the IEP, but it's all I'll get.

And more bittersweetness: I should be happy he doesn't qualify for an IEP. The criteria for qualifying for an IEP under autism are pretty extreme:

(g) A pupil exhibits any combination of the following autistic-like behaviors, to include but not limited to:

(1) An inability to use oral language for appropriate communication.

(2) A history of extreme withdrawal or relating to people inappropriately and continued impairment in social interaction from infancy through early childhood.

(3) An obsession to maintain sameness.

(4) Extreme preoccupation with objects or inappropriate use of objects or both.

(5) Extreme resistance to controls.

(6) Displays peculiar motoric mannerisms and motility patterns.

(7) Self-stimulating, ritualistic behavior.

See? Bittersweet.

So I wandered out, teary and spent. Carted away the yogurts and pastries I'd picked up (I'd brought croissants and some other things to the first meeting, too, as it's a 7:30AM meeting and I do appreciate these folks taking time out of their days to get this done--and yes, I know it's their job, but 7:30am!!).

On the way back home to drop off my hockey gear that I'd been too lazy to unload the night before, I went past my polling place. (I already voted by absentee ballot.) But I was so, SO pleased to see five people on the sidewalks with signs saying "No on 8." I honked, did the thumbs up, honked again... and then did a U-turn at the next light, going back and double-parking so I could run across the street and give them the rest of the pastries from the meeting. They were so appreciative and I was babbling about how important it was to have this presence and got all teary (affected, I'm sure, by the morning's events) and they both gave me hugs! The guy was all smiles especially. Bless them and their hard work.

Back at work, I couldn't concentrate much. Futzed around with little things until it was time to change for swim class. Went to swim class with zero energy and sore muscles from last night's stick time. By the time we were done with some serious warm-ups, my shoulder, which had been sore and tight, was completely fine. Then the teacher drops the bomb: we're swimming the mile today. Well, I knew I wouldn't be able to finish in less than the full 50-minute class time, but that still meant swimming nonstop till we got to the end, with the teacher recording how far we did get (48 laps, maybe 1250 yds for me; she counts 66 laps as a mile). I was feeling so proud of my accomplishment as I got out of the pool and just barely heard the beginning-swimming teacher say, "Now, what's going on here?" and as I turned my head, the lifeguard dove in and brought up an unconscious girl. (The beginning swimming class works out in their 3' pool most of the time and moves over to the big pool, shallowest depth 6', later in the semester. Today was that day.)

One of our classmates was sent to the blue Emergency calling box to call 911 and we waited anxiously until the girl threw up and started breathing. I dressed slowly, hoping to wait until the ambulance arrived before leaving so that it would feel "OK." By the time I left, easily 10 minutes later, the ambulance still hadn't arrived. The campus security guard/cop was really fairly useless. He got the lock off of the big gate so the ambulance could get in, but gave up on opening the gate almost immediately ("It's rusted"). My teacher strode over and, with the help of a P.E. coach standing outside the gate, got the gate open with a little extra muscle.

While I was driving out of the lot, I saw an ambulance take the exit off of 880. If that was destined for Laney, wow. It probably took all of 15 minutes or more to get there. That's pretty scary.

Seeing that girl being brought out of the water unconscious made me feel like all my values are screwy, you know? I was so proud of doing better than 2/3 of a mile... while she was potentially losing her life.

I cried in the car at a stoplight on the way back, feeling emotionally ground under a heel. Then, as I drove into Alameda, spotted a "Yes on 8" sign (the first I've seen in Alameda), and then another, with a guy setting them up. Honked angrily and gave him the thumbs down. I couldn't get my window down in time to yell. Ugh.

After my shower, I found the Alameda Police non-emergency number and reported the signs being put up on public property. There were other signs for causes I support, but I'd rather see them all come down than tolerate one Yes on H8 sign. Families first, my ass.

A few done, a few gone, and (oops) a few started

2008-10-29T10:45:00.000-07:00

Let's see. I've recently finished a 100% washable wool blanket for our minister's darling son in the 4 colors of Mission Falls 1824 Wool that I had on hand. I pretty much knit till I ran out, and did a seed-stitch edging of the remaining three colors. Turned out kind of dark/muted, but I liked it. Given to the minister (wife was home, sick, with son) on Sunday.

Saturday, I put two of my knit things (plus a fabric book) in the silent auction. Ugh. I'm done with that. The shawl, made from Great Adirondack 50/50 silk/wool yarn, went for $15, and the cowl, of Louisa Harding Grace silk/wool, for $20 (and that was a pity bid from my friend on my silent-auction committee). Both for far less than the yarn alone cost. Next year, a plate of brownies.

Well, I didn't think the Grace was a good color for me, and I had lost my liking for the G.A. yarn, so it's good that they're gone. (shrug)

I'm plodding along on the Shedir, in the repeat section. I just don't tend to pick it up. But I'd like to be done with it. The intended recipient keeps showing up to church in these bulky hats; it'd be nice to give her this more delicate options.

I had a hard time picking a project to bring along to two events recently, as Shedir requires a chart, as does Eli's Christmas Stocking, and the division for the v-neck for the Bell Sleeve Pullover wasn't done yet and was too much to bring for a simple project. I finally settled on the fronts of "The Very Thought of Him" (no link available), as they're mistake rib and pretty easy to do without looking, as long as you get the first stitch right. It worked well, after I started one ball for one side--I had tons of yarn barf and wound up the extras and then started. All this at a workshop for my son's school, on school safety. His teacher glanced at me a few times, so I asked her if it was bothering her, and she said No, it was fascinating that I was knitting without looking!

I also had the Chevron Scarf with me, at least at the Sunday-evening meeting, but the directions I'd scrawled down just didn't make sense (turns I'd read too fast, and they were wrong). I got it started at home later that night and I've done about 5" of it so far. I do like it, but my yarn choices are a bit unusual. Pics soon.

I got a shipment from Knitivity recently, of "Graffiti" and a Yuletide Affinity kit for the above-mentioned stocking. (I'd started one in Knit Picks Palette, which I adore, but not for this; the original greens are shudder bad and the reds are very pinky. I'd planned to shade through the colors in the stocking and see how it went, but when I got the Affinity kit, I tossed the Palette one aside and started a new one. I'm working on 2s but the fingering is marked "light fingering" with reason--it is very light. I may switch to 1s for more substance.

I had decided to knit NOTHING for Christmas presents this year, but I realized that one of G's aftercare workers would love a handknit scarf or hat, so I think I'll do that one thing and nothing else. I mean it.

And I just figured out what to get for G's teacher for Christmas, phew!

Getting projects done

2008-10-20T09:54:00.001-07:00

I realized Saturday that while starting another project for our church auction was out of the question (the auction being Saturday and the deadline for items being Wednesday), I actually had to push myself to get the Pashmina Cowl completely done that night. It only had 2" left to do before the purl row (and 5 st st rows after that, plus a bind-off), so I got to it and finished it. I decided to do the k2tog, put the stitch back on the left needle, repeat to the end bindoff. It wasn't stretchy at first, but when I loosened my knitting, it was very stretchy and not picot-ish, which I've had happen for other bind-offs (such as Mom's Schrapnel Socks). I wove in the ends for it, and the Shetland Triangle, put them on hangers, and took photos.

Then I took a good look at my remaining projects, and although I really want to throw myself into finishing the Bell Sleeved Pullover, I really need to get the latest Shedir done. I worked hard on it last night and got through row 40, which is about halfway done.

On finishing, mistakes, and roadblocks

2008-10-02T11:45:00.000-07:00

I have just started yet another project, but one which is a stashbuster and has an end date. It does, however, up my WIPs to 12.

Twelve.

Good number for the days of Christmas; bad number for WIPs. I tried to push myself to finish one or two before I started, but got hung up. One feltable project is liable to bleed, so I have to get together a load of dog towels to wash with it. The other one, argh, has a mistake: the long strip with a slit in the middle has a TWIST on one side that I have to snip and fix.

So, whaddya do? Cast on another project that is full of hope and promise and will never get screwed up. Right.

I seem to be hitting roadblocks left and right. My "Inga Hat," which I'm making to be a tea cozy with changing shades of red, looks great, but is so fuhreakin' huge. I considered abandoning the pattern and making it shorter, but I just can't handle that kind of mental gymnastics. So I may try to felt it down afterward. Argh.

Well, onward and upward.

Moving slowly forward

2008-09-16T08:51:00.001-07:00

I have had a bit of a problem with Creeping Startitis, as projects call to me, "I'll be quick! I'll make you happy! No midproject snafus with me! C'mon, you know you'll love me!" But at least they were from stash:

I started a Pashmina Cowl from Last Minute Knitted Gifts in Louisa Harding Grace Silk & Wool, four balls of which I bought in 2007 during my huge visit to WEBS. I had no plans but knew I couldn't leave behind this gleaming ruby yarn. Now that it's marinated in my stash for a while, I know that there were no projects calling to me for this yarn. Since my church's Halloween fundraiser auction is coming up, I decided to make the cowl out of this delicious yarn on spec, hoping someone will be excited enough to bid on it.

I also started a Log Cabin Blanket for my minister's baby out of Mission Falls 1824 Wool, which I adore. Soft as anything, machine washable, and great colors. I had four balls of, well, let's say "manly colors," and thought they'd make a handsome blanket for this handsome boy. It really was great fun. I thought I might hate it because of picking up the stitches, but honestly, it wasn't bad at all. I think part of it is that picking up stitches in garter stitch is easier, and perhaps, too, I got better at it as I went along. Hey, maybe this is training for Faina Letoutchaia's Forest Path Stole! My library got The Best of Interweave Knits and I'm so happy to have access to this pattern.

I have been knitting on The Very Thought of Him periodically, but it's still slow going on the fronts (two at once). And then I'll have the sleeves... maybe by next fall!

I've been thinking of picking up the Bell Sleeve Pullover and once and for all tackling the bust darts I want to add to it. I bought little hair clips at Target last weekend for the sole purpose of clipping together the pieces of sweaters for trying on. (Hey, I could also use them for simulating bust darts, come to think of it.)

I've had to set aside the Windowpane Socks because the tiny needles were irritating my tennis elbow, which is finally improving, phew. Of course, now I'm absolutely itching to knit socks.

The top-down Shedir is working quite well. I brought it to an autism presentation last week and found an error in my sketched-out pattern, but fixing it was very straightforward. I really need to get it done; we haven't seen Barbara at church for a month now. :(

I'm hoping to finish the baby blanket in the next few days (I'm doing a seed-stitch border with the remains of the balls of yarn) and give it to them, and continue the momentum with finishing other projects. Go, go, go!

All set for Stitch 'n' Pitch

2008-08-27T15:34:00.000-07:00

I just bought our tickets to the local Stitch 'n' Pitch game, which will be on September 14. The Oakland A's will play... baseball. (Texas something. Lone Stars?)

The wonderful gal at my newly discovered LYS (11 miles away as the crow flies, 15.4 miles if the crow drives a Subaru station wagon) has discovered that we are definitely getting goody bags. This was a big selling point at home.

"You know, I bought us tickets to a baseball game."
"No. I don't want to go."
"It's called Stitch 'n' Pitch, knitting and baseball, isn't that cute?"
"So it's like knitting baseball?"
"Um, kinda."
"Cool. As long as it's not the A's."
"Um... it is the A's. But they'll have goody bags."
"Oh, OK."

Should be fun! Even if baseball is deadly boring to me most of the time. I hear they sell large beers. And we can take transit there. Plus knitting? Sold!

219.

2008-08-26T10:33:00.001-07:00

Oh, good God. I have just updated my stash photos again, and now have 219 yarns in my stash list on Ravelry. That's 219 types of yarn, not 219 balls. Holy cow. (654 total balls. Holy cowherd.)

I think I'd better get knitting!

Fortunately, the back of the purple "summer" sweater is finally going well. I'm within 2 rows of casting off for the neck shaping. And then I can move on with my life--perhaps with a pair of fronts!

The Windowpane socks are ready for heel-turning, which I may do during G's martial arts class tonight, after I've done a bit of shopping (TJ's is close by).

I'm still a little overwhelmed by the stash thing. My Ravelympics task was to organize my stash, which I have been doing, and taking photos and entering info is a big step toward that end (oh, I just realized I have many more balls of the Finullgarn downstairs, uncataloged. sigh. It's going to be great for stranded knitting, but it is a little defeating to consider!).

I do need to get all the sock yarn together in one place. It's now in at least three. (And yes, I have even more sock yarn than I thought I did. Can't wait for Ravelry to allow subsections of yarn, so I can sequester off the sock yarn and really know how much I have. I had never even entered in the Trekking skeins I have. And some "Hot Socks" that came from I know not where.)

But I am enjoying my projects currently (as they are currently behaving), and seeing a little teeny light at the end of the tunnel. And, as always, itching to cast on still more projects...

Serenity NOW!

2008-08-21T14:33:00.001-07:00

Finally finished the back of the purple cardigan, up to the neck shaping--and it was as the Yarn Harlot has said, you knit and knit and knit and you measure and have made zero progress. Then you knit and knit, and you've actually shot past your goal. Well, I didn't shoot past it, but I did make it, and set out to do the decreases for the neck shaping.

Too many stitches. Damn. When I ripped back to make the back shorter, I bound off 8 stitches on each side (God forbid I look at the pattern to double-check) and continued on my merry way.

Small consolation: I should have bound off 11 on each side, and when I redo the top half of the back for the third time, at least it should go faster, as it will be on fewer stitches. (Yes, my math whizzes, 6 whole fewer stitches, but hey, it should go faster, right?)

I have already started ripping. I really want this cardigan to be done!

Here's to being transported

2008-08-04T10:02:00.000-07:00

I just started the Windowpane Socks from the latest IK--not that I always pick out a project from the latest magazine and just cast on, but that the needle size & gauge matched the yarn I wanted to knit with, a chocolate-brown Opal 4-ply. The pattern calls for a solid and a variegated yarn, and when I spotted it, I thought of a mainly-orange-toned yarn I'd been given in a swap a bit back. When I got the yarn, I kinda cringed and stuffed it into my sock-yarn box.

But now that I'm knitting with the two, I'm enchanted, absolutely transported. The pattern itself is very simple (and could be more exciting, I think), but it really works so far.

I'm knitting them on two 2.5mm circulars instead of the dpns I was given at Christmas. I think I like it better, at least for stranded knitting.

But I'm looking forward to the solid-color heel!

When you can't knit

2008-08-01T16:25:00.001-07:00

I have a hard time with my limited knitting time as it is. Makes me jealous, if just a little, of those who have jobs where they wait for the phone to ring, and kind of get paid to knit. I always want to get more done, more things knit, more things started and finished.

But now, with my lovely lateral epicondylitis, I'm even more fidgety. I knit two rows night-before-last before quitting due to that prickly feeling in my elbow. Dang it.

Maybe I can put my time to designing mom's round-necked pullover on paper instead.

sulk.

Shut up Shut up SHUT UP

2008-07-30T17:16:00.000-07:00

Someone just posted on Ravelry that WEBS (not linked on purpose!) is having their summer sale right now. I did not need that!

Thank the goddesses who knit, there wasn't any yarn there that particularly tempted me. I had to laugh at their offering Dive' Zenith at a low price--lovely, soft yarn, great stitch definition, if you can get past the @#*$&ing splittiness. (Good thing I love my sister very. very. much.)

Between that, and the Duffster tempting me with her STR Mediumweight "Fire on the Mountain," how'm I supposed to pay off my sink this month? (And they only charge like $2 to ship STR from Blue Moon Fiber Arts! Damn them!)

Trying very hard...

July is Finishing Month--A Summary

2008-07-29T22:12:00.000-07:00

The Ravelry group I started for this trend has done well. 16 knitters joined, several of them posted lists and then updates. I finished 6 items (yay me!), including 2 frogged ones (which counts as finishing in my book, with the added bonus of available yarn for some other project).

I did start one project during the month--my coworker has no sock/case for his iPod, and I had talked about making him an iPod sock and forgotten. Saw him take his iPod carefully out of its original box reminded me. I cast on and finished in a couple of hours a simple one in some leftover Mission Falls charcoal wool. Love knitting with that stuff. Soft and unfeltable.

I'm way too pleased with myself for starting a group and getting people to join. It has been a GREAT thing for me. I may continue to post as I clean up those WIPs I had posted at the beginning (including doing the hard work of planning and executing bust darts on my Bell Sleeve Pullover, and more planning/charting/trying things on my mom's stranded pullover).

But mostly? It's been a very good thing to be restricted to finishing. For one thing, I haven't bought yarn all month! True, Rabbitch did send me yarn, but she will attest, when appropriately soused, that I did not purchase it in July 2008. (Brewskies are in the mail, hon.)

Oh, and a hockey friend says she knows a certain Rabbitch who also knows me! A very cool small-world find.

Knit on!

My wordle art

2008-07-29T16:32:00.000-07:00

I've been dropping by my friend FiberQat's blog, and found Wordle. What fun. (Click to, as they say, embiggen.)

I shall try to be a better knit blogger henceforth. (Why do I type 'sq' so very often?)

July is finishing month

2008-06-10T16:52:00.000-07:00

I declare July to be Finishing Month for me. I intend to spend the whole month finishing already-started projects. (Thank goodness I have a jillion started projects!)

Sounds like a good time for a rundown! But before I start, I did sew the buttons onto my Must Have Cardigan, crochet across the back neck a la Yarn Harlot, and weave in all the remaining ends. I love it more than ever. Yeah!

OK, projects in need of finishing:
0) Science Teacher Socks. I shall do my best to finish these by Friday, or next week at the latest. I've finished one and am past the wording on the second. Many inches of boring leg, endless heel, boring foot, and interesting toe to go.
1) Graham's stripey socks. Put aside in favor of the STSs. Partway through the second. I'll need to re-find this one.
2) Shetland Triangle in the cranberry bog lace. I think once I settle down with this one, I'll love it.
3) Birch in smoke Kidsilk Haze. Not sure I'll love this one, but I'm willing to give it another go. With about a million stitch markers.
4) Good behavior bear--the Baby Bobbi Bear in Sugar & Creme. I went down a needle size but fear it'll still be too lacy. We'll see.
5) Orange stripey sweater ("Bell Sleeved Pullover"). I've already changed it by adding waist shaping, but plan to also add bust darts and a v-neck. Not sure about those bell sleeves, either.
6) Mom's stranded grey wool sweater. I knit about 4" worth and hated the way the ribbing was folding up on itself. A wonderful reader (thanks Tamar!) suggested adding a bit of seed stitch in between. I'll try that this time.
7) Clapotis. Folks think this is boring; I find it maddening... maybe I'm just too stupid for this pattern, but I always, always ended up a stitch short or with an extra. And I never did learn the end stitches so that I could just do them by rote. When/if I finish, I do think I'll love it, though. The yarn is fantastic.
8) Socks in the caramel-colored Biagio sportweight. Not sure if I'll continue the Twinkle Toes pattern, but I do want to finish socks. And as they're on 4s, they should go fast.
9) Blue v-neck cotton sweater. It's an old Vogue pattern, and the decreases are just freaking odd. I need to write them down and ask for advice on Ravelry. I really want to finish it, as I still love the pattern.
10) Tubey. Need to do more and decide whether to do the front differently (higher? bust darts?).

There are a few more hibernating, but I think that'll keep me busy for July!

Updates on projects

2008-06-06T14:54:00.000-07:00

Tiny update on the Must Have Cardigan: OK, I bought buttons. And embroidery floss with which to attach said buttons!

Yeah, that's it for that update.

I started and am nearly finished with Sock #1 of the Teacher Socks for G's teacher. My right wrist is sadly killing me, though, and school is done next Friday. I could maybe get the toe done tonight but man am I gonna have to knit fast to finish in time.

I got my orange fuzzy "Bell Sleeved Pullover" done up to the armpits, where I should do bust darts if I'm going to. And I'm chicken, so nothing has happened on it. (The back is done, so once I finish the front, it's on to the sleeves and get finished.) sigh Oh, I also want to do a V-neck instead of the slit neck. So I have to figure that out myself too.

I don't even know where my mom's stranded sweater is. I mean, I know it's in my bedroom, but I can't remember how far I got on the waistband when I cast it back on. Or maybe I haven't yet. Another sigh. I'm remembering how it was folding up at the waist. So freaking irritating.

I'm also contemplating a summer sweater to knit, one of my waiting choices in a cotton blend. I'm torn between The Very Thought of Him (link opens a PDF) and Rosemary's Swing Jacket. One is comfy, the other stylish. Feel free to ring in if you like.

Hm, other news... my sister, she who finally saw the light about knitting, is now saying she doesn't want a stash. And is accumulating a small stash. Hee hee. Revenge is sweet (for her exclaiming about the quantity of yarn I've amassed).

She's also saying she'd never learn to spin. Hee, hee.

I don't have enough yarn

2008-05-14T14:49:00.000-07:00

(OK, in this case, I really don't!)

Previously posted on Ravelry, reposted here for posterity:

I just figured out I don’t have enough yarn for a project and thought I’d share my methods. Feedback welcome. (I’m sad that I can’t make it, but happy I figured it out now rather than partway up the front and having to quit _then_…!)

I had several skeins of Worsted Border Leicester/Corriedale in “Black Orchid” from Rabbitworks Fibre Studio. She had also thrown in a swatch/scarf she’d started in the wool, so my first order of business was to frog that, skein it, wash it, and hang it to get rid of the wigglies. Once I did that, I counted the strands at one end of each skein to get the yardage (my niddy-noddy measures 1-yd skeins).

So now, I had 84 + 76 (the two frogged skeins) + 60 + 130 + 130 (the labeled skeins) = 490 yards.

I grabbed the smallest skein, cast on about 5” wide in stitches, and began knitting for a swatch. A little more than halfway through the ball, I realized that it would be more useful to knit up the entire thing and measure it for my intended project, Boogie Vest. It knit up quickly on 8s, so I kept going, and the end product measured 8x12”.

Since we know 60 yards made 8x12” of fabric, we can extrapolate from that to estimate yardage needed for a vest.

I used the measurements from Ann Budd’s Knitter’s Handy Book of Patterns to estimate fabric needed. I drew a rectangle for the lower half of the vest, and then modified rectangles for the upper part (narrower width on the edges to show the armholes, and a v-neck in the middle). For my size, I would have

Front:
                   lower rectangle 22 x 14 x 1 piece = 308 square inches (sq in)
                   upper rectangle, the square outer part 4.75 x 10 x 2 of these = 95 sq in
                   V-neck part consists of two triangles, so we can do width x height once
                   to get the area for both: 7 x 10 = 70 sq in
                   Total: 473 sq in for front
                  
                   Back:
                   Roughly, one big rectangle
                   22 x 24 x 1 piece = 528 sq in
                  
                   Grand Total: 1001 sq in needed.

My knitted piece is 96 sq in from a 60-yd skein, yielding 1.6 sq in per yard (96/60 = 1.6 sq in).

So my 490 yards at 1.6 sq in per yard would yield 784 sq in, more than 200 sq in less than I need.

Of course, this is all estimated, but a back-of-the-envelope calculation can certainly give you the answer you need (but don’t want): don’t even start it.

Oh, and by the way...

2008-05-12T17:19:00.001-07:00

Must Have Cardigan, DONE!
Originally uploaded by RenaissanceWomn

Dude, I so love it. The Harlot says she lives in hers--and I wore mine for about the whole next week. Still needs buttons, but I love love love it.

And... on to the next sweater!

No appropriate project? Huh?

2008-05-12T14:14:00.000-07:00

I went to a memorial service on Saturday. I found myself nearly frantic as I got ready to go--because I couldn't find a project that was A) portable (which ruled out my Bell Sleeve Pullover, now with waist shaping and V-neck), and B) simple (which ruled out G's sock, on which I needed to do toe shaping; the Teacher sock, which was due for the SCIENCE IS GREAT stranded knitting part; and my lace project, while small, which required a chart to look at each row).

Just realized yesterday, after the fact, that I could have brought my latest Magic Scarf, which has been started and is thus simply knitting around and around. And just now as I was typing the above, I realized I could have brought G's reward bear, which I've restarted in size 7 needles.

It didn't matter anyway--I didn't want to knit during the service, but rather during the sit-down period after, and by the time the service was over, I had to head out to pick up G after his tennis lesson anyway.

G's sock is done to the point where I need to Kitchener the toe. It turned out BRIGHT and very cute. I'll start the other one soon. That'll be the second set of leftover sock yarn from kid socks. It's possible I could even get two kid socks out of one skein, esp. if I did them toe up. I have been using Ann Budd's pattern from Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns, which I love but is top down.

I had been itching to start a new project, and when G and I brainstormed on what to do for his wonderful teacher for the end of the year, we came up with the Teacher Socks: I chose a blue Trekking XXL skein that I had, as well as a skein of soft white Regia Silk. G came up with the words: SCIENCE IS GREAT! to which I had to add two hearts ("Those don't look like hearts" he adds helpfully. My charting is not the best.) Honestly, I think the letters came out terrifically.

After 1" of ribbing, I did the words on a st st background. Now I've started the seed stitch and side cables of the Spring Cable Socks that I've wanted to do anyway. I hope they are at least noticeable in the variegation of the yarn.

Now I have the lovely task of picking out which projects to take to Asilomar to work on there. My first time, I finished the Leaf Lace Shawl and was so happy with it. There are always meetings and they always seem to be of the type where I can knit and still concentrate/participate.

Lately, knitting has been such a source of serenity for me. Knit on, friends.

What do you do? You start more projects!

2008-05-01T12:42:00.000-07:00

If anyone wants to email me a butt-kicking, feel free. Instead of blocking and finishing my MHC, I've started two more projects. Small projects, but still...!

The first is another Magic Scarf, for I Know Not Whom. I found some Patons Cha Cha in a yarn basket, bought I Know Not Where, and grabbed my ridiculously large Speed Stix and cast on 25 stitches. Slipped them onto my bamboo 16" size 15 circulars, and started knitting. The mindless project. Cha Cha is very soft and fluffy and the color, Soul, is a pretty brown.

The other is the pair of socks I'd threatened to start in my last post. I pulled out the yarn and started knitting. Love the bold stripes of color (5261)! But the ball I used had a strip of pink before any other colors, and with my loose cast-on that I do intentionally so the socks slip on easily, it looked like a little pink frill at the top of my boy's sock. Nope! Frogged, snipped that part off, cast on again. Much better. The yarn feels a little, hm, dry, but the red and green stripes are really nice. My boy had chosen this yarn himself; I think he'll like these. I'm done with the cuff on the first sock already. The two may even match--I pulled out the start of the other ball and it seems to be at the same place (sans pink).

On other fronts, the Merino Stripes (Chili & Chocolate) pullover I started has been frogged. It seemed very wide and I was afraid it would be boxy and unattractive. Serendipitously, this month's Vogue Knitting has an article by Lily Chin on waist shaping. I charted my own numbers and started over. I am much happier, but still have a few bundles of not-yet-reknit yarn, which makes me a little crazy, of course. I'll put in a normal V-neck instead of the slit neck they did.

And my poor Must Have Cardi sits, ignored... I hope to block it tonight and set the fan on it so it'll dry by Saturday. We're going to the Maker Faire and I'd love to have it wearable by the time I speak to the Harlot again. I bought her new book last night. It's sweet but kinda tiny!

In other fibery news, I'm making plans to teach G's class how to spin on CD spindles. Those bundles of white, two posts below? They're the 4#4oz of fiber I got back from the processor's last week. Very soft, still a tiny bit of vm, but very, very spinnable. (And clean, finally, which I could not manage.) I made one spindle as a test and it was quite easy and I managed to learn how to spin on it in an evening. Yay! (It helps to have had a spinning wheel already, and predrafting ROCKS.)

So I asked his teacher, and she is all ovah that. My water polo class ends in a few weeks and my Tuesday and Thursday lunches will be free then. Yeah!

Mega Boots Stretch socks - DONE

2008-04-23T16:26:00.001-07:00

Mega Boots Stretch socks - DONE
Originally uploaded by RenaissanceWomn

Finito! I am wearing these socks as I type. They are comfy and beautiful. I'm terribly amused that I seem to be following the Yarn Harlot's steps (Mega Boots Stretch socks in an orangey color, Must Have Cardigan), and am fighting the urge to write her to ask what we'll be working on next.

I'm taking up my mom's stranded sweater. Chances are that damned Harlot will do something just the same, custom project and all!

These are patch-toe, toe-up socks. I'm glad I was able to knit the cuffs just as long as I'd wanted. Well, in the end, it was just as long as I could stand it. I had yarn left and could maybe have done another inch, but by God, I was done, done, DONE.

Next up, another pair for my little munchkin. Yeah, the one who's nearly up to my chin, bless his pointed little head.

Two posts within one month!

2008-04-21T09:28:00.000-07:00

I wonder if I start a new project each time I blog. The latest one is that I started the Bell Sleeve Pullover from the 2007 (or maybe 2006) Pattern "A Day" Calendar in Merino Stripes in the "Chili & Chocolate" colorway. This was because I wanted to go to our LYS's knit night, and felt obliged to use yarn I'd bought from her. And I'd rather be working on a sweater than something small these days. (I do have some balls of sock yarn and some more Taos for felting left.) The other sweater-sized set of yarn I have from her is Plymouth Encore in a delicious charcoal grey (color 520), from which I plan to make the Charcoal Ribbed Cardigan (scroll down) from Interweave Knits (because I have no imagination and can never envision a sweater in colors other than those in which it's presented).

So I have like 3 rows done on the BSP and it looks... fine. I'm still mixed on the yarn. Is it too orange for me? It looks good next to my skin but I don't choose orange much.

As for other projects: The Must Have Cardigan is coming along well. I'm in the sleeve cap shaping now (YEAH) and it is close to being done--the knitting, anyway. I'm a little concerned about having a lot of sleeve to fit into a normal-sized sleeve cap opening, as I increased a lot to make it big enough for my arm size. I'm decreasing like mad to get down to the last 13 stitches, which all get bound off at once. Then it's massive sewing and the knitting of the button bands. I do need to find buttons for this one.

As TheAmpuT mentioned in the comments, I'm very close to being done with Captain Underpants. Here he is so far:

Am thinking of teaching G how to knit i-cord and set him loose on the arms. The Bernat Soy is really quite pleasant to work with. Not splitty at all despite its being very stranded looking.

And the Meilenweit Mega Boots Stretch socks are nearly done! I had been thinking of knitting the cuffs till I ran out of yarn. I think they would be practically knee socks if I did that. I will probably finish them this week. They look great to me and feel even better. I can't wait to start another pair, maybe out of Rabbitch's yarn this time.

Another reasonably active project is Tubey, on which I've started a second ball of yarn. By my calculations, the 10 balls I have should be enough (I'll still put the sleeves on waste yarn and knit them top-down last). It is a lovely yarn. I am still concerned that the front will be SuperSlut low on me with my high bustline. Maybe I'll massively modify the pattern with bust darts, waist shaping, and a higher neck. It is a cute pattern as is but... anyway, here is the fabric of the back (st st):

What's up next? Well, I do want to get my mom's pullover (top-down, round yoke, FI-style patterning with Noro Kochoran 34) done. Since it'll be on size 9 or 10 needles (as opposed to my Must Have Cardi on 7s), it should be quick. Also, I seem to knit stranded knitting lightning fast. I'll probably finish it by her birthday in early July. Perfect summer wear, eh?

Back to the knitting! When I'm done with this pesky work thingy.

Couldn't be prouder

2008-04-10T21:51:00.000-07:00

Tonight, I had an opportunity to go to our LYS's knitting night. G had said he wanted to make a dark blue scarf, so I got out the ball of Cascade 220 Superwash that I had, size 8 straight needles, and packed them up for him.

At the LYS, I cast on 18 stitches (he wanted a scarf about 4" wide, and the stated gauge is 4.5 sts/in) with a long-tail cast-on, knit the first row, and taught him. He learned fast. Got a little frustrated at times, but really caught on.

My boy knit two rows tonight!

Could I be prouder?
Does Rabbitch hide out under beds, cradling cashmere? Well, actually, she does...

Good Lord, I skipped March

2008-04-10T13:56:00.000-07:00

Oops, no March posts at all. Well, there wasn't a lot to post. I moved forward on my car knitting, which was my pair of Meilenweit socks. I'm halfway up the ankle and still loving them. I challenge red lights with them. I say, "OK, I'm touching my knitting, light. I'm knitting a stitch." Usually, I just have to think about picking it up and the light changes.

I knit on them at Disneyland and OH was I glad I had it with me. We did well with lines, getting there early, but at times, it was a lifesaver.

I also knit way up the sleeves for the Must Have Cardigan... and then ripped them out completely. My beefy arms simply wouldn't have fit. Plus, as I was ripping down to the cuffs, I remembered that I'd forgotten to use the smaller needles on the ribbing for the cuffs, so riiiip, I started over. And increased much more rapidly. Tried 'em on a few inches ago, and they were comfy but a tad snug. Am hoping blocking gives me a bit more room. I'm not ripping them again. I shall have to wear it over turtlenecks if they're still a bit snug. I'm still loving the pattern, but more than ready to be DONE DONE DONE with this one.

I finished the first ball of Plymouth Suri Merino for Tubey. I measured it to calculate if the 10 balls I bought from DiscountYarnSale.com would be enough. I do think it will! I will, however, stick with my original idea of putting the sleeve stitches on waste yarn and knit them last, to whatever length they work out to. I am concerned that the construction of the sweater will mean the front is way too low for my high bustline. I do want to wear this sweater in public without looking like Busty McSlutty. I may knit the front higher than the back if necessary. I'm also going to knit the pieces separately and seam them, as I read someone else did; when she picked up the stitches, she said it looked sloppy every time.

I found the started "Captain Underpants" toy that I thought I'd lost at church one Saturday. I didn't care quite so much for my time (or the cheap yarn), but I did care about losing a set of the dpns from the Options nickel set my sister got me for Christmas. I was happy to find 4 of the 5; happier still to find the last one behind the couch. I finished embroidering the body (underpants stripe, face, and nipples), stuffed and finished knitting the top of the head. Now I just need to make arms, legs, and a cape, and I can move on with my life.

I did start the Baby Bobbi Bear for G during vacation. I love the yarn (Sugar & Cream from Beverly's on sale); the color is perfect and it's plenty soft. But the gauge is going to be pretty different. I had used the stated 8s, holding the yarn double; too thick and awkward. Started again holding the yarn single (I do think it qualifies as a worsted rather than a sportweight); the fabric is just too loose. I think the stuffing will show through. I'll try again on 7s and then 6s if need be. I found one gal who did it on 4s! That's a little too serious.

Hm, what else is there? Well, when I'm done with the MHC (seaming and button bands after I finish the sleeves), I'll start my mom's sweater for real. It'll be a pullover, perhaps seamless, with fair-isle type patterns in the yoke and maybe the cuffs and waist. On size 9 or 10 needles, and mostly st st, it should go way faster than the MHC, which is on its third month now. I've read of folks who aim to make 12 sweaters in a year! I hope to finish 4, and realize that's a lofty enough goal. Some day, I'll even get back to the tape-yarn sweater I started and then realized I hated the inverted "V" at the front. I don't think I even finished frogging that one.

I do want to finish more socks soon. I've been looking over my sock yarn and it is still quite extensive. Time to use up more!

Oh, and I did one row on the Shetland Triangle the other night, as G finished reading before bed. chuckle I do love lace, but I guess I'm much more intent on finishing other stuff these days.

At least I'm not starting on a new craft, like weaving, like some crazy hares I know...

Another project update

2008-02-26T14:16:00.000-08:00

I finished the back of the Must Have Cardigan. I put the stitches on a holder but am heeding the Yarn Harlot's recommendation to crochet a chain across the neck to stabilize it. The fronts are started and I'm hoping the few changes I've made to the right front will make the cables mirror each other. (Just realize that if I have made the changes to the left front by accident, the cables will still mirror each other, just turn away from each other rather than toward.) I'm on row, hm, 9, I think, and it's going well. I'm using even more stitch markers than last time, setting off the 3-stitch wrapped-stitch column as well as Pattern Panel A and B and the moss stitch. I love doing both fronts at once, as it means I don't have to jot down any notes to make them match. And when I'm done with both, well, they're done. If you see the trend from the two-socks-on-two-circs thing. (Ditto for the sleeves. They'll be exactly the same length, too, another bonus.)

Still working away at the Mega Boots Stretch basic toe-up socks. Still loving (loving!) the colorway. I took these to Stitches West as my unthinking knitting project. I was tempted to bring the Must Have, at least for the train, but I forgot how much I enjoy talking and how talking and knitting anything complex are not easily compatible. My seatmate on the Stitch & Ride is the RPM designer--how cool is that? And on the way back, I chatted with some women who, it turned out, were from Alameda. The "Gail" they were talking about is Gail T from our somewhat new Alameda Yarn Company, our LYS that I hope will stay.

Still can't find Captain Underpants. Annoying! I do think I left it at church but haven't been able to find it anywhere there.

To document my haul from Stitches West:

I walked up one aisle and there before me was the guy from the Fair Isle book I have at home, and have drooled over many a time. In the Philosopher's Wool booth, surrounded by all those gorgeous sweaters. And knitting on one. And what I didn't realize: it's worsted weight! I could finish it within my lifetime. So lovely Carol in their booth helped me try on several sweaters to find the one I wanted. The first one just didn't do it for me. The second, even less so. The third had my heart racing (that's Carol modeling it). So beautiful. I whipped out my credit card and was given a lovely knitting bag with the kit and so much encouragement. They even said that if you finish your sweater and write them, they'll send you a pattern for a matching tam as a "congratulations." Apparently, there's enough wool for most sizes in the bag, so you don't even have to pick it out by size. It's big like a jacket, too, which is perfect, as the wool is certainly on the itchy side.

Next, I went by my friend Maia's booth, Tactile Fiber Arts, which was partnering with Brooke's company, A Verb For Keeping Warm. As I am into the dark, dark, dark these days, I was able to pass up plenty of spinning fiber that was just too pale, but she had some bundles of way dark wool in the back, and as she was writing up two of them, I reached out and felt a bundle of nearly black alpaca and had to add that in. Oh man, so soft. I managed to ignore the right-hand wall of beautiful handspun wool in lots of colors and fiber mixes. (so beautiful, my glance told me.)

Next, when I visited the YarnDogs booth for a Ravelry passport stamp, Lucy Neatby was there, in all her multicolored-hair, high-energy self. They had all of her DVDs for $9 off the usual $29 price, so I quizzed her on which one would be right for me. I settled on Socks 2 (but she did mention I could benefit from Socks 1 as well) and bought it. By the register, they had tiny sock blockers... and sets of tiny dpns (like 3" long, 0 or 00 or 000) to knit tiny socks with! Insanity. (I managed to resist, but just barely.)

The last purchase was at the Purlescence booth. They're all the way in Sunnyvale, so it's about an hour's drive for me. I wish I could patronize them, but it's hard to justify the gas plus the yarn cost in general. So when I saw yummy sock yarn, Claudia Handpaints no less, I went for it. Black walnut, so gorgeous.

Thankfully, I was given the pass to attend a free class, which prevented me from doing more shopping... my budget is grateful.

Tips and Tricks for the Must Have Cardigan

2008-02-25T11:57:00.000-08:00

Updated to correct row counts and pattern names...

The Harlot just posted that "The [Must Have Cardigan] pattern is intuitive, you'll have it memorized in no time at all."

Well, for bears of very little brain like me, it can take the entire back for you to 'get it' and understand some basic facts about this pattern that can make it much easier.

Step 0: stitch markers. Mark off each section so no stitches get misunderstood to be part of a different section. This made it much easier from the get-go.

Step 1: row counter. I couldn't easily do the patterns without a row counter. You have one pattern (Panel Pattern A) that repeats every 10 rows, with cables on 3 and 7. One pattern (wrapped stitch) every 4 rows--but the wrap happens on row 3 (so every 3 + multiple of 4 rows). And one pattern that has cables on every right-side row, with a total of 26 pattern rows. So very few of the pattern rows line up with one another.

Step 2: Copy your pattern and draw vertical lines next to Panel Pattern A and Panel Pattern B, and write down the row numbers for the repeats through 95 or so (depending on how fast you catch on; it took me through row 87, I think).

Step 3: Understand that the moss stitch is different for every right-side row (knit the Ps and purl the Ks), and same for every wrong-side row (knit the Ks and purl the Ps)... even within the crossing-cable pattern in Panel Pattern B. This helped me a lot.

Step 4: Pay attention to where you hold the stitches for Panel Pattern A's braid. If you put them back instead of front, ugh, frogpond time. I ended up writing "F" and "B" on all the cable crossings for both patterns. That helped a bunch.

Step 5: Realize that after each first twist in Panel Pattern B, when you knit the 3 stitches from the cable needle, the next stitch is always a purl. This works for the moss stitch because you're always increasing or decreasing by a stitch. If you understand that you're always going to be purling after the cable twist, you don't have to look at the pattern--just p1, k1 across till 1 stitch before the 3 knits (on the lower half of the chart) or right up to the 3 knits (on the upper half).

Step 6: Learn what the wrapped-stitch column looks like when it's time to do a wrapped stitch. Then you can stop doing math on the row numbers (hm, is 87 a multiple of 4 rows + 3?). Also, every row that Panel Pattern A cables on is a wrapped-stitch row.

Step 7: On the shoulder decreases, when you're doing 1 dec at each end for X rows, just figure out how many moss stitches you'll have left at the edges (2 sts for size L), put a stitch marker there, and forget the counting. Much easier than ticking off on paper how many decrease rows you've done so far.

I hope this helps someone.

Tips & Tricks for Two Socks on Two Circs

2008-02-25T11:45:00.001-08:00

I had several people on Saturday's Stitch & Ride train comment and ask about the two socks I was knitting on two circular needles. I love, love, love knitting socks this way, because there is no second sock syndrome. When you're done, you're done. Period.

But as I chatted with them, I realized I have a few tips & tricks to share. First, the instructions--I found this to be the most useful set.

Beyond those directions, though, there are a few things that have helped me.

First, my Rule #1 of Knitting: don't panic. I never did (knock on wood) knit one sock with the other sock's yarn. But I have knit 3 sides of socks onto 1 needle. Blast! What I figured out after I shifted stitches to dpns and back was that it really is pretty easy to shift the just-knitted side back onto its needle. You transfer those stitches onto the opposite end of your free needle, and then use that free needle to place the stitches where they belong. (I'm going to have to make this mistake and take photos of fixing it to make this section more useful.)

Second, I've found it infinitely helpful, especially for avoiding the above calamity, to use two differently-colored circular needles. The Susan Bates circulars come in various pastel colors (pink, green, blue), and you can usually pick up one of each color for knitting. This helps to underscore that you always knit with one set of needles at a time, ignoring the other set. So, for my needles, always knit pink with pink, and green with green.

Finally, a mantra: at the end of each span of knitting, you switch yarn or needles, but not both. That is, either you switch from one sock to another, picking up a new strand of yarn, or you continue knitting on the same sock (same yarn), but switch needles.

I hope this helps. I love my new KnitPicks Options dpn set my sister gave me, but I do love me some 2 socks/2 circs/no-SSS method, too.

What else can be humbling and exciting at once?

2008-02-18T14:12:00.001-08:00

I am still working away at Patons' Must Have Cardigan. I have a few more inches of the back to do, and then I start the fronts. I am loving it. It is so beautiful in this rich reddish brown color:

And even as I enjoy knitting on it and looking at it... it is so humbling. I have lost count of the number of times I've had to rip back a cabled section--one of them twice in a row (I finally got the twists on the correct sides, but held the stitches on the front/back when they should have been on the back/front).

I've also finished a crocheted chemo cap in some of the Lion Brand Chenille I picked up at Beverly's for $1 a skein, back when I was still deluding myself into thinking that I could make myself a bathrobe for it (yay, super soft and nice, $20 from Target, delusions gone!). So now I have like 8 skeins each of deep blue and deep garnet. Any ideas welcome. The hat did turn out nice, even with the random loops sticking out a bit. G of course loved it and wanted one of his own right away. Hm, maybe I can do his in stripes.

I got Captain Underpants done up to the point where I have to embroider his facial features, then I misplaced the entire project. The things I'll go through to avoid embroidery...!

I'm nearly done with the k2p2 ribbed scarf in Plymouth(/Indecieta) Baby Alpaca Brush. It's so close to 5' that I am tempted to wear it, knitting needles and all. Still lovely grey and soft.

I also picked up the Meilenweit Mega Boots Stretch socks again. That yarn is so freaking great. I needed a mindless project for church and it totally fit the bill (knit knit knit around), plus I got into a discussion with another churchmember about the yarn after church was done. We bonded a smidge--that was fun.

I also picked up the Twinkle Toes socks again... and put them down again. Just isn't floating my boat these days. I may frog them and start something else. I did get it ready for socks for G at one point; at least his socks are super fast to knit!

I think that's it for my project update. I would love to be doing more on the lace project I have, but I also want to finish Must Have for Saturday's Stitches West (ha ha ha!).

Looking for an ass to kick

2008-02-12T09:23:00.000-08:00

Anyone else see a problem here?

State of the UFO

2008-02-11T15:20:00.001-08:00

My latest active project is the Must-Have Cardigan from Patons' booklet, Street Smarts. I'm using the stated yarn, Patons Classic Merino Wool, in a gorgeous deep brown-orange, Russet.

It took me a while to 'get' the pattern, as I haven't done a lot of moss stitch, and the cables are unfamiliar. One part of the X cable was just so messed up. I ripped the middle of it down twice, then finally ripped all of the stitches of the cable down 15 rows and knit it back up. What a difference! What was before a mass of weird bumpy stuff was now orderly, pretty moss stitch in the middle. I have 7.5" done on the back; less than 5" to armhole shaping!

I've also gotten quite a ways into a Captain Underpants for my son. I did the underpants in Red Heart (man, is that some awful yarn! No flex whatsoever), and was poised to do the flesh in an off-white superwash wool I have, but was at Michael's and found Bernat Soy on sale in a very pale pink. It's lovely to knit with--the soy gives it softness and a nice sheen. I'm at the stage of needing to embroider the face before I finish off the head.

The only other active project is my Plymouth Alpaca Brush k2p2 scarf. It's almost 4' long, so it's nearly done now (I'm aiming for about 5', since it's for me). I'll have quite a bit left over, as the first ball probably produced 3.5' of it. I wonder if I can knit a basic hat with the leftovers. It's soft and so pretty and I'm knitting the scarf on 9s. I wonder if 10s could work for the hat?

After lots of self-doubt on the sweater, I feel like I'm back in the groove again. Doesn't keep me wishing all my started projects were done and I was casting on the next ones, but it is still good.

Brave new world

2008-01-22T17:28:00.000-08:00

Finishing things is so very exciting. I love to see items nearing 100% on my Projects list, and then get done. Of course, it doesn't always mean that the other items that are languishing will then get attention. Oh, no. It often means I give myself permission to start oneortwoorfive new project(s).

I always have projects waiting in the wings. G was waiting very impatiently for me to finish a project (yay, done last night) in order to get started on a Captain Underpants for him. His face fell when I read the materials list and thought I didn't have an appropriate yarn for it (I'll use aran in place of the DK and I think it'll be fine).

I'm headed out on a trip soon, and selecting the appropriate projects is always a bit of fun. I think I'll bring a pair of socks I just started, and a bit of lace. I live in fear of not having knitting available, when the reality is that it is certainly possible I will knit a total of 4 stitches on the four days I'll be gone. Which is certainly OK, provided that the knitting time is replaced by major fun.

This is a test

2008-01-21T13:12:00.000-08:00

As usual, I have many things OTN at the moment. Unusually, though, many of them are close to completion. I could get rid of 3 WIPs in one evening! Wouldn't *that* be something?

I finished the second clog for G's teacher. They look great! I love that green color. And after ripping the first clog for me, I'm almost done reknitting it correctly (without the random stripe going off sideways and resultant odd shape). I may be able to take them to Vegas, which would be ironic, as they are quite Burninatoresque. Just have to get them felted and dried. I have plenty of time. Right?

I'm also working on a swatch for my Must Have Cardigan. I had someone ask if it was a scarf, which is too funny, as it is a boring Here's the test question: Does a certain Burninator actually read my knitting blog? strip of 5" rectangles of stockinette stitch separated by a few rows of garter stitch, so I can try US7 through US9 for this sweater, and maybe not have to modify it too much to fit me (as the largest size is 41" and my actual bustline is 42", and folks say it runs small). There is a set of instructions out there to size it to 49", but 7" of positive ease is too much for me. (I may modify those to have just a few added motifs on the back to make more width.) Well, we'll see, as I plan to actually go the distance and wash and block my swatch before measuring (well, I'm curious, so I'll measure it before as well).

I am using the Russet colorway of the Patons Classic Merino Wool, and it really is lovely. But a smidge scratchy. I think Cascade 220 does win on the affordable-wool-that's-not-scratchy front. Well, Ella Rae Classic might edge Cascade out, but not by much.

And the K2P2 ribbed Alpaca Brush scarf continues to grow as I wait for G to get belted in, the car to warm up, and some long red lights to go green. I am loving this yarn and wondering what a snuggly sweater in it would be like.

I finished!

2008-01-02T09:41:00.000-08:00

About 15 minutes before midnight, I finished G's socks. They turned out super cute! He wore them yesterday afternoon... and woke up today with 'hot feet.' I hope to God he isn't allergic to wool! (Although his rainbow sweater is wool and that never seemed to bother him.)

I also finished the felted pig purse. Honestly, I think it took longer to finish than it took to felt. First, I had to cut open the top, stuff it with paper (and two saucers for the ends), and baste the top shut so it wouldn't flare. Then I had to pin the tail in a spiral.

After it dried, I put the handles on (hand sewn with ribbons to hold them on), punched the feet through the bottom, cut and sewed in both pieces of the plastic mesh, tacked the ears up (they kept flopping), cut and sewed the lining (Pink Panther fabric, with special slots for magnets for the clasp), and then sewed it in.

She seemed really happy with it. I hope she is. It is still a big purse. But it is very cute.

I'm hoping to get some more near-FO's pushed over to the FO side soon, including the Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport "Rainbow" baby hat, which has mere inches (and a curly tie) to go.

Hm, I never did hear what my stepmom thought of the Anemoi mittens. I do hope she loved them. I was very pleased with how they turned out.

Socks! And not slow!

2007-12-31T11:35:00.000-08:00

I'm knitting some basic socks for my son in some really cute self-striping Regia yarn (scroll down to "Paris" and imagine if the stripes were deeper). Self-striping is still such a treat for me: "Ooh! What's coming next? A blue stripe!" Yes, it doesn't take much, and I wasn't even liquored up at the time. (or is that correctly spelled 'likkered'?)

I started them, hm, Thursday? And finished the first sock in like 2 days. Turned the heel on the 2nd one this morning. Whee! It is so nice to have the end neatly in sight.

This is not to say that I haven't knitted on other projects or started still others. I cast on for a hot pad mitt for Mom in some gorgeous Taos in the Mesa colorway. Simple garter-stitch rectangle on size 11 Daisy needles, which are so light and plasticky that it thrills me in a very non-serious way. "Look! I'm knitting garter stitch on huge clunky light-blue needles!"

Not a lot of progress on other fronts. It did take me a while to realize that the felted clogs I've started take a lot of concentration in the "Don't TALK to me; I'm counting" sort of way. I guess I haven't knit something like that in a while. I've finally taken to blocking off everything but the line I'm on (or the first half of it) with post-its. I do love the yarn still, though. Yummy. (Color 9926: deep red with black. Kind of hellish. Fabulous.)

Hm, I think that's it. Am hoping to finish the socks today. G has insisted that he will not wear the first sock until the second one is done, because he would hate to lose it. He is so funny. This will be my first complete pair of sock for him. I'm really glad he is so excited about them.

Almost as glad as I am that they are so freakin' quick to knit.

Gratifying

2007-12-28T15:17:00.001-08:00

I knit my sister a Palindrome scarf for Christmas, out of very soft "superfine merino" di.Ve' Zenith wool in a soft lime green color. She opened it up, put it on, and didn't take it off till bedtime (if then--I didn't check). *Wow*.

Made my mom a pair of socks out of my hand-dyed yarn. She said all the right things and tried them on then and there. The toes are clearly too long, but after offering to pull them out and re-do them three times, I gave up.

Made my dad a reversible hat in Cal colors. He didn't mention it, so I don't know if he'll wear it. If he does, I think it'll be very warm, which is good, because it gets pretty cold out where they are.

And for my stepmother, stranded mittens, extra long for her long fingers. She hasn't received them yet, as my sister will wrap them and bring them along for their late Christmas with the kids, Sunday, I think. I said to my sister to tell my stepmom that if she won't wear them, feel free to pass them on to someone who will--that I'd rather they get worn than not. She was shocked--"I'll take them! Or you should take them back!" (shrug) They were fun to make and at this point, I'm OK with someone outside the family getting them, if she will wear them.

In any case, it was so gratifying to see my sister ("Don't make me anything; I don't like handmade stuff") really like her scarf. And then she saw some of my handmade cards and liked them so much, she wants a tag punch box like I have... wow!

I'm still reeling a bit from this, but it is nice to have these things recognized. I really do enjoy the artistic outlet in the knitting and the cardmaking.

(But I do have to fight not to say I told you so. Or something.)

What am I, the anti-Grumperina?

2007-12-03T17:12:00.000-08:00

A while ago, Grumperina declared, in front of God 'n' everybody, that she was no. longer. interested. in knitting sweaters. They displeased her in many ways, and despite being a capable and creative knitter, she is done with them. She will stick to socks and scarves and shawls, I believe she declared.

I have recently realized that I am just not very good at knitting socks. Or I have bad luck. Or something. In any case, I can knit sweaters, scarves, shawls, and stoles, but socks stymie me just way too damned often.

Not that I'm giving up, mind you. But I do feel rather severe declaring to the world that I Am Not A Good Sock Knitter.

Fortunately, this sentiment is outweighed by my yearning for a drawer full of handknit socks.

Maybe I can get my sister hooked on knitting socks...

Anemoi Mitts are DONE.

2007-12-02T07:52:00.001-08:00

I'll likely post a finished pic at some point, but for now, I'm just heaving a sigh of relief. From my notes, I had the new cuff ready to be grafted on about Nov 7. As I finished last night, that shows how much I was dreading it. And it was a PITA... ripping upward, and picking stitches up when the row was a K1sl1 row, is unbelievably frustrating. I finally decided to go for it, even though I had stitches that actually crossed each other (shaking head). It ended up looking odd, but you know what? I'm done. And she may never notice the extraneous purl-looking rows just above the start of the cuff (did I graft it on flipped?). I'll notice, but hell, the colorwork still looks divine to me.

This is one of the last Christmas presents to make, and it's only December 2, so overall, I'm pretty happy. Plus, Dad stopped by yesterday, in town for Big Game (boo hoo), and I shipped lots of the presents off with him. I have one more for each of my nephew and niece, these mittens, and I think that's it. (Well, except for Mom's socks, on which I have 6.5" done--phew!--and I don't know if I'll be shipping it, as she hasn't decided whether she's coming down here for Christmas.)

Heaving a sign of relief... and getting back to Charade to power on down to the heel...

Hello Frogpond, My Old Friend

2007-11-16T19:51:00.000-08:00

I've come to rip with you again...

Yep, 72 stitches = too big now. sigh Perhaps this is why I so rarely attempt socks? (I mean, who swatches sock yarn?)

The pattern calls for 64, so by God, I'm doing 64. See you at the shoreline.

ribbet ribbet rippit rippit

Moving right along

2007-11-13T14:37:00.000-08:00

So now I have two items done (but could stand to be washed and blocked), one so close to done (replacing the cast-on for the Anemoi Mittens was not nearly as easy as I had thought), and one with a good start. Well, it was a good start, until my son pointed out that the Charade socks for mom out of my hand-dyed yarn were rather small. My swatch came out to 6 sts/in; my sock is 7.5 sts/in. Ah, me. Frogpond city. Oh, well, I only have about 3" done of them, I'm happy with the pattern (Nancy Bush's "On Your Toes Socks" generic toe-up sock pattern from IK Summer 2007 as a basis, and Charade for interest), and I'm VERY happy with how my yarn looks knat up.

So I'll frog and restart and be even better at it (that cast-on is a bitch). I'm feeling very good about everything (oh, and I finished G's Y-Kids teacher's black fluffy scarf, too!).

Phew. Maybe I'll even pick up Clapotis again.

Steaming ahead

2007-11-05T10:10:00.000-08:00

The four main Christmas gifts I've selected are

* A Palindrome scarf for my sister in di.Vé Zenith (in 43394)
* A wide/narrow striped reversible stocking cap for my dad (Cal colors, of course) in Elann "Sock It To Me" Essential sock yarn (no longer available)
* Anemoi mittens in Hyacinth and Ash Knitpicks Palette yarn for my stepmom
* Socks (pattern TBD, maybe Charade) for my mom in the darker hand-dyed sock yarn I did at KnitCamp in April

I'm so happy to write that the first 2 are done, and the third is mere rows from being finished. I have decided that I hate the cast-on of the first mitten and am going to snip a thread (gasp!) and graft on a better start (just the first 6 rows) done on size 2s instead of 0s. (I can barely pull it on, and she has larger hands than I do!) But they are really lovely.

I wound out the yarn for Mom's socks, by weight, and snipped the yarn at 50 g of the 100g skein. Then, out of curiousity, weighed the other ball: sigh 57 grams. Argh. Oh, well, I'll have a little left over.

I'm also considering making a Teddy for G, but he's not terribly decisive these days... we'll see. Also, his is the only gift I don't need to ship. It will be interesting working on a secret project with him around, though. Although if I can continue to stick to his 8:30 bedtime, I'll have a full 1.5 hrs each night to work privately. Aah, private 'me' time. Loving it.

KIPing brings such odd bedfellows

2007-10-18T11:06:00.000-07:00

I have been knitting while walking to/from my kid's school, mostly on Palindrome for my sister. Folks have the funniest comments.

One guy, leaving the school with my son's classmate, says to her, "Hey, she can teach you to knit, honey!" Truth is, I'd actually be happy to, but where are we supposed to do this thing? Plopped down on the blacktop, one day when we run into each other after school and both have time? Chances are slim...

And then today, a woman and her friend, who have commented on the scarf before, commented yet again, and one says, "Maybe tomorrow I bring [sic] yarn and needles and you show me!" And at first I thought, I'll just print out the pattern; that'll be easier. Then I realize that with the language barrier, it might just be easier to show her. Anyone know how to say "cable" in Chinese? K2P2 should be easy enough to communicate.

I'm getting a lot done and haven't yet been hit by a car, so that's good.

The other group of muggles

2007-10-15T11:35:00.000-07:00

There is the one group of muggles that sees knitting and things "ho hum."

Then there is the other group that sees a k2p2 ribbed scarf and thinks you're discovering plutonium. It is a member of this group that saw me knitting on Palindrome last week and actually thought my row counter incremented by itself.

This is not the first time I've heard this. How would that work, anyway? Would it increment when you flipped that needle around to knit the other way? When you tapped it on a surface, kind of like one of those handheld stroke counters for golf?

When I then show the questioner how I rotate one side of the counter with my fingers, they are much less impressed. But still thinking that k2p2 is rocket science. And cables? Oh, man. That must be for very advanced knitters.

I frown at them. Learn to knit, people!

Look, a shiny thing!

2007-10-08T14:48:00.000-07:00

Yep, I have another WIP. Ravelry has my WIP count as just 7, which is pretty reasonable for me. Well, anyway...

A sweet-talker at my church managed to get me to commit to making at least one knitted item for our upcoming Silent Auction at the annual Hometown Halloween bash. (She is very good.) Thankfully, the one I chose is super quick; I started yesterday and am on the third and final ball already. It's a simple garter-stitch shawl out of a ribbon yarn I picked up at KnitCamp 4/07 from the 'free' pile. It has very pretty colors, which was what first drew me to it, but it doesn't light my fire enough to keep it for me. What I didn't realize at the time is how very soft it is. I hope it will be chosen as a lovely, soft shawl by someone at the auction.

I also took out some other ribbon yarn I had marinating in the stash, as well as a ladder yarn and a viscose blend that is lovely. Maybe I'll make 1 or 2 more things and then get back to my Christmas knitting.

In other news: I bought buttons for Bristow! I looked at quite a few at my local Beverly's, and G offered his opinions, and we settled on a set of green buttons that really match the yarn beautifully. I had been sure I'd end up with gold or antiqued gold buttons, but none of them worked well. Quite a few overshadowed the lovely patterning in the sweater. And the green is such an amazing match. I laid the buttons out yesterday to mark the buttonholes and started picking up and knitting the stitches for the buttonhole band. Then I'll have the neckband to do, and c'est fini!

I took a photo, but not of me wearing it:

Bristow, needing buttons
Originally uploaded by RenaissanceWomn

I also got a photo of the Anemoi mittens I'm making for my stepmom. I'm on row 26 and still really enjoying it.

Anemoi mitten back
Originally uploaded by RenaissanceWomn

Anemoi mitten palm
Originally uploaded by RenaissanceWomn

Finally, I'm on the 2nd ball of 4 of the Palindrome scarf for my sister. I'm finally humming along on this one. (No pic update yet.)

Good thing I knit! I spent nearly an hour at the police station getting fingerprinted today. (Story at 11.)

Hoping not to jinx things

2007-10-05T14:33:00.000-07:00

but I'm on row 16 of Anemoi and it's going (deep breath) well.

Pix soon, I swear!

The mitten seems big, but then I put it on, and it's fine on my hand. I hope my stepmom likes the colors. Realized today that they're really *my* colors. But I never did figure out what her colors are.... They are lovely, in any case. I really like the palm and the thumb. Never knew I was so drawn to regular pattern. It would be boring if there weren't a patterned back, but it really is fun in any case.

Am hoping to get my heinie to Britex tomorrow to buy buttons.

Part V

2007-10-03T21:09:00.001-07:00

My charted chart was fine. I am stupid. And am ripping out rows 5-8 for, what, the fifth time?

Anemoi Smackdown, Part IV

2007-10-03T14:05:00.000-07:00

After finishing row 10 of the chart last night, I compared the pattern side to the chart. Hm, couldn't make them match. Finally decided I was comparing light to dark and vice versa. Yeah, that's the ticket.

No, it's not. I had decided that I'd charted the chart backwards, and thus must knit from right-to-left...

and had knit the entire back of the mitten mirrored from what it should have been.

Somebody pass me a beer.

The path to Anemoi

2007-10-02T15:08:00.000-07:00

Ready to cast on, all needles stacked up, look at pattern... get up. Go to computer. Look up "tubular cast-on." Get confused, because the online directions talk about knitting the stitches, joining them up with the provisional stitches, and continuing on... and the pattern talks about knitting it 'flat.' Hm. Try it on. It's a little tight. Decide to go forward.

Join MC and knit rows 1 and 2 of Corrugated Ribbing. Hey, not so bad. Repeat 11 times, on my way to 17; realize the cuff is rather long already. Reread directions; was supposed to repeat ROW 2 ONLY for the 17 times. Crud. Rip back.

Knit the 11 rows, then start the chart. Knit up to row 5, and find there are too many stitches. Read pattern: I was supposed to be doing fancy stuff during rows 1-4. Crud. Rip back.

Take a break, and chart the chart. Realize partway through the first row that using a black pen and a blue pen isn't going to cut it: they kinda look the same. Get out pink highlighter. Highlight every other number of stitches. Realize (duh) that I can highlight all the way up the page; every other column will be the MC stitches anyway! Get up to row 24; run out of room.

Realize that all of my charted chart rows start at the left, whereas I'll be knitting them from the right. Oh, well, they're still readable. Realize I'll be knitting the palm at the same time as the back of the hand; oh, well, it's much simpler; maybe I don't need to chart it. (famous last words)

Re-start knitting, according to charted chart. Works well. Get to Row 5, and there is an extra MC stitch. Put knitting down, turn off lights, go to sleep. Email Eunny in the morning.

Nearly there!

2007-10-01T14:31:00.000-07:00

I packed up the pieces to Bristow for the camping trip last weekend, thinking that seaming a sweater around the campfire sounded fun. Well, it was! I really zoomed along, and got all the pieces seamed together. And at a knitting meetup at the Alameda library, I got the button band stitches all picked up, and three rows done of it! Boy, picking up stitches takes me like five times as long as actually knitting, even in seed stitch. I finished the button band last night. Can't believe how close I'm getting! Next, I need to pick out the buttons and decide how many buttonholes I'll need. Then, the collar, and I can wear it! Cool that it's coinciding with cooler weather.

I also got several more inches done on my sister's Palindrome scarf (which I know Rabbitch is going to finish before me, and I'll have to drive all the way to B.C. just to kill her), and just started the chart for the right Anemoi mitten. I had honestly forgotten how much I love doing charted knitting! And I'm still loving the colors. So pretty together.

Yippee!

P.S. The Alameda library meetup will be at least monthly, on a Sunday afternoon, about 3-5PM.

More fun that should be legal

2007-09-24T22:59:00.000-07:00

I scoured two net bags of the fleece tonight. Oh, man, that was fun. I ended up washing it in Orvus detergent three times till I remembered Mom saying to wash it once and rinse it a bunch of times. I had washed, extracted it in the washer, and repeated twice before I decided to rinse 3-4 times and then finally extract the water in the washer.

It is an amazingly different color. The unwashed fleece is actually orange. The washed fleece is the loveliest soft white. But chock-full of bugs. I think I need to skirt it better next time.

Eee! Can't wait to see what it's like tomorrow!

My sister complimented my knitting

2007-09-24T09:54:00.000-07:00

This is huge. This is my sister who keeps saying, "You know, you can buy socks in the store" and is amazed that anyone would buy yarn to knit. Yes, that sister. She looked at Bristow drying on the couch and said it looked beautiful. Then, after I'd unpinned all the pieces, she draped them all on me and we were both very pleased. It really looks great. I was worried I'd shortened the pieces too much, but they are exactly where they need to be. Not cropped, but right at 1" below my waist. Maybe I'll get it seamed this week.

She also liked the divé Zenith yarn I chose to knit her scarf in. I already screwed it up--decided I'd done the row count wrong and needed to cable that very row and then, once I'd ripped back, cabled, and looked at it, decided I had been right the first time: I really am on row 3. Argh.

I have also chosen sanity and am not making the cardigan for my mother for Christmas. I'll make her socks with my hand-dyed yarn from Knit Camp and work on the cardigan pattern at my leisure. Phew.

Oh, and I screwed up the Anemoi Mittens like four times now. Am re-doing the currogated ribbing yet again and am hopeful I finally read the directions right this time (I had done row 1 and 2 and then repeated both 17 times, whereas one is mean to repeat merely row 2 17 times. No wonder that ribbed cuff was looking deep after 11 repeats. Oy.)

Onward and upward!

The stink of wet wool

2007-09-22T19:30:00.001-07:00

I finally got off my sizeable ass and blocked Bristow today. It honestly didn't take that long, but I was thinking the whole time, "Yep, I would pay someone to do this for me. I hate this!" I also used the Harlot's idea of putting an oscillating fan on while the pieces dry--they are almost dry already! And they were sopping. So much so that they stretched out while I was laying them down. Had to scrunch several pieces back into shape. I can't wait to get that out of my list of UFOs.

I started the Anemoi mittens for my stepmom night-before-last. Had to learn the tubular cast-on, which is pretty damned spiffy, really! Very stretchy but I'm mjassively concerned about my gauge. Stepmom has not-insignificant hands. I'm using Palette again, this time with Ash and Lilac. Am again enjoying knitting with this lovely, lightweight, wooly yarn.

I have maybe 5" done on Palindrome in dive Zenith in a celery green for my sister. I will probably show it to her tomorrow and see if she likes it, as she is choosy, but the hat & scarf I knit to order for her last spring were very pleasing to us both. The yarn is super soft (merino) but Soooo splitty.

Am still swatching for the sweater for Mom in Elann's Peruvian Highland Chunky and Noro Kochoran (for detail for the yoke and maybe cuffs and waistband). I hated the first emblem I tried, but loved the second, and now am thinking that I want emblems (peeries in stranded-knitting vocab) that take up more rows, like 7 or 8, which is about the distance between increases in the pattern.

And at some point, I should cast on for Dad's reversible blue-and-gold stocking cap in Elann Essential sock yarn. (No links--yarn is no longer sold and they took the pattern off, for some reason!)

Hey, at least I limited the list to these! (Oh yeah, and then there's the bear I plan to knit for G...).

Selfishness has its price

2007-09-13T14:41:00.000-07:00

I now have six projects for Christmas lined up. I am not sure if I'll do the sixth. Everything else is family knitting.

But what that means is that the Must-Have Cardigan is pushed to seventh on my Ravelry queue (which is up to four pages and 93 projects, thank you very much). Interesting, since as I've entered projects into the queue, it asks for whom the project will be made, and I almost invariably answer "me" (or, when pretentious, "moi").

So... three solid months with no knitting for me? Whatever shall I do? (Did I mention it's a Me, Me, Me, Me, Me World?)

Another time when it's good to be short

2007-09-12T10:56:00.000-07:00

In reviewing the dimensions of Bristow, I realized that the sweater was going to be too long--nearly 4" too long in the body, and I-forget-how-long in the sleeves. It's designed for a longer, leaner body than mine, I think. So I made changes in the pattern (which also involved changing the frequency of the increases or decreases) to shorten the pattern pieces.

Now I'm done knitting and have 5 full balls of yarn left over. Assuming I use a significant amount of one ball for seaming and collar/button bands, I will still only have used about 1200 yds for this sweater.

This is great news: it means I can likely make any sweater with 1200 yds of worsted-weight wool from my stash! I have been looking for sets of 1600 yds in general. (It also means I can make the aran cardigan I've been designing in my head, as Bristow has plenty of cables and other aran designs.) In fact, if a sweater is mostly st st, I can probably get by with less than 1200 yds.

Yay for short bodies!

Done, sorta!

2007-09-11T09:24:00.001-07:00

Finished the sleeves on Bristow last night. I made a mistake toward the end; somehow, the eccentric cables (they cross on the 5th and 11th rows of a 16-row pattern) got crossed late on the last set. So there's a good expanse of st st, then two cable twists a little too close together. It's the same on both sleeves, and after all the ripping I've had to do to fix other mistakes, I decided to leave it. If someone notices it when I'm wearing it, I'll give them a candy. I'm still glad I knit both sleeves at once, even if it seemed like I would just. never. finish at one point. (The only difference is that the middle cables twist in opposite ways. The shaping is the same for both.)

Now to block the pieces and start the seaming. I hate seaming. Well, maybe this will be the sweater that changes my mind. I still love the color and this yarn. The sheen is so entrancing. I'll post pictures when they're pinned out.

I've also turned the corner on my washcloth for Rabbitch's drive. I was doing (k1, yo, k to last st, yo, k1) on even rows and (k across) on odd rows. I knew that on the decreasing side I'd still want those eyelets from the yo's so it would look symmetrical. So I decided to k2tog on the stitches inside the yo on every row, and yo on even rows still. So on even rows, the number of stitches doesn't change, but on odd rows, you decrease 2 sts each row. Looks great so far. It's only 7" on the side unblocked; I weighed it and the yarn and decided I needed to rip back a bit so I'd have yarn to finish.

(Which reminds me--I finished binding off the stitches on one sleeve with about 1" of yarn to spare. Exciting! Well, for binding off.)

I think this might be my dullest post yet. Wore my Swallowtail again last weekend. I still love it.

Onward and upward. I think I might cast on for my mother's Christmas sweater while Bristow is drying. Converting the cardigan in Ann Budd's book of patterns to top-down is a bitch. Oy.

Knitting memories into clothing

2007-09-10T10:34:00.000-07:00

I am having a rift with a good friend. It is painful to both of us and its origins are not what we thought they were. One of those eye-opening experiences where the eyes were sadly glued shut (sorry for the visual for those of you with eye-injury phobias). Ouch.

I'm still knitting along, almost 100% on my Bristow, and nearly finished with the sleeves. (Really wish I'd gone ahead and blocked the other 3 pieces already.) I was thinking of this pattern and how I got here, and realized that my friend was the one who found it and sent me the link, as she thought it was a good choice for me.

Oh. I will think of her as I'm finishing this, as I admire it, as I wear it. I thought of her kindness, her thoughtfulness, how this sweater is not really her style at all and yet she found it and studied it anyway, to recommend it to me.

This thought process was part of healing our friendship, finding healing in the stitches. Even, bear with me, in the interconnectedness of the stitches, the soothing warmth of the sweater, the shared joy of an object completed.

Hugs and warm thoughts to all of you, and especially to my friend. Thanks.

Bristow: on to the sleeves!

2007-08-31T15:16:00.000-07:00

Makes it sound more exciting than it really is, eh? I finished the right front. Woo.

Actually, I'm feeling really hopeful at how quickly Bristow is moving along. I feel like I kind of "get" the pattern now. I'm hoping to knit both sleeves together, once I get past the cuffs (which, on my size 4s, are just too wide to knit at the same time). Then they'll be the same length... be it short or long! I cast on one sleeve at noon today. Funny how I don't mind seed stitch when it's just 7 rows and it's for me me me.

I also got lots done on a new washcloth for Rabbitch's drive. It's from the rest of my Peaches & Cream that I used for my string bag (which I still love but it's holding all that Calmer I bought at the garage sale; I need to stash that so I can use the bag again!). I'm making one of those basic biased garter-stitch washcloths with the yo increases till you get halfway across (I'm going to weigh the yarn to try to use it all up), and it's now my waiting-in-the-car project, since I just finished my other one.

I still haven't started a new lace project... odd, isn't it? I'm once again eyeing Birch, to see if I can master her after all. (There is just no way to write that without it sounding like a sex thing. Or maybe it's just me.)

This monogamy is new

2007-08-27T11:57:00.000-07:00

I'm not usually a monogamous knitter--and strictly speaking, I haven't been entirely monogamous. But I have been largely only working on the Olive Bristow sweater, and it is really coming right along! I'm about 2/3 done with the right front, and the left front and the back are already done. I may block them as I start the sleeves. Then, button bands and finishing, and--voilà!--sweater.

Right front of Bristow

Left front of Bristow

Back of Bristow

And then I can get started on Christmas knitting...!

Still loving the olive sweater

2007-08-14T12:03:00.000-07:00

I am 9" up the back on the Olive sweater already. Had some things to juggle, as her length is way longer than I need, and some increases had to be done by her 14" (my 11") mark, so instead of every 6 rows, I'm increasing every 3 rows (which means I have to increase on the purl side every other time; thank goodness for the increase Dharma taught me, where I knit/purl into the shoulder of the stitch below--no holes!). The drape is lovely, the color gorgeous, and the sheen entrancing.

And oh my god I could actually be finished in a matter of weeks.

Plus, don't drop your coffee, I got some knitting done on Clapotis, too. I do like it still. (Wish I didn't have to pay attention quite so much, though.)

The one where I am not thinking

2007-08-14T12:01:00.000-07:00

Since I'm still having trouble with finishing the Child's First Socks, I had a thought this morning: why not finish the cuffs early and they'll just be short socks?

Answer: because they're top-down, dummy.

OK, so next coping strategy is to rip back to the heel and finish the foot part plain. Because I have screwed something up, since the foot is supposed to have 3.5 repeats and one foot has 4 and the other, well, not 3.5, anyway.

sigh

And now, to enjoy it.

2007-08-10T09:23:00.001-07:00

Swallowtail Shawl
Originally uploaded by RenaissanceWomn

Absolutely, truly, finally done. Blocked. Dried. Ends woven in. Lifelines out, blocking unwaxed dental floss out.

I'm still in heaven.

Swallowtail Shawl
Originally uploaded by RenaissanceWomn

There she lies.

2007-08-09T16:59:00.001-07:00

Swallowtail, blocking
Originally uploaded by RenaissanceWomn

She's almost dry, already. And so gorgeous! And the dogs have not managed to sleep on her yet!

But WTF is up with my "100" blocking pins, of which I have 43???

Who cares, I have a beautiful shawl...

Done! Done, done, DONE!

2007-08-08T10:22:00.000-07:00

Finished binding off the Swallowtail Shawl just minutes before leaving for hockey last night. I at least was sensible enough not to try to block her before bed (since I got back at 10:30). She is lovely, even unblocked. If you hold her up to the light--breathtaking.

And my mom says, this morning, well, it's more of a scarf... does she not KNOW about blocking? (This, with the added repeats.)

I'm going to have a block-o-rama: I'll block Swallowtail, re-block my Leaf Lace Shawl that got oddly fuzzy and smaller after its romp in the dryer with a dryer sheet (trying to get it less itchy), and finally block Backyard Leaves. Whee!

Soooo close.

2007-08-06T09:01:00.000-07:00

I'm on row 15 of 16 of the Peaked Edging. Then I have one row of, I think K2togs and stuff, one row plain knit, then a special bind-off. Nearly stayed up to finish it, but I'm glad I didn't; I was tired.

I didn't really appreciate the Lily of the Valley pattern until Sunday, when I held it up to the light and found it is really lovely. Dharma was being ~~tortured~~ taught to spin at the time, so I don't think she was able to catch a glimpse.

After all I've put into this shawl, the fineness of the laceweight still stuns me. The fact that it is two-ply, of even finer threads, even more so. It is so soft that I'd love a bed of unblocked Budding Lace. People feel it, their faces register shock, and they go on petting even though they've passed the socially acceptable length of time for petting someone else's project.

I think I'll love this one.

Filati in Rocklin

2007-08-03T14:13:00.000-07:00

Apparently, I never blogged about my visit to Filati Fine Yarns in Rocklin last July. They do have some store photos, but somehow have failed to capture the appearance of the store. People, the store is bigger than WEBS (OK, sans warehouse). They do have an incredible selection.

But really? The draw is the eye candy. When you enter the store, the racks in front of you are beautifully, tastefully organized by color--by someone who has an incredible eye for color. It ends up being stunning and seductive... absolutely enchanting. You might think that finding this yarn in that color would end up being challenging, but it seemed like you could pretty easily find a specific yarn--and if not, the salesfolk were quite happy to help out. Helpful but not intrusive.

Many of the arranged yarns were high-quality yarns, at pretty close to the expected prices. But they did have plenty of Plymouth Encore and the like, for good yarns on a budget. G was particularly taken with the button array. An incredible variety of creative, playful, and lovely buttons.

I can't wait to go back.

(spluttering) 1 Week!?!

2007-08-02T10:21:00.000-07:00

I was hunting around blogs last night to check up on modifications I might have to make to my Swallowtail Shawl (thought I had to decrease 2 stitches on Lily of the Valley Lace II; maybe not), and found one gal who finished it in one week.

I'm going on four months! Aaagh.

OTOH, I'm unreasonably pleased to have finished the Lily of the Valley Lace I as of last night. Gleeful, even.

But don't take that to mean I didn't put in another lifeline. I'm gleeful, not drunk. (I leave that to Rabbitch.)

The end is in sight!

Adding: I switched to the size 4 Addi Lace Needles for this. Am loving them.

And, because I can't leave well enough alone...

2007-07-31T15:30:00.001-07:00

and because I now own size 4 as well as size 5 Addi Lace needles, I swatched again on size 5s to see if I like it better. No pic yet; maybe I can post a pic of both, wet-blocked, later.

Finished too late last night while IMing. I hate typing one-handed but it was worth it to finish!

Mystery Stole 3 swatched

2007-07-29T14:36:00.001-07:00

MS3 Sampler
Originally uploaded by RenaissanceWomn

While finishing HP7 last night, I also finished my swatch, with some beads (as if I have to economize), for Mystery Stole 3. Scary parts: found one dropped stitch about 3 rows below at one point (fine, I can fix that) and was short 2 stitches not long after (no idea where they went). Hm. This may be beyond me. We'll see.

Woo hoo, I finished!

2007-07-27T10:49:00.000-07:00

Shedir is done, ends are woven in, and it's ready to be photographed and sent to its new owner.

After my hot date.

And I've now added my 61st project to my queue in Ravelry, spilling over to page 3. This does not include the 7 to 10 projects already on the needles.

But I'm OK with that. Really.

Back in the saddle

2007-07-26T12:01:00.000-07:00

I tinked back to my row counter marker last night (just half a row), studied the chart, and found the problem: row 63 is not marked as a "use one stitch from previous round" row, even though you clearly must. On the previous page, it's even included as one of those rounds; it's just the chart that doesn't have that marking. (interestingly, it's not been corrected yet.)

Once I borrowed that stitch, it was easy sailing. I'm up to row 73, down to about 48 stitches, and the end is in sight! I'd photograph it, but it's textured black--I think it would look like a black blob! I'll try to when it's done. So glad to be so close to done. (and, it turns out, Shedir is compatible with HP7! Glad I have a book holder.)

Son of a NUTcracker!

2007-07-25T15:11:00.000-07:00

The Shedir I'm working on was going well, very well, in fact. I got to row 60 with no problems (3/4 done!). Everything lined up, did as it was supposed to... then, as I went to change the row counter from 63 to 64, I knew something was wrong, as I'd just done a knit-the-knits-and-purl-the-purls row. Thought maybe I'd skipped changing the counter, so I put it to 65... and then I was knitting purls and purling knits, and clearly something was wrong.

I was so disgusted that I put it aside. I don't remember having this kind of trouble with the last Shedir I made. I want to be done, admire it, photograph it, and send it off!

sigh. I do hate tinking.

It's here! It's here!

2007-07-13T10:55:00.000-07:00

I had tried to buy a skein of "Gathering Storm" off Rabbitch's store site, but the gods did not like me and PayPal couldn't process my order ("no country field filled out"--huh?). In a panic, because OMG it was so gorgeous, I emailed Rabbitch directly. She could send it!

Got the package today--and what a boon! Not only a skein of Gathering Storm, even more delicious than I'd expected, but an additional skein titled "Jennie," which is SO SO me, and a niddy noddy. (I'd sent her a bit of change when she was driving on a piece of bent steel and a patch of rubber a way back.)

Oh MAN, what fun!

Don't miss out. Her store still has some Black Orchid available, stunning purple stuff, and No Mean Feets, a gorgeous mix of blues, as well as a tasty Swamp Thing in 100yd or 50yd lengths. Go, now!

Boiled Ass, just for Dharma

2007-07-12T13:34:00.001-07:00

Swallowtail Shawl as of 7/11/07
Originally uploaded by RenaissanceWomn

Here ya go. All original 14 repeates of Budding Lace done, 2 of 5 extra repeats done. Still soft, still wonderful...!

Click to biggify. In Flickr, click "All Sizes" to bigger-ify.

Mystery Shawl 3

2007-07-09T11:16:00.001-07:00

It will come as no surprise to you to find that I am a joiner. When I heard about MS3, I was joined up before I even knew it (and changed to "special notices only" shortly thereafter--4000 messages in the FIRST MONTH?!?).

But the recommended color choices are black, white, and off-white/natural. I don't have any laceweight (in enough yardage) in black or white, and the only laceweight I have in natural is the cashmere thread I bought from ColourMart in a fit of "ooh, cashmere" and "aah, laceweight" but not a jot of "oh, if they'd put a quarter in front of the cone I could've seen that it was more like thread than yarn." And do I want to knit with thread? Do I want to knit MS3 with thread?

I do not know. What I do know is that a friend and I are going to be doing an order with KnitPicks soon enough and there just might be some black laceweight added to that order...

Progress on Swallowtail Shawl (and, I can do math!)

2007-07-08T22:23:00.000-07:00

I got lots of time to work on my Swallowtail Shawl last weekend at my aunt's cabin. I counted sets of markers, did lots of arithmetic, and found that I must have miscounted repeats-- I was two repeats short of the 14 called for (and thus short of the 195 stitches resulting from the 14 repeats). I also figured out that each repeat adds 6 stitches to the total. So, since I wanted a larger shawl than the pattern says (23" deep seems too shallow), I futzed around with the math of the next section (multiples of 10) and figured out how many extra repeats of budding lace II I would need, 5 (x 6 = 30, the first multiple of 6 that is a multiple of 10). I was so pleased when I looked it up online and found several others had come to the same conclusion. The repeats are slow, as the yarn is like thread and the needles plenty slick (Susan Bates Quicksilvr), so I knit carefully rather than my usual tearing speed. But 5 more repeats, even of 6 rows of pattern, doesn't seem entirely daunting. And the result does seem worth it, from what I've read in the blogs.

It really was worthwhile spending a whole weekend on one thing, as this shawl seemed endless only a few weeks ago. Now the end is in sight, and I have the trick for the p5tog nupps (sl 2, p3tog, pass slipped stitches over). I think I can do this! (oof, just found another notation that says I'll be short 2 stitches on a later chart-oh well, I can do that, too.)

I'll post a pic as soon as I've taken one--but it doesn't actually look terribly different than it did before. Just a few more buds in lace.

I sat and crocheted!

2007-07-06T13:06:00.001-07:00

String bag
Originally uploaded by RenaissanceWomn

While I was on vacation, I finished a very cool string bag. I had been wanting to knit one, and had a pattern ready, but Beverly's put Sugar 'n' Creme cotton yarn on sale, and oh! the colorways! I was only going to buy a few balls for G for his handweaving ($1.29 a ball!), but there was a pattern for a string bag on the label of one, so I just had to buy three and dig out a G crochet hook (although these days, crochet hooks are metric! Had to find a chart to see what letter-size I needed!) and start it.

Hey, it was kinda fun! Made me remember how much I liked it, just not for sweaters etc., because the look is not as smooth as knitting.

I think it turned out great! See for yourself:

I think I'm scrod

2007-07-06T12:53:00.001-07:00

I've been looking forward to finishing the Karabella Shawl-Collar [sic] Sweater ever since I started it (true to form). The Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk is only 66 yds/ball, and the recommended Karabella Marble is 92. Mine knit up at the same gauge. You do the math while I'm in the corner sobbing.

Idea for the Lamb's Pride Polarweight

2007-07-02T14:33:00.000-07:00

Just as I'm ready to donate all of it, I find a great idea for making a felted rug with the Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Polarweight I was given. I have smidges of some colors and lots of others. Should be great!

Pondemonium pattern

2007-06-19T15:25:00.000-07:00

Is this not the cutest pattern???

More than halfway done with Niece's hat already. It really looks great (but BRIGHT). I'm going to miss the stranded knitting while at family camp. Fortunately, I do not have a dearth of available projects.

Pirate hat number 2!

2007-06-18T15:49:00.000-07:00

Finished Nephew's pirate hat last, um, Friday night, sewing down each and every little stitch from the lining directly onto the hat. I realized that this was likely better than my inclination to bind it off and sew it in, as this ensures it'll stretch with the hat. I wove in all the other loose ends except the top ones, realizing that even though the bottom was done, I could still unravel the top and make it shorted if needed.

No need. It's really a perfect size. Huzzah!

I did, in the end, forget to weave in the two ends at the top, so I asked my sister to leave the hat behind (she pointing out that snowy days are far, far away anyway) so I could do that, and maybe I'll get a chance to block it, as well. (It really does look good as is, though.)

"We Call Them Pirates" I
Originally uploaded by RenaissanceWomn

So Friday afternoon, I crocheted a chain of 146 stitches, on which I cast, er, on 144 stitches of the bright Purple from the same yarn as the other. Joined on the Red, and off I went. I'm done with 2 rows of skulls already (2 to go!) and may get it in the mail on time for Niece's birthday (next Monday). I think it looks appropriately hideous, but my sister thought it looked very pretty. (My sister? Admiring knitting? I blame aliens. Or pod people.)

It really is a fun knit, and now I look forward to doing a more traditional Fair Isle design. Maybe a hat again, as they are so danged fast to knit. This is fun.

"We Call Them Pirates" II
Originally uploaded by RenaissanceWomn

Eeee!

2007-06-14T14:28:00.001-07:00

Added more yarn to my Flickr account. It really does get me excited about my stash! I get to fondle and admire the yarns (and sometimes wish I'd bought more so I could make myself a sweater), and look at all of the photos go up on Flickr. I think I'm more than halfway through.

Finally, photos

2007-06-10T22:12:00.001-07:00

Just made my first 'set' in Flickr, of my current WIPs. OK, the most prominent ones. :)

Here you go.

Pirates nearly done

2007-06-10T21:37:00.000-07:00

I finished the main knitting on my nephew's We Call Them Pirates last night. It really turned out neat. I hope it's not too big now!

The next step is to take the 144 stitches off of the provisional cast-on and knit them up with a soft liner yarn. Problem: I knit the hat on 3's with KnitPicks Palette. I want to use Rowan Calmer for my liner. It recommends using size 8 needles! That's a lot bigger. I'd also have to do k2 k2tog around to get the right number of stitches to match the circumference. But it's SOOO SOFT. (I bought two balls at my LYS's closing sale, to make another Shedir, which took me one-and-a-smidge balls of Calmer last time. So I have some to spare.)

The other option is to split the yarn and knit with maybe half of it. But would that be worth it for 2.5" of st st?

Pix up soon. It looks so cool. Looking forward to knitting it again. Nephew arrives Thursday night.

Nearly 3 weeks with no update?!?

2007-06-04T09:58:00.000-07:00

All right... I guess I haven't had much to update lately.

Working away at the Clapotis (which just enchants me every time I hold it up to view); I think I'm on the 2nd repeat of 6 of the "straight" section. Am toying with the idea of leaving the raveling stitches alone, so I can play with them while I wear the Clapotis.

Nearly done with the Budding Lace on the Swallowtail Shawl, so I'll need to decide soon if I want to do more repeats to make a larger shawl, or to leave the second ball of Misti Alpaca Lace alone and use it for another project, sell it, or give it away.

Finished the felted bowl and it is nice, though hairy (perhaps that's the mohair). Not sure if I posted on this: managed to knit it in circular on two straight needles, inside out! Daisy size 17s (13mm). After contemplating doing a seam, I realized there was another way: I cast on 34 stitches and, joining them in the round(ish), did sl 1 pwise, p1 across. And back. And again and again, only periodically having to fix a mistake (found by reaching up underneath). It made a lovely st st fabric on the inside! I had meant to bind off at the base and pick up stitches with my size 13 dpns (9mm), but feeling to lazy to get up and get them and also relishing a challenge, I dropped & picked up stitches to put two same-side stitches together and periodically did p2tog to decrease, until I had 7 stitches. I pulled the tail through them and voila! a pretty nice little gray bowl.

New project
Mentioned We Call Them Pirates to my niece and nephew on our weekend away, and they were enthusiastic. So I started a hat on 5/30 for my nephew with black as the background but a bright green for the foreground. It is eerie and wonderful! After doing about 17 rows, I tried it on... and found it tight. Checked my gauge, and it was too small: exactly matching KnitPicks' gauge but not OK for Pirates. Unraveled it all, did some math, and re-cast on 144 stitches so I'd get closer to the 21" the pattern predicts. Instead of adding a full repeat of the pattern (32 sts), I repeated the vertical bars twice at the beginning of each of the four repeats (4 more sts, total 16 additional stitches around). Because my row gauge was too small also, I added one more horizontal line and line of pluses at the bottom. I'm already back to where I was and it still looks great. In fact, I'm halfway through the second skull and it's only been 6 days since I started this project. I love quick knits, especially ones that look so cool. The one for my niece will be hideous in red and purple (she will love it).

Pattern: We Call Them Pirates
Yarn: KnitPicks Palette, Green and Black
Needles: Susan Bates Quicksilver in size 3, Silvalume in size 1
Gauge: 7 sts/in, 8 rows/in

Ooh, this is fun

2007-05-15T17:19:00.000-07:00

From And She Knits Too!:

Bold for stuff you’ve done, italics for stuff you plan to do one day, and normal for stuff you’re not planning on doing.

Afghan/Blanket (baby)
I-cord
Garter stitch
Knitting with metal wire
Shawl
Stockinette stitch
Socks: top-down
Socks: toe-up
Knitting with camel yarn
Mittens: Cuff-up
Mittens: Tip-down
Hat
Knitting with silk
Moebius band knitting
Participating in a KAL
Sweater
Drop stitch patterns
Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
Slip stitch patterns
Knitting with banana fiber yarn
Domino knitting (modular knitting)
Twisted stitch patterns
Knitting with bamboo yarn
Two end knitting
Charity knitting
Knitting with soy yarn
Cardigan
Toy/doll clothing
Knitting with circular needles
Knitting with your own handspun yarn
Slippers
Graffiti knitting (knitting items on, or to be left on the street)
Continental Knitting
Designing knitted garments
Cable stitch patterns (incl. Aran)
Lace patterns
Publishing a knitting book
Scarf
American/English knitting (as opposed to continental)
Knitting to make money
Button holes
Knitting with alpaca
Fair Isle knitting
Norwegian knitting
Dying with plant colors
Knitting items for a wedding
Household items (dishcloths, washcloths, tea cozies…)
Knitting socks (or other small tubular items) on two circulars
Olympic knitting
Knitting with someone else’s handspun yarn
Knitting with DPNs
Holiday related knitting
Teaching a male how to knit
Bobbles
Knitting for a living
Knitting with cotton
Knitting smocking
Dying yarn
Steeks
Knitting art
Fulling/felting
Knitting with wool
Textured knitting
Kitchener BO
Purses/bags
Knitting with beads
Swatching
Long Tail CO
Entrelac
Knitting and purling backwards
Machine knitting
Knitting with self-patterning/self-striping/variegating yarn
Stuffed toys
Baby items
Knitting with cashmere
Darning
Jewelry
Knitting with synthetic yarn
Writing a pattern
Gloves
Intarsia
Knitting with linen
Knitting for preemies
Tubular CO
Freeform knitting
Short rows
Cuffs/fingerless mitts/arm warmers
Pillows
Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine
Rug
Knitting on a loom
Thrummed knitting
Knitting a gift
Knitting for pets
Shrug/bolero/poncho
Knitting with dog/cat hair
Hair accessories
Knitting in public

Booyah!

Give her money, prove him wrong

2007-05-14T12:52:00.000-07:00

Dorothy is raising money for the upcoming Relay for Life, and her husband laughed when she said she wanted to raise $2,000. Not only do you get to help prove him wrong, you get entered into a raffle to win yarn. Oh, and the donations are in $CDN, so when you donate $20, you're really only donating $18.55!

Go, Dorothy!

FO, for a reason

2007-05-09T22:53:00.000-07:00

I'm on the 13th repeat of Backyard Leaves, but left off to finish the Tigger sweater for my son (knit and attach ears--that's all that was left).

The occasion? He finally lost his first tooth! He was so proud. Unfortunately, his belief in the tooth fairy has already fled, so he asked me to put something under his pillow. "Or if it's a toy or something, Mom, put it right here by my bed, OK?"

He has a Sacagawea dollar under his pillow and a finished Tigger sweater next to it.

(The ears turned out cute. I cast on 5 stitches, kfb at each RS row end for 2 rows, then started short-row shaping on the next WS row: I purled across 5 [of 9] stitches, wrapped the next stitch and turned, repeating for maybe 4 rows. k2tog at each end of RS rows twice, then bound off all. They're nicely cupped.)

Discount cashmere sweater, meet your un-maker

2007-05-05T23:56:00.000-07:00

Went to Goodwill, hoping against hope to find a cheap, great condition spinning wheel today. No such luck (that would be, as my son says, hecka luck).

But I did find a 100% cashmere sweater in a charming brown color. Didn't realize till I spread it out for photographing that it's a size XXL! I may be able to make an entire me-sized sweater with this. The photo has the sleeve pointing toward the one moth hole I found. With the last sweater I took apart that had moth holes, I only lost a bit to them. Yippee!

I've already started to take apart one seam. It really is easy-peasy, and rather addictive once you get the ball winder fired up and the unraveling item thumbtacked to the bulletin board.

I also am working on the 6th repeat (of prescribed 11) for the Backyard Leaves scarf. It is not a mindless knit for me, as I have to keep my eyes on the pattern quite a lot. I may do a couple extra repeats, since I technically have extra yardage, and won't have to estimate for the "other half" since I'm doing both at once. It really is sensational.