Persnickety Knitter

Page 161 and Pillows

2008-01-25T17:31:00.000-05:00

Don't die of shock, but, yeah, I'm actually posting something.

I just got tagged by Melissa (the famous author) with this book meme. You open a book you're currently reading to page 161, and copy out sentence five. Here are the sentences from some of the books I'm currently reading:

"The boys were avenged."
from Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain (for our homeschool literature class)
"Richard calls it 'The Geet.'"
from Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert (recommended by a friend)
"I realize that I can roll."
from What is the What by Dave Eggers (an impulse buy at the book store since I really liked his book A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius)

I'm supposed to tag five other people, but I'm no good at that. So consider yourself tagged if you're reading this and you're interested. Let me know in the comments that you responded so I can check out what you're reading.

I've been knitting a lot, but I haven't had much time to post about it. I've taken a lot of pictures lately, so I hope to update my blog soon. In the meantime, here is a picture of one of the things I've been working on.

It's the Persian Tiles pillow kit that I got for Christmas (available here). It's knit using Alice Starmore Hebridean 2 Ply on a US3 needle. I'm using Calluna (dark green) as the main color and Red Deer (reddish brown) as the contrast color. It's coming along well, but I think I'm going to run short on yarn. I haven't even reached the halfway point and I'm on the second of the two balls of Red Deer that were provided in the kit. Big bummer.

Loads of WIPs (and Rhinebeck!)

2007-10-18T01:15:00.000-04:00

Howdy. I was just taking pictures of some of my current works in progress for Ravelry, and I thought I'd post them here, too. And, no, these aren't all of my WIP's. Unfortunately, there are many, many more. Yes, I am easily distracted (knitting-wise anyway). Sigh.

First of all, there is the pair of socks that I am making for Sister#1 as a belated birthday gift. (Her birthday was in July -- how lame am I?) I'm using the Ukrainian Socks pattern from Nancy Bush's Folk Socks book, but with several modifications. These socks will be very similar to this pair that I made a few years ago, but with a thinner yarn (Regia 4-ply).

Ukrainian Socks for Sister#1

Next up are some Bayerische Socks that I started a long time ago. They are languishing because they are too narrow for anyone except the fine-boned females in Sister#1's family. So maybe if one of them shows a strong interest they will be finished. Otherwise, I'll need to rip them and restart. It's a great pattern, but it's a lot of work.

Bayerishe Socks for ???

Below are some socks I just started for Daughter#2. I was cleaning out her bureau drawers lately and discovered that most of her handknit socks no longer fit. So she's in need of some new socks. These are not colors I would have picked, but Daughter#2 likes them. This pattern is an adaptation of Ilga's Socks from Favorite Socks.

Ilga's Socks for Daughter#2

These are another pair of Jaywalkers that I am making with some Lorna's Laces yarn. I tried this yarn in another sock pattern, but I didn't like the way the color was working out. I'm not sure if I like this yarn as Jaywalkers either. What do you guys think?

More Jaywalkers (to be ripped?)

The socks below were inspired by some pictures I saw online of knitted pouches done in medieval Egyptian patterns (can't link because the site is currently unavailable). I charted out some of the patterns from the pictures. I'm hoping to combine a few different patterns into a pair of socks for me. This is as far as I've gotten, but I really love them so far.

medieval Egyptian socks

These are just some boring stockinette socks for Uncool Guy, who needs more socks that he can wear to work. This is my first time using the Trekking Pro Natura wool/bamboo yarn (color 1603). I'm liking it so far, except for the little white fluffy bits that I keep running into. They are hard to pull out because they are so embedded in the yarn.

Boring stockinette socks for Uncool Guy

Here are some more boring socks, with some basic 3x1 ribbing. These are in Trekking XXL. I'm hoping these will be a Christmas gift for someone.

Basic Ribbed Socks in Trekking XXL

These gloves have been on my needles for a loooong time, maybe since the beginning of last winter (possibly even the winter before that). They are for Uncool Guy, to match his lovely scarf. However, I abandoned them because I was having problems with sizing. He has very large hands and I had to rip and reknit a few times (and then I got bored). Hopefully I will finish them before this winter is over. (Wanna bet?)

Gloves for Uncool Guy

Here's another project I'm working on -- some mittens for Brother#1's girlfriend. They are temporarily on hold until I can check the sizing with a fitting.

Basic Mittens

And finally there is this illusion scarf for Nephew#2. It was supposed to be a birthday present for him (birthday in March -- again, I am lame). I made up the chart for this myself. It's supposed to be a skull and crossbones. However, I don't think the bones are coming out very clearly and the mouth needs work, so I think I'm going to modify the chart and try again.

Skull Illusion Scarf viewed from an angle

Skull Illusion Scarf viewed from above

That's not even all of my current WIP's. Those are just the ones that were conveniently lying around when I had my camera out. Yeah, I know. I need to focus and actually finish a few things. Ah, but that's so boring.

You know what's not boring? I'm going to Rhinebeck in a couple days!!! Wooo hooo!

This will be my first trip there and I'm excited. I'll be traveling mostly with Melissa and Sister#1 (pic of us here, I'm the one without the cowboy hat). Say "howdy" if you see us.

I'm also signed up for Rhinebeck Blogger Bingo, as both a square and a player. If I'm on your card, you can identify me because I'll probably be carrying this red bag. Hope to see you there!

Silly Knitting

2007-10-02T09:28:00.001-04:00

So, I recently went to a Rovaniemi Mittens class taught by Susanna Hansson at Webs. I should really be telling you about that (it was fabulous) and showing pictures of the "wristlet" that I started in class. However, it's not finished and my gauge is so super tight (11 sts/inch instead of the recommended 8-9 sts/in) that I think I'm going to rip it and try again. Anyhow, I'll get back to that sometime. But not now, because currently I am obsessed with making this silly thing.

How stinking cute is this?

It's the Alligator Scarf from Morehouse Farm, and it's super cute. I'm making it with some Jaeger Baby Merino DK that I got on sale at Webs. It will be for either Niece#4 or Nephew#4 -- the only family members who are still young enough to actually want to wear an alligator scarf.

Morehouse Farm has a lot of other cute animal scarf patterns on their website. I just noticed they now have a dragon scarf. Oooh, I'm tempted.

Ravelry!

2007-09-19T23:17:00.000-04:00

Yay, I finally got my Ravelry invitation!!!

Too bad I will be away this weekend and I won't have any time to enter more of my projects, stash, etc. It's going to be a lot of work since I currently store all my photos on Photobucket (I love the amount of organization it gives you for free). Now I'll have to copy them over to Flickr -- what a drag. A question for those of you with Flickr accounts: Do you pay for the upgrade so you can have more than 3 sets or do you just go with the free version? If so, is it really hard to find stuff once you've uploaded a lot of pictures?

If you're already on Ravelry and you want to be my friend, then look me up. My username is "persnicketyknitr" (boo-hiss to the 16-character username limit, but I'm grateful for the invite, really).

What to do With Leftover Sock Yarn

2007-08-09T10:00:00.000-04:00

Want to see what I've been knitting lately? Well feast your eyes on this:

Oooh, pretty.

Can you guess what it is?

Well, when you knit a lot of socks, you invariably are left with lots of leftover sock yarn. And what do you do with all of those tiny little balls? [No you don't throw them out! Who said that? You should be ashamed.] No, you use them. You knit something like this:

It's a Leftover Sock Yarn Afghan.

It's colorific.

The plan is that I will knit one block on this afghan for each pair of socks I have ever knit. Since I give away a lot of the socks I make, this will serve as a nice little memento for me. The problem with my plan is that I have no yarn left from several pairs of socks. That bums me out. Maybe when those particular socks die (I officially hate to darn socks), I will unravel some yarn from their ankles and use it to make a block. We'll see.

Anyhow, as of this morning, I have knit 43 blocks. My current sock quota is 61 pairs, so I've got some more blocks to go before I catch up. Also, clearly, it will be a loooooong time before this thing is big enough to actually use as an afghan. Guess I better knit some more socks then. ;) [Do you see a cycle here?]

I'm knitting the afghan in entrelac (so no seaming, yay!), with each block consisting of 24 sts and 47 rows. Since I've knit socks from many different weights of yarns, from aran-weight to very thin sock yarn, I've had to mess around a bit with various needle sizes to get the blocks to come out roughly of equal size. I divided the plies of the aran- or worsted-weight yarn to use only half of its thickness. The DK yarn I knit fairly tightly. The fingering-weight yarn I knit at varying degrees of looseness (mostly looser than I would for socks). I'm going for an approximate gauge of 7.5 sts/inch, which is giving me a block size of approximately 3 x 4 inches. It's going to take some serious blocking to get this afghan to lie flat, but I did a little trial steam-block (love that Scunci steamer) and it seemed to work fine.

The trial steam-blocked section is on the left side of this pic -- nice and flat.

I haven't yet decided what kind of edging I should do (since that step is far off), but I'm thinking it will be black. Does anyone have any suggestions?

A Long List

2007-08-06T21:02:00.000-04:00

Thanks for the comments welcoming me back to blogland. I'm actually surprised you guys didn't give up on me after my long absence.

I've been catching up on my blog reading and I saw this list on a couple of blogs. It looked like fun, so here goes:

Mark with bold the things you have ever knit, with italics the ones you plan to do sometime, and leave the rest. [And I, in my ultimate analness, have made things bold and italic if I have tried the technique (like in a swatch or a UFO) but not finished an item with it yet.]

Afghan (I've started a sock-yarn afghan, but it's not very big yet.)

I-cord

Garter stitch (Is this question really necessary?)

Knitting with metal wire (Sounds painful, but still intrigues me. I think I saw some wire & bead candleholder thingies I'd like to try.)

Shawl

Stockinette stitch

Socks: top-down (my favorite way)

Socks: toe-up

Knitting with camel yarn (very fragile)

Mittens: Cuff-up

Mittens: Tip-down (I might try gloves starting with the fingers)

Hat

Knitting with silk (I'd like to make a silk shawl someday.)

Moebius band knitting (Need to buy the book.)

Participating in a KAL (However, the level of my participation is not exactly stellar.

Sweater

Drop stitch patterns (Hmmm, I don't think so.)

Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn (I did unravel a sweater a few years ago with the intention of reusing the yarn, but I never got around to knitting with it. Now I've got too much stash to make this worth the effort.)

Slip stitch patterns

Knitting with banana fiber yarn (Not sure. I guess I might do this just to say I tried it?)

Domino knitting (=modular knitting) (I've done some swatching, but this is definitely not my favorite technique.)

Twisted stitch patterns (love 'em)

Knitting with bamboo yarn

Two end knitting (Took a great twined knitting class and made a kid's mitten. Very cool technique.)

Charity knitting (Dulaan)

Knitting with soy yarn (I recently bought some Tofutsies though.)

Cardigan (I started one, but never finished it.)

Toy/doll clothing (doll socks)

Knitting with circular needles

Baby items

Knitting with your own handspun yarn (Only in the very distant future. I am currently trying to resist the urge to become a spinner.)

Slippers (Have a pattern waiting.)

Graffiti knitting (knitting items on, or to be left on the street) (This wouldn't really work in my neighborhood.)

Continental knitting

Designing knitted garments

Cable stitch patterns (incl. Aran)

Lace patterns

Publishing a knitting book (I guess I shouldn't say "no", but it's very unlikely.)

Scarf

Teaching a child to knit (a whole street worth of little girls)

American/English knitting (as opposed to continental) (my preferred method)

Knitting to make money (Hmmm, not if it sucks the joy out of knitting.)

Buttonholes

Knitting with alpaca

Fair Isle knitting (I've done 2-color stranded colorwork, but not with traditional Fair Isle patterns with the shading of the foreground & background colors)

Norwegian knitting (I've done 2-color stranded colorwork, but not in a sweater and I've not done steeks.)

Dying with plant colours (Maybe, in the very distant future)

Knitting items for a wedding (sounds stressful)

Household items (dishcloths, washcloths, tea cosies...)

Knitting socks (or other small tubular items)on two circulars (I love using 2 circulars.)

Olympic knitting (I sucked at this. Never finished.)

Knitting with someone else's handspun yarn (Yes, thanks to Anne of knitspot)

Knitting with dpns

Holiday-related knitting (Mini mittens that I intended to use as ornaments, but never hung on the tree -- do those count? I keep saying that I'm going to knit Xmas stockings, but somehow I never get around to it.)

Teaching a male how to knit (I've taught 2 boys to knit. Does that count?)

Bobbles

Knitting for a living (not sure -- may kill the love)

Knitting with cotton

Knitting smocking
Dying yarn (again, distant future)

Steeks

Knitting art (hmm?)

Knitting two socks on two circulars simultaneously (Well, one person I know is very fond of knitting 2 socks at a time. She's even written a book about it, although on one circular. But I am far too apt to rip back in search of the elusive perfect fit, and ripping back 2 socks is just too painful.)

Fulling/felting

Knitting with wool

Textured knitting

Kitchener BO (love it)

Purses/bags (drawstring bags, no purses)

Knitting with beads (I've got a huge stash of seed beads. I should do this more.)

Swatching (enjoy it)

Long Tail CO

Entrelac

Knitting and purling backwards (I can knit backwards fairly smoothly, but I haven't gotten the hang of purling backwards yet.)

Machine knitting (maybe, distant future)

Knitting with self patterning/self striping/variegating yarn

Stuffed toys (I made a stuffed seal. It was kind of a pain. Too much sewing for me.)

Knitting with cashmere (yes, and it's lovely)

Darning (not much fun)

Jewelry (a knitted bead bracelet)

Knitting with synthetic yarn (novelty scarves, and maybe a foofy tank top here or there)

Writing a pattern

Gloves

Intarsia (only a little bit)

Knitting with linen

Knitting for preemies

Tubular CO

Freeform knitting (hmmmm, I don't think freeform fits my oh-so-methodical style)

Short rows

Cuffs/fingerless mits/armwarmers

Pillows

Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine (Jaywalkers, Wavy Scarf. Surprisingly, that may be all.)

Rug (Have the book. Have been meaning to make something.)

Knitting on a loom (not really interested)

Thrummed knitting

Knitting a gift (lots)

Knitting for pets (have no pets)

Shrug/bolero/poncho

Knitting with dog/cat hair (ummm, no)

Hair accessories (headbands)

Knitting in public (ALL THE TIME)

Holy crap, that was a long list! It will be interesting to review this list in a year and see if I can bold any of the non-bolded items by then. Which do you think would be the most likely or the most unlikely? Any guesses?

Blog Avoidance

2007-08-02T15:20:00.000-04:00

Wow, it's been exactly 5 months since my last post. How much do I suck? In case you are curious, I am not dead. Nor do I have any other good excuse for my shameful lack of blog posting. I have, however, been knitting. But I still haven't attempted to fix that shawl (is anyone really surprised?).

In an attempt to get back into the swing of blogging, I have updated my Gallery. I have listed every single stinking pair of socks that I have ever knit (cuz I'm anal like that, in case you haven't noticed). Anyhow, it contains several things I have never blogged about, so you may want to check it out.

Here are some teaser pics from the Gallery:

Chipman's Block Mittens

Cashmere Fingerless Gloves

Silk Garden Ribbed Hat

Cascading Leaves Socks

Ugly Purple Sockotta Jaywalkers

Manly Greenish-Brown Trekking Socks

6-ply Regia Socks

Cabled Bearfoot Socks

American Girl Doll Socks
(made from Trekking, of course)

Lacy American Girl Doll Socks

Simply Lovely (or not so lovely) MISTAKE Lace Socks
(Trekking XXL again)

Crazy-Patterned Opal Socks

More Trekking Socks
(Apparently I am addicted to Trekking XXL. It's like crack.)

Mother/Daughter Socks
(click for cute stuffed bunny picture)

Strange Blue & White Opal Jaywalkers

Plus some oldies from several years ago:

Brown & Natural Stranded Socks

DK-weight Purple & Green Socks

Crazy Furry Socks

And much more in the Sock Gallery.

Oh, and if you are looking for some entertaining blog reading, go check out my friend Rachel's new blog, Diary of a Mad, Mad Housewife. It is a wickedly funny look at the trials and tribulations of a slightly paranoid "Suburban Mommy". It's good stuff.

Shawl Fixes, Austrian Mittens, and Bacteria

2007-03-02T14:20:00.000-05:00

Thanks for the supportive comments about my shawl problem. You gave me some good things to think about.

As Cattycorner pointed out, since the shawl is circular, I would probably wear it folder over. However, I'm thinking that I would like to wear it not quite doubled, but with the top 12 inches or so folded down -- I like the look of having the center of the swirl in the center of my back. And I think I will be annoyed if every time I go to wear it, I need to arrange it so that the stupid error isn't falling right smack on my butt (thereby drawing unneeded attention to that part of my anatomy ;)

franticom suggested that I try to hide the mistake under some embroidery, which is an interesting idea. However, my embroidery skills are sorely lacking and I think I might just totally mess that up.

SJ suggested that I do some creative blocking to make it LOOK like there are yarnovers in that row. I'm really intrigued by this suggestion and I think I'll try it. I'll let you know how it works.

I'm in the process of making a test swatch for the kitchener fix, just to see if it works. If it turns out to be too difficult or annoying, I will just leave the shawl as is. The mistake does kind of blend in and look like a variegation in the yarn, especially when seen at a more normal angle (and against a darker background).

Well, enough about my shawl. In an attempt to give you something interesting to look at, I am finally posting pictures of some mittens I finished a couple of months ago (during my blogging hiatus).

Austrian Mittens

I made these mittens after taking a Strickmuster class with Candace Eisner Strick at Webs, back in October. This was a great class, in which we learned all about Austrian twisted stitch patterns, including some of Candace's special adaptations. Candace gave out the pattern for these mittens as part of the two-day class, and I started them on the 2nd day.

Here are the details:

Pattern:: Austrian Mittens, designed by Candace Eisner Strick (provided as part of her Strickmuster class)
Yarn:: Reynolds Whiskey [100% wool],
color: 16
Needles:: US 3 (and US 4 for the i-cord at the bottom)
Gauge:: 7.5 sts/inch in stockinette, about 9 sts/inch in pattern
Modifications:: My gauge with this yarn was a little tighter than that specified in the pattern, but I did not change the number of stitches for the hand since the mittens made from the pattern (which Candace brought to class) were a little big on me.
I started with the i-cord edge, but I kitchenered the i-cord together at the ends, instead of having extra i-cord hanging down (kind of like tassels). Also, I did not want to include the gauntlet part of the cuffs, so I cast on just enough stitches for the hand of the mitten. I widened the thumb and knit the inner part of it (the part toward the palm) in reverse stockinette, instead of twisted ribbing.
Comments:: I really enjoyed making these mittens, although it did require me to pay a lot of attention to the chart. Once I got about halfway through the first mitten, all of the manipulation of the stitches started to come more easily, and the project moved along more quickly.
I really like the way this pattern had you start with an i-cord edge and then pick up stitches from the side of that to start the hand. That makes a nice, clean bottom edge for the mitten.
I used Reynolds Whiskey for these mittens because it was one of the few yarns then available at Webs that was the right fiber content and roughly the right gauge for this pattern. It really doesn't show off the stitch pattern to its best advantage (a lighter color and a smoother yarn would probably have been better), but my choices were limited and I do like the color. I would definitely use this yarn again for a different sort of pattern.
I love these mittens and they fit great. I intend to make another pair of them sometime, but using a yarn like Louet Gems Merino (the recommended yarn for the pattern).

Oh, and I wanted to let you know about one last thing. I was just on the website for the Boston Museum of Science and I stumbled across a very interesting bit of science news. Apparently, some new research has shown that the amount of certain types of bacteria we have in our intestines may help determine how fat we are. Check out the museum's podcast about it -- fascinating.

Crappity, Crap, Crap, Crappers

2007-02-24T12:13:00.000-05:00

So, I finally got around to blocking the spiral shawl that I started last summer. I finished it sometime in the fall, but I was too lazy busy to block it until now.

All was fine and dandy, and I was feeling pretty proud of myself, until I stood back to admire it and whammo, I saw it. ARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH! A big fat mistake!

Can you see it?

How about now?

Can you see it now?

Yep, there it is.

(rollover the image for a lovely highlighted effect)

I knit across one of the segments instead of doing the yarnovers!

At first I thought, "Well, maybe it's not that noticeable." I had Uncool Guy look at the shawl to see if he could find the mistake. He didn't see it. I directed his attention to the general area. He still didn't see it. I told him which segment it was in. Nope. (The man must be blind.) I had to point it out to him. That was encouraging.

However, I then located Daughter#1 and challenged her to find the mistake. (sigh) She found it within 10 seconds. (She's got a touch of the persnickety in her, that girl.)

Maybe you just have to be a knitter to see it. Anyhow, it bugs me and now it's all I can see when I look at the shawl. I'm hoping I can fix it by cutting the yarn, picking out the one offending row in that section, and kitchenering it back together with some added YO's and K2tog's. Sounds fun, huh? I'll have to test that very carefully on a swatch. (big sigh) But not anytime soon -- I'm just not up for it.

What a big fat bummer. Anyone have any other ideas?

Cowgirls and some FOs

2007-02-22T16:52:00.000-05:00

Do you know what these pictures mean?

Why, it's a semi-surprise cowgirl birthday party for Melissa, of course.

Here's a picture of the birthday girl herself, contemplating the number of candles on her cake. Wait a minute -- aren't there a few missing?

It was a fun celebration of "all things Melissa", with great margaritas to boot. I discovered that I suck at Pictionary (or, at least, I suck at drawing chicken- and baseball-related clues).

Daughter#1 managed to get a halfway decent picture of Sister#1 and me at the shindig. I'm the one without the cowgirl hat -- unlike Melissa and Sister#1, I'm not even a small part cowgirl.

For a laugh, go check out the funny picture of Daughter#1 caught eating wasabi peas at the bar.

In knitting news, I finished those Franklin socks for Melissa's book. I really like the yarn. It's not splitty at all, and it holds up great to lots of ripping (ask me how I know).

Here's a picture of the chutney color. It looks very different when knit at 72 sts (on the left) than it does at 60 sts (on the right). I really dig the diagonal flashing the yarn does when knit at 60 sts around. Too bad that size doesn't fit my foot. :(

I have also finished a pair of Trekking socks for my dad's birthday. These are color 62, done on US1 needles. I'm getting a little tired of Trekking yarn -- these are my 7th pair, I think. Yet, for some reason I just started another pair of Trekking socks for Uncool Guy. He has recently put holes in two pairs of his handknit socks (these and these), so I need to whip out some more for him.

Here's another FO that I need to mail off to its recipient. It's a pair of handwarmers/fingerless mitts for Sister-in-Law#1. This pattern is from Interweave Knits Fall 2005, in the Yarn Spotlight section. The yarn is Peruvian Collection Sierra Aran, used with US8 needles.

This is the fourth pair of these I have knit (see the others here). It's about time I tried a different pattern, huh? Well, last year Sister-in-Law#1 saw the ones I made for Mother-in-Law#1 and decided to knit herself a pair. However, she did not finish them before she decided to give up knitting (SHOCKING -- yes, I know), so I told her I would finish them for her.

I have a lot of other finished objects to show, but right now I need to get away from this computer and ride my bike. I can feel my butt expanding as I sit here...

Sugar Rush

2007-02-14T15:23:00.000-05:00

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone. I'm running on very little sleep today, since I spent a lot of last night trying to install my new blogger template (more on that later).

Uncool Guy has continued his customary Valentine's Day generosity and has showered me with flowers (tulips) and candy. These are the most wonderful fruit jellies from the Harbor Candy Shop in Ogunquit, Maine. Man, are they good. Plum is currently my favorite, but that could change because they are all just so lovely. If you are ever in Ogunquit, be sure to stop in at this store -- it is a chocolate/candy lover's haven.

In knitting news, here is the completed bowl that I showed you the other day. It came out pretty well for my first felted item, I think. I had a little problem with the edge though. I kept stopping the washing machine every 5 minutes or so to check on the progress of the felting, and I didn't notice until it was too late that part of the edge had started to curl in. By the time I noticed it, the edge was already too firmly attached in some places to unfold it. So I tried to curl the rest of the edge all the way around and felted it some more. It sort of worked, but the edge came out lumpier than I would have liked.

I based this bowl on the mancala pattern at Knitty, but I doubled the yarn and used bigger needles. Here are the specs:

Pattern:: I followed the instructions for the Large Bowl in the Mancala pattern at Knitty
Yarn:: Manos del Uruguay [100% wool],
color: 38 (dark purple), which I got from Windsor Button last year
Needles:: US 15 (used with the yarn doubled)
Gauge:: who knows?
Finished Size:: 3" high by 6" wide
Comments:: I felted the crap out of this bowl and it came out pretty thick and sturdy. Interestingly, the felted fabric seems to have a sort of "boucle" surface. I wonder if this has something to do with the fact that this is a thick & thin yarn. I'm guessing that the thicker yarn sections turned into the boucle "bumps" when felted. Anyway, it's a cool effect.

I shaped the bowl by stretching it tightly over a glass bowl. The bowl had slight vertical ridges on the outside and a sharply defined bottom ridge. It's funny that I can kind of see the ridges in the dried bowl and I can definitely see an indent from the bottom ridge in the bottom of the bowl. So next time, I'll have to find a different bowl for the shaping and drying.

[Updated to add: It has been brought to my attention that the bowl in the mancala pattern has an attached i-cord edge. I did not make an i-cord edge on my bowl, because I, apparently, cannot follow directions. Anyhow, I bet if I had made the i-cord edge, it wouldn't have partially curled in like it did. I'll try that next time.]

Oh, and Daughter#1 made this little shrinky dink tiger for me the other day. Isn't he cute?

Back in Business

2007-02-14T03:45:00.000-05:00

OK, I think the new template is completely installed now. I have a few more changes to make, but please let me know if anything looks funny. I'm going to bed.

Chaos

2007-02-14T02:15:00.000-05:00

Warning: I am currently in the process of updating the template for this blog. Expect chaos, confusion, and general ugliness. You may want to just come back later...

A Book List and a Felting First

2007-02-03T21:56:00.000-05:00

Well, I finally upgraded to the new Blogger, and I can see that it has caused some problems with my template. I'll be trying to fix those soon, so don't be surprised if this blog is a little flaky for a while. Also, I think it might be time for a blog design overhaul; it's looking a little cluttered around here.

So what have I been up to lately? Well, I finished these sample socks in Trekking XXL, color 69, for Melissa's upcoming book.

I'll be knitting another pair of socks for her, as soon as the yarn arrives on Monday. It's going to be Webs' new sock yarn, Franklin, which I am excited to try.

Here's something I just made today. It's my very first felted object -- a bowl made out of doubled Manos del Uruguay. It's really thick so it will probably take forever to dry, but I'll post another pic when it's done. I hope it comes out well because I've got a skein of almost-solid red Manos that I think would make a cute bowl, or maybe a little box.

Oh, and hey, check out what's in my personal knitting book library. I just created this list at Library Thing. If you have a list there, leave a link in the comments so I can check out what's in your library.

View my complete knitting book library here.

Discos and Fibonacci Stripes

2007-01-02T12:36:00.000-05:00

Happy 2007, everyone!

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season. I know I did. I was so busy there was not much time left for knitting, but I'm not complaining

We finally got a little snow on Dec 30th and Daughter#2 managed to scrape enough together to make this cute little snowman.

too cute

Unfortunately, he melted yesterday in the rain, but he did survive long enough to help us ring in the new year, which we did disco style. We set up a little discotheque at Chez Persnickety and had a dance extravaganza. In fact, I'm still sore from all the dancing.

I forgot to get a picture that night (too many Cosmopolitans?), but here's a picture the next morning, looking up at he ceiling of our "disco". Just imagine it with more balloons, strobe lights, and the disco ball going...

I just love to hang stuff from the ceiling.

I did manage to get a few knitted items finished in December. One of them was a pair of socks that I made for myself with some leftover Yarn for Sox.

I usually hate stripes, but after reading an article on Fibonacci stripes in the Fall 2003 issue of Cast On I decided to give them a try. [The Fibonacci sequence is a series of numbers that starts with 0, 1, and then every following number is the sum of the two previous numbers. So the sequence is: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, etc.]

Apparently, there are many, many ways you can make use of this sequence in knitting. I decided to use just two alternating colored stripes, but to let the sequence determine how many rows of each color to knit (up to a max of 5 rows). So my pattern went: 1 red, 1 blue, 2 red, 3 blue, 5 red, 1 blue, 1 red, 2 blue, 3 red, 5 blue (repeated).

Fibonacci-striped socks

To add even more interest, I used a two-color corrugated ribbing at the cuff, and I made one sock with a red cuff and toe and the other with a blue cuff and toe. Here are the specs:

Pattern:: my own
Yarn:: Accessories Unlimited Yarn for Sox [80% wool, 20% nylon],
color: Red Mix and Blue Jean (<1 skein of each)
Needles:: US 4?
Gauge:: 4.25 sts/inch at ankle, 5 sts/inch on foot (hmmm)
Finished:: December 2006
Comments:: I loosely carried the yarn along the "seam" for the narrow stripes, but cut the yarn when I got to the widest stripes. There were still plenty of ends to weave in, believe me.
I used this technique to try to camouflage the color jogs at the end of the rounds. I've used this method successfully several times before, but it didn't work as well with such thick, rough yarn. Well, I think it still looks better than not doing anything, and it's at the back of my ankle and the bottom of the foot so it doesn't really matter.
I'm not a big fan of this yarn. I like that it is a worsted weight yarn that is made with some nylon content so it will wear well when made into socks, but it's just too rough and "au naturel" for me. It has bits of vegetation still in it that must be picked out (but not as much as a Noro yarn). It sure makes really thick socks though.

I like funky socks.

I'm still working on updating my gallery. I'll let you know when it is up and running. I'm focusing mostly on the socks for now. It's taking me a long time because a) I am anal and want to have every project properly documented and b) I have knit a lot of socks.

None of me

2006-12-27T15:20:00.000-05:00

HowManyOfMe.com

There are:
0
people with my name
in the U.S.A.

How many have your name?

Does this mean that I don't exist? Or that I live on my own little planet?

Some of you may be wondering whether I do, in fact, still exist, since this blog has been quiet for so long. But I'm hoping to remedy that. Maybe that will be my New Year's resolution. Forget those resolutions about exercising more, or using up my stash. Maybe I can actually accomplish a resolution to blog more.

Actually, there are 137,986 people in the U.S. with my first name, but no one with my last name. I guess that's one reason to hyphenate your last name when you get married -- to confuse little programs like this.

I'm tempted to convert my blog to use the new Blogger format. However, I've spent so much time pimping out my template I'm afraid to switch. Has anyone done so successfully?

Well, I'm off to update my Gallery. More soon, hopefully.

ETD 10:38 AM

2006-09-28T22:20:00.000-04:00

The UPS guy had a package for me today, and, since I haven't ordered any yarn lately, you know what that means... I'm dead.

Socks of Doom received from my assassin, Mlle Udah

So, no more Sock Wars for me. Too bad, it would have been fun to kill more than one person, but with all the international mailing involved there was just no chance of that. Although this game was fun, I think the downside was that no matter how quickly you knit your socks it could not save your life. It was just luck of the draw as to whether you got a fast assassin or a slow assassin assigned to you.

I think it would be fun to have another sort of sock war where knitting a sock quickly would actually SAVE your life. I'll have to give that some thought...

In other sock-related news, here is a pair of socks that I finished recently. I made them with the Socks That Rock that I won in the Sock-a-Month KAL. Here are the specs:

Pattern:: just a run of the mill top-down sock, but inside out
Yarn:: Blue Moon Fiber Arts, Socks That Rock, mediumweight [100% superwash merino],
color: Farmhouse
Needles:: US 2
Gauge:: 7.5 sts/inch
Comments:: This was the first time I've used STR yarn and I have to say, I can see what all the commotion is about. This yarn is great. Very boing-y and soft. I wonder how it will hold up to wear though? It seems to be getting fuzzy rather quickly.
You may be wondering why it looks like my socks are inside out. Well, that's because they are. I decided I liked the way the colors mixed better on the reverse stockinette side of the sock, so I decided to make that the outside. I knit them normally (with the knit side out) and just turned them inside out at the end before weaving in the ends. All I did differently was to pick up the stitches on the sides of the heel flap as to purl instead of as to knit.

Which do you like best:

the interesting reverse stockinette side,

the boring old stockinette side?

There was a bit of color pooling with this yarn at the ankle (as you can see in this picture) but it doesn't really bother me very much.

Oh, and by the way, my index finger seems to be better now. Yay, back to knitting.

Persnickety Knitter, in the Office, with the Cleckheaton 8-ply

2006-09-25T18:27:00.000-04:00

So, I did it. I killed someone today. My victim in Sock Wars just received her Socks of Doom from me and she is now officially DEAD. Here is the weapon I used.

Socks of Doom, made with Cleckheaton Country 8-ply, in size 9.5

I tried to lessen the pain of my victim's demise by sending her some hematite, crystal, and silver stitch markers that I made. Beading was my previous hobby, but it has been sorely neglected ever since I was introduced to knitting. If you think my yarn stash is crazy, you should see my bead stash. ;)

Before taking her last breath, my victim (in Georgia) was able to send off her finished socks to kill her victim (in England), so I will now be responsible for killing my victim's victim's victim (try to stay with me here). My victim's victim will not be officially dead until she receives her socks in the mail, and in the meantime she will be knitting socks to kill someone in Canada. However, since a little birdie told me that she hasn't started yet, I'm thinking she won't finish them before she gets her package of doom. So, all I can do is sit here and wait for my victim's victim in England to die and mail me her uncompleted socks.

With all the international shipping this could take a while, which is fine with me since my stupid right index finger STILL hurts. I am trying not to knit until it is better, but that is sooooo hard. [I'm sure you can relate.] In the meantime, I may be killed by my designated assassin who is in Utah. However, I emailed her on Saturday and at that point she had not started knitting and seemed rather unaware of the rules. So, who knows. What a confusing, but fun, game this this is turning out to be.

My finger hurts

2006-09-22T23:50:00.000-04:00

Due to technical difficulties (hurricane in Northern Ireland which caused power outages) the Sock Wars pattern was not posted until about 3:30pm EST. This was good timing for me, since we had just finished school for the day (we're homeschoolers). Well, I cast on instantly and knit almost non-stop for the rest of the evening.

I lost a little time when I hit the turning of the heel and discovered that there was an error in the directions for that section (making the heel off-center). I spent some time posting a correction to the Sock Wars forum. Yes, I know that I may have helped my own assasin by doing that, but hey, there are a lot of newbies in this challenge and I'd rather be killed by receiving a pair of socks with a nice, centered heel than a pair with an off-center heel.

Anyhow, after that I think I paused only long enough to eat dinner and check my email about a thousand more times. By 11:30pm, here is what I had:

Not bad for about 8 hours of work, huh?

I can't finish these socks because I have not yet received my "assignment." I do not know the shoe size of my victim, nor do I even know WHO my victim is. Hopefully the email difficulties will be resolved by the morning and I can finish these off and get them in the mail before the post office closes at 1pm.

I have to say that I really like these socks. The pattern is simple but it makes a nice and cozy pair of socks, especially with the DK weight yarn we had to use. Hopefully my target will like them and not be too sad to die such a quick death.

Oh, and now the joint in my right index finger is suddenly rather painful. I think it was all that ribbing that did it. I'd be happy to be killed quickly to get out of this crazy challenge. My hands can't take too much more of this speed knitting.

Ready to Rumble

2006-09-21T20:45:00.000-04:00

So, Sock Wars starts tomorrow. Are you ready?

Me? Oh, I'm ready.

My arsenal

I've got my DK-weight yarn, my US 5 needles (2 circulars, my weapon of choice), and I've swatched to make sure I've got the required gauge.

Let the carnage begin.

Some Catching Up To Do

2006-08-31T18:09:00.000-04:00

Howdy! I'm back. My work should be over for a while so I should now have some more time to do things like reading blogs and posting to my own sadly neglected blog. I may not have posted much this summer, but I sure have been knitting. I've got a lot of FO pics to take and post about. Here are a few things to start us off.

First up, we have the Frost tank from Rowan 30. I made one of these last year for Daughter#2 (see pic in my gallery), but it was getting a little tight in the chest for her, so I decided to use up the rest of that yarn and make a bigger size. We passed the smaller one down to Niece#3 who seemed very pleased to receive it.

Daughter#2 and Niece#3 in their matching Frost Tanks.

Here they both are modeling their tanks which they wore to Tanglewood two weeks ago. We went to hear a violin concerto by Dvorak and Beethoven's 3rd symphony, but we got caught in the continuous POURING rain partway through the performance (we were sitting on the lawn). Luckily, we had raincoats and umbrellas ready, but still -- it was a drag. I got leg cramps from sitting all squished up under my umbrella, followed by a wet butt after getting up to stretch my legs and sitting back down again. Oh well, the music was great (particularly the violinist, Hilary Hahn) and we did get in a very nice picnic before the rain started.

Next up, remember THESE annoying socks from early July?. The ones where my gauge was completely and totally off? Well, I ripped them back to the ankle and knit the whole sock on the 2.5mm needles (with LOTS of trying on along the way).

What did I learn from this experience? Well, let's hope I learned never to ASSUME that just because you are using the same damn yarn and the same damn needles that you will get the same damn gauge. [You know, it's stuff like that that just sucks all the fun out of knitting.] Anyhow, here they are finally, on Sister#1's feet. She seems to like them.

Trekking XXL, color 71, on 2.5mm ndls, with picot trim ankle.

With regard to current projects, I am working on Meg Swansen's Super-Spiral Shawl from A Gathering of Lace. I'm using some laceweight yarn I got this summer from handpaintedyarn.com. It's their Kettle Dyed Pure Wool Lace Yarn in the color Paris Night, which is sort of a purplish-grayish color.

This is a circular shawl that's worked from the center out. In this picture you can kind of see the center (bottom left) with the spirals moving out from there. I love how it's coming out so far. Sure, it's super monotonous knitting, but that's what I needed for the summer. Something I could just pick up and knit, and knit, and knit, and knit, and knit without thinking about it. And this shawl seems to be the perfect project for that.

Oh, and I received by prize yarn the other day and it is WON-DER-FUL! That yarn in the upper right corner turned out to be Artyarns Ultramerino4 (as a couple of you guessed). Also, Melissa wanted to know the color nbr of the Lorna's Laces. It's #18, Watercolor. And, no, I'm not trading it. ;)

I have already almost finished a pair of socks with the Socks that Rock, and I am loving that yarn. I've also started some socks with the Knit Picks Simple Stripes. The yarn is a bit splitty, but I really like the colors. Hopefully, I'll have finished pics of those next time.

Well, that's it for today. I'll leave you with some pictures my garden (which I should probably go water).

One final thought: Don't these flowers remind you of fried eggs?

Oops, one more final thought: I signed up for Sock Wars. I'll be on vacation in Maine that first weekend so I'm betting I get killed before I kill, but it should be fun anyway.

In which I get off my lazy butt and post something

2006-08-16T13:41:00.000-04:00

So, you've probably noticed that I haven't posted in quite a while. Nor have I been reading any blogs (or leaving any comments -- sorry, people). And I have no great excuse: no long vacation, no major illness, no overwhelming work schedule. I'm just a lazy blogger. Sorry about that (hanging my head in shame here). I just don't know how you dedicated bloggers can keep it up so regularly. Hats off to you.

Anyhow, I have been getting some knitting done. I finished the socks for Sister#1 (the annoying ones from my previous post -- the socks, not the sister). I'll be giving them to her this weekend, so wish me luck with the sizing. Also, I have very nearly finished a Picovoli tank for me. It think it's just a touch more "form fitted" than I would like. But it's cotton so maybe it will grow with washing. And I'm maybe 2/3's of the way into a spiral shawl (can't remember the exact name and too damn lazy to look it up). No pictures of these items, because again -- I am the essence of blogging lazitude.

You may be wondering what finally inspired me to post again. Well, because I was looking for a way to avoid work this morning, I decided I'd waste some time and check my blog stats (assuming they'd be way down since I haven't posted in eons). I was surprised that they weren't really down and started looking at the referrals. I noticed several referrals from Knittin' Mom, which I thought was unusual. So I visited her site and discovered......

I won one of the grand prize baskets of sock yarn in the Sock-a-Month Knitalong! Woo hoo! I am SO excited!

My prize. Yay!

It's just what I needed to get me out of the funk that I've been in. Also, I'm thrilled because I haven't tried any of those yarns yet. I've especially wanted to try Socks That Rock for the longest time, but I kept telling myself that I really should use up some of my sock yarn stash before ordering more. Lorna's Laces has also been on my "must try" list. And that yarn in the upper right corner looks very nice -- anyone know what it is? I didn't even know that Cascade made sock yarn, so I'm interested in trying that. Those bright colors will make some fun socks for me or the girls. Also, it will be nice to try out the two kinds of KnitPicks sock yarn.

OK, enough excitement and chit chat. I've got to get back to work. Then I've got to finish ordering homeschool curriculum materials and organizing our schoolroom/office for the new school year.

I will try to get back to more regular posting and commenting soon. I hope you are all having a great summer.

Crap!

2006-07-06T20:53:00.000-04:00

So, the plan was to secretly knit a pair of socks for Sister#1 for her birthday (which is at the end of July). I recently knit a pair of socks for Niece#1 which fit Sister#1 perfectly. I had another ball of that same yarn (Trekking XXL) and I took detailed notes about what I did to make those socks, so I figured this would be easy peasy -- I could use the same pattern and quickly whip out another pair. [Queue the music of impending doom.]

So that's what I did. I used the same type of yarn (just blue instead of purple), the same needles, the same number of stitches, the same number of rows, the same everything. [OK, I did a different thing at the cuff, but that's not significant.]

And here's what happened:

Craptastic socks that won't even fit over a ten-year old's heel.

Say it with me, "AAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!" Somehow I managed to knit the whole damn sock without noticing that it was extremely narrow. I was just knitting merrily away, so happy in my thoughts of how wonderful it was to be able to knit a sock without having to try the damn thing on all the time to check the fit. Sigh. Granted, most of the foot of this sock was knit in the dark in the car, in the movie theater, or while trying to catch up on some blog reading, but still. I really should have noticed. [Shoulda, woulda, coulda...]

I checked my gauge and it's 1/2 stitch (on the 2.5mm ndls) to 3/4 stitch (on the 2.0mm ndls) tighter on these blue Trekking socks than on the purple Trekking socks. According to my calculations, that should give a difference in circumference of about a half inch. Hmmm, that doesn't sound like a big enough difference to explain the amazing narrowness of these socks. Maybe I knit the foot on those purple socks with more stitches than I wrote down -- possible, but unlikely. Next time I see Niece#1 I'll have to examine those purple socks -- I'm really mystified.

At first I thought it might be that this color of yarn is thinner. But I just did a wraps-per-inch comparison and that does not appear to be it. I guess it's just me. I must have been 0.75 spi less stressed a month ago. Hmmm. Maybe that could be a new way to measure my stress level -- by knitting a gauge swatch with this sock yarn on US 0's. Kind of like a mood ring for knitters.

Persnickety's Handy Gauge Swatch Mood Indicator:

8-9 spi = super mellow (aka, too many cocktails),
9-9.5 spi = calm, relaxed (a rarely experienced state of mind),
9.5-10 spi = slightly on edge (my normal mood),
10-10.5 spi = overscheduled and stressed out,
10.5-11 spi = watch out, she's gonna blow!

In happier news, we had a birthday party for Daughters #1 & #2 today. This was their "friend" birthday party, not to be confused with their "relative" birthday party, or even the celebration that happened on the actual day of their birthday. [It's been a week-long celebration basically.]

Anyway, Daughter#2 helped me make this Piggy Cake for the event (they have a thing for pigs lately). Not the best workmanship, but kind of cute.

Piggy Cake

A Busy June

2006-06-29T13:51:00.000-04:00

As you may have noticed, this blog has been rather quiet lately. June is one of the busiest months for me. All four of the people in this household have birthdays within the 30-day period from June 3 - July 3, plus there have been multitudinous other events to prepare for such as:

Father's Day,

a ballet recital,

Can you tell that Daughter#1 has had a growth spurt recently?

a piano & voice recital,

Daughter#2 playing something from the Magic Flute

Daughter#2 singing The Rainbow Connection

Daughter#1 playing . . . ummmm (bad Mommy can't remember)

Daughter#1 singing The Candy Man (note the candy-themed outfit, with candy necklaces adorning her various body parts -- her idea)

two graduation parties,

Half-brother#1 (I only have 1 of these, but I figured he should get a number just like everyone else) swinging at a giant smiley face piñata at Niece#1's party.

many, many softball games,

Daughter#1 pitching

Daughter#1 at bat

Daughter#2 hitting the ball

Daughter#2 ready to run home

a mini-vacation (more on that in another post),

plus all the usual crapola (trying to finish up homeschool lessons, trying to find time for work, etc).

Anyway, I've been busy. But I have gotten some knitting done. I've got a pile of completed projects to blog about. (OK, it's a small pile, but I feel good about it.) Here is the first on the list -- the Graduation Socks.

Pattern:: No pattern, just basic stockinette socks
Yarn:: Zitron Trekking XXL [75% wool, 25% nylon],
color: 109 (variegated purple)
Needles:: ankles done on 2.5mm, heel & foot done on 2.0mm, top of foot done on 2.25mm & 2.0mm. (Yeah, I like to make good use of my needle collection.)
Gauge:: 8.5 - 9.5 sts/inch
Comments:: I made these socks as a graduation present for Niece #1, aka Oh, Jane. She has tiny little muchkin feet so I had to rip back a little to make them smaller at her graduation party, which just happened to be on Knit in Public Day. I guess that sort of counts as knitting in public. There were certainly several people there who were amazed by the whole sock-knitting process.

Oooh, the pretty purpleness -- as modeled by Sister#1, who, like her offspring, also has petite munchkin feet with dainty little ankles.
(Who, me? Jealous?)

Free Arrowhead Lace Headband Pattern

2006-06-15T23:01:00.000-04:00

As I mentioned in my last post, making the Saving Grace headband has inspired me to look through my pattern books for other potential lace patterns that would work well with a worsted weight yarn for a quick headband. This turned out to be a bit more difficult than I anticipated. The use of worsted weight yarn meant that I needed to keep the pattern under 14 stitches so the headband did not become uncomfortably wide. I swatched a few options, but the headband below is the most successful one so far.

This headband is based on the Arrowhead Lace pattern stitch in Barbara Walker's A Treasury of Knitting Patterns. It has a tendency to poof up in the middle (I didn't bother to block it), but it seems to flatten out when worn. Here's the pattern.

Arrowhead Lace Headband

YARN

Cascade 220 [100% wool],
color: 9455 (turquoise heather)

NEEDLES

US 7

GAUGE

approximately 5sts/inch

DIRECTIONS

Cast on 11 sts.

Follow the arrowhead lace pattern (using chart or directions below) until the headband is approximately 16 inches long (or long enough to fit around your head when slightly stretched). Bind off and seam ends together.

Arrowhead Lace Chart

Arrowhead Lace Directions

Row 1 (WS):k1, p9, k1.

Row 2 (RS):k1, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k1, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k1.

Row 3:same as row 1.

Row 4:k2, yo, ssk, yo, slip 2 together as to knit--k1--pass the 2 slipped sts over, yo, k2tog, yo, k2.

Pattern & images © 2006 Tamara Stone-Snyder.
May be distributed freely for personal use only. Cannot be reprinted on the web or otherwise without permission.

A quickie

2006-06-02T18:05:00.000-04:00

Looking for a quick knitting project to use up some leftover yarn? How about a simple lacy headband?

Pattern:: Saving Grace headband, a free online pattern by Dawn at Wild Yarn
Yarn:: Cascade 220 [100% wool],
color: 7811 (purple heather)
Needles:: US 7
Comments:: This was a great project -- super fast and easy, and yet quite lovely when done. The only thing I might do differently next time is to use a provisional cast on so I can kitchener the ends together and have no seam.

I made this headband for Daughter#1, and now Daughter#2 wants one as well. I'm happy to make more of these, since I have a whole rainbow of Cascade 220 that's just waiting for projects like this.

This pattern has inspired me to look through my stitch pattern books and find some simple lace patterns that might translate well to headbands. In fact, I found one that Daughter#2 likes, which I am currently working on. Pics of that soon.

House of Two Restaurants

2006-05-31T18:50:00.000-04:00

Lunchtime has gotten a little more exciting here lately. The girls have been taking turns playing "restaurant". It was Daughter#2's idea. She started by writing out a menu and having us wait in the hallway to be seated.

[Click on the menu to view a complete list of the Lily Pad's offerings.]

Daughter#2 seated my party (which consisted of Daughter#1 and me) at a nicely set table with a view of the garden. She took our orders quite courteously and efficiently. She prepared all of the food herself (I was ordered to remain seated at the table -- and I was not about to complain). Our food was quite good, except for one small oversight. My peanut butter and banana sandwich had accidentally been made sans banana, so I had to send it back. The waitress took this in stride and quickly remedied the situation, explaining that she had been distracted by trying to make soup at the same time.

The pencil behind the ear was a nice touch.

My dining companion and I both agreed that our lunch was excellent and the service was outstanding. We promised our waitress that we would return again soon, especially after getting our bill and seeing how affordable The Lily Pad is.

What a bargain!

Of course, the next day Daughter#1 wanted to give waitressing a try, so she created her own restaurant.

[Click on the picture to view the menu offerings at Moo Bear's Restaurant.]

It was another enjoyable lunch. Now if I can just get them to do the dishes...

Yeah, I suck at being regular

2006-05-26T19:34:00.000-04:00

No, I didn't drown in the flooding, I'm just a lazy slug who doesn't blog often. No, really, I've been quite busy and every time I sat down to blog, something came up to interrupt my spare time. I've even been sucked back into my computer consulting work, although only temporarily. And now there is gardening to do. Anyhow, thank you for your patience, dear readers. I will try to post more regularly.

At long last, I present to you photos of my Lady E. stole that I finished almost a month ago. Feast your eyes on its lovely colorifitude.

No, that tiny butt does NOT belong to me.

I finally got someone to model this for me. I am notoriously camera shy, and, anyway, it would be hard for me to take my own photo while wearing this. It can be a complicated business getting this thing to drape properly, or maybe I am just a stole-wearing novice.

My lovely model here is my about-to-become-a-high-school-graduate niece, aka Niece#1. She also goes by the alias Oh, Jane. when online. [I was instructed that I must include the period in her name -- and she says that I am anal.] She is starting her own blog to show off her artwork. She is super-talented and creative, so I can't wait to see more of her work, especially since I don't get to see her very often. If you go to her blog now you may still be able to see her temporary test post, which contains a picture of her at 8 years old, standing behind my daughters who were only about a week old. Too cute!

OK, back to the stole, here are the details:

Pattern:: Lady Eleanor Entrelac Stole, by Kathleen Power Johnson, from Scarf Style
Yarn:: Noro (boo, hiss) Silk Garden [45% silk, 45% kid mohair, 10% lambswool],
color: #217, about 12.5 balls
Needles:: US 7 or 8 [Crap, I waited too long to write this up and I, in my apparent early senility, cannot remember which needle I used)
Gauge:: about 4-4.5sts/inch (it's hard to tell from the stole). Anyway, my gauge was way smaller than the 3.5sts/inch in the pattern.
Size:: 22" wide by 78" long, excluding fringe. Fringe adds about 13.5" at each end.
Modifications:: I did an extra 2 rectangles in width to make up for using thinner yarn than the pattern called for. I also did about a million rows of rectangles. [OK, I counted. I actually did 55 'tiers' of rectangles instead of the 35 in the pattern. It just felt like a million.]
Comments:: I enjoyed making this stole and I love how it came out. I have gotten over my crisis about the lavender. Learning to knit backwards really helped with my enjoyment of this project. If I had to turn the stole every 8 stitches, it would have been a huge drag.
Also, although I do LOVE the colors that apparently only Noro can provide (and why is that?), I will no longer be purchasing yarn from them due to my enormous frustration with the knottiness (naughtiness?) of their yarn. Four knots in one expensive ball is 4 knots too many. Don't worry, they will definitely be receiving an email from me on Yarn Rant Day (read the PDF about this here).

What a cute model. However, please note that she is much shorter than me. The stole does not come as close to dragging on the ground when I wear it.

In the book, they show this stole also worn as a scarf. I tried to do a shot like that and this is what I got.

Ummm, not so good.

OK, I tried again (my model was getting a little sick of me by this time) and it kind of works as a scarf, but only if your neck is really, really cold.

No drafts can get near this neck.

Overall, I'd highly recommend this project. After the first few tiers of rectangles it becomes some nice mindless knitting. However, I suggest that you check out some alternatives to Noro Silk Garden, such as La Lana Wools Forever Random Blends (the yarn used in the book) or Karaoke by Southwest Trading Company. There must be other alternatives; please let me know if you find any.

Socks, Summer Cottages, and a Day to Rant

2006-05-08T23:26:00.000-04:00

Howdy, I'm back from Rhode Island and ready to blog. First of all, let me just say that the yarn store in Newport was kind of a disappointment. Rachel, be glad you didn't put down that Corona. You didn't miss anything. No exciting yarns, no interesting supplies, and a musty smell. Bah, barely worth the walk down Thames Street. I did buy two balls of something or other that was on sale, but it's not worthy of a picture. Well, at least my fellow travellers were glad that I didn't make them wait long.

We had a great time in Newport -- there was much eating, drinking, shopping, knitting, and general relaxing. Didn't take many pictures, just this one:

Requisite tourist photo of dork standing in front of giant mansion.
[Uncool Guy gamely agreed to be said 'dork'.]

That's The Breakers, the 70-room summer "cottage" built by the Vanderbilts. Too bad they don't let you take pics inside, some of the rooms were quite resplendent.

I got some knitting done on the trip, but it was mostly swatching really. I am between projects and I'm having a hard time deciding what to make next. I started a couple projects. More on those next time.

Before I forget, I need to talk about the upcoming Yarn Rant Day that Anne of knitspot is organizing. It's designed to be a day on which knitters around the world send emails to yarn companies that make poor quality yarn. Join us on June 1st, and write an email (or two or three) complaining about excessive knots in yarn (can you say "Noro"?), strange twigs and burrs in yarn (ummm, Noro again), yarns that pill excessively, colors that fade dramatically on first washing, or whatever other major yarn-related annoyances you have encountered.

The idea is to let the yarn companies know that we're mad as heck and we won't buy bad yarn anymore. Anne is hoping that the yarn manufacturers will pay more attention if a whole bunch of complaint emails are delivered on the same day. Ahhhh, we can dream, right? Download Anne's PDF flyer to read more about it.

Speaking of Anne, I have finally finished the socks I was making from the handspun yarn she sent me. I was originally thinking of making socks with a lacy pattern or maybe some cables, but then I decided that I would rather just knit a plain stockinette pair. The color transitions are the focus of this yarn, and I didn't want to obscure that with a 'busy' pattern. So I went with boring old stockinette, but I don't think they came out boring at all. I love them.

Pattern:: Plain stockinette socks, with an eye-of-partridge heel, and my shaped toes.
Yarn:: Wool yarn that was spun and dyed by Anne of knitspot
Needles:: Addi 2.5mm
Gauge:: 8.5 sts/inch
Comments:: I love the colors of this yarn and the way it blends from one shade to the next. There did not seem to be any real color repeat here, so it's a good thing I like nonmatching socks. ;-)

Left Sock

Right Sock

I knit these socks top-down, and things were a little tense for me as I was finishing up the second sock. See if you can guess why by looking at the photo below.

I was totally running on fumes at the end of these socks. I had less than 3yds of yarn left -- a little too close for comfort. I guess I can now appreciate the need for toe-up socks in certain circumstances.

A million freaking knots

2006-05-03T16:36:00.000-04:00

Want to know what I did until 3:30AM last night? No, I was not dancing the night away. Nor was I watching an exciting trilogy on DVD, or reading an engrossing novel. Nope, I was making a million little knots in this darn thing.

Knotted fringe takes FOR-EV-ER.

Making 8 rows of knots on each end of my Lady Eleanor Stole took me about 6 hours! And that doesn't include time spent crocheting the edges (then ripping it out and doing it over, and over, and over yet again). Granted, I did make an extra row of knots (can you say "masochist"?). And I did waaaaaaay more strands of fringe than stated in the pattern (but my yarn is thinner and it looked too wispy when spaced wider). But still, making knotted fringe is a slow business. I knew there was a reason I was putting it off.

I just have weave in some more ends and trim the fringe, and then I'll do the final photo shoot. Maybe I'll even have an opportunity to wear it in a couple of days on our child-free weekend getaway to Newport, Rhode Island this weekend. Hey, does anybody know of any good yarn stores in that area?

Oh, and here is a preview of the socks I am making with the handspun yarn I won in Anne's mystery cable contest. I LOVE the way the colors are blending. So very lovely. And not a knot to be found ;)

I'm almost done with these socks, so more pics soon. [Yeah, right. I always say that and then I take forever. Sigh.]

The fluffy-haired one in the back

2006-04-28T20:14:00.000-04:00

It's been a busy week here. Now that softball season has begun, I have been spending many hours freezing my butt off watching my daughters' games. It's a perfect opportunity to get a lot of knitting done, but the games are in the evening and it's been very chilly lately. It's no fun knitting when your fingers are numb. Anyway, they are both doing great and Daughter#1 is even pitching this year, so it's fun to watch. I just hope it warms up soon.

I tried to finish those damned Jaywalkers, and was almost done with both when I tried them on and noticed that the arch area of the foot is baggy. Uggh! Now I'm trying to decide whether to rip both socks back to the gusset and accelerate the decrease rate, or to just say "screw it" and finish them off and be done with it. I am leaning toward the "screw it" option, but these are for Sister#1 and I'd hate to give her a 'faulty' pair of socks. So they are back in time-out again.

In happier news, I did manage to finish something recently. I knit two beaded bracelets. Behold:

I made these from a kit that I got from Patternworks a couple of years ago. They don't appear to offer it anymore, but it looks similar to this one, just with different types of beads. I discovered this kit (which I had forgotten I had) when I was reorganizing my stash a while ago. Look at all this stuff I'm finding -- I should organize my stash more often, huh?

Anyway, the two bracelets are knit in such a way that the beads are offset on each side, so the bracelets twist by themselves. You can wear them separately as two bracelets, or you can wrap them around each other and wear them as one thick bracelet. I think I prefer them worn separately -- they have more character that way.

If you look closely you can see that the beads in each bracelet are different: one has matte cube beads on the outside of the twist and shiny seed beads on the inside, the other has shiny cube beads on the outside and matte seed beads on the inside.

Matte cube beads on outside, shiny seed beads on inside

Shiny cube beads on outside, matte seed beads on inside

Pattern:: Twin Twisters Beaded Bracelet Kit
Needles:: #0000 DPNs
Beads:: 4mm cube beads and size 8 seed beads, in both matte and shiny irridescent finishes
Thread:: 25 yds New Metallics (2-ply metallic polyester thread), made by On the Surface, used doubled
Comments:: Although these needles are tiny and the thread is slippery I still enjoyed knitting these bracelets. They were very quick to make and not difficult. I would just recommend that you work in very good lighting too avoid going blind when trying to pick up a dropped stitch.
I might make some more of these, but I think I would use a different clasp -- this one is just a little too visible.

Oh, and, as you know from my last post, I went to see the Yarn Harlot speak at WEBS last Friday. She was GREAT -- very funny (of course) and very down-to-earth. It was definitely worth the two-hour trip to see her.

I checked her site and I'm in her pictures. Here they are. I'm the one with the fluffy hair and the bright green sweater in the far back. I was sitting next to Melissa, but you can't see her in this picture -- she's too petite. ;)

Komi-Patterned Bag

2006-04-21T23:59:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago, I bought this book Knitting Marvelous Mittens by Charlene Schurch. I was inspired to buy it after seeing the some great Komi-patterned mittens, socks, and hats on various blogs a while ago.

I love most of the patterns in this book, but since it is no longer "mitten season" around here (and no one I know is much of a mitten wearer anyway), I've been looking for other places to use these great patterns. Daughter#2 had been telling me how she wanted a knitted bag and she loves the color blue, so when I came across two skeins of blue wool when I reorganized my stash (which, I have to say, was spread all over my bedroom floor for much longer than I'd like to admit) I decided to use one of the Komi patterns in this book to make a bag for her. And here it is:

Pattern:: The design of the bag is based on the Gift Bag pattern in Handknit Holidays, but the color pattern is from Knitting Marvelous Mittens (it's part of mitten #8)
Yarn:: Two skeins of worsted-weight wool yarn from my stash.
I really like this yarn. It is 'au naturel' without being all greasy and gross like some other stuff I've used recently. Annoyingly, it was unlabeled so I can't get more of it. I think I may have bought it a few years ago at Plimoth Plantation. I couldn't find any mention of yarn in their online gift shop though. They do have a pattern for 17th Century Knitting Stockings and Socks though. I must admit -- I'm tempted.
Needles:: US 8
Gauge:: 19st and 21rows = 4" in stranded 2-color knitting
Size:: About 7.5" in diameter and 11.5" tall
Modifications:: I modified the size of the bag to fit three repeats of the Komi pattern. I also changed the method of decreasing on the bottom of the bag to give a more circular bottom. The Gift Bag pattern has you decrease in the same five spots, which results in a pentagonal bottom. I moved the decreases each round to get a smoother circle with less defined sides and no decrease lines. (Darn, I should have taken a pic of the bottom. Oh well, this post has too many pictures already).

Also, when it was done, I used my new crochet skills (oooh, how exciting) to chain an edge around the bottom of the bag. This hid the little purl bumps from the 'turning round' and gave it a more finished look, I think.
Comments:: I used this method for dealing with the color-jog at the end of a round. I moved my end-of-round-point around a little to keep it in the middle of a light blue section, which worked out pretty well. I have to look pretty hard to find the end of round points in the finished bag.

I really like this Gift Bag pattern. The bags are fun to make and they are a great way to try out color-knitting patterns on a small scale project.
This is actually the third Gift Bag I've made. I made two others out of Cascade 220 and gave them as Christmas gifts (see them in my gallery). This bag came out somewhat sturdier than those, possibly due to the more rugged nature of this yarn.

Here is a picture of the bag on its makeshift blocking tube, so you can see the full patttern.

And here is the inside of the bag. I think I like the pattern better this way -- with the dark and light colors reversed.

I'm off to see the Harlot at WEBS tomorrow. That will probably be a zoo. Another two-hour road trip and I've got nothing good to work on. Uggh, I may have to pull something out of "Time Out" in desperation.

Where Have I Been?

2006-04-19T11:57:00.000-04:00

So, inquiring readers want to know -- how have I been spending my leisure time lately since I clearly have not been blogging? Well, on a whim I signed up to be a volunteer proofreader at Project Gutenberg and the time just flew by. It's actually kind of addicting. That's the project where they are converting old books with expired copyrights into eBooks you can download. So you can read Shakespeare (or some obscure history books) online for free. Worthwhile use of my time? Hmmm.... Well, I think so. Information for the Masses, that's my motto.

I know you're all waiting for the pictures of my finished Lady E. Well, sorry. Still haven't blocked it. I know -- I'm a Slowski.

Instead I finished some Red Sox socks for Uncool Guy. These are the second pair of Red Sox themed socks I've made for him (you can see the first pair in my gallery). Those were on US 0's and took forever. These were on US 4's with worsted weight yarn and were quick, quick, quick. Here are the specs:

Pattern:: My own
Yarn:: Accessories Unlimited Yarn for Sox [80% wool, 20% nylon],
color: Red Mix (just slightly over 1 skein), and Ecru (about 1/4 of a skein?)
Needles:: US 4 circs
Gauge:: 5.25 sts and 7.75 rows = 1"
Size:: Sized to fit a man's size 8.5 feet
Comments:: This yarn is a little rough, but I think it will soften up with washing. I bought this yarn a year or two ago because it was the only worsted weight yarn made specifically for socks that I had seen. It certainly makes thick socks (which I've made just in time for spring -- sigh).
I really like this heathery red color. It's much darker in person than it appears in the online picture at WEBS.

I've also been playing around with crochet some more. I tried making one of the dishcloths at Crochet Pattern Central (thanks for the link, Auntie Amanda). I think it was this one. However, I kept coming out with the wrong nbr of stitches. I decided to take a step back and just try some of the stitch patterns out of the Happy Hooker book where they are described in detail for beginners. I made another dishcloth out of the V-stitch pattern using some more kitchen cotton (no picture). That came out well, so I decided to do another with a finer cotton as a facecloth. Here's a closeup:

V-Stitch Pattern in Crochet

This was made with Mandarin Petit cotton yarn using a F/5 (3.75mm) crochet hook. I really like this yarn for knitted facecloths, but it doesn't seem work as well for crochet. It splits like crazy with crochet (not with knitting) so I had to use a pattern in which you mostly crochet into a space (not a stitch).

I think I now prefer crocheted dishcloths to knitted ones; the crocheted texture provides better "scrubbing action". However, when it comes to facecloths, I prefer a softer knitted texture. Here are some of my favorites that I made using the same cotton yarn. And, because I'm a geek who loves to chart things, I have worked out charts for both of these stitch pattern and have shared them with you below. Enjoy.

Bee Stitch

Double Brioche Stitch
(aka Double English Brioche or Three Dimensional Honeycomb)

Notes for Double Brioche Stitch:: Start with pattern with an EVEN nbr of stitches, plus 2 edge stitches. Each set of 2 sts (other than the edge sts) will be increased to 3 during the two setup rows.

This stitch pattern does not need to be done with edge stitches, but I think they make the pattern easier to knit, because you don't have to worry about yarn-overs at the beginning/end of a row. Also, I think the edges actually look better with the edge stitches.

When you go to bind off this stitch pattern, just knit together each yarnover with the next stitch (so you end up with as many stitches as you started with).

Are you jealous yet?

2006-04-11T20:39:00.000-04:00

Just feast your eyes on the loveliness that arrived in the mail for me today.

Oooooh, pretty.

It's my gift from Anne of knitspot for winning her Mystery Cable Contest. What can I say - I LOVE it! She sent me two hanks of wool that she dyed and spun, along with a pattern that she wrote for a Ragamuffin Scarf and Mitts. I know you want a closer view of this beautiful yarn, so I will of course oblige.

This lovely blue mix should be enough to complete the scarf and fingerless mitts in the pattern she sent. I just love all the shades of blue in this. It makes me think of faded jeans, my attire of choice.

This gorgeous gold/blue/green mix is thinner than the blue. Anne suggests that it would be good for a pair of socks. I will have to select just the right sock pattern for this. Any thoughts? (And if anyone says the word "Jaywalker" they're in trouble).

Anne did a great job picking colors for me. I just love them. [And I love the slight patchouli smell from her wool wash ;)] In fact, this yarn is so gorgeous and soft that I almost don't even want to knit with it. Almost.

OK, OK, enough with the gushing. I will assume you are satisfactorily jealous at this point, so I will move on.

I just finished knitting my Lady Eleanor stole last night. Wuh, was that a lot of knitting. I still need to weave in the ends and steam block it and then attach the long knotted fringe. I was considering skipping the fringe, or maybe going with a tasseled fringe, but after looking around at other Lady E's online, I've decided to go with the long knotted. Pics soon hopefully.

Here's another thing I've been working on. It's a Komi-patterned bag based on the gift bag pattern in Handknit Holidays. More details next time. I've got to go block Lady E.

Oh, and thanks for the suggestions about the Karaoke yarn as a Noro substitute. I'll have to try that. I see they carry it at WEBS. How convenient...

I'm a Winner and a Ranter

2006-04-07T21:35:00.000-04:00

So, as some of you know, this has been a good week for me in blogland. I was randomly chosen as the March winner of the Sock-a-Month Knitalong. I won some sock yarn, which I haven't received yet, but here's a picture of it that I stole from Knittin' Mom's site.

Yeah, you've seen my stash and you're thinking, "What does she need with more yarn?" Well, shush. A girl can't have too much yarn. Even Brooklynne of The Mosh Knit now agrees -- go listen to her essay on stash in her latest podcast.

And, as if one prize wasn't enough, I also won the Mystery Cable contest that Anne was holding at knitspot. I finally identified the cable after much scouring of stitch pattern books (and desperate consultations with others who have bigger book collections than I). Anne said she's sending me some handspun and one of her patterns as my prize. I've never knit with handspun before so I'm excited. Plus, I can't wait to see one of her patterns.

Warning: Rant Ahead

OK, that was the happy news. Now it's time for a nice long rant. [I hope Robot Lady can pull off an authentic ticked-off tone of voice. Wouldn't that be cool if you could use tags to tell Talkr what tone of voice you want things read in? Ahh, but I digress. Back to the rant... ]

So, I've still been cranking away on the Lady Eleanor Stole -- on and off, but it's still actively in progress. Anyway, I continue to be annoyed by the knots I keep encountering in this Noro Silk Garden yarn. Not only are the knots annoying, but they always introduce a completely different color that is totally out of sequence. Every time I hit one of these knots (which has been in about half of the balls I've used so far) I have to rip back to the beginning of the little entrelac square so I can change the color discretely (see the picture of the stole in this post, if you don't know what I'm talking about). Then I have to figure out where I am in the color sequence and try to find another ball that starts somewhere close to the right place, so I don't end up with a huge glob of lavender in one spot and thus destroy the whole balance of the thing. Sigh.

I didn't rip back the first time I encountered a knot (which happened in the second row of squares) and now I regret it. It's in the lower corner of the stole, in a spot I hope is not too noticeable, but it looks crappy too me so I learned my lesson. I would have ripped back, but I didn't see how noticeable it was until I got into better light, at which point I was too many rows of squares away.

Anyway, after the millionth time that I encountered a knot I decided I would rewind my remaining balls to find all those hidden little annoyances ahead of time. That way I could make a separate ball whenever I encountered a knot and I would be better able to match up the color sequence. And, boy, am I glad I did because here is a picture of the very next ball:

Stupid, Annoying Noro Silk Garden with a Millon Knots

There were FOUR STINKING KNOTS in this one ball! What did I get -- the crappy leftovers ball? And even more annoying, it's missing half the colors. Compare the picture above with all the colors shown in this nice ball:

Nice Ball of Noro

OK, so I complain a bit to myself and to Uncool Guy (even he could understand my annoyance -- and that's not a frequent occurance, people) and I move on to rewind the next ball and what do I find but this:

Look in the circle. Do not be distracted by the pretty colors.

"What is that in the little circle?" you ask. Why it's another freaking KNOT! And it's right there sticking out of the end of the skein. What are they doing -- ADVERTISING that their yarn has more knots than you thought were possible in one skein of yarn? Is the company that anal about yardage that they couldn't just cut off that extra two inches to avoid a knot hanging there right at the end? I guess it just shows that they don't care where their knots fall or how many of them there are. Yeah, I know they need to make a profit but really, a little quality control would be nice.

So, for future reference, can anyone recommend another brand of yarn that has colors like Noro without the irritations of Noro? Anyone?

Late Flashing

2006-04-02T12:59:00.000-04:00

Yeah, I know -- YESTERDAY was Flash Your Stash Day. But I am slow, and perpetually late. It took much longer than I anticipated to unload all my yarn bins and stack all this yarn so it would fit in the picture. I initially tried to do a 360 degree photo, but that was kind of a disaster. Hence the lateness.

Anyhow, I have yarn here that is designated for 16 sweaters, 9 tank tops, 1 shawl, and at least 20 pairs of socks. The rest is random balls to be used for hats, scarves, mittens, stuffed animals, and other miscellaneous projects. Some of this (mostly the left corner) is destashification from someone else, so I really can't be blamed for all of this.

Here is the stash. Click on the picture for a bigger view.

I know what you're thinking, "That's not very big." Yeah, that's what I thought. So I just got this load of Cascade on sale from WEBS (thanks Yarn Enabler.)

Oh, and I AM still planning on posting the short-row information. It's just turning into a bigger project than I expected. I'm going to have to break it into smaller pieces. I'm thinking of covering all the various types of short rows, each in the context of short-rowing down and then having one 'long row' to join everything back up (like in a shoulder) and in the context of a miter where you short-row down and then long-row out (like a sock heel).

Now I'm off to reorganize my yarn.

Updated to add: Talking Edna says, "Dahling, your stash is fabulous." Ten points if you can find her in the picture. ;)

Crocheted Scarf & Japanese Knitting

2006-03-29T22:35:00.000-05:00

The crocheted scarf is done. Here are the specs:

Pattern:: Garden Scarf by Michelle Ameron from The Happy Hooker.
Yarn:: Cascade 220 [100% wool],
colors: purple (7811), green (2445), mustard yellow (4010)
Hook:: H/8 (5.0mm)
Gauge:: I have no idea
Size:: I made 19 flowers, each about 3.5" in diameter. The pattern said to make 14 4.5" diam flowers, but mine were much smaller so I had to make more.
Comments:: This was my first crochet project (not counting the ugly dishcloth). I enjoyed making the flowers at first, but then I stopped looking at the directions as much and immediately got into trouble. Since there are two types of flowers that are made differently, I kept losing track of whether I was doing 2 dc or a dc, tr, dc in the petal area. I found that switching to assembly-line style and making all of one type of flower first and then all of the other type, helped it go quicker with less confusion. Then I did the joining parts at the end. And what a drag it was sewing in all those ends. But, I do think that weaving in ends is easier in crochet than knitting. At least you have a thicker fabric in which to hide to the yarn.

Oh, and I think there's an error in this pattern. I looked in the errata online and it wasn't there though. The written-out directions for the joining round of Flower C are missing two instances of (sc, hdc) that are shown in the chart for the flower. I went with the chart, because it was consistent with the rest of the flower.

This scarf has been adopted by Daughter#1, shown here grudgingly modeling it. She looks a little annoyed, huh? The lighting came out very odd here. I guess the sunlight was only hitting the top part of the wall and made it look like a different color. Weird.

Now, I know several of you have been patiently awaiting a report of my trip to WEBS. Sorry I have been so pokey about posting about it, I've just really been dragging lately. Anyway, your wait is over. Here are the details.

On Saturday, I attended a class called Japanese Knitting Techniques, which was taught by Maureen Mason-Jamieson. This was a great class in which I learned about the following:

Japanese Short Rows
Japanese Three-Needle Bind Off
Picking up Stitches for a Cardigan Band (basically details on how to make this neater)
Japanese Short Row Buttonholes
Tubular Bind Off

Apparently, a lot of Japanese techniques are done to mimic the look of machine knitting, which is interesting considering that machine knitting was originally invented to replicate hand knitting. Of the techniques we covered, the first is definitely the most useful to me personally. The other topics are more for specialized situations. Over the coming days, I think I will post more information about some of these topics, as I ponder them more fully.

The first topic I will discuss will be the Japanese short rows. I have compared the method we learned with some of the 'Japanese' methods I have found online and in books, and it appears that what we learned was similar but slightly different from those methods. In order to understand the differences between these methods better, I have started diagramming them to show the path of the yarn in each case. I intend to diagram every method of making short rows that I can find. (Did I mention that I'm anal?) So far I have found:

2 variations of 'Japanese' short rows
2 variations of yarn-over short rows
2 variations of wrapped short rows
and one other weird thing called Knit Encroachment

I have already diagrammed the Japanese methods and the wrapped methods. However, I still need to clean them up so I think I will post them tomorrow (hopefully). Then I will cover the yarn-over methods and the weird thing.

I liked the Japanese Knitting class so much I stayed overnight at my inlaws (who live nearby) and went to Maureen's class the next day called No More Ugly Sweaters. That was a good refresher on basic color theory, plus some interesting tips like using warm colors to draw the eye to areas you want (i.e., don't put a splash of yellow at your hips). I also learned that 'designers' cut out sections of Noro and put them where they want them. This makes me think about how I could be making Lady Eleanor better...but I'm trying not to go there because then I'll obsess about where to put every color and never finish the damn thing.

Oh, by the way, Daughter#1 has just posted some more entries to her blog, Snozberry Knits. Go check it out and give her some encouragement.

P.S. Don't you just love the way Robot Lady says 'crocheted'? Makes me laugh every time. If you don't know what I'm talking about click on the 'read this post to you' link at the top of a recent post (you'll only see this if you're reading the post on the blog, not via Bloglines).

New, Improved Persnicketiness -- Now With Crochet, Too

2006-03-24T23:59:00.000-05:00

Crochet News

OK, here's what I'm sure you were all waiting for with bated breath -- my first crocheted item. It's a lovely dishcloth:

Ooooh, aaaah. Look at that nasty pastel-colored kitchen cotton. I don't know how that got in my stash. Not my colors at all. Well, it's used up now, and that's a good thing.

In typical "first finished item" form, this dishcloth is not without several mistakes. I somehow lost a stitch going from single crochet to double crochet, and then I lost another when switching back to single crochet at the end. Oh well, I tried it again and I think I've figured out my mistake. I'm slowly getting the hang of differentiating and counting the crochet stitches, which mostly just look like a bunch of knots to me.

Now that the obligatory ugly dishcloth has been completed, I can move on to bigger and better things. Like this:

It's the Garden Scarf by Michelle Ameron from The Happy Hooker. I'm using Cascade 220 from my stash. Not sure what I'm going to do with this, since I don't wear flowery things, but it looked like fun to make. I'm sure I'll find someone to dump it on.

I like making the flowers, but joining them with the inserting-the-hook-around-the-post thing is a little awkward for me. It took me many, many attempts to even figure out the directions. I think I get it now, although it's kind of lumpier than I would like.

Here's the photo in the book of the scarf. Mine's coming out much smaller, which is fine with me since these flowers are kind of giganto.

I think The Happy Hooker is a great book for learning crochet. Debbie Stoller describes several ways to do various things (hold your yarn, crochet into the chain, etc. - I'm not really up with the crochet lingo yet), all in a very conversational tone with her personal recommendations. I like it. The drawings could maybe be a touch better, but they get the idea across well enough. They are certainly better than the ones in some craptastic old Teach Yourself Crochet book I just found in my bookcase. The Happy Hooker has by far the better instructions -- they are much more complete.

Since I'm now a newbie crocheter, I've started listening to Crochet Cast. There are only 2 episodes so far, but I think it shows a lot of promise. I've also found some interesting crochet links, like Crochet Me, an online magazine which has some interesting patterns and tutorials.

Don't worry, I'm not going to get all crochet on your butt and turn this blog into the Persnickety Crocheter or anything like that. Just bear with my sudden infatuation, will you? You know it probably won't last long. ;)

Knitting News

I'm still working on the Lady E stole. Progress has been slowed (but not halted) by the sudden impulse to learn crochet. I got some great tips from Anne of Knitspot on how to overdye the lavender bits. I think I will finish the stole and live with it for a while before I decide whether to take that drastic step though.

Speaking of Anne, she has contributed an audio essay to The Mosh Knit podcast. It's in the latest episode (#4). Go check it out. Her essay is about the definitition of "subversive knitting" and what it means to her. I needed to listen a couple times to thoroughly absorb all of her points, but I think it's very thought-provoking. It's got me pondering about what subversive knitting really means to me -- hmmmm.

Well, I'm off to a Japanese Knitting Techniques class at WEBS tomorrow. Oops, I just realized I haven't yet done my homework for the class. Might have to do that during the two-hour drive to WEBS. Don't worry, I won't be the one driving ;)

Lose the Lavender

2006-03-22T00:07:00.000-05:00

I'm about 6.5 balls into my Lady Eleanor stole and I figured it's about time for another progress shot. So here it is.

This thing seems to be taking forever -- I feel like I'm knitting a blanket, not a stole. I'm still enjoying making it; I'm just itching to finish.

I'm not so sure about the lavender-ish sections of this yarn though (Noro Silk Garden #217). I think they stand out a bit too much. In fact, now that I've said that, it's all I can see when I look at this picture.

If I ever use this colorway again I might snip out those sections of the yarn, because I love the rest of the colors here. I wish I could replace that lavender with a dark green. I'm still pleased with the color overall I guess, just less ecstatically so. Ah, but that feeling never does last long, does it?

In Other News

So, I've been reading for a while now how crochet is the new knitting. Not being a crocheter, I've been all like, "whatever." But today, ummmmmmmmm..., I think I got sucked in.

I was just browsing in my local bookstore, waiting for my daughters to get out of their art class and minding my own business, not anywhere NEAR the craft book section (oh, I had already been there of course), when all of a sudden I saw it. The new book by Debbie Stoller. [I'd mention the name, but I really don't want to think about the Google hits I would get.]

I only opened it out of idle curiosity. I have her Knitter's Handbook and it has some interesting things in it, so I thought I'd give this new book a quick look. I was just flipping through the pages, thinking to myself that I really should learn crochet some day, when I stumbled upon this:

Oh my god, these are the cutest bunny slippers ever! And if that isn't cute enough, here they are in pink.

Needless to say, I bought the book. I just couldn't resist. I am weak.

Daughter#1 now wants to learn to crochet too, so we will be learning together (which could be fun, ... or not, depending on the frustration level). I think we'll start with crocheted cotton dishcloths, because, you know, that old one could stand to be replaced.

Subscriptionville

2006-03-18T22:13:00.000-05:00

I am interrupting this knitting blog with a bit of technical information. [Don't groan, you may find this helpful.] I am going to discuss the various ways in which you can subscribe to a blog. This is a topic I promised a couple of people I would discuss, but if you already know all about this, feel free to skip ahead.

Well, it has come to my attention that certain followers of my blog would like an easy way to know when I have posted without having to check the web site all the time. There are many ways to accomplish this. All you need to know is the url of the blog's feed, which is usually displayed somewhere in the blog's sidebar (see here for info about what a feed is).

Online Feed Readers (RSS Aggregators)

If you follow lots of blogs you should definitely check out Bloglines or NewsGator (see my left sidebar for subscription links to these). These are both free web-based software that let you create an account, enter a list of blogs, easily see which ones have been updated, and read the latest posts right at that site.

Bloglines, which is what I use (here's the list of blogs I subscribe to, in case you are interested), scans for updates about every hour, so you will know about new posts fairly quickly. However, if you do use one of these blog-feed readers it's still nice to click on the link to the actual blog now and then so you can read the comments or better yet leave a comment (which is always greatly appreciated).

Start Pages

If you only follow a few blogs, you may not want to bother with that. If you use Yahoo as your start page, I used to recommend that you add the blog feed to that (see Yahoo subscription link in the left sidebar). However, it has come to my attention that Yahoo does not show you the updates in a particularly timely fashion. It seems to take them a full day to see any updates.

If you have Google as your start page, you can add a blog feed to that (see sidebar again). It seems to be updated more frequently.

Email Subscriptions

Another option is to have an email sent to you automatically to let you know that a blog has been updated. I think this is a great option for people who only follow a few blogs. There are several online companies that provide this service for free. I've tried a few and here's what I found out (again, all of these are in the left sidebar for your subscribing pleasure).

Squeet: After you create a free account with Squeet by specifying your name and email address, you can subscribe to a blog by entering the blog's url or the url of the blog's feed. Squeet will check for updates every 1-6 hrs and send you an email containing the content of the post (with or without pictures, as you specify).

With Squeet, you will get a separate email for every blog that you subscribe to. Also, it will send out an email if an old post has been updated.
RSSFwd: RSSFwd is similar to Squeet, in that it sends you a separate email for every blog feed you have subscribed to. However, you do not have to create an account with RSSFwd (so they don't have your name -- if you care about stuff like that). You just enter your email address and the feed url and that's it. The only way to unsubscribe from an email feed with this service is to click on the 'unsubscribe' link at the bottom of the email itself.

RSSFwd seems to generate emails about as frequently as Squeet, possibly faster. However, it does not seem to send emails for updated posts.
Blogmail at Blogarithm.com: After you create a free account with Blogarithm you will get one email a day letting you know which of the blogs you have subscribed to were updated. The email doesn't contain the full text of the posts, just summaries with links back to the full posts at the appropriate blog.

The downside with this is that they only send out 1 email a day, so if the blog gets updated right after the email goes out, you would not be notified until the next day. However, the emails themselves are much smaller -- which would be good if you are still on dial-up or want to get updates for a several blogs in one email. The emails seem to go out in the morning (at least mine do).
FeedBlitz: This service is similar to Blogarithm (1 email a day), except that FeedBlitz gives the publisher of the feed some control over how the email feed will look (summary vs. full post, etc). Also, if you pay for a 'Turbo' account you can get updates more quickly.

Anyway, I've added all of these email services to my left sidebar for you to try. You just enter your email address and select the service you want and you will be brought to a page where you can specify some other details to complete the subscription process. If are interested, try a few and see which works best for you. You can always unsubscribe if you don't like the service. I haven't gotten any spam yet as a result of using these services, so I think they are safe that way.

Knitting Update

I've decided to finish Daughter#1's Trixi cardigan THIS WEEKEND. Last night I reknit (don't ask) the collar. Tonight I hope to fix the sleeve caps and finish seaming. Then I just need to buy a zipper and sew that in. Want to guess how long that will take?

sdrawkcaB gnittinK

2006-03-16T19:21:00.000-05:00

Several people have asked about knitting backwards, so I thought I would post this link to some videos at www.knittinghelp.com. Scroll down to the bottom of the page to the Knitting Back section. They have videos for knitting backwards, both English style and Continental style.

I knit mostly English style, and I'm currently using the first method she shows in the video (the wrap method). I think it looks kind of awkward in this video though. With some practice, I think this is a fairly fast method since you just have to flick the fingers of your right hand up to make the wrap. I think the key is to tip the point of the left needle up and towards you when you pull it back through the wrap (so the loop doesn't fall off the point).

I took a little video of myself doing this, but it didn't come out that great. It's a little grainy and my thumb sometimes obscures what is going on. But, my goal was to show that knitting backwards by wrapping with your right hand can be a smooth and fairly fast method. (Sometimes I think English-style knitting gets dumped on too much on the internet. Like anything, I think it has its pros and cons.)

I have a headache from trying to figure out which video format to use, and how to get it into that format. I'm still not really sure this will work. That said, here's the link to the video I made. Let me know if this even works. Be forwarned, it's about 7 MB so expect to wait a while if you have a slow connection.

This was my first visit to the KnittingHelp website, and I think it's a great resource. On the Purling page, she also links to a Finnish video showing a different method of Continental purling (direct link to the 19MB video). This looks very cool. I've never seen this method before and I can't wait to try it out the next time I'm knitting Continental (usually when I do ribbing).

Lady E. Update:

I'm on ball nbr 5 (out of possibly 12?). I'm still loving the way it looks, but the entrelac is just starting to get the teensiest bit boring... But don't worry, I'm going to try really hard to finish this project in a timely manner. Yeah, yeah, and work on the hat too. ;-)

Entrelac <> Speed

2006-03-12T23:05:00.000-05:00

So, I spent the entire weekend knitting my Lady Eleanor Stole and this is all I have to show for it -- a 21 x 12 inch rectangle. It seems like I should have made more progress, but I guess speed and entrelac really don't go hand in hand.

All of this knitting was done in (or en route to) lovely Woodstock, Vermont, where I spent the weekend at a family gathering. There was much eating of great food, playing of games, and general sitting about and chatting. Oh, and knitting. There was quite a lot of knitting, but that was mostly just me, I guess.

I am really enjoying knitting this stole. Yeah, it's certainly slower than straight knitting, but entrelac is so much fun. I have been continuing to practice my new backward knitting skills on this project and I can report that my speed has greatly increased. I really like this technique now. I love not having to turn the whole project around to knit back and forth on those little 8-stitch-wide sections. Without backward knitting I think this project would probably be a nightmare.

I have used up two balls of yarn and the stole currently measures 12" long. So, I guess that means that the 10 balls I have will give me a total length of about 60" with no fringe. I'm thinking that may not be quite long enough (plus I would like some fringe). I may need another 2 or 3 balls. I guess I should have thought this out before buying, but I was operating in the haze of a yarn swoon. I saw other people's posts that said they used 10 balls, so I bought 10 balls -- not thinking that I would really want more of a wrap, and less of a 'big scarf'. Hopefully there will be more of this dye lot.

Abrupt Change of Topic: I recently read a great roundup (part 1 and part 2) of all the various knitting-related podcasts that are currently out there. It's by Anne of knitspot. Go check it out. It introduced me to a few I'd never heard of.

If you haven't listened to any knitting podcasts yet, I would recommend you try out Cast On first. You don't need an iPod or mp3 player to listen to a podcast, you can just download the audio file and play it on your computer. However, they do tend to be big files, so you may only want to do that if you have a high-speed internet connection.

Yeah, I Bought More Yarn. . . Sigh

2006-03-09T23:59:00.000-05:00

Look at what my Yarn Enabler, aka Melissa, has procured for me -- Noro Silk Garden in color 217. I just love these colors. And it is softer than I expected, too. But not cheap. No sirree, Bob.

This yarn is going to be used to make the Lady Eleanor Stole from Scarf Style. I've had my eye on this pattern for a while, especially after seeing this one at Fig and Plum. However, it was the gorgeous colors of Aimee's that made me take the plunge. I just can't stop looking at it -- I'm in looooove. So, I'm being a copycat and making it in exactly the same color. [Oh shush, I'll get back to Rogue eventually. Gotta go with the inspiration, right?]

I've also decided to start knitting items for the Dulaan Project. It's an organization that collects items to send to impoverished children & adults in Mongolia, where the temperatures get down to -40ºF at night.

Here's a picture of my first hat to donate to this project. It's just a simple ribbed hat made with two strands of stash yarn.

I started this in desperation the other day when the rest of my family was sitting down to watch Zathura (really enjoyed this movie, by the way). I was in a panic -- frantically searching through my knitting bags (and the various piles of knitting that are distributed throughout my family room) for something easy to work on so I could concentrate on the movie. It was kind of funny actually, I was all like, "Wait, wait. Don't start the movie yet -- I can't find any knitting!"

I am such an addict. I can't just sit when I watch movies any more; I must be knitting. Otherwise I get so restless. My hands need to be busy so my mind can concentrate. This becomes an issue when I visit people who like to turn off all the lights when they watch movies (Hi, Sister#2).

Anyhow, easy hats and scarves make for good "movie knitting", so I'm going to try to keep some of these Dulaan patterns ready to go for movie nights here. I might try this Double-Thick, Super-Warm Dulaan Hat pattern next. It appears to be just a big tube which you fold in half and gather together -- an easy way to get extra warmth without the complexity of double knitting.

Herringbone Cloche Woes

2006-03-07T21:25:00.000-05:00

Thanks to those who voted in my Scarf Poll. I'm going to wait a few more days in the hopes that some more people will come out of hiding and participate. Currently "Rip It" is leading by only a few votes.

OK, I promised to give an update as to what was going on with the Herringbone Cloche from Vogue Knitting Hats & Caps Two. To review, this is the pattern that has you knit 3 triangles and seam them together to make the crown of the hat. Then you pick up stitches around the bottom of the crown to knit the brim flat, which you then seam. The stitch pattern used in this hat is herringbone stitch. It can be found in Barbara Walker's first Treasury of Knitting Patterns, where it is called Little Herringbone. It is also the stitch pattern used for the popular My So Called Scarf available at Sheep in the City.

I love this stitch pattern, but after two unsuccessful attempts to make an appropriate-sized triangle, I have given up on the hat-construction method given in the Vogue hat book. I see no way that three triangles of the size given could ever fit a normal human head. Also, I have only found two instances online of someone actually having made this thing, and they both apparently ended in the creation of an ill-fitting hat.

Therefore, I have given up on the book's instructions and and have decided to knit the crown in the round, and then pick up the brim stitches and knit that in the round also. So I searched all over the internet, but I was unable to find directions for how to work herringbone stitch in the round. Not one to be daunted by a challenge, I experimented a bit and I think I have figured it out.

I was going to post my instructions here but I am having a hard time explaining them right now. Maybe I will post them later if this hat works out.

I knit this swatch on big needles to test my new herringbone stitch in the round method. The blue yarn shows what would normally be the wrong-side rows. The bottom-most blue row was knit from the right side with my new 'in-the-round' method. The next two blue rows were knit from the wrong side with the original purl-based method. I think they look the same. What do you think?

Well, I have started knitting the crown of the hat with this new method. It is very slow going though, so my progress has not been stellar. I've tried it on and it does fit my head so far. But keep your fingers crossed. I think it will will get tricky when I need to start decreasing.

I bet Sister#2 is now regretting that she picked this particular hat pattern. I think I'm regretting having shown it to her...

Oh hey, I came across this Authors on Tour site where you can listen online (or download) podcasts of certain authors speaking about their latest books. I really enjoyed listening to Al Franken and Audrey Niffenegger (I loved her book, The Time Traveler’s Wife). They also have some interesting authors coming up. I'm looking forward to listening to Lemony Snickett. Check it out.

Drowning in UFO's

2006-03-06T00:33:00.000-05:00

[Updated to add: Well, apparently my poll broke the dumb webpollcentral website. OK, maybe it was just a coincidence that I put up the poll and then the whole site went down for several hours. Anyway, it seems to be working again so if you tried to vote earlier and got an error message, try again now.]

I have a very large number of unfinished projects. They are stuffed in bags and boxes and are spilling out of the corners of my house. It has gotten so bad that although I own millions of needles it seems I can never find the size I need because they have been left in some abandoned project somewhere. And it is a huge pain to go digging through bags to try and track down some needles. Whenever I look at these bags of projects it just drags me down. It makes me feel like a quitter (hey, no snide remarks about my Olympic failure -- I heard that).

Anyhow, it was one of my New Year's resolutions to sort through all of these UFO's and finish those that were worth finishing and rip the others. (Don't even ask about my progress on Resolution #1.) Well, I have attempted to start doing this but I frequently become paralyzed with indecision as to whether to continue a project or not. For instance, look at this scarf:

UFO #1:

The Ruffles Scarf from Scarf Style.

I am knitting it with Katia Firenze, in Grey Pearl (grayish blue) and Polished Pewter (silver). I used this yarn because I thought it would give the scarf a subtle sheen, but it is not really very noticeable.

The pattern shows this scarf knit in a single color, but the notes mention the two-color option as an alternative. I chose that option because I thought it would snazz the scarf up a bit. However, I don't think I like the way it's coming out. The scarf tends to clump into groups of two ruffles, which seems to be emphasized by the two colors.

The pictures here don't really show the clumping. I had to yank on the scarf pretty hard to even it out. I probably should have included a clumpy picture to give you a better idea of what it looks like without a lot of fiddling.

I have only completed about 12 inches of the scarf so far. The pattern gives a finished length of 86" so I guess I am less than 1/8th of the way done.

My concerns about this scarf are:
a) it might be ugly, and
b) I'm not sure that I would ever wear it.

So, since I am notoriously awful at decision-making, I would like your assistance in deciding whether I should continue with this scarf or not. Please help me out by voting in the poll below.

All lurkers are encouraged to participate (especially those whose names begin with an 'R'.)

What should I do with this scarf?
	Finish it.
	Rip it.
	You're asking me? Make your own damn decisions, lady.

View Results

House of Grumpiness

2006-03-03T14:40:00.000-05:00

It has been a difficult week here at chez Persnickety. My children have been hit by whatever bad cold and/or respiratory flu has been going around. They are well on the road to recovery now, but who knew two sick nine-year-old girls could be so dramatic in their illness? Yes, I've been a sympathetic mommy, but after 5 days of stereophonic coughing, sniffling, moaning, whining, and arguing I think need a vacation.

On a happier note, I have finished the Bearfoot socks that have been sitting in my UFO pile for almost a year. Here are the specs:

Pattern:: These are just basic stockinette socks, made without a real pattern.
Yarn:: Mountain Colors Bearfoot [60% superwash wool, 25% mohair, 15% nylon],
color: Rosehip
Needles:: 2.5mm Addis
Gauge:: 7.75-8sts and 10.5 rows = 1"
Comments:: I just love the color of this yarn and its softness. It seems a little thicker than other socks yarns I've been using lately, but it's nice because the socks came out thick and warm (maybe that's due to the mohair content?). I'd like to make another pair of socks with this yarn, but maybe with some texture next time.

The only interesting thing on these socks is that I used the Eye of Partridge stitch on the heel flap. This was my first time using it and I think it's a keeper, especially with variegated yarn. It's basically the heel stitch, but with the slipped stitches offset on every right-side row to form more of a checkerboard look (compared with the columns look that you get with the normal heel stitch.)

Here is a chart I created for the Eye of Partridge stitch, in case any of you are unfamiliar with it and want to give it a try. Apparently there are variations of it, but this is what I used.

So now the only unfinished socks I have are my Jaywalkers, and I'm not really motivated to work on those. Maybe I'll start another stranded pair. Hmmm.

And last but not least, I just finished the afghan square I volunteered to make for Christine. She is collecting blue 8"x8" knitted squares to make a blanket for her brother Jef who is battling a recurrent brain tumor. Go on over and help her out if you have some time.

I made this square with some unnamed blue wool from my stash. I used a modified version of the Forbes Forest Scarf pattern.

Oh, and Sister#2, don't worry. I'm still working on your cloche. More about that next time.

I am Evil

2006-02-28T12:00:00.000-05:00

Well, I may have sucked at the Olympics, but I did finish some things during those 16 days.

First of all, I finished my dad's argyle socks. [See my gallery entry for details.] I can now count these as my February socks for the Sock-a-Month KAL.

I also finished my Forbes Forest Scarf. I enjoyed making this scarf and I'm really happy with how it came out. Uncool Guy is the lucky recipient. And Maria, in case you're wondering, -- no reason, just because I'm such a good wife ;).

Pattern:: Forbes Forest by Kathy Zimmerman, from Scarf Style
Yarn:: Jo Sharp DK Wool,
color: 908 (glade), 5.5 balls
Needles:: US 6
Comments:: At first I didn't think I would like this pattern. There was just too much going on with all the cables and bobbles and whatnot. However, after memorizing the pattern & bobble technique, I really started to enjoy making this scarf. It is rather slow knitting since there are cables to cross or bobbles to make on every right-side row, but cabling without a needle can really help your speed. [I like Grumperina's instructions.] And the technique works really well here because the cables are so narrow.

This was my first project with bobbles, and I have to say that I think I am now a bobble convert. Previously, I poo-pooed all bobble-containing patterns. But now I'm a fan. I found that knitting backwards on the second row of the bobble (instead of turning) really made bobbling much more enjoyable. [Here are some links with instructions on how to knit backwards English style and continental style, in case you are not familiar with this technique.]

Back here I mentioned that I would try to do the rest of this scarf continental style. Well, I think I ended up doing about half and half, and surprisingly I can't see a difference in gauge. My timer broke, so I was unable to time myself properly, but continental style was definitely faster. However, I found bobbling easier English style.

Oh, I have also discovered that I am apparently quite evil:
Harry Potter Personality Quiz

If you are a knitter, take the quiz and post your results here. Double Helix is taking a survey of the personality types of knitters. It will be interesting to see the results.

Knitting Mojo

2006-02-25T23:59:00.000-05:00

So, it’s the end of the Olympics and you may be wondering where my Rogue cardigan is. Well, it’s lying uncompleted in a heap in the corner of my couch, where I tossed it in annoyance a week ago. It needed a time out (or maybe I did).

I was going to write about how the pockets weren't lining up smoothly with the body, how the pocket join was bulging, how the pockets seemed too way too small, how the whole cardigan seemed like it was not going to fit. However, when I uncrumpled the sweater to take a picture of these problem areas, I discovered that it wasn't as bad as I had previously thought. The 'time out' may have worked its magic -- I am actually considering working on it again soon. However, because of my displeasure with this Bartlett yarn, I will be taking it slow and easy, to avoid another fit of annoyance.

My so-called participation in this Knitting Olympics thing has made me realize something important though - I am a rebel knitter. I do not like to knit whatever I am ‘supposed’ to be knitting. Before the Olympics, I could barely restrain myself from starting Rogue; during the Olympics it felt like a chore to work on it. I am continually promising people knitted items and then losing all interest in finishing them (or sometimes, even starting them), to wit: my dad’s argyle socks, the Trixi Cardigan for Daughter#1, socks for Niece#2, the tank top I started as a knit-along with my neighbor (Hi, Maria!). The list goes on and on.

I don’t think it is just a matter of being an ADD Knitter – I really do like to finish things. I especially like to finish things that are gifts for people, but only when they have no idea I am making them. Then I knit like a trooper to get stuff done (I finished 12 knitted gifts this Christmas, as my gallery can attest.). But when the recipient knows about the gift – then, I lose all interest.

All this promising and not delivering has caused me much knitting guilt. And guilt is bad. It takes away from my knitting mojo. And we can’t have that, since knitting is my only source of mojo lately ;).

With that in mind, here is

My New Knitting Credo

I will knit what I want, when I want, for whomever I want,
regardless of whatever knit-alongs or other crap I sign up for.

And I won’t feel bad about it either.

So relatives, take heed: if I promise you a knitted item, be aware this really means that I may eventually knit something for you. But don’t hold your breath. Sorry, but I gotta protect the mojo.

No Olympic Knitting Here...

2006-02-21T21:57:00.000-05:00

Olympics? What Olympics?

Here's what I've been working on lately. The argyle socks that I promised my Dad exactly one year ago. [How's that for turnaround time?] This is the 2nd sock. All I have left to do is adjust the toe a little. Then I will be DONE. Just in time for my dad's birthday.

These will be my dad's first pair of handknit socks. I hope he enjoys them. I'm just glad they are done. They've been causing me guilt for too long.

After seeing the pictures of Eunny's mini-argyles, I am really tempted to try something like that. I will try to restrain myself and remember that I have two other pairs of socks waiting in the wings to be finished (but what fun is that?).

In other news, Sister #2 will be quite happy to see this picture. That could only mean that -- I've finally started her hat. Yay! [She's been soooo patient.]

It's going to be the Herringbone Cloche from Vogue Hats & Caps Two. I'm using Rowan Felted Tweed. I really like the color of this yarn with all the cute little fleckies in it. However, I'm not sure about this hat pattern...

The pattern has you make 3 triangular shapes for the crown, then sew them together and pick up stitches all around for a brim. That's fine, except the dimensions of the hat given seem kind of small (20" around and 6" deep (w/o brim).

My gauge is off, which I discovered by knitting the first triangle above. I did some calculating to figure out what size these triangles are supposed to be (based on the given gauge). Then I calculated how many sts & rows I'd have to do to get the right size triangle. That's where I'm at right now. After I finish one of these correct-sized triangles, I will have to determine if three of these things will really make a properly fitting hat. I am having major doubts.

That said, I am loving this herringbone stitch pattern. It's got great texture, and it's not stiff at all. Very slow going though. And if you make a mistake -- look out. Big pain to rip back here.

The Wheel

2006-02-18T17:56:00.000-05:00

[UPDATED TO ADD: Sorry for the confusion. The list below was generated by typing "Persnickety Knitter" into a random 'fact' generator called the Mechanical Contrivium. It's fun. Try it.]

OK, I'm sure this will be all over blogland shortly, but I just couldn't resist.

Ten Top Trivia Tips about
Persnickety knitter!

Persnickety knitter has often been found swimming miles from shore in the Indian Ocean!
Most bottles and jars contain at least twenty-five percent recycled Persnickety Knitter.
Scientists have discovered that Persnickety Knitter can smell the presence of autism in children.
During the reign of Peter the Great, any Russian nobleman who chose to wear Persnickety Knitter had to pay a special Persnickety Knitter tax!
Persnickety Knitter invented the wheel in the fourth millennium BC.
Women shoplift four times more frequently than Persnickety Knitter.
A thimbleful of Persnickety Knitter would weigh over 100 million tons.
Persnickety Knitter is the only king without a moustache on the standard pack of cards.
The Aztec Indians of Mexico believed Persnickety Knitter would protect them from physical harm, and so warriors used her to decorate their battle shields.
Persnickety Knitter can usually be found in nests built in the webs of large spiders!

Hmmm, highly unlikely. Persnickety Knitter prefers not to get wet, and thus stays out of the water, except on the hottest of days.
Well, I do believe in recycling...
Quite possibly. Persnickety Knitter does have a highly developed sense of smell.
My knitted socks were quite popular back then.
Yes, and it's nice to finally get credit for it.
Who are all these thieving women?
I resent the implication that I am dense.
Well, Persnickety Knitter does prefer to be clean-shaven.
I do so enjoy a good battle.
Untrue. You will not find Persnickety Knitter anywhere near a spider, especially large spiders that build nests. Yikes.

Knitting Update:

Finished one argyle sock, on the ankle of the second (pics tomorrow). Yeah, I know. Break over. Time to get back to Rogue. Sigh.

This project is dragging me down. I'm going to need to all the moral support I can get to finish this on time. With that in mind, I just joined:

the new Team Rogue
and
the Rogue-Along Yahoo group.

Hopefully, seeing everyone else's progress will inspire me. Yeah, right.

In Need of a Stockinette Fix

2006-02-16T21:41:00.000-05:00

Olympic Knitting Update: Two sleeves of my Rogue cardigan completed, body started, currently knitting the pocket area.

It took me a whole evening to cast on for the body and make the hem with my stupid new method. What a drag that was. This yarn is kind of fragile when split and therefore it broke a couple times while picking up all those hem stitches. Also, I am no longer convinced that this hem is deep enough to keep the edge from flipping up. Well, at least the hem is finished and I won't have to sew it up later.

Last night I knit the pocket area, which was mildly confusing with the cardigan modifications. You can see the pockets sticking up from each end of the needle in the pic above.

I have to say, I am not enjoying knitting with this yarn. It's kind of rough (almost crunchy?) and doesn't run through your fingers smoothly. It has a lot of natural oils left in it and after knitting for a few hours my hands smell sheepy and feel gross -- like I've been touching someone's greasy hair. Ick. But the color -- I'm still loving that. And my washed swatch did feel nice, so I'm not giving up hope yet.

However, the roughness of this yarn, combined with all the cables and stitch picking-up and whatnot, is wreaking havoc on my hands. Last night I started getting wrist pain so I decided it was time to give this project a rest for a couple days.

Instead, I was craving a simple knit. . . Something with soft yarn. Something knit in the round, in all stockette. Hmmmm . . . I know, those stupid argyle socks!

Well, I dug them out and I've been cranking along on them quite happily. I've decided I need to keep one easy stockinette project going as a way to rest my hands (cuz you know I can't just not knit). I'm hoping to finish sock number one tonight. That will make my dad happy since I promised these socks to him almost a year ago (pathetic, I know).

Hey, guess what today is?

Why it's my knittiversary. Three years ago today, I was taught to knit by my mother-in-law. I was hooked immediately. In fact we went to the craft store that day and I bought some cotton yarn and a book of knitted dishcloth patterns. I was so excited that I cast on for my first project right away. I knit during the entire two-hour ride home from my in-laws' house. And I created..... THIS:

My first knitted object -- isn't it lovely?
Ummm, no.

It used to be yellow, blue, and white but is now dingy from use. Still, you can see the hallmarks of a beginner's knit: the cast-off that is much tighter than the cast-on, the basket-weave pattern that gets accidentally reversed 2/3 of the way up the dishcloth, the crappy weaving-in of the ends. This dishcloth needs to be put out of its misery.

Anyhow, thank you, Marcia, for introducing me to the wide and exciting world of knitting. I am eternally grateful.

Aaaaah, Chocolate

2006-02-14T19:53:00.000-05:00

Hope everyone is having a nice Valentine's Day (happy is expecting a lot, no?). Uncool Guy has showered me with lovely flowers and far too much chocolate. I can't believe I just said that -- is there such a thing as "too much chocolate"? Well, yes -- when some of these pieces have a whopping 460 CALORIES each! Yikes. And, ummm, I had three... But I did ride the bike for 40 minutes. That probably worked off half a piece, maybe. Sigh.

In Olympic news, I have finished another sleeve on my Rogue cardigan. [That would be 3 sleeves total for those who are counting.] Going to start the body tonight.

Oh, and have you seen the free pattern Melissa just posted for heart cable socks? They are quite lovely. I will have to try this pattern out later, post-Olympics.

Actually, I just realized I had better think about finishing some socks for the month of February for the Sock-a-Month KAL. And I probably had better make it be those darn argyle socks for my dad. [He finally did check out my blog.] I really need to get those off my plate. I suppose that means that Sister#2 will be annoyed that it will postpone her hat. Hey, I do accept bribes...

Sorry no pics today. Instead I will leave you with this:

Your Candy Heart Says "Get Real"

You're a bit of a cynic when it comes to love.
You don't lose your head, and hardly anyone penetrates your heart.

Your ideal Valentine's Day date: is all about the person you're seeing (with no mentions of v-day!)

Your flirting style: honest and even slightly sarcastic

What turns you off: romantic expectations and "greeting card" holidays

Why you're hot: you don't just play hard to get - you are hard to get

What Does Your Candy Heart Say?

Found here.

A Tale of Two Rogue Hems

2006-02-13T14:49:00.000-05:00

How are you all progressing with your Olympic challenges? Me? Eh, not so hot.

Here is the story of how I spent my weekend, deep in hem-analysis. [Beware, super-anal post ahead...]

To review, I'm making Rogue (with the cardigan modifications) in the small size, using Bartlett yarns 2ply on a US 7. I decided to start with a sleeve, since if I mucked it up there would less to rip (and therefore less bad language involved). Good thing, cuz muck it up I did.

I decided follow the modifications for the smaller hem, and so this is what I did:

used a provisional cast-on, knit 5 rows in stockinette with US5, then did the purl turning row,
switched to US7 and knit 5 rows of the body (with the increases and the cables),
then knit up the cast-on stitches with the next row of the body. Since there were more body stitches than cast-on stitches (cuz of the increases), I had to knit some body stitches solo (I got the idea for this at String or Nothing). This was a royal pain when combined with having to follow the cable chart at the same time.

I'm sure this would have looked good in a lighter-weight yarn. But it just didn't cut it with this aran-weight yarn. The hem was big and bulky.

Witness Exhibit A, the thick ugly hem:

I wish I had noticed this sooner, but I was madly knitting away, oblivious to the lumpiness. At the beginning of the sleeve cap, I temporarily seamed it up to check the fit and discovered not only that I didn't like this hem, but also that it was a little snugger at the wrist than I wanted (probably cuz of the thick hem), and that I had accidentally made an extra increase 3" back. Sigh. Three reasons to rip the whole thing.

You know, upon beginning this project, I really was going to try rein in the persnicketiness and just GET IT DONE. But. . . three problems? I just had to rip.

And I'm glad I did because after spending much time perusing my trusty Principles of Knitting by June Hiatt and messing with different hem options, I found a much nicer option.

First of all, I decided to split my 2-ply yarn and use only one ply of it for the hem facing to help eliminate the bulk. This was kind of a pain, but the facing really didn't really use that much yarn so I didn't have to split very much. I tried doing the recommended hem with the purl turning row with the split yarn as facing but then the edge flared too much.

So, I kept using split yarn, but switched the method of hem construction, so I was picking up the facing from the cast-on row (instead of knitting the facing first and folding in half). This finally resulted in A HEM THAT I LOVE.

Here's what I did, step-by-step:

BEGIN SLEEVE:

Cast on sleeve stitches PLUS 4 (so 43 sts) with US8 using long-tail method.
Sleeve Row 0 (WS) - [This is an extra row WS row.] I just followed the directions for row 2 of the sleeve as given by the pattern, but with an extra K1 on each end (which accounts for 2 of the extra cast-on stitches). The other 2 extra cast-on stitches replace the two make-1-purls on the chart (which would have happened if I had followed row 1 as given).
Sleeve Row 1 (RS) - Followed the directions for the real row 1, but again with the extra K1 on each end and purling existing sts instead of doing the m-1-purl.

BEGIN HEM FACING:

Facing Row 1 - Now, using a US7 and my SPLIT YARN (half the thickness of my main yarn), I picked up and knit 41 sts (2 LESS than I did above) from the purl bumps on the WS of the cast-on row of the sleeve. I did not pick up stitches from the 1st and last purl bumps of the cast-on row since those stitches would just be part of the seam anyway and I didn't want to add unnecesary bulk.
Facing Row 2 - I purled all of the facing stitches.
Facing Row 3 - I knit all of the facing stitches, then cut the SPLIT YARN.

RESUME SLEEVE:

Sleeve Row 2 (WS) - [Here I joined the sleeve with the hem facing.] I picked up the sleeve yarn again and held both the sleeve needle and the facing needle together like I was going to do a 3-needle bind-off. I purled 1 sleeve stitch all by itself. Then I followed the instructions for row 2 of the sleeve, but by purling (or knitting) BOTH the sleeve and facing stitches together. I ended by purling the extra sleeve stitch by itself.
I then followed the rest of the sleeve directions as given (except for my extra 1 st at each end), however, I did my increases on RS rows instead of WS rows, and I eliminated the final set of interior increases to get back on track with the given nbr of stitches.

OK, that was long, and probably very boring, but I really love the resulting hem. It seems to lie flat, it's not bulky, and it's still kind of stretchy. Big difference from my first attempt.

Witness Exhibit B, the hem comparison:

After all that hem business, I finally got down to some serious knitting and managed to finish the new sleeve yesterday (the snowstorm helped). Here it is.

Now on to the next one...

Anatomically Correct Sock Toes

2006-02-08T23:42:00.000-05:00

I have long big toes, and when I'm making socks I like to shape the toe area to fit my foot "like a glove" (well really "like a sock", but you know what I mean). Yes, this does mean that you have to pay a bit more attention when you put on your socks (to make sure they are on the right foot), but hey, if you can do it with shoes, you can do it with socks.

I developed these instructions through trial and error, but I now use them for all of the socks I make for myself. I hope my fellow large-big-toed knitters will find this helpful.

Anatomically Correct Sock Toes
(for Top-Down Socks)

NOTES:

These directions are for use with typical sock-weight yarn. You may have to reduce the number of rounds in each section for use with heavier yarn. [However, I just used these directions for my Log Cabin Socks, which were made with a bulky weight yarn on US6 needles and they worked out fine.]

For ease in writing these instructions, I will be assuming that you are using 3 DPNs, arranged like this:

I will also be assuming that you have:

1/4 of your stitches on needle 1,
1/2 of your stitches on needle 2, and
1/4 of your stitches on needle 3

*** I will be referring to the point between needle 1 and needle 3 as the end of the round. If you are using 2 circulars (as I usually do), just consider the end of the round to be at the middle of the bottom-of-the-foot needle.

As you are knitting the foot of your sock, keep trying it on (put stitches on a piece of scrap yarn, if necessary) and stop when your sock reaches the base of the toenail of your little toe (basically the point at which the width of your foot starts to decrease). WRITE DOWN how many rounds you have knit on the foot so far. This will be useful information for the 2nd sock. Skip this step, and regret it later (I know I usually do.)

TOE AREA OF LEFT SOCK

Start Little Toe Decreases:

[Basically, here you are decreasing every other row, but on the little-toe side only.]

Round 1:: Needle 1 - Knit.; Needle 2 - K to last 3 sts, K2tog, K1.; Needle 3 - K1, SSK, K to end.
Round 2:: Knit.

Repeat these two rounds 7 times, and then repeat Round 1 once more (so 15 rows total). [The sock should now reach approximately to the tip of your middle toe. If not, adjust accordingly, but end with a decrease round.]

Start Big Toe Decreases:

[Basically, here you start decreasing on the big-toe side (at first every other row, then every row). Also, you switch to decreasing every row on the little-toe side.]

Round 1:: Needle 1 - K to last 3 sts, K2tog, K1.; Needle 2 -- K1, SSK, K to last 3 sts, K2tog, K1.; Needle 3 - K1, SSK, K to end.
Round 2:: Needle 1 - Knit.; Needle 2 - K to last 3 sts, K2tog, K1.; Needle 3 - K1, SSK, K to end.
Rounds 3, 4, & 5:: Repeat Round 1.
Round 6 (partial round):: Needle 1 - Knit.

Graft the toe stitches together. [I find it easier to graft the sock closed fairly loosely and then go back and tighten the stitches one by one, working the extra yarn toward the loose end.]

Pull the yarn tight at the end (to eliminate any bumpiness at the end of your grafting) and weave the end in.

TOE AREA OF RIGHT SOCK

Oh, bother. I'm tired. Can't I just take the easy way out and say, "reverse the shaping?"

Fine, here it is, reversed for your second sock pleasure.

Start Little Toe Decreases:

Round 1:: Needle 1 - K to last 3 sts, K2tog, K1.; Needle 2 - K1, SSK, K to end.; Needle 3 - Knit.
Round 2:: Knit.

Repeat these two rounds 7 times, and then repeat Round 1 once more (so 15 rows total).

Start Big Toe Decreases:

Round 1:: Needle 1 - K to last 3 sts, K2tog, K1.; Needle 2 -- K1, SSK, K to last 3 sts, K2tog, K1.; Needle 3 - K1, SSK, K to end.
Round 2:: Needle 1 - K to last 3 sts, K2tog, K1.; Needle 2 - K1, SSK, K to end.; Needle 3 - Knit.
Rounds 3, 4, & 5:: Repeat Round 1.
Round 6 (partial round):: Needle 1 - Knit.

Graft toe stitches together and weave in end.

Leave me a comment if you have any questions. If you actually make these, let me know how they turn out.

Pattern & images © 2006 Tamara Stone-Snyder.
May be distributed freely for personal use only. Cannot be reprinted on the web or otherwise without permission.

There are aliens hiding in my gallery...

2006-02-05T23:59:00.000-05:00

After listing the Finished Object Gallery in my right sidebar as "under construction" for several months, I have finally gotten around to posting it. Yay!

Yeah, OK, it's not done. But I've posted all of the sweaters, some bags, and some scarves -- including the oh so very cool Alien Illusion Scarf that I made for Nephew#3. Go check it out in my lovely new Finished Object Gallery. Leave me a comment there and let me know what you think.

I've gotten some work done on the Forbes Forest Scarf lately. It's going to be for Uncool Guy. He says he really likes how it's coming along (bobbles and all).

This scarf pattern requires lots of switching from knitting to purling and vice versa. When knitting English style (yarn held in right hand), a whole extra step is required to move the yarn around the needle to the back or the front to knit or to purl. However, when knitting Continental style (yarn in left hand) you can just shift your finger to the back or the front to switch between knitting and purling. [It's sooo much faster to do ribbing that way]. So, I decided to do some time trials to see how much faster it would be to knit this scarf Continental style than English style. It's a little hard to compare because the center and edge cables have different repeats so it takes a while to get back to the exact same type of row. Also, the bobble rows really slow you down.

The one thing I still can't do Continental style is the big 'popcorn' bobble on this pattern. It starts with having you knit into the front, back, front, back, front of the same stitch (to create 5 sts out of 1). I find that impossible to do while holding the yarn ONLY in my left hand; holding it in my right I have much more leverage. I guess each style has its pros and cons.

Anyhow, in my time trials, I was averaging around 6 min 50 sec English style and 6 min 20 sec Continental style for a set of 2 rows that didn't contain a bobble. I thought there would be an even bigger difference, but I'm guessing I will get even faster with the Continental style if I practice it more. I'm fairly comfortable holding the yarn in my left hand, but not nearly as much as I am holding it in my right. I'm going to try to do the rest of the scarf Continental. I'll let you know if I get faster.

Bad Unicorn... Bad

2006-02-01T22:16:00.000-05:00

Sister#2 finally picked a yarn for her Herringbone Cloche. Isn't it purrrty? I'm happy cuz she chose something that I'm excited to try -- Rowan Felted Tweed in color 151 (Billberry). I've never ordered from Jimmy Bean's Wool before, so we'll see how that goes.

And, of course, I could never just order 2 measly skeins of yarn... what a waste of shipping charges that would be. ;) So I also ordered me some Addi Turbos (whoooooosh, imagine Brenda Dayne's great sound effect here) to use for my Rogue Olympic event -- I need all the help I can get to finish that on time.

I've been making slow progress on my Jaywalker socks. I'm using Plymouth Sockotta, which normally I really like for socks (at least for socks that are all stockinette). However, it does NOT work well with this particular pattern. Sockotta is 45% cotton and thus has less stretch than an all-wool sock yarn, and this pattern NEEDS stretch due to the zigzag type of stitch pattern. It's now pretty hard for me to get these on -- and I made the large size. I may have to donate them to someone with petite little ankles -- Niece#2 maybe?

I'm almost done with the first sock, but I'm bored, bored, bored with this pattern. Not to mention that this purple/brown color combo is kind of barf-tastic -- not sure what I was thinking there. But maybe I'm just sick of socks.

So, to alleviate my boredom I brought out another project from my big ol' Heap of Abandoned Projects - the Forbes Forest Scarf from Scarf Style. I'm making it in Jo Sharp DK Wool, which I like a lot. I've only completed a couple pattern repeats, but I'm enjoying the pattern so far. Not sure about the bobbles though. . . I'm not a bobble sort of person, but I guess they are cute here. Anyway, if this is ever finished it will be for my husband, henceforth referred to as Uncool Guy (so named by Nephew#4.)

Oh, and have you seen this - very amusing. Found via Marnie Talks.

Thank you for the lovely comments on my Log Cabin Socks. And, since some people showed an interest, I will be writing up the directions for my anatomically correct sock toes very soon. So stay tuned...

First Socks of the Year -- DONE

2006-01-30T22:14:00.000-05:00

I finished my Log Cabin Socks recently, and here they are, modelled by Daughter#1. I knit these for myself, but they appear to fit her -- although they are somewhat loose in the ankle. She must have big feet for a 9-year old, because they are not tight on me. However, I haven't washed them yet, so we'll see -- she may end up with them after all.

Anyway, here are the specs:

Pattern:: Log Cabin Socks from Handknit Holidays
Yarn:: Rowan Cork (95% merino wool, 5% nylon) in color 045 (Snuggle), about 2.5 skeins
Needles:: US6 DPNs (Susan Bates aluminum -- I needed slippery ndls for these tight stitches)
Size:: The Cork label recommends a gauge of 14st=4" (on a US11), but this pattern calls for it to be knit at 24sts=4" for the women's size. I found it impossible to obtain this tiny gauge no matter what size needle I used, and I am generally a TIGHT knitter. Instead, since I have large-ish ankles, I decided to go with the directions for the men's size (which was about the gauge I was getting anyway, 20st=4").
Modifications:: Picked up 12 st (inst of 11) on each side of heel flap (to help prevent the dreaded gap at the gusset corner). Also, since I was making the large size but only wanted a large ankle and a normal foot, I decreased until I had 24 sts left on the sole (inst of 28).

The pattern has you knit the toe in stockinette, but in the book the toe looks too floppy (because of the change in gauge from the cable part). So, instead I knit the toe part in ribbing -- continuing the pattern but without the cables. On the first foot (shown on the right) I continued the cable column of stitches as stockinette -- but it got puffy, so I dropped the middle 2 stitches back on one of the cables and purled them (for a more ribbed effect). I was too lazy to do the same for the other cable section because I would have had to undo my decreases. On the second sock, I finished both cables that way.

I also made the decreases for the toe in such a way as to make them more anatomically correct (at least for me and my large big toes). This does make one sock a 'dedicated' left sock and the other a 'dedicated' right, but they fit me sooo much better that way. I now make all of the socks I knit for myself this way. I will post instructions for these toe decreases if anyone is interested.
Comments:: I am NOT a big fan of this yarn -- at least not when knit at this ridiculous gauge. My fingers were sore from knitting so tightly, especially with the cables. Also, I don't know WHY I knit these socks in a HANDWASH ONLY yarn. WHAT was I thinking? I think I got caught up in all of the excitement over these socks over at the Handknit Holidays Knitalong (and the fact that Cork was on sale at WEBS at the time).

Also, I had promised myself to not knit any more socks out of non-sock yarn, and these only have 5% nylon which doesn't quite cut it. I'm sure they will wear out instantly and I will be annoyed at the wasted effort. Sigh.

On a more postive note, the pattern is pretty cool, and they do fit well. I may make them again, but with a different yarn -- something much thinner. Although then I'd have to adjust the pattern for the new gauge.

Best of all, I get to count these socks as my January socks for the Sock-A-Month Knitalong and they up my Count Your Socks total to 30 overall. Now to finish those Jaywalkers...

She caught me...

2006-01-27T23:11:00.000-05:00

Well, Sister#2 finally checked out my blog and discovered that I am knitting lots of things OTHER THAN the cloche-style hat that I had promised her over Christmas. OK, OK, it's getting moved up in the sidebar from "Potential Projects" into the current projects section. [Let's just hope my dad doesn't check my blog for the status of his argyle socks.]

Here is the hat she has selected. It's the Herringbone Cloche from Vogue Knitting Hats & Caps Two. It calls for Kersti Merino Crepe, but Sister#2 wants it in a plum color and I don't think that yarn comes in plum (some multi-colored purples, but no plum). Soooo, I'll have to look for other plum-colored options in the 22st=4" range.

Here's what I came up with:

Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool in color 023 (plum).
Filatura Di Crosa Zara in color 1523 (dark purple).
Blue Sky Alpacas Alpaca & Silk in color 28 (plum). Or maybe their 100% Alpaca Sportweight in color 512 (eggplant).
Rowan Cashsoft DK in color 513 (Poison - love that name) or Felted Tweed Yarn in color 151 (Billberry, or maybe 148 - Sigh).
And, last but not least, South West Trading Company Optimum DK in plum.

It's hard to tell just by the online photos whether these colors are more grape (bad) or plum (good). If you have any experience with any of these yarns, leave me a comment. By the way, this doesn't count as me increasing stash cuz SHE'S supposed to buy it. I'm just the knitter. So no resolutions broken here.

Got my the Feb-Apr issue of Cast On magazine yesterday -- yuck, ick, ugh. And what is not yuck, ick, ugh is so very ho hum. Why, oh why, do I subscribe to this magazine? For the technical articles -- bah! Even those are not worth it anymore. The best thing in the magazine is this bicycle seat cover. Sigh.

In sock news, I have finally finished my Log Cabin Socks. I just have to weave in the ends. I have mixed feelings about them. Will post pics and details tomorrow.

I love my Tivo

2006-01-25T20:27:00.000-05:00

So, I finally plop myself down on the couch last night after a some late-night blogging, to watch some Daily Show or whatnot and get some knitting done. I turn on my Tivo to check what I've got to watch and I am greeted with a big blue screen. Sigh. This usually means that my network cable has come unplugged or some such irritation, but THIS TIME it was a notice about a wonderful new Tivo update that I had just received. Turns out I now have the ability to listen to podcasts directly through my Tivo. Don't have to download through the computer or anything -- just type in the feed url and it plays. Woooo-hoo! Now I can be all comfy on my couch while I listen to Cast On and Knitcast. Yay, for Tivo. What a GREAT product. Love those surprise updates.

OK, enough with the product endorsements. I have been making slow but steady progress on my Log Cabin Socks. Here is the finished one. I just finished the heel flap of the second. Progress is slow on the second because I haven't been paying attention, and thus have to keep ripping out rows where I have knit too far (on the ankle and again on the heel). Anyway, the end is in sight.

Here's a shot of back of the ankle and the heel. These socks are so thick they practically stand up by themselves. But I think the cabling down the back is very cool. Can't wait to wear these. I'm sure they will be super warm.

By the way, I just joined Team Boston for the Knitting Olympics. Check it out if you live within 1 hour of Boston and are participating in The Yarn Harlot's Knitting Olympics.
I had better step up my training program though. Look what other team members are doing to prepare for the event. Go team!

Lookie what I got

2006-01-24T22:48:00.000-05:00

I was in New Hampshire this past weekend visiting my mother, and since I was in the general vicinity I just had to visit Patternworks, and you know what THAT means... Goodbye, resolutions. Hello, yarn.

However, I did have a very good reason for breaking my resolution against buying more yarn. I'm competing in an Olympic event! Yes, it's the 2006 Knitting Olympics, hosted by Yarn Harlot.

I have decided to make Rogue for my main event. The yarn I bought for it is Bartlettyarns 2-ply 100% wool in the color called Scotia. I just LOVE this color. The pic does not quite do it justice -- it's darker in person.

The yarn is a bit rough, but I was thinking that a more rugged yarn might work for a hoodie like Rogue. I did a little swatch to check gauge (right on with a US7) and to check that the fleckiness of the yarn doesn't overwhelm the cable pattern. I think it might be OK, but I'm not sure. Anyone have any experience with this yarn or care to comment about how well cables show up in a flecky yarn? Looking for some input here...

According to the official rules of the Knitting Olympics, I'm allowed to swatch, but I can't actually cast on until the start of the Winter Olympics on Feb 10. So I have some time before I need to make a final yarn decision.

Check out the other lovely items I got for myself while at Patternworks -- a new knitting bag and a matching circular needle case. Oh, and the 4th Barb Walker book at half price. Now I will no longer be toting my projects around in a dirty old canvas bag.

Free Zigzag Lace Scarf Pattern

2006-01-23T23:59:00.000-05:00

I wrote up the pattern for the red lace scarf I recently made with Araucania Nature Wool Chunky. I thought I would share it with you. The lace pattern is my variation of one I found in Beautiful Knitting Patterns by Gisela Klopper. It is also somewhat similar to the Flemish Block Lace pattern in Barbara Walker's A Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns.

Here it is. Enjoy!

Zigzag Lace Scarf

FINISHED SIZE

About 7.5" wide and 72" long (after blocking).

YARN

2 skeins Araucania Nature Wool Chunky (100% wool; 131yd/120m per 100g hank), color: 104, dark red

NEEDLES

US #10 (6mm)

NOTIONS

Tapestry needle

GAUGE

Not critical, but mine was approximately 15-16 sts = 4" in stockinette stitch

NOTE

This scarf is worked in two identical sections, from the ends to the center back, where the two sections are grafted together. If you want to avoid grafting, just repeat the lace pattern to make the scarf as long as you want, then end with 4 rows of seed stitch and cast off loosely.

DIRECTIONS FOR SCARF HALF

(Make two)

CO 29 sts.

Row 1 (RS):k1, [p1, k1] repeat to end of row.

Rows 2-4:Repeat row 1.

Begin lace pattern, following either the written instructions or the chart.

Lace Pattern Written Instructions

Row 1 (RS):k1, p1, k2tog, yo, k, [yo, ssk, k5, k2tog, yo, k] twice, yo, ssk, p, k.

Row 2 (and all even rows):k1, p to last st, k1.

Row 3:k1, p1, k3, [k1, yo, ssk, k3, k2tog, yo, k2] twice, k2, p1, k1.

Row 5:k1, p1, k3, [k2, yo, ssk, k1, k2tog, yo, k3] twice, k2, p1, k1.

Row 7:k1, p1, k3, [k2tog, yo, k1, yo, ssk, k5] twice, k2tog, yo, p1, k1.

Row 9:k1, p1, k2, k2tog, [yo, k3, yo, ssk, k3, k2tog] twice, yo, k1, p1, k1.

Row 11:k1, p1, k1, k2tog, yo, [k5, yo, ssk, k1, k2tog, yo] twice, k2, p1, k1.

Row 12:k1, p to last st, k1.

Lace Pattern Chart

Complete rows 1-12 of the lace pattern a total of 13 and a half times, ending with row 6.

Final row (a variation of row 7 of the lace pattern):k1, p1, k3, [k3, yo, ssk, k5] twice, k2, p1, k1.

Do NOT bind off. Place these stitches on a holder or a piece of scrap yarn.

Cast on 29 sts and knit the second half of the scarf exactly as the first half.

FINISHING

Graft the two halves of the scarf together using kitchener stitch. Weave in loose ends. Wash in cool water and block by pinning to a flat surface. Let dry.

Pattern & images © 2006 Tamara Stone-Snyder.
May be distributed freely for personal use only. Cannot be reprinted on the web or otherwise without permission.

Back to some actual knitting content

2006-01-19T23:59:00.000-05:00

I've been spending so much time tweaking the old template that I have not been getting much knitting done over the past few days.

However, I did make some progress on the Log Cabin Socks. I have 1 sock complete, waiting to be kitchenered. Working on the ankle of the second. I'm not really liking the way the cables look at the point where they move from one 'column' to the other - there is a weird bumpy area there. I'm going to play with another way to do that on the second sock. Yeah, the socks won't match, but these are for me so no big deal.

Here is the red Araucania scarf that I finished this past weekend. This is the one I started back here.

This was a fun project: fast to knit because of the chunky yarn, interesting stitch pattern that didn't require too much concentration, and subtle color variation in the yarn to give it a hint of pizzazz. Very satisfying. And I think the gift was well received, which does make one feel quite "warm and cozy", as some would say.

By the way, I posted this picture using the Hello BloggerBot. It seems to give you more control over uploading photos than uploading through Blogger. For instance, you can pick the size that images are resized to. I'll have to mess with it some more though before I know if I prefer this method or not.

More technical difficulties

2006-01-16T23:59:00.000-05:00

I just realized last night that my attempt at a 3-column template looked totally awful at 800x600 resolution (big sigh...). The middle column got shoved to the bottom and it generally was a hard-to-read mess. My display is set to 1280x1024 so it was quite a shock to see how nothing fit in the lower resolutions.

Well, I think I have fixed it now (fingers crossed). MOST pages/posts should now appear in the 3-column format. However, some of my older posts have pictures that are too big to display in that format -- they should show up with the far right column shoved to the bottom.

By the way, has anyone else noticed how totally CRAPTACULAR blogger's template preview mode is? What a piece of junk. Not sure why I bother using it, considering everything looks totally different once it is published.

On a brighter note, what do you think of the new color scheme and the new banner? It's a close-up of that Noro hat I made. Try to ignore the weird little characters on the far right side of the banner. I'm still working on getting that to display properly. Geez, who knew there was so much involved in setting up a template...I'm exhausted. I spent so much time on this I didn't even get to knit today -- bummer.

I found this the other day: Personality Project

It's an online personality test, supposedly being conducted by Northwestern University. It was kind of fun. Anyway, here are my results:

Check out my personality profile!

I'm a Joiner

2006-01-12T15:55:00.000-05:00

Just joined the Count Your Socks knitalong. It sounds like fun. Check it out if you like to make socks but need some inspiration to get them finished. I started knitting in Feb of 2003, and since then I've knit 29 pairs. Of those, 10 pairs have been for me. However, I need to crank out a few more pairs for myself because several of my early socks have worn through in the heel and the ball of the foot. I used to knit socks with merino wool and wonder why they didn't last (duh). I darned some of them, but even the darning wore out. I learned my lesson after the first ten socks or so, and now I use only sock yarn.

I've got 4 more pairs of socks in progress (some of which are more "in progress" than others). Here is the rundown:

Jaywalker Socks in Plymouth Sockotta

Status = Inactive, abandoned for Christmas gift knitting, to be picked up soon.

Progress = About halfway through the first ankle.

Log Cabin socks (from Handknit Holidays) in Rowan Cork

Status = Active

Progress = Having issues with sizing. Completed the ankle of the woman's size, but the cables made the ankles rather tight. I switched to using bigger ndls (US6) and started making the man's size instead. I'm about halfway through the ankle on that (and now it may be too loose, sigh... this is how projects get abandoned). Oh, and yeah, I realize this is not sock yarn, but they are so cute in the book I couldn't resist. I'll have to reinforce the bottom of the foot somehow...

Argyle socks for my Dad (my stupid pattern, or lack thereof)

Status = Sick of them. This is my 4th attempt at an ankle that fits properly - don't ask.

Progress = uggh

Mountain Colors Bearfoot socks

Status = Inactive.

Progress = Was having sizing issues again due to poor choice of needle size. Need to rip and start over (sigh)

You might think that having made so many pairs of socks I would not be having so many sizing issues. Well, you would be wrong. Maybe I am just overly picky about sock fit -- but no one likes a floppy sock.

Update on the stupid 3-column template: I think I finally got it working. Leave me a comment if the columns appear to overlap on your computer (especially when you resize the window). Thanks.

Stupid 3-column template

2006-01-08T21:45:00.000-05:00

Uuuuuuuuggggggggggghhhhhhhhhh! I am annoyed. Can't seem to get this 3-column template to work properly. It appears fine in the preview, but not once it is published. Stupid, stupid, stupid. I have wasted FAR too much time trying to fix this. I give up for tonight. I need to go knit and de-stress.

Blocking Pin Review & Candy Cane Hats

2006-01-07T22:33:00.000-05:00

The new issue of MagKnits is up and I'm a little bummed that it is mostly stuff for babies, since I have no babies for whom to knit (kids, yes; babies, no). I do really like this Medusa hat though. I'll have to find some relative who wants one, as I am not really a hat-wearing person.

I finished knitting the red scarf today. I knit it in two halves and will be grafting the halves together tomorrow hopefully. It's blocking now. Pics tomorrow.

Speaking of blocking, I got to use my new blocking pins that Santa brought me in my stocking. They are the Clover ones with the double pins and the pink and blue tops. I think these are the overpriced ones they were selling in that store that had never heard of blocking your knitting. [Price is no object to Santa, apparently.]

Well, I'm sorry to report that these pins suck royally. Or, at least, they do with my blocking board (which is the big gray one they sell at Patternworks). These Clover pins bend way too easily and are hard to push in. I finally got myself to AC Moore this evening and purchased some good old T-pins (40 for a whole $2.59 -- whatta bargain). Why did I not think of looking in the sewing aisle earlier? Especially when certain people even suggested I go to a fabric store. Must have been my unnatural fear of fabric stores. That and the fact that I don't know where any are. Anyway, I'm happy now -- I bought three boxes of pins. So now I can go super-anal and pin every inch of whatever I block. [You know I will.]

Went to see King Kong today -- great movie. Tried knitting while watching, but that was kind of a bust. Got about two inches of the wrist warmers I'm working on done, but then I got all messed up and there were too many dark scenes to sort it out. Anyway, there was a lot of action that needed to be concentrated upon -- not a good knitting movie.

Well, I will leave you with a picture of a hat I made as a Christmas gift for my niece. Here are the details:

Pattern: Candy Cane Hat from Handknit Holidays (love that book)

Yarn: Cascade 220

Needles: US 7

Mods: I only did a nubbin at the top, instead of the long knotted umbilical cord sort of thing in the pattern. My 16-yr-old half brother commented that this made it look like a breast, but he is a perv, so I am ignoring him. I think it's cute. I also added the braid sort of thing at the bottom of the stripes. This is done by purling while alternating colors and stranding the unused color on the right side so it forms little slanting lines. I can't find my notes, but it looks like I did two rows of this, stranding the colors the opposite way in the 2nd row. This is a cool technique I learned at a great Annie Modesitt class at Webs a couple of months ago.

Notes: This hat was fun to make and I love the way it came out. If any friend/relative wants one, let me know -- I'd be glad to make another.

In fact, I liked it so much I already have made a variation of it for my daughter. Here I used up some old Cascade 220 remnants I had lying around. I ran out of the navy blue yarn halfway through and had to switch to gray for the top of the hat. This didn't turn out so great because the gray doesn't have enough contrast with the heathery blue so you can't really see the swirl on the top. But, hey, I used up leftover yarn, and that was the goal. I also added a little checkerboard strip to the bottom, surrounded by more of those braid things.

This was the very first pompom I have ever made. Not sure I enjoy making those. I did learn that more yarn is better when it comes to pompoms.

Resolutions

2006-01-05T20:35:00.000-05:00

What's a new year without resolutions? Here are mine: 1. Start exercising regularly again. Over the past few months, I've started to revert to my sloth-like ways and soon I will no longer fit into my clothes -- I guess that's a good incentive. 2. Use up a significant portion of my stash (so I can replace it with more yarn, of course). Attempt to buy less yarn (unless it's a really good deal...) until stash is appropriately reduced. 3. Finish (or rip if I don't plan to ever finish) my multudinous WIPs. I'm scared to even count how many projects I have lying around that are unfinished. I'm guessing it's over twenty... Yes, I'm fickle. 4. Try to post more regularly and organize my FO's into a lovely little archive.

Last night I ripped out a partial scarf I had started and promptly abandoned a month or so ago. Instead, I reclaimed the yarn for a new scarf. I believe this satisfies resolutions #2 and #3 simultaneously. And I did actually ride the stationary bike yesterday -- look at me go on those resolutions.

The yarn is Araucania Nature Wool Chunky. The lace pattern is from the book Beautiful Knitting Patterns. I only modified it slightly (to replace the purls on the right side with knits). I only have 2 balls of this stuff and I'm hoping it's enough for a short scarf. If it works out it will be a late Xmas present for my husband's aunt at our gift exchange on Jan 15.

There are a couple of other projects I need to have done by then. Pics of those tomorrow...

Laziness

2006-01-03T19:09:00.000-05:00

I have no energy to post today. Still recovering from mad Xmas/New Year's rush.

Apparently I only have energy to catch up on some blog reading and take silly quizzes. Like this one. Seems about right.

You will perish of fits. Repeat this to yourself:
"Things can work out even if I don't get
my way. Things can work out even...."

What horrible Edward Gorey Death will you die?
brought to you by Quizilla

And this one. Which, unfortunately, is also quite accurate (with regard to the hair color...sigh).

Your Hair Should Be White

Classy, stylish, and eloquent.
You've got a way about you that floors everyone you meet.

What's Your Funky Inner Hair Color?

My own private block party

2005-12-04T02:00:00.000-05:00

I finished the Lopi Lace Scarf this morning, and then I went crazy blocking all the knitted Christmas gifts that have been sitting around - 2 hats, 1 bag, 2 scarves. Should have some good pics tomorrow. I ran out of blocking pins so I couldn't block the Backyard Leaves scarf. I've been putting that one off because after I block it I will have to seam it together, and it looks like that will be very UN-fun due to the lumpy edge.

I looked for blocking pins at the LYS yesterday, but they only had some ridiculously expensive ones (10 pins for like $8.50 -- geez, those must be nice pins). Anyway, I asked if they had any others and the two older women behind the counter looked at me like I was insane. They said they had "never HEARD of using pins to block your knitting." What??!!?? Then they were all in my face asking me what I was making, etc. I told them I was going to use the pins to block lace -- to open it out more. They just did NOT get that. They insisted that was unnecessary, that it would probably HARM my knitting (how???), blah, blah, blah. Why do I bother talking to these people -- it's just not worth it.

Anyway, I bought a bunch of Cascade 220 to continue my Christmas knitting extravaganza. Enough to make another alien scarf (1st one is currently blocking), another knitted bag (1st one also blocking), and then some to enhance the stash (you know, cuz it was getting low... ;)

This is kind of cute: Make an avatar of yourself!

Oh, and I fixed the problem with the comments. So, feel free to comment away.

Persnickety about Xmas Trees

2005-12-03T18:17:00.000-05:00

Well, we spent the morning looking for a Frasier Fir Christmas tree that is over 8 ft but costs less than $200. Apparently such a thing does not exist around here, at least not that we found. Tomorrow we will have to look at the cut-your-own places, but in previous years we have not found great looking trees at these places. I guess I may have to be less finicky and get a Balsam (hate those needles that fall off instantly) or disappoint my daughters and get a 7-8 ft tree (which is what my daughters would call a "small" tree). As the years go by I am starting to understand why people buy fake trees...

Well, I'm still messing around finishing up the Ritratto scarf and the Lopi Lace Scarf, so in the meantime I will leave you with another scarf I finished a few months ago. Here are the specs:

Pattern: Thandi Scarf from Jo Sharp Gathering (Book 5)

Yarn: Jo Sharp Rare Comfort Kid Mohair in Romany (brown), Millet (tan), Swamp (green), and Velvet (purple) -- about 1.5 balls of each

Needles: US8

Modifications: Did an extra repeat of the pattern in each color band to make the stripes wider.

Comments: I think this would have been nicer if I used the Kid Mohair Infusion called for in the pattern, but I got this yarn on sale at elann.com. At about the halfway point I decided I hated the color combination and was going to desert the project, but my daughter said she really liked it and convinced me to finish it for her. However, after blocking it and having it hanging around for a while, it's really growing on me. In fact, I think I'll borrow it to wear out tonight.

Molly Bolero

2005-12-02T20:07:00.000-05:00

I'm soooo close to being done with my Mom's scarf. Can't wait to have another Christmas gift done. Planning on finishing it tonight -- will post a finished pic tomorrow.

In the meantime, to give you something to look at, here is a picture of something I finished a couple of months ago.

Pattern: Molly Bolero from Debbie Bliss Junior Knits

Size: biggest size (ages 9-10)

Yarn: Laines Du Nord Dolly Maxi in Dusty Rose, used 9 balls (from Elann.com)

Needles: US 9 (and US 8 for edging)

Modifications: The body and sleeves of this bolero are knit as one piece (see diagram below) and then the edging is picked up and knit. I used short rows to shape the sleeves rather than using the stair-step cast-on and bind-off specified in the pattern. I used a provisional cast for the sleeves and kitchenered them together to avoid seams. I then knit the ribbed edging on the sleeves in the round (instead of flat, as per pattern). I sewed the short side seams before working on the body edging so I could knit that in the round too (yes, I'm an "in the round" freak, apparently). The edging around the neck uses short rows and the pattern did not say anything about wrapping the turns, but I did it anyway (and I found that it is not easy to hide the wrap in ribbing -- which is probably why the pattern ignored the wraps).

Comments: This bolero came out rather large, but it seems that Debbie Bliss sizes many of her children's patterns to be oversized, and I guess I forgot that. My daughter is 9 and it is pretty big on her (in fact, it fits me, although it did have a tendency to split.

except that the sleeves are a little too short). I probably should have made the ages 8-9 size. The Dolly Maxi yarn was soooo soft. I enjoyed working with it,

On a Scarf Kick

2005-11-30T10:18:00.000-05:00

Watched the movie "Run Lola Run" from my Netflix queue the other night. Really liked this movie (gave it a 4). Kind of weird, but in a good way. Also, man, that woman must be in great cardiovascular shape to do all that running without breaking a sweat or being out of breath. And, yeah, I know they probably shot it in small bits, but still -- it's impressive.

Watched it dubbed in English so I could work on the Ritratto scarf while watching the movie. I used to love foreign films with subtitles, but now that I knit constantly through any movies/TV shows I just can't be bothered to pause my knitting to have to read the screen all the time.

I'm about halfway through the scarf I think, but I'm getting sick of all that brioche stitch. It's getting monotonous. Uggh. Not even sure I still like this scarf.

I should have picked a more interesting pattern, but I wanted something kind of loose and sort of open, but not lacey (cuz it's for my mom, who is not really a lacey sort of person). You can't really get a feel for the looseness from the photo -- but I used big needles for this yarn, so it's kind of fluffy and light.

Since I needed a break from the Ritratto I started a new scarf yesterday (yes, fickle -- that's me). This one will be for my sister, I think. It's from the Weekend Knitting book. Pattern calls for Lite Lopi -- ick. The idea of Lite Lopi around my neck just makes me all scratchy.

I'm using Lamb's Pride worsted instead, colors M-77 (Blue Magic) and M-03 (Grey Heather). I had a bunch of the Blue Magic left over from my sister's cabled sweater (I'll eventually post pics of that). Scarf pattern is easy, with just enough going on to keep me interested -- at least, so far. I like the zig-zag edge. This picture is not great, since the scarf is falling off the edge of the couch, but it is really zig-zagged on both edges.

Also, I sewed up a cowl/neck warmer sort of thing my daughter made with some super bulky chenille stuff she got on sale a while back. I'm not sure what this yarn is, as we have lost the label. It lost a ton of fuzz while I was just kitchenering it together. I don't think I am a fan of chenille . . . which doesn't bode well for that Rowan Chunky Cotton Chenille I got a little while ago from Elann. But hopefully that chenille will behave better...

This pic is majorly overexposed, but I just couldn't resist her face in this one.

One More Christmas Present Down

2005-11-28T20:02:00.000-05:00

Sorry about the quiz yesterday. The link didn't work. Here it is: STUPID TEST

OK, this is only my 3rd posting, but I am already massively annoyed by the way this post editor is replacing my double spaces after a period with single spaces. This is causing me pain. Must...find...a...way...to...fix...it.... Aarrrrrggggghhhhh!

In knitting news, I finished a hat for one of my nephews last night. Here it is, modeled by my lovely daughter.

I think the hat came out pretty well -- overall I'm pleased with it.

Here are the specs:

Pattern: Ribbed Cap, from Vogue Knitting Caps & Hats Two

Yarn: Noro Kureyon, color 163

Needles: US7 (pattern called for 8's but hat was coming out much too large, so had to rip and and redo with 7's)

Notes: Had just enough yarn to make the hat. I was a little worried for a while, but it just made it. I've never used Kureyon before and I really like the color I picked, but I will not rush out to get more -- at least, not for a project in ribbing. The yarn is a little scratchy and rather uneven and it left my left middle finger kind of sore after knitting for a while. I normally hold the yarn in my right hand, but I find that my ribbing is neater (specifically the purl stitch after a knit stitch) and a little faster when I knit continental. However, this was just painful with this yarn because I guess I was squeezing my fingers to get better tension or something. By the end of the project I had a big groove in my middle finger. Oh well, I'm just glad it's done. Ribbing makes me tense.

Brioche Sunday

2005-11-27T13:35:00.000-05:00

This is what I've been working on today. It's a swatch of 2-color brioche stitch for a possible scarf. Got the idea from the Weekend Knitting book, but I'm probably not going to do the edging like the pattern.

I'm trying to use up stash yarn on some small Christmas presents, but I only have 2 balls of the multi-color yarn so I'm going to try to stretch it by using only black on the edges. The pattern calls for a tubular edging (similar to the edging on Backyard Leaves, but worked a little differently). The bottom shows the edging as given by the pattern; the top shows my two attempts at an all-black tubular edging. When the light color is at the edge it does not connect well with the edging, so I added a pattern repeat in black at both sides. The connection between the edging and the brioche part is less loose that way, but then the edging appears kind of thick. Also the edging gets a little distorted because I have to knit 2 rounds of the tubular edging for every 1 row of black. Also tried two different needle sizes here so the stitches are kind of wonky.

Another Christmas present I've been working on is a brioche-stitch scarf in Stacy Charles Ritratto. Apparently, I am on a brioche-stitch kick. This is coming out a little looser than I wanted, but I don't have the energy to start over. The colors here are kind of off -- it's really much darker and not that orangey. I only have 1 ball, which is probably not going to cut it. Will need to buy another ball tomorrow. So much for using up the stash...

Here's a quiz that's good for the ego:

97% scored higher (more stupid),

1% scored the same,

and 2% scored lower (less stupid). What does this mean? You are 2% stupid. This means...

You are our next Einstein. Wow! Keep up the great thinking.

the bad beginning

2005-11-26T12:15:00.000-05:00

Well, here's my new blog. Spent a lot of time messing with the sidebar today and figuring out how to add progress bars and whatnot.

I'm hoping to post pics of some FO's soon. Need to get off my butt and take some pictures. Maybe tomorrow.

This is an interesting quiz:

You are 100% wool hand-dyed MERINO. You like all things natural and would prefer to do it yourself. You are socially conscious and aware of your surroundings. You are kind to all living things. What kind of yarn are you really?? brought to you by Quizilla

That's fairly accurate... well, maybe not ALL living things...

Persnickety Knitter

Page 161 and Pillows

Loads of WIPs (and Rhinebeck!)

Silly Knitting

Ravelry!

What to do With Leftover Sock Yarn

A Long List

Blog Avoidance

Shawl Fixes, Austrian Mittens, and Bacteria

Crappity, Crap, Crap, Crappers

Cowgirls and some FOs

Sugar Rush

Back in Business

Chaos

A Book List and a Felting First

Discos and Fibonacci Stripes

None of me

ETD 10:38 AM

Persnickety Knitter, in the Office, with the Cleckheaton 8-ply

My finger hurts

Ready to Rumble

Some Catching Up To Do

In which I get off my lazy butt and post something

Crap!

Persnickety's Handy Gauge Swatch Mood Indicator:

A Busy June

Free Arrowhead Lace Headband Pattern

Arrowhead Lace Headband

YARN

NEEDLES

GAUGE

DIRECTIONS

Arrowhead Lace Chart

Arrowhead Lace Directions

A quickie

House of Two Restaurants

Yeah, I suck at being regular

Socks, Summer Cottages, and a Day to Rant

A million freaking knots

The fluffy-haired one in the back

Komi-Patterned Bag

Where Have I Been?

Are you jealous yet?

I'm a Winner and a Ranter

Warning: Rant Ahead

Late Flashing

Crocheted Scarf & Japanese Knitting

New, Improved Persnicketiness -- Now With Crochet, Too

Crochet News

Knitting News

Lose the Lavender

In Other News

Subscriptionville

Online Feed Readers (RSS Aggregators)

Start Pages

Email Subscriptions

Knitting Update

sdrawkcaB gnittinK

Lady E. Update:

Entrelac <> Speed

Yeah, I Bought More Yarn. . . Sigh

Herringbone Cloche Woes

Drowning in UFO's

UFO #1:

House of Grumpiness

I am Evil

Knitting Mojo

No Olympic Knitting Here...

The Wheel

Ten Top Trivia Tips aboutPersnickety knitter!

Knitting Update:

In Need of a Stockinette Fix

Aaaaah, Chocolate

A Tale of Two Rogue Hems

Anatomically Correct Sock Toes

Anatomically Correct Sock Toes(for Top-Down Socks)

NOTES:

TOE AREA OF LEFT SOCK

Start Little Toe Decreases:

Start Big Toe Decreases:

Ten Top Trivia Tips about
Persnickety knitter!

Anatomically Correct Sock Toes
(for Top-Down Socks)