malaraky crafts

FO: Traveling woman shawl pt 2

2012-01-02T13:13:00.000-05:00

Hey! I did actually take other photos of this shawl. I've had more time than usual in the last week to flip through photos on the computer. These were taken in early October 2011.

Also that photo makes me see how when I blocked it I apparently pulled out the wrong point for the centre - see how the double YO increases along the middle don't match up with the central point? Oooooops.

It's kind of exciting how I've managed to get knitting back into my life again. Maybe it's the cooler temps (though often it feels ilke spring instead of winter here for some odd reason) or maybe things are just settling a bit. It's good.

FO: Traveling woman shawl

2011-12-30T20:00:00.002-05:00

Never having seen lace weight cotton in a very subtle semi-solid, I picked up a single skein of Araucania Lonco Solid during a trip to the DC area a couple of years ago. It marinated in my stash, 440 yards, enough to work a small project with a nice weight to it - a summer shawl.

Naturally I started it in the spring of 2011, worked on The Traveling Woman shawl during the plane travel on a trip to Belize, then let it sit for some months while I didn't do much summer knitting at all. I managed to finish it in October (it really is a fast and satisfying knit), and then wasn't able to download photos from my camera for a month or two. The colour is more accurate here:

But unfortunately I don't have a great shot of the whole thing. It is a nice drapey heavy sort of summery shawl. I like it.

WIP: Tinder cardigan

2011-12-15T17:06:00.017-05:00

In October, beigeberry and subliminalrabbit and I decided to do another KAL. Beigeberry had spotted the new Brooklyn Tweed collection and had her eye on either Bedford or Tinder. I decided on Tinder and the others decided on Bedford. Still from the same collection (BT Fall 11) so we continued calling it a KAL.

They're both quite a bit farther along than I am. Ok, so subliminal rabbit has finished her project.

That's an early photo, though! I've finished the left front and am making good progress on the back following the holiday knitting wrap up. The yarn is a wool/mohair blend I picked up at Belfast Mini Mills on Prince Edward Island in July. It's squishy and soft with a pretty halo.

Also I have decided my Tinder will be a vest instead of a cardigan. I was having trouble deciding if I would go with the reverse st st sleeves, and also looked at all my sweaters and realized half of them are purple/burgundy. So I think adding a vest to my wardrobe, especially given the length of this one, plus possibly adding pockets, will be a good thing. Also, I may not have purchased quite enough yarn (1000 yards) for a full cardigan so.... a vest solves that problem too!

FO: Clementine Shawlette

2011-12-01T11:33:00.010-05:00

Well, knitting slowed down for a little while but it has picked back up again and a few things have been finished, a few more started, and a couple of patterns are hopefully going to be written fairly soon.

So today I'd like to show you the Clementine Shawlette in Diamond Yarn Luxury Collection Alpaca Prima (100% alpaca fingering weight):

Something a little funny happened with this one - I started it about a year ago and once I got into the 4 row lace repeat it was no trouble at all to set it down, work on a different project, then pick up Clementine when I needed something to just plug away at. I had plenty of yarn (something I can never say for my sweater projects) so I didn't think too much about the length of the thing... until I decided it was getting just about long enough and I should decrease for the final end of it - then checked the pattern and realized I was supposed to knit this in two equal halves. Oops!

So I put the first 85% on hold and cast on from the start of the second "half" - I did try briefly to reverse the shaping on the increase chart to decrease the end of the original half, but with triple decreases and whatnot it wasn't too straightforward so I decided pretty quickly to just cast on for the second piece and then graft them together when it got to the full width. So the seam is most of the way toward one end rather than the centre of the back but never mind!

I have more FOs and WIPs to mention - and the reason I'm back is because I lost my ability to download photos from my camera since July, but recently I was able to borrow someone's set up to download pics from my micro SD so I have a bunch of stuff to post. And I was able to update a bunch of Ravely stuff, which is very satisfying!

FO: Aviatrix & Saartje's Booties set

2011-03-15T16:31:00.000-05:00

I had to wait to post this just in case my friend the mom-to-be ever glances this way, so here are a few photos of a fun baby set I managed (for the first time ever!) to complete before the baby comes!

The yarn is Lily Chin Gramercy superwash merino, in a nice bright turquoise that should work for any gender :) I used Fleegle's seamless bootie recipe, not for the first time.

The Aviatrix hat (Rav link) is one of the cutest little hats I've ever seen for a baby, and the adjustable chin strap means it'll last for more than one season, I hope!

I heard from my dear friend A a couple of days ago, she is very happy with the little package I sent, and I am excited for the coming addition to her wee family. Hooray!

2010 FOs

2011-03-04T16:35:00.000-05:00

Happy weekend!

I took the time a few days ago to update move last year's projects into their own page, so hopefully this is the beginning of me cleaning up my blog a bit after much neglect. It's easy to take a quick spin through 2010 FOs right here.

Now I just need to get my WIPs organized and clean some of them up. How is it possible that 90% of the time something is on the needles is simply when it's waiting to be finished up? I want to get back to some of those spring projects but feel downright guilty about the languishing FOs. Hopefully this weekend will involve some knitting time! Have a good one...

WIP: Mythos Cardi

2011-03-03T14:05:00.000-05:00

Whatever happened to that pink Mythos cardigan I started last summer at Knit Camp 2010?

Let me tell you. I ran out of yarn toward the end and cannibalized part of the sleeves so I could do the knitted on icord edging. They were too fitted at the wrists anyway. Last night I finished my new sleeve cuff solution (ruffles may be involved!) but I also wanted to explain how I re-used the yarn from the lower sleeves, which of course were knit from the cuff up toward the shoulder, even after I'd seamed them completely. Warning: Graphic surgical photos follow. Not for the faint of crafty heart!

Still with me? Ok, here we go.

I decided to go for a half length sleeve, to be sure I had enough yarn to re-do the edging on the sleeves in some manner as well as complete the icord edging around the body. First I marked with a safety pin on both sleeves where I would like to rip back to.

I had already used a different yarn to seam the sleeves; in this case the best I could do was a dark pink bamboo yarn of similar weight to the pink wool used for the whole project. I unraveled my sleeve seams up to the safety pin.

Next, I took a high contrast yarn, in this case a black cotton, and threaded it on a darning needle to insert a life line into the row of stitches corresponding to the level the safety pin was at. I wanted to put these stitches back on a circular needle so I could knit down from the elbow length and create a new cuff. This is where it's a little freaky - you have to cut into your knitting. I snipped a few stitches in and into the row below the one where my lifeline was placed, as I wanted to keep those stitches live. Snipping a little in to the row rather than right at the edge meant that I wouldn't lose the beginning of the row of stitches that I wanted to keep, due to having too short a tail.

I gently unraveled the row below my life line, stitch by stitch, and picked up the stitches held on the life line with my circular needle.

The result was a half sleeve of stockinette, ready to be unraveled and used to knit on a new cuff for the sleeve.

Here's the only picture I apparently took of the entire thing, while I didn't want to show you just at the start, in case the half-attached sleeve gave you the willies.

I'm pretty happy with the solution for the new sleeve cuff, but it's not completely finished and I don't have pictures yet. Have you performed any knitting surgery lately?

Ysolda's prices going up

2011-02-07T13:27:00.002-05:00

In case you - like me! - have been thinking for awhile about any purchases of individual patterns by Ysolda, now might be the time because she writes that her prices will be going up on Valentine's Day!

I have been determined to try knitting Coraline for a long time since every one seems to come out so well. This is me trying to remind myself to purchase the pattern before next Monday!

Happy knitting :)

Crafty on Twitter / WIP: grey clementine shawlette

2011-01-30T15:00:00.004-05:00

Last week I started following some additional crafty accounts on Twitter and realized it'll really work better if I keep that stuff separate. So you can now find me on Twitter as @malaraky :). Accounts like Etsy just have too much action for me to keep track of that on my regular account.

I'm just uploading some pictures of WIPs now - there has been a bit more knitting in the new year than toward the end of 2010, so there's more content coming soon! The Cloudsoft Cowl has been well received on Ravelry - thanks! - and I have plans for more designing this year, which is very exciting. Just ordered yarn for a new design I dreamed up in the summer, and will be re-knitting it in different colors and a different yarn, so that is exciting! It may be awhile before it's available, but maybe if I mention it here I will be more inspired to work on it!

Here's the current state of my Clementine Shawlette:

It'll need a good blocking to pull the lace out but it's coming along well and I have the pattern memorized now - just four repeating rows now that the increases are done. I have four skeins of the alpaca, and am about 2/3 finished with the first one. The plan is to knit until they're gone, since the piece is knit from end to middle, twice, then the two pieces are grafted at the middle. Two skeins for each half. Lovely. Happy knitting!

New pattern: Cloudsoft Cowl

2011-01-11T20:04:00.003-05:00

Have a skein or two of laceweight mohair blend yarn that you'd love to use in a simple project, highlighting its fuzzy lightweight wonderfulness?

I just posted a new pattern on Ravelry, the Cloudsoft Cowl, and you can find it there for FREE!

download now

This simple 2x2 rib extra roomy cowl is a great way to use up an extra skein or two of Rowan Kidsilk Haze or any other fuzzy laceweight yarn.

Designed to use up just about every last inch of your yarn, and to stretch to loop around your neck twice, you can wear it doubled up and cozy under your chin, with one half pulled down so it drapes decoratively while the upper half is snug under your neck, or draped around your shoulders like a lightweight shoulder wrap that won’t fall off. Quick to knit, this is a lovely cloudweight treat to wear, and will keep you cozy through the chilly weather!

So this is me, dipping my toe back into the designing waters. I have bigger projects in mind, but when I wanted some simple TV knitting this winter and thought of my pretty little single skein of Alchemy Haiku in foxglove just hanging out in my stash for, oh, probably the last five years, I poked around on Ravelry for a suitable ribbed cowl. And I didn't find anything that worked for me, so I kept a few notes and worked up a simple in-the-round piece that used up all my yarn, and is wearable in a few different ways. It's cozy, lightweight, and took very little time to work up. Happy knitting!

WIP: Clementine Shawlette

2011-01-05T19:58:00.002-05:00

Before the holidays I felt the need to be knitting something soft, preferably in a heavyweight sort of lace, something that I could eventually learn to knit without looking at the chart, something I already had the yarn for, something like...

The Clementine Shawlette from the Spring 2007 issue of Interweave Knits.

Almost two years ago I picked up 4 skeins of a light grey alpaca, thinking of a wrap of some sort. It's almost a sport weight, so I've ended up knitting this on size 2 needles, which seems ridiculous. I always need to go down about two needle sizes, but this is excessive - to be fair I am using a thinner yarn. I haven't quite gotten to the point in the chart where you just stay with the same width and repeat for however long you want it to be - it is still possible that I'll decide this just isn't going to be a substantial enough piece and rip it out. Undecided.

FO: Grey one row scarf

2010-12-27T12:45:00.003-05:00

Really pleased with how this came out.

Couldn't blog about it just in case it was discovered and the surprise ruined...

The yarn is a very subtly shifting grey, Zitron Unisono sock yarn with aloe and jojoba in it (2 skeins, knit on size 4 needles). The recipient is naturally skeptical about wool - because he hasn't been exposed to enough soft beautiful fine wools. I am working on that.

It's about twice as long as I am tall, which looked a bit silly on me, but much more proportional on someone who is 6'2. Also I knew I could easily shorten it if necessary, so might as well knit until the yarn was all gone. This pattern, the One Row Scarf from Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, is fantastic, just interesting enough to keep you going but just one row repeated over and over until you run out of yarn or get tired of it. The resulting texture is lovely, stretchy and interesting but not too busy for a subtly semi-solid yarn.

milestone

2010-12-01T18:48:00.003-05:00

Oh hai.

So this is something new:

The first month I've sold enough patterns to merit a little payment due back to Ravelry. I paid them $1.40 with pleasure - they've certainly earned it. It's a little odd that November 2010 has been my biggest month yet, despite the fact that I haven't written up a new pattern in over two years. Might even be three. All proceeds went to Movember, and then some, so maybe that encouraged some to buy the Subtle Stripe, I don't know.

But yay!

Lately I have pretty much been working on gifts that I don't dare post pics of or talk about. So sorry for the lack of knitting content but that is just how it is. I have at least a couple of projects for me planned for the winter months and especially the week between Christmas and New Years when I will have the whole week off (I cannot WAIT!), and those I can post pics of and tell you about.

On the subject of NaknitMo, I basically completed the 30K goal but haven't updated in the last couple of days on Ravelry. I was up to 28K something, and have done a bit more knitting, just about enough, I think, but I have more than full time work right now and it can be hard to fit in enough knitting time! My resolution for the new year will be to change that.

Meanwhile, happy knitting!

Ravelry reaches 1M members!

2010-11-12T19:39:00.001-05:00

OMG half an hour ago (what serendipitous timing!) Ravelry had its one millionth member sign up!! I am so impressed. Well done, Ravelry lovelies, well done!

That is all. Please return to your weekend knitting. I am swatching something from New England Knits out of ultra alpaca light. Yay!

holiday knitting animation

2010-11-03T11:15:00.002-05:00

Have you started your holiday knitting? I've been out of the crafty loop, I'm still working on summer wedding gifts. And no time for recently born second cousins, either. Yipes!

I just saw Franklin's latest blog post, check out the awesome animation he did up about holiday knitting. Because knitting a sweater is like saying I love you 150 thousand times in a row.

And that's Crazytown.

NaKnitMo 2010

2010-11-01T17:38:00.003-05:00

So last year I participated in National Knitting Month, where you knit toward a goal number of stitches during the month of November. At the time I kept a little progress bar showing my progress, but now I don't know what I did with that code, so I'll be sorting out a new progress bar or using the code that I currently have in place to track progress on individual projects.

I wrote about my success in upping my goal and surpassing 50K stitches last November, here.

I'm no longer a full time student, or a student at all, but I have full time work plus I live/work in residence and also am marking papers for an undergrad course. Yeah, that last one, I wouldn't have taken the position if I had had the full time day job(s) when they offered it to me. But whatcanyoudo? I won't look for extra work next term, that is for sure.

Knitting time has been hard to come by and I'm not sure what kind of goal to put on my month. I do have a weekend trip coming up and plans for a portable gift knit, which I'm not talking about right now. I'm also currently wrapping up a rather large gift knit, which partially explains why it has been so post-less around here, but that should be done soon.

I also have a lovely pink cardigan for me that is just languishing for lack of an icord edging, and I'm going to try to get that back on track tonight, because then I'll have a new sweater. Yay. And with the stitch counting in November the finishing falls by the wayside. As far as a goal goes, I started at the base 30K last year. If I'm at half of that by the middle of the month I'll think about rejigging my goal.

Happy fall knitting!

Gaspereau Wayzgoose 2010 - book binding workshop

2010-10-31T14:30:00.004-05:00

Two years ago I managed to make it to the Gaspereau Press Wayzgoose, a printing festival at an independent printing press an hour outside of Halifax. I participating in a paper marbling workshop, and had a grand time.

This year I mentioned the annual event to two friends who were keen to go for the bookbinding workshop, and we were lucky enough to snag a couple of spots. So early Saturday morning we were up and in the car with our coffee mugs and we arrived in Kentville NS just in time to select the papers we wanted to use for the covers of our journals.

There was careful stitching of blocks of carefully folded paper:

I documented parts of the process on a new hand-me-down iphone I’d just hooked up with a monthly plan the day before. I don’t know why I hadn’t thought to bring my camera but this worked great!

We glued spine bits together, covering up all that lovely careful stitching.

We built the actual hardback, piece by piece:

Lots of steps, eventually the books were all stacked in a press to give the final squeeze. It was such a cool process.

We saw demos of several different printing presses, tried out a couple, and talked to the people who were working them. I got a few really awesome posters from Amos Kennedy Jr, who is apparently famous though we didn’t know it at the time! I’m looking forward to getting these into simple frames so they won’t get damaged. They make a fab set.

The three I got are all about coffee, which was a big theme.

Also, the Press blogged some photos of the event, and if you know what the back of my head looks like you might see me in one or two of them ;)

We had a lovely lunch in the middle of things, then a lovely coffee at an independent cafe/coffee roaster on our way home. We left before 8 am and didn’t get back until 5! I was zonked. But it was great. And I have the loveliest handmade journal to show for it.

unillustrated update

2010-10-06T12:19:00.003-05:00

In brief... my knitting time seems to have completely evaporated. It's fall weather, today I am sporting my original Clapotis (from 2005, before this blog began) and I had a thought that it might be nice to cast on for another after taking several years off after knitting four of them. I have still been accumulating some lovely yarns, and simple projects are most definitely the order of the ... times.

Mythos (the pink cardigan in my last post) is seamed and the pieces grafted and I just need to do the edging - which will involve shortening the sleeves since I ran out of yarn, and I don't have any pictures. But it's lovely and I am thinking about knitting another one with more yarn perhaps in a bigger size or with a slightly bulkier yarn because honestly the knitting for this was done in about ten days, it's just the finishing that is holding things up - because I am run off my feet with other things. Anyway!

How is your fall knitting going? Sorry for the quietness around here!

Knit Camp 2010

2010-08-09T18:53:00.003-05:00

While I was home in Vermont I got lucky and the timing was perfect to attend my first ever knitting retreat: KnitCamp!

It was easy camping, with a leanto, lots of yummy food, and friends. And knitting for two days straight. With s'mores. What is not to like?

(that would be my knitting, a pink cardigan I'll show off later...)

Super pancakes and amazing maple smoked thick cut bacon:

We almost had a coffee disaster (ok, we totally had a coffee disaster) but it all turned out ok in the end, see these smiles?

Breakfast the second morning was gorgeous french toast and breakfast sausages from BH's parents, I do love knowing where my meat comes from:

This is Petey, he totally made our circle of knitters his pack and made sure to investigate anyone who came near. The rest of the time he snoozed quietly.

Vermont Knit Camp ahoy!

2010-08-05T16:24:00.002-05:00

Sorry, no pictures, though I've started a couple of super fun new projects and also acquired some new yarn yesterday.

Why new yarn when I've been sooo good for soooo long? Because I am going to Vermont Knit Camp this weekend and suddenly became very afraid that I did not have enough projects with me to allow me to knit basically nonstop during daylight hours all afternoon Friday, all day Saturday, and who knows? probably a chunk of Sunday morning as well.

The weather is going to be nice. There will be lovely people. Lots of food to share and enjoy. And as much knitting as I can handle for 48 hours. Woooooo!

WIP: Handkerchief Tee f/b

2010-07-26T12:02:00.000-05:00

We have a front and back for the Handkerchief Tee, which is such a nicely written pattern once you master the lace.

It took me two or three tries to get properly cast on for the skirt section, which was mildly frustrating. It's a provisional cast on, and when you need to join to knit in the round and the very first round is the lace chart in four sections with a different lace section at the corners, it is very hard to keep track of not twisting your work, and also getting the lace set up correctly. Yikes. I ended up knitting the first few rows flat and joining once I could be sure I had the pattern established and could join without twisting. I'm now working in the round and have several inches of the skirt knit but it looks just like the earlier pieces (except it can't lay flat) so I didn't take a picture yet. I'm really excited to wrap up this project because I think it's going to look fantastic layered over lots of different things.

WIP: Tilted Duster

2010-07-25T11:53:00.002-05:00

A quick update on my Tilted Duster - recently we've been having a lot of hot weather here in Nova Scotia but before that there was a cool period when I was able to focus a bit on this project, including figuring out how I would pick up stitches around the arm hole and knit down, wanting more control over the final length of the sleeves than I usually have. Also I don't enjoy setting in sleeves.

The bit of pink in there is a yarn held together with the working yarn when I picked up sts, to use later for tightening up the gap in picked up stitches and the sleeve. I think it's going to work out beautifully.

Here we are with more of the sleeve cap knit:

Basically you pick up sts around, divide each side by three, and work a short row sleeve cap back and forth, picking up another st on each side as you go. I had lots of help from here (video)and here.

With the recent hot weather I've gone back to knitting cotton or linen, but I'm excited to have the Duster finished for late fall/early winter this year.

Sheldon knits

2010-07-14T08:19:00.003-05:00

I am so loving this Sheldon comic series lately, you have to check it out:

Sheldon knits. Yay, knitting comics!

Have a great day, hopefully there will be some knitting content this weekend. I have several good sized projects that just need some attention and will be finished. Then I can start really planning for Vermont knit camp at Groton State Park!

Virginia yarns...

2010-07-08T20:10:00.002-05:00

I'm in Richmond VA for about 48 hours (slightly less) so of course I had to check out the nearest yarn shop to the inn I'm staying at, nevermind the 96 degree heat or nasty humidity or thunderstorm that threatened this dedicated pedestrian.

Thirty-three blocks later (blisters forming) my water bottle was empty, it was sprinkling (completely different from Halifax in that rather than walking through thick fog or a very disperse rain storm the drops were huge and splatty) and I reached the Yarn Lounge.

I made several rounds of the lovely shop while it started pouring with a vengeance outside (apparently there has been no rain for ages, though it seems green and humid enough to me!) and chatted with the staff and knitters around the work table. I fell in love with Rowan's Lima yarn and want to buy a bag for a super cozy fall sweater asap. The colors are heathered and elegant, the construction is a thick lofty cable sort of thing that I usually don't go for, but I saw several pieces knitted up and they were stunning. It's mostly alpaca with a bit of merino and nylon and I feel like the construction would make it fairly hard wearing and unlikely to sag. I want some. The color choice will be hard. Also at $14 per 109 yd ball and me with a carry on and still on that pesky student budget, a sweater's worth was not in the cards today.

One of the lovely ladies there let me fill up my water bottle from their water cooler when I simply was looking for a tap, and I finished it in no time as the rain settled and I set back out for the hotel to get in a cold shower before being picked up for (a job interview) dinner! Crashing very soon with a full day of more interviewy stuff tomorrow.

WIP: Tilted Duster

2010-06-23T18:23:00.002-05:00

It's a bit chilly in Halifax at the moment, and the time is good for working on my Tilted Duster, which has been languishing.

I really like how this is coming out, and think it just might be my go-to cozy sweater this fall and winter. I'm working on the skirt, which is coming along very quickly, since it's 4.5 stitches to the inch and simple increases along the sides, along this triangle of stockinette which is developing by each hip.

I've just been poking around online looking for advice on how to work the sleeves from the top down. I'd really like to have control over how long the sleeves are, and I usually find that when I work them from the cuff up, even if I do some math to get the sleeve cap right, the length can sometimes end up being off.

I think it'll work with some short rows, and I found a useful video explaining the technique, plus various blog posts, of course. I have a smaller cone of this yarn and am thinking of trying out the top down sleeve even as I continue knitting the skirt. The skirt is really good TV knitting, while the short row sleeve cap is going to take more attention.

As for TV watching, I'm halfway through the second season of the Tudors. Poor Sir Thomas More. Ouch.

WIP: Handkerchief Tee

2010-06-21T10:33:00.002-05:00

This got put down for a few weeks in favor of the simpler Damson, but I really do like how it's turning out so I'm trying to work through it again. I have to follow the lace chart for every row but I know the pattern well enough now that I can tell when I've gone off the rails, so that's something.

I've finished one of the top pieces, and am nearly halfway through the second one. Then I get to join them together and work the skirt piece, and I think it'll go fairly quickly. I also located the elusive 7th ball, hiding below a bunch of other summery cotton I'd like to use in the next month or two, and I think it'll take just about as much of the Elann Nilo as I have to finish this project.

FO: Damson

2010-06-20T16:47:00.002-05:00

I'm back! Sorry about the hiatus, I've been in a French immersion program for five weeks. There wasn't as much time for knitting as I would have liked but I did manage to finish Damson pretty quickly and wear it out a few times, even to a fancy dress river cruise.

The yarn is Estelle Cadenza, lovely and drapey with the silk in it. I used about 1.2 skeins, so I have a bit left over for something else... maybe another Lace Ribbon scarf?

And, hoping that if I had a simple project to work on I'd be able to watch French movies and still keep my hands moving, I picked up a pretty skein of alpaca at a local yarn shop (yeah, souvenir yarn!) and cast on for another Damson. I messed up the stitch count but decided it just doesn't matter enough to go back. Funny, because the first one turned out perfectly with zero effort on my part.

The colors are much more fall-like. I'm ok with that. It's another Estelle yarn, I only realized when I went to start the project in Ravelry. This time it's Arequipa, a wool-alpaca-nylon blend that is fuzzier than the Cadenza.

WIP: Damson

2010-05-05T14:41:00.000-05:00

I'm making progress on Damson, it's a nice simple pattern to take along when I putter around town. You know, just in case.

The yarn is difficult to photograph, probably due to my utter lack of an appropriate white box type space. It's a marine blue with dark plummy purples and deep teals. Yum. It's not going to be the world's most stunning shawl, as the pattern is quite simple and I've decided not to do any lace inserts, which I would have liked but just didn't feel like working out. But as a simple pattern to be wrapped around like a chunky scarf in a gorgeous yarn, it'll do nicely.

WIP: Tilted Duster

2010-05-04T14:30:00.000-05:00

Whoah, this one took a long hiatus. As I wrapped up Rosamund's Cardigan and started thinking about other large projects, I unearthed the back piece of the Tilted Duster from the Fall 2007 IK. It was nearly finished so I quickly got that part done and then before I knew it I had knit the front and back top pieces as well, because they're so small by themselves and a large collar will be knit on later to cover most of the chest.

I've now attached the fronts to the back at the sides and shoulders and picked up all along the bottom edge to knit on the skirt. I'm only a few rows in but it's a lovely place to be in a big project like this, because it's the bulk of the mindless work. I chose to work the skirt next rather than the sleeves, as the pattern calls for, but I might take a break at some point from the skirt to work the sleeves, as I see how far this amount of yarn takes me.

The yarn is a custom blend of alpaca, silk, and wool, in various shades of gray/silver, that I built at Yarnia in Portland in the summer of 2008. The weather in Nova Scotia is still cool, so it's not bad to be working on a piece that promises to be a lovely sweatercoat for fall.

WIP: Handkerchief Tee

2010-05-03T14:24:00.000-05:00

In late March, I started Petrie, from the latest Knitty.

I added in a faux side seam and worked some waist shaping, though the pattern doesn't call for it. The fabric was coming out well enough and it was about the right size but I just didn't feel like I would ever be excited to wear something so simple and plain.

CK sent me the spring 2010 IK and the Handkerchief Tee caught my eye so I swatched and am working on the top back part now with the same Elann Nilo yarn in bronzed olive. Much better. I swatched on 5s and it came out too big so I'm using 4s; it's a drapey forgiving sort of top that I can wear over a tank or a dress, so I'm hoping the sizing will come out ok, and also that I'll have enough yarn! Luckily I can just knit the skirt until I run out of yarn.

FO: Rosamund's Cardigan

2010-05-02T13:22:00.002-05:00

Rosamund, modified with a cabled lower hem.

She is sans buttons for now, but I'll probably wear the sweater with something stuck through the front until I can find bigger buttons. I had a couple I thought might work but the wool is so sturdy and substantial that I think I'll keep looking for bigger ones. I also haven't sewn in any hook and eye closures, as I'm not sure I'll want them once there are buttons on.

Here are a few images from the hem-attaching process, in case anyone's inspired to try the same modification.

I first knit the two vertical bands a few extra inches beyond the length of the st st body. My cabled bands are about three inches wide so I knew that would be how much extra length the cabled horizontal hem would add. I picked up and knit 12 sts along the edge of the extended vertical band, then kfb into each st on the way back and also added an extra selvedge stitch to use to attach the horizontal cable hem to the body later. So with 25 stitches, I worked the triple cable, leaving that selvedge st in stockinette, until I had enough length to match up with the body width. This took awhile, since I was just working the cable and nothing else. I blocked the entire thing to see what would happen with the cable, and I was glad, because it really stretched out lengthwise when wet blocked.

Eventually I felt I had about the right length, and I set about attached it to the live body stitches. That didn't worked well, and I was nervous about the stability of the lower hem, so I ended up binding off the stockinette body stitches and then attaching the cabled hem to the BO sts.

I worked under two strands of the cabled selvedge, and under two BO stitches at a time. I used safety pins to line up the hem with the body at six inch intervals, so I could try to make sure I was using enough of the cabled hem to match up with the body.

It was a bit fiddly, but I'm pretty pleased with the result.

WIP roundup

2010-04-19T16:48:00.000-05:00

Lots of WIPs around.

I finally started that second lace border on Bridgewater. I love the way it is looking, and I think it'll block out fantastically. I just hope I don't run out of yarn, because I don't have much left and might be trawling Ravelry for matching laceweight before this is over.

The spiral scarf is on hexagon number 9 now, who knows how far I'll take it - I have lots of this beautiful yarn and am not sure what the rest of it will become. I think I'll be blocking it to see how it looks and if I want to add some bigger hexagons too.

I started Ysolda's Damson last night, knowing I'd be on a car ride today. I didn't get a chance to knit, though, because there was a dog who wanted to snuggle the whole way, which was fine. We saw lots of lambs and sheep on a farm, and there will be a post about that as soon as I download the pictures!

The yarn is Estelle Cadenza handpaints, 80% merino, 20% tussah silk. It's so lovely.

Now and again I pick up my red Leyburn sock and knit a few rows. The needles are rubbish, just the Susan Bates aluminum ones from the craft section of a Walmart. They are bending a lot with all the pressure I put on them trying to keep my stitches tiny and tight.

And finally, I have been going around and around with Petrie. I do not love it. I love the yarn, and I like the idea of a simple boatneck sort of tank, but I don't think I will wear it because it won't be that flattering on my curves. It has been knit up to the underarms, more or less.

I am thinking of swatching a bit with the remaining yarn, and then making a decision. I am thinking of doing something lacy that I can wear over a commercial tank top, and since I just received CK's copy of the new IK in the mail, I am thinking of the Handkerchief Tee or the Double V Cardigan. Time for swatching! Because I clearly don't have enough WIPs...

Lamby goodness

2010-04-18T14:55:00.002-05:00

I had the fun chance to visit a sheep farm south of Halifax over the weekend. Lots of lambs!

Here's a soon-to-be mama...

Her next door neighbor, a pregnant Romney:

Out in the field...

I got to give a whole bottle of milk to this little one.

It was a really fun field trip.

Froggy weekend

2010-04-17T16:25:00.002-05:00

I have a few projects that have been sitting in the bottom of my knitting bag for, um, years. There are many reasons a project may languish, I know you're familiar with at least a few of them.

Here we have a completed Shapely Tank in Mission Falls cotton, a half finished Branching Out in Misti Alpaca laceweight, and a half finished KnitPicks Risata sock yarn beanie I was designing a couple of years ago. It turned out a bit big and I didn't finish it, though I did knit a completely different one and give it to my brother.

I was never going to wear that Shapely Tank. But I do like the yarn.

And I was bored to tears by the Branching Out. I started it almost three years ago, and it was coming out fine but I've done so much lace since then, and I was never going to finish this.

The laceweight didn't like being ripped so I did the best I could. And the hat was sort of a prototype, so that needed to be ripped out as well. I feel good about frogging these!

button mods

2010-04-17T07:37:00.002-05:00

I have this shirt. It's white, button down, classic, yet with lots of floaty extra fabric and I always get compliments on it. It's comfy, goes with everything.

But the sleeves, which fold up and are cute, half length, are too tight, and are held together with two white buttons, connected by a bit of thread and threaded through two buttonholes.

Last week I wanted to wear this, took it out, put it on, decided to fix it.

I needed buttons that had extra thread between them so the sleeves weren't so tight. And while I was at it I thought it would be fun to add a splash of color.

Much improved. And I can do up a bunch of these little sets of two buttons connected by thread (or yarn, perhaps!) and change the colors easily. Any minor clothing mods you've been putting off?

WIP: Spiral Scarf

2010-04-09T13:54:00.002-05:00

My spirals are coming along, too!

I finished the fifth hexagon earlier this week while watching Six Feet Under (3rd season), time to pick up for the sixth. The pattern calls for 12, I think, so we'll see how it goes. They're getting smaller and quicker, of course.

WIP: Petrie

2010-04-08T13:47:00.003-05:00

I'm about halfway finished with the main body of Petrie.

I'm using Elann Nilo in Bronzed Olive and knitting this on size 4 needles. I started with the 40 inch size, and am knitting it in one piece instead of front and back. After about five inches I decreased to get down to the 36 inch size and am continuing on from there. I kept a purl st at each side for a faux seam, and did double decreases on each side of that purl st, every other row, five times to decrease the requisite 20 stitches.

I'd like this to be a long enough piece, so I'm glad I have plenty of the yarn. The fabric is coming out really well. Also, it's going to match two skirts I have a hard time matching tops to, with big floral prints, so I'm excited and motivated! Plus it's perfect end-of-term simple knitting. Tomorrow's the last day of classes!

WIP: Rosamund's Cardigan... blocking

2010-04-07T13:38:00.002-05:00

Rosamund is blocking.

That Briggs and Little yarn soaked up an awful lot of water, we went through two rounds of squeezing yesterday. The bottom hem is not finished; I had knit enough of the cable to match the width of the body, I thought, but now that it has blocked it looks like I'll need to knit a few more inches.

The yarn bled a little bit, but not too badly, and the fabric has fluffed up a little and softened. I stretched it a bit width wise to be sure it turns out big enough, and with the added lower hem I think it will be a good length. Just need to knit a bit more of that bottom cable when it's dry, wash and dry that part, then attach the lower hem. Then buttons, and eventually I'll find hook and eye closures, perhaps. Might start wearing it before that happens though!

Coffee with a Twist

2010-04-02T07:04:00.003-05:00

Good Friday morning with my coffee and the new Twist Collective, what could be better?

Oh, I know. If only I could settle down and knit all day instead of having to construct an XML database project over the weekend, the last big final project I have of my MLIS degree - yikes!

Back to TC for a moment, I love Anney, a sweet little tee (this model is inspiring me to get myself back into the gym routine, maybe I should leave through TC every day...), Poplar & Elm, a super cute wrap lacy sweater that would probably work better on most body types, and Timpani, the military/marching band style jacket that looks so structured and substantial. Not sure why it lacks closures, though, or at least I can't see any.

I also really like Goose Rocks. I never got on the Rogue bandwagon, and I was reminded of Rogue, perhaps because of the cabled hood, but now I realize that Rogue is a pullover, while GR is a cardigan, which makes it even better. One of these days I'll have the income and time (am I dreaming?) to knit these lovely things. One day. Which patterns do you like from the latest lovely TC?

WIPs: Spiral Scarf / Petrie tank

2010-03-29T07:34:00.002-05:00

Here's a pretty WIP photo of my spiral scarf, just so you know I've been working on it:

Three hexagons down!

The new Knitty is up, and even though it's super simple I was attracted to the Petrie tank with its mature boat neck shaping at the top, so I swatched with some Elann Nilo I ordered last year with thoughts of summery tops.

I'm using 4s instead of 6s, which makes sense since I usually need to go down two needle sizes. Also instead of working this in two pieces I'm knitting it in the round and thinking about purling a st on each side to create a faux side seam. Also I find that when I knit a 36 bust size if there's no waist shaping the lower hem isn't comfortable around my hips, so I cast on for the 40 inch size at the hip and will decrease a bit into the waist. Yay, mods. This yarn is lovely because it is olive green with a strand of a subtle bronzy thread wrapped around the cotton. I think it'll hold up well and be a bit dressy in this simple pattern.

FO: BasicSimpleLazy hats. 2.

2010-03-28T07:09:00.004-05:00

These beanies got knit up so fast I never even posted a WIP note.

In February I visited the Loop and had my reasons for picking up some new yarn. I've been doing very little stash enhancing lately, which has been great, but in this case I needed something charcoal gray-ish that would knit into a cozy hat for a friend who has decided to move to northern Manitoba later this year for a job.

He actually requested a hat way back when he could have gotten some real use out of it this winter, but I just never got around to it with other projects that took priority. So I found some yarn, bought plenty (Berocco ultra alpaca light), looked at some basic hat patterns online, wanting something simple, swatched, cast on for something like Yarn Ball Boogie's BasicSimpleLazy hat.

My first effort turned out to fit me perfectly!

Oops, that was not the goal.

So I now have a lovely fitted warm alpaca beanie hat, wore it out last night, it just covers my ears so I love it (Quincy is wonderful and stylish, but not well fitted and therefore not that warm) but the original goal was a hat for someone other than me.

My gauge after blocking was 20.5 sts/4 inches on 4s, so the original hat had 92 sts. I rejigged the bigger size hat with 100 sts. Finished it up, had my friend try it on. Fit well enough around, but it was too short, even though I knit an extra inch, thinking five inches before decreases didn't sound like quite enough. Yesterday I ripped out the decreases, knit an extra almost 2 inches, and instead of doing half the decreases on every other row I decreased on every row because I noticed when my friend tried it on it looked kind of puffy on the top. Even though I did the decreases the same exact way on my hat and it fits perfectly. Everyone's head is shaped differently, I suppose! I hope I've got it right this time.

ETA: Gave the larger hat to my friend last night, I think it's a winner. Definitely long enough now, yay! (29 March 2010)

WIP: Spiral Scarf

2010-03-22T19:23:00.000-05:00

Today I finished the second hexagon and picked up for the third.

This is a lovely little project and the yarn is delicious.

FO: Lazy Day Lace shawl

2010-03-21T14:37:00.002-05:00

Just blocking this now.

I was just determined to get this off the needles today. I don't have a lot of time for knitting right now because of pesky term papers but I just knew that if I could spend an hour or so on this I could start blocking it and that would be exciting.

And it is.

I used up all but a few yards of the Noro kureyon sock. I managed about 17 repeats where the pattern calls for 14; I wanted to use all the yarn if possible and it worked out fine. Size 6 needles. A nice quick knit.

new Rav frontpage

2010-03-20T16:58:00.002-05:00

Just linked through to Ravelry from someone else's blog and a pattern they mentioned...

And the new front page is looking very good.

It's all business around here at the moment, little time for knitting. Hope your weekend is more relaxed than mine!

WIP: Lazy Day Lace Shawl

2010-03-15T10:10:00.001-05:00

This is a great class project - in fact it's likely to be finished up soon as my Noro yarn is running out...

What a difference compared to the first drop st scarf I started with this yarn. This pattern is so much better suited for it. I had lots of time to work on it this week, what with one thing and another.

Can't wait to block it out either. I'm very curious about how big it will end up being. I'll be looking for another simple class project soon - though in only a few weeks my classes will have come to an end and then we'll see if my knitting habits change.

WIP: Spiral Scarf

2010-03-14T09:59:00.002-05:00

A couple of weeks ago I was having a bit of a brain meltdown following a particularly bad computer class, and I just couldn't focus on any of my academic commitments.

Subliminalrabbit gave me a delicious skein of Dream in Color Smooshy over the holidays, and I've been keeping its beauty in the back of my mind as I've been scheming what to make with it. I might have had to borrow CK's ball winder while I was home and wind it up right away even though I didn't know when I would cast on for anything. It's just so pretty.

Deep tropical-ly blues with hints of purple, it's awesome. In need of some new crafty trickiness and beautiful yarn in my hands to focus on, to take my brain off of XML issues, I pulled out Norah Gaughn's Knitting Nature and flipped through. I decided to try the Spiral Scarf. It's designed to be knit with two strands of laceweight. Using an appropriate dpn size (2s) I figured it was worth a try with fingering weight.

Just finished the first hexagon. Decided to block it as it was curving like a shallow dish, and I wanted to see how the points turned out, as I'd like this to look fairly geometric.

I think we have a winner. This hexagon stretched out easily when blocked, of course, so it's bigger now than when I started - 6 inches across exactly. I had thought it would be better to start with a smaller hexagon and then keep making them larger till I run out of yarn or like the length of the whole thing (you attach hexagons as you go. However, it's written that you knit the largest one first, then attach incrementally smaller ones) and this should work fine, especially since this first one turned out larger than I expected. And I can always attach larger ones later if I want.

WIP: Rosamund's Cardigan... edging

2010-03-13T09:51:00.001-05:00

I can't do that many rows of my edging in one sitting, but I've turned the corner and it is looking good...

I picked up 12 sts at first and then kfb into each of them across - and learned from an oversight when I was continuing the cable from the front edge down for three inches to connect to the bottom hem cable... I should have left an extra st along the edge of that extended cable so that I could pick up my 12 sts to go the other direction with the new length of cable, and not lose a st on the edge of the existing cable. Oops. Lesson learned. I am working from 25 sts for the bottom cable, 24 for the three cables and one extra that I will use to attach this thing to those live sts.

I thought I'd try to attach it as I go to the live body sts but I had another think and reasoned that it would make more sense to block everything first in case the cables act strangely when blocked, either pulling or stretch out too long. So I'll have to put the live sts on some yarn after I've knit a length of the cable for the bottom hem, and block everything before attached the cabled hem to the second front. I also have not done the armhole ribbing, but that's ok. I think this is going to be a neat piece.

FO: Z. blanket

2010-03-12T09:37:00.002-05:00

Hooray! Yesterday I got a nice email saying that a baby blanket I knit for a friend living in the Netherlands arrived safely. Little Z also arrived safely in January, so my gift was a little late...but I've done worse. My friend loves it. I didn't blog about it before, just in case! I'm not sure if N. reads this.

When I was home over the holidays I decided I needed to get started with something to send over. I wanted it to be textured, and brightly colored. I had a random amount of KP Shine Sport hanging out in a bin and thought I'd see if it would work. Four or five skeins, divided up into balls.

I wasn't really sure how big I'd be able to make the blanket, and swatched a little, double stranded on 6's, and then guessed at the number of sts to cast on. I used a modified basketweave stitch pattern.

The turquoise didn't take me far enough in terms of length considering how wide the piece was, so I added in the River blue I also had, same yarn.

It looks kind of random, and is way more of a rectangle than a square, but I ended up thinking of it as a good piece to cover Z. in a baby stroller, longer than wide, and brightly colored for the most part.

I am very happy with how the texture turned out, and can picture little baby hands gripping the thick fabric happily.

The entire thing ended up at about 20 inches x 30 inches I think. So not huge, but that's ok.

And it is weighty, with all that cotton, so I think it'll make a good spring covering for Z. And little girls should have some blue in their life to balance out all the pink!

WIP roundup

2010-03-01T08:41:00.002-05:00

I've been on a total finishing kick, which has been exhilarating. I also have two large projects that are getting very close to being finished.

Rosamund's Cardigan. As I mentioned before, I am going to try to modify this by knitting a length of the reversible triple cable and attaching it at the bottom hem for a thicker finished edge, and a nice design feature around the bottom of the body. I'm currently trying to decide whether to knit it separately or to knit it on as I go. I've done some measuring... and more stalling.

Then we have Bridgewater:

I only have two rows of the lace repeat remaining after working a few rounds over the weekend. It takes a really long time to get around, but it's so easy to read this lace, I love it. I almost never have to tink back because everything lines up so nicely. I'm fairly sure I won't have enough yarn left to work the second knitted on edging, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. I'll definitely be finished the horseshoe lace chart very soon.

And you know a girl needs a more mindless, steady sort of pattern to take along when she goes places where conversation is happening alongside the knitting ;) Last summer I started the #13 Drop Stitch Scarf from Vogue Knitting, while traveling down the east coast. I used a great skein of Noro Kureyon Sock I picked up in the Denver area last Christmas. Charcoal, lavender, purple, olive, green, fuchsia.

I wasn't too impressed with how it was coming out, so I finally frogged it to start the Lazy Day Shawl. I don't even have a decent picture of the Drop St Scarf. But here is the LDS:

I think the yarn is going to be a good match for this pattern, though no one else has used it yet. And that's the rainy Monday morning WIP roundup! Have a good one.

FO: Tilia

2010-02-28T16:03:00.002-05:00

Holy monkeys this thing took me a long time to finish.

I cast on on my way to Portland in the summer of 2008 (July). Wow. Borrowed needles from my lovely hostess and have held them hostage ever since. I am sorry, CC!

I'm not really thrilled with how the neckline turned out; I added a few rows since I could see it was going to be extra boat-necky and stretchy, and that part turned out ok but the purl line where the neck-hem folds looks sloppy.

It's a wear-your-hair-down sort of upper body.

The lacy part is fabulous though. And I had been afraid the sleeves were going to turn out to be wrist-length, but after dealing with all the shoulder and neckline finishing, they're above the wrist, which is good.

WIP: Leyburn socks

2010-02-25T08:58:00.000-05:00

I know, I've been doing so well with the finishing and whatnot, but a girl has to have a small portable project on the go. I've been admiring everyone's lovely finished Leyburn socks on Ravelry, and I just love the concept of toe-ups because you get to use all of a special yarn.

The yarn is Fleece Artist BFL in red/burgundy tones and it's coming along well on 00s. The needles are so small that doing more than a few rows at a time starts to cramp my hands but that's ok, that's what this project is for, doing a few rounds at a time. I'm still getting used to reading the number of rows I've done and where I am on the pattern rows, but it's pretty straightforward and so pretty. I need to find a pair of mary jane style shoes for spring to wear with hand knit socks, now that I'm trying to use some of my pretty sock yarns for socks!

WIP: Tilia

2010-02-24T11:09:00.002-05:00

Remember this pattern?

In the spirit of all the lovely finishing off of WIPs that have been gathering dust (not really, of course they've been stored away, so I suppose the dust is metaphorical), I have finally put the pieces of Tilia together.

Over the last week or so I have set in both sleeves, seamed them, and just this morning picked up neckline stitches at long last.

The yarn is Elsebeth Lavold silky wool in a pumpkin orange that doesn't photograph particularly well. The pieces lengthened when I blocked them (months ago) so the sleeves are wrist-length instead of 3/4, which is not really what I was hoping for.

The neckline is a real boat neck and was at risk of falling off my shoulders so I've adjusted the picked up stitches accordingly, and we'll see how that turns out. This'll be an FO soon, and a nice lightweight sweater for spring, I hope.

And in going back through my archives to find the last time I posted about Tilia, I apparently said the same thing last March. About a spring sweater. Yikes.

WIP: Rosamund's Cardigan pt 4

2010-02-23T12:16:00.002-05:00

Hopefully the next time you see Rosamund, she'll be an FO. I'm inspired by subliminalrabbit's fabulous example.

She is getting to be a nice length. I have plenty of yarn to try something interesting with the lower hem - I'm going to knit a length of the reversible cable and attach it as the lower edge. Might be a bit of a fiddly process and will definitely take longer, but since the wool is so heavy and this is going to be something of a spring time jacket rather than a sweater I'd wear under a jacket, I think it'll be worth the effort.

And if it doesn't work out, I'll let it go and just do the lower ribbing or however it's actually supposed to be finished off. Wish me luck!

FO: Drops cardigan

2010-02-21T10:18:00.000-05:00

Here's the original.

Specs:
Yarn: Fleece Artist Nyoni (wool, mohair, silk, fingering 4-ply), approx 1066 yds (1.3 skeins)
Needles: size 0 (!!!)

Pre-blocking:

Blocking worked wonders. Here it is - sorry it's fuzzy, I don't have a live-in photographer, sadly - before blocking, looking a bit short and rumpled. Also, when I tried to sharpen it it made the colors look more blocky and less subtle than they are in real life. Not going to lie, though, that left shoulder has a blue patch.

After blocking, the length was better and the sleeves were just about perfect. Couldn't be more pleased.

A few snaps of the FO:

I forgot to include buttonholes when I was knitting it up, but it works fine with something stuck through it to close it up. I could also add some buttonholes without too much trouble. We'll see, might wear it a few times first and see how I feel.

My Rav notes tell me I started this in April of 2009, so at least it got finished faster than my Endpaper mitts.

WIP: Drops cardigan

2010-02-20T12:14:00.002-05:00

This is the last time you'll see this as a WIP, I promise.

Last weekend I used some daylight to set in the first sleeve. It took ages, being such a fine piece, and I tried it on probably 15 times to be sure it was all laying right and whatnot.

Then we had a magical snow day on Wednesday and I used some of the time productively to set in the second sleeve. I was interested to see what would happen with the blocking because the sleeves came out too short.

FO post tomorrow!

FO: Endpaper Mitts

2010-02-18T22:14:00.002-05:00

Wow. I started these in November - of 2008.

Yesterday was a snow day at the university. This week (with five assignments due in four days before reading week) I had put on the final push for my never-ending Endpaper Mitts, and knit the ribbing at the top of the second mitt - only to realize after I'd botched the tubular kitchener stitch at the top; it looked so much looser than the first mitt (on the left):

...Because although I'd read the part where the pattern said to switch to the smaller needles, I thought, I'm pretty sure I used the same size needles throughout. Rubbish. Ravelry set me straight, I ripped the ribbing back and did it on the size 0s needed. Also I discovered that the directions in the Knitting Answer Book are better illustrated than the source Eunny linked to from the pattern originally. So the tubular bindoff is slightly different on the first mitt from the second.

Don't care. They're done. They're fabulous and have been getting some nice compliments. And I have so much yarn left over I am thinking of knitting a matching hat.

Maybe a headband. I don't know if I can stand another year and a half of the same colorwork.

Vday crafting

2010-02-14T08:44:00.003-05:00

Happy Valentine's Day! Whatever it means to you, or doesn't mean, it's a reason to be crafty, so I can't get too annoyed at all the hype.

Last weekend I collected a bunch of crafty materials and opened up my space to whoever wanted to drop by for hot chocolate and (mostly paper) crafts. Also having the Princess Bride running on my TV didn't hurt.

We had all sorts of paper - some I'd scavenged from various spots around campus, some dug out of my drawers of random stuff, and some brought by crafty girls.

Stickers, tissue paper, markers, crayons, glitter sticks...

More stickers, buttons, yarn, ribbon...

Frankly, anything I had lying around that I thought might work for gluing onto paper, it was out.

And we had a lot of fun. One of my craftiest residents brought a couple of very cool quarterly obscure literary magazines that had stories and quotations printed on some nice cardstock so we might have gone to town cutting those up and using the images and text.

Hopefully we can do this again, it went over well and I had a ton of fun, plus it was productive.

Have a lovely day, tell someone you love them!

Olympic aspirations

2010-02-13T11:56:00.003-05:00

I'm not formally doing the Ravelympics or whatever we're calling it now these days. Too many WIPs to start something new, and too much uncertainty in my daily life to commit to anything in particular.

That said, I am going to attempt to use the lovely energy that is flowing around the knitting blogosphere and Rav at the moment to inspire myself to clean up my list of WIPs. Finishing Citron last night does't count for much, as it wasn't a hard knit and I knew there'd be almost zero finishing, so I wasn't dragging my feet on that one at all.

I have two sweaters however that have been languishing in finishing limbo for far too long. I finally finished up the sleeve caps on the Drops Cardigan, and just need to set in the sleeves and weave in the ends and I will have a whole new cardigan to wear. That is so doable, I just need good light and to focus a bit. I also have the Tilia pullover which has been waiting for ages for me to finish up the neckline and sew the whole thing together, another case of just needing the time and space and light to concentrate for an hour or so, and add another lightweight pullover to my wardrobe. I can do it!

Most of my knitting time really comes when I have a class full of presentations to listen to, and am not expected to participate quite as much, or when I'm sitting down for some TV watching with friends and want to keep my hands busy. That's why I don't do the finishing, because those are scenarios when it's not possible to get something fiddly done.

The sun is out. I'm going to try to get some serious work done on a short paper due Monday, and then set in some cardigan sleeves. Go Olympians!

FO: Citron

2010-02-13T11:45:00.003-05:00

I am so pleased with Citron. Just bound off the last edge last night - that took quite awhile, but finishing didn't. Just a couple of ends to weave in, what's not to love? A nice easy knit but such a nice drape and of course the malabrigo lace was a pleasure to work with. I'm interested to see how this piece holds up.

I like that it wraps easily around the shoulders, bunched up as a scarf. or even turned around like a bib to cover the chest and with the ends coming around to the front again - this could be really handy on a chilly windy winter day when you need extra warmth on the chest and neck.

All in all, this is a great pattern to use one nice skein of malabrigo lace, which is a very affordable luxury. I added a few extra rows onto the last ruffle as I figured I had enough yarn. I just have 20 yards or so left over after doing that.

WIP: Rosamund's Cardigan pt 3

2010-02-08T09:03:00.000-05:00

I didn't start the waist shaping two inches after the underarm join, which is what the pattern says to do.

I've just been carrying on. I tried it on again after doing about five inches of the body after the underarm join, and it's now about at my natural waist (I have a short torso) but because of the sturdiness of the wool I think I am going to skip the shaping altogether. This piece is going to be more like a jacket than a cardigan, unless I douse it in conditioner, probably, so I think I'll be wearing enough layers underneath that the shaping wouldn't really work out.

Plus this means I can keep knitting in the dark or during the super bowl, without worrying about shaping anything. A handy bonus.

I've just started in on the third skein of the four that I have. The pattern only calls for about five rows of ribbing on the sleeves at this point, which hopefully means I'll have plenty of yarn to make the body a nice length. I tend to knit things a little too short, so I'm trying to be aware of that. Also, I plan to stretch this a little horizontally when I block it, so a bit of extra length will be necessary.

This has been a great knit so far, and the yarn is starting to give me less trouble as my fingers toughen up a little bit. And the cables are so lovely!

WIP: Rosamund's Cardigan - a snag

2010-02-07T10:48:00.004-05:00

Rosamund's Cardigan is still coming along well and I'm pretty pleased with it.

I discovered once again the dangers of knitting on auto pilot in the dark while watching a Buffy marathon when I picked it up during daylight early last week however, and tried it on - only to look down at my chest and discover this:

Need a close up?

Four purl stitches on the stockinette side of the fabric. About three inches of knitting done since that weird blip on my knitting radar.

What's a girl to do? Get the crochet hook out. The purls were like centered in the middle of my chest, they could not stay there.

Sorry about the poor lighting, by the time I had the chance to sit down and start fixing, it was nearly dark out again.

I'm so glad I'm confident enough to drop a stitch down, change the purl to a knit, and pick the laddered stitches back up.

All's well that ends well.

(ha, ha, if you're really attentive you can actually see that this picture was taken before I fixed those purl sts. Newer WIP photos tomorrow.)

ETA (1:30 pm AST): I just saw this fresh post from Lolly Knitting Around - my little bit of emerg surgery is *nothing* compared to what she is contending with! There is colorwork involved, and inches of ribbing that should be stockinette. Respect.

crocheted stop motion music video

2010-02-07T10:37:00.002-05:00

Just saw this posted to Boing-Boing.

If you haven't seen it yet, you're in for a treat.

So adorable and cool. And I love that the katakana is animated too.

WIP: Citron

2010-02-02T10:19:00.001-05:00

Citron's coming along really well, perfect knitting for not thinking very hard.

The ruching is very pretty, and you can't really tell in the washed out pictures but the yarn is a lovely subtle olive. I worked on this a bunch last weekend while attending a conference on campus. Perfect for keeping my hands busy while listening to speakers. It's a nice light portable size. And it's going to be so warm and soft around my neck - I think it's almost half finished now. Great yardage on the Malabrigo lace.

Podcast follow up.

2010-02-01T09:49:00.003-05:00

I mentioned recently that I was trying out some new knitting podcasts.

I've just deleted two of the new subscriptions after listening to them on more than one occasion. Trying out new podcasts makes me appreciate podcasts that are well edited and have a good flow. Also, I don't listen to the podcasts of strangers to hear about other people's pets, children, or office jobs, so if the content strays too far away from knitting, I'm trying to be sure to get rid of it. There's plenty out there to listen to.

My favorite of the new ones I've been test driving is Knitty Nora's Knitting Natter. She has a sense of humor. That's critical.

the amazing knitting community.

2010-01-31T19:49:00.002-05:00

It's very nearly the end of January. If you've been on Ravelry over the last couple of weeks at all you may have noticed that a lot of the designers on there have pledged some of their earnings as donations to various causes that will help in Haiti - and in other places the desperately need help all the time. I have only one pattern for sale (for now, at least), but dedicating the sales from that pattern made me happy. Thank you to the people who've purchased my pattern in the last couple of weeks - I've already sent all of my earnings from January to Doctors without Borders, and added a little bit of my own. It's not a lot, but it's part of being a member of our wonderful community. Every little bit helps.

And I also was pleased to order patterns from other designers who were doing the same thing - I purchased Whimsical Little Knits 2 from Ysolda today, and the adorable French Press felted Slipper pattern that has made the rounds over the last six weeks or so. Wonderful patterns from good designers, and for a good cause.

The weather is going to be bitter this week and I am wishing I had already knit up Ysolda's Peaks Island Hood. I would get some good use out of it.

WIP: Rosamund's Cardigan pt 2

2010-01-31T10:08:00.002-05:00

I've finally reached the point where I can put the sleeve stitches on holders/spare yarn, and work on the body.

I knit onto a second cable earlier so I could stretch out the knitting and sort of try this on, make sure it'll be approximately the right size...

I'm liking how this looks very much. Unfortunately I think the wool is stressing my needles out - I'm knitting so tightly and the wool is a bit rough and slightly sticky so it is hard to shove all the stitches around the cable, and I wouldn't be surprised if this cable is done in after this project. Or possibly in the middle. That's why whenever I order from KP I tend to throw a few spare cables in my basket, they're inexpensive and I wouldn't want to be stuck without the right length in the future.

Subliminalrabbit's Rosamund's Cardigan is really coming together and looking amazing, she's miles ahead of me! If you're not familiar with the pattern you might notice that mine looks different because I'm considering the right side to be the stockinette stitch side, whereas it's written to have the reverse stockinette side (all those purl sts) as the right side. The cable is reversible anyway, so I might be able to try wearing it both ways and see what I really like best in the end.

I wish today could involve tons of knitting but other than getting ready to split this cardigan to work the body and leave the sleeve portions be for now, I have two two hour reference shifts this afternoon and a broomball game tonight. Plus readings for classes and I really need to start thinking about some upcoming assignments. Happy knitting!

knitters need information too.

2010-01-30T20:27:00.000-05:00

About a week ago I wrote about a piece I was writing on the information-seeking behavior of knitters.

I got my lit review back today. I laughed out loud when I saw the first note my prof had made on my title page - she drew an arrow to the word "knitters" and wrote, 'I must be tired: I read this as "kittens"'.

Her challenge to me as I move forward with my inquiry is to address the issue of why the info-seeking behavior of knitters is important - and for that matter, why knitters are important.

I practically rubbed my hands together with glee. This project is FUN!

knitting graffiti

2010-01-25T08:37:00.004-05:00

I just got a few great photos from a couple of lovely friends who visited from Ottawa in December. While they were here they were surprised to be part of this:

The first bit of knitted/crocheted graffiti I've ever helped out with.

Now, this wasn't really a guerrilla effort - the pieces were collected from a few local fiber artists to dress up a telephone pole outside the December Halifax crafters market. The effort was spearheaded by Hello Pineapples. On the day, the three of us showed up to help assemble and see what it would all look like, then when HP was too busy to come with, we set it up ourselves.

AP help pieces in places while I whip-crocheted them together (meaning I was crocheting as fast as I could, and not very tidily, but that's ok!) and JH documented the scene.

Since then, I've had reports from several friends in several cities that they've spotted some similar works of art!

ETA: I forgot to mention I had knit a couple of things to contribute to this effort, thanks to the donation of some fab pine green acrylic from RP - I didn't want to use any of my stash for this project because it's all ear-marked (more or less) for actual projects! The triangle at the top, and the green strip that crosses over stuff on a diagonal are pieces I knit up while in classes last November.

lit review notes...

2010-01-17T16:52:00.007-05:00

I mentioned in my last post I'm working on a lit review that looks at how knitters seek information about their hobby/business/obsession.

I just came across this neat piece by Cat Bordhi (of clever sock-knitting fame) about using knitting as a classroom management device. I'll just quote a little bit, and if you're interested you can read the longer article linked above.

In the second half of the commentary, Cat says

--When knitting is integrated into the curriculum (see lessons that follow) and integrated into the daily routine of class (for instance, when students are encouraged to take out their knitting projects during class discussions or other times when hands and eyes are free), an alert peacefulness arises in the room, opening a window for education. Many students told me that knitting had made them feel differently about school - it had become a haven instead of a burden. I watched tentative friendships develop between students from widely differing social groups, chronically inattentive students become intellectually engaged in class discussions, and marveled at the dramatic drop in classroom management. In my opinion, knitting is one of the cheapest and most effective ways to improve educational engagement and foster a positive social environment for learning that I have ever experienced.--

Very cool.

WIP: Rosamund's Cardigan

2010-01-17T08:43:00.005-05:00

You wouldn't believe the number of new WIPs around here; and my knitting time has suddenly evaporated under the pressure of approaching academic deadlines. Boo.

That said, if I could, I would be working on Rosamund's Cardigan. Here's the swatch, done on size 6 needles and coming out at 4/4.25 sts/inch in Briggs and Little Heritage, color Mulberry, picked up at Avonport Discount fabrics a little over a year ago when the Nova Scotia wool adventures started:

Subliminalrabbit and I have done a couple of Knit-a-longs now (Textured Tunic and Minimalist cardigan), and this time Beigeberry is joining us. I see that the first two sweater KALs were in 2008, so it's about time we lined up a new one!

(You can see the nice heathering in the yarn here, but the color is washed out.)

Rosamund's Cardigan is from IK, Fall 2009. Everyone's pics on Ravelry are encouraging, and I'm excited to power through this - just have to go write a lit review now.

My topic? The information seeking behavior... of knitters. Possibly yarn store owners. I'm still narrowing it down. At least I got to choose whose info seeking behavior I am interested in.

Knitting podcast roundup

2010-01-13T13:40:00.002-05:00

I like to listen to knitting podcasts while I'm being crafty. Once in while I go through my podcasts and get rid of a few things that I'm just not enjoying as much as I used to, or podcasts that have disappeared and are no longer being produced.

When a knitting friend and I were discussing podcasts before the holidays and I offered to share a few favorites, I realized that it had been some time since I poked around to see if there were any new crafty podcasts I might like to listen to. I've been auditioning a few in the last few days, since I'm pretty caught up on Cast On, Sticks and String, and Fiber Beat.

New feeds in my podcast library include Knit Misadventures, Knitpod, Knitty Nora's Knitting Natter, and Never Not Knitting. I've listened to the latter three so far, and like Knitty Nora the best, I think. She has a lovely English accent and keeps up a good pace, with a nice mix of knitting chatter. I just finished listening to the first episode of Never Not Knitting, and although I'm not sure I'll stick with Alana because of the content not lining up with what I do so much, as well as the length of the episodes, she has a good way of making the audio more interesting by adding little sound bytes.

If you have any excellent podcasts to share, please do. I miss YKnit a lot, but luckily WonderMike is back with Fiber Beat, which is also pretty good so far. It's amazing what a difference some editing abilities and additional sound clips can make for audio interest.

WIPs: Citron / Bridgewater

2010-01-07T21:10:00.002-05:00

I finally got started on my Citron on the train ride back to Halifax - I just couldn't bear getting all the way back to the city without even starting the project I'd brought yarn for - even though the holidays were very full of knitting...

It has grown a bit since, though I'm also using those needle tips (size 6) for a baby gift for a little someone who has recently arrived - earlier than I was expecting!! I'm designing something for her, stay tuned for that.

I also worked on Bridgewater a ton on the train. It seems impossible to appreciate just how much there is to this shawl so far - I'm about halfway through the 5 charted lace repeats - but believe me, it's going to be enormous. And amazing when blocked. Though for now it just looks like a big soft lump...

Snowshoe Alpacas!

2010-01-05T15:35:00.002-05:00

As I mentioned in passing in the last post, soon after I got back to Vermont there was a wonderful visit to a local alpaca farm organized by my fab friend subliminalrabbit.

Big eyes, gentle manners (though they do keep an eye on you just to be sure), soft coats, and a healthy bit of curiosity, we really enjoyed visiting with the herd of 58 at Snowshow Alpaca Farm.

Don't you have a pretty face!

Kisses for one of the owners:

Oh! More kisses!

The lone suri alpaca in the herd:

And since there's just no excuse for not getting a bit of the good stuff while on site (when will I ever go back!?), there was some stash enhancement.

Laceweight from the alpacas on the farm, 500 yards in a natural oatmeal color:

And I couldn't resist this 80/20 alpaca/angora blend, though it comes from Ibiwisi alpacas in Putney Vermont, a completely different operation:

Mmmm, so soft and lovely! No idea what these will grow up to be but life is too short to not buy pretty, unique skeins when they come my way, especially when they're rather one of a kind - and produced in Vermont!

end of the year knitting

2009-12-29T14:33:00.003-05:00

I managed to get one of the lace repeats on the big shawl done on the lovely long train ride. I haven't yet broken into the Malabrigo I mentioned on my last post! There has been some other knitting going on, including some that I'm not ready to talk about yet, and some that didn't go how I would have liked... I started knitting a rich plummy pink baby thing and the yarn was just all wrong and I don't have access to most of my stash here at home so I didn't think I'd be able to come up with anything better. I was wrong, though, I had some good yarn just waiting to get back into action, and it's going to be excellent. No pictures yet though, and I'm designing something so my plan is to write it up and make it available somehow.

It seems like I'm so used to running around like a headless chicken that I can't sit by the fire for more than 15 minutes without feeling the need to get up and do something else. I'm working on it. In good news, the visit home has involved the gifting of a large super secret project that is frankly awesome and was well received by the lovely friends who had to be patient while the last little bits were sewn in and even gamely closed their eyes and reached their hands out to feel the fabric before seeing the completely piece (which I worked on in partnership with another fabulous knitter, more on that in the new year...). There was also a visit to a Vermont alpaca farm with a staggering 58 alpacas, the purchase of some related yarn (but of course!), and even my secret santa gave me yarn! Here was my second clue in the recent SS deal:

Another lovely piece of impressive art with many many small letters cut out and pasted on. My SS is not a knitter, but had seen me knitting and asked a few very subtle questions about the needles etc - I had no idea what she was up to. Clever person, she went down to the yarn store closest to campus and asked for help and they hooked her up with a very colorful skein of Misti Alpaca sock yarn that is a beautiful blend of alpaca, merino, silk and nylon. What with the crazy not-having-packed and late-night-party before leaving town, I didn't photograph it before leaving and also haven't yet sorted out downloading photos onto my parent's laptop while I'm home. I also had my knitting projects for my two week trip picked out and didn't want to confuse myself by bringing that skein with me.

It's cold away from the fire so I think I'll put the kettle on and get back to that baby thingie. And hopefully download some pictures later on to show you a bit more of what's been going on, knitting-wise.

Just one more piece of colorful pretty for you:

One of my residents does some very cool collage-painting stuff and she gave this to me at the floor's own Secret Santa gathering before all the girls left for home for the holidays. It's really neat and I haven't yet figured out how I am going to display it.

train knitting / goals update

2009-12-19T12:43:00.004-05:00

Almost a month ago I posted about some December knitting goals.

Turns out I have had even less time since finishing my assignments and classes for the term on 7 Dec than while I was still attending class. I managed to cram a lot of knitting time in last term. But now that I'm free, so to speak, I've been spending a lot of time running around trying to get miscellaneous things done, like fitting in extra hours at work, wrapping up my practicum, organizing a secret santa gift and assorted clues, and getting enough sleep. So there hasn't been much knitting. I did finish that pair of socks, and one endpaper mitt, but as far as finishing off either of the sweaters I pictured in that Nov goals post, it just hasn't happened. And there's no point in bringing nearly finished projects with me on my train ride, as they're not a good use of space. Hopefully January will be better for doing the finishing on those pieces.

So what am I bringing on the train, then? Well, I'm hopefully going to be ready to work on the lace border of Jared Flood's Bridgewater Shawl. I swatched two lace repeats...

And looked at the oversized garter square I'd come out of the first stages with... and multiplied out the edge lengths and figured I'd better pick up more stitches than the pattern calls for, because the whole thing is coming out so huge. I hope this doesn't come back to bite me, but I know when I knit the Hemlock blanket I couldn't block that thing out to drape as nicely as everyone else's. Frustrating.

Instead of picking up 153 sts per side (my piece isn't even a square, because of my row and st gauge not being equal...), it looked like I'd better pick up 203 per side. The lace patt is a multiple of 10 plus 3. And when I worked around at picking up the sts it worked out more nicely to do 203, 193, 203, 193 - that would be the slightly varying lengths showing their colors. Of course I counted around last night to see if I'd really picked up the numbers I wanted, and they're off a bit on a couple of sides. It's so many ridiculous sts to count that I'm not worried, I'll take it with me to a friend's place this afternoon to work on and see how I get on with the lace chart. I will fudge the sts to make it work, and really hope that I can get the first round going correctly so that it's good train knitting, not too stressful. I have gotten miles better at reading my own lace so that I can tell if I've missed a YO or something and just need to pick it up from the row below rather than backing up 800 sts to fix the problem. Can you imagine?

And I have a backup small project in case the lace becomes too much: a single skein of Malabrigo laceweight in olive that I have been struggling to find a good pattern for, and a copy of a new Knitty shawl pattern, Citron:

I'm not even going to swatch. I'm just going to enjoy the Malabrigo.

Oh, yes, you were wondering about the answer to the riddle I posted before? Think you know the answer?

....

(just giving you the chance to go back to the previous post and see the riddle before you see the answer...)

...

WIP: Endpaper mitts / secret santa riddle

2009-12-19T12:36:00.002-05:00

I clearly have a crafty and inventive secret santa - I got home yesterday to find this in my mailbox...

Do you know the answer?

So I've been working on my endpaper mitts, which I started over a year ago. Yikes. Finished one, though, and the second one is coming right along.

They're very pretty and fit so nicely, perfect for going up a coat sleeve.

Tomorrow I'm getting on a train and there will be lots of knitting time.

NaKnitMo results

2009-12-13T10:01:00.002-05:00

Halfway through December, let me tell you how my attempt to knit 30000 stitches in November went.

It went really well.

It went so well that I upped my goal to 50000 and met that as well.

57399 / 50000 stitches. 115% done!

I found that I was being especially conscious of using all my little bits of time to knit - in class, in the afternoon, in the evening... might have had a little something to do with it being that time in the term when I was looking for procrastination tactics.

My stitches really added up and I was kind of astonished at how easy it was to make my goal. I even though I might keep doing it through December and see if I could get to six figures.

I've stopped, though. I like keeping track of things and watching my progress (hello, word counts), but the counting was taking away from my knitting time and getting to be a distraction. So maybe it'll be a yearly thing.

(maga)zines

2009-12-12T16:21:00.002-05:00

Had a fun experience last Tuesday afternoon - I met a grad of my program over the weekend at dinner at another friend's apartment, and she invited me to visit a zine library housed at a social center in the city. They have lots of zines (what's a 'zine'? you might ask) and they have set up a cataloguing system, and they need a bit of help finishing up taking stock of the collection.

It was fun to learn about the system that has evolved under the oversight of two recent grads of my library program, and to get started helping out with describing and entering zine details into their database. I was also kind of excited to pull out the DIY box and discover a couple of issues of Knitcircus within; I've had the blog in my RSS reader for a year or two but never encountered a physical issue. And now I see on the website that starting in 2010 they'll go totally digital.

That's one of the really interesting things about zines. They're so ephemeral, they can be made of just a few pages, and there might only be a few copies. Then after you discover one that you like, you might find that the artist or producer has moved online. But one of the coolest things about zines is the tactile nature of them, I think, because they can be composed of moving parts, or layered materials that don't really translate to digital formats.

I kind of can't wait to go back and look at more zines.

Now that's some tough knitting.

2009-12-03T18:55:00.003-05:00

From Dude Craft: Jim Simpson - The toughest knitter alive.

And Craftivism.

Ooooh, it's a series! Crazy. And also inspirational :)

FO: Toe-up knee-highs

2009-12-03T14:39:00.003-05:00

I can finally say I've finished a pair of socks.

I feel confident that my next pair will be more beautiful, though these are certainly functional!!

These languished for the entire summer after I made good progress during my one giant lecture last academic year. I came back to them recently thinking that I would just frog the first sock back to the length of the second sock, since it was 75% finished, but when I looked more closely at them again and tried on the first one I thought, nah, I'll just go for it.

I'm not really into the pink any more and it looks too busy for my liking, but this yarn is nice and stretchy - Patons - and I bought it on a two for one sale, I think, so I wanted to use one ball per sock, which is pretty much what I did. Size 0 needles. I used Wendy's toe-up sock pattern, and changed it just a little to do a three stitch wide faux cable at the back, mirrored ones, so it looks a bit like a seam which kept these slightly more interesting.

So for the center back 12 sts:

p2, k3, p2, k3, p2 for three rows

p2, sl1, k2, p2, k2, sl 1 for two rows

p2, holding slipped stitch to the front, k2, k slipped st, p2, work over next 2 k sts to k slipped stitch, then without dropping it (because 2 other k sts are in the way) k the 2 stitches coming up next, and drop that slipped st off when you come to it, having already knit it, p2.

I'm sure there's a better way to explain that, but when you're working it it makes sense. Repeat these six rows until the sock is as tall as you like and then do a couple of inches of k1p1 rib.

My next pair will be shorter and have a more interesting pattern. And also I learned that it's a pretty good idea to increase a few sts as you progress up a calf, since the knitting needs to cover more ground. Oops. Hindsight is 20/20, right?

FO: Quimper

2009-12-02T13:18:00.002-05:00

I finished Quimper just an hour or so before leaving for the party last Friday night - talk about under the gun!

This was a lovely knit, and though it doesn't photograph well because of the black yarn, I'm pleased with it.

It stretched out quite a bit in blocking, but drapes super nicely and will go with everything. Hooray!

I didn't use as much yarn as I expected. I think I used about five balls in the end of Elann Luna in ebony. I knit the whole thing on US 2 1/2 (3 mm) except for the sleeves on US 4 (3.5mm) needles. I actually realized later that I think the main body portion, under the sleeves (it's knit top down) should have been on the larger needles. I like it knit on the smaller needle though, and it's plenty big enough. I knit the 34" size, and it covers my 36" measurement just fine, though of course it's designed to hang a bit open in the front. And I had the perfect button from my travels to DC last June :)

So we have the first of what I hope will be a few FO posts this December...

Goals

2009-11-25T09:26:00.002-05:00

I did well with the NaKnitMo goals, just clinching my new goal of 50000 sts in November. It turns out that those stitches really do add up, even when you're a full time student.

Yesterday was my single biggest day, nearly 7500 sts in one day, because I'm determined to finish Quimper to wear over my party dress on Friday at the department holiday celebration. This pattern is really coming along. I cranked out a few inches of the lower body yesterday in class and down at the campus pub in the evening, and today hope to go back to the bottom of the sleeves - which I left as live sts on spare cables and finish up those borders. Then with whatever yarn I have left I'll keep working on the body and we'll see how long it ends up being. If I can block it by tomorrow night I think I can wear it Friday. Otherwise, I will be scrambling for a coverup!

My next goal - and November went so well that I'm feeling pretty positive - is to clean up my list of WIPs for 2009. December is going to be the month of finishing. (I can do this because I haven't had time to even think about holiday knitting, so I don't have many gifts waiting for attention. And even if I did, they'd need finishing!)

Who's with me?

button change

2009-11-23T07:46:00.003-05:00

Choosing buttons for a project can be tough. And even once you attach a button or buttons you might realize the choice was not a good one.

Early in 2009 I was knitting up the first skein of cashmere I ever purchased into a lovely soft cowl. I used every inch of the yarn. I devised a way to fasten it with a button to keep it cozier around my neck. I chose a special handmade button, clay with blue glaze; I think CK and I picked up four similar ones at a yarn shop in Vermont a couple of years ago. They were pretty. We didn't know what we'd use them for.

I haven't used this cowl much despite its super-softness - the blue button is so heavy it weighs down the fabric. I finally made a change.

It can be hard to revisit an FO and fix it up so that it's more usable, but in this case it seems better. I even added another button option so that it is more adjustable - I can button it to hold it under my chin if I have it drawn up over my head and ears, or button it closer to my neck if I'm wearing it as a cowl. The extra little button is to tell my fingers which opening that button is for.

Yesterday at an outing that involved a beach, a campfire, and a chilly wind I wore it up around my ears and the new buttons worked a treat. They're nothing fancy, just green plastic, but they also match my winter coat perfectly.

Revisiting an old FO: My original Clapotis

2009-11-19T08:13:00.002-05:00

Clapotis was one of the first projects where I purposely chose a luxury yarn, and knit up every scrap of it, inspired by one of the women in my knitting group at the time, which was the first one I have ever visited frequently. I miss it there, it was supportive and friendly and relaxed and welcoming.

One of the women was knitting Clapotis in Koigu KPPPM, and I loved the way the mottled sock yarn knit up. Just before I left the San Francisco area to move to Japan to teach English for a year (mid 2005), I treated myself to three skeins of Koigu; I think I needed a traveling project. That may well have been my most extravagant yarn purchase to date. (Oh, how the times have changed.) When I finished the knitting I had moved half a world away.

And I never blocked the thing. Four years later and I never blocked it. I like the pattern so much that I've knit three of them since and I'd knit one again. It's a great, simple, entertaining pattern that works with pretty much any yarn.

Over the weekend I was procrastinating over an assignment, wandering around my room and picking things up and putting them away, tidying, when I saw my original clap over the back of a chair. I wear it all the time. I had just had a conversation with a knitting friend where he remarked that it wasn't very big.

It blocked out a treat. It still looks wonderful in terms of wear, matches everything, and was a great investment for three skeins of Koigu. A quick soak, a quick block over the back of the couch on a brightly colored towel, and I got a compliment yesterday from a total nonknitter, and then a second. It looks really nice all blocked out. I'm quite pleased.

I have to try to do this random blocking business a bit more often.

public art

2009-11-17T10:18:00.003-05:00

Recently a call went out around the crafty Halifax community for pieces to contribute to a telephone pole cozy for the upcoming crafter's market.

I've been working on a small contribution.

Thanks to RP for giving me some of her scrap yarn. It will look great on that telephone pole.

If you're in the HRM and want to use some of your unwanted yarn to ~~keep this telephone pole warm~~ contribute to some public art, you have until 4 Dec, and contact Hello Pineapples about dropping off your piece(s).

New Twist C

2009-11-15T09:01:00.002-05:00

The winter ed of the Twist Collective is up, stunning as always!

A huge congrats goes out to a friend in Vermont, LadySaphira who designed a gorgeous sweater, Cambridge Cables, that made the cover of the issue!!

I am loving Tanit's Jacket, and there's a neat article about what happens when you substitute yarns for this pattern, as well. I like the kettle-dyed option.

Bright Star is also super cute (do we see a cropped jackets theme here? I love them!)

The photography is gorgeous, and there's a really nice variety of winter accessories in there as well. One of these days I'll learn double-knitting.

Ok, back to work!! And hopefully some knitting during study breaks - if I can make it to my month-long goal of 30,000 sts today I'll up the goal to at least 50,000, seeing as today is the midpoint of the month and I'm nearly to my original goal. Yeah, Sunday knitting!

Gauge issues

2009-11-12T08:26:00.005-05:00

As I said in my last post, the Bridgewater shawl is flying off my needles.

Earlier this week I reached the widest point of the inner garter square, 205 stitches. [Hee hee BB, I remember when it was only a couple of stitches, too!] I started with 1 st cast on, so at that point I had knit 205 rows, give or take, increasing a st at the start of each row. The beauty of the lacy garter is that gauge is not really a problem so much; I am very relaxed with this knitting and on size 4 needles, the laceweight is very loose. When I got to the apex of the garter square a few days ago, I didn't have time to get the pattern out and find out how I was going to get back down the other side of that mountain.

So I brought a different WIP with me to a class, an unfinished sleeve in simple stockinette, on much smaller needles. And I didn't give any thought to my tension. Here are the results:

Wow. Something tells me I just wouldn't like my Drops Cardigan 97-18 if one sleeve was well fitted and the other a baggy mess starting at the elbow. Ick. Rippit, rippit... Clearly I need to sort of reboot my fingers when I move from a lacy open loose pattern to something more structured.

I put my gauge lesson into practice last weekend. It might be something about the temp outside -- suddenly perfect for a big ole sweatercoat and me with none to be found - but I suddenly had the urge to dig out the special yarn I got for the Tilted Duster (Rav link) out of IK Fall 2007 and at least swatch it properly. [Rav tells me I queued this pattern on 31 July 2007. Woah.] I think I swatched it a long time ago and used size 10 needles, as are called for. I've realized in the last year or so that I tend to need to go down at least one needle size, usually two to start. So I actually swatched on 7s, then 6s, as my gauge on 7s looked too big. After blocking, however, 7s were perfect.

The yarn was custom made at Yarnia in Portland OR, a blend of three grays, a thick alpaca strand, three thin strands of dark gray wool, and a strand of silvery silk. Approximately 50/30/20. I think it's going to rock.

Once the swatch dried you could see the silvery strand much more clearly:

Funny thing was, after that careful swatching and blocking, my hands relaxed again when I cast on - I thought I'd be sensible and do the 40" size so it would fit over a couple of layers and be plenty comfortable - and my first few rows of the back piece came out about 25 inches wide when it should be 20 inches wide.

Even with the inch or so I'd probably lose in blocking, this was coming out WAY too big. I tore it out, considered my options, and knowing that the fabric I'd produced when not giving st st much thought was looser than the lovely dense swatch I'd made, I cast back on with the same 86 sts for the back and focused more on my hands. It still seems a little big, but much better, so I'm going to keep going and see how it comes along. If I can get the gauge right, this is going to be a fast knit, I think.

Probably not fast enough to finish before winter comes for us, though.

WIP: Bridgewater Shawl

2009-11-12T08:19:00.002-05:00

I've been getting a lot done on the Bridgewater shawl, especially with class time knitting. In fact, this shawl is the reason my NaKnitMo count is flying; I may have lowballed my capabilities for the month and am considering revising my goal upward.

Earlier this week I reached the widest point of the inner garter square, 205 stitches. Just before I got to the widest point, my first skein ran out, but it was close.

It's kind of hard to get a sense of what this is going to be like; for right now it's just a massive pile of garter stitch. Luckily I have an imagination that includes fabric once blocked, while my classmates who've seen me chugging away at these stitches don't really understand how it will become beautiful in a more defined way.

That's alright.

Rav milestone

2009-11-05T15:23:00.002-05:00

Wooooooo I just noticed that Ravelry is poised on the precipice of half a million crafty folk! 499,640 in the community. Amazing, isn't it?

Carry on.

Today's ensemble

2009-11-05T13:21:00.003-05:00

Sometimes I get a big kick out of myself when I look down at what I have on and realize that half of it is knitted. Ok, not really half. But a sweater, usually, and then maybe mittens, a scarf, a hat. Today is perfect wool weather. And this is half of what I wore to class this morning:

All wool. And so cozy.

I am also wearing a skirt today. With shiny tights. At some point I'll get around to some legwarmers, and then maybe I really will be able to wear knits from head to toe. And also a matching hat/mitten set wouldn't be a bad idea. I have a bunch of yarn left over from Quincy, so perhaps I'll get going on that.

FO: Quincy

2009-11-02T09:44:00.001-05:00

Wow! It has been so long I think I forgot what it is like to finish something! This hat, in its wonderful simplicity, was a very satisfying and quick knit. I worked on it a bit in class, a bit at home, and then put in the final crunch of grafting the rectangle ends together, picking up stitches around the built in i-cord, and decreasing the crown for a really pretty, classy hat. Big fan.

And I've been getting nonstop compliments from knitters and non-knitters alike. It did come out a smidge short over the ears so I plan to wet block it out so that it'll come down a little lower.

Here's the crown and tidy decreases:

It's so satisfying when you can finish the top of a hat in one half of a lecture and then break out a different knitting project. If only it were possible to set in sleeves and pick up stitches for a neckline during class - I couldn't possibly focus on anything other than the project so that idea is out!

NaKnitMo / Treat bags

2009-11-01T09:48:00.002-05:00

This should be interesting - I've just signed up for NaKnitMo (National Knitting Month) after reading Knit Nutt's post about how excited she is for it...

30,000 stitches in the month of November? That's 1000 per day. Not really a problem when you look at some of the projects I have on the go that just motor along in simple stitches and add up fast (nothing bulky on the needles at the moment) but when you factor in full time academics and 1, 2, 3, part time jobs, plus all the other activities... it may become a true challenge! Even if it just helps me pick up the needles every day for a few minutes it'll be worth it. I signed up on Ravelry here. Someone will keep track of the sts knit by the group as a whole and come up with a monthly total.

In other crafty-ish weekend goings-on... I thought I'd have time to blog this yesterday but it did not happen so just in case you have not had enough Halloween...

I put together treat bags for the 26 girls who live on my floor. I picked up huge boxes of candy a few weeks ago, then left it to the last minute to figure out how to distribute it. I was picturing small orange gift bags with black ribbon or something like that, one for each doorknob down the hall. Of course when I went to the dollar store Friday afternoon after a very hectic week, there was nothing of the sort. I totally lucked out and found these awesome children's birthday party goodie bags, though, with a skull and bones topped by a pirate hat...

Perfect! And they had lots in stock, so I got 40 in the end, and did them up for my 26 students and then the residence staff. First they had to be filled up with candy...

And then I cut up some random orange cardstock I had, punched a hole in them somewhere, and wrote Happy Halloween on them.

Tied the tag on with black ribbon, curled it, and set them all in a box, ready for sneaky morning distribution. It took a bit chunk out of my Friday night to get that all ready to go, even with a bit of help from a friend downstairs putting candy into each bag before I dressed them up a bit more. I woke up Saturday, threw on sweats and ran around the floor and the campus putting them out - and as far as I know, no one saw me! So I was happy with that, because I wanted the whole hallway to have the bags on handles before people started their days. I had a bunch of nice thank yous on my white board later in the day. Fun times.

tweedy jackets / blogging

2009-10-30T07:41:00.004-05:00

Walking to work this morning I saw a girl with a lovely jacket - warm chocolate brown with narrow cream stripes running through it in both directions like a very widely striped tartan. When I passed her I realized there was a subtle burgundy stripe echoing the cream. I just had a quick look in Ravelry to see if I could find something similar and mark it to come back to later, but nothing so far. Does this sound like anything you've seen? I found Laura's Cardigan (Rav link), which I was reminded of, but the pattern is too busy and the stripes are not really what I was thinking of. [side note - this sounds like a new idea for Ravelry: we have reader's advisory in libraries, why not pattern advisory in Ravelry? If a pattern reminds you of another pattern, people could suggest similar patterns, so that if you're looking for something particular, and you find something similar, you might be able to follow the trail of breadcrumbs to just the thing you're after. Of course we can search by pattern type but when it's a bit more specific, as in this case, such a feature could be quite useful...]

I'll keep looking.

In other news, Quincy is finished and looks fab; I've been getting compliments even from boys who don't know about handknitting. I took pictures yesterday and will do my best to download and then upload them asap for an FO post this weekend - after I came back from Philly and looked at my Ravelry project page I realized I hadn't had an FO for months! The months of Sept and Oct, to be more precise. Hmm, that's when school started up and things got really crazy. Coincidence?

Oh yes, I wanted to mention this little tidbit I just came across from an info professional's blog that I follow - he is very into social networking, Web 2.0, Library 2.0, that sort of thing. He has been tracking trends in blogging and apparently 2/3 of all bloggers are male. Not on my RSS reader!! I found that kind of amusing.

So it's nearly Halloween. While I was down in Philly BB and I visited a wicked arboretum/garden place on the outskirts of the city, and this phenomenal sculpture would be a great home for a friendly, artsy witch:

February Lady Sweater was keeping me warm:

Happy Halloween!

Industrial lace

2009-10-21T15:21:00.002-05:00

Over the long October weekend I headed down to Philadelphia and visited a special crafty friend, Beigeberry. She had a great treat in store - we went and checked out the Lace in Translation exhibit at The Design Center at Pennsylvania University.

When you approach the Center the first thing you see is the wonderful chain link fence lining the drive.

It seems a reasonable item to budget for - an industrial strength fence that is attractive rather than menacing.

There were lacy window coverings, made of hand tied rafia:

And huge panels of black machine made lace:

Obscuring a Japanese maple.

And up close, in/out of focus.

Creative lighting fixtures:

Motifs in a burned lawn:

And more by the acetylene torch wielder, a massive rusty oil drum:

The cut out pieces were used to create patterns as well.

Highly recommended for anyone in the Philly area, or visitors!

WIPs: Quimper & Bridgewater

2009-10-18T18:05:00.002-05:00

Yeah! Last weekend I was in Philly and got lots of knitting done, it was so nice! Quimper is coming right along, black yarn is hard to photograph but I'm pretty pleased with it...

Hooray for raglan shaping, it's so lovely and simple. The pic above is looking at the widening shoulder. It is nice to watch this grow.

And I started Bridgewater, from Jared Flood's Made in Brooklyn collection and using KnitPicks Shimmer in sherry on size 4 needles. I started this shawl, which has a really interesting construction and starts from a single stitch, in the Logan airport. It's going to be massive. The rows are getting very long and I'm nowhere near big enough. You increase one st at the start of every row until you have a couple of hundred stitches. The centre of the shawl is a bit square of garter stitch. It's the perfect knitting-in-company project - for now!

I have some crafty Philly pics from a fun industrial lace exhibit we went to - but my Flickr account expired and I've uploaded too much already this month so I have to find a credit card and pay to have access to all my photos again! Have a lovely evening...

Today's knitting is brought to you by the letter "Q"

2009-10-13T17:40:00.003-05:00

I spent the weekend in Philadelphia having a fabulous time with Beigeberry and the Urban Groundhog. There was much knitting and also the visiting of two lovely yarn shops, but I resisted! And did not purchase. Yay, me.

Before I went I started a couple of projects in a flurry of not-knowing-what-to-take-for-travel-knitting excitement! And it occurred to me later that the two things I started back to back were both patterns starting with the letter Q. What are the odds, I ask you?

I started Brooklyn Tweed's lovely Quincy (not much to look at right now but the construction is so clever and I'm loving it!):

This is Lana Gatto wool in burgundy, picked up half price at Tangled Skeins. I'm using it double stranded, and pretty much got gauge when I swatched and washed, on 6 mm needles (size 10).

And also Quimper from Knitting in the Sun. I will have a better photo tomorrow - if it is not gray and rainy again like today.

This is knit on 3 mm needles (my gauge is out of control - full stop) in Elann Luna in Polished Ebony. It is looking lovely now that I have a bit more of the shoulders going on and the charted pattern is developing. It's actually making quick progress and it will be super quick once I get past the sleeves. A perfect layering piece for cooler weather and holiday dresses, I think.

WIP: endpaper mitts

2009-09-23T17:11:00.002-05:00

Once again, I'm picking these up just as the weather turns cooler. I don't even want to check on Ravelry to see how long it is taking me to get these finished. They're coming out snug, almost too snug, but it's a good learning experience. It's a fiddly project, though, because I have to pay attention to the chart.

In other knitting news, on Sunday I wore my A Little Something out to brunch. I still don't love the way it fits and wish it was bigger and/or constructed differently, but again, learning experience. I did get a big compliment on it from a non-knitter. I also enjoyed the fact that I put it on with a totally contrasting top and that that top has awesome screen printing on the torso that actually got to show off because of the construction of the sweater. They're a good match.

I've started a little black bolero thing in Elann Luna, but it photographs terribly so I'm not showing it. The pattern is Quimper from Knitting in the Sun.

craft talk. except it's a song.

2009-09-21T14:34:00.001-05:00

Hello Pineapples, you just made my day. Thank you.

FO: Picovoli

2009-08-25T05:34:00.002-05:00

Hooray! I get to wear a new top to work today. I have been telling people to expect it, at the office as well as at my knitting group. Woooo. And it's still in season - a sleeveless top, and summer took a long time to get here.

Would you believe that I used the timer, and that pic came out the most blurry, though the camera was sitting still on my dresser? Hmmm. But the perspective is good.

Two skeins of Butterfly 10 cotton in a pewter gray. Just about zero finishing so I used every last scrap of cotton I could. In fact, had to bind off a couple of times, the first time I ended up with about 12 live stitches and no yarn left to bind off, so I backed all the way up and around to the other side, losing a half row. Meh. It's a great length, hitting about at the hip. In case you're wondering for size, I'm about a 36 bust, but I knit the 32 size initially. As I went I tried it on and though I did the same number of waist decreases as the pattern called for, I think I did one or two less increases for the hip - just kept trying it on and when it seemed to be the right size I stopped increasing.

I spiced up Grumperina's pattern with some simple zigzap lace under the arms. Racing stripes. And I have a lovely gray striped cotton skirt to wear it with, I wish I'd realized before I took all the photos last night. At least that linen skirt I'm wearing has these floral patches that are almost camo-gray-green so it works fairly well with that too.

Happy FO!

WIP: picovoli with lace

2009-08-09T13:03:00.002-05:00

Despite the lack of blogging there has in fact been knitting going on! And also yarn acquisition, always fun.

So my Picovoli is sooo nearly finished, and it fits great and I can't wait to wear it! Right now it looks like this:

With lovely lace detail I have added under the arms:

I am such a fan of the raglan shaping, and being able to try this on from the top down means it fits really well. You'll see, soon!

I was in Mahone Bay with the lovely CK early last week and we visited Have a Yarn, which had a great selection of Fleece Artist and some interesting yarns with possum in them from New Zealand. We each picked up a one of a kind skein of FA. Mine is the apparently discontinued Special Leba (says Ravelry) in wine:

Gorgeous. It's 65% kid mohair, 20% wool, 15% nylon, 425 m and a hefty 250 grams. A lovely heavier weight stole waiting to happen, methinks. Hanami would be lovely and is purported to be super well written, plus popular of course.

One more for the road:

And hopefully there will be a nice FO shot in the next few days. Happy knitting!