Adventures with the slowest knitter

2009-02-24T11:57:00.004-05:00

Legwarmers, a play in 3 acts

Act 1

Me: Legwarmers are stupid! How often do your calves get cold, amirite?? Lulz.
Beth: I wear leg warmers.
Me: ...really?
Beth: Yeah, they really help keep me warm.

(later)

Me: Man, the boot-cut jeans are letting breezes in under the cuffs! They're making my... calves... cold...

(light bulb overhead)

Me: I've been such a fool!

Act 2

Me: I will make some plain legwarmers! Just 1x1 ribbing! Basic tubes, for my legs! But how much yarn will I need?

(sits at computer quietly)

Me: But all these patterns are giving wildly different yardages! I have no idea how much yarn I'll need!

(cue: dramatic music)

Me: I shouldn't buy new yarn. I have so much already! But no! There is not enough of any of my superwash wools! And I can't use non-washable, for the leg warmers will get dirty, and I don't want to hand wash them!

Perhaps I will do some colorwork, and since I have superwash wools in different colors! No, the colors I have are ugly together, and I want these to be simple. What about this yarn, whose colors are kind of ugly, but the yarn is so soft? No! Not superwash! And this? No! Ugly!

(days of constant researching later, complete with rings under eyes and crazyhair)

Me: Maybe... maybe just a little colorwork... With this hand-dyed wool -- it's not superwash I KNOW THAT I KNOW THAT. And this nice... black Lana Grossa Cool Wool... The one skein should be enough... But there's that... pretty... pretty... star pattern from those socks... I could just... do some math...

(hours later, happily knitting along)

Me: [frown] Something doesn't seem right... *gasp!* The chart has an error!

(cue: dramatic music)

Me: Do I rip back? Or keep going? Rip back? Keep going? Rip back? Keep going... Keep going... Keep going...

(hours later)

Me: Shit, it's too small! NOOOOOOOOOO! [rips out back to the top band] How will I ever, ever finish these?

Act 3

Me: Finally! I have the first leg warmer! And it fits! But wait! What's this?! I'm out of the black wool?! Which I bought in Philly? Even though I'm living in North Carolina?! NOOOOOOO!

Me: Mom? Dad? I thought I'd come up to Philly for a visit! No no, no particular reason. Just to visit. Yessssss, to visit... heh heh heh... What? No, I'm fine.

(days later)

Me: Almost... there... just have to... sew down hem with elastic in...

Me: Could it be? It COULD! They're done! They're done! (prances around)

(later)

Me: Ahh, how did I live my life without leg warmers? I will wear them all the time! I will wear skirts in winter! I will wear them with impunity, and ward off the cold with my LEG WARMERS!

(cue: triumphant music)

(days later)

Me: Man, my knees are really cold.

(cue: DUN DUN DUNNNNNNNNNNNN)

2009-01-07T16:27:00.004-05:00

It is a truth universally acknowledged that cancer can suck it

This is Kate:

She's pretty fuckin' awesome. I can't even tell you how much. So when she told me that her grandfather's cancer had returned, I reacted as knitters react: I asked myself what I could knit for him. Being all sneaky-style as I am, I asked Kate if her grandfather had a shoe size, what shoe size he would have. Then a day later I asked her what his opinion was on the F-bomb.

Being also fucking clever, she replied that he would be totally down with a pair of socks that might happen to say "Fuck Cancer." That was good enough for me. A few days later I had these:

Someone asked me for the pattern, and I figured that since I was writing it up I may as well post it here. Make 'em for your loved ones, or your liked ones, or people you haven't even met yet.

Caveat Knitter: I haven't test knit this pattern. But the most important part is the chart, so use it as you will.

Cancer Can Suck It (Socks)

Yarn:
MC: 352 yds sport weight wool (I used 2 balls Lana Grossa Cool Wool 2000 with exactly enough for a 10.3” foot – approx. a man’s size 9)
CC: Not much sport weight wool (I used 1 ball Lana Grossa Cool Wool 2000 and had lots left over)

Needles:
Size 3 for the ribbing, 4 for stockinette. I knit pretty loosely, so you may have to go up a size for each.

Gauge: 6.5 stitches per inch in stockinette

Top ribbing:
Using size 4 needles cast on 52 stitches
Switch to size 3 needles, join in the round being careful not to twist
K2p2 around for 18 rows

Leg:
Switch to size 4 needles
Work plain around for 10 rows
Start fair isle lettering. NOTE: Include the blank stitches on the right and left!

Work plain for 19 rows

Heel (feel free to substitute your own):
Working over half the stitches:
Row 1: *sl1, k1 repeat from * to end of row
Rows 2 and 4: sl1, purl to end
Row 3: sl1, *sl1, k1, repeat from * to last stitch, k1

Repeat until the heel flap is 2.3” ending with a purl row

K15, ssk, k1, turn work
sl 1, p5, p2tog, p1, turn work
Row 1: sl1, K to 1 stitch before gap, ssk, k1, turn work
Row 2: sl1, P to one stitch before gap, p2tog, p1, turn work

Repeat those two rows until all stitches on the heel have been worked, ending with a purl row.

Gusset:

Knit across heel flap, pick up 16 stitches on the side of the heel flap. Place marker. Knit across the top of the sock, place marker. Pick up 16 stitches on the heel flap.

Row 1: Knit to 3 stitches before marker, k2tog, knit to next marker, k1, ssk, work to end
Row 2: Work plain.

Repeat two rows until you’re back down to 52 stitches.

Foot:
Remove markers and work plain until the sock is 1.25” from being the final length.

Toe:
Switch to CC.

K26, place marker, k26, pm

Row 1: *k1, ssk, k to 3 before marker, k2 tog, k1, repeat from * to end
Row 2: Work plain

Repeat both rows until you have 24 stitches left (total). Graft toe closed.

2008-12-15T20:48:00.002-05:00

What's better than mittens?

Tiny mittens!

Miss Nala doesn't think they're so cute, but I do.

And I made a hat! It's based on the Side Slip Cloche from the book Boutique Knits. I don't have the money for the book so I just deconstructed it.

I used Sirdar's Sublime aran-weight yarn. It's pretty delicious. I just need a brooch to close up the side. That white thing in the picture is a twist-tie. Because I'm super classy. But! This'll be for my mom for xmas. I hope she'll wear it. I need to do a lining, though, and am not sure yet how to go about doing that. Bah. But yay! I cast on for another one almost immediately.

2008-11-24T22:55:00.003-05:00

Things I done did

A few weeks ago I learned a friend of mine was pregnant. Real pregnant. Due in a week and a half. I panicked. Baby coming?! Must! Knit! Hat! They didn't know the sex, so I had to find some gender-neutral superwash wool in my stash, stat! Couldn't find any! AUGH! Finally I settled on some green and white fingering weight that I'd whip into some kind of hat-with-fair-isle-sheep.

...but then three days later I saw on her facebook page that Miss Sadie had already arrived! I snagged some pink sport-weight wool (I know, I know, cliché color, but whatever, pink is nice) and the Spritely Hat pattern and four days later I had this:

The pattern is for a child's size, but with the sport-weight wool and size 3 needles it'd be close enough.

The sticks: size 3 circs
The string: Lana Grossa Cool Wool 2000.

The little leaves on the top are outrageously cute.

And remember this?

It became this:

Which I want to be enough for a scarf, but really probably isn't. Alas. Maybe paired with some black wool? Hmmmm... Ooh! No! Dark gray! Yes.

2008-11-02T17:42:00.001-05:00

Did I have fun at SAFF?

Why yes. Yes I did have fun at SAFF. It was full of Hotties.

2008-10-31T12:31:00.003-04:00

SAFF

I went, I saw,

I was very reasonable with my purchases.

Sugarbee Studios One night stand batt in Isaac. I don't know how I'm going to spin it up yet, but I'm totally looking forward to it.

ReadySpin (RealWool) 6-pack of rovings. This'll end up being some super stripey sock yarn, I think.

Now that I have new stuff I'm spinning the hell out of some purple roving so I can start spinning up the batt.

I didn't finish my sweater in time (the collar was still on the needles, and while I tried to wear it like that it was just too crowded and I was bordering on hurting someone with my needles), but it's just about finished now (after I fix the sleeves, re-bind-off the collar, and find buttons). Do I have pictures? Heavens no!

But SAFF was fun. And if y'all get a chance to hang out with Stacey you should, because she is FULL of win.

2008-10-21T12:55:00.002-04:00

Oh!

SAFF is coming up. A lot of knitters, before festivals, will make it a goal to have a sweater or a shawl finished to debut in front of a very appreciative audience. While I've always respected that, I've never done it, mostly because I'm lazy. I'll bring something I've finished relatively recently, but I don't make it a goal.

So imagine my surprise when I saw this:

...three days before SAFF! Will I get the button band and the collar (I don't have enough yarn for the hood -- I think) done in time?? Only time... will tell.

(Also, who's going to SAFF? Huh? Huh?)

2008-10-11T16:03:00.005-04:00

Scandihoovian hat

Gauge: 2 stitches per inch
Needles: Size 13 DPNs (I used a circ, and it was painful because it was too small for magic loop).
Yarn: Blue Sky Alpaca Bulky Natural, 1 skein (45 yards, with plenty leftover for a nice, optional pom pom)
Size: 1 year (your mileage will TOTALLY vary. My nephew is 4.5 months and giant and this hat just fits him).
Notes: My increase was knit-into-the-stitch-below. It doesn't really matter which you use.

C/O 6 (I used Emily Ocker's Circular Cast-on). Place marker at beginning of round.

Row 1: *K1, m1, repeat from *
Row 2, and all even rows: Knit around
Row 3: *K2, m1, repeat from *
Row 5: *K3, m1, repeat from *

Continue until you have 30 stitches total, ending with an even row.

Next row: Increase 4 stitches evenly.

Knit plain until the whole hat measures 6.25".

Next row: K7, wrap and turn (w&t)
Next row: P7, w&t
Next row: K to 1 stitch before wrapped stitch, w&t
Next row: P to 1 stitch before wrapped stitch, w&t

Repeat until you have one stitch unwrapped, ending with a WS row.

Next row: K4, picking up wraps, K13, w&t
Next row: P7, w&t
Next row: K to 1 stitch before wrapped stitch, w&t
Next row: P to 1 stitch before wrapped stitch, w&t

Repeat until you have one stitch unwrapped, ending with a WS row.

Bind off loosely, picking up wraps as you get to them. Add braids at the end of the ear flaps. Add pom pom to the top, if that's your cup of juice.

2008-09-23T13:06:00.003-04:00

I'm a terrible blogger

Two of the things I'm currently working on:

The pattern is http://www.chicknits.com/catalog/cassidy.html">Cassidy.

Remember this sweater?:

I frogged it. It didn't fit well, and the yarn (Queensland Kathmandu Aran Tweed) was too nice to just have it sitting unused. So now it's becoming a cardigan.

And!:

Dale of Norway's Lillelam pants! GOD these are cute. SO much work. SO much work. But it's really fun, so I don't mind.

I got a hot tip from someone in the Stranded group on Ravelry for weaving in ends as you knit. It's here on Sock Prøn's blog. It's working decently well, and the thought of cutting down the finishing is a big relief.

The only thing is that the inseam looks wonky from working so much patterning in the round. It occurs to me that an extra stitch as a false seam would make it look much better. But tearing out... oh lord... I don't know.

At any rate, if they don't fit (my nephew is a big boy -- in the 90th percentile and up for his size) I'll throw a temper tantrum like the world has never seen. I'm knitting the one year size, and he'll be 7 months by then (xmas), so MAYBE. But he's already wearing 6-9 month clothes. You see my concern.

(especially since nothing I've knit him so far has fit. Sigh).

2008-08-30T22:14:00.003-04:00

Not knitting related

Backstory: I'm looking for a job, and am having about zero luck, and frankly am a little anxious about it.

So. The phone rings at 9am on Wednesday. I checked the caller ID -- a number I don't recognize! It might be a job!

YES!

Me (trying not to sound like the phone woke me up): Hello?
Her: Is this Emily?
Me: YES!
Her: This is Gail (YES!) from (YES!) the Obama Campaign.

NO!

It was funny. Except for the part about how it wasn't regarding a job.

2008-08-25T15:48:00.003-04:00

A second gold!

With two days to spare I finished the acrylic monstrosity!

It needs buttons still but WHATEVER, I'm calling it done.

For the record, it's definitely still a monstrosity. Here! A list of annoying things regarding the "Ready to Play" jumper.

1. It's acrylic.
1b. crappy acrylic. Really crappy acrylic.
2. Flat-knit fair isle. Purling with two colors sucks.
3. The original knitter did a float on every stitch on the purled row, not every 3rd or 4th stitch, which takes approximately FOREVER. So I didn't do it. So it doesn't match on the inside. Shhh.
4. Not only are the colors unappealing, but the pattern itself... not so great. However, I'm open to the option that it might not be horrible if done differently.
5. Since it's acrylic you can't really block it (as far as I can tell). It looks a little wonky, and I don't know if I can fix it.

2008-08-17T18:22:00.003-04:00

What's that smell?

Why, it's Knitting Olympics Gold!

The shawl! She is done!

And now I can start working on the acrylic kids snowsuit thing!

...swell.

2008-08-16T11:19:00.004-04:00

Isn't it nice...

when you get some help...

winding a particularly tangled skein of yarn?

(I let her play because 1. I didn't think she could make the tangles much worse, and 2. it was DAMN cute).

Olympics update: only 17 more edging repeats on the shawl until I'm done!

2008-08-09T11:43:00.004-04:00

Knitting Olympics

In which I attempt to use the word "olympics" as much as possible.

Something about job hunting and having so much free time makes blogging seem rather unappealing. I have been knitting -- I have a sock done and its mate on the needles, but it's been put away because it's Knitlympics time!

I haven't done the Knitting Olympics before, but I have the Print O' The Wave stole for Paige's wedding, and since I'm not feeling the lace love I needed encouragement. Plus, two weeks ago I decided that if I designated it as "Olympic knitting" then I could work on something else until then.

And so here it is, and I've started working on the shawl, and ugghhhhh. Maybe the magic will come when I block it, but for now it's not my favorite thing ever.

As it's not a new project I'm in the WIPs Wrestling group, (also known as endurance trials). I have a second project in case I finish the shawl early. It's another project I need an outside deadline for. Have a gander:

Bernat "Ready To Play." Not my usual style, eh? Much too big for my nephew. Kitchy. Sigh. See, when I was young my next door neighbors were my second family. My brother and I were always over there being fed amazing food and playing with the kids. Maria makes the best pizza you have ever eaten.

Last time I was in Philly my dad and I went to visit, and Maria showed me the romper. It was started and mostly accomplished by a friend of hers who was very sick, who then gave it to Maria to finish it. Maria thought it beyond her abilities, and so gave it to me to finish. If I wanted to. It'd mean a lot to her friend to know it was finished. I promised to give it a shot, even though it's so many things I don't like in a project (acrylic, neon, colorwork knit flat). It means a lot to her, and she means a lot to me, so it's project 2.

Well. I'm starting to see a real problem with having the Knitting Olympics during the actual Olympics, because -- and this is especially true during the opening ceremonies -- all I want to do is watch the olympics. I mean really. Did you see those drummers? I'm supposed to pay attention to lace while that's on? HAH!

2008-07-06T14:03:00.009-04:00

Unders, size XL

“The sock yarn I found there was so lovely that if you had told me that angels flew it down from heaven twice a week to try and make up for poison ivy, I would consider that a reasonable explanation. It is so beautiful and soft that I would not hesitate (except for the nagging concern that people would think I was a raving lunatic) to knit it into underpants.”

- Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, Yarn Harlot: The Secret Life of A Knitter

I think all knitters have felt yarn that demands to be made into something that goes right on one’s happy place (I don’t think Lorna’s Laces shepherd sport really qualifies, but work with me here). And UNlike Mme Harlot, I have no major qualms with people thinking I’m a raving lunatic, since what with the obsessive knitting and the obsessive contra dancing, I’m probably not too far off anyway.

Plus, I thought that knitted underwear would be awesome anyway. And they are. Remember the feeling you got when you put on your first pair of hand knit socks? It’s like that, but better.

The written pattern’s kind of ugly and sketchy, and it only comes in one size because I have NO IDEA how to change the size on something with so picky a decrease. But hey! It’s free!

If you’re smaller than me, you can use a lighter weight yarn and smaller needles.

Gauge: 6 stitches, 11 rows to the inch

I used:
Needles: size 2 circs for the body and size 3 for the i-cord
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport, 1 ball and a smidge (around 50 extra yards).

Your mileage will probably vary. Rav link to mine.

Also needed:
- Embroidery needle
- Enough 1/4" elastic to go around your hips. I bought about a yard and that was fine.
- Some thinner elastic for around your legs. 1/8" or so works.

Waist:
Provisionally cast on 220, join, being careful not to twist

Knit 5 rows
6: k2tog, yo to end
knit 5 rows

Knit next row together with cast-on row. Ta da! Picot edge!

Knit in stockinette for an inch.

Back:
Over 110 (half the total) stitches:

IMPORTANT NOTES: All instructions are for right side rows. Wrong side rows are just purled. When you see two dashes (--) it means the right side row is knit plain. It’s good to slip the first stitch of each row for a selvedge (ignore this if you’re binding off stitches at the beginning of the row). This’ll make it easier to pick up stitches for the I-cord edge.

1: b/o 4 either side
2. b/o 1, ssk, k to last 4, k2tog, k next, pass last st over knitted st
3. sl 1, ssk, knit to last 3, k2tog, k1
4. sl 1, ssk, knit to last 3, k2tog, k1
5. sl 1, ssk, knit to last 3, k2tog, k1
6. sl 1, ssk, knit to last 3, k2tog, k1
7. sl 1, ssk, knit to last 3, k2tog, k1
8. sl 1, ssk, knit to last 3, k2tog, k1
9. --
10. sl 1, ssk, knit to last 3, k2tog, k1
11. sl 1, ssk, knit to last 3, k2tog, k1
12. --
13. sl 1, ssk, knit to last 3, k2tog, k1
14. --
15. sl 1, ssk, knit to last 3, k2tog, k1
16. --
17. --
18. sl 1, ssk, knit to last 3, k2tog, k1
19. --
20. --
21. sl 1, ssk, knit to last 3, k2tog, k1
22. --
23. sl 1, ssk, knit to last 3, k2tog, k1
24. --
25. --
26. sl 1, ssk, knit to last 3, k2tog, k1
27. --
28. --
29. sl 1, ssk, knit to last 3, k2tog, k1
30. --
31. --
32. sl 1, ssk, knit to last 3, k2tog, k1
33. --
34. --
35. sl 1, ssk, knit to last 3, k2tog, k1
36. --
37. --
38. sl 1, ssk, knit to last 3, k2tog, k1
39. --
40. --
41. sl 1, ssk, knit to last 3, k2tog, k1
42. --
43. --
44. sl 1, ssk, knit to last 3, k2tog, k1
45. --
46. sl 1, ssk, knit to last 3, k2tog, k1
47. –
48. --
49. sl 1, ssk, knit to last 3, k2tog, k1
50. sl 1, ssk, knit to last 3, k2tog, k1
51. b/o 1, ssk; k to last 4, k2tog, b/o 1
52. b/o 1, ssk; k to last 4, k2tog, b/o 1
53. b/o 1, ssk; k to last 4, k2tog, b/o 1
54. b/o 1, ssk; k to last 4, k2tog, b/o 1
55. b/o 1, ssk; k to last 4, k2tog, b/o 1
56. b/o 1, ssk; k to last 4, k2tog, b/o 1
57. --
58. sl 1, ssk, knit to last 3, k2tog, k1
59. --
60. sl 1, ssk, knit to last 3, k2tog, k1
61. --
62. sl 1, ssk, knit to last 3, k2tog, k1
63. --
64. sl 1, ssk, knit to last 3, k2tog, k1
65. --
66. sl 1, ssk, knit to last 3, k2tog, k1
67. --
68. --
69. --

Front:
1. b/o 3 on both sides
2. b/o 3 on both sides
3. b/o 3 on both sides
4. b/o 3 on both sides
5. b/o 3 on both sides
6. b/o 3 on both sides
7. b/o 3 on both sides
8. b/o 3 on both sides
9. b/o 3 on both sides
10. sl 1, ssk, knit to last 3, k2tog, k1
11. sl 1, ssk, knit to last 3, k2tog, k1
12. sl 1, ssk, knit to last 3, k2tog, k1
13. sl 1, ssk, knit to last 3, k2tog, k1
14. sl 1, ssk, knit to last 3, k2tog, k1
15. sl 1, ssk, knit to last 3, k2tog, k1
16. sl 1, ssk, knit to last 3, k2tog, k1
17. sl 1, ssk, knit to last 3, k2tog, k1
18. sl 1, ssk, knit to last 3, k2tog, k1
19. sl 1, ssk, knit to last 3, k2tog, k1
20. sl 1, ssk, knit to last 3, k2tog, k1
21. sl 1, ssk, knit to last 3, k2tog, k1
22. sl 1, ssk, knit to last 3, k2tog, k1
23. sl 1, ssk, knit to last 3, k2tog, k1
24. sl 1, ssk, knit to last 3, k2tog, k1
25. sl 1, ssk, knit to last 3, k2tog, k1
26. sl 1, ssk, knit to last 3, k2tog, k1
27. sl 1, ssk, knit to last 3, k2tog, k1
28. sl 1, ssk, knit to last 3, k2tog, k1
29. sl 1, ssk, knit to last 3, k2tog, k1

Kitchener two sides together.

Using size 3 dpns or circular needles, I-cord around the leg holes. Note: be generous when you’re I-cording. Pick up more rather than fewer stitches – I-cord doesn’t stretch.

Use the 1/4” elastic to measure around your hips and mark the end. Don’t stretch the elastic when measuring. Lace through the picot edge, overlap the elastic by about an inch, and sew together, being careful not to twist.

Use the 1/8” elastic to measure around your leg and mark the end. Don’t stretch the elastic when measuring. Lace through the I-cord. This can be tricky. Sorry. Overlap the elastic by about an inch, and sew together, being careful not to twist. Repeat for other leg.

Weave in ends. Put on. Prance around.

2008-06-24T13:18:00.004-04:00

Shiny

I'm not in a mood for knit-based rambling, but I haven't updated in an age, so here! Have some pictures, with assorted commentary, maybe! I haven't decided yet.

Sport-ish weight singles spun from the superwash merino that Grace sent me. I hereby dub that yarn, "IBFF."¹

The back of the vest I've been working on:

I've ripped it out more times than I'd care to think about, it's got a ton of things I'd change if I cared to rip it out again (no), but it's trucking along decently.

OMG Cable Close up!!1!

And even though I really should be spending money on unnecessary things, I bought some sock yarn while I was in Wisconsin last week (did I tell you I was in Wisconsin? I was in Wisconsin. Family reunion.) to make socks for my mom.

Now I just need to pick a pattern. Bayerische sock? But would it be comfy enough? I want comfy AND sophisticated. I really like the Rivendell sock, but am not feeling the whole "paying for a pattern" thing right now. So I dunno. Thoughts?

Also, I spent many, many hours both in a car and on a plane with my remaining Schaefer Anne, and it would NOT stop pooling. It's in time out. Possibly for a long, long time.

That's most of my news. How's with all y'all?

Apparently I ramble even when not in the mood. Intriguing!

¹ Internet BFF

2008-06-03T14:37:00.004-04:00

Damn it.

Dear cables:
You are dead to me now.

Up yrs.
Emily

Ughhhh. I'm trying to design this cabled, hooded, zip-up vest, and I swatched, like did a proper swatch and everything, and I decided, because I am STUPID, to design my own front cable, because I am STUPID.

And I swatched the damn cable but, because I am STUPID I didn't write down what I did, and now it's looking like I'll have to frog about 3 inches (of 4 and a quarter total).

I hate cables.

(P.S. My nephew is hella cute:

)

2008-05-21T17:04:00.003-04:00

Just in time for summer

I've been thinking a lot about knitting between stitches lately, and after some swatching, ended up with this hat:

It's really just a variation on a slip-stitch, but I'm pretty fond of it, and have great plans for more swatching and tinkering.

I worried all through knitting that it would be too big, and it's not. It's not totally snug, but I was actually aiming for that since I'm not-so-fond of hat head. I know, crazy.

It's a nice dense fabric and cozy like whoa. I defy you, summer weather!

Well. While I was in the Poconos (which are in Pennsylvania, for those of you playing at home) I stopped in at Mountain Knits and Pearls in East Stroudsburg. It's a great shop with lots of Dale of Norway patterns and yarns, plenty of sock yarns (including Noro's Kureyon sock), and what looked like a charming knit afternoon. Plus beads and stuff, but I mostly ignored that.

ANYhoo, I was browsing the Dale of Norway patterns and saw these Lillelam pants:

And my ovaries melted into a puddle of goo. I mean, I'm not really one to get all in a fluff about clothes, but there's clearly some kind of subliminal cuteypants message in all that fair isle. Even now I keep thinking "Pssh, they're pants, whatever, I'll just take a look and awwww those are so CUTE I love you yes I do."

Yes I do.

But! I was going to Maryland Sheep and Wool the next weekend, so I refrained! And in the following week thought better of it, and called the shop and ordered the pattern book AND the yarn. I couldn't find a website that had both together, so I figured I was being clever. And in conclusion, I was. Sort of. Dale Ull is pretty expensive. I won't tell you what I ended up paying for the yarn and the book because it pains me.

So. I pulled out the book and started to read the directions. They're short -- like 3 paragraphs. And it's all dense and abbreviated and it uses 7 colors, y'all, 7, and GOD do you know how many ends that will be? and this is for an infant and all they do is eat and poop and make messes and then they grow out of EVERYTHING and 7 colors, people! AND ONLY 3 PARAGRAPHS OF DIRECTIONS. How smart do these people think I am?!

And then I have to go lie down for a while. But they're cute pants.

2008-05-19T17:18:00.006-04:00

Finally

His name is Jackson! He's cute as pie, healthy and mostly happy (being an infant is hard, often upsetting work, you know). I haven't gotten to smoosh over him too much yet, but soon. Oh yes. Soon.

While I, family and friends were bonding with the really uncomfortable waiting room chairs as Jackson took his sweet time in joining us in the bright, harsh world I cast on, and finished, these:

They're Saartje's bootees (pdf!), modified as closed-toe because my SIL wasn't impressed with the strappy version I'd knit previously (she called them Mary Janes. I scoffed at her). They're actually cuter in real life.

My mods (for the large size):
Mods:
Row 26: k16, ssk x3, k1, k2tog x3, k to end
Row 27-29: work plain
Row 30: k13, ssk x3, k1, k2tog x3, k to end
Row 31-32: work plain
Row 33: bind off

(Though you could probably bind off on row 31. Am going to try that next time). The only problem is that they're Koigu KPPPM and not machine washable. I'll gift 'em anyway, just because they're cute.

So. Remember back in, oh, December when I showed a bunch of knits I finished while in NZ? Like the Tomten Jacket which just needed a zipper or some toggles?

Y'all, I searched at LEAST... like... four stores for non-huge, non-ugly toggles, and there was NARY A ONE to be found. And then I tried looking for zippers. Did you know there are at least two kinds of zipper? Separating and non-separating. The non-separating kind are like the ones in your pants. Separating are like jacket zippers.

I couldn't find a short (and I needed short -- babies, it turns out, are tiny) separating zipper. So the jacket remained in my Ravelry WIP list. For MONTHS.

Finally (see how I reference my title? I was an English major!), I was in the Poconos and hit the American Ribbon and Craft Outlet in Stroudsburg -- which is a strange place. Not Stroudsburg -- the store. Stroudsburg is very charming. It (the store) is old and dusty and has weird stuff like old ribbon bobbins and lots of train set equipment. There are big empty spaces and things aren't quite put away properly. It's got a lot of character I'll tell you what.

But! The point is they had zippers, and I found a 12" white separating zipper (the shortest they had) and bought it, took it home, held it up to the jacket, and found it was about 3" too long. At which point I threw it all into a corner for another few weeks.

When Jackson arrived I had fresh resolve (fresh!) and looked up how to shorten a zipper. It's not that hard, actually, and I ended up using a mishmash of techniques.

1. Figure out where you want the zip to stop, then sew a stopper in between the two teeth like so:

I used 3 threads of embroidery floss (a half a usual strand).

2. With some needle-nose pliers remove the four teeth above your stopper. I found grabbing the tip of the tooth worked best, for some reason.

3. Cut below where the teeth start up again, and fold that extra bit of fabric to the back for a nice neat edge.

Then I followed Claudia's technique for installation. Except that I hand sewed it because I don't have a zipper foot for my sewing machine.

I find the uneven row of stitches pretty charming.

And it's finished! Ha HA! And too big for little Jackson for a while yet, but that's okay! It'll fit eventually.

In other news! Yesterday I trekked over to the Philadelphia Book Fair, met up with the entirely cool knitting/spinning/contra dancing Marie and we yanked out our knitting to see the Yarn Harlot!

She was riotously funny, and we all learned about how knitters are on mental par with Buddhist monks, which is very encouraging.

She spoke about this Cambridge study (and if you're planning to see her I'm not spoiling anything here) which essentially concluded that having a repetitive physical task during a traumatic event can make people less traumatized. I immediately thought about being on a plane, and how if we could somehow show the FAA and other airline security groups this study, maybe -- maybe! -- they would finally and totally ease up on our need for pointy sticks.

Less trauma means fewer lawsuits, right? (Okay, so the image I immediately got was a plane crashing and two or three people furiously knitting as the plane goes down. To reduce the trauma! ...right? Are you with me? Hello?).

Anyway. As I handed my book to Stephanie for her to sign I started to mention this theory, and she replied, "Needles are allowed on planes." I was a little thrown and said yes, but not always! IcelandAir didn't allow my needles. National flights, sure -- but -- and she agreed that international flights don't always, and then everything was kind of a blur as I tried to explain my theory and got flustered because they were shooing the line along, but she called out a "Nice to meet you!" as I dazed away.

But! I have explained myself to all y'all in a lengthy way, so I feel better now.

2008-05-15T09:39:00.005-04:00

Clarification

Some of y'all may have seen Grace's post today about how we met, and I'd just like to clarify a few things.

It's true, we met at SAFF two years ago, but she says "I grabbed her sleeve and babbled excitedly and mostly incoherently about her sweater while she was very gracious about being attacked by a crazy person."

This, y'all, is not entirely true. What really happened is that she said something to me about my sweater, and then I strategically glued myself to her side. I was on my third-or-so lap around the building, and hadn't talked to anybody and was beside myself with joy that I'd met someone. Plus she looked pretty cool, iffin' I say so myself.

So I hung around awkwardly while she and Elizabeth tried out wheels. Grace hipped me to the blogger meetup, and whispered excitedly that La of Jen and- were there, and I played excited even though I didn't actually know who that was. And then there was exchangery of emails, and now we're totally IBFFs (Internets BFFs).

And she is hella cool. I mean honestly. And not just because she graciously lets me inundate her with often-random knitting-and-spinning questions. She's also hilarious and a FABulous step-ma to a singularly awesome young man.

Plus she sends me cool gifts. Look!

Clockwise from left - her own handspun! 190 yards of smooshy colonial wool! Mmmm!; Merci chocolates, half of which are, heh, now gone. I mean, they're so SMALL, it's okay to have five or six in a sitting. At 10am.; more chocolate, which is getting saved for when the Merci chocolates are gone, because sometimes I have self control; and some superwash merino in "Emily" colorway! I admit to you in confidence here that I geeked out just a little bit when I saw it was in the "Emily" colorway.

Grace wins.

And to cap off this post, gratuitous nephew shot!

2008-05-11T22:29:00.003-04:00

It's POSSIBLE that I'm a little bit biased

...but I'm pretty sure there never was a cuter nephew:

Yes, he showed up on mother's day. Yes, all are well and hopefully getting some much-needed rest. No, he doesn't have a name yet. Yes, I damn near cried when I saw him. Yes, I'm close to crying now just thinking about it.

Oop. Crying.

Welcome out, Infant X!

More soon!

2008-05-05T11:20:00.003-04:00

Maryland Sheep and Allergies

Before I left the house for the Maryland Sheep and Wool I saw a box of tissues -- the decent kind, with aloe and lotion -- and thought ah! I should bring those along, what with my heinously evil allergies, even though I have already had some benadryl, and have some extra in my pocket. Naturally, I forgot to grab the tissues on my way out. I stopped at the gas station, and there were no boxes of tissues, but they had a generic pocket pack of sandpaper brand tissues. I bought a roll of paper towels instead.

And what did I do? I left them in the car. A compacted nasal passage makes me stupid.

MDSW is pretty amazing. It's huge and confusing and there's wool and people and sheep EVERYWHERE. I had to walk around four times before I could actually focus on any one product. This is the line for Socks That Rock:

The weather was pretty good -- cloudy and cool in the morning. The afternoon got warmer and humid, and I started to feel badly for all the people who were wearing their recently-finished wool sweaters.

There was a Ravelry meet-up, and BOY was it crowded.

Being not so wild about big crowds I got my Official Ravelry Pin and took off for shopping. So here're my spoils:

Clockwise from that blue stuff on the left (or you can click for flickr notes): 2 braids Flying Fibers hand painted BFL; 1 oz Nono Cashmere; Socks That Rock (I had to see what all the fuss was about) in Purple Rain; more Cashmere*, this time from The Fold (aka the Socks That Rock booth); three small skeins of Koigu KPPPM which were 25¢/ounce which is actually not as good a deal as you might think, but will make good baby booties**; and finally, in the gold bag, an ounce of buffalo roving. I rave about it all the time and thought since I cause such a fuss about it (and since it was half the price that I've seen it for online -- thank you, The Fold!) I should have some to show off. This may never get used for spinning, but kept for fondling.

I wanted to go to the Ravelry party, but at around 4pm I got hit with some really bad allergies -- sneezing, itchy eyes, general misery, and I dealt with it for an hour, and finally decided it wasn't worth it and went home.

So! Project update. I blame this one on Grace. She was all talking about knitting baby sweaters, and then all of a sudden there I was, knitting a baby sweater.

It also hasn't helped that I've been lusting after colorwork knitting lately, and than it's looking like my nephew is going to be a hefty fella, and everything I knit him already is a little on the small side. But there you go. I'm still debating what to do for the neck. I like button necks but haven't done one before, and am not sure how they should work. Whatever. I'll figure something out.

I used the Yarn Standards website to try and get some sizing ideas, and y'all, babies are some weird-ass sizes. For a 3 month old the length from their armpit to armpit is 8", but the length from the nape of their neck to their waist is just 6".

That makes for a freaky looking sweater, so I'm just using it as a guideline. And if it doesn't fit, well, then I'll just cry.

*See, I stuck my hand into the cashmere bag at The Fold and was all NOM NOM NOM but ended up buying some from a different booth (the Nono cashmere), but then I got back to the Fold, realized THAT cashmere was 1. nicer, and 2. half the price, I bought some of that, and then didn't feel like I could return the first one, and can you really have too much cashmere? I didn't think so.

**Although since I just found out it's not machine washable it'll only be used for knitters' babies. Shoot.

2008-05-02T17:15:00.002-04:00

Seriously. Babies everywhere.

Two friends of mine have just had a little girl, and let me tell you, y'all: this girl is CUTE. I mean cute. Spiky gold-brown hair, big eyes, and a sweet pout.

So, of course, it's hat time:

Final successful cast on: April something.

Finished weaving in the ends: May 1.

The originator: Top-down Bonnet by Adrian Bizilia of HelloYarn fame.

The string: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Tahoe

The sticks: Size 3 addis.

Pattern shmattern: The only thing I changed was that I cut the yarn after binding off.

I gots more to blog about but I need to head to bed, since I'm hitting Maryland Sheep and Wool tomorrow!

2008-04-19T15:51:00.004-04:00

Pardon me, my water needs lemonating

I have a very excellent story for all y'all, and I'm going to intersperse it with pictures from the sheep shearing (which was really more of a "farm-based colonial re-enactment" deal) that I attended last Saturday.

So! Three days last week I hauled over to my brother-and-very-pregnant-sister-in-law's house in the early early morning to let in their contractor who was fixing their drywall. As thanks they took me to a local hibachi restaurant named, conveniently, Hibachi.

As per usual in such places we shared our table with other groups, one of which consisted of three women. Our waiter came over to take our drink orders, and the first woman said she'd have "Water, with like six lemons." The waiter raised his eyebrow but kept going, which got the woman all flustered. The second woman ordered the same, and the first woman blurted out,

-- are you ready for this? --

"It's to dilute the poisons in the tap water."

My eyes slowly widened, and I turned to meet my brother and SIL's widened eyes looking back at me, as we suppressed guffaws of laughter. Don't get me wrong, I've said and believed more than one stupid thing in my life¹, but this is so many layers of absurd that it's just totally delicious².

(This rug had me covet all the necessary tools for rug-making. It was made by pulling loops of long, thin strips of recycled clothing up through woven cloth, instead of pieces of yarn through plastic mesh, like I did once upon a time).

We've gotten a LOT of humor mileage out of it ("I take my water lemonated, thanks").

Anyway! Yes. So. The chap on the left in this picture is Tank (the gentleman on the right is his father, who is interviewing the spinner for a local radio station), who alerted me to the sheep shearing opportunity. He was totally fascinated by the spinning process, and I have a (vague) plan in place to make him a spinner. It'll happen.

And no, I didn't come home with any wool. I know.

In other exciting news, I met up with Stacey and her fi-yon-cé while they were in Philly visiting his family.

We sat and barely drank our coffee and yammered for a long time about spinning, knitting, and everything else. I'd really only seen her two or three times before, and let me tell you, she kicks a substantial amount of ass. AND she gifted me some superwash roving, which I can't show you because I'm too busy spinning it.

I also (finally) finished some socks.

Final successful cast on: March something.

Finished weaving in the ends: April 19.

The originator: My own pattern.

The string: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Vera

The sticks: Size 1 dpns.

Pattern shmattern: Toe-up, garter ribbing, purl ridge near the top (à la Roza's Socks), 2-stitch increases to accommodate my Curvy Calves and this experimental heel:

I'm calling it a Y heel because I've never seen one like it (has anyone else? I know it's a little hard to see in this picture) and it's shaped like a Y. I'm nothing if not clever. It needs some tweaking, but could end up being a really good thing.

¹ Like that being an English major would be a wise career move. It's a lie, by the way.
² Especially because the news has recently been reporting that lemons tend to be the most germ-tacular thing in restaurants.

2008-04-12T23:20:00.003-04:00

Fairly random

1. I have found an excellent use for car cup holders:

2. Reasons why it's good to have a friend with a wife who spins and who has just come into assloads of free wool:

That lovely person on the left is Marie, who also contra dances, spins, and knits. We get along really well, as you might imagine.

2008-03-30T00:01:00.004-04:00

Babies, babies everywhere

...I think I need a drink.

Tomorrow is the shower for my still-cooking nephew. With the deadline so near I finally got myself over to the local, independently-owned sewing shop¹ for buttons and closures. This is where I learned that there are two kinds of zippers -- separating and non-separating. Non-separating don't release at the bottom, making them a pretty poor choice for jackets. And of the separating zippers, none of them were short enough for the jackets I had set aside for zippers (they also didn't match, color-wise, but that was the least of my problems).

The women cooed over my knits, "They're so small! Are they doll clothes?"

No. No, they're not doll clothes. Have I mentioned I'm a little paranoid that none of these things will fit the kid?

I managed to find some buttons for the Baby Surprise jacket (I keep spelling surprise with a z. I think having a stuffy nose is restricting oxygen to my brain and making me dumb).

I got these GREAT hippo buttons, but they only just barely fit through the buttonholes, and that's with some real finagling, so I just put one on the top.

Since I couldn't have my zipper, I got some clasps for my heavily modified Cardigan for Merry (made without the pattern or cable graph. Even though I had both of those things, I didn't have them with me, so I just figured out the cable over many many bus rides around New Zealand.

Even though the clasps were a total pain to put on and don't close the cardigan all the way I'm really pleased with the way it looks.

I got the same clasp for another Baby Surprise (ha! Spelled it right on the first go) -- this one for a friend who will also be at the shower, and who's due about the same time as Infant X -- and I love it.

In the meantime, with no zipper, I have no idea what to do with the Tomten jacket I knit. A zipper would've been great, but nooooo. In a flash of brainliness I thought of toggles, but of the two the sewing store had, one was too big, and the other was really ugly. In the knitting store they were all plastic and hideous. So I don't think it'll get gifted tomorrow.

I pulled all the nephew-knits out to show off to my parents, and I have to say, it's quite a pile of FOs.

(Click for notes)

I'm feeling a little embarrassed by it all, actually. That's a lot of stuff. Do you ever feel like you've kind of... overdone it? Forced your craft upon others?

Ah well.

IN the meantime, I've been working ferociously on a new project. It's mostly stockinette, but there's some (4 rows) ribbing at the bottom. Even so it's curling like a Canadian on ice. This is the part where I need all y'all's help. I need you look at this picture and tell me that it'll block out just fine:

Please. It's for my sanity.

Anyone want to hazard a guess as to what I'm knitting? And why?

¹ The local Michael's doesn't have buttons. What the hell is that about?

2008-03-26T16:29:00.004-04:00

I suppose there's always shoelaces...

I am what you might call a cheap bastard. Not always -- when I buy things I tend to go for quality -- but if I have something that works then I won't replace it for nothin'. Unless someone else is willing to pay for it, and then I just feel guilty for being wasteful.

ANYWAY, this is why, for many years, I did not buy a ball winder. I used toilet paper tubes, and later my trusty nostepinde for winding. Also I didn't like the way ball winder balls looked.

A few days ago I was grumblingly winding another freaking ball of Lorna's Laces, wondering why they have to have so many stupid yards, and was reminded of some ~~pestering~~ gentle encouragement I'd received (coughGracecough) and broke down and bought myself a ball winder from KnitPicks. Actually I tried to get one from the local Michaels, but they're too suck-tastic to have anything I need ever. (Seriously, they have like 2 pairs of DPNs).

It's possible I re-wound every ball of yarn I have (there are some exceptions, like some souvenir yarn, and yarn I may sell). But OOH it's all so NEAT! ORGANIZED! CLEAN-LOOKING!

Pre-ball winding:

Post-ball winding (plus some reorganization):

(If you click on the picture you can see what all those yarns are).

I am addicted to the tidiness. Mmm.

So, um, does anyone else's ball winder create a terrifying amount of static? Because I'm pretty sure I could light up a house with the static I get from that thing. Look what it did to my Kid Silk Haze:

Also, I knit a sock, but got hit with some serious startitis and have ditched the second sock for something else. Stay tuned!

2008-03-20T17:16:00.004-04:00

Welcome to my undersea lair, Mr. Bond.

Love those Hansi patterns. Made for Infant X (my nephew!) out of Cascade 220 superwash.

Only mod was that I used size 2 needles for the pupils. I think next time I'd try a provisional cast-on for the eyes to aid sewing it down. Sewing the tentacles together involved a large number of not-child-approved words, but it's still hella cool.

If you're knitting her tentacled patterns, slip the first stitch of the tentacles on the side where you'll attach them to the body. You'll appreciate it later.

And more spinning!

So my friend Lizza started getting into spinning with a drop spindle. She told her step-mom, and next thing she (Lizza) knows, there's an antique spinning wheel on her (Lizza's) front porch and a big ol' bin of fiber. When I went to visit her she said I could snag something, so I snagged a baggie of 100% (tussah?) silk. (Boy, that sounds like drugs, doesn't it?)

It was a real mess to Andean ply. It got stuck to itself and wound into infuriating snarls. But HA it's done! Ha. Don't know what I'll do with it, but that's okay.

P.S. It would've been Mr. Rogers' 80th birthday today. Are you wearing a sweater? I am. Speedy Delivery.

2008-03-12T19:03:00.004-04:00

Lazy, lazy, lazy

The main reason I write is to procrastinate from doing things that I don't feel like doing (e.g. school or work). Since I haven't had much of that, I haven't had the urge to write. But I have been doing things! Cool things! So it's picture time! And announcement time. I'll save that for last, because tension is good, or whatever.

First up!

Have you seen Hansigurumi's patterns? Go ahead and look, and buy them all. I'll wait here. The whole time I knit I was mumbling "Well christ that's clever." Except when I knit the head, during which I was screeching "How the (very bad word) did she figure THAT out?"

Seriously. I think she dabbled in quantum physics to figure that head out.

I bought the set of four cephalopods. I've started work on the squid. Hella awesome.

Next, I got to meet my friends' wee bairn while I was down in NC, and naturally I decided to knit her a hat, because... because. This is Aviva:

The pattern is Larissa's Feather and fan bonnet. I decided to knit it after seeing this picture (brace yourselves, clicking on that picture might result in death by cuteness). I used DK yarn (Lana Grossa Merino 2000) on size 4 needles. It came out a little small, so next time I make it (and I will again), I'll either use heavier yarn or add more repeats.

I also omitted the eyelet row and instead (hand!) sewed the ribbon on. This took ages. Not recommended. Also, my blocking job kinda sucked. I think I need a styrofoam ball for baby-hat-blocking purposes.

On a whim I took some of the roving I'd bought from TerraBellaSpun's Etsy store, and began spindling up some thick-and-thin singles, which I plied with some green sparkly sulky thread. Since the roving has sparkles, it's a WAY sparkly bunch of yarn.

I think I like it? But I don't know what to do with it. At all.

Speaking of spinning, remember that purple handspun? It became these:

GLOVES. Neat! I didn't use a pattern. I should've used smaller needles for the ribbing, but didn't have any appropriately-sized dpns. So I didn't.

So my friend Paige (who, it should be said, rocks pretty hard) is getting all married in early October, and invited me to be one of her Maids of Honor. The other MoH is making her dress, so I offered to make a lace shawl.

Because I'm an idiot.

I've done one lace thing before -- the Branching Out scarf -- and it had a bunch of mistakes (including being made of super crap yarn). I've done 7.5 (12-row) repeats. Of 34. Then there's the inner border. And the outer border.

I am so screwed.

But I'm using Malabrigo lace, which is hella soft. That part is good.

Now! Announcement time! I want you to meet someone:

This is Short Stuff, my impending nephew. Which explains all the baby stuff, and the octopus. I didn't mention him earlier Just In Case, but we've got 2 months to go and LOOK at that FACE. Somebody's got the chubby cheeks!

Awwww.

2008-02-19T16:08:00.004-05:00

What?

This spinning thing? I can take it or leave it. You know. Whatevs. I have some roving in the mail, so I'll pick up some knitting until then.

I mean, spinning's neat and all, but it's not be-all-end-all or anything.

What picture? I don't know what you're talking about.

Oh. That picture. That's nothing. Just, um... some roving I found. At the yarn shop.

I JUST NEEDED SOME WORSTED WEIGHT SUPERWASH WOOL, OKAY? AND THIS JUST JUMPED OUT AT ME. IT WAS STRONGER THAN ME. NOT MY FAULT.

The fact that I'm spinning it up already -- also not my fault.

2008-02-17T15:42:00.003-05:00

Oh yes

I like this spinning thing.

I bought this batt at SAFF in 2006.

I think it's BFL, and about 4 oz. I lost the tag for it, so I have no idea, really.

I also don't have the foggiest idea about yardage. My mom offered to buy me a niddy noddy when we went antiquing the other weekend, but I declined until I get more into spinning. In retrospect this was a poor move.

...I have 6oz of new roving on the way...

2008-02-13T23:54:00.005-05:00

Super chuffed and also kind of annoyed

Turns out Kiwi Knitter and I had the same idea: Don't blog for a long time, and acquire a large number of FOs. Then the next post will be all amazing, and we will look like crazypants awesome knitters.

Being all unemployed like I am, with my propensity for sitting on my duff in front of my computer (I used up all my exciting in New Zealand), I've got a LOT to show you. Grab a cup/mug/jug/box of your preferred beverage and get comfy.

This is the baby surprise jacket I made in NZ (out of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport). I finally sewed up the seams (though I haven't put all the buttons on, so it's not actually done yet), and I am totally pleased with how they look. I actually looked up the proper way to seam, and it looks way better than what I was doing (which, it turns out, was basting).

Look at that. That's so pretty. (I bought these GREAT blue hippo buttons and put one on, but the buttonholes aren't QUITE big enough, so I think I'll find four better-fitting ones to put on the rest).

I made a Grrr! It's not for me. I like the embroidered face, but the back of the sewing looks not so good. I am only minimally concerned about this.

My first singles, getting wound up to be plied. This picture just made me happy.

And they, plus my blue singles, got turned into this:

Somehow, in the original spinning of singles, it didn't occur to me that blue singles + grey singles = marled yarn. I don't much like marled yarn. But I did it anyway, because by the time it occurred to me to Andean ply each color on itself I was too far in.

I'd read this link about plying a balanced yarn, which made for a pretty loose ply. Then I read on Ravelry that yarn doesn't need to be balanced immediately after plying. Instead, you wind it on the swift, soak it in hot water, soak it in cold, repeat hot then cold, wrap it in a towel and gently squeeze the water out, then take it out and give it a good solid whack on the sink (or wherever). Then turn it and repeat. This makes the yarn "bloom" and should (so they say) make it more balanced. There you go.

This is what Janice had to say about spinning:

That bit about letting the yarn ply back on itself to determine if it's balanced ONLY applies to very freshly spun yarn. IOW, if you want to see what a balanced 2-ply yarn would look like from the single you're currently spinning, do this: spin out a long length, and then double it back on itself RIGHT THEN. Smooth it down and let it find its own level of plying. Break that bit off and keep it as a sample.

After that, spin as much as you want, then ply your singles so that they look like that sample you did. As long as you're spinning your singles pretty consistently, you should be fine.

Whacking yarn and wet finishing it will help fix some things. They don't really BALANCE the yarn per se, because that's determined by the amount of twist in the singles vs. the amount of twist in the plying.

And I don't care what anyone says, I staunchly maintain that "balanced single" is a meaningless term. There's nothing for a single to balance AGAINST. Soft-twist or low-twist single describe the yarn better.

BTW, blocking yarn doesn't get rid of twist in singles either. The yarn that I used for my SAFF sweater last year was spun many, many years ago. I'd blocked it on niddy noddies as I'd spun it, and it looked pretty straight in the skein. But as soon as I put it in water to wash before dyeing, *sproing* all the twist energy was released, and I had little curls and twists all over the wet yarn. :)

(I tend to spin with a lot of twist.)

She knows way more than me about this stuff.

And it's about 205 yards. I have no idea what to do with it, if anything.

The remaindered blue got Andean plied into this:

A much tighter ply. Note the artful application of dog fur on the left.

I also pulled out my new Koigu and cast on for some socks:

I'd seen a sock on some blog (I'd love to know where so I can give credit -- anyone remember?) with a nice light texture pattern that went:
1. K1P1 around
2. & 3. K around

A good idea, I thought! But I changed it to:
1. K1P1 around
2, 3, 5, 6. K around
4. P1K1 around

Deciding, as I do, that following patterns are for suckers I decided to wing my first toe-up gussets.

This sock sucks.

First, I can't get it over my heel.

Then I can't get the heel over my heel.

Then it cuts off circulation in my calf.

And finally, the heel just looks funny.

So it's sitting in the corner until I can gather my wits enough (or stop being distracted long enough) to frog it.

There's one more FO, but I need a different picture of it. It's one thing to put a mildly saucy picture on Ravelry, and another entirely to put it on my blog.

This spinning thing, though...

...I might be hooked.

2008-01-22T16:46:00.000-05:00

Bits & Pieces

Some of you may have noticed that waaaaaaaay back in September I won a contest on Mari's blog, and then never mentioned it here. I have good reason! You ready?

I won about a week before I left for New Zealand. The plan for me was originally to find a place to live in NZ, and so Mari was going to send the package to a friend of mine, who was going to add to it, then forward it on to me. Flawless, right?

Except that I never settled in NZ, so there was nowhere to send the package. Between busy schedules and life just being what it is, I didn't get the package until after Christmas. Which is fine by me, I'm happy to accept gifties anytime.

And what a gift! Check this out!

At the bottom and on the right are 2 skeins of Koigu KPPPM, in the middle is a skein of Sundara sock yarn (!!!), and the needles are, obviously Pony Rosewood. None of it is stuff I've tried before, but all of it is stuff I've wanted to try!

Needless to say, there was much prancing around when I opened the package.

Thank you Mari!

Someone on Ravelry asked in a forum how to knit faster. Here are my tips:

1. Don't have a job. Frees up lots of time for knitting.

2. Live with your parents. Without a job you have no income, but with parents buying food and paying for things like heat you can use whatever savings you might have for wool.

And, less hilariously:

3. Don't read blogs. It gives you a false sense of other people's speed, and seeing 400 FOs in one day makes one despondent.

4. Project monogamy. Sucks, but does make things go faster.

Look! I made socks!

Final successful cast on: January something.

Finished weaving in the ends: January something.

The originator: Basic toe-up pattern to 60 stitches (should've done 64) with a short-row heel.

The string: Schaefer Anne

The sticks: Size 1 dpns.

Pattern shmattern: I don't like short-row heels. They're always a little pointy until they get worn once or twice, and they're a little too small for my feets.

And I'm working on a scarf, because, as it happens, I don't have a decent one. Seems wrong, somehow, to be a knitter and not have a good scarf. But I brought out my cashmere (NOM NOM NOM) and have cast on for a brioche scarf.

Of course, immediately after casting on I learned that cashmere goats are super bad for the environment, but... you know. So is cotton. So I'm not going to worry about it right now.

The other thing I'm doing with my plethora of free time is teaching myself to spin. I bought a new drop spindle with part of my gift certificate to one of the LYSs here, read an article and watched some things on youtube.

I had some Merino 64 from The Yarn Tree last time I tried to learn how to spin. Turns out? Spinning is hard. My consistency leaves something to be desired, and I need to study up on some more expletives because I just don't have enough for this learning curve.

And I find I'm getting the beginnings of a blister on my drafting thumb. Is that normal?

2007-12-29T15:10:00.000-05:00

I do still knit, and not just in extreme ways

I'm back in the northern hemisphere, and back in Philadelphia, where it is quiet and uneventful, even in the wake of xmas. In the interest of my laziness and the motivation-suck that is living with my folks, here's what I've done since I've been gone. With notes! Because I care.

Before I start, though, I would like to note that I am not pregnant. To reiterate, me = not pregnant. Okay! Moving on.

A wee tomten jacket! Made of NZ wool in "Haven." It just needs a closure of some variety. I was thinking a zipper, but my mom suggested a button-and-loop.

Another bebeh shedir! Also NZ wool, but I don't remember the brand.

A very, very modified Cardigan for Merry, which is so modified I've been calling it "Cardigan for Pippin." It's drop-shoulder instead of raglan, and the cable doesn't meet up at the top so I just did a three-needle bind-off and it may just stay that way. Otherwise it's finished.

Bebeh surprise! Just needs to be blocked and sewed up. SO cute. Made from Lorna's Laces Purple Club. I finally found a pattern where the yarn didn't pool.

Snowflake star ornament for mom. I made two, blocked them, and sewed them together. I'll get a picture of it finished. One day. Hopefully before it gets packed away.

Dylan's Hat from Alterknits. The polka dots in the book/pattern are painted on, which is okay, but kind of weak, so I embroidered them on instead.

I also tried to knit socks but they thwarted me at every turn and are in my bag, thinking about what they've done. The jerks.

2007-12-18T01:46:00.000-05:00

Things

Things people have said to me lately about my knitting:

1. "Is this the first thing you've knit?" About a hat with which I was admittedly having some trouble, but still, that's a stupid thing to say.

2. "Are you knitting? What are you, 60?" But in a flirtatious kind of way, so that was fine.

3. I was sitting on a bench, knitting and waiting for freaking EVER for my bus, when a guy who clearly fancied himself the man about town was showing some friends/family around, leaned over me and said, loudly, "In anticipation of, or because of?" And then he laughed, and I laughed, and then I punched him in the face, because 1. it was a hat (see above), and 2. that's a stupid thing to say.

IN THE MEANTIME, knitting rage aside, XTREEM knitter returns! To knit on a volcano!

...And look very smug, apparently.

2007-11-28T16:29:00.000-05:00

X-treeeeeem!

X-treem knitter knits in a cavern:

X-treem knitter knits on a glacier!

...and gets teased about it.

2007-11-18T16:39:00.000-05:00

Xtreem!

The xtreem knitter will return, as soon as I can find a place where I can upload pictures for 6 hours, because that is how many I have.

Also, used spinning wheels are CRAZY cheap here. I mean CRAZY. Like, $30. 30 New Zealand dollars. That's like nothing. Augh!

2007-09-16T04:47:00.000-04:00

Ahem

< singing>'Cos I'm leeeeeving on a jet plane, don't know when I'll be back a-gain¹, oh babe, I hate to gooooooooo² < /singing>

http://www.trippingacrosseurope.blogspot.com ³

¹ December 21ish.

² Well, actually it's not so bad.

³ Yes, I know I'm not going to Europe, but I was when I started it.

2007-08-25T17:01:00.000-04:00

Iceland, some geekery, new toys, a FO, and a problem

Iceland was great. It's a major knitting country, and was all kinds of easy to find yarn. My folks and I were wandering the Main Shopping Street in Reykjavik (you could tell it was the main shopping street because it had a big sign that said "Main Shopping Street."), when I saw this:

(Útsala means sale).

And I thought to myself, huh! That's a nice knitted shawl! ...Wait a second... That's Birch! And there's yarn! I looked up at the second floor of the building and saw this:

(It's the Storkurinn, not the Bonus (which appears to be a poorly stocked grocery store))(Bonus does not have yarn).

I can't believe I found a yarn store because I recognized a knit shawl. I'm such a nerd.

(I'm not even going to mention how, when we were walking past a shop, I heard a "clang!" from inside and recognized it as a dropped dpn. It totally was).

I wasn't sure how to get in there, and managed to find it by walking through a restaurant (I was a woman on a mission). They had only Rowan and Debbie Bliss yarns. Sigh.

ANYWAY, let's get to the goods, eh?

First up, some merlot colored merinould (merino) called Lucca (it's Danish):

Deeeelicious!

And now -- the really good stuff! Check this out:

That's nine ~~discs(?!)~~ plates of unspun Icelandic wool at about 100g each. I don't know the yardage, but it's a lot (ETA: they're probably around 300 yards each, for a total of 2700 yards -- thank you, ravelry!). It's around dk/sport weight, and I learned after I bought it that they use it double or triple stranded, but whatever whatever. This has sweater written all over it. I'm not even going to tell you what it cost as you would die with envy. (I'll give you a hint: it was $37). I'll post the link to their store when I find the receipt.

Speeeeaking of sweaters, I bought a Lopi book, and it had these tasty items in it:

(the one on the left)

(Okay, I don't usually wear skirts and the thought of a wool skirt makes me want to cry, but it's still cute).

But the real reason I bought it is this:

I mentioned to the woman I bought this from that I thought it was hilarious and awesome, and she agreed, and added that someone else who worked in the store had actually knit it for her horse.

No, really.

For the record, if I decide to knit anything from this here's what I have to deal with:

(For the record, that's from the horse jacket).

IN the meantime I finished the Gusset Heel Gansey Socks by Katherine Misegades:

I love the heel on this:

It reminds me of stockings from the 50's.

The problem is this: I knit them for my dad for his birthday (they're a smidge long for me), but he's cranky about wool (they're merino), and they're not really stretchy (a little snug, even), so it's a bit of a trick to get them on. I just don't know if this particular pair is right to convince my dad that knit socks are the way to go. His birthday's soon, so it's this pair or no pair. Thoughts?

Final successful cast on: August, um, something.

Finished weaving in the ends: Er. I might not have finished that part yet.

The originator: Gusset Heel Gansey Socks by Katherine Misegades, out of Knitting Pattern A Day Calendar 2007.

The string: Debbie Bliss Merino DK

The sticks: Size 1 addis.

Pattern shmattern: I made them a little longer, but otherwise, no mods. I know!

2007-08-23T20:09:00.000-04:00

Returned and jet-lagged

I'm back from Iceland with some goodies and a so-oh-oh nearly finished object. Will update when I'm over jet-lag. Should be any time now. Ahem.

2007-07-31T13:29:00.000-04:00

Addicted...

...to quick-finish projects.

It started so innocently, with these (pdf):

And then I got some noro and a bar of soap and made a scrubby*:

I couldn't stop. The booties -- they were too cute! I had to make more:

...can't... stop... making baby booties... so... teeny...

...I cast on for another pair last night...

*Scrubby ingredients:
Noro Kureyon, size 5 circular needle (or 5 size 5 dpns, or whatever gets you about 4 stitches per inch, embroidery needle, bar of soap

Recipe:
C/O 12, work 7 rows in stockinette
Pick up 3 stitches on short side of rectangle, 12 on the far side, and 3 on the other short side.
Work seed stitch in the round until the soap fits inside the bag.
Cast off 18 (one short side, one long side, one short side).
Work remaining 12 stitches in stockinette for 7 rows, bind off.
Insert soap, sew bag closed.

2007-07-30T10:44:00.000-04:00

Cabins and Knitters and Vodka, oh my!

I couldn't upload my pictures from last weekend until I took my laptop to Panera, which is why it took me a week (?!) to get this entry up. But here goes.

Last weekend Amy, Heather, and blogless Kate, Amy Jo, Taima and I descended upon a wee llama farm in Asheville, NC.

Kate and I arrived together, and our first sight was this:

The view off our back porch. Oh yes. Win.

We met the cabin owners who were very friendly. So friendly, in fact, that within minutes the female half had her nose on my glasses. Her nose. Directly on my glasses. Which were on my face at the time. Because that, apparently, is what one of the llamas will do.

Have I mentioned that my default reaction is politeness? It's true!

But they showed us around, and showed us how the tv works. Apparently you press the on button and then you can use the channel up or down buttons, or type the numbers in manually. What they didn't tell us was that you have to flip the light switch by the front door in order to use the tv. But I guess you don't want to give everything away all at once.

One of the first things we noticed, upon entering the cabin, was this:

Creepy-ass dried fish thing. I call him Fluffy.

The best we could tell is that it's a gourd wrapped in leather with a metal fin shoved into its tail-area, and weird stitches on the top (see them??). I don't know. I really don't know.

When Amy/Heather/Taima arrived I showed them our weekend mascot, and Heather's eyes got wide, and I would've sworn that the next words out of her mouth were going to be "Get that thing out of this house."

In fact, what she said was, "That is the talking fish. No one is allowed to speak without the talking fish."

Heather, if you didn't know, is hella funny.

We spent a lot of our time here:

Or here:

Watching a lot of this:

That brown llama was some serious kinds of lazy. He'd tromp out to the middle of the field and foomf down on his side, and that was it.

We got two bags of alfalfa to feed the animals, but only the goats would come visit (so I never got to see if the llama would put his nose on my glasses -- all that politeness was for naught!).

Some were a little enthusiastic.

But generally friendly.

We didn't know how to call the llamas over, so we tried a variety of things, including "Heeeeere llamallamallamallamallama!" and, um. Humming at them. Because llamas hum, right? (Yes). So maybe they would be open to our humming?

This was the most enthusiasm we got (this was when we called out "snackies!"):

But it quickly turned into this:

.

Jerk.

We toured a few yarn shops and were not altogether floored.

But then Saturday night we had a shindig for Stacey's birthday.

And it's possible there was vodka,

which we may have added to some very excellent pound cake of Amy Jo's, which we subsequently tried to light

on fire,

and when that didn't work, just tried to light the vodka, which also failed:

And all was good times. (There also might have been talk of getting drunk and shearing llamas in the night with safety razors, but I can neither confirm nor deny such a thing.)

2007-07-19T14:31:00.000-04:00

Ooh

I haven't really been updating because everything is TSBL*. Doesn't make good blog fodder. However! I finished the Baby Tart hat. Look!:

(I realized that there's really honestly nothing in my apartment that fits this particular baby hat, so it is being modeled by my very beautiful arm).

Oh y'all. As I said, I'm not so much into the knitted food (why knit food when you can eat food?), and I'm as-yet undecided about that whole "having kids" thing, but when I looked at this hat when it was finished I squealed a little, and my ovaries were all, "YAAAAY, BABY!" I am glad no one saw me.

This morning I handed it over to the comissionee, and she did the same squee thing (as did another coworker when she walked by later). And then I got my payment.

Ooh. It feels good. I kind of like this knitting for profit thing. Especially when it's baby size and all small.

Final successful cast on: July 3(ish)

Finished weaving in the ends: July 18.

The originator: Baby Tart from knitty. Smallest size.

The string: Sugar & Cream cotton in brown and Debbie Bliss Cashmerino in red.

The sticks: Size 5 addis.

Pattern shmattern: I tried to do the bobbles in cotton and didn't even get past two bobble decreases before I decided that was some crap and brought out some stashed cashmerino.

I knit the fruit filling section inside out so I could knit the whole thing instead of purling it.

There was some weirdness with the decrease rows -- it didn't work for me, so I changed it as follows:

P12, dec3, p14, dec3, p11, dec3, p14, dec3 became:
P11, dec3, p14, dec 3, p11, dec3, p14, dec3.

And I ignored the bit about "The last stitch on your needle after you complete a decrease round becomes the first stitch of the next row."

Though looking at it now I suppose it makes sense. Whatever.

*the same but longer.

2007-07-13T09:56:00.000-04:00

A high school meme?

1.Who was your best friend? Cherine.

2.What sports did you play? Soccer, softball. Was a Co-Captain of the Varsity Soccer team my senior year (but it was only because I was one of two seniors who showed up for pre-season). (I wasn't very good at soccer. I'm not much into the "running" thing).

3.What kind of car did you drive? My current beloved Rav-4

4.It’s Friday night, where were you? Probably at home.

5.Were you a party animal? Not really.

6.Were you considered a flirt? Hoo yeah.

7.Were you in band, orchestra, or choir? Choir. And a girls' singing group that was really just an excuse to hang out twice a week. We were pretty awful. Example: I remember the one (one) time we were in harmony.

8.Were you a nerd? Yes, but not in the Hermione Granger way. I was quiet and into theatre. That's pretty nerdly.

9.Did you get suspended/expelled? Our school had this policy where if you had to skip a detention for something (like soccer practice/a game) then you had to make it up with two detentions. I started off with two detentions for cutting health (health) class because a friend was upset and I stayed with her. I got two detentions and since it was soccer season I missed about every other one. You can imagine how long it took for me to make them all up.

10.Can you sing the fight song? Well, there's the standard Quaker school fight chant: Burn bright inner light, kill Quakers kill! (See, Quakers are all about the nonviolence, so it's funny. See?) (The Quaker college I went to had a slight variation "Fight fight, inner light, kill, Quakers, kill! which I don't think is nearly as good).

11.Who was your favorite teacher? Angus. History teacher. Always had amazing stories (like how Rasputin was notoriously well-endowed) and drew phenomenally intricate maps on the chalkboard. He was tough but fair (I never did well in history -- no memory for names. Or dates. Or geography).

12.School mascot? Kangaroo. Never really figured that one out.

13.Did you go to Prom? Yeah. It was okay.

14.If you could go back and do it over, would you? Pass.

15.What do you remember most about graduation? I had hideous allergies. My nose was dripping, I kept sneezing, I had no tissues, and I was sitting in the front row. I kept staring meaningfully at the box of tissues under the headmaster's chair, but my mental powers weren't strong enough to move them. So I used my robe. Which was white. Nice.

Also, they mispronounced the name of the classic-over-achiever, arrogant, super-talented-at-everything, made-for-high-school guy, which was very satisfying.

16.Where were you on senior skip day? Did we have a skip day? I don’t remember. (That's Grace's answer, but it applies to me, too).

17.Did you have a job your senior year? Over the summer I worked at my dad's law firm.

18.Where did you go most often for lunch? Cafeteria. I ate a lot of Cup Noodles soup. Mmm, cup noodles...

19.Have you gained weight since then? Sure have!

20.What did you do after graduation? Moved to NC for college.

21.Who was your Senior prom date? Clint. I couldn't find anyone to Go go with, so I invited him. He was a friend(ish) who had changed schools a year or two prior.

22.Are you going / did you go to your 10 year reunion? I haven't made it to any yet. It'd be good, I guess.

23.Who was your home room teacher? My senior year advisor was... was... oh. SOMEbody.

24.Who will repost this after you? EVERYONE.

2007-07-10T10:57:00.001-04:00

In which I learn some valuable lessons and maybe use some bad words, plus some maths

My home internets is out so updating is tricky. Just so's you know.

I got comissioned by one of the lawyers in my office to knit a hat for her sister's impending baby. I sent her some options and brought in hats I'd made, and she browsed a while and then picked one.

She picked this.

Okay. I don't get knitted food, but fine, other people like it, that's cool. But good gravy y'all -- that thing is ALL BOBBLES.

All.

Bobbles.

Which is when I learned the first lesson: if comissioned, only give options of things you really, truly care to knit.

But I said I would, took a quick trip to the store for some basic cotton and got to work. The crust bit was easy enough (though I'm a little worried about the inelasticity of the ribbing), but then I started the bobbles. Those of you who have worked with bobbles and cotton before already know my second lesson.

For those of you who haven't done either of those things, you should know that 1. cotton has very little elasticity, and 2. bobbles ~~are a pain in the ass~~ can involve something like "purl 3 together." The conclusion that we can then draw is that cotton + bobbles = those kinda scary painful hand twinges.

I finished two bobbles and called it a night, and when I was lying in bed I realized that I had some red cashmerino in my stash. My hands are saved, and I'm one row of bobbles down! Only fifty ka-skillion to go!

So the other lesson I learned isn't knitting related, but it's always fun to share embarrassing stories, so here we go.

I, like most Amurikens, had the 4th of July off to celebrate our country's independence by setting fire to explosives and ingesting poison (mmm, margaritas! Go America!). Like any reasonable human I was most looking forward to sleeping in, and did so at length. But first I woke up at 8am with a dry mouth caused by my dear love the air conditioner.

Being a clever sort I had a glass of water next to my bed. I took a drink, put the glass back, and slept again. A second later I woke up to something dripping on my arm (which was near my head, thankyouverymuch). My pillow was wet! And dripping! And there was a giant wet spot on top of my comforter (or "douna").

Turns out that I'd, um, skipped that middle step of "putting glass back on desk" and went straight to "pass right the fuck out."

Which brings us to our second equation, which is: foofy bed + glass of water = awake stupid early, dammit.

I also might have a vague recollection of setting the glass down on the bed, as though my 1. winter-weight comforter (or "douna"), 2. featherbed, and 3. mattress were supposed to somehow keep it upright like that commercial where they put the glass of red wine on the mattress and the dude with the shorts and tall-ass white socks (why?!) jumps ever-so-carefully on the bed to be all "ooo, the glass didn't fall over." It is possible I was channeling that commercial. A cunning plan, to be sure.

In the end I turned my comforter ("douna") around, threw a blanket over the wet bit of mattress, and fell right back asleep. And later told everyone about how I spilled water on myself at 8am.

Also, Grace tagged/nominated me for this award/meme/thing:

And I get to nominate five people, so here goes:
1. Tanya! Y'all, she's been really super-helpful with my NZ trip. She rocks like whoa. And makes some gorgeous cupcakes.
2. NikKnits. She designs AND is hilarious. An excellent thing, to be sure.
3. Elinor. She always knits gorgeous stuff, posts lovely pictures, and has a doubleplus cute wee bairn.
4. Heather. Knits like the wind. Braver traveler than me!
5. Amy. She occasionally reads my mind, pattern and yarn-wise. She's knitting the Swallowtail Shawl AND the Tomten sweater (both in my queue) and we bought the same yarn at SAFF:

2007-07-02T08:02:00.000-04:00

Lazy bum

Updating shmupdating.

It looks like I'm going to be teaching some people at work how to knit. Can y'all recommend a good beginner pattern? A garter scarf is standard but it's not exactly instant gratification.

I was thinking a hat, maybe tychus (god I love that pattern) or a basic roll-brim (though that wouldn't teach binding off)...

Ideas?

In the meantime, I'm finally calling that danged sweater finished (though I'm not sure I'm thrilled with the neckline). Am going out today to get needles for my next project (have spent all weekend swatching -- erg).

And since a blog isn't a blog without pictures:

2007-06-18T20:35:00.000-04:00

Oh my god I didn't...

...Oh my god I totally did.

I attached the sleeves backwards. The increases are on the outside.

I am speechless. I'd gotten so far as to even bind off the neck but finally had to concede that a sweater that presses on my larynx might not be so desirable. I ripped back past all of the raglan shaping to reknit a deeper arm hole.

And managed to not pay attention and knit about half an inch more than I meant to, but WHATEVER, I will keep going!

Which is when I noticed that the sleeves were backwards. Nice. The sweater's going away for a while.

And while I'm on the topic, these socks have driven me crazy to the point where they're getting the frog.

The idea's okay, but they're too tight (except the picot edging which is too loose), and I was super bored with the first sock halfway through. That's a bad sign or second sock syndrome. I think the yarn will be reincarnated into some Sidewinders.

2007-06-13T19:40:00.000-04:00

Mutual Corruption

You remember the scarf of bad timing? Well. We --one of my nearest-and-dearest and I -- had decided to give each other some space. There was drama and things weren't going well (even with the underlying love), we were taking a break.

You know how that goes.

The weekend before the decision was made I bought yarn to make him a scarf. I'd be all sneaky and send it as a surprise (which is easy when we live well over 700 miles away). Eight days later I finished it, and then upset, crying, and the break.

It was sent because when all is said and done he's still my friend and I still love him. When he received it he immediately wrote to me.

He gets knitting. He honestly understands what a hand-knit gift means, and we decided to talk more, to work things through together rather than give each other space.

We're still struggling, but damned if the scarf didn't help with the repairs.

------

I wrote that a while ago. Since then I've dragged him into a yarn store (the same one twice -- heh!), and he has been raving about the smell of his scarf (he sniffs yarn! Come on!). The yarn, she is capturing him. Are you ready?

He went into a yarn store. Without me. Because he saw a sign for it when he was driving.

Wait wait -- it gets better. He bought me a present.

He bought me yarn. He bought me cashmere yarn.

Good. Lord. I immediately stuffed it into my bra. It's a kit and comes with a pattern and (oh, the weakening of my knees!) three skeins. *sigh!*

But the name of this post is Mutual Corruption, so there's more.

Having some time to kill yesterday Blogless Kate and I went to Knit One, Smock Too. I was being all good, just looking at pattern books since I should probably think about finishing some more projects before I buy more yarn. But then we went to look at yarn, because I am only human, and a weak one at that when fiber is involved.

The store itself isn't terribly exciting (lots of nylon ribbon yarns), but they have some decent Rowan/Noro/Debbie Bliss. Right. We wandered. I laid my hand upon some yarn, and... and... I couldn't let go. I clutched. I squoze. I'm pretty sure there was a choir of angels.

I checked the content. Cashmere and silk. OH.

Yes, it was costly. Yes, it came home with me. Because, you see, now that I have cashmere in my stash I'm free to get more plush yarns. I've realized that the gift of cashmere was a gateway fiber.

Hee! Paying bills is for suckers anyway. Ahem.

2007-06-11T20:12:00.000-04:00

Asheville?

Interested in the knitter gathering? Go here!

Still knitting the sweater. Should be done soon.

I got an invite to ravelry, and oh! Delicious! Goodbye, many hours of my life!

2007-06-06T19:38:00.000-04:00

Knit-tacular 2007?

Hey y'all. So I'm... missing SAFF this year, because I really need to quit my job and get out of Greensboro for a while. This makes me ALL kinds of sad what with the not getting to hang out. And then I was thinking on dance weekends and how they rock, and my brain was all, "it'd be awesome if there was a knitting weekend so I could hang out with people even though I'm missing SAFF...

...heyyyyyy..."

So here's my thinking (big ups to Grace for helping me suss this out). We congregate somewhere, say Asheville?, in an agreed-upon hotel-kinda-thing. To minimize work for me everyone could arrange their own roommates and rooms (we could put an attendee list together), then arrive Friday, hang out. Hit yarn stores Saturday, hang out some more, hit a bar. Sunday, hang out, head out.

Since SAFF is/was in Asheville I know it's fairly accessable for all y'all I met last year. Also it has decent yarn stores, so I hear.

I even made up a handy-dandy quiz style thing! If you're interested in having a gathering, go here!: www.yourblogquiz.com and enter quiz number 104557 (it lists "correct" answers, but just ignore those -- it required them).

EDIT:
Also, leave a comment if you're interested! Thanks.

EDIT AGAIN:
Ack! When I said the weekend of the 6th in the quiz I actually meant the weekend of the 14th! Just so you know!

And look! Most of a sweater!

2007-05-31T23:21:00.000-04:00

Questions and pictures

I... tagged myself? from Elizabeth's interview. Here are the questions from her (she kindly let us select from a list):

What is the thing you like most about yourself? The least? Extra points if it's two sides of the same coin!

Empathy. It makes me kind, thoughtful, and a wicked gift-giver. I can sense the mood in a person or in people and adjust how I act to accomodate it, which can make conversations really comfortable. And it makes me so scared of hurting people's feelings that instead of being clear and direct I get really passive aggressive and wimpy.

I could write a book about this.

Bebe socks for SteveAndDeb's impending bebe

If you could go on vacation anywhere in the world, money is no object, where would you go and what would you do there?

I'd visit my friends. My dancer friends in Scotland, Beth in Korea, Lauren in Bulgaria, Paige, Dan, and Chelsea in Chicago -- all these people all over the world. When I got there I'd take them all out for excellent food and wine/beer.

Alternately, I'd like to have a jet, pack up my friends and take them to somewhere in the Caribbean for lounging purposes. I'd also fly out a band and caller and have nightly contra dances followed by late night swing dances. Knitting in the afternoons, scuba diving in the morning. That'd be so sweet!

Is there a sport or adventurous hobby you've always wanted to try but haven't? If so, what is it?

Part of me wants to try sky diving. Confront those "omg fear of heights eeeee omg" feelings. I don't know if I'll ever do it, though. I thought my plane coming in this weekend was descending a little too fast and I still have red half-moon marks in my arm from my nails. Ow. I can't imagine what jumping out of a plane would be like. I imagine I would pee myself.

Tell us about your most embarrassing moment, but only if you want to.

Oh, but there are so many! How about when I was in a play in middle school, when I didn't bother to learn my lines and so had to read them from the script, hidden in a manilla folder?

Or when I was in a play involving the wearing of roller skates? I was standing there listening to someone talking about something when I realized I was going to lose my balance at any minute and there was nothing I could do about it. And, just as I'd predicted, one of my feet shot out and I stumbled -- but didn't fall. A miracle! When I went backstage one of the techies asked if it was true I'd fallen. Nice.

And, of course, the time I was caught plagerizing one of the American Girl stories in English class in elementary school.

Emily's mitts! I definitely did not fake the blocking by sticking my ipod shuffle in the bottom of the top mitt. Cough.

What is your favorite game to play?

Wink! (Also inexplicably spelled winq). It's a game that (generally) young Quakers play at gatherings to get out energy and some sexual frustration. Here's how it goes: everyone but one person has a partner. The person without a partner is the "winker." Everyone sits in a circle and your partner is either in front of you or behind you (if the group is small it might be a line with the winker sitting 10-15 feet away from everyone else). The winker then calls out a few people sitting in the front row -- either by name, shirt color, or anything else they might think up. It's the job of the people called to get to the winker and kiss them somewhere above the shoulders. It's the job of their partner to keep them from doing that by any means except tickling or major wrestling holds. Including clapping your hand over their mouth. And there's no standing up.

My favorite rule is that "ow" means keep going, and "stop" means stop. Awesome, awesome game.

Want me to interview you? Leave a comment. A comment with a joke. Just 'cause.

The sox:
Final successful cast on: May 14, 2007

Finished weaving in the ends: uh... somewhere around the 21st, I'll say.

The originator: My basic sock pattern (pretty close to the Yarn Harlot's in Knitting Rules!), without the slip-stitch heel. Ribbing continued down the foot and into the toes.

The string: What is likely Rowan 4-ply soft (I have tons left even after making 1 adult sock and 2 wee bebe socks).

The sticks: Size 1 (ish) dpns.

Pattern shmattern: Cast on 38 with a tubular cast-on.

The mitts:
Final successful cast on: Got me.

Finished weaving in the ends: Somewhere around the 25th?

The originator: Eunny Jang's Endpaper Mitts.

The string: Malabrigo worsted in natural and some variety of green.

The sticks: Size 1 (?) dpns for the ribbing, size 2 addis for the body.

Pattern shamattern: Well, my gauge was crazy. And I think I've guaranteed myself some eventual carpal tunnel. I reduced the amount of ribbing at the top to make it more reasonable length, but that's about it.

2007-05-23T19:34:00.000-04:00

I'm it!

Carolyn tagged me for the 8 random facts meme.

The Rules:
1. Each player starts with 8 random facts/habits about themselves.

2. People who are tagged write a blog post about their own 8 random things and post these rules.

3. At the end of your blog you need to tag 8 6 people and post their names.

4. Don't forget to leave them a comment and tell them they're tagged, and to read your blog.

8 Random Facts/Habits:

1. I'm tuh-errified of heights. Hate them hate them hate them. I'm fine with being in a building, by a window, many floors up, but get me on a roof or next to a cliff and I squeal and giggle and hang on tight to the nearest tree. A friend invited me to go sky diving, and even talking about it made me shaky. Eeee.

2. I once drove 500 miles in a day to check on a dog that I wasn't sure I'd be able to find. (For the record: I did).

3. Texture is a big thing for me with food. I don't like most nuts because of their texture (I'll gladly eat cookies with ground almonds, but I won't eat whole ones). Love bread and dough-y textures. Hate mushrooms.

4. I'm allergic to birch tree pollen, which means that when I eat raw peaches, pears, apples, cherries, and some other fruits my mouth and sometimes my ears get all itchy. I still eat 'em anyway. Deeeelish!

5. This whole "wearing glasses" thing is weirding me out. Lots.

6. I'm thinking about working towards becoming a zookeeper, but really I have no idea what I want to do with my life. Or where.

7. At the beginning of September I'll probably be moving to New Zealand for a few months. I'm both pleased and terrified. In December I'll come back to my hometown of Philly, but I have absolutely zero idea of where I'll go after that. I have glorious friends here, but Greensboro isn't exactly spectacular. I don't like the thought of leaving these people forever.

8. When I was young one of my favorite restaurants was Seafood Shanty (remember those?) even though I didn't eat seafood (I'm just now getting into it). I'd have pasta with butter sauce (essentially noodles drowning in butter, which, if not for obvious reasons, I would TOTALLY still eat all the time) and color in the placemats which would invariably get me a free dessert coupon which we would always forget to bring.

Hey! Tanya, Amy, Heather, Jenny,Janice, Anita! Y'all are it!

2007-05-20T21:25:00.001-04:00

Recent developments

Before:

During (OMG I GOTS THE CRAZY EYES):

After:

Yeah. I wear glasses now. Sometimes. My prescription is so weak as to be near non-existant, but mild astigmatism + sitting in front of a screen 27 hours a day + vision benefits = glasses.

Buying them was quite the exercise in personal exploration. Do I go for the bolder, geek-chic glasses, or the subtler, sly frames?

In the meantime, giant, super-fashionable sunglasses look unnervingly good on me.

2007-05-17T21:02:00.000-04:00

Foom!

I have this yarn. I don't remember what kind it is. Name, manufacturer, content -- nada. I got it in Scotland, I know. Or... I guess? Isn't this a fun game? ANYhoo, SteveAndDeb are pregnant, and I'm feelin' all knitty! (Oh, my ovaries, how they want the babies! No, ovaries!)

All I know is that I made a sock out of it a while ago. Of course, it's the pair of socks that I knit with two different yarns (yes I did), and I'm not sure which sock was which yarn, and so I don't know how it'll act with wear. (It might be the slightly felted one, or the one that's not at all).

And what do you do with a free evening and an unidentified yarn?

Burn test! Care to join me?

I got a cookie sheet to burn it on, a lighter, water for dousing, and a pair of pliers to hold the yarn during the burning. Ready?

The set up (I forgot to set the auto timer and just ended up taking a picture of my arm):

Lighting it up:

Oh hey! There was a flash! And the camera fell over!

Taking the flame away (if it's all wool it should stop burning):

Mm, still going:

...and smelling kind of funny:

Aaaand time to blow it out:

Foof!:

And the final result?

The melty ends suggest some synthetic content, but it was slow enough burning that I'm guessing it's not much. And it smelled funny. A potentially non-natural kind of funny, but...? I dunno. Either way, the only thing I really need to know is if it's machine washable, and I'll test that at some point.

So why the burn test? Because it was fun.

ETA: It might be Rowan 4-ply soft, which would make it 100% superwash merino. Entirely plausible except that the fire doesn't go out when the flame is taken away. Have I been lied to??

2007-05-14T07:53:00.000-04:00

How sweet it tasted

Look what I'm making:

This picture is also known as "Look! I figured that 'aperture' thing!"

Three living strawberry plants, one eensy-teensy strawberry-in-the-making.

And,

Slogging through second mitt syndrome. It's going fairly quickly -- I'm at the thumb gusset (er, not in this picture). I gave up when I realized I had ribbing and reattaching the yarn for the thumb. A lot of work for maybe an inch and a half of knitting. That's right, I'm a turkey.

And my wrists aren't so happy about worsted-yarn-on-size-2-needles, so I'm taking a break.

2007-05-12T20:07:00.000-04:00

Cat! Hat!

This pattern is addictive. And finished!

If I had thumbs I would cut you

(Sorry about the crap-tacular picture -- I took it with my phone).

Final successful cast on: ...?

Finished weaving in the ends: May 11.

The originator: Tychus from Knitty.

The string: Laines Du Nord Guinco (remaindered from the damn socks) in purple and black.

The sticks: Size 2 addi turbos.

Pattern shmattern: Cast on 45 with a provisional cast-on, did an extra row in the middle. Single-stranded the yarn.

The model: Blogless Andrea's kitteh, Phoenix. We call him Finny-finny.

2007-05-07T21:14:00.000-04:00

Some kind of title

So that news I had is on hold for a while. Which... erg.

I was browsing youtube for fast knitting techniques, because... right? Where else would you look? Also because that is how I roll, which is, I've decided, about the kicken-est phrase ever. I tried the Portugese knitting video, and y'all, I think I'm addicted. The yarn goes around your neck. I mean... knitting is amazing.

Anyway! What's funner than watching a stockinette tube grow? NOTHING!

I still can't get the color right. Dang.

The edge keeps rolling. It will be blocked out. I have Decided it. It will block flat. Yes it will. I am not in denial at all.

And here's a behbeh hat for the future. Not for me. No bebehs for me, thx*. Knitty's tychus with a provisional cast-on and 45 stitches in yarn remaindered from the damned arch-shaped socks. I really hope I have enough left.

Back to the sweater!

*Though the weekend-before-last I got to hold a 7-month old who was all keen on chewing on my fingers, and OH GOD, my ovaries... they ached...

2007-05-02T22:02:00.000-04:00

I still make stuff!

There was some noise from my apartment complex people about replacing my cabinets (they're working on revamping the apartments to make them super ugly -- I don't get a say in this). I cleaned out my cabinets, put things in boxes in the living room, and left for work.

I came home to this:

Not too bad, right? I thought so. Until I saw this:

*whimper*

Since they're not done I can't do anything to clean up yet. Oog.

My favorite part? The giant rotten hole under the sink. Observe!

They just painted over it! Hooray!

But now, on to the knitting content.

This is Emily! (my name is also Emily!)

Photo credit: Shell

She's from Pennsylvania, like me! She's living in Edinburgh, like I used to! She's a lindy hop lead and follow, like me! And she's a knitter!

She rocks. She rocks like whoa. and when we met in Scotland and made note of all (all) the coincidental similarities we decided that we needed to do a KAL. I'm halfway(ish) there:

Made with malabrigo in natural and, um, green of some variety. They're dense and feel like fleece. Mmm. Very good for the bitter Scotland winters. Shame it's May. Trying to get gauge with anything else was a beast. I really hope they fit.

It was my first time with the tubular cast-on which was thwarting me more than a little bit. Seriously. I cast on, counted, started knitting, and a few rows later found that there weren't enough stitches. Grrr.

And then there were all these poochy bits on the cast-on:

Turns out you pull that out after you start the ribbing. Heh. Excellent.

And the sweater that refuses to be photographed well. It's a deep maroon. Mmm, kathmandu aran tweed... delicious...

There's more on the needles, too, which comes with some news!

2007-05-02T00:20:00.000-04:00

#47

When you decide to undo a cast-on edge to re-do it from the bottom, you have to pick out ribbing stitches one by one.

This goes way slower than you might think.

Erg.

Real update when my batteries are done charging.

2007-04-26T08:07:00.000-04:00

A better, easier tubular cast-off

So I'm doing a KAL with someone (more on that later!) and we're making Eunny's endpaper mitts. I was at the bind-off last night and was having a bunch of trouble with the technique that Eunny links to. I had to unpick (^&%*$%!!!) the first few bound-off stitches a bunch of times which really doesn't do good things to single-ply merino.

My sad, sad bind off:

Finally I bound off about four stitches and went to bed, because omgz so many expletives and PROFANITY at the stupid bind off big dumb jerk. And I couldn't sleep. And couldn't sleep. Visions of bind-offs were running through my head when I had a Thought. A potentially Clever Thought.

In case I forgot it in the night I jumped up, pulled out some crap yarn, and cast on 8 stitches. A (very) few rows of ribbing and I tried my idea.

It was pretty! It was easy! I was feeling brilliant. Ready for excitement? This is the super-easier tubular cast-off:

Slide knit stitches onto one needle, and purl stitches onto another needle held behind the first. Kitchener those puppies together. Admire beauty. Feel crazy smart.

But, of course, there aren't Really any new ideas in knitting, and the bind off is presented as the knit-one-purl-one bind off on knitting help.

Still, though, I'm pleased as punch that I don't have to do that darned sewing one anymore.

2007-04-20T14:01:00.000-04:00

Xtreem!

Oh, y'all, I promised a picture of my extreme knitting and never delivered. Honestly, I was hoping that I'd get a better picture and it didn't happen, so here's the blur-tacular shot I do have. You ready?

That's right! Scuba knitting! Scuk! (Self-Contained Underwater Knitting, of course).

I didn't bring a real project, just cast on a few with some remaindered KP Andean Silk, tucked it and some needles into the pocket of my BC (bouyancy compensator) (that's the vest that you attach your tank and hoses to) and pulled it out at the end of one of our dives in St. Croix.

It was tricky. I didn't bring the whole ball of yarn (that would just be silly!) and the working end flew everywhere. It was not my best evidence of knitting. I was floundering around a bit too, so Lisa (in the pink!) held me fast so I could concentrate.

The delightful part is that I forgot my needles and yarn in the (rented) BC pocket and it got taken out the next day. The knitting went on almost as many dives as I did. Luckily I got everything back. I got a real funny look from the woman who'd been using my vest when I asked if I could borrow the BC and pulled out needles and yarn.

She laughed, too.

Xtreem knitting close up! Whoaaaa! Whoooaaaaaa!

2007-04-18T07:33:00.000-04:00

It's over!

Start date: Let's not discuss that.

Finish date: Apr 17!

Pattern: Arch Shaped Socks from VK Fall 2006

Yarn: Laines du nord 100% merino, 3 skeins each black and purple, size 2 bamboo needles.

Modifications: Oh, ha. Damn near everything. I cast on 82 (pattern called for 80), increased 8 rows to accomadate my shapely calves, and followed my generic top-down sock pattern after that. Adjusted the toes so they weren't quite as square (I had to reknit them a number of times so as to not cut the circulation to my toes off, which was more my problem than the pattern's). Oh, and modified the front diamond pattern because I'd messed it up the first time and then decided it was a design element.

I think they'd've done better calling it a "guideline" rather than a "pattern."

They're damn pretty, though. And DONE! HA HA! THE CURSE IS LIFTED!

...well, this particular curse, anyway. I think that gauge one is going to stick around for a while.

2007-04-07T12:59:00.000-04:00

Query

I was flipping through Domiknitrix's book, and it's cleverly set up and funky-style etc. etc, but there's only one pattern I like (the halter vest). And the book is $20.

Do y'all find yourselves in situations like that? I don't want to fleece the designer, but $20 for a pattern is steep. Ideas? I have a feeling that the library won't have it, and I don't know anyone (offhand) who does.

2007-04-05T07:48:00.000-04:00

Some days you knit, some days you frog

This was as far as I'd gotten in the arch-shaped socks when I decided to compare it against the first. While I harbor no delusions about these two being twins, I wanted to make sure they would be the same, you know, length.

They're not.

The decreases in the second sock are more consistent than the first, and so if I kept decreasing every four rows like I was then it'd be another, oh, eight rows longer. Not so good. So I frogged back to where that needle is sticking out.

It's about the knitting, not the product; it's about the knitting, not the product; it's about the knitting...

2007-04-03T08:01:00.000-04:00

A sock and some planes

Did you know that knitting needles are prohibited on flights out of the UK? At least on Delta? It's true!

And that, my friends, makes for one exceptionally long flight from Edinburgh to Atlanta (I was much too tired to knit on the Atlanta-Charlotte flight). It's an 8.5 hour flight and I'd finished my book (Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere, which is great but not... exactly uplifting, so I wasn't in the mood to re-read just yet), and there wasn't anything good on the tv, so... erg. In retrospect I probably could've gotten by with my bamboo needles, but it wasn't a risk I was excited to take.

So! Knitting news! Yes. I finally finished the first of the stupid arch-shaped stockings. The bottoms were a little tricky because there are no pictures of them in VK, and no description of how they should look. So I faked it and it works, so yay!

The toes, however, are a little square, and I'm not entirely sure what to do about that. They're square in the magazine pictures, too. The other thing is that I really don't want to undo any of the sock unless I absolutely have to.

I started its mate on the flight to Edinburgh (where needles were allowed), and it's going... slowly. I would knit in the evenings while Shell and I were watching tv (she was a goddess and let me stay with her), and she asked how long socks like that would take me to knit, and I realized that boy howdy, I really am a slow knitter.

But I keep reminding myself that I'm a process knitter. I'm doing this not for the final product, but for the love of wool on needles.

It's become my mantra when I peruse knitblogs.

You should, um, make believe you can't see those loose ends...

I wandered into a few places-with-yarn while I was in Edinburgh. Frankly, there's not much there. There's John Lewis department store which carries Rowan and Debbie Bliss and so on, and there's Jenners, which carries Rowan and Debbie Bliss and so on. Decent, but not thrilling. There's also HK Handknits, which looks decent but doesn't seem to carry anything I couldn't find in the states and was a good hike from where I was staying, so I passed on it. Besides, I have enough projects on tap to get more yarn (HAH! Lies. I always need more yarn).

Maybe I should move back to Edinburgh and start a yarn store...

2007-03-21T07:37:00.001-04:00

Right here:

Is where I fell back in love with the arch-shaped socks.

2007-03-21T07:36:00.001-04:00

The scarf of bad timing

2.5 skeins of Cascade 220 ~~lambswool~~ Peruvian highland merino wool, The Heathers. In green, as you might could tell.

Fisherman's rib over 40 stitches. About 5.5' long. Started in the Boston airport and finished 8 days later. Learned that picking up stitches in fisherman's rib is kind of tricky. Blocked it by hanging it in the bathroom, tying another scarf to the end and tying a spray bottle to the end of that to weigh it down some-but-not-too-much.

Knit for one of my nearest and dearest.

2007-03-18T20:25:00.000-04:00

The spirit of the curse

Well. The curse is alive and well. The gift isn't a sweater, it's not for a Boyfriend, and we aren't "broken up," per se. Additionally, the knit itself wasn't the catalyst (indeed, it hasn't even arrived yet), but the timing was spot-on.

Spirit of the curse rather than the letter of the curse.

Needless to say, I'm not doing so hot right now.

2007-03-14T18:05:00.001-04:00

Stealthy

I've been single-mindedly knitting myself into a fury, but I have to be careful: the recipient might be watching. Here's a sneaky-style taste:

Slightly heathered emerald green lambswool by Cascade Yarns. Mmm. Soft but not too soft. Man-style.

Will be shipping it off soon (as soon as I get around to taking some pictures of it), and then -- full update.

In the meantime, someone needs to buy me all of this yarn. Especially in the Veilchen colorway. And Poison Nr. 5. Mmmmmm.

2007-03-05T07:56:00.000-05:00

Taking a break

The sweater keeps getting bigger, the rows get longer, and I need to... not look at it for a few days.

And the arch-shaped socks? I'm not... entirely positive where they are right now. No, seriously. I think they're in my bookbag from St. Croix... Maybe?

I started some mittens with some Jo Sharp Alpaca Kid Lustre in deep maroon. Not sturdy, but will keep me warm on the way to the car in the mornings. It's going fairly quickly, which is kind of exciting. No pictures yet. Soon, though! I'm thinking that since they're simple I may embroider them a la Lene. (She talks about her methods here).

I also picked up a half-finished handkerchief and finished it up:

(I need to fuss with my camera controls. BOY is that noisy).
(Okay, I'm just excited that I know what that means).

I got some use out of the previously finished one while I was sneezing and snurking through my post-vacation cold, and here are my conclusions:

So much better than the paper towels I'd been using at work. So much better. Of course, so is fine-grade sandpaper, but these made my nose happy.

Pattern for super nose protection (though you hardly need one):

-1 skein KFI Patagonia Nature Cotton makes two handkerchiefs with a smidge left over.

-Size 5 needles (though I tend to knit pretty tightly -- just keep your gauge loose enough to be drape-y but tight enough that they don't, you know, leak).

CO 22 sts (for a larger one cast on 30, but if you tend to carry things in your pockets keep in mind that the larger size can be a little bulky)

Fisherman's Rib:

Row 1: k1p1 all the way across.

Row 2: Sl1, p1, *K into row below, purl, repeat from *.

Repeat row 2 until you have a square-ish shape. Since this is a pretty boingy stitch it's a little hard to tell. Estimate. It's just a handkerchief.

Bind off, weave in ends. Use to cover nose. Blow. Wipe. Snurgle.

If you're squidgy about immediate contact with nose goo then make a lot and throw them in the washing machine when you run out.

If you're not, however, then you can get away with one or two. When it starts getting full of goo then just take it to the sink, give it a rinse, and wring out. It's damp when you use it again, but the cool water feels really nice on a sore nose.

2007-02-28T07:33:00.000-05:00

Am I crazy?

I mean, outside of the overt "yarn in the dishwasher" kind of crazy.

Here's why I'm suspect:

I hate ribbing. I mean, I love the way it looks, but omg it's so slow. So slow. I've been thinking about the Kathmandu aran tweed and how I want to make a fairly quick sweater -- I was thinking stockinette, but you know, ribbing might just be too smooshy to pass up.

What's holding me back is that I'm so !! slow at ribbing (it's like seed stitch: I lovelovelove it, but I cringe when I think about how long it takes), so what if I knit maybe half an inch in ribbing, then switch to stockinette, and then when I get to the arm shaping I...

(brace for potential crazy)

drop the stitches that should be purled and pick them up so they're correct for ribbing?

Maybe I'm just forgetting how long picking up stitches takes, but it seems kind of preferable to ribbing a whole sweater.

On the other hand, maybe ribbing a(nother) whole sweater would build character and make me faster for the future. Or maybe it just wouldn't get finished.

2007-02-23T18:47:00.000-05:00

What do you mean this isn't normal?

Doesn't everyone have yarn in their dishwasher?

Sizzle got the rip and I had to do something about the kinked up yarn. Option one was to weight the skeins and hang them in the bathroom, and option two was something I heard about from Pixie Purls: putting kinky yarn through the dry cycle of the dishwasher and steam it out. So I tried it!

It worked a bit, though next time I'll stretch the yarn a bit rather than just leaving it in skeins. Either way it's easier than throwing it in the shower.

2007-02-22T21:12:00.000-05:00

Knitting through quicksand

Between the trip, Big Phone Calls involving both New and Large Feelings, and this cold that has taken up residence in my sinuses (and occasionally vacationing in my chest) there hasn't been much knitting. There could be if I felt like I could take off work, but I'm taking... six times two... 12 days in the span of about six weeks. It doesn't look so good for me to take more.

I have medicine head. Everything's moving pretty slowly right now.

I worked on the sock on my Charlotte-Miami flight, getting all the way to turning the heel (trying on a knee sock while sitting in an airplane seat = tricky) when I realized that I had no idea how the gusset was supposed to look. I thought it might be stripes, but I couldn't remember and there was nothing I could do. . So I put it away and haven't picked it up since.

It is stripes, by the way.

#46. Always keep a picture of the pattern. Just do. Especially if the pattern's being difficult anyway.

Also, somehow my gauge went from 7 spi to 9 spi, and I have no idea what happened. Maybe it's the switch from circular needles to dpns, but...? Might explain why the size is so off, though...

Anyhoo. Lately I've been working on my Secret Sweater Pattern. I'm using my Knitpicks Andean Silk (sizzle is getting the rip) and it'll be a delightful surprise whether there'll be enough or not. Either way I'm going to have to knit it again, I think. Make sure I know what I'm talking about when I write up the pattern. Decide if I really do like where it's going.

In the meantime, here's a peek:

2007-02-20T07:27:00.000-05:00

Good news!

Not dead! Still going!

With the trip and getting stranded in Miami on the way home and having people staying in my apartment this past weekend and some... life craziness, I haven't been able to write (well, knit-based writing, anyway).

I haven't knit much, either.

To come: I did some extreme knitting while I was away, and why you should always bring a picture of a pattern when traveling with WIPs.

(this picture is Definitely Not Staged at All).

2007-02-07T07:31:00.000-05:00

Impending radio silence

The socks... are still going. More accurately, the sock is still going, and let's not even talk about second sock syndome, pls.

I increased a bunch and am now working through the decreases (and please do cross your fingers for me) will end right about where the heel starts, which would just be too keen (cue impending knitter god wrath for my Wicked, Wicked Pride¹). It's still a little tight, but not boa-constrictor-esque. The sock's partner isn't going to be a perfect match (at ALL), as I'm increasing/decreasing every 3ish rows.

Here's a 2 stitch increase that I "made up" and used to fix the fact that I forgot to cast on in a multiple of four:

In the same stitch: knit, knit into stitch AND STITCH BELOW, knit. If you use this a lot and/or the stitches are stretched it can result in a little hole that's quite pretty. No idea why it didn't happen here, but I'm not complaining.

At the same time the Mystery Pattern finally arrived:

(click on picture for link to store)

(I have to admit that I wasn't thrilled with the service. It took a week for her to let me know wht my first order didn't go through, and then another 8 days to get to me -- good thing I wasn't too anxious. Also, I got charged $1.50 for shipping when it was actually 87¢, but maybe the extra is for the envelope or similar?).

Thing is... I'm not sure I have enough yarn. The merino/silk I have is dk and the pattern calls for worsted, and the largest size of the pattern requires 630 yards (including underdrawers, which I'm not making), and I have 540 yards (which is what's called for in the next smallest size.

I was thinking that since I'm using smaller yarn I'd make the bigger size (to be double-checked when I do a swatch), but I don't know if it'll work. I may replace the knit straps for ribbon, though, which would free up... YARDS... of... yarn... I hope?

I wish it came with a picture of the back.

ANYhoo, I've also been working on figuring out a sweater pattern. Work, until today, has been really slow and offers plenty of time to sketch and even do some maths. It's a design I saw on a woman in a restaurant, and have never seen anything like it before or since (though it's a tricky search). I've been prototyping with some crap yarn, and hopes are high.

Mysterious? Yes! But I would like to, um, maybe publish it if I can ever figure it out. You understand.

In the meantime, most-if-not-total radio silence is going to occur between this-and-next Thursday because I'll be here:

for this.

St. Croix, US Virgin Islands. Tropical Dance Vacation. A week of contra dancing, tooling around the Caribbean, and rum.

It's my first island vacation without my family, which is going to be strange. I'm staying with a couple of friends, which is brilliant. Scuba diving, snorkeling, getting sun burnt beyond recognition, rum, and diet smashing (rule: only break the diet for something Really Worth It, e.g. biscuits. Or cake. Or -- I should stop).

¹ Hey, have any of you seen "Wicked, Wicked Games"? Isn't it awful??

2007-02-05T20:08:00.001-05:00

Poll

What's your favorite way to join yarns? I haven't found one that I really like.

Opinions?

2007-01-31T20:33:00.000-05:00

Long strong of expletives

Dear sock:

I hate you so freaking much. It's SO not my fault that I cast on a number of stitches that isn't divisible by four. I don't WANNA start over again!

You are a big dumb jerk.

Hate hate hate!
Emily

How am I going to fix this? It's a good thing I like them so much, because otherwise they'd be a... a... pair of mittens or something. And a hat.

2007-01-31T15:40:00.000-05:00

Erg.

When will I learn? The only path to successful knitting is through COMPLETE HUMILITY. There is no room for pride in my knitting room (which is also my living/dining/rumpus room).

I'd figured that one of the reasons I'm such a slow knitter is that I always modify (if not competely invent) patterns. So with the Arch-Shaped Socks I settled into the safety of Following A Pattern Exactly (not the same yarn, but Exact Gauge!). Corrections in hand!

But oh. Oh. Y'all, this is so much work! These socks aren't made for curvy-calved people and do I really want to rip them out completely AGAIN? All the decreases have to be changed because otherwise they're compression socks. Then I have to figure out if it's going to fit my foot if and when I reach the ankle.

*sigh*

If I started over I'd:
1. CO 82(ish) instead of the pattern-suggested 80.
2. Increase to 84 (or 86?) after the top band.
3. Knit to where my own personal calf starts to get smaller, THEN start decreases.
4. Do 2 decreases every 4 rows instead of 4 every 7 rows (decreasing stripies on the back of the sock instead of on either side like in the pattern)(maybe).

I think that's all. I guess. But I've already started the damn thing twice; the thought of doing it again is pretty dispiriting.

In the meantime, fifteen of these just arrived:

Edit:
I started over. I had to. It's just one of those things. So. After some whimsical math involving the supposed strechability of the stitches* I'd need to increase 12 stitches... I can do that...?

These had better be some damn comfy socks.

Edit the two:
Damn. I measured stretchability for corrugated ribbing when I need to do it for stockinette. Foiled...

*If 82 sts fits around the 14" below the knee, and the gauge indicates that 14" at 7 spi means 98 stitches, so there's a stretch of 1.14% or something like that, so 112 sts (widest part of my calf at 16") divided by 1.14 (or whatever) means that a comfortable number of stitches should be 94. Ish.

I totally pulled that out of my ass. Let's see how it goes.

2007-01-24T22:35:00.000-05:00

By popular demand...

The roving is from Hello Yarn in her dried flowers colorway. It's luscious...

2007-01-22T18:30:00.000-05:00

I've been tagged for the first time by Kiwi Knitter! Yee haw. As a result all you unsuspecting folks get to learn:

6 Weird Things About Me!

1. Most of my friends are older than me. Ranging 1-20+ years. Generally, people my own age drive me crazy. It also has to do with the fact that my main source of entertainment (outside of knitting) is contra dancing, and the median age of the dancers in my area is, oh, 45. Ish.

2. I firmly believe that salad is a finger food. Maybe not dressed salad, but I prefer to have the dressing on the side and use my fingers to dip leaves. Trying to eat salad with a fork is unnecessarily difficult.

3. I prefer lovers to boyfriends. I have no intention of settling down anytime soon and with my travel plans (back abroad in Septemberish for... some months) it seems futile to initiate a relationship with an expiration date. Besides, I like my time alone, and I like jaunting off for the weekend without clearing it with someone else (not that I'd have to, I'm just sayin'). Also, I'm too busy for a relationship, I l-o-v-e flirting, I'm wild about my lovers, and I get all the emotional lovin' from my friends.

4. I create wild scenarios in my head all the time. One cross word with someone and my mind goes off on an imaginary argument with them, sometimes making me even more annoyed than I already am. Or I'll hear a creak in my room late at night and all of a sudden I'll be envisioning a guy with a hatchet or similar, and I'd ponder what I'd do -- play sleeping? Jump up and scare him? Sneak my phone under the covers and call the police? And sometimes I'll see someone cute and my mind really takes off.

Maybe I should've stuck with writing fiction...

5. I'm the only person I know who can go on a diet, follow it (fairly) strictly, and gain weight. Yeah. THAT feels good.

6. I can't remember names. I have some kind of freaky mental block where I barely even hear the names anymore, it just comes out "Hi, I'm KSSSHHHHHH." And I'll smile and say, "I'm sorry, what was your name again?" and they'll say, "It's KSSSSHHHHHHH." And I'll smile broadly and never use their name again. I have a lot of conversations with my friends that go as follows:

Them: Is Martin single again?
Me: Um! Which one's Martin?
Them: That one, [pointing to someone I've danced with for years].
Me: ...His name's Martin? Really? ...huh...

Same goes for place names. Street names. Dates. Birthdays. Even things I've known forever gradually leak out. My best bet is to associate that person with someone of the same name. If their name's Brian then I'll associate them with my friend Brian, or with the dog from Family Guy.

This was actually kind of difficult because everything I do seems normal to me. I had to keep reminding myself that just because I do it doesn't mean everybody does it.

And since this is a knitting weblog,

7. I buy roving even though I don't spin. Yet.

2007-01-19T20:42:00.000-05:00

More errata than you can shake a magic loop at

By some stroke of unbearable brilliance I managed to remember to check for pattern corrections BEFORE starting the arch-shaped socks (I never remember to do this). I clicked into the Vogue Knitting website, found the right issue, and lo and behold, errata!

"Replace entire pattern."

...oh! Okay.

After a frustrating adventure trying to find some stupid yarn I settled in with some friends on a lovely MLK day.

It starts with k1p1 ribbing in black (actually green, but looks black) (I'm not ruining their pattern -- you can find it here; it just doesn't have the colorwork graph). Then you switch to corrugated ribbing¹, but it said that you start with p1k1 which... didn't make sense. More than that, it said the purls were white which, stylistically, struck me as being... wrong. Since the white stands out wouldn't you want it as the knit stitches for smoothness? And what was with starting with purl instead of knit like last time?

So I checked the picture. I looked. I looked again. I looked closer. I confirmed my suspicions with Kate and Andrea. They agreed.

The socks in the magazine are different. Not only from the pattern, but from each other. You can almost almost see it in the pic I posted yesterday: on the left sock the top white stitches are purled. On the right they're knit.

I thought of Elizabeth Zimmerman and her instruction that patterns are not always set in stone (though I, personally, wouldn't want to fuss much with, say, a lace shawl), and decided I knew what I was doing and ribbing smibbing. After the first row I slipped the first stitch from the left needle to the right so I could still start with p1k1 as the pattern inexplicably recommends, and the white (or, in my case, purple) stitches got knit.

So neener neener neener!

I knit away, using magic loop for the first official time. It's okay, this magic looping, but I have to work harder to keep ladders from happening.

I could see how it'd be excellent for travel, though. I'm forever dropping dpns. With the basic socks I tend to knit dpns make it easier for me to know where I am in the pattern. Anyway!

When I got to, say, two inches of knitting I tried it on. A problem with the pattern is that there's one (oh yes one) size. And if you were to look at the model's calves and then look at my calves you might notice that mine are, say, bigger. Curvy! And what's a curvy girl to do?

Why, add to the stripey section! I added four stitches total which will maybe be enough? The two black stripes closest to the back of the sock were changed to 2 sts wide instead of 1. Here's how it went:

That's much easier than describing it. If I were interested in frogging I'd just add another black-and-white stripey to each side, but I wasn't. Interested.

On again! I followed the colorwork graph, feeling all clever-style, and then realized that I'd screwed up. I'd continued diamonding when I should've started wide-striping. I'd have to tink back. Oog.

After some Kate-and-Andrea consultations I decided that it was a Design Element, it was Inspiration, and I Liked It Better, which I actually do. Tink shmink.

THEN I got to the calf decreases and realized it doesn't tell you if the decreases are done in black or white. Turns out it's black. I'm not sure if I agree with that, but it's what I'm working with, so that's the way it'll be. Unless I really do frog and do it all from scratch, knowing what I know now. But considering all the problems it might be better just to finish, THEN decide if I want to start over (at which point the answer will be "HELL no! You think I'm crazy?!").

It's a sexy, sexy sock, though. Problems and all.

UPDATE:
I tried it on. It's too tight. Aw. Frog pond time.

¹ Corrugated ribbing is ribbing where knit stitches are one color and purls are another.

2007-01-17T20:59:00.000-05:00

Full of knit

I finished the socks! They lost a lot of their sheen when I washed them, though. Picot edging, sock was over my usual 80 sts, slip stitch heel.

Claudia Handpaint in Just Plum. 100% Merino. Size 1 needles (I think...).

Neck warmer that needs buttons (inspired, of course, by Brooklyn Tweed).

One skein Blue Sky Alpaca Bulky in polar, size 13 needles, though I probably could've gone up a size or two.

Potential Handkerchief:

Less than half a skein of KFI Patagonia Nature Cotton, fisherman's rib, size 5 needles.

AND! The socks!

Delicious... The purple is actually a bit deeper than that, but whatever whatever.

If I keep this up I'm going to have to renounce my title of "slowest knitter."

2007-01-16T18:58:00.001-05:00

Ridiculous

So I've knit up 1.5 potential handkerchiefs with Nature Cotton. I used fisherman's rib because it's cushy and seems like maybe absorbent? We'll see how it goes, but I'm cautiously, moderately optimistic.

I've been floundering a bit lately because I'm fighting to get a sweater's worth of Queensland Kathmandu Aran Tweed, and let me tell you, it's not as easy as it seems.

Well, not if you're semi-cheap, like me. Observe the ridiculous:

Queensland Kathmandu Aran Tweed = Jo Sharp Silkroad Tweed. Same content, same colors -- it's the same stuff. What's different is that 1. Silkroad tweed is easier to find (i.e. Webs has it), 2. Kathmandu has more yardage, and 3. Silkroad is more expensive.

I -- hang on. According to the Jo Sharp website there are 104 yards/ball, but according to Webs it's 93 yards/ball.

...what?

Even if Webs'd mistakenly put yards when they meant meters they're still off by 3 yards...

I emailed Webs. Stay tuned for inevitable excitement (though it's looking like the correct yardage is 104).

REGARDLESS, Silkroad (retailing about $8.50/ball) is still stupid more expensive than Kathmandu (retailing about $7/ball). But! On ebay it's $5.75/ball, and they're ordering some for me, so danceity-dance.

(Quick secret: I am totally falling in love with white tweeds. Esp. kathmandu/silkroad in goose. I could chew on it with love. Nahm nahm nahm...).

(I should probably wait to buy more, though, since I'm already getting a sweater's worth in jewel. Right? Should probably wait? Maybe? Or maybe go directly to goose, bypassing jewel? A puzzlement...).

So I'm waiting on that, but got impatient. The one full skein of sock yarn I have wasn't inspiring me (I have a pair of socks made with that color already), none of my stash was Speaking to me, until I realized! The perfect pattern for the buttery, buttery, luscious pink/light brown silk/merino blend deliciousness I got at SAFF!

And I ordered the pattern online, but they're mailing it to me and I have to wait (but I want it NOWWW). This didn't much help me in the manner of "immediate gratification," so I went through my magazines and -- oh yes!

Arch-shaped stockings by Meg Swansen, VK Fall 2006.

I went with two of my local knitterly friends and learned the hard way that the yarn store near where I work -- well, it's not very good. Most of their sock yarn is Opal patterning (ick), the varigated sock yarn is expensive, their color selection isn't very good, and, well, they just don't have much.

I knew that already, but this was sad. I had a skein of Debbie Bliss baby cashmerino which got gauge (7spi) on size 2 needles), but they didn't have any cream/white colors of baby cashmerino and they didn't have any regular cashmerino at all.

I had a beast of a time finding anything that might get gauge, and finally settled on Laines Du Nord Dolly something or other. Worsted. Whatever. So I picked up a nice deep purple and gray but then realized that the gray was more expensive by about a dollar.

What?

I asked the local yarn lady and she said it was likely that it was more recent and Laines Du Nord had probably upped the price, and so they had to as well.

This was annoying.

I ended up with black and purple which, while very pretty, doesn't show the pattern terribly well, but I was desperate. I'm really enjoying the pattern, even if it is a bit of a challenge. More on that later.

#45. I am so much happier with a long term project and a couple of short term projects than I am finishing a bunch of little things in a short period of time. And now I have 3 large projects: an impending sweater, knee-high socks, and the Secret Project.

2007-01-11T18:30:00.000-05:00

BRILLIANT!

I have two skeins of Nature Cotton that I got as a dyeing experiment before realizing that I didn't feel like doing all that was necessary to dye cotton (seems that wool is much easier). So what to do with the cotton? I couldn't think of (or find) any good patterns, it wasn't enough for a tank top or similar, so it just sat. And sat.

Then I was skimming Knittin' Notes' entry for today in which she mentions a kerchief.

It -- I -- YES! Yes of course! Of course!

See, I get allergies in the spring. No namby-pamby sniffles here, this stuff is wicked. I was at a party last spring and a friend thought I was drunk because I was so wrecked with snurgling and space-y-ness. Seriously.

I always go through a ton of tissues (my freshman year of college I tied a box of tissues to my belt because I needed so many so often), and every year I think that I should get some decent handkerchiefs so I don't ruin my nose (as much) on paper tissues (even the ones with lotion grate on my poor shnoz after a while). And every year I forget.

BUT! This year I will knit handkerchiefs! The yarn is soft! Hopefully absorbent! It will be oh-so-useful!

I am excited.

(Does anyone have any reason why this wouldn't work? I figure it'd be good to know that now...)

2007-01-10T09:43:00.000-05:00

Quick like bunny

If you want 12 skeins of Dale of Norway Sisik then you should act soon! The bidding ends around 1pm today!

2007-01-04T22:27:00.000-05:00

Tonight...

Sock, demi-sock,

cold, and wine...

To all my web junkies stricken with winterly malaise (and there are a lot of us! Crikey), I hope we all get better soon.

#44. To a muggle colorwork is more impressive than cables. If only they knew (that both are similarly awesome)...

2007-01-01T22:19:00.000-05:00

I'm just as surprised as you are

I only had a few rows left, so with Christmas gifts gifted I forced (forced!) myself to pick the beebee hat back up. Okay, maybe I started a new project first, but that didn't count! Didn't take much to finish, though I lost a stitch somewhere near the top and -- I dunno. It was weird, but it worked.

And I started my planned basic EZ raglan bottom-up sweater with Dale Sisik and got almost all of the hem done, and...

Decided I don't much like the yarn. It's lovely stuff: single ply wool with flecks of color, but it's just not me. Sooooo... I think I'm going to sell it and buy more-me yarn. Sisik yarn anyone? In navy blue with primary-color flecks?

Now that the sisik sweater has been discarded, what to do next? A basic EZ raglan bottom-up sweater in keener yarn? Or finally tackle the Rebecca Wrap With Sleeves?

I wonder, I wonder.

I'd like to make something out of Sundara's semi-solid yarn, but, eeee, it's expensive.

Also, I got sock yarn! (Cobalt still scares me. I'll get to that later). It's luscious. I bought it at Tangled Web (one of my LYSs in Philadelphia, the other being The Knit With, which may or may not sell up the yarn price by 50% (Bearfoot sock yarn at $40/skein? That seems really, really... not right)).

Mmm, Claudia handpaint...

Anklet socks. I was hoping for a nice eyelet pattern, but I couldn't find anything I liked. Straight stockinette it is, then.

2006-12-28T22:54:00.000-05:00

Not disappeared!

Nothing like a holiday to make you stop writing. Anything. To anyone. Ahh, relaxing. But now I'm back in my office and it's e-m-p-t-y. There are a few lawyers meandering around, but most of the support staff is off doing whatever it is they do in their off hours. Adult things, I'm guessing. Like vaccuuming. Dusting. Making hors d'oeuvres. Doing their taxes. I don't know.

An office this empty is both exciting and cause for worry. It can go one of two ways:

1. With so few people here there will be no work. For anybody. This is not terribly different for me than most days, but it's always nice first day back.
2. With so few people here any work that DOES come in will go to me, including things that I don't generally do because I don't know how.

Gratefully it's tending towards that first one, and I'm lazing about, enjoying my free Diet Dr. Pepper and catching up on blogs and news and comix, oh my.

On the ride up I spent the night with High School Friend Russ and his girlfriend. We celebrated Chanukkah, which was excellent -- it's not often I get to be part of an Actual Ceremony instead of my family's tradition, which is more "light candles for the first night or two, sing something about the Chanukkah bunny, hand out the traditional Chanukkah flashlights, call it a night" and less "praying".

Arrival in Philadelphia involving happy parents and dogs and some last-minute weaving in of ends. That's right, I waited until 11pm Christmas eve to weave in the very last ends on mom's mittens. I had this fear that once I snipped them they'd fall apart and I'd end up giving my mom a bag of crinkly wool. Merry Christmas!

All was well, and mom loved the mittens:

And said they were just like the ones she used to have when she was young. Ooh, that felt good.

(It's a bit of a silly face; she was mid-word).

Dad loved his hat:

I got a nice knitterly haul: VK's Stitchionary (vol. 1), a knitting-pattern-a-day calendar, 2 skeins of hand-spun, hand-dyed 2-ply wool/mohair that is lovely and which I have absolutely no ideas for, and THANK YOU GOD, a swift!

Finally! A swift! Not using knees! This is unbearably exciting.

The only thing is that it's table-top, not clamp which -- well, I'll see how it goes. And there aren't strings linking the arms so you have to pull them out one by one, which seems awkward. Still. Swift! Oontz! And it's a pretty one, too.

And pups had a good Christmas, too. Right, noodlies?

Hmm? Skritchies?

(I swear Scamp is made of jello).

*crunch crunch crunch*

And chew toys were chewed by all.

2006-12-17T21:06:00.000-05:00

Sometimes,

slow as I am,

things get finished.

And it's good.

(Next question is: do I want to add a lining to the hat? (Dad's sensitive to itchy wool, and Andean Silk is full of pokey guard hairs). I have some Knitpicks baby alpaca laceweight, but it's blue, which is iffy with the red hat... hm...)

Now I have 1-4 weeks to finish the baby hat.

And then? The knitting world is MINE again!

2006-12-13T21:26:00.000-05:00

Poll

Hat: too short? Decent length? And before you ask, no, I don't know how big my dad's head is.

2006-12-13T08:04:00.000-05:00

Progress? Yes!

I finished the top of the second of mom's mittens and started work on the first thumb. Three times.

#44. To save on lots of grief (and ripping), remember that using a pattern makes a project go much faster! It's worth the money. Seriously.

Shedir 2.0 is finished! And... oh. It's a little short. AGAIN. It leaves earlobes out in the cold! I did 3 base increases instead of 5 because I measured it and darnit it seemed like it was going to work! I have a few options:

1. Rip back the crown, do another repeat of the lower cables, re-do the crown (ack!).
2. Carefully undo the cast-on edge and do some more ribbing (wouldn't look stellar).

I guess I'll go with option 2, though, as always, not optimal. It's far more exciting than ripping back the crown, though, because doing cables with splitty worsted yarn on size 1 needles? Ow ow OW ow ow. My wrists. Ow. I am actually astounded that my needles aren't permanently bent out of shape.

Pictures? No. But soon!

In the meantime, look! Loch Ness!

Aw. I miss Scotland.

2006-12-06T20:54:00.000-05:00

Oh, innernet

Thanks to SiteMeter I've learned that my site's been popping up on a lot of google searches for nostepindes¹, and so I thought I'd help a knitter out.

If you're in need of a temporary yarn-ball-making apparatus I highly recommend taking a toilet paper tube, cutting a slit in one of the edges, folding it in half longways, inserting the yarn end into the slit (for holding purposes!) and then wrapping around that. It makes a nice loose center-pull ball.

So, y'know, go forth, and, um, wind yarn! Or whatever.

I don't know. It's so boring here.

Me: Remind me again why the gym is a desirable place to go?
D: Because you feel so incredibly good when you walk out of there... Don't you?
Me: Not as good as I do with a beer, my knitting, and a good movie. I've never reached the "this feels great" stage of exercise.

#43. I pretty firmly believe that knitting will always trump exercise.

(Y'all! I'm in love with sitemeter. It's the stalkin-est voyeuristic toy ever! Not only do I know how many people visit, but I know what city, state and country they're in.

I know what kind of monitor and what operating system people use! I have no idea why that's at all necessary. It's creepy and totally wild.

Seriously, though! Holland! Finland! Canada! Korea (hi Beth)! Bulgaria (hi Lauren)! Germany! England!

It lists what people search for that brings them to my site. I want to help them with their searches! Nostepindes? Lace leaf pullover? Let's talk!

Also, frequent visitor from Sweden: drop me a comment! That would be neat!)

¹ I was also puzzling over why I was the first hit when googling fair isle, and then, heh, I realized it was because I'd spelled it fair aisle, which is wrong. Not many people spell it that way, with good cause(see: wrong). Ergo, I'm the first hit. Heh. Errg.

2006-12-05T19:28:00.000-05:00

Near-ambition?

So. I was at the crown section of Shedir and tried it on (I'd been having some trying-on issues because if I stretched it that far then it'd fall off the needles, which, as we all know, = bad).

It's, um... well, look:

Yeah. It -- yeah. And do I know an teenagers who that might fit? More accurately, do I know-and-like any teenagers who that might fit? Big ol' no. So I'm not sure what to do. I could:

1. Rip that puppy because... well. I do that a lot. (Hat? What hat? I knit socks!)
2. Finish and donate... to... somewhere? I know someone going through chemo at the moment, but I don't know that it would fit her either...
3. Rip back to the body cables, rip back one repeat, do the crown, give to friend-having-baby? (Seriously -- without stretching this thing could fit a baby).

And I... dunno. And now I've spent lots of time on something non-Christmas, which makes for more of "HOLY HELL ONLY 21 DAYS LEFT UNTIL CHRISTMAS OH CRAP OH CRAP" because really, that is what Jesus was all about.

So I rooted through my stash and nostepinned-and-swatched a couple of yarns and HI COULD NOT GET GAUGE.

Except with some leftover Plymouth baby alpaca worsted of which I have not enough. Then I thought about ordering it, but if I'm going to order more then I may as well order the recommended yarn, eh?

Instead I ran to the yarn store on Sunday when I was all kinds of pressed for time, where I found out that they're not open on Sunday which is, to me, ridiculous. Yarn stores should be open 24 hours. I will become president and make this happen. Just you watch.

So, being the resourceful (read: impatient) young knitter that I am, I packed a ball of Knitpicks' Andean Silk (sizzle? What sizzle?), pattern, and... size... 1 needles? or similar and took off for Handel's Messiah, which I wouldn't have attended if the lovely-yet-blogless Kate weren't singing in it. Because y'all, it's 3 hours long. That is a lot of long.

I decided it wouldn't be rude to knit during the performance because Kate said it was okay. That is reason enough for me. Also, helps with the focusing on the music. I was able to keep the needle clinking down to a minimum and only dropped a needle once, which was far (far) less disturbing to the audience than the people in front of me who 1. kept coughing, 2. slept, and 3. left early.

I hate audiences.

After 2.5 hours I finished the ribbing (2.5 hours = 9 rows ribbing? Ouch) and post-dinner I went home, climbed into bed, did one section of the first set of cables (1/8 of the hat or 16 stitches) before putting it down so I could try to sleep. At 9:30pm.

The new hat, while not having gauge, SHOULD end up about 21.5", which is a solid hat size... I hope... So... still going on that...

And I did a row and a half on mom's mittens! Zowie!

A-mazing.

#40. I wasn't kidding when I said I was slow. Sheesh.

#41. Next year, nothing more complicated than a potholder for christmas presents. Seriously, self.

-----------------------------------------------

Me, at work: Hm. What to get for friend of whose tastes I am currently unsure?

I know, I'll knit him a scarf!

#42. I just never learn.

2006-12-01T19:37:00.000-05:00

Since I don't have anything knitterly to post (Shedir¹ looks the same, just a smidge longer) and it seems to be required to post squeezy animal pictures on knitting websites, I present: Master Featherbottom! (I didn't name him. I called him wee one or ootie pootums (I lost any kind of grace I may possess while around animals)).

You may remember him from his previous yarn-hunting adventures. Here he is after escaping his cage (he wasn't fully house trained yet and had a big ol' cage to live in) (I was a little gun shy after one of the other cats I was briefly housing exacted revenge in a not totally unfamiliar sounding way), causing me to run around like a madwoman trying to catch him. Y'all, my apartment is 520 square feet. There's not that much space for him to run! Turns out my apartment is FULL of kitty-friendly nooks, including under my couch, and that big ol' hole under my cabinets (which, along with the giant hole under my dishwasher, has been since covered with duct tape which is klassy with a k).

Still, though, how hard can it be to catch a wee beast? AND YET, two hours later, here we finally (finally) were:

A-hee! Look, Big Kitty! I get out! I get out! I get out again! Eee!

I don't know if it's something with the camera or if it's a result of chasing the punkin around for two hours (after dancing for 3), but I look 50 years old here. Sheesh.

And that cat's trouble if I've ever seen it.

I get out again! Big kitty, I get out again!

¹ On Nov 1 I put a moratorium² on knitting projects that weren't destined to become Christmas presents (outside of extenuating circumstances like being around people for whom I'm knitting, or severe boredom). Shedir qualifies because it might be a Christmas present. That totally counts.
² Why yes I do work in a law office. Why do you ask?

2006-11-29T18:50:00.001-05:00

I just got burned out on knitting at the worst possible time (pre-Christmas). I'm too tired to even think about knitting.

Doh...

2006-11-27T21:33:00.000-05:00

It don't mean a thing if you ain't got that bling

I am cursed. It has become impossible for me to take a flight that leaves on time. Honestly. The weather gods mark my travel days in their calendar and start arranging major storms.

Because I'm cursed (seriously, there's no other explanation) I spent three hours sitting on a plane Wednesday evening (for a one-hour flight, yes indeed). At the gate I swatched for Girl From Auntie's Shedir. The yarn in question is Lang's Jawoll which was a part of my Prize! from Bridgette. Got on the plane and started ribbing away (that's right, ribbing is a verb. I rib, you rib, he/she ribs. That's right).

The thing, though, is that the pattern's a little weird. It gives a gauge commonly found in sock yarns (8.72 s/in), and yet the manufacturer gauge for Rowan's Calmer is 5 s/in. But what do I do when my spidey sense starts tingling?

BLINDLY BARREL AHEAD! That's right I do!

It seems to be going okay. Since the yarn's skinnier it's a looser fabric (it looks a bit better with the Calmer), but, you know, BLINDLY BARREL AHEAD! So I, um, hope it fits somebody. Like me. Or dad. It's not so much a man-hat, though, is it?

Before I left my apartment I looked at my stitch markers and thought, "Naw, I won't need those." I remember that exact moment. Naw, I won't need those.

I ribbed (totally a verb!) and got all keen on starting Wee Cable Action! And realized that hey! Stitch markers would be a really useful right now. Oh.

...oh.

I searched my bag and found nothing mini and round. I had a broken keychain, but I couldn't quite break the links. So I asked the stewardess if she had any paperclips. Safety pins? What did I need them for? Oh, my knitting. Anything small and roundish?

She frowned thoughtfully. "Soda can tabs?" she offered. Yes!

"...Really?"

I asked for five and she brought me two, but damned if it didn't work. Ish. Add to that the broken keychain (which, in my impatiance, I managed to at least partly dismantle) (see? This is why I never throw anything away. You never know!) and my ring and I was set.

I would have an artistic recreation but all the soda tabs would pop off and so they're, um, still up in Philadelphia.

The hat, you see, was a red herring¹ for KAP (knitting around parents) and also because... well. The allure of a new project. You know. Turned out I didn't do any work on the mittens, nor did I even show them to anybody. Ah, well.

I tried cabling without a cable needle (I tried that first one) but it elongated the crossed stitches in an unattractive way, so I just used an embroidery needle as a cable needle and went about my business. Now that I know there are other options I may try them.

I went dancing on Saturday (12 hour dance, what what??) and during the half-hour breaks while the bands switched around onstage I would periodically pull out the hat. There were a ton of knitters there! It was very encouraging.

Also, I figured out how to fix a mis-crossed cable by dropping only one stitch! I am so clever. It's easiest with one-stitch crossings. If there's interest in a demo I can do a test swatch and document the whole thing.

For serious, though. Must finish mittens. Christmas is coming! (Christmas is coming! Run!)

#39. I think the internet has given me totally unrealistic expectations of how long knits should take from cast-on to cast-off.

¹ "This all has nothing to do with my disappearing nuclear physicist husband or Col. Mustard's work with the new top-secret fusion bomb?"
"No. Communism is just a red herring."

2006-11-27T21:31:00.000-05:00

Brilliant!

Heather adjusted my photo! Thanks Heather!

The only thing that's missing is the low-level hum of radioactivity emitting from the wool. (Keep in mind that my clothing color of choice tends to be black, sometimes going as bright as gray). (You see why my knitting of the lace leaf pullover is therefore so perplexing).

(I finally found out how to get emails when people leave comments, so I'll actually know when y'all say something instead of finding it six weeks later! Yay!)

2006-11-21T20:44:00.000-05:00

The Hubris Avenger strikes again!

There I was, knitting and knitting on the second mitten, cruising right along, feeling all pleased with myself at how fast it was going. I was mentally writing the entry about how good I'm getting about "reading" my knitting so I didn't have to use the excel graph of the pattern, and boy howdy aren't I cool!

I mean, observe!

Cool!

And so, naturally, I was punished by the knitting goddesses! You'd've thought I'd've learned my lesson.

So the ribbing was a little longer in the second mitten (same number of rows = longer cuff? How?!), blocking would fix, surely! Look at me go! Zip zip!

Notice anything missing? Anything at all?

I'll give you a hint. It rhymes with "thumb gusset."

I cursed. I complained. I glared at the lack of thumb. And then I got to share with a friend the joy of frogging a knit. I picked up the stitches and handed it over with instructions to pull the long strands of yarn. Yup, just pull 'em.

I like letting my friends frog things. Paige frogged something for me at one point and she sat there and giggled, ripping out row after row.

Merely forgetting something so trivial as the THUMB and having to rip 12(ish) rows was only the beginning. All yesterday evening I found wrong stitches: blue where white should be, white where blue should be, increases in the wrong row, lost crochet hooks, and so on!

But it's still going, though quite slowly as I've been trounced by my hubris. Again.

I'm not really such a grouchy knitter, it's just that whenever something really good happens then I screw up mightily before I can get the joyous entry into my blog.

And then what did I see this morning? A primer for two-color Norwegian-style mittens by Eunny. It's great! So much excellent information!

That I really could've used back in, oh, September.

Aw.

I also learned that the cuff I "made up" is called corrugated ribbing. Now, knitting has been around for waaaaay too long to presume that there's really anything "new" -- particularly something so, well, intuitive. (Once you hit fair aisle it seems only natural that one would go on to two-color ribbing). Still, though, it's nice to have a few days in which you think that maybe you've done something at least a LITTLE original.

Dear Hubris Avenger,
I am sufficiently humbled. Really. I won't forget this time. Thanks.
Love,
Emily

In other news, I was thinking about making my dad a scarf for Christmas. Nothing too fancy -- chunky baby alpaca in fisherman's rib (which is the only way to go with chunky baby alpaca). Thing was, it's kind of... boring. Lux, yes; but still boring.

My folks have a farmhouse with some land attached, and they love working in the fields/woods/yard, and it being PA, it gets cold. A scarf would work, but baby alpaca is too nice for such things.

So yesterday I graphed out a hat that compliments mom's mittens. Aw. ("Merry Christmas, dad! I got you a sweater! It's from Banana Republic.")

#38. Sometimes I just never learn. But it's still fun!

2006-11-17T18:41:00.000-05:00

Ooooh! Pretty!

How is it that I have no recollection of seeing this before?

I think it might have red-black-gray-pink yarn written all over it!

2006-11-16T18:42:00.000-05:00