Anyway, here it is at last.... The color work sock made at the NSKO. Hope you like it!
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
3 days till Christmas and they've all gone home.
Can you tell it's a slow day at work? Went to the new iHop for lunch (with workmates, to celebrate holidays), then spent some time photographing my latest socks using the built-in camera on the Mac on my desk. That was fun. Glad no one came in in the middle.
Anyway, here it is at last.... The color work sock made at the NSKO. Hope you like it!
Anyway, here it is at last.... The color work sock made at the NSKO. Hope you like it!
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Rip it
Last night was a frogging night. I knit up a good 6 inches on the sleeves of the Suede sweater, then got a nagging suspicion that I was not increasing fast enough to taper the sleeves up. Although I was mightily tempted to just continue on and hope for the best, in my heart of hearts I knew this was the old me talking, the one who never made a sweater that fit in her life. Firm in my resolution not to be that knitter any more, I put one of the sleeves on a string, took it off the needles, and tried it on. Sure enough, halfway from the wrist to the elbow it became totally snug. Not large enough.
So, I ripped it back. Not all the way, the first 3 inches or so were okay, but I ripped out all I had done last night. It hurt. But I keep thinking of how good it will feel when I finish the sweater and it fits. Patience, knitters, patience.
So, I ripped it back. Not all the way, the first 3 inches or so were okay, but I ripped out all I had done last night. It hurt. But I keep thinking of how good it will feel when I finish the sweater and it fits. Patience, knitters, patience.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
A mixed bag
By popular acclaim (thanks, blonde knitter), I have started the Lion Suede sweater jacket. A bit of advice: when someone shows you a cool new technique and you want to use it, don't wait a month to do it. Fortunately, I still had the sample I knitted at the NSKO. After 4 tries I finally managed to do it right and was able to cast on.
In my defense, the sample was knit flat, and the cast on was in the round. So I did have to adapt the original instructions a little. But my basic mistake had nothing to do with that, so it doesn't really excuse me.
Anyway, I decided to knit the sleeves first and to knit them both at the same time, so I now have them cast on, the first two rows knitted (the cool braided looking pattern K1Frog2 taught me) and also a couple plain rows to lock it all into place. I stopped there because I have to take some measurements and decide on the increase pattern so the sleeves can taper properly. I'm knitting the sleeves first because I'm making the pattern up as I go along. The length of the body will be determined mainly by how far the yarn I have will go, so I figured get the sleeves out of the way and then I'll know how much yarn I really have for the body.
On a different note, more sock sadness, but also some gladness. The pair of socks I knit on our vacation last summer became a single sock somewhere along the way. For a couple of months now, the single sock has languished, hanging over the edge of my sock box waiting for its mate to reappear. Finally, it did. In the yard. Under the clothesline. Where it has lain for lo these past months since it got too cold to hang laundry out and have it dry in a reasonable time. Peter discovered it while bringing in the clothespins for the winter. Do you know what happens when dyed wool lays out in the sun for a couple of months? Yes! It fades! Now imagine a sock which has lain in the sun with one side up and the other side down for all that time. It is a very interesting two-tone sock now. However, I have determined to go ahead and wear it. I only wore these once or twice, I want to wear them more. Just not anyplace where appearance really matters.
In my defense, the sample was knit flat, and the cast on was in the round. So I did have to adapt the original instructions a little. But my basic mistake had nothing to do with that, so it doesn't really excuse me.
Anyway, I decided to knit the sleeves first and to knit them both at the same time, so I now have them cast on, the first two rows knitted (the cool braided looking pattern K1Frog2 taught me) and also a couple plain rows to lock it all into place. I stopped there because I have to take some measurements and decide on the increase pattern so the sleeves can taper properly. I'm knitting the sleeves first because I'm making the pattern up as I go along. The length of the body will be determined mainly by how far the yarn I have will go, so I figured get the sleeves out of the way and then I'll know how much yarn I really have for the body.
On a different note, more sock sadness, but also some gladness. The pair of socks I knit on our vacation last summer became a single sock somewhere along the way. For a couple of months now, the single sock has languished, hanging over the edge of my sock box waiting for its mate to reappear. Finally, it did. In the yard. Under the clothesline. Where it has lain for lo these past months since it got too cold to hang laundry out and have it dry in a reasonable time. Peter discovered it while bringing in the clothespins for the winter. Do you know what happens when dyed wool lays out in the sun for a couple of months? Yes! It fades! Now imagine a sock which has lain in the sun with one side up and the other side down for all that time. It is a very interesting two-tone sock now. However, I have determined to go ahead and wear it. I only wore these once or twice, I want to wear them more. Just not anyplace where appearance really matters.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Starting Again
I am happy to report that my mother-in-law is back home and stable now. They don't call her the come-back kid for nothing. The cardiac socks are almost done, just need to bind them off. The yarn is a hand-dyed Peruvian wool in shades of brown/terra cotta/black which was a gift from my sister-in-law a while back. It's a little heavier than most sock weight, but not much, so I knit it up on the same needles I always use. The size is fine, and the socks are just a little extra heavy and warm. With the wintry temperatures we're having this week, I'm happy to have them. Okay, wintry for Maryland, I know you Chicago types would laugh at this.
Sock sadness over the weekend. I put on a pair of lacy socks I knit in a self-striping yarn, and discovered a big hole in them! Yarn breakage, moths, don't know why, but it looks like some of the yarn gave way and then it unraveled a bit. I think I'm going to try darning them. I really like these socks, the combination of the lacy pattern and the stripes did some really cool looking things. The stripes became waves, and as the socks were washed the yarn felted a bit so the lace pattern is more of a visual texture now. So they are textured with funky wavy stripes. I love it.
And now I face the new project dilemma again. Will the next project be the Lion Suede sweater jacket we all helped design at the NSKO? I'm quite excited about the design, I think it will be fun to make. Or will it be the gloves I'm dying to try? On the NSKO trip to the yarn shop, I bought a book because it has good, basic instructions for knitting gloves, which I am eager to try. I also bought some blue/green speckled sock yarn, and when I got home I realized it's the perfect colors to go with my berber fleece jacket that I wear in spring and fall. So now I am dying to knit a pair of gloves with this yarn to go with the jacket. Decisions, decisions!
Of course, neither project is a good traveling project, so there will also be another pair of socks started soon. I have picked out a variegated yarn in muted sunset colors, yellow to peach to salmon sort of shades.
Sock sadness over the weekend. I put on a pair of lacy socks I knit in a self-striping yarn, and discovered a big hole in them! Yarn breakage, moths, don't know why, but it looks like some of the yarn gave way and then it unraveled a bit. I think I'm going to try darning them. I really like these socks, the combination of the lacy pattern and the stripes did some really cool looking things. The stripes became waves, and as the socks were washed the yarn felted a bit so the lace pattern is more of a visual texture now. So they are textured with funky wavy stripes. I love it.
And now I face the new project dilemma again. Will the next project be the Lion Suede sweater jacket we all helped design at the NSKO? I'm quite excited about the design, I think it will be fun to make. Or will it be the gloves I'm dying to try? On the NSKO trip to the yarn shop, I bought a book because it has good, basic instructions for knitting gloves, which I am eager to try. I also bought some blue/green speckled sock yarn, and when I got home I realized it's the perfect colors to go with my berber fleece jacket that I wear in spring and fall. So now I am dying to knit a pair of gloves with this yarn to go with the jacket. Decisions, decisions!
Of course, neither project is a good traveling project, so there will also be another pair of socks started soon. I have picked out a variegated yarn in muted sunset colors, yellow to peach to salmon sort of shades.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Cardiac knitting
Still basking in the afterglow of the North Shore Knit Out. Thanks for everything, ladies, it was an amazing weekend! A real break from everything, and great to see you both again!
When I got home I launched immediately into the preparations for Thanksgiving, since we had the whole family (10 people in all) up to our house for the big day. A nice time, and a nice meal, if I say so myself.
Unfortunately, the afterglow of that was dampened by Peter's mom going to the hospital at 5am Friday morning with chest pains. They say she did have some sort of cardiac event (not the first time). Once she was stable and they determined that inserting a stent was not an option (almost killed her last time they tried), they let her go home. That was Tuesday afternoon. So she's home, she's happy, Peter's sister is taking leave from work to take care of her, no one quite knows what to expect. On the bright side, I got a lot of knitting done last weekend, too.
I finished the Fair Isle socks I worked on at the NSKO. While I was working them I had serious doubts about my color choices, especially the purple, but once I put that final band of the burgundy tweed at the top of the whole thing, it really pulled it all together. I am happy with them. The tension seems fine, I did not have trouble wearing them or getting them on and off. No undue trouble about snagging the yarns being carried on the wrong side. Some of those carries were a bit long, I was a little worried about that. I don't quite know what, if anything, to do with all the ends from the color changes. I may just ignore them and hope they felt up and stick to the inside of the sock eventually. I just washed them for the first time, I ought to inspect them and see whether that sounds plausible.
Finished those up on the day after Thanksgiving, while I was waiting at home to find out what was happening with Peter's mom. By the end of the day she was stable and we knew she'd be in for a while, so I started a plain pair of self-striping socks to work on in the waiting room. Sure enough, spent large parts of Saturday and Sunday in the hospital waiting room, mostly watching stuff while Peter and his brother and sister took turns visiting mom in the critical care unit, talking to doctors, etc. It was important for me to be there, but I'm also really happy I have a hobby that is portable and can keep me occupied for hours.
When I got home I launched immediately into the preparations for Thanksgiving, since we had the whole family (10 people in all) up to our house for the big day. A nice time, and a nice meal, if I say so myself.
Unfortunately, the afterglow of that was dampened by Peter's mom going to the hospital at 5am Friday morning with chest pains. They say she did have some sort of cardiac event (not the first time). Once she was stable and they determined that inserting a stent was not an option (almost killed her last time they tried), they let her go home. That was Tuesday afternoon. So she's home, she's happy, Peter's sister is taking leave from work to take care of her, no one quite knows what to expect. On the bright side, I got a lot of knitting done last weekend, too.
I finished the Fair Isle socks I worked on at the NSKO. While I was working them I had serious doubts about my color choices, especially the purple, but once I put that final band of the burgundy tweed at the top of the whole thing, it really pulled it all together. I am happy with them. The tension seems fine, I did not have trouble wearing them or getting them on and off. No undue trouble about snagging the yarns being carried on the wrong side. Some of those carries were a bit long, I was a little worried about that. I don't quite know what, if anything, to do with all the ends from the color changes. I may just ignore them and hope they felt up and stick to the inside of the sock eventually. I just washed them for the first time, I ought to inspect them and see whether that sounds plausible.
Finished those up on the day after Thanksgiving, while I was waiting at home to find out what was happening with Peter's mom. By the end of the day she was stable and we knew she'd be in for a while, so I started a plain pair of self-striping socks to work on in the waiting room. Sure enough, spent large parts of Saturday and Sunday in the hospital waiting room, mostly watching stuff while Peter and his brother and sister took turns visiting mom in the critical care unit, talking to doctors, etc. It was important for me to be there, but I'm also really happy I have a hobby that is portable and can keep me occupied for hours.
Friday, November 12, 2010
Packing update
Packing for the North Shore Knit-Out is on target. I got a couple inches of the Lion Suede sweater jacket done, enough to get over the ribbing at the beginning. Now it's a good knit-out project, rows and rows of stockinette stitch without too much else going on. So I put that down to be packed.
Last night I finished a pair of traveling socks in a self-striping blue and grey which have been taking up the sock needles. So tonight I'll start the fair isle socks. I'd like to get through the first few rows of the toes, they're the hardest part and require some concentration. Once I get into the swing of the toe cap increase pattern, I'll put them down as well. I want to work on the plain foot part on the flight out. K1Frog2 claims the knit-out starts when I step off the plane on Thursday, but for me it will begin approx. 7 hours earlier when I check in at BWI. I like to get there two hours ahead of the flight, almost all the flights to Milwaukee have a stop, and I like to have at least an hour layover in case I have to change planes. I also don't like really short hops, so I picked flights with stops in places more out of the way than Chicago. So the flight itself is taking 5 hours where a direct flight to Chicago would take 2, but what the heck, I said to myself, it's more time to knit. Let's get into the spirit of this thing. Besides, I gain an hour on the flight west, and I thought arriving later in the afternoon would be less disruptive for my wonderful friends who are going out of their way to pick me up at the airport. Is this making it all too complicated?
Now I need to line up a good project for the flight back. The sweater jacket is too bulky to carry in a purse, and if I'm lucky I'll get into the color work on the fair isle socks before I come back, which means they're also too bulky due to the many balls of different colors that need to be on hand. Another simple pair of socks, what I like to call "traveling socks". Something in a self striping yarn is ideal. Hmm, that means I have to find my second set of sock needles this weekend. Let the hunt begin.
Last night I finished a pair of traveling socks in a self-striping blue and grey which have been taking up the sock needles. So tonight I'll start the fair isle socks. I'd like to get through the first few rows of the toes, they're the hardest part and require some concentration. Once I get into the swing of the toe cap increase pattern, I'll put them down as well. I want to work on the plain foot part on the flight out. K1Frog2 claims the knit-out starts when I step off the plane on Thursday, but for me it will begin approx. 7 hours earlier when I check in at BWI. I like to get there two hours ahead of the flight, almost all the flights to Milwaukee have a stop, and I like to have at least an hour layover in case I have to change planes. I also don't like really short hops, so I picked flights with stops in places more out of the way than Chicago. So the flight itself is taking 5 hours where a direct flight to Chicago would take 2, but what the heck, I said to myself, it's more time to knit. Let's get into the spirit of this thing. Besides, I gain an hour on the flight west, and I thought arriving later in the afternoon would be less disruptive for my wonderful friends who are going out of their way to pick me up at the airport. Is this making it all too complicated?
Now I need to line up a good project for the flight back. The sweater jacket is too bulky to carry in a purse, and if I'm lucky I'll get into the color work on the fair isle socks before I come back, which means they're also too bulky due to the many balls of different colors that need to be on hand. Another simple pair of socks, what I like to call "traveling socks". Something in a self striping yarn is ideal. Hmm, that means I have to find my second set of sock needles this weekend. Let the hunt begin.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
The Packing List
Okay, the C word is out. Knitting rocks.
NSKW (North Shore Knitting Weekend) - 15 and counting. Preparation of the projects begins. What to take? The Fair Isle socks? The Lion Suede sweater jacket? K1Frog2 says both, but will I have room? My disdain for flying only increases. I am hoping to go with just a carry-on bag. I can fit clothing for a long weekend in a carry-on, but will it leave room for 20 balls of sock yarn (Fair Isle with 10 colors x 2 because I knit them both at once) AND 16 balls of bulky yarn? It's squishable, but really....
Ah, these are the pleasant dilemmas in life. Finished the gauge swatches for the Suede, and I have decided I like the somewhat tight fabric that size 7's give. Almost a wide wale corduroy look. Pleasing in a jacket, in my opinion. Now I am deliberating how best to work the two colors I have. Had to get a second color to get enough yarn for a whole jacket, so now I have to figure out how to combine them, given the relative amount I have of each color. I'll probably just play with this one for a while, not really try to get a lot done before the trip.
The foot part of the Fair Isle socks would make a good travel project for the trip out. The foot will be plain, which is ideal for knitting on the go. K1Frog2 is writing so glowingly of stranded knitting, I'd love to work on these with her!
Hmm, assuming I get into the Fair Isle pattern during the visit, that means I'll need another simple project for the return trip. I'm trying to fly cheaply, the 2 hour flight to Chicago is going to take me 4-5 hours clock time each way, I have to have something to do. I guess I'll throw in stuff for another pair of traveling socks. Not a bad idea anyway; it's too easy to make mistakes on a complicated project when knitting in company. Need a simple project to switch to sometimes.
Okay, this is firming up. If only I can fit it into my bag.
NSKW (North Shore Knitting Weekend) - 15 and counting. Preparation of the projects begins. What to take? The Fair Isle socks? The Lion Suede sweater jacket? K1Frog2 says both, but will I have room? My disdain for flying only increases. I am hoping to go with just a carry-on bag. I can fit clothing for a long weekend in a carry-on, but will it leave room for 20 balls of sock yarn (Fair Isle with 10 colors x 2 because I knit them both at once) AND 16 balls of bulky yarn? It's squishable, but really....
Ah, these are the pleasant dilemmas in life. Finished the gauge swatches for the Suede, and I have decided I like the somewhat tight fabric that size 7's give. Almost a wide wale corduroy look. Pleasing in a jacket, in my opinion. Now I am deliberating how best to work the two colors I have. Had to get a second color to get enough yarn for a whole jacket, so now I have to figure out how to combine them, given the relative amount I have of each color. I'll probably just play with this one for a while, not really try to get a lot done before the trip.
The foot part of the Fair Isle socks would make a good travel project for the trip out. The foot will be plain, which is ideal for knitting on the go. K1Frog2 is writing so glowingly of stranded knitting, I'd love to work on these with her!
Hmm, assuming I get into the Fair Isle pattern during the visit, that means I'll need another simple project for the return trip. I'm trying to fly cheaply, the 2 hour flight to Chicago is going to take me 4-5 hours clock time each way, I have to have something to do. I guess I'll throw in stuff for another pair of traveling socks. Not a bad idea anyway; it's too easy to make mistakes on a complicated project when knitting in company. Need a simple project to switch to sometimes.
Okay, this is firming up. If only I can fit it into my bag.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Dare I say the C-word?
Haven't been posting lately because I have been taking a real lunch break instead. I started teaching one of my coworkers how to knit, and next thing you know, we started dragging each other over to the pub to get out of our offices at lunchtime. It's nice to have a real break instead of eating in front of the computer. Saves on keyboards, too.
The circle vest is done. I haven't had so much fun knitting anything in a long time. Last weekend I blocked it, so it's laying out in the guest room now drying and relaxing into its desired shape. Okay, it's a circle, duh, but it turned out the center of the circle wanted to pouf out, so some blocking was required to flatten it. Tonight I'll unpin it and see whether it's ready to be worn to knitting group tomorrow. Except that the forecast is for temps in the 70's -- hardly the weather to wear a knitted vest of that weight. Well, we'll see.
Now I'm into -- gasp -- a crotchet project! My new lunch partner is a long-time crotcheter. When she learned that I also crotchet, she brought in a book of crotchet patterns she was having some trouble with. Basically the author of the book has come up with one really good technique -- how to use a crotcheted shell stitch and knit a top down, raglan sleeve, seamless garment by increasing the shells a certain way. She has developed the basic technique into about 20 different garments in this book. Because the garments are all variations on each other, though, the instructions go something like "start by following the instructions on pg. x until you have a first row that's 6" long, then follow the directions for garment A through the first 6 rows of the body, then follow the directions for garment C until the body is 10" long, then follow these instructions to shape the bottom" and so on. Then each garment has about 12 sizes, and some of them have entirely different instruction sets for different sizes, and it's just a lot to keep track of.
Well, I spent a weekend figuring it all out, and I made a cute little summer cardigan. It's almost done, just a couple inches left on the sleeves. It really works, and it looks good on! Very pleasing.
Clearly it's time to take some more pictures.
Mentally I'm now in that between-project zone which is a nice break sometimes, but I think I'm almost ready to jump into something new. What to choose? What to choose?
The circle vest is done. I haven't had so much fun knitting anything in a long time. Last weekend I blocked it, so it's laying out in the guest room now drying and relaxing into its desired shape. Okay, it's a circle, duh, but it turned out the center of the circle wanted to pouf out, so some blocking was required to flatten it. Tonight I'll unpin it and see whether it's ready to be worn to knitting group tomorrow. Except that the forecast is for temps in the 70's -- hardly the weather to wear a knitted vest of that weight. Well, we'll see.
Now I'm into -- gasp -- a crotchet project! My new lunch partner is a long-time crotcheter. When she learned that I also crotchet, she brought in a book of crotchet patterns she was having some trouble with. Basically the author of the book has come up with one really good technique -- how to use a crotcheted shell stitch and knit a top down, raglan sleeve, seamless garment by increasing the shells a certain way. She has developed the basic technique into about 20 different garments in this book. Because the garments are all variations on each other, though, the instructions go something like "start by following the instructions on pg. x until you have a first row that's 6" long, then follow the directions for garment A through the first 6 rows of the body, then follow the directions for garment C until the body is 10" long, then follow these instructions to shape the bottom" and so on. Then each garment has about 12 sizes, and some of them have entirely different instruction sets for different sizes, and it's just a lot to keep track of.
Well, I spent a weekend figuring it all out, and I made a cute little summer cardigan. It's almost done, just a couple inches left on the sleeves. It really works, and it looks good on! Very pleasing.
Clearly it's time to take some more pictures.
Mentally I'm now in that between-project zone which is a nice break sometimes, but I think I'm almost ready to jump into something new. What to choose? What to choose?
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Going in Circles
Finally went to the Westminster library last weekend and checked out their knitting books. This was prompted by the recent trip to the knitting shop with my gift certificate. When we walked into the shop, my eyeballs were positively grabbed by a sample project hanging up there. If you're on Ravelry, go there and look for the Circle Vest from a book called Silk Knits. It's a big circle with armholes knit with Noro Silk Garden yarns. Striking, fun, and relatively easy. All good things.
Well, I had 3 skeins of Noro at home that were given to me as a going away gift when I left Chicagoland, and with my gift certificate I could buy the other 3 skeins the vest would need, but the pattern was not available online or in the shop. So, off to the library.
What a nice selection of knitting books our library has! I may never have to by another pattern. They had the book I wanted, and I could check it out and take it home. Ideal! With the book due back in 3 weeks, I had the perfect excuse to start yet another project.
I'm now into the third skein, so between 1/3 and 1/2 finished. I've got the pattern down, so no worries about having to return the book. Life is good. I just got past the armholes, so it's about time to move it from the needles to a string and try it on to make sure the size is okay. It's easy to change if I haven't gotten it quite right. I am loving this!
I definitely have to bring this out to show off at the upcoming North Shore Knitting Weekend (the follow-on to last spring's Bell/Lambert Knitting Week). I am soooooooo excited! Can you tell?
Well, I had 3 skeins of Noro at home that were given to me as a going away gift when I left Chicagoland, and with my gift certificate I could buy the other 3 skeins the vest would need, but the pattern was not available online or in the shop. So, off to the library.
What a nice selection of knitting books our library has! I may never have to by another pattern. They had the book I wanted, and I could check it out and take it home. Ideal! With the book due back in 3 weeks, I had the perfect excuse to start yet another project.
I'm now into the third skein, so between 1/3 and 1/2 finished. I've got the pattern down, so no worries about having to return the book. Life is good. I just got past the armholes, so it's about time to move it from the needles to a string and try it on to make sure the size is okay. It's easy to change if I haven't gotten it quite right. I am loving this!
I definitely have to bring this out to show off at the upcoming North Shore Knitting Weekend (the follow-on to last spring's Bell/Lambert Knitting Week). I am soooooooo excited! Can you tell?
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Best Laid Plans
Another yarn shortage. Another project in UFO limbo. The green EZ gauge-changing sweater. Got most of the way up the body and reached the end of the first skein of bulky LanaLoft. Way too soon. No way I'm going to have enough of that yarn to do the remaining couple of inches on the body, both sleeves up to the armpit, and the 4" of yoke above the armpit, where the sleeves have joined the body. I only have one more skein! I looked up their vendors on their web site, and the closest one they list is the one in Annapolis where I bought this last year. I'll have to go back and hope they have more. A different dye lot I can deal with, I can probably work it in in such a way that a change in shade would look okay. I just hope they have some.
Frustrated in that but unwilling to start another big project, I pulled out my overflowing drawer full of partial skein leftovers. Back when I was knitting with k1frog2, she had the idea of making an afghan or blanket out of knitted squares made from leftovers. If you knit them corner to corner like a dishcloth, you don't have to worry about gauge, you just start knitting and increasing, and when the sides get as long as you want the square to be, you start decreasing. Brilliant! And you can make squares from different size yarns, since they're joined together later. So I started knitting squares. Since some of the leftovers have a lot of yarn and some only a little, I decided to knit different sized squares, some 2", some 4", 6", and 8". I can join the smaller ones to make 8" blocks, then join all the blocks together to make whatever I have enough to make. A knitted blanket would be nice, that's what I'm hoping for. It's fun to be able to change from the "big" project of an 8" square to the small project of a 2" square depending on how I'm feeling at the time. A 2" square is quite quick to knit, even in sock yarn, and it's just as satisfying to finish.
Thanks for the idea, o froggy one!
Frustrated in that but unwilling to start another big project, I pulled out my overflowing drawer full of partial skein leftovers. Back when I was knitting with k1frog2, she had the idea of making an afghan or blanket out of knitted squares made from leftovers. If you knit them corner to corner like a dishcloth, you don't have to worry about gauge, you just start knitting and increasing, and when the sides get as long as you want the square to be, you start decreasing. Brilliant! And you can make squares from different size yarns, since they're joined together later. So I started knitting squares. Since some of the leftovers have a lot of yarn and some only a little, I decided to knit different sized squares, some 2", some 4", 6", and 8". I can join the smaller ones to make 8" blocks, then join all the blocks together to make whatever I have enough to make. A knitted blanket would be nice, that's what I'm hoping for. It's fun to be able to change from the "big" project of an 8" square to the small project of a 2" square depending on how I'm feeling at the time. A 2" square is quite quick to knit, even in sock yarn, and it's just as satisfying to finish.
Thanks for the idea, o froggy one!
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
A Good Weekend
It was a good knitting weekend. First, here are some photos Peter took of my alpaca lace shawl:
I love how it turned out! The thing I liked most in the picture in the magazine was the tranlucent quality of the shawl, and it really did turn out that way! It's very lightweight, but the alpaca is much warmer than you'd think.
I also got to go to the yarn shop this weekend. A nice little place in Eldersburg called the Knitter's Nest, which K1Frog2 will recognize as the place with the good sushi restaurant next door. Do you remember that when we were there, a woman I know who is a spinner showed up? Well, last week I helped her husband, who works at the College, with a computer problem which had really stumped him and made him a little desperate. Being a nice guy and knowing the weaknesses of fiber addicts as he does, he bought me a gift certificate from the yarn shop. It made my day to get that in my mail at work.
In preparation for my visit to the yarn shop, I spent Saturday morning organizing the stash, balling up what needed to be balled up, and figuring out what I already have and what just needed a little more to go with it to make a complete project. You know, trying to buy things I actually "need" rather than just more random odds and ends that catch my eye at the moment. The startling revelation was that I have 10 projects for which I have all the materials waiting in the stash! I alternate between being stressed out that I really need to be knitting more, and being happy knowing that I will be well supplied with projects for quite some time to come. The only real dilemma is what to pick first.
But really, I've already made that decision. It's the green EZ sweater with the gauge-change decreases with which I have already regaled my faithful readers. I worked on that over the weekend and have already made my first modifications to the plan. It starts at the bottom, and a few inches into it I realized that the somewhat tight knit (to get the gauge I want) of the stockinette in the bulky yarn causes it to curl up pretty badly. I tried putting a row or two of garter stitch at the bottom edge, but wasn't happy with it until I broke down and started with a couple inches of ribbing. I don't usually make sweaters with ribbing at the bottom edge because I don't like the way it pinches in and makes it look balloon-like (not a flattering shape for some of us), so then I decided to just rib it all the way up. Normally I also don't think the clinginess of a completely ribbed sweater is flattering on me, but I think the bulky will counteract the clinginess and it'll look okay. That's the theory I'm sticking with for now. So I have a few inches of the body done.
But then in working with the stash I also unearthed a couple of UFO's which are so close to done I couldn't resist. One is the blue EZ sweater I made last year. Photos were posted. All that was left was to weave in the thread ends. And it's just the right weight for this early fall weather we are having. How could I not do it? See how much I hate finishing work? It took about 10 minutes. The other UFO is the brown Moonlight Mohair shawl made with EZ's pi are square pattern, also described previously in this blog. It was about halfway around the last row. Unfortunately, the last row has upwards of 350 stitches, I'm making a picot edging which means I'm knitting 8 stitches for every two that are bound off, and I'm pretty sure I don't have quite enough yarn to finish it. Now you see why I put it down. My one hope is that my sister-in-law, who was with me when we found the mohair for $2 a ball and bought about 3 times as much as I did, still has a ball of the brown in her stash. If she doesn't, I'll have to figure out how to fake that last 8" or so of the edging. Dang, it's going to be close.
If only every weekend could be so full of knitting!
I love how it turned out! The thing I liked most in the picture in the magazine was the tranlucent quality of the shawl, and it really did turn out that way! It's very lightweight, but the alpaca is much warmer than you'd think.
I also got to go to the yarn shop this weekend. A nice little place in Eldersburg called the Knitter's Nest, which K1Frog2 will recognize as the place with the good sushi restaurant next door. Do you remember that when we were there, a woman I know who is a spinner showed up? Well, last week I helped her husband, who works at the College, with a computer problem which had really stumped him and made him a little desperate. Being a nice guy and knowing the weaknesses of fiber addicts as he does, he bought me a gift certificate from the yarn shop. It made my day to get that in my mail at work.
In preparation for my visit to the yarn shop, I spent Saturday morning organizing the stash, balling up what needed to be balled up, and figuring out what I already have and what just needed a little more to go with it to make a complete project. You know, trying to buy things I actually "need" rather than just more random odds and ends that catch my eye at the moment. The startling revelation was that I have 10 projects for which I have all the materials waiting in the stash! I alternate between being stressed out that I really need to be knitting more, and being happy knowing that I will be well supplied with projects for quite some time to come. The only real dilemma is what to pick first.
But really, I've already made that decision. It's the green EZ sweater with the gauge-change decreases with which I have already regaled my faithful readers. I worked on that over the weekend and have already made my first modifications to the plan. It starts at the bottom, and a few inches into it I realized that the somewhat tight knit (to get the gauge I want) of the stockinette in the bulky yarn causes it to curl up pretty badly. I tried putting a row or two of garter stitch at the bottom edge, but wasn't happy with it until I broke down and started with a couple inches of ribbing. I don't usually make sweaters with ribbing at the bottom edge because I don't like the way it pinches in and makes it look balloon-like (not a flattering shape for some of us), so then I decided to just rib it all the way up. Normally I also don't think the clinginess of a completely ribbed sweater is flattering on me, but I think the bulky will counteract the clinginess and it'll look okay. That's the theory I'm sticking with for now. So I have a few inches of the body done.
But then in working with the stash I also unearthed a couple of UFO's which are so close to done I couldn't resist. One is the blue EZ sweater I made last year. Photos were posted. All that was left was to weave in the thread ends. And it's just the right weight for this early fall weather we are having. How could I not do it? See how much I hate finishing work? It took about 10 minutes. The other UFO is the brown Moonlight Mohair shawl made with EZ's pi are square pattern, also described previously in this blog. It was about halfway around the last row. Unfortunately, the last row has upwards of 350 stitches, I'm making a picot edging which means I'm knitting 8 stitches for every two that are bound off, and I'm pretty sure I don't have quite enough yarn to finish it. Now you see why I put it down. My one hope is that my sister-in-law, who was with me when we found the mohair for $2 a ball and bought about 3 times as much as I did, still has a ball of the brown in her stash. If she doesn't, I'll have to figure out how to fake that last 8" or so of the edging. Dang, it's going to be close.
If only every weekend could be so full of knitting!
Thursday, September 9, 2010
A New (School) Year
As Kate says, summer is over. Time to get back to blogging! And what a summer it has been. Vacation was had, company descended, living rooms were renovated (at least mine). I felt shell shocked by the end of it. Now, work is picking up, home life is settling down, and I'm breathing a sigh of relief.
On the knitting front, I am about 90% done with two different pairs of socks. Ooh, that's bad, more unfinished projects. The weekly knitting group at work will be starting up again next week, so I'm hoping that will take care of them. When I knit at home in the evening, I sometimes tackle ambitious projects, but at knitting group there's too much fun. If I work on anything complicated there, I'll mess it up for sure. So I almost always fall back on a good sock project.
The ambitious project for the summer was my first piece of lace knitting. A simple one, but still, it's lace. It's a half circle shawl made from lace weight alpaca in a variegated purple color which I bought at the Wisconsin Sheep and Wool festival just before I moved East. It was knit from the edges in, so it started with almost 700 stitches on size 10.5 needles and 14 rows of garter stitch. Then the stitches were decreased by half -- the garter stitch is a slightly "gathered" border at the bottom edge of the shawl. The rest is mainly stockinette stitch, with a little bit of YO/k2tog fancy work to give a little pattern, and decreases to make the half circle shape. The lace effect comes mainly from the large amount of stretching out you're supposed to do in the blocking. In the end, though, the shawl is very translucent, it's almost gossamer in the magazine photo. So pretty. It's pinned out on my cutting table right for the blocking. With luck I'll finish that this weekend.
Now I'm starting on the EZ sweater that the blue Cotton-Ease sweater (pictures posted last year on this blog) was a trial run for. For this sweater I wanted to see if I could do the decreases in the EZ pattern using differences in gauge instead of actually decreasing the number of stitches. I have a bulky LanaLoft in a spring green which is working out to about 3 stitches per inch, a worsted weight called Shannon in variegated green and brown tones at 4 stitches per inch, and some medium brown Noro wool/silk in a DK or fingering weight at 7 stitches per inch. My plan is to start at the bottom with the LanaLoft and knit the body and sleeves. At the first decrease, instead of decreasing, I'll switch to the Shannon, which should decrease the size of the work by the right amount. At the second decrease I'll do an actual decrease, since I only have the three yarns, but then at the last decrease I'll switch to the Noro, which should take it down by the right amount again. I don't know, for some reason it tickles me to do this. Wish me luck!
On the knitting front, I am about 90% done with two different pairs of socks. Ooh, that's bad, more unfinished projects. The weekly knitting group at work will be starting up again next week, so I'm hoping that will take care of them. When I knit at home in the evening, I sometimes tackle ambitious projects, but at knitting group there's too much fun. If I work on anything complicated there, I'll mess it up for sure. So I almost always fall back on a good sock project.
The ambitious project for the summer was my first piece of lace knitting. A simple one, but still, it's lace. It's a half circle shawl made from lace weight alpaca in a variegated purple color which I bought at the Wisconsin Sheep and Wool festival just before I moved East. It was knit from the edges in, so it started with almost 700 stitches on size 10.5 needles and 14 rows of garter stitch. Then the stitches were decreased by half -- the garter stitch is a slightly "gathered" border at the bottom edge of the shawl. The rest is mainly stockinette stitch, with a little bit of YO/k2tog fancy work to give a little pattern, and decreases to make the half circle shape. The lace effect comes mainly from the large amount of stretching out you're supposed to do in the blocking. In the end, though, the shawl is very translucent, it's almost gossamer in the magazine photo. So pretty. It's pinned out on my cutting table right for the blocking. With luck I'll finish that this weekend.
Now I'm starting on the EZ sweater that the blue Cotton-Ease sweater (pictures posted last year on this blog) was a trial run for. For this sweater I wanted to see if I could do the decreases in the EZ pattern using differences in gauge instead of actually decreasing the number of stitches. I have a bulky LanaLoft in a spring green which is working out to about 3 stitches per inch, a worsted weight called Shannon in variegated green and brown tones at 4 stitches per inch, and some medium brown Noro wool/silk in a DK or fingering weight at 7 stitches per inch. My plan is to start at the bottom with the LanaLoft and knit the body and sleeves. At the first decrease, instead of decreasing, I'll switch to the Shannon, which should decrease the size of the work by the right amount. At the second decrease I'll do an actual decrease, since I only have the three yarns, but then at the last decrease I'll switch to the Noro, which should take it down by the right amount again. I don't know, for some reason it tickles me to do this. Wish me luck!
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
A Project Completed
The green and purple baby blankets went out in the mail today. Such a nice feeling to complete a project!
Now the main yarn-based project is the variegated red shawl, which is progressing nicely. The more I get done, the more I like it, although all that openwork is going to take some blocking. Crotchet projects are so quick and satisfying, I like to do one now and then. At the end of the day, though, I like the knitted product better, so I always go back.
The big push this week is a shirt for Peter to wear at Blacksmith Days this weekend. He has been learning blacksmithing, and he joined a local group. This weekend they are putting on their big, annual festival with people coming from all over. They all try to dress up in mid to late 1800's style, so Peter wanted an appropriate shirt. I found a piece of fairly coarse weave linen in my stash, he says it's just what he wants, and I have an old Burda pattern that's a bit old-timey looking. With a few changes I think it'll look pretty good. The most time consuming part is that I don't want any machine stitching to show on the outside, so I've been spending my evenings doing the topstitching on the front placket, back yoke, and soon the cuffs by hand. I don't mind it, I actually love the rhythm of hand sewing. It's very soothing, much like a good knitting session. I hope I have it done by Saturday!
Now the main yarn-based project is the variegated red shawl, which is progressing nicely. The more I get done, the more I like it, although all that openwork is going to take some blocking. Crotchet projects are so quick and satisfying, I like to do one now and then. At the end of the day, though, I like the knitted product better, so I always go back.
The big push this week is a shirt for Peter to wear at Blacksmith Days this weekend. He has been learning blacksmithing, and he joined a local group. This weekend they are putting on their big, annual festival with people coming from all over. They all try to dress up in mid to late 1800's style, so Peter wanted an appropriate shirt. I found a piece of fairly coarse weave linen in my stash, he says it's just what he wants, and I have an old Burda pattern that's a bit old-timey looking. With a few changes I think it'll look pretty good. The most time consuming part is that I don't want any machine stitching to show on the outside, so I've been spending my evenings doing the topstitching on the front placket, back yoke, and soon the cuffs by hand. I don't mind it, I actually love the rhythm of hand sewing. It's very soothing, much like a good knitting session. I hope I have it done by Saturday!
Thursday, May 6, 2010
hot wool
Last weekend was the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. Two days of petting wool. In 90 degree heat and blazing sun. You have to be pretty crazy about wool to do that, and apparently lots of people are. We made the mistake of not going early, and we spent an hour and a half in the line to get into the parking lot. There were a lot of people there.
I went with my sister-in-law Nel. She spent the night with us, which was fun. Her husband and sons go to a church "men's retreat" that weekend every year, so we have our own retreat to the Festival. On Saturday, my mom came with us, but the sudden heat was hard on her, so she stayed home Sunday. (The week before, we had frost two nights, so this was a sudden hot spell.) On Sunday, Peter came with us. He actually wanted to. How great is that?
In addition to eating some really good lamb for lunch (grilled kabobs Saturday, BBQ pulled lamb Sunday), I got some great yarn. The prices seemed a little better this year, probably in deference to the stinky economy. For those of you who are also really into yarn, I am now going to review the purchases. Non-yarn-geeks, feel free to link to somewhere else now.
The first purchase was at our favorite loopy yarn booth, which happens to be right inside the entrance to the grounds. We have bought from them every year, and they have the best loopy yarn I've ever seen. It's the softest, and the colors are great. This year Nel and I split a big hank of a yellow/red variegated yarn with little bits of pink in it. I wasn't sure at all about the pink, but I worked up a little bit yesterday, and by golly, it works. This will make a fantastic winter scarf to go with the red wool coat I'll be making later this summer.
The thing I went in search of was some yarn for a crotchet shawl. I'm sewing a summer dress which has a multi-tiered gathered skirt, in a dark charcoal washed silk. The style always makes me think Mexican, but summer dresses always make me think over-air-conditioned indoor spaces, so I decided I needed a shawl to go with it. Thinking Mexican, I thought a red to go with the almost-black would be cool. I had almost despaired, when finally I found it -- a variegated red superwash fingering weight merino with colors ranging from dark brick red to a bright reddish orange. Just enough brightness to make it pop. I love it. The pattern I had at home, it's a very open crotchet shawl, triangular, a big late '70's style, with sort of deep fringe around the edge.
After thinking overnight about the idea of a shawl with serious wool fringe in the summer, I thought maybe something else for the fringe. One of the stands had some interesting rayon ribbon yarn, so on Sunday I went back there and got the closest red I could find. I wasn't sure it was right, so I made sure I could order more if I wanted, and I only bought one skein. Turns out it isn't really a good shade, so I'll do something else with it. What I have in mind is another idea I got at the Festival. At one of the booths, I saw a knitted shawl, rectangular, that was mostly a variegated wool in a leafy pattern, then both ends of the shawl were borders about 8" wide knitted in a ribbon yarn that exactly matched the wool. It looked fantastic. The ribbon borders gave it a very interesting visual texture. I might try that with my red.
So once I decided I was not going to find my shawl fringe at the Festival, it was on to impulse buying. Woo hoo! Not much money left by then, but enough to get the real prize of the weekend. It's about a 4 oz. skein of variegated blue worsted weight llama with little silver strands in it. Just enough sparkle to catch the eye, and so soft, it's unbelievable. Everyone at my knitting group this week had trouble letting go of it. The blue is a warm tone, not a cool blue, ranging from a midnight blue shade to a late evening summer sky. I can't wait to work it up. I'm thinking sweater, and while it's not enough for a whole sweater, I think if I make a top-down yoke sweater, like the EZ sweater knit in reverse, I can make the yoke in this stuff until it runs out and the rest in a matching wool. I think it'll work, if I can match the color.
The final purchase was a skein Peter fell in love with. It's a 3 or 4 ply heavy worsted wool, with each ply being a different shade of beige or brown. I think it will work up into one of those nice heathery sweaters. Again, only a single skein, but this is from a farm that's only about an hour's drive away, and they have store hours on Saturdays at the farm. So I thought I'd get one, play with it until I find a pattern and gauge I like, then figure out how much a whole sweater will take and go get more. The farm had a whole big booth, and all their yarns were very pretty and exceptionally soft. I am looking forward to visiting their farm store.
It was a great weekend. Should keep me knitting until next year.
I went with my sister-in-law Nel. She spent the night with us, which was fun. Her husband and sons go to a church "men's retreat" that weekend every year, so we have our own retreat to the Festival. On Saturday, my mom came with us, but the sudden heat was hard on her, so she stayed home Sunday. (The week before, we had frost two nights, so this was a sudden hot spell.) On Sunday, Peter came with us. He actually wanted to. How great is that?
In addition to eating some really good lamb for lunch (grilled kabobs Saturday, BBQ pulled lamb Sunday), I got some great yarn. The prices seemed a little better this year, probably in deference to the stinky economy. For those of you who are also really into yarn, I am now going to review the purchases. Non-yarn-geeks, feel free to link to somewhere else now.
The first purchase was at our favorite loopy yarn booth, which happens to be right inside the entrance to the grounds. We have bought from them every year, and they have the best loopy yarn I've ever seen. It's the softest, and the colors are great. This year Nel and I split a big hank of a yellow/red variegated yarn with little bits of pink in it. I wasn't sure at all about the pink, but I worked up a little bit yesterday, and by golly, it works. This will make a fantastic winter scarf to go with the red wool coat I'll be making later this summer.
The thing I went in search of was some yarn for a crotchet shawl. I'm sewing a summer dress which has a multi-tiered gathered skirt, in a dark charcoal washed silk. The style always makes me think Mexican, but summer dresses always make me think over-air-conditioned indoor spaces, so I decided I needed a shawl to go with it. Thinking Mexican, I thought a red to go with the almost-black would be cool. I had almost despaired, when finally I found it -- a variegated red superwash fingering weight merino with colors ranging from dark brick red to a bright reddish orange. Just enough brightness to make it pop. I love it. The pattern I had at home, it's a very open crotchet shawl, triangular, a big late '70's style, with sort of deep fringe around the edge.
After thinking overnight about the idea of a shawl with serious wool fringe in the summer, I thought maybe something else for the fringe. One of the stands had some interesting rayon ribbon yarn, so on Sunday I went back there and got the closest red I could find. I wasn't sure it was right, so I made sure I could order more if I wanted, and I only bought one skein. Turns out it isn't really a good shade, so I'll do something else with it. What I have in mind is another idea I got at the Festival. At one of the booths, I saw a knitted shawl, rectangular, that was mostly a variegated wool in a leafy pattern, then both ends of the shawl were borders about 8" wide knitted in a ribbon yarn that exactly matched the wool. It looked fantastic. The ribbon borders gave it a very interesting visual texture. I might try that with my red.
So once I decided I was not going to find my shawl fringe at the Festival, it was on to impulse buying. Woo hoo! Not much money left by then, but enough to get the real prize of the weekend. It's about a 4 oz. skein of variegated blue worsted weight llama with little silver strands in it. Just enough sparkle to catch the eye, and so soft, it's unbelievable. Everyone at my knitting group this week had trouble letting go of it. The blue is a warm tone, not a cool blue, ranging from a midnight blue shade to a late evening summer sky. I can't wait to work it up. I'm thinking sweater, and while it's not enough for a whole sweater, I think if I make a top-down yoke sweater, like the EZ sweater knit in reverse, I can make the yoke in this stuff until it runs out and the rest in a matching wool. I think it'll work, if I can match the color.
The final purchase was a skein Peter fell in love with. It's a 3 or 4 ply heavy worsted wool, with each ply being a different shade of beige or brown. I think it will work up into one of those nice heathery sweaters. Again, only a single skein, but this is from a farm that's only about an hour's drive away, and they have store hours on Saturdays at the farm. So I thought I'd get one, play with it until I find a pattern and gauge I like, then figure out how much a whole sweater will take and go get more. The farm had a whole big booth, and all their yarns were very pretty and exceptionally soft. I am looking forward to visiting their farm store.
It was a great weekend. Should keep me knitting until next year.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
the prodigal blogger
My goodness, has it really been that long since I posted? Ack!
The Bell/Lambert knitting week back in March was a huge success from my point of view. Much knitting, much chatting, how great it was to see Kate again. Now she has a new home, and I am hoping to reciprocate the visit in the fall, if finances allow.
On the knitting front, I have three projects going.
One is the traveling project, a pair of sox in a grey and blue self-striping yarn. Knitted top down (unusual for me) because I wanted to try an edging at the top. Now I'm ready to turn the heels. Tried to do the first one at knitting group yesterday, but we had so much fun talking and laughing that I totally mangled it. Time to frog and try again in the quiet of my own home.
The second is the pie are square shawl in brown-toned Moonlight Mohair. STILL binding it off, using a picot edging and putting a bead in each picot. I figured in my head how many stitches the bottom edge should have and threaded the appropriate number of beads onto the yarn, but now I realize I only calculated the stitches in the circular part. I forgot about the triangular front parts. I am running out of beads on the yarn, and I have a lot of shawl left to bind off! I have more beads, but it means I either have to undo the rest of the skein and thread them on from the other end, or I have to break the thread and figure out later how to work in the ends so that they don't come loose and hang down at the edge of the shawl. Bleh. On top of that, as more and more of it comes off the needles I am able to try it on a little, and I'm not sure the proportions have turned out so well. However, the other EZ patterns have worked well for me, so I'm willing to suspend disbelief until it's all off the needles. If I don't like it in the end, it's going to be very sad, because I imagine that frogging 16 skeins of mohair blend yarn is going to be HARD!
The third project, and the one that comforts me right now, is the second baby blanket of the twin set. The purple one turned out very well, now I'm doing a green one to match. So I know the pattern by heart, I know it's going to turn out well, I can just sit and knit and be happy with this one. Thank goodness.
Okay, lunchtime is over, so it's back to work for me. Thank you, faithful readers!
The Bell/Lambert knitting week back in March was a huge success from my point of view. Much knitting, much chatting, how great it was to see Kate again. Now she has a new home, and I am hoping to reciprocate the visit in the fall, if finances allow.
On the knitting front, I have three projects going.
One is the traveling project, a pair of sox in a grey and blue self-striping yarn. Knitted top down (unusual for me) because I wanted to try an edging at the top. Now I'm ready to turn the heels. Tried to do the first one at knitting group yesterday, but we had so much fun talking and laughing that I totally mangled it. Time to frog and try again in the quiet of my own home.
The second is the pie are square shawl in brown-toned Moonlight Mohair. STILL binding it off, using a picot edging and putting a bead in each picot. I figured in my head how many stitches the bottom edge should have and threaded the appropriate number of beads onto the yarn, but now I realize I only calculated the stitches in the circular part. I forgot about the triangular front parts. I am running out of beads on the yarn, and I have a lot of shawl left to bind off! I have more beads, but it means I either have to undo the rest of the skein and thread them on from the other end, or I have to break the thread and figure out later how to work in the ends so that they don't come loose and hang down at the edge of the shawl. Bleh. On top of that, as more and more of it comes off the needles I am able to try it on a little, and I'm not sure the proportions have turned out so well. However, the other EZ patterns have worked well for me, so I'm willing to suspend disbelief until it's all off the needles. If I don't like it in the end, it's going to be very sad, because I imagine that frogging 16 skeins of mohair blend yarn is going to be HARD!
The third project, and the one that comforts me right now, is the second baby blanket of the twin set. The purple one turned out very well, now I'm doing a green one to match. So I know the pattern by heart, I know it's going to turn out well, I can just sit and knit and be happy with this one. Thank goodness.
Okay, lunchtime is over, so it's back to work for me. Thank you, faithful readers!
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Preparations
The purple afghan is coming along well, as are plans for the Lambert-Bell Knitting Week. Okay, I admit it, I spent my lunch hour yesterday printing out store hours and maps for the yarn shops in the area. I can now guarantee that we will be able to pet lots of yarn next week, if we wish. A couple of the shops require an hour or a little more each way in the car, but one of them I've been to and the other I've heard my knitting group drool over, so I'm sure both of those are worth the trip.
Hmm, now I just have to clean up the guest room. Well, the important stuff is done, so I'll get to that before Sunday.
Hmm, now I just have to clean up the guest room. Well, the important stuff is done, so I'll get to that before Sunday.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Rip it
Started the purple baby afghan last night. I needed a change from green. Cast on 171 stitches, knitted 8 rows of seed stitch, only to discover that I had only cast on 169 stitches. Don't you hate that? Given the pattern on this one, there's nothing to do but start over. Dang.
I'm also not entirely happy with the feel of this yarn. Feels more synthetic than I would like as I work with it. I'll keep knitting the afghan, but I will also be on the watch for something nicer as the Lambert/Bell Knitting Week moves through the local yarn shops.
The first requirement of all baby stuff is that it be machine washable and dryable, and the second is that I have to be able to afford it. I did once spend too much money on 4 balls of baby alpaca in a baby weight. It feels heavenly in the fingers, but you can bet it isn't getting anywhere near baby drool or any of that other organic stuff babies are so good at. And I'm not knitting something this expensive just for some little guy to outgrow it in a couple of months. So, the yarn I have may be as good as it gets.
If I do switch to another yarn for the gifts, I can always give these afghans to Project Linus. It isn't bad, just not entirely perfect.
I also managed to tear myself away from the ice skating last night and get to bed on time, so it's only a couple of hours' work to be frogged. Next time I'll count more carefully.
I'm also not entirely happy with the feel of this yarn. Feels more synthetic than I would like as I work with it. I'll keep knitting the afghan, but I will also be on the watch for something nicer as the Lambert/Bell Knitting Week moves through the local yarn shops.
The first requirement of all baby stuff is that it be machine washable and dryable, and the second is that I have to be able to afford it. I did once spend too much money on 4 balls of baby alpaca in a baby weight. It feels heavenly in the fingers, but you can bet it isn't getting anywhere near baby drool or any of that other organic stuff babies are so good at. And I'm not knitting something this expensive just for some little guy to outgrow it in a couple of months. So, the yarn I have may be as good as it gets.
If I do switch to another yarn for the gifts, I can always give these afghans to Project Linus. It isn't bad, just not entirely perfect.
I also managed to tear myself away from the ice skating last night and get to bed on time, so it's only a couple of hours' work to be frogged. Next time I'll count more carefully.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
After getting some news from Kate, I realized that some of the old Lake Forest friends are going to need baby afghans this summer. Yay! I was looking for an excuse! (Oh, did you guess that?) Even better, that meant a yarn shopping trip was required. (You guessed that, too? You must be a knitter!) I have a lovely stash of sock yarn and worsted, but not much in between. Although you can make baby afghans out of worsted, I prefer sport or baby weight, especially for summer babies who aren't going to need a heavy blanket right away.
However, I got so excited that I started one afghan right away from some worsted my mom had in her stash. A washable synthetic that has a good, soft feel. The pattern I used was my favorite shell stitch crotchet pattern which I learned from my grandma as a kid. It's fun to make, and that's really the one I had a hankering to do even before Kate gave me the news. I had two colors of yarn, white and that light, minty green they use for baby stuff a lot. Finding out the sex of your baby in advance seems to be "out" at Lake Forest this year, so I'm sticking to the gender-neutral colors. Anyway, I alternated a row of white shells with a row of green shells, and that ends up looking like a checkerboard. I like it! It was a pain to have to deal with the yarn ends at both ends of every single row, but about a third of the way through the afghan I worked out how to work them in as I went along, so all I had to do was cut off the long tails afterwards. That much finishing I could deal with.
I'm not going to post a picture just in case one of the recipients happens to unearth this blog. Highly unlikely, I know, but stranger things have happened!
Tonight it's on to afghan #2. 2 and 3 are for a pair of twins. A trip to Michael's turned up some decent washable synthetic sport weight baby yarn in lilac and leaf green, on sale (bonus!). Now that I've gotten the crotchet shells out of my system, these will turn into two knitted afghans using the same pattern in different colors. The pattern has these arrow-head shaped lacy bits running up the afghan in rows. It looks very pretty in the picture.
Afghan #1 was helped out by the fact that I've been staying up far past my bedtime to watch the Olympics. I have to stop that. I think I'm addicted to the ice skating.
However, I got so excited that I started one afghan right away from some worsted my mom had in her stash. A washable synthetic that has a good, soft feel. The pattern I used was my favorite shell stitch crotchet pattern which I learned from my grandma as a kid. It's fun to make, and that's really the one I had a hankering to do even before Kate gave me the news. I had two colors of yarn, white and that light, minty green they use for baby stuff a lot. Finding out the sex of your baby in advance seems to be "out" at Lake Forest this year, so I'm sticking to the gender-neutral colors. Anyway, I alternated a row of white shells with a row of green shells, and that ends up looking like a checkerboard. I like it! It was a pain to have to deal with the yarn ends at both ends of every single row, but about a third of the way through the afghan I worked out how to work them in as I went along, so all I had to do was cut off the long tails afterwards. That much finishing I could deal with.
I'm not going to post a picture just in case one of the recipients happens to unearth this blog. Highly unlikely, I know, but stranger things have happened!
Tonight it's on to afghan #2. 2 and 3 are for a pair of twins. A trip to Michael's turned up some decent washable synthetic sport weight baby yarn in lilac and leaf green, on sale (bonus!). Now that I've gotten the crotchet shells out of my system, these will turn into two knitted afghans using the same pattern in different colors. The pattern has these arrow-head shaped lacy bits running up the afghan in rows. It looks very pretty in the picture.
Afghan #1 was helped out by the fact that I've been staying up far past my bedtime to watch the Olympics. I have to stop that. I think I'm addicted to the ice skating.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Snowpocalypse and Sweaters
Sorry I haven't posted in a while, but the term "snowpocalypse" has taken on meaning around here. On Friday, Feb. 5, we were all sent home from work at lunchtime. The school that says on its web page " it is the intention of the College to remain open during inclement weather conditions" and "In rare circumstances, the College might be declared closed" closed for an entire week. They are now saying we got 2 blizzards in one week. Local reports say we got 25-30 inches each time, but official reports (and my backyard fence) indicate a total snowfall more like 36-40 inches. Here are a couple of photos Peter took. The first one is looking out our front window at the car in the driveway. Look carefully! After we had shoveled out the car, the snow piled beside the driveway went up to about 6" below the lamp on the lamppost. That's taller than I am.
This one is my mom's car in the driveway in back of the house. It has been snowed in for almost 2 weeks now. The fence behind the car is a four foot chain link fence.
This morning I finished digging a path across the front yard to the oil tank fill pipe so we can get a refill and not run out of heating oil.
On the bright side, an unexpected week off of work left me lots of time for knitting and quilting. I finished the quilt I started for Peter for Christmas, and I finished my EPS sweater. No photos of the quilt, but here's the sweater:
The pattern really worked! I'm so happy! The sleeves are 3/4 length on purpose. The yarn is a cotton-acrylic blend, so I decided to make a spring/fall top instead of a winter sweater. The only change I will make for the next one (oh, yeah, there are going to be more of these), is to make the yoke depth a little less. Since I am short and no longer as petite as I once was, I think EZ's proportions need a little adjusting. But that's an easy change on this pattern. As you can see, this one looks just fine, it just has the really deep armholes typical of sweaters, whereas what I want to make is more of a top.
How exciting to have a big knitting success!
This one is my mom's car in the driveway in back of the house. It has been snowed in for almost 2 weeks now. The fence behind the car is a four foot chain link fence.
This morning I finished digging a path across the front yard to the oil tank fill pipe so we can get a refill and not run out of heating oil.
On the bright side, an unexpected week off of work left me lots of time for knitting and quilting. I finished the quilt I started for Peter for Christmas, and I finished my EPS sweater. No photos of the quilt, but here's the sweater:
The pattern really worked! I'm so happy! The sleeves are 3/4 length on purpose. The yarn is a cotton-acrylic blend, so I decided to make a spring/fall top instead of a winter sweater. The only change I will make for the next one (oh, yeah, there are going to be more of these), is to make the yoke depth a little less. Since I am short and no longer as petite as I once was, I think EZ's proportions need a little adjusting. But that's an easy change on this pattern. As you can see, this one looks just fine, it just has the really deep armholes typical of sweaters, whereas what I want to make is more of a top.
How exciting to have a big knitting success!
Friday, January 29, 2010
A New Project
Started a new knitting project last night. What better excuse to blog?
It's an Elizabeth Zimmerman yoke sweater in Lion Brand Cotton-Ease. I am a big fan of natural fibers, but I am also a big fan of machine washable clothing, so I am hoping the Cotton-Ease provides a good compromise.
I don't like sweaters with ribbed bands at the waist, they tend to look like balloons while I'm wearing them, and I already look too much like a balloon for my taste. So I dug out mom's "Knitting on the Edge" book. There I found an edging that is so cute, I think I'm going to use the pattern for the whole sweater. It's a bit lacy, though, so now, what with the cotton blend yarn, I'm thinking of a spring sweater with 3/4 length sleeves which I could wear over a tank top in late spring / early summer.
You see how these projects snowball? Still, as the idea develops, it is making me happier and happier, which I take as a good sign.
So I started the gauge swatch last night. I'm very pleased with how quickly the Cotton-Ease knits up on 8" needles. The resulting fabric has a nice hand and drape as well, I think it'll work well for the type of sweater I have in mind. If it goes this quickly, I might actually be able to wear this sweater this spring!
The one problem I had not worked out was how to handle the pattern with the decreases EZ uses to shape the yoke. But just as I was falling asleep last night, an idea came to me. Miracle of miracles, I still remembered it this morning, and I still think it could work. Not just the delirious musings of a mostly-dreaming brain. Once my gauge swatch is big enough and I've got my gauge, I'll test the decreasing and see whether my idea holds water.
I love new projects. This is the most fun part of the whole process.
It's an Elizabeth Zimmerman yoke sweater in Lion Brand Cotton-Ease. I am a big fan of natural fibers, but I am also a big fan of machine washable clothing, so I am hoping the Cotton-Ease provides a good compromise.
I don't like sweaters with ribbed bands at the waist, they tend to look like balloons while I'm wearing them, and I already look too much like a balloon for my taste. So I dug out mom's "Knitting on the Edge" book. There I found an edging that is so cute, I think I'm going to use the pattern for the whole sweater. It's a bit lacy, though, so now, what with the cotton blend yarn, I'm thinking of a spring sweater with 3/4 length sleeves which I could wear over a tank top in late spring / early summer.
You see how these projects snowball? Still, as the idea develops, it is making me happier and happier, which I take as a good sign.
So I started the gauge swatch last night. I'm very pleased with how quickly the Cotton-Ease knits up on 8" needles. The resulting fabric has a nice hand and drape as well, I think it'll work well for the type of sweater I have in mind. If it goes this quickly, I might actually be able to wear this sweater this spring!
The one problem I had not worked out was how to handle the pattern with the decreases EZ uses to shape the yoke. But just as I was falling asleep last night, an idea came to me. Miracle of miracles, I still remembered it this morning, and I still think it could work. Not just the delirious musings of a mostly-dreaming brain. Once my gauge swatch is big enough and I've got my gauge, I'll test the decreasing and see whether my idea holds water.
I love new projects. This is the most fun part of the whole process.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
this 'n' that
Start of the semester. Yesterday was the first day of classes, so things are plenty busy around here. But I'm managing to get some time at lunch today, so here's a post. Thanks for reading!
Start of the semester also means some things will be picking up again soon, like the knitting group. Yay! I'm looking forward to a treat this semester, as an old-time group member will be coming back, at least temporarily. She used to work here, left or retired or something, but comes back from time to time to fill in for various departments when someone leaves. I have heard her name often from Ralene, our knitting group "leader", so I'm looking forward to meeting her.
Went to see Avatar last weekend (like everyone else in the world, apparently). No knitting in the movie, but other than that, I loved it. The story is standard chick flick fare, but the visuals! Oh, man! We saw it in Westminster in 2D, and we left the theater talking about when we could make the half hour drive to Hanover to see it in 3D. It's just gorgeous. Go see it if you haven't already.
Also celebrated family birthdays last weekend. My brother-in-law and his wife have birthdays one week apart, and last weekend was the weekend in between, so we went down to their place for a little get-together. Angel food cake with strawberries and spinner dominoes. Livin' it up like wildmen. As a present to their dad, my two nephews (19 and 23) sat in for a few games. It was pretty funny how they were humoring all of us oldsters. Talkin' and tappin', movin' and jivin', it was certainly different than when it's just us geezers. Kate, you know what I mean about boys/young men that age.
Current projects are mostly quilting oriented. Still finishing Peter's Christmas quilt, it's looking good and it's so snuggly warm to work on in the evenings. I'm sewing on some button embellishments, so it's hand work right now, which I really love. I'd rather sew by hand than on a machine any day. Mom is still deciding what edging fabric to use on her Christmas quilt. And on top of that I decided to do the February block of the month for the quilt guild. Just a big applique'd heart, no big deal. Actually I am making two of them. I have mail ordered some potholder materials (heat resistant batting and that silver material), and I want to make one square into a potholder for myself. I need some new ones, and it seems I should be able to make them pretty easily, so we'll see how it works out.
Okay, back to work!
Start of the semester also means some things will be picking up again soon, like the knitting group. Yay! I'm looking forward to a treat this semester, as an old-time group member will be coming back, at least temporarily. She used to work here, left or retired or something, but comes back from time to time to fill in for various departments when someone leaves. I have heard her name often from Ralene, our knitting group "leader", so I'm looking forward to meeting her.
Went to see Avatar last weekend (like everyone else in the world, apparently). No knitting in the movie, but other than that, I loved it. The story is standard chick flick fare, but the visuals! Oh, man! We saw it in Westminster in 2D, and we left the theater talking about when we could make the half hour drive to Hanover to see it in 3D. It's just gorgeous. Go see it if you haven't already.
Also celebrated family birthdays last weekend. My brother-in-law and his wife have birthdays one week apart, and last weekend was the weekend in between, so we went down to their place for a little get-together. Angel food cake with strawberries and spinner dominoes. Livin' it up like wildmen. As a present to their dad, my two nephews (19 and 23) sat in for a few games. It was pretty funny how they were humoring all of us oldsters. Talkin' and tappin', movin' and jivin', it was certainly different than when it's just us geezers. Kate, you know what I mean about boys/young men that age.
Current projects are mostly quilting oriented. Still finishing Peter's Christmas quilt, it's looking good and it's so snuggly warm to work on in the evenings. I'm sewing on some button embellishments, so it's hand work right now, which I really love. I'd rather sew by hand than on a machine any day. Mom is still deciding what edging fabric to use on her Christmas quilt. And on top of that I decided to do the February block of the month for the quilt guild. Just a big applique'd heart, no big deal. Actually I am making two of them. I have mail ordered some potholder materials (heat resistant batting and that silver material), and I want to make one square into a potholder for myself. I need some new ones, and it seems I should be able to make them pretty easily, so we'll see how it works out.
Okay, back to work!
Friday, January 15, 2010
Over it
Yay -- more company! I have just lined up a visit in March by the famous Kate for whom this blog was started. She's coming for a week. I'm psyched. Time to make a list of yarn shops to visit.
The weather here has turned mild. The dog is going berserk because the bunnies have been sighted in the backyard, and the rest of us aren't far behind. I think all of you who read this either live or have lived in Chicagoland (what do they think it is, Disneyland?), so you understand how glorious it can be to go from highs in the 20's to highs in the 40's. I feel reborn.
I'm wearing my greywork socks today for the first time. I really need to get some pictures up on this blog. Anyway, these are the socks I spent 7 months knitting fancy patterns into, only to have my mother point out that it's all on the foot, so who's going to see it? Well, with the warmer weather, I'm wearing my slip-on shoes, and every time I look down I'm seeing a flash of that natty pattern on the foot and the two Fair Isle bands on the ankle. I am loving it. So guess what, it works! Yay again!
The weather here has turned mild. The dog is going berserk because the bunnies have been sighted in the backyard, and the rest of us aren't far behind. I think all of you who read this either live or have lived in Chicagoland (what do they think it is, Disneyland?), so you understand how glorious it can be to go from highs in the 20's to highs in the 40's. I feel reborn.
I'm wearing my greywork socks today for the first time. I really need to get some pictures up on this blog. Anyway, these are the socks I spent 7 months knitting fancy patterns into, only to have my mother point out that it's all on the foot, so who's going to see it? Well, with the warmer weather, I'm wearing my slip-on shoes, and every time I look down I'm seeing a flash of that natty pattern on the foot and the two Fair Isle bands on the ankle. I am loving it. So guess what, it works! Yay again!
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
The Party's Over
The holidays are over. Time to relax in front of the fire and recharge the batteries. Not that it wasn't fun, but it was a lot of work!
The visit with Kathi and Christa went well. Westminster is kind of a slow little town, but we did manage to treat them to a record snowfall, almost 2 feet in one day. That was on a Saturday, and we were smart enough to park one car near the end of the driveway, so we were able to get out on Sunday. Living on the road to the hospital has some advantages, like good snow plowing. On Monday, Peter had to go to work after all, so we decided to shovel out one of the other cars. 20" of snow. 70 feet of driveway. You get the picture. Thank God it was fluffy snow. Let's just hope none of the neighbors turns in those pictures of the girl in the wheelchair shoveling snow. I swear, judge, she wanted to do it!
Christmas Day saw us seating 13 at the big table. If you've read past posts, you know we hosted Thanksgiving, which in principal made Christmas my brother- and sister-in-law's holiday. However, her mother was just getting over a hip replacement operation, and really, it was just all too much. But their son really wanted to do the Christmas brunch he's done the last few years. After all, he may be a budding young chef, he's thinking of culinary school. So in the end they brought up a cooler of stuff, Eric cooked brunch at our house, we had sit-down brunch and then a buffet in the afternoon, and everyone had a grand time. Including me.
Now the company's gone and I'm back at work. Vacations always go by much too fast. Got my best help desk call ever today. The Registrar wants me to un-knit a row of a scarf for her. Hmm, a knitting help desk. Can I make money at it? Probably not. Too bad.
This woman, her name is Jan, was on my interview committee for this job, and she was one of the three people I had lunch with that day. One of the other people is a big knitter/weaver/etc, and she mentioned that there was a knitting group here at the College. So when I started the job here, I joined the knitting group, and Jan asks me about it from time to time. She's very nice. Now she's knitting a scarf. There's a mistake and she needs to go back a little ways, but it's in a simple lace pattern, and she's afraid she'll mess up with the complex stitches. So she asked me. What fun to be known on campus for knitting.
The visit with Kathi and Christa went well. Westminster is kind of a slow little town, but we did manage to treat them to a record snowfall, almost 2 feet in one day. That was on a Saturday, and we were smart enough to park one car near the end of the driveway, so we were able to get out on Sunday. Living on the road to the hospital has some advantages, like good snow plowing. On Monday, Peter had to go to work after all, so we decided to shovel out one of the other cars. 20" of snow. 70 feet of driveway. You get the picture. Thank God it was fluffy snow. Let's just hope none of the neighbors turns in those pictures of the girl in the wheelchair shoveling snow. I swear, judge, she wanted to do it!
Christmas Day saw us seating 13 at the big table. If you've read past posts, you know we hosted Thanksgiving, which in principal made Christmas my brother- and sister-in-law's holiday. However, her mother was just getting over a hip replacement operation, and really, it was just all too much. But their son really wanted to do the Christmas brunch he's done the last few years. After all, he may be a budding young chef, he's thinking of culinary school. So in the end they brought up a cooler of stuff, Eric cooked brunch at our house, we had sit-down brunch and then a buffet in the afternoon, and everyone had a grand time. Including me.
Now the company's gone and I'm back at work. Vacations always go by much too fast. Got my best help desk call ever today. The Registrar wants me to un-knit a row of a scarf for her. Hmm, a knitting help desk. Can I make money at it? Probably not. Too bad.
This woman, her name is Jan, was on my interview committee for this job, and she was one of the three people I had lunch with that day. One of the other people is a big knitter/weaver/etc, and she mentioned that there was a knitting group here at the College. So when I started the job here, I joined the knitting group, and Jan asks me about it from time to time. She's very nice. Now she's knitting a scarf. There's a mistake and she needs to go back a little ways, but it's in a simple lace pattern, and she's afraid she'll mess up with the complex stitches. So she asked me. What fun to be known on campus for knitting.
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