Finished Object Friday! Multnomah Shawl

Wow, how long has it been since I've finished something? (I checked - December 14th, 2010.)

I've been on a bit of a stash-busting bender lately. I found this ball of Mark's and Katten Fame Trend, a Christmas gift in 2009 from my aunt and uncle, and decided it was next on the list.





I browsed the Ravelry pattern database to see what I could find. I came up with Multnomah. (Available free at http://helloknitty.net.)







My goal was to use as much of the yarn as possible. I left I tiny tail after casting on the 3 starting stitches:





I knit extra repeats until my yarn supply seemed dangerously low and did a k2tog bind off to keep the end stretchy. I had about 8" of yarn left.





Let me tell you, I was seriously sweating that bind off! Here is a shot of the whole thing, pre-blocking.





The cat's odd sitting position is due to the fact that he was slowing inching his way closer to the yarn tail while feigning innocence.

WIP Wednesday

I started this cardigan fromStefanie Japel's Fitted Knits last Friday night (Love this book). I was amazed and very pleased at how fast it seemed to be going. Then I had increased to the entire amount of sleeve and body stitches and progress slowed down dramatically. Still, it will be finished soon enough to wear this winter which really in an accomplishment for me!

New Pattern! Great Gift Idea (wink, wink)

Part of the blog silence this summer was due to the super secret project I was working on for Three Irish Girls. They (kindly, amazingly) offered to publish a pattern I submitted during their 'call for new patterns'.



Sidestep Ankle Warmers




From Three Irish Girls: The perfect thing to chase away the chill, these ankle warmers stop the gap between pants and shoes. The button closure allows you to remove them without getting them wet or muddy. And hey, they look pretty sweet too.

These are knit from one skein of TIG's super soft and warm "Deliciousness" Alpaca yarn. The color shown here is Bellini, which I think looks perfect modeled on a ballet dancer.

I, of course, wear mine under jeans and over gym shoes and think they look equally as nice and work perfectly!


You can find the pattern here for purchase for an easy-on-the-wallet $2.95 and here on Ravelry.

Many thanks again to TIG for giving me this opportunity!

A month and a half without a post...

and the last one was on cupcakes. That pretty much sums up my life during that time.

(Mmmmm....cupcakes. I wish I hadn't seen that photo.)

Knitting has been sporadic lately, except for one big, exciting project that I hope to be able to share with you soon. This project seems to have sucked up all of my knitting mojo, since other projects I have attempted to knit have been miserable failures.

Failures have occurred in the following categories:

1) Note-taking: the second sock with a leg less than half the circumference of the first
2) Gauge:the yarn - the hat that used up a ball of yarn before the crown; turned out to be about 30" around
3) Pattern reading:the vine lace cardigan, which is lacy but not vine-y; the yarn overs are placed wrong

(photos coming soon)

Luckily, I've have having much more luck with some other hobbies lately. I don't want to clutter up my yarn blog, but may share some links to my other work in the future.

Also, PARTY!! My hubby's birthday is on Halloween and we are planning a "mysterious, spooky, creepy, and kooky" bash this year. Which pretty much gives away our costumes.

Did you know that Morticia Addams knit in almost every episode? I'm thinking of starting something black and oddly shaped to have sitting in a knitting basket during the party.

At this rate, the "oddly shaped" won't be much of a stretch to produce.

Finished: Halley's Comet Hat

I want to finish up a few of the projects I've had sitting around since last year, before I started manically knitting D'sCS (I'm so tired of talking about it - I'm sure you're tired of reading about it!).

This hat was only a few rows away from being finished when it was chucked into the black hole of my UFO basket.





This is Marnie Mclean's Halley's Comet Hat with a major twist. Whenever it was that I started this hat, I didn't feel like working from the top down since fiddling with four stitches on three dpns isn't my idea of fun.

I started at the brim and working the two row lace repeat upside down. As in, I worked the chart so the pattern came out the same as it would have if I knit it top down. I had major issues when it came to the comet lace motif at the crown. I tried and tried to re-chart it to be knit from the bottom up, but it never came out right. Tell me, is this not possible or was I majorly missing something??

Eventually I gave up and continued the lace pattern up the crown, and decreased quickly in the last two rows. I love how it turned out and it fits well.



(I really want to get one of those foam head things for photos.)


The other notable thing about this hat is that it is made from the last ball of Elsebeth Lavold Classic Al from my Something Red sweater. I used all but the last few inches of it up - very satisfying.

Dad's Sweater, Revisited

When I finished Dad's sweater for the second time, I had to wait a week or so before we would be together for him to try it on. When he (bravely, in 85° and humid weather) tried it on it was obvious that the sleeves were now too short, and the neck was a little snug. Eep!! I panicked for a split second before I remembered that I hadn't blocked it yet.

Blocking wool really is an amazing thing to witness. You can almost transform things into brand new garments. Once blocked, it fit perfectly and was even softer than before. Here's a final model shot:



(He loves it. This is his 'picture' smile.)


I wanted to make a special label so decades in the future it would be known that I made this for him. (Hmm.. that sounds a little conceited when I see it written out.) I came up with the idea to embroider a wide piece of grosgrain ribbon and sew it near the bottom side seam of the sweater.



(The red blob is a heart.)


My embroidery skill were much more lacking than I imagined. I guess looking at patterns, reading booking, and listing designs you want to make don't really count as practice. But I still love it and I think it adds a little charm. Just hopefully not in a kindergarten sort of way.

Springtime

Is everyone else as happy as I am that spring has finally hit the midwest? We have even had a number of 80°F days already, although I could do without those.

Despite the warm weather we had a frost just last week and I haven't planted any in my gardens yet. I am going to scale is back slightly from last year since the main garden doesn't get enough direct sunlight during the day to make some of the plants happy. We are either going to put in a raised bed or add new soil since I'm sure the poor soil quality played a role in the stunted plant growth. It was all just an experiment last year! This year, I think I am going to stick to the basics: a few varieties of tomatoes and peppers, cucumbers, maybe an eggplant and a pumpkin or squash.

I received the new issue of Interview Knits in the mail yesterday, and there are a number of patterns I would like to make. It may be enough of a spark to get me knitting regularly again. I started to think about all of the yarn/pattern combos I have in my stash and how much I really would like to wear them. I think that proves that I'm a "product" knitter! I've never been sure before now.

I am busy tonight and tomorrow, but starting Thursday I am going to settle myself on the couch and knit all night. I really should start by finished my Dad's sweater...

Weekend Getaway - With Car Knitting!

Steve and I decided that we needed a long weekend away to break up the endless weeks of work and almost-but-not-really-springtime we were trudging through.

A quick, inexpensive weekend trip always takes us back to Iowa City, where I lived for eight years. It still feels like home every time I return. The best part of the trip was the amazing weather and the abundance of fresh, clean air.

The IC is over a three hour drive from where we live now and I wanted a small knitting project to work on in the car that wouldn't require much thought or concentration. (This would not be my Dad's sweater. Yes, I feel guilty.) I started a pink top down baby sweater which will probably go to a little girl soon to be born into a family of three boys. I picked a pima cotton/silk blend yarn out of my stash and it felt so good to be knitting again. By the time we got home Sunday night, I had the yoke and almost one sleeve finished. (An aching right wrist slowed me down more than hoped.)

Our time in IC (Coralville, actually) went too quickly as usual. The list of things to do consisted mostly of places to eat but I also managed to do a little damage at the yarn store down there street from where I used to live (sigh) and at the scrapbook/paper store in the same complex, where I shopped for wedding invitation supplies over five years ago.

My only minor disappointed came when my camera battery died in the middle of photographing signs in downtown IC, for a collage project idea using the various letters. Here is a small (and rough) sampling of some of the letters:






I can't wait to go back, possibly with a better camera, to finish my plan.

I can't wait to go back, period!

A brief Respite.

Even though I have been knitting some over the last few months, it is nothing like the marathon sessions I used to have. I would really like to get back to knitting more (when I can tear myself away from other recently acquired hobbies), but I do think this break has done me some good.

Not only is my mind clearer on what projects are important and which I don't really want to do, but my hands don't ache constantly anymore.


And that my friends, is a good thing. As much as I want to get back to knitting, I know I have to keep it at a sane level and not push myself so hard to "just finish this real fast!".

Because after all, what is a hobby worth if it is not fun?

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Once again I find myself woefully behind in my online life. I guess that's a good thing - it means real life is going well.

I hope everyone who celebrates had a wonderful Christmas with their families. We had our last family party today, and I am a little sad that it's over. The house always looks so empty when all of the decorations are pack up until next year.

Good news! I finished all (both) of my gift projects on time. The big one that I have been keeping secret since September is a Cobblestone Pullover for my Dad. For the record, finished on time means that I was sewing in the ends and steam blocking on my old bedroom floor at my parents house at 11pm Christmas eve, cursing how loud the steam shot was on my Mom's iron and waiting for my Dad to knock on the door and ask what that weird noise was.

I forgot to take photos, but will definitely get some when I see them for New Year's Eve.

I'm looking forward to my knitting routine returning to normal, and hope to have more to post again soon. I have been thinking a lot about this blog lately and the purpose of it. Really, I do it for myself. I must - I'm not sure anyone ever reads this anymore. I realized I started my first "Yarn Dreams" blog in 2003. Almost 7 years ago!! Is that possible?

(If you are reading this - leave a comment? Or send me a quick email? I'm such a terrible lurker myself, but I would love to know if anyone is still out there.)

Anyway, until next year, here is a scan of the front of the Christmas cards I made:


[caption id="attachment_328" align="aligncenter" width="210" caption="Card front"][/caption]


Take care, and see you in 2010.

Under the Radar

I've been busy lately knitting projects that can't be spoken of here yet, doing some paper crafts, and firmly ignoring the fact that there are only 29 days left in 2009.

Oh, and napping. Serious insomnia has struck leaving me wide awake most nights and napping after work. It's a vicious cycle I would really like to get out of.

I ordered a box of goodies from Knit Picks about a month ago now, maybe longer. The idea was that I'd have plenty of time to knit up some small Christmas goodies like Alan Dart's Gnomes and Snowmes or a felted slipper or two.





Of course, I haven't touched a thing in this box since I took the photo except to move it off the dining room table. I still believe that I have plenty of time to do everything that I want done before the holidays but I might just be deluding myself at this point.

As I mentioned, I've been spending a lot of time working on paper crafts lately and I've decided to make my own Christmas cards for the first time. I'm sure you won't be surprised when I tell you this has become much more time consuming and costly than I originally anticipated. But, I'm very excited to see how they turn out.

And because I take more cat photos than anything these days, here is a little montage of Reggie 'helping' me test some new stamps:

Finished: One Row Handspun Scarf

Before I started spinning, I imagined that it would be difficult to actually knit with (and "use up") the yarns that I spun. In fact, the opposite has been true for me. I love knitting with my handspun yarn, and only worry a little about finding the perfect pattern to use for them.

I'm sure it helps that all of my spinning to this point has produced worsted weight yarn approximate to a skein of Cascade 220. Hats and scarves, anyone?

I wrote about spinning this Spunky Eclectic fiber here in March. I was excited to see how it knitted up, since I didn't pay any attention to how I split the colors while spinning. I ended up with some great subtle stripes:





Pattern: One Row Handspun Scarf by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (available free here)
Yarn:Handspun Spunky Eclectic Roving in "New Day", details here
Needles:size 8US bamboo straights
Start/Finish: October 6, 2009/October 13, 2009

Swatching.

I spent part of my weekend combining patterns with yarn and doing a few swatches for the things I want to start soon.





The green is Cascade Sierra, the gray is Plymouth Encore, and the red is Rowan Summer Tweed. The first two are for vests and the Summer Tweed is for a Liesl cardigan. I am constantly pushing long sleeves up at work to keep them out of the way (and out of chemicals/media/burners) so I thought I'd try combos of warm vests with short sleeves to stay warm this winter with less hassle.

The swatches have already been washed and blocked. I know many people don't swatch at all, much less wash and block them, but my scientific brain can not comprehend how to make a garment that fits without knowing how the yarn is going to act. I am a little disappointed to see that my stitches still look uneven in the Sierra after blocking. This is actually my second time attempting to use this yarn and I just can't get it to look smooth. Is it the cotton content? Frustrating.

These swatches:





are homework for a seaming class I am taking at Stitches Midwest next weekend. I am really looking forward to this class; my seaming is atrocious and no matter how many times I read instructions on how to do mattress stitch I just don't get it.

Judging by the swatches, we are going to learn to seam many different types of stitches and edges. Maybe after this I will not shy away from knitting a sweater in pieces instead of top-down all at once. My bulky, heavy, too hot on my lap Sweater of Doom has made me question that method, as convenient as it sounds.

The Neverending Sweater of Doom

The only thing left to finish on my Sedum cardigan is the collar, which is long and ribbed (har) so it can fold over on itself and be cozy.

I have worked on it every night since last weekend. It doesn't seem to be getting any bigger.

Arggh! I just want it finished!

As much as I love sweaters that are knit in one piece, having the entire thing in your lap while working on a sleeve or the collar is really a pain. Especially when it is a large cardigan/coat sweater in bulky yarn.

Looking Ahead.

So I'm in the midst of a finishing frenzy, and taking a little time out from new projects to assess what I want to accomplish in the remainder of 2009. This includes the fate of a number of project that I wrote indecisively about here in my In-Progress Roundup. Whatever uncertainty I held while writing that list is gone. It I don’t like it, it’s getting frogged. If I don’t want to work on it, I’m considering that a symptom of not liking it and frogging.

It’s very freeing.

(The following list is mostly for my own reference, but you can play along at home.)

To be finished (soon):
Sedum Cardigan - 1 sleeve cuff, button bands, and collar remaining.
Mom's yarn - two bobbins left to fill, then ply

To be started/continued:
Steve’s Henry scarf – I really really love the pattern. Who cares if it's a little fiddly?
Doughnut – decided to change pattern to fit my needs

To be frogged:
Chevron scarf – going to be turned into a tweed/woven stitch, still alternating the two colors, possibly lengthwise
Turtleneck Tube Vest - going to be turned into a different, u-neck vest

This weekend I am going to work on matching some (most?) of my yarn up with projects and putting them in a loose to-be-knit timeline. I'm also going to write up the ideas I have for my growing spinning fiber collection.

Ahhhhh, organization. You feel so good.

Finished: Swallowtail Shawl

The Swallowtail was my first triangular shawl. I think I'm hooked! (But I still need to figure out how to photograph them to show off the lace best.)





I've said it before, but I am a much better knitter when I'm using an interesting pattern stitch, instead of plain stockinette or rib. It's like, if I'm not forced to pay attention then I won't at all. I knit this whole thing without lifelines, marking up my chart, or even writing down what row I was on. And I didn't ever need to rip more than two or three stitches. (I did need to correct a lost yarnover from the previous row a few times though.)

I'm saying this not to brag or feel like a superior knitter (I'm definitely not), but to prove how important learning to read your knitting is. It's something I struggled with for a long time. It actually took me years to figure out that the row where the two stitch leaned together wasn't the decrease row, but the row where the loop passed through both of them at once was.

The Swallowtail is a simple enough pattern that I could tell what row I was on by a glance at what I had done in the previous row. Pattern repeats were easily counted, and the repeat section across the chart was short, intuitive, and easily memorized.

Plus, I think I got lucky.



I'll probably wear it like this, under my coat.



Pattern: Swallowtail Shawl by Evelyn A. Clark, Interweave Knits Fall 2006
Yarn: Wisdom Yarns Poem Sock, in color #955
Needles: Addi Turbo Lace in 3US
Started/Finished: June 2009 - August 3, 2009




I really tried everything when it came to the photo.

Blocking the Swallowtail

I finished knitting my Swallowtail shawl in a haze of decongestant on Monday. I am so pleased with this project. As my first triangular shawl, I wasn't entirely sure how it was constructed. Logically I knew, each row increases from a central point, but my brain needs to see something before it believes it.

I sort of winged this entire project. I didn't use any stitch markers or lifelines, didn't highlight or write on the charts, didn't even use anything to mark what row I was on in the chart. I kept saying "I just want to get started, I'll fix that stuff up later". And then I was done. And it worked!

I broke out the blocking wires purchased almost a year ago at Stitches Midwest for the the time. Let me say, once i figured out how to pin and pull them to stretch the fabric, I will never block something without them again.

The yarn I used (Wisdom Yarns Poem Sock) is marketed to use as a sock yarn. Obviously, I guess. It is a loosely spun single with 25% nylon. It didn't seem like it would be very sturdy for socks and this suspicion was confirmed while blocking. My yarn tails were almost fragile while wet, and one kept disintegrating in my hands. Luckily I left them extra long. I was concerned about how aggressively I could block it without damaging any of the stitches, so I probably erred on the side of caution.


Here is the unblocked shawl:




Here is the bizarre milky purple color it turned the water while it was soaking:


What's up with that?


Blocking:


On old maroon towels, to avoid any chance of dying the carpet.


With cat anchor:


While still damp. Crazy cat loves water.

Lace Knitting.

I just remembered that earlier this year (March?) I thought that this should be the "Summer of Lace". Mostly because I had a number of lace projects I was contemplating and had recently purchased some Misti Alpaca laceweight yarn.

I started knitting this Swallowtail shawl on a whim a few weeks ago. Maybe there is still time to finish a lace project of two? Not sure if that still counts as 'Summer', though.





The yarn is Wisdom Yarns Poem sock weight, which is a loosely spun single with long color changes. I actually started a pair of socks with it before really noticing how loosely spun it really was and decided it would be better off as something else.

For whatever reason, complicated knitting goes much faster for me than plain. Maybe it holds my interest more? All I know is that I have an almost finished sweater, almost a pair of socks, and countless other half finished projects that I have no desire to work on right now.

Movie Knitting

I have a sock in progress that I keep under the passenger seat of my car to solve a case of Extreme Boredom. (No, this does not include stoplights, trains, traffic, or anywhere else I should be paying at least a little attention. My brain doesn't shift gears that quickly.) It's been under there at least eight months, probably longer.

Last weekend I found the perfect spot to work on it - at a drive-in.





The double feature we saw was Night at the Museum 2 (which was pretty funny, but then I don't have the most sophisticated taste in movies) and Star Trek (which we had already seen once at the IMAX). It was a fun night.

Several people who have seen the car sock have asked me about the short circular needle. It is a 9" 0US Hiya Hiya. I like using it but it takes some getting used to. And by that I mean that it takes some getting used to every time I pick it up. The first dozen or so stitches feel awkward until I find the right grip, which is different then I typically hold needles.

I think this awkwardness is worth the benefits of using one short needle. I can just knit around and around without paying much attention or stopping to rearrange needles. I haven't reached the heel yet, but I am planning on trying a short row heel with the instep stitches sitting on the cord. Theoretically, I should be able to knit the entire sock on that one needle up to the toe decreases.

I'll post again on how it is working out once I reach that point.

In-Progress Roundup

I've gone on a yarn shopping binge recently (more on that to come) but I really want to finish up some lingering projects before I cast on anything new. Besides a sweater that I have been working on consistently for a week or so, my other projects in progress have been lingering for a while now. I think it is time for some decisions. Opinions or tough love welcome.
(Note: links go to Ravelry.)

1) Sedum Sweater


This has been my current go-to project for the past week. I am hoping to finish it soon - three cheers for bulky yarn!

2) Chevron Scarf


I've wanted to make this scarf for years. I've had the yarn for years. My desire to knit it only increased after seeing all of the colorful and beautiful finished scarves on Ravelry. I've held off starting it since I thought it would be a fun knit and didn't want the "fun" of it to be over. But. It isn't fun to work on. The colors are pooling even though I am using two different colorways, I have to use size 4 needles to get a fabric I like, and it is basically stockinette stitch so isn't it going to roll? I just don't know what to do. I know it probably sounds like a no-brainer that I need to frog this thing but I've imagined it knit for so long I'm having a hard time letting go of that dream. I suppose at the very least I need to rip out and restart one of the skeins a few yards in so the pooling stops.

3) Anastasia Socks


This is a project that looks good on paper. The yarn (Misti International Hand Paint Sock) is amazing soft and the colors are wonderful; the pattern is well written and attractive. I have 1.25 socks knit but I've stalled because it isn't much fun to work on. I know it sounds ridiculous but the yarn is almost too soft. It slips right thought my fingers and I get a cramp in my palm trying to keep even tension. I will finish them; I've done too much not too. Besides, I do love them and look forward to wearing them. I've almost cast on a few other pairs of socks but am forcing myself to finish these first or else they may never be done.

4) Perfect Periwinkle Turtleneck Tube Vest


I really want to like this. (Do I sound like a broken record?) My mom bought me the yarn (Cascade Sierra) specifically for this project. I think I shortened the turtleneck too much and I don't like how my increases look. So again, probably should frog the whole thing and start over. The biggest problem is I had to go down to a US5 needle to get gauge (and a nice fabric) and the cotton content of the yarn kills my hands if I work on it for any length of time. But, wouldn't it look cute with a white blouse and jeans?

5) Husband Scarf. No photo or link, since it hasn't progressed that far yet. I bought some Berroco Inca Gold to make a dressy scarf to go with his new black leather coat last winter. I had planned on use the Henry pattern from Knitty but couldn't be bothered to do the math to account for my thicker yarn. Besides, it looks a little fiddly to do with black yarn. He hasn't found any stitch pattern in my books that he likes as much as the Henry scarf. We are at an impasse.