2010: After the Vacation

While I got a few things done the week between Christmas and New Year's, it wasn't the all-projects-all-the-time push that I had kind of been hoping for. What I did do was catch up on sleep. Ordinarily I see-saw between my night-person inclinations and my morning-centric job, and wind up seriously slort of sheep a lot of the time. A week at home, and I was actually full up. Rested. And while I would certainly have liked more vacation, I found that I wasn't quite as grumpy rolling out of bed at oh-dark-hundred as before. What a difference!

Among the things that did get done, and actually, the first FO of 2010--the extraneous sweater:


And the neck detail shot (which also shows off the yarn a little better):


This is a top down raglan, seamless, made using the Incredible Custom Fit Raglan pattern. (Note to self- the raglan dimensions on the pattern chart are seriously scrod. Next time stop the raglan increases when you reach the chest diameter. Or at least at some point before it would make a cozy for a cement mixer, necessitating lots of ripping back.) The fluffy yarn didn't lend itself to a lot of texturing, so it's quite a plain sweater, but I thought the yarn was just so pretty knit up that it didn't need a lot of ornamentation.

The yarn was a gift from a friend of my mother's, who has very kindly destashed quite a lot of yarn in my direction over the last year. My mom confessed to a grave temptation to keep it, despite not really wanting to knit a sweater. Hey, I can take a hint! I promptly decided that I'd really like to knit the yarn into a sweater for her--for Christmas. There was only one teensy little issue. I got the yarn at the end of October.

Now my Christmas knitting list was really quite modest, well thought-out and under control. Until I added the sweater. And decided to write a novel draft in November. Not even big needles could save me, I just plumb ran out of time. And the time I spent on the sweater was directly responsible for the last minute sock-and-mitt drama that had me knitting right down to the wire and beyond.

However, all that is now behind me. And I can return to my sorely neglected green Aran sweater...with maybe one or two teensy little side projects. After all, mitts hardly count:

Ladies Cable Cuff Mitts, from Dark Horse Fantasy and FO #2 of 2010

The sweater I just cast on for my sister, on the other hand....well, faint heart ne'er knit a lot of sweaters.

Someone Watches Over Fools

So when last we left our footgear, we were most of a foot short of a full sock. And silly me, I thought my biggest issue was going to be what other yarn to choose to make up a full order. The first skein of Trekking came from Webs, you see, and their sliding discount (not to mention shipping charges) is powerful incentive to buy more than just one ball of yarn.

But I'm currently already six or seven projects ahead of myself, which I know makes me a piker. But I really was really having trouble thinking what additional projects I wanted to do. So I went online to look and found...Webs was out of my colorway. Back-ordered. Hope to have more in several weeks. (Let me say here, that Webs' customer service is quite excellent, and it's not their fault they were unable to help in this instance.)

I was crushed. Despondent. Had to cast on a pair of mittens to take my mind off it. (We'll get into the issue of why, when you have a Christmas list full of stuff with deadlines, one feels the need to start something completely new in another post.)

So I idly googled Trekking, wondering if by any chance anyone else had it. Preferably someone else who wouldn't charge me an arm and a leg in shipping. I knew that my local yarn store doesn't carry Trekking. I looked at sites for several other stores in the area, noted one possible to call. And then. Up pops the name of a store a few towns over that I'd never heard of. That I drive right by every week on my way to karate. "Nah," I said. "That would be just too convenient. Still, I should check it out."

They had one skein left in the right colorway.



And here they are- the Fools Rush sock by Cassiana. Very charming pattern, clearly written. I had to size it up considerably, between the 00(!!) needles, the fine yarn, and the large feet, but I quite like the results.

Now maybe I should knit something on the Christmas list, eh?

Photo Op

And now that I've finally had a sunny day to shoot some decent photos, the Optic Waves Beaded Scarf:



It didn't grow as much in blocking as I'd hoped, but 54" isn't a bad length for something that is really an accessory. The blocking did spread out the lace and show off the scallops of the pattern beautifully. Now all it needs is to find its destined recipient. Surely there will be someone who will love it as it deserves.

In other news...the stealth project is also done. It wasn't stealthy the last time it was here, but I've since found out that more people were reading this blog than I realized. (Hint- if you've any reason to suspect I might be giving you something knitted for Christmas- don't click on the package. There are also more photos on the the Ravelry project page.)


And yes, that officially makes three completed FOs on my Christmas list. I might actually finish everything, if I can resist the urge to add more! (Not to mention the urge to get obsessed with projects that *aren't* on the Christmas list! Yes, colorwork sweater, I'm looking at you.)

Declare Victory and Move On

So there I was, knitting the button band, when I started to feel a little apprehensive... 'this button band sure is taking a lot of yarn' I thought. And 'isn't it a good thing that I saved the bit left from the sleeve instead of knitting it onto the body the way I'd planned?' I finished the skein, joined on the bit left from the sleeve. I kept knitting.

And then, four inches short of the length of button band I needed? I ran out.

Now I did have a backup plan. This is a long sweater- swiping a couple of rows from the body wouldn't have any difference to the wearability of the sweater. But it sure would have been annoying to take out that whole hundreds-of-stitches cast off and re-do it. Fortunately, before I had time to get too worked up, I remembered something else. The Strategic National Yarn Reserve, savior of more than one of my prior projects- aka, The Swatch.


And I was saved! After that, it was finishing the sewing, weaving in a million ends, and sewing on buttons for the win!

Excuse me while I gloat for a few minutes:




This was how much yarn was left:


And now for the project debrief:
I'd forgotten how long this particular button band needs to be, but also how smoothly and neatly it finishes the sweater- totally worth the trouble. The sweater isn't really as long and narrow as it appears, the knit columns broken up with purl rows tend to pull in like gigantic ribbing- which should not only accommodate the larger size of the recipient, but gently gloss over any slight mis-sizing.

I like the Berroco Love It yarn well enough. It was a pleasure to knit with- very flexible and easy on the hands. I'm a little concerned about how it will wear- it didn't take well at all to being pulled out and reknitted- the yarn looks a bit scuffed. Although it's supposed to be machine washable, I'm going to recommend that it be washed inside a mesh bag to prevent excessive rubbing or stretching. I'm still a bit worried about whether it will pill. Time will tell of course.

I'm very pleased with the pattern - the top down construction made it very easy for me to try it on and decide if I was going badly wrong or not. It does need a certain amount of interpolation on the part of the knitter- one does need to think about sleeve decreases (preferably more thoroughly than I did before knitting). I enjoyed being able to use whatever designs I wanted on it (though it does take more planning to do because of the need to add increase stitches in pattern as the yoke grows in size). At the same time, I may think twice about using it again for something this large. By the time I hit the halfway point, it was hard to carry with me, which slowed my progress considerably, since I tend to do most of my knitting while running around. It would be completely brilliant for kid's sweaters though.

Altogether a very enjoyable knit, and I learned a lot. But for my next sweater? I think I'm going to knit a pattern from my bookshelf, and enjoy having the design done for me. I've decided that I don't require this level of deep thought in every project I do!

Farewell to the Red Earls

As I expected, I needed to pull yarn from the first sock to finish the second and then rip back another inch and redo it in ribbing to get the socks the same length. They finished a tad shorter than I would have preferred, but I'd like to hold off on getting any more yarn until I have some feedback on the wearability. Initial reports say the first pair are in heavy rotation and holding up better than the commercial wool socks that were also new at Christmas.


I'm also eager to see if there are any differences in the various constructions after wearing- in three pairs of socks, I have done three toes (kitchenered, and two toe-up configurations with nylon reinforcement) and three heels (top down with flap and heel stitch, short row heel and toe up with a heel flap, also with a heel stitch).


However, I don't see any way to improve on the yarn utilization. I came pretty close to using it all- this was what was left:


So now the question is, what next? I'm seriously tempted by the thought of more socks. I have two pairs left in queue- the fan lace socks I've already started, and the ball of sock yarn I got at Webs. However, I think I need to make some headway on the cardigan. That one has a deadline, after all. So- sweater at home and fan lace socks for a small project to take with me when I might need to wait somewhere.

La, a Note to Follow Sew

In between work and karate practice, I hung out in a bookstore for an hour and finished the hat:


To get the clean color transitions in ribbing, I used the trick of knitting the first row after the color change. I spotted this on a blog quite recently (within the last month or two), also for a hat, but I can't for the life of me remember where. And while a Google search has turned up a couple of mentions of this trick, I'd love to find the blog that I read it on. Anyone?

And now that the hat is sewn up, I've stopped wondering if it's big enough and have started wondering if it's *too* big! I tried it on and ribbing aside, it slithered right down over my eyes until my nose stopped it. Then of course I had to go measure my own head to try and figure out if it's exceptionally small- seems there's a five and a half inch difference in head circumference between me and the intended recipient. I'll hopefully be seeing him this weekend, and will find out if it fits!

Other than that, I'm still sewing drape, and finally got a finished picture.


As it turns out, there's more drape pinned now than I can sew tonight and pass along before the weekend, so the sewing will continue on the weekend and into next week. My goal for the weekend is to get enough done that I can get the library cleaned up and move the mess back into the sewing room.

In the Eyes of the World

I can't imagine that there's any place in the free world not aware of this, but today is primary day in New Hampshire. Yes, this is the season when every registered voter in the state has the constitutional right to have presidential candidates wash their
car and come over for coffee. And all we have to do is endure our mailboxes being stuffed with glossy political ads (any really environmentally sensitive candidate would give up the glossy and at least give me something I can burn in the wood stove- heating oil is expensive), and the phone and doorbell ringing off the hook under the onslaught of canvassers, pollsters, volunteers inviting us to hear candidates speak, recordings not giving us a choice about hearing candidates speak, and similar insanity. Thank heavens it's almost over. All I have to do is delete all the messages on the answering machine, tell a few dozen people I've already voted, thanks, and then wait for the polls to close.

So, what does this have to do with crafting, you were wondering? Good question. *pause while I retrace my train of thought* Ah, yes, so last night we decided to go out to dinner to avoid a few dozen phone calls, and I took these with me:


The second pair of fingerless mitts. The big yarn just makes them fly- I cast them on over the weekend. So these will go off to join their mates with my sister, while I contemplate mitts for myself. I'm thinking of trying colorwork. I have some really lovely merino that a friend gave me, and I've been looking at Fair Isle sites. And in the meantime, some of the merino will go into a hat for my friend Allen. I was quite amused to read this entry in the Yarn Harlot blog, regarding head size- Allen's wife asked if I would knit him a hat because he has a large head, and while he can find knit hats that he can wear, they tend to ride up. (Am I alone in thinking this means they're too small?) I'm thinking it will have to be deeper in proportion to the head diameter as well, and I'll do a folded cuff so he can adjust how far down to pull it.

And in somewhat sad news, today I finished reading all the back archives of the YH blog. That leaves me just the three books still to read. My mother gave me the first for Christmas (after pre-reading it to be sure it was 'good enough'- she enjoyed it as much as I did). And she said that the second didn't arrive in time for Christmas, and I can have it as soon as she reads it. (There is a long tradition of pre-reading gift books in my family, lest you think that this is uncouth. But I don't think I'm unconscionably suspicious to wonder if it didn't arrive in time for mom to read it before Christmas. I mean, I'm sure it really was late, my mom wouldn't fib about such a thing. I just...wonder. Not that I would consider such a thing myself.) But, the end is in sight- soon I'll be reduced to just waiting for new books and the latest blog posts along with everyone else.

Of course, there are many, many knit blogs out there, and at the moment my 'regular read' list is quite small (Hi Karen!). So I have been cruising around checking out others to satisfy my addiction to feed my habit to add to my regular reading list.

There and Back Again

2007 was the year that I rediscovered knitting.

I've knit for over twenty years- My mother taught me at my request when I was in college. (I'd tried once before, at age 12, and lost interest quickly in a morass of dropped stitches and bewildering tangles. I was an exceptionally poorly coordinated child.) At eighteen, I picked it up more quickly than any other skill I have ever learned before or since, the stitches slipping smoothly and evenly across the needles. Day one, I began a pair of children's mittens for the charity bag. Day three I cast them off. Day four I started mittens for myself. At three months I proudly cast off my first sweater and immediately started planning a more elaborate one.

I knit sweaters from patterns I found in magazines that my mother bought at yard sales, or in books from the library, or given to us by friends. I knit the two-needle flat mittens the same way my mother and grandmother did. I tried all sorts of patterned knitting and made a sweater in several colors for a friend. The result was wearable if not perfect. When I'd finish one thing, I'd cast around for something with a different pattern or technique in it. I quickly found myself well beyond my mother's level of interest in the craft. My mom mainly knits to fill in a few spare moments or while watching TV. This fall she recorded her 1000th(!) pair of mittens for the charity bag, and she's made endless numbers of slippers, mittens and hats for the family, but she rarely ventures anything larger. My late grandmother was a more ambitious knitter and crocheter, but I didn't see her often enough for her to be a real influence on my knitting.

Which is a roundabout way to say that I've never really known anyone whom I could ask about the more complex bits of knitting. A few years ago, my mother (a passionate and inventive quilter) drew me into quilting for a few years. I made a number of smallish quilts and greatly enjoyed them. But after my last quilt, I knew it was time for a break. Between work and night classes I didn't have a lot of time for designing and piecing a new quilt top, a necessary prerequisite for the quilting. I enjoy the designing, but piecing tends to be an irritating obstruction to be dealt with before I can start to hand-quilt- the part I find really relaxing.

It was at this point that an online friend happened to mention she was knitting a log-cabin baby blanket. Knitting! I remembered knitting! It's excellent for not needing an extended period of prep work. And baby blankets- what a great idea! I had several friends who had just had babies (and I hadn't yet sent a gift), or who were due in upcoming months. And the whole log cabin idea seemed tailor-made for some yarn I already owned- nine skeins of fine, fine baby yarn, in two colors. By the time I saw my friend's log-cabin baby blanket pictures, I had already taken the concept, made a bunch of changes, and was off and knitting.

It was the same friend who, when I bugged her for more pictures, pointed me at the Yarn Harlot blog. And now I was in love- this blog is funny, and creative and simply full of knitting. And links. And I looked at more blogs and websites, and patterns and yarn, new ideas and techniques and articles...and given that I spend roughly 90% of my waking hours umbilically connected to a keyboard, I am really embarrassed to admit that I never thought of looking for knitporn knitting information online. It's some kind of weird blind spot having to do with learning to knit pre-internet, I guess. But that was the start of my year in knitting.


2007 Parade of FOs:


Log Cabin Baby Blanket- the original pattern that my friend was knitting is (I think) from Mason-Dixon knitting, and was a garter stitch based blanket. While I love reversible patterns for blankets, I was afraid I'd find garter stitch boring. Not to mention that I was using a fine baby yarn, and wanted a pattern that would disguise the fact that I was using the largest needles I thought I could get away with. So I chose this lattice pattern (from a book whose information I've long since lost), and resigned myself to a lack of reversibility. There were several useful things I figured out while knitting this, but chiefly, to use a pattern in a log cabin design, you want the number of rows in the side stripes to be an even multiple of your pattern stitch plus any border (so that when you pick up one stitch for every two rows to knit in the perpendicular direction, you come out with the right number of stitches to make complete pattern repeats. Another thing was that I needed to put my garter stitch border rows on the inside edge of a perpendicular strip. On the outside edge they didn't match up with the pieces going the other way for the frame effect I wanted. Yarn is Wintuk Sayelle from Brunswick. And I have no idea where it came from- I think someone gave it to my mom.




Basket Weave Baby Blanket- The log cabin blanket was almost done before I was due to leave on a trip to England for a week. While I don't usually like to have too many things on needles at the same time*, I wasn't going to haul a nearly finished item along an the whole trip. Clearly, I needed more yarn. So I went off to the LYS, and found a nice wool blend. It's an uncharacteristically country sort of pink for me, but it was a lovely soft yarn, worsted weight (I was still twitching from the baby yarn) and this was going to an infant in the north woods of Maine. And it was washable (I think that things intended to be spit up on should preferably be machine washable. Particularly if you want them to be used.) This one was reversible, using a simple basket weave pattern for the center and seed stitch for the border. The yarn is...ah...a mystery. I appear not to have saved the ball band. (Edit: Ahah! I found it. I won't speculate on what the ball-band was doing behind the TV, but the yarn was Plymouth Encore, 75% acrylic/25% wool Color: 0241.)
*I realize that this is not a usual kind of phenomenon, but I am that rarity, the non-stashing project knitter. My 'stash' consists of two small bags of yarn that has been given to me (non-stashing does *not* mean I'm silly enough to turn down free yarn), plus whatever I've bought for projects in progress. While I don't practice strict project monogamy, it's fairly unusual for me to have more than two knitting projects going at once. The number of different kinds of projects- carpentry, sewing, writing, knitting, etc, can be quite large.



At about the halfway point in the basket weave blanket (and when I was still finishing the log cabin one), I found out that I was about to become an aunt again. But I couldn't face another pastel, so I found a clear bright red for the next one. This is the Diamond Filigree baby blanket, using another pattern from the same book as the lattice one above. The yarn is Dark Horse Fantasy.


By the third baby blanket I was starting to get a bit bored. (This will be a recurring theme, I'm sure.) So I whipped through a few sets of hats and mittens, so I'd remember what decreases were.

And in the meantime, I'd been looking at sock patterns, luscious tempting sock patterns. Socks looked so interestingly not like flat rectangles. And my brother-in-law passionately loves red wool socks. No, I'm not sure why. He just does. And while commercial wool socks are easy to find- red is a lot harder. So I discovered at the library (and later purchased my own copy of) Charlene Schurch's Sensational Knitted Socks, and knit the first of two pair for a Christmas gift . While I can't provide a comparison with other sock knitting books, I found this one to be very well organized, with a lot of good how-to information and useful charts for sizing.


These are garter rib socks made from Country Yarn for Sox. They are seriously heavy, dead-of-winter, snow shoveling, keep-your-feet-warm-in-a-blizzard socks (fortunately, by Christmas we'd no shortage of blizzards). I also congratulated myself on getting a jump on the holiday knitting. (Ha! As you will discover in future posts, no amount of planning on my part is equal to my ability to bite off more than I can chew.) I also have to say that this yarn is positively enchanting as it knits up. You think it looks like a bland solid? Not so. The subtle heathery highlights made every stitch of these completely captivating. (We shall not speak of possibly rude words I may have uttered during my first attempt at kitchenering the toes.) These are my second pair of socks ever. It was a real wrench giving them away.

At that point, I started thinking that perhaps a pair of medium weight socks would also be good (okay, okay, so sue me, I just wanted to knit more socks!). So I made these- beaded rib, in Cascade 220 Superwash(Color 809).


By now it was clear that this knitting kick wasn't going to be a passing fancy but a more extended affair. In October, I decided to make a sweater for [name elided in case the recipient stumbles across this blog] for Christmas. While this did not actually come to pass (about which more anon), it did keep me knitting. In mid-December I reluctantly admitted that the sweater was not going to be a Christmas sweater, and switched gears to zip through a pair of elbow-length knitted fingerless mitts for my sister (big needles, bulkie yarn- gotta love it for those last minute gifts). The photo, on looking at it, is not very good. But, I'm knitting her a second pair, and will get a better photo of them shortly. Yarn is Reynolds Andean Alpaca Regal- lovely stuff. I chose it not only for the bulk, but for the plushy softness against the skin.

Christmas Day, I polished off the last FO of the year while providing a self-heating sleeping surface for cats beside my sister and brother-in-law's Christmas branch (a whole tree was deemed unwise, as the cats cannot be persuaded not to climb them). Appropriately, the mittens were for the charity bag (they're basically identical to the blue ones in the group pic above, so they won't get their own photo).

Peace on earth, warm hands for men, women and children everywhere.