This weekend was so busy that I didn't get much knitting done, and the knitting that I did get done is not particularly blogworthy. I got a lot done on my hemlock ring blanket on Friday night and some on Saturday and a teeny bit on Sunday morning, but the whole thing still looks like a giant purple blob so I haven't even attempted to photograph it. I had hoped to get my sweater sewn up this weekend but it just didn't happen. I had some work that had to be done over the weekend, and I spent the rest of it out various places. I did finish the Caribbean socks earlier in the week, but I didn't photograph them either. (Tip: They both look like this.)
I did, however, wear them on Monday, which was lovely since the weather is gray and rainy. In fact, I have worn handknit socks all three days this week and it is very nice to have enough now that I can do that. Yesterday was the embossed stitch socks from C*EYE*BER Fiber (I'm hoping to get some more at MD sheep & wool, since I really liked that yarn and her website has been barren for ages) and today my favorite Casbah socks.
I do think the caribbean socks turned out a little more loose than I generally like my socks. The leg is fine but the foot is a little baggy. I think if I had to do it over, I would knit the bottom of the foot, where the stitching is plain, on my size 1 needle and leave the top of the foot on the 2. That way the part with the pattern would still be stretchy, but the tighter fabric on the bottom would make the end result a little less floopy.
I'm at the end of the standard chart on the Hemlock Ring but I still have a lot of yarn left, so I figure I will keep going until I hit the end of the extended chart or until I run out of yarn, whichever comes first. I'm definitely at the 'slogging along' point, though. I'm ready to be done! Also, the thing is getting kind of heavy. I moved it to a longer cable last night, and that took some of the weight off, but the stitch pattern wants the cable to go all swoopy (as feather and fan does) which makes moving the stitches along it a little more difficult now that they have room to move. Ah, trials and tribulations. I know I can stop at any point now and that gives me comfort - but I hate to quit right before the finish line. I am eyeing the yarn a little nervously, because I don't have a very good concept of how much I need to have left over. I'm afraid of getting 3/4 of the way through the bind off and running out! Last night I got through the first row of the extended chart, and I'm kind of thinking I might be able to do one more pattern row but no more than that. I'm not sure I have enough yarn to make it to all 3 extended rows. Which would both be annoying and a relief - It'd feel like getting to the last mile of the marathon and finding out the track ends because the road is still under construction, but at least I'd be done!)
Other than that, no sweater progress, no swan lake progress. I did go to one of the yarn shops in Alexandria that I wanted to see. I managed to buy only a couple of balls of charity yarn, which is breaking my diet a little bit but since it's for charity, I don't think it really counts. More importantly, I got to look at and touch some of the yarns that I had seen online and was interested in. I am now really jonesing for some Schaffer Heather. The Alchemy lines were stunning but very expensive. I enjoyed looking at some of the local artist yarns as well. I don't think I will make the trek out there very often (the parking situation alone would scare me off), but when I want something special or I'm planning to get a treat I will definitely hop that way.
We also went to the bead store and I picked out some beads for some of the other projects I was looking at. Although, if I had been smart I would have checked my patterns because the Shipwreck Shawl? Takes FIVE THOUSAND BEADS. I can tell you this - I did not buy enough. But, I did find beads that I like for it, so at least I know what I'm looking for.
I'm also in a bit of a quandry with the yarn I planned. My ravelry stash notes said I had 6 skeins of KP Gloss, but there were only 5 in the ziplock when I got the bag out of the closet. I bought this so long ago that KP does not have a record (or they may, but it's not on the website) so I don't know if I actually bought six and took a skein out (I don't know why, maybe just to look at or pet or think about) or if I only bought 5 and I made a mistake on the ravelry notes. The pattern I originally bought it for requires 1090 yards according to the ravelry page, so I PROBABLY bought 6. But where number 6 could be, I don't know. I suppose I could carry on with 5 and just make a smaller shawl.
I think my next project, once I get the hemlock ring off the needles, is going to be a Water Turtles shawl from Wrapped in Comfort. I'm tired of constantly being cold in the office, and the pattern repeat should be fairly easy to memorize, so that can be my easy travel project. I have four skeins of Jojoland Melody at home that have been waiting for this project. I should be able to get it done just in time for it to get warm out and render it totally useless. But, if I don't knit it, I will be cold for months, just you wait.
I have just been informed that a friend of the SO is in town and is having a baby shower on Saturday. I'm extremely miffed. I can't get anything for a baby knit by Saturday!! Does he expect me to show up with a store-bought gift? That is just not acceptable. Maybe I can do a pair of booties or baby socks. I'll have to check ravelry and see what I can find that looks quick, that I have the pattern for, and that I have or can locally find yarn for.
Showing posts with label caribbean sock. Show all posts
Showing posts with label caribbean sock. Show all posts
Monday, March 30, 2009
Monday, March 16, 2009
A weekend full of progress
Although I didn't take pictures because they would just be boring, I did get a lot done this weekend. I had several events to go to that were knit-friendly, so I made progress on several different projects. I'm at the heel of my second Caribbean sock, I'm into about the fourth increase row of the feather & fan chart for the Hemlock Ring blanket, and I made progress on both the sleeves and the front of my sweater.
I cast on the sweater front because we were going to see Coraline and I needed something easy to knit, and I thought managing the two balls of yarn for the sleeves would be problematic. I was also in the increase section and I didn't want to go past where I needed to increase in the dark. This turned out to be a good decision, since it turns out you can get a whole lot of stockinette accomplished during a movie. I have maybe three to five inches of the front knitted (I did cast on and knit the garter rows on the hem before we left for the theater, but that's maybe only an inch.
I did work on the sleeves, enough to discover that over the decrease rows I did end up with substantially more length than I was supposed to have. I expected this to happen. The instructions are to work the decreases and then work even until the sleeve is a certain total length. According to the diagram, there should be about two inches of even knitting between the decreases and that certain length. I only had about an inch to go. Kind of a big difference!
I am definitely going to have to compensate for this somehow during the yoke, and I think I will do this by eliminating the first diamond at the start of the yoke. I'll do the one decrease row that happens at the end of that diamond, and then work the rest of the yoke as written. I think that take off about an inch of length to get me in the ballpark of where I need to be. I hope. I hope it doesn't affect the look of the sweater too terribly much.
I will also need to take this into consideration when I knit the sweater front. There's decreasing and casting off and all kinds of stuff at the top that will have to get done in a certain amount of space. However, I'm not too worried. My biggest concern is the front not matching the back, and since the yarn on the back is still attached, I can add a couple of rows if I need to. I like my sweaters to be long (waist-length sweaters never look good on me, I really need them at the hips or lower) so I'm not fretting over this too badly. Much. Really. (I deserve every worry I get for going ahead without worrying about the fact that I didn't have row guage, even after I realized my stitch guage was also too big. I really should have tried it on smaller needles. I probably could have saved myself a lot of fuss. Oh well...I've got a total of about 30 inches of sweater knitting that I don't plan to rip out until I have to, so nothing to do but forge ahead. I hope I am not being intolerably stupid, but if I am I will always have the "well, it was my first" excuse for why the thing looks like it was made for an ape.)
I also did some spinning this weekend, and I finished off the sparkly purple batt from Butterfly Girl. Tonight I plied it, and it's soaking as I type. Before I go to bed, I'll hang it up. I ended up with a lot more on one bobbin than the other, so I wound the remainder off into two center-pull balls. I was just going to do one and ply from both ends, but the singles broke at a spot that approximated the halfway mark, so I just went ahead and made two balls. I have about 250 feet (not yards) of yarn if my reckoning is correct. I'm going to use it on the end of a scarf or something like that to give it a little pizzazz. It's largely thinner than my previous attempts although there are some spectacularly uneven bits. It was a fun experience.
I cast on the sweater front because we were going to see Coraline and I needed something easy to knit, and I thought managing the two balls of yarn for the sleeves would be problematic. I was also in the increase section and I didn't want to go past where I needed to increase in the dark. This turned out to be a good decision, since it turns out you can get a whole lot of stockinette accomplished during a movie. I have maybe three to five inches of the front knitted (I did cast on and knit the garter rows on the hem before we left for the theater, but that's maybe only an inch.
I did work on the sleeves, enough to discover that over the decrease rows I did end up with substantially more length than I was supposed to have. I expected this to happen. The instructions are to work the decreases and then work even until the sleeve is a certain total length. According to the diagram, there should be about two inches of even knitting between the decreases and that certain length. I only had about an inch to go. Kind of a big difference!
I am definitely going to have to compensate for this somehow during the yoke, and I think I will do this by eliminating the first diamond at the start of the yoke. I'll do the one decrease row that happens at the end of that diamond, and then work the rest of the yoke as written. I think that take off about an inch of length to get me in the ballpark of where I need to be. I hope. I hope it doesn't affect the look of the sweater too terribly much.
I will also need to take this into consideration when I knit the sweater front. There's decreasing and casting off and all kinds of stuff at the top that will have to get done in a certain amount of space. However, I'm not too worried. My biggest concern is the front not matching the back, and since the yarn on the back is still attached, I can add a couple of rows if I need to. I like my sweaters to be long (waist-length sweaters never look good on me, I really need them at the hips or lower) so I'm not fretting over this too badly. Much. Really. (I deserve every worry I get for going ahead without worrying about the fact that I didn't have row guage, even after I realized my stitch guage was also too big. I really should have tried it on smaller needles. I probably could have saved myself a lot of fuss. Oh well...I've got a total of about 30 inches of sweater knitting that I don't plan to rip out until I have to, so nothing to do but forge ahead. I hope I am not being intolerably stupid, but if I am I will always have the "well, it was my first" excuse for why the thing looks like it was made for an ape.)
I also did some spinning this weekend, and I finished off the sparkly purple batt from Butterfly Girl. Tonight I plied it, and it's soaking as I type. Before I go to bed, I'll hang it up. I ended up with a lot more on one bobbin than the other, so I wound the remainder off into two center-pull balls. I was just going to do one and ply from both ends, but the singles broke at a spot that approximated the halfway mark, so I just went ahead and made two balls. I have about 250 feet (not yards) of yarn if my reckoning is correct. I'm going to use it on the end of a scarf or something like that to give it a little pizzazz. It's largely thinner than my previous attempts although there are some spectacularly uneven bits. It was a fun experience.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Old Business and New Business
Old Business
Ta da, the finished mitts. Blocking did not entirely solve the ladder stitch issue, unfortunately.
You can see here what I was talking about before regarding the point on the top "orchid." On the right mitt, the top border lines up to complete the orchid below it:
This is the original photo of the mitt that was lost. This was the (original) left mitt.
You can see that the point didn't line up. When I redid this mitt (grr), I moved the pattern over so that the point did line up correctly. I don't think I would have frogged the previous one, but it did really bug me so I'm glad I fixed it. I'm really not convinced I didn't make a mistake because KnitSpot patterns are usually pretty meticulous and it seems like an odd blip. I really think I missed an instruction.
Speaking of comparison shots...here's the reason I decided to restart my sweater.
Original back on the top, new back on the bottom. See the difference? The original was HUGE.
Here's the pics of my Spunky Eclectic fiber.
And here's some of my Spinderella spinning:
Didn't even put a dent in the bag. A pound is, apparently, a lot of fiber. I'm definitely well-supplied for a while with the extra fiber she threw in.
Next up, spinning class spinning:
New Business
This weekend, I finished the first Caribbean Sock:
And I got to the stopping point on the back of my sweater, so I started on the sleeves. I'm working both at once to make sure the length is consistent. No photo, because it looks just like the back.
Today was my last spinning class (postponed from last week, where we got snowed out) and I learned how to Navajo ply, among other things. It wasn't nearly as hard as I expected it to be and I was so tickled! I asked for help on drafting and got some good tips, plus I got to spin with a bunch of different fibers - flax, a finn/lincoln cross, a mohair/wool blend, something called EcoSpun made out of recycled soda bottles. It was a lot of fun and I'm so pleased with all the progress I've made in the past few weeks.
Ta da, the finished mitts. Blocking did not entirely solve the ladder stitch issue, unfortunately.
You can see here what I was talking about before regarding the point on the top "orchid." On the right mitt, the top border lines up to complete the orchid below it:
This is the original photo of the mitt that was lost. This was the (original) left mitt.
You can see that the point didn't line up. When I redid this mitt (grr), I moved the pattern over so that the point did line up correctly. I don't think I would have frogged the previous one, but it did really bug me so I'm glad I fixed it. I'm really not convinced I didn't make a mistake because KnitSpot patterns are usually pretty meticulous and it seems like an odd blip. I really think I missed an instruction.
Speaking of comparison shots...here's the reason I decided to restart my sweater.
Original back on the top, new back on the bottom. See the difference? The original was HUGE.
Here's the pics of my Spunky Eclectic fiber.
And here's some of my Spinderella spinning:
Didn't even put a dent in the bag. A pound is, apparently, a lot of fiber. I'm definitely well-supplied for a while with the extra fiber she threw in.
Next up, spinning class spinning:
New Business
This weekend, I finished the first Caribbean Sock:
And I got to the stopping point on the back of my sweater, so I started on the sleeves. I'm working both at once to make sure the length is consistent. No photo, because it looks just like the back.
Today was my last spinning class (postponed from last week, where we got snowed out) and I learned how to Navajo ply, among other things. It wasn't nearly as hard as I expected it to be and I was so tickled! I asked for help on drafting and got some good tips, plus I got to spin with a bunch of different fibers - flax, a finn/lincoln cross, a mohair/wool blend, something called EcoSpun made out of recycled soda bottles. It was a lot of fun and I'm so pleased with all the progress I've made in the past few weeks.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Busy Butterfly
I say butterfly, instead of bee, because bees do not spin and butterflies do. I have spun my little heart out - well, really, I've spun my little BACK out. I think I need a lower chair for spinning. I don't have nearly as much difficulty at my Monday night spinning class as I do at home. It may be that I'm spending longer on the wheel at a stretch at home, I'm not sure. I haven't timed myself. Anyway, I'm going to take a couple of days off spinning at any rate (even though Tuesdays are for spinning) because I really overdid it a bit and my back is pretty sore.
What all did I do? Why, I did this!
And this!
And this!
Yeah, you're computer's not broken. There's no picture there. I took pics and didn't get them off the camera again. So, the written word will have to suffice.
I have recklessly abandonned all the stuff I was in the midst of spinning. The purple batt and the wine red corriedale are sitting off to one side. For one thing, I had homework for spinning class. I had to spin two full bobbins of singles to take so that I could learn to ply at the next class. I dutifully spun my two bobbins, and I came back with two bobbins worth of 2-ply yarn. Washing and setting will be the next class.
Meanwhile, I got a nice big box in the mail. KGD (formerly known as SOMom) expressed an interested in some handspun because she likes textured yarn, and I thought, I know just the thing!
Back when the Yarn Harlot did the Tour de Fleece, she posted about Spinderella thrum mixes, and how it's impossible to spin an even single from them, so you just kind of have to relax and let it go. I thought, that might be a really great source fiber to make a nice, textured yarn and it sounded like fun, so I ordered it, and I started spinning it. Unfortunately, life interfered a bit, so I only got four skeins spun, plied, and set before the birthday dinner. But, I got what I wanted out of it - it's very textured, and all four skeins seem to be well balanced, so I felt pretty good.
Except for the color, which was not at all what I expected. I am actually wondering a little bit if the wrong thing got put in the box. But, KGD liked it so no big deal. And, to make the whole experience even better, when I opened the box there was a SECOND bag of fiber in a different colorway, and a note on the invoice that she couldn't find a smaller box so she just stuffed some extra fiber in there. Then it said, "Sorry!" and I just laughed. It's not a small amount of fiber, either!
I also got my Spunky Eclectic shipment for the month. This time it was 4 oz of Corriedale with yellows, orangey reds, and a littel bit of brown. I haven't touched my January fiber yet, since my last experience with merino made me a little gun-shy. I'm kind of holding off on it until I can draft a little better (or until I have time to really thoroughly pre-draft). But, I thought to myself - Corriedale I can do! And I did. I spent most of Saturday spinning it. At first, I thought I would try to keep the colors in order - not by Navajo plying or anything complicated like that, but just by predrafting and then splitting the predrafted roving down the middle.
It wasn't as easy as I thought it would be (I really can't imagine why I thought it would be easy, because if it were, why would people learn to chain ply? clearly I am not as smart as I think I am). I had some trouble drafting the fiber, because it didn't occur to me to open the fiber up a little bit after unrolling it from the bump, even though it was clearly still twisted and the whole premise of spinning is that twist keeps the fibers from moving. Duh. Once I figured that one out (dumbass) I had a much easier time, but I don't have enough control yet to keep the thing from falling apart, so of course I had thin spots and when I went to tear the pieces in half they didn't want to cooperate and it was just kind of a mess.
I persevered through the first half of the fiber, but - I really didn't care for the results, so I just spun the second bobbin in no particular order. I let the bobbins rest overnight and then plied them on Sunday afternoon.
I don't think my color is really a success. I had a boyfriend in high school that would mix all his condiments together on his plate and dip his french fries in them, and that's what my end result reminded me of. I think I need to get a book on how to deal with color in spinning. I clearly do not have a clue.
But, but, but! The end result is clearly the best spinning I have done to date. It still varies quite a bit in thickness, but overall it is much thinner and there are places where it acutally looks kind of a little like commercial yarn. This tickles me to no end. I don't necessarily want to spin something that I could just go buy off the shelf - I just want to be ABLE to spin something that I could just go buy off the shelf. At the very least, I want to spin something that could generally be classed as worsted or sport as opposed to, you know, super bulky huge. I'm making progress.
I have also made progress on the Caribbean sock (note to self - do not name projects things you cannot spell). I got through the heel turn and gusset decreases, and now I'm headed down the foot. I don't know how I feel about the yarn; it doesn't seem to bounce back the way wool does when I put them on (it's a wool-bamboo blend), but that really doesn't matter once the sock is made - it should (hopefully) return to its shape when I wash it. It's only a nuisance now because I keep putting the sock on to see how much farther I have to go.
I also worked on my sweater, but I'm still not quite where I was at the restart. I plan to get back on the exercise bike this week, though, and I may be able to add some more length onto it during my exercise time, as long as I can find a way to keep it off my legs/lap.
What all did I do? Why, I did this!
And this!
And this!
Yeah, you're computer's not broken. There's no picture there. I took pics and didn't get them off the camera again. So, the written word will have to suffice.
I have recklessly abandonned all the stuff I was in the midst of spinning. The purple batt and the wine red corriedale are sitting off to one side. For one thing, I had homework for spinning class. I had to spin two full bobbins of singles to take so that I could learn to ply at the next class. I dutifully spun my two bobbins, and I came back with two bobbins worth of 2-ply yarn. Washing and setting will be the next class.
Meanwhile, I got a nice big box in the mail. KGD (formerly known as SOMom) expressed an interested in some handspun because she likes textured yarn, and I thought, I know just the thing!
Back when the Yarn Harlot did the Tour de Fleece, she posted about Spinderella thrum mixes, and how it's impossible to spin an even single from them, so you just kind of have to relax and let it go. I thought, that might be a really great source fiber to make a nice, textured yarn and it sounded like fun, so I ordered it, and I started spinning it. Unfortunately, life interfered a bit, so I only got four skeins spun, plied, and set before the birthday dinner. But, I got what I wanted out of it - it's very textured, and all four skeins seem to be well balanced, so I felt pretty good.
Except for the color, which was not at all what I expected. I am actually wondering a little bit if the wrong thing got put in the box. But, KGD liked it so no big deal. And, to make the whole experience even better, when I opened the box there was a SECOND bag of fiber in a different colorway, and a note on the invoice that she couldn't find a smaller box so she just stuffed some extra fiber in there. Then it said, "Sorry!" and I just laughed. It's not a small amount of fiber, either!
I also got my Spunky Eclectic shipment for the month. This time it was 4 oz of Corriedale with yellows, orangey reds, and a littel bit of brown. I haven't touched my January fiber yet, since my last experience with merino made me a little gun-shy. I'm kind of holding off on it until I can draft a little better (or until I have time to really thoroughly pre-draft). But, I thought to myself - Corriedale I can do! And I did. I spent most of Saturday spinning it. At first, I thought I would try to keep the colors in order - not by Navajo plying or anything complicated like that, but just by predrafting and then splitting the predrafted roving down the middle.
It wasn't as easy as I thought it would be (I really can't imagine why I thought it would be easy, because if it were, why would people learn to chain ply? clearly I am not as smart as I think I am). I had some trouble drafting the fiber, because it didn't occur to me to open the fiber up a little bit after unrolling it from the bump, even though it was clearly still twisted and the whole premise of spinning is that twist keeps the fibers from moving. Duh. Once I figured that one out (dumbass) I had a much easier time, but I don't have enough control yet to keep the thing from falling apart, so of course I had thin spots and when I went to tear the pieces in half they didn't want to cooperate and it was just kind of a mess.
I persevered through the first half of the fiber, but - I really didn't care for the results, so I just spun the second bobbin in no particular order. I let the bobbins rest overnight and then plied them on Sunday afternoon.
I don't think my color is really a success. I had a boyfriend in high school that would mix all his condiments together on his plate and dip his french fries in them, and that's what my end result reminded me of. I think I need to get a book on how to deal with color in spinning. I clearly do not have a clue.
But, but, but! The end result is clearly the best spinning I have done to date. It still varies quite a bit in thickness, but overall it is much thinner and there are places where it acutally looks kind of a little like commercial yarn. This tickles me to no end. I don't necessarily want to spin something that I could just go buy off the shelf - I just want to be ABLE to spin something that I could just go buy off the shelf. At the very least, I want to spin something that could generally be classed as worsted or sport as opposed to, you know, super bulky huge. I'm making progress.
I have also made progress on the Caribbean sock (note to self - do not name projects things you cannot spell). I got through the heel turn and gusset decreases, and now I'm headed down the foot. I don't know how I feel about the yarn; it doesn't seem to bounce back the way wool does when I put them on (it's a wool-bamboo blend), but that really doesn't matter once the sock is made - it should (hopefully) return to its shape when I wash it. It's only a nuisance now because I keep putting the sock on to see how much farther I have to go.
I also worked on my sweater, but I'm still not quite where I was at the restart. I plan to get back on the exercise bike this week, though, and I may be able to add some more length onto it during my exercise time, as long as I can find a way to keep it off my legs/lap.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
In which I have issues
Issue 1: Noro Scarf
My noro scarf is finished.
But, I had issues with my cast on edge. It was floopy and flared and I hated it. If I had taken a picture, you would have hated it too. I decided while I knitted that when I finished I would go back, snip the cast on, unravel the beginning a bit, and then cast off on that end too, since generally speaking my cast offs are much nicer looking than my cast on. (Something about that doesn't sound right, but moving on.)
Well, it turns out that you can't unravel 1x1 rib from that end. It doesn't work. I got out my scissors and cut across the entire cast on row and ended up having to pick all the bits out because there is no unraveling. This was definitely an issue. I pondered what to do about it, and then remembered that I had been on the Yarn Harlot's blog fussing around in the archives because I was bored, and I had read an entry about a crochet cast off. This seemed a promising solution. I was worried that it would be too tight, but it turns out, it was perfect.
I liked it so much that I picked out my original cast-off and did the same on the other end. I photographed it, but it looks exactly the same, so...just picture the above in different colors. Brilliant. I've never had scarf ends look this good. I'm pleased.
Issues resolved. Scarf complete.
I have to say, I don't like it as much as I thought I would. I mean, it's okay, I don't dislike it, but it's not the best scarf in the history of scarves, period. Also, I have a few million ends to weave in. Several knots and a couple places where the yarn came apart. I got impatient towards the end and just knitted past a couple of knots, but they show and I really should have done it right. But, at least I don't have to weave in those ends. Whatever, I'll weave the ends in during tv time or something.
Issue 2: Tilli Thomas Bag
See previous post re the sillyness of expecting a silky ribbon yarn to hold its shape when wound into a center-pull ball. I got the yarns untangled and rewound, and now the bag is done!
It only took one skein of each yarn after all. I really thought I was going to need more, but nope...one skein knit 1 crochet 2 Souffle, one skein Berocco Glace (I which I believe has been discontinued), with both yarns held together. It doesn't really show in the picture, but I put in three rows of staggered yarn overs in hopes of letting a little more of the red of the bag peak through. In hindsight, I think I would have knitted this at looser gauge, but I think it's really cute as it is.
Issue 3: Caribbean Sock
This sock was great. I love the colorway, the pattern was easy, I managed to cable sock yarn without a cable needle without too much trouble. I was a little concerned about that, because I knit so tightly that my stitches pop down a few rows as soon as I take them off the needle, but it wasn't too big of an issue.
See? Isn't it pretty? Doesn't it look so innocent? I just went happily along, until I decided to try it on and see what kind of length I needed to put on it and then...then I found the issue.
I can't get it any further than that. It's stuck. I'll never be able to get it over my heel. The ribbing's okay, but the cabled stitches don't want to stretch. I got out my needle gauge and used the ruler edge to check my gauge. 10 stitches to the inch - 2 more than the pattern-specified gauge. I'm going to rip it back to the ribbing and reknit on larger needles. However, I also have issues with this plan, because I don't have a pair of number 2 needles free and my 3's are also engaged with the Orchid Mitts.
Issue 4: Cards for savings bonds
My boss gives his grandkids savings bonds for their birthdays, and he often asks me to make cards for them, since his preferred approach of sticking them into a plain white envelope has not been well received in the past. I made these two cards this week:
Not bad, eh? So what's the issue?
The issue is that he wanted me to make one for Kennedy, not Paige. -_- So, um...I'll be making another card before this Friday. Two, actually. Then all four grandkids are finished and I don't have to worry about it again for a while.
Issue 4: Orchid Mitts
Click the orchid mitts tag to hear the whole saga of issues. Left on a plane, messed up the thumb gusset, etc etc blah blah. So, this is more of an issue resolution than anything else. I photographed, but it wasn't interesting, so we'll revisit when I finish the rest of the mitt.
My noro scarf is finished.
But, I had issues with my cast on edge. It was floopy and flared and I hated it. If I had taken a picture, you would have hated it too. I decided while I knitted that when I finished I would go back, snip the cast on, unravel the beginning a bit, and then cast off on that end too, since generally speaking my cast offs are much nicer looking than my cast on. (Something about that doesn't sound right, but moving on.)
Well, it turns out that you can't unravel 1x1 rib from that end. It doesn't work. I got out my scissors and cut across the entire cast on row and ended up having to pick all the bits out because there is no unraveling. This was definitely an issue. I pondered what to do about it, and then remembered that I had been on the Yarn Harlot's blog fussing around in the archives because I was bored, and I had read an entry about a crochet cast off. This seemed a promising solution. I was worried that it would be too tight, but it turns out, it was perfect.
I liked it so much that I picked out my original cast-off and did the same on the other end. I photographed it, but it looks exactly the same, so...just picture the above in different colors. Brilliant. I've never had scarf ends look this good. I'm pleased.
Issues resolved. Scarf complete.
I have to say, I don't like it as much as I thought I would. I mean, it's okay, I don't dislike it, but it's not the best scarf in the history of scarves, period. Also, I have a few million ends to weave in. Several knots and a couple places where the yarn came apart. I got impatient towards the end and just knitted past a couple of knots, but they show and I really should have done it right. But, at least I don't have to weave in those ends. Whatever, I'll weave the ends in during tv time or something.
Issue 2: Tilli Thomas Bag
See previous post re the sillyness of expecting a silky ribbon yarn to hold its shape when wound into a center-pull ball. I got the yarns untangled and rewound, and now the bag is done!
It only took one skein of each yarn after all. I really thought I was going to need more, but nope...one skein knit 1 crochet 2 Souffle, one skein Berocco Glace (I which I believe has been discontinued), with both yarns held together. It doesn't really show in the picture, but I put in three rows of staggered yarn overs in hopes of letting a little more of the red of the bag peak through. In hindsight, I think I would have knitted this at looser gauge, but I think it's really cute as it is.
Issue 3: Caribbean Sock
This sock was great. I love the colorway, the pattern was easy, I managed to cable sock yarn without a cable needle without too much trouble. I was a little concerned about that, because I knit so tightly that my stitches pop down a few rows as soon as I take them off the needle, but it wasn't too big of an issue.
See? Isn't it pretty? Doesn't it look so innocent? I just went happily along, until I decided to try it on and see what kind of length I needed to put on it and then...then I found the issue.
I can't get it any further than that. It's stuck. I'll never be able to get it over my heel. The ribbing's okay, but the cabled stitches don't want to stretch. I got out my needle gauge and used the ruler edge to check my gauge. 10 stitches to the inch - 2 more than the pattern-specified gauge. I'm going to rip it back to the ribbing and reknit on larger needles. However, I also have issues with this plan, because I don't have a pair of number 2 needles free and my 3's are also engaged with the Orchid Mitts.
Issue 4: Cards for savings bonds
My boss gives his grandkids savings bonds for their birthdays, and he often asks me to make cards for them, since his preferred approach of sticking them into a plain white envelope has not been well received in the past. I made these two cards this week:
Not bad, eh? So what's the issue?
The issue is that he wanted me to make one for Kennedy, not Paige. -_- So, um...I'll be making another card before this Friday. Two, actually. Then all four grandkids are finished and I don't have to worry about it again for a while.
Issue 4: Orchid Mitts
Click the orchid mitts tag to hear the whole saga of issues. Left on a plane, messed up the thumb gusset, etc etc blah blah. So, this is more of an issue resolution than anything else. I photographed, but it wasn't interesting, so we'll revisit when I finish the rest of the mitt.
Monday, January 26, 2009
The Pretty Post
...in which I finally post all the photos that had been accumulating on my camera. There are actually fewer than I thought there were, but oh well. New business first! This weekend, in no particular order, I:
1. Took my first handspun, seen here:
and turned it into my first plied yarn, seen here:
It's, um...textured. To say the least.
Many thanks to the SO for loaning his hand & arm.
2. Took my second handspun, which I apparently did not photograph as singles, and turned it into my second plied yarn.
Apologies for the absolutely bizarre angle of that picture. It was late, I was tired, and the SO had gone back to his video game and I didn't think it was fair to bug him again. Also, I am impatient and could not wait for him to cross the room.
While not perfect, I think we can all agree that the second attempt was much better.
I'm sorry - I meant to say the second attempt had not nearly so much character as the first. Yes. Character. But it is soft and beautiful and I plan to make a hat or something out of it. I am rather desperately in need of a hat, but I have spent all my time knitting them for other people and haven't got one for myself.
Both skeins are currently hanging in my shower drying out. As prescribed, I put them in water and Euclan to set the twist and then hung them up (actually, the prescribed method according to Maggie Casey's book is to put them in water with dish detergent, then dump that out and put them in with distilled vinegar, and then to put them in with a plain rinse "to get rid of the salad smell" but I figured the Euclan was close enough). I checked on them several times before bed and when I got up this morning. The bottoms are still wet, but I have faith that when I get home they will be dry.
3. Finished a super sekrit hat.
Ha! You all didn't even know I was knitting that one! The SO's birthday was this past week and I didn't want him to know, and while I don't think he reads very often (most likely because he hears way more about yarn and knitting than he wants to when he is home anyway) I didn't want to take the chance. 1x1 ribbed hat based on a cross of the noro scarf pattern and Kim's Hats from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts. I took the largest size from LMKG, looked at the difference between it and the second-largest size, which was about 2 inches. Since I needed one four inches larger than the largest size, I took the difference in cast-on stitches between the second-largest size and the largest size, and added twice that many stitches to instructed number of cast-on stitches for the largest size (bless that man and his 26" head). I then ignored the pattern until I got to the decreases.
I knit the whole thing in Noro Kureyon, using a 1x1 rib, and switching colors every two rows. I'll have to check the tags when I get home to see what colors they were, I forgot to look for the purposes of this post. I didn't finish the hat before the birthday celebration (which took place several days after the actual birthday), but this turned out to be a good thing, because when he tried on the unfinished hat I found that I had actually overestimated the length I would need to knit (I will be taking better notes on this hat than I did on the last one I made him, for sure - also, I will make an effort not to lose my knitting journal that has his measurements next time. I did find it - right after I finished the hat). I frogged a couple inches, did the decreases last night, checked it on his head several times, wove in the ends, and dunked it in water with some Euclan to try to soften it up a little bit. It's actually wet in the picture above, because I did not plan ahead, so the colors are darker than they should be.
Once I finished that, I cast on this:
Men's wristwarmers from LMKG, only in a 1x1 rib instead of a two by two so that they will match the hat. I had planned to make the hat, and then a scarf, and then the wristwarmers if I had enough yarn left, but the man expressed a level of enthusiasm for the handwarmers that made me think maybe I should do those first, and just end up with a shorter scarf (or go buy more yarn). Thankfully for my sanity, he does not care if the two wristwarmers match each other in color, because I think attempting a match would send me off the deep end. If I can get them close enough to at least look related, I'll be satisfied. The scarf will pull it all together anyway, if he wears it.
4. Saturday I went with a friend down to the Museum of American History, and I needed metro knitting, so I wound this:
I'm knitting it up in Pink Lemon Twist's New Fallen Snow pattern from her Visions of Sugarplums Sock Collection. Now, this colorway looks nothing like snow - it is actually all the colors of a tropical ocean somewhere in the Carribean. But, I think the NFS pattern could also be interpreted as waves, so - as far as I am concerned, I'm knitting the Carribean sea.
(ETA: Oops, almost committed a blog sin. I'm going to hae to go off memory until I can look up the details. The SO bought this yarn for me while he was in New Hampshire. It's from a local dyer. The tag says Serenity and it has a Celtic knot on it. The blend is superwash merino, bamboo and nylon and I will have to look up the colorway. I actually thought I took a picture of this yarn in the skein along with the purple one he bought me, plus two skeins of Happy Feet I received for Christmas that I had forgotten to photograph, but I did not find the photos last night.)
(ETA2: Ah, here we go - Sereknity yarns Sereknity Sock Options Shimmer Merino Bamboo[rav link] Ravelry to the rescue as always! The other yarn he brought me from them is a merino-seacell blend [rav link].)
(ETA3: I'm slow. The spelling rang a bell and I went and look, and sure enough - this is the same Sereknity that dyed the Eye of Jupiter Yarn the Yarn Harlot is using for her Battlestar Galactica socks.)
So, that was new business. On to (or back to?) old business.
One of my Memorial Day activities was stashing all the Christmas yarn.
Except for that which I intended to knit over the long weekend.
(I may have overestimated my abilities somewhat.)
From left to right: Yarn for the noro hat pictured above. My noro scarf and the two balls of yarn I had left to knit into it. Malabrigo Silky Merino in Velvet Grapes for a Just Enough Ruffles scarf. Right above that, a ball of Valley Yarns Northampton (one of three) for the Hemlock Ring Blanket (I have been pilfering the yarn off that ball to use as leader on my spinning wheel, because I didn't have any non-superwash scrap yarn that I could find). And, last but not least, the nearly finished Tilli Thomas bag I have been meaning to get to. There is a lot more finished than it looks like because it rolls up, I really only need like an inch and a half to get it done and I swear half an hour would do it, if I could just stop KNITTING STUFF FOR EVERYONE ELSE FOR FIVE MINUTES.
I'm not actually sure what that purple ball in the left corner was...maybe the Homestead yarn I was going to use for the Hamsa scarf? I think that's right.
I am crazy enough that I actually believed I would finish the bag, the hat and the scarf and the center part of the Hemlock Ring blanket (leaving me with easy tv knitting at the feather-and-fan section). Ha. On top of that, I'm actually crazy enough that when I put it together for the picture I was thinking that that was my knitting stuff for the day. Then I took the picture, stepped back, and thought, that it was probably enough to last me the weekend. Maybe.
One week later, I have finished the hat, gotten through about half the two balls left on the scarf, cast on and worked maybe six rows on the Just Enough Ruffles Scarf, and the rest is pretty much untouched (although actually...I don't think that's half bad).
And, of course, the one last bit of old business...pictures of the finished and blocked Whispering Pines Shawl. Unfortunately, they are kind of crappy pictures, because it was really late by the time I got around to uploading stuff last night and I didn't take much time to fix them. They also just weren't great shots to begin with, since I was a bit giddy after pinning it all out.
I did not pin out the edging, since I kind of liked it floopy, and I may have chickened out at the thought of pinning that many points.
1. Took my first handspun, seen here:
and turned it into my first plied yarn, seen here:
It's, um...textured. To say the least.
Many thanks to the SO for loaning his hand & arm.
2. Took my second handspun, which I apparently did not photograph as singles, and turned it into my second plied yarn.
Apologies for the absolutely bizarre angle of that picture. It was late, I was tired, and the SO had gone back to his video game and I didn't think it was fair to bug him again. Also, I am impatient and could not wait for him to cross the room.
While not perfect, I think we can all agree that the second attempt was much better.
I'm sorry - I meant to say the second attempt had not nearly so much character as the first. Yes. Character. But it is soft and beautiful and I plan to make a hat or something out of it. I am rather desperately in need of a hat, but I have spent all my time knitting them for other people and haven't got one for myself.
Both skeins are currently hanging in my shower drying out. As prescribed, I put them in water and Euclan to set the twist and then hung them up (actually, the prescribed method according to Maggie Casey's book is to put them in water with dish detergent, then dump that out and put them in with distilled vinegar, and then to put them in with a plain rinse "to get rid of the salad smell" but I figured the Euclan was close enough). I checked on them several times before bed and when I got up this morning. The bottoms are still wet, but I have faith that when I get home they will be dry.
3. Finished a super sekrit hat.
Ha! You all didn't even know I was knitting that one! The SO's birthday was this past week and I didn't want him to know, and while I don't think he reads very often (most likely because he hears way more about yarn and knitting than he wants to when he is home anyway) I didn't want to take the chance. 1x1 ribbed hat based on a cross of the noro scarf pattern and Kim's Hats from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts. I took the largest size from LMKG, looked at the difference between it and the second-largest size, which was about 2 inches. Since I needed one four inches larger than the largest size, I took the difference in cast-on stitches between the second-largest size and the largest size, and added twice that many stitches to instructed number of cast-on stitches for the largest size (bless that man and his 26" head). I then ignored the pattern until I got to the decreases.
I knit the whole thing in Noro Kureyon, using a 1x1 rib, and switching colors every two rows. I'll have to check the tags when I get home to see what colors they were, I forgot to look for the purposes of this post. I didn't finish the hat before the birthday celebration (which took place several days after the actual birthday), but this turned out to be a good thing, because when he tried on the unfinished hat I found that I had actually overestimated the length I would need to knit (I will be taking better notes on this hat than I did on the last one I made him, for sure - also, I will make an effort not to lose my knitting journal that has his measurements next time. I did find it - right after I finished the hat). I frogged a couple inches, did the decreases last night, checked it on his head several times, wove in the ends, and dunked it in water with some Euclan to try to soften it up a little bit. It's actually wet in the picture above, because I did not plan ahead, so the colors are darker than they should be.
Once I finished that, I cast on this:
Men's wristwarmers from LMKG, only in a 1x1 rib instead of a two by two so that they will match the hat. I had planned to make the hat, and then a scarf, and then the wristwarmers if I had enough yarn left, but the man expressed a level of enthusiasm for the handwarmers that made me think maybe I should do those first, and just end up with a shorter scarf (or go buy more yarn). Thankfully for my sanity, he does not care if the two wristwarmers match each other in color, because I think attempting a match would send me off the deep end. If I can get them close enough to at least look related, I'll be satisfied. The scarf will pull it all together anyway, if he wears it.
4. Saturday I went with a friend down to the Museum of American History, and I needed metro knitting, so I wound this:
I'm knitting it up in Pink Lemon Twist's New Fallen Snow pattern from her Visions of Sugarplums Sock Collection. Now, this colorway looks nothing like snow - it is actually all the colors of a tropical ocean somewhere in the Carribean. But, I think the NFS pattern could also be interpreted as waves, so - as far as I am concerned, I'm knitting the Carribean sea.
(ETA: Oops, almost committed a blog sin. I'm going to hae to go off memory until I can look up the details. The SO bought this yarn for me while he was in New Hampshire. It's from a local dyer. The tag says Serenity and it has a Celtic knot on it. The blend is superwash merino, bamboo and nylon and I will have to look up the colorway. I actually thought I took a picture of this yarn in the skein along with the purple one he bought me, plus two skeins of Happy Feet I received for Christmas that I had forgotten to photograph, but I did not find the photos last night.)
(ETA2: Ah, here we go - Sereknity yarns Sereknity Sock Options Shimmer Merino Bamboo[rav link] Ravelry to the rescue as always! The other yarn he brought me from them is a merino-seacell blend [rav link].)
(ETA3: I'm slow. The spelling rang a bell and I went and look, and sure enough - this is the same Sereknity that dyed the Eye of Jupiter Yarn the Yarn Harlot is using for her Battlestar Galactica socks.)
So, that was new business. On to (or back to?) old business.
One of my Memorial Day activities was stashing all the Christmas yarn.
Except for that which I intended to knit over the long weekend.
(I may have overestimated my abilities somewhat.)
From left to right: Yarn for the noro hat pictured above. My noro scarf and the two balls of yarn I had left to knit into it. Malabrigo Silky Merino in Velvet Grapes for a Just Enough Ruffles scarf. Right above that, a ball of Valley Yarns Northampton (one of three) for the Hemlock Ring Blanket (I have been pilfering the yarn off that ball to use as leader on my spinning wheel, because I didn't have any non-superwash scrap yarn that I could find). And, last but not least, the nearly finished Tilli Thomas bag I have been meaning to get to. There is a lot more finished than it looks like because it rolls up, I really only need like an inch and a half to get it done and I swear half an hour would do it, if I could just stop KNITTING STUFF FOR EVERYONE ELSE FOR FIVE MINUTES.
I'm not actually sure what that purple ball in the left corner was...maybe the Homestead yarn I was going to use for the Hamsa scarf? I think that's right.
I am crazy enough that I actually believed I would finish the bag, the hat and the scarf and the center part of the Hemlock Ring blanket (leaving me with easy tv knitting at the feather-and-fan section). Ha. On top of that, I'm actually crazy enough that when I put it together for the picture I was thinking that that was my knitting stuff for the day. Then I took the picture, stepped back, and thought, that it was probably enough to last me the weekend. Maybe.
One week later, I have finished the hat, gotten through about half the two balls left on the scarf, cast on and worked maybe six rows on the Just Enough Ruffles Scarf, and the rest is pretty much untouched (although actually...I don't think that's half bad).
And, of course, the one last bit of old business...pictures of the finished and blocked Whispering Pines Shawl. Unfortunately, they are kind of crappy pictures, because it was really late by the time I got around to uploading stuff last night and I didn't take much time to fix them. They also just weren't great shots to begin with, since I was a bit giddy after pinning it all out.
I did not pin out the edging, since I kind of liked it floopy, and I may have chickened out at the thought of pinning that many points.
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