Posts Tagged ‘Brooklyn Tweed’

No more scarves!

{ 25 October 2009 @ 5:43 pm } · { knit }
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You know, it’s not like it’s anyone’s fault but my own. I keep starting scarves, hoping that this time I’ll be able to knit fast enough to finish before my interest does.

I apologize for not letting anyone else in on this, but I’ve been on “Blog Restriction” – I didn’t allow myself to write anything here until I finished Willoughby, and got my act together a bit in regards to the atrocious state of my house. Well, yesterday my lovely husband looked under our bed to find some missing socks, and was shocked to find socks, shoes, toys, and a LOT of dust. So I offered to clean our room (even under the bed) if he’d do  Max’s (not as much dust, but way more toys). We finished in no time, and I was inspired to do the same (finish, not dust) with Willoughby.

This morning Max, as is his habit on days that I don’t need to be awake, got up at 5:30 and quite refused to go back to sleep. I got up with him, fixed him a cup of milk and a plate of sliced bananas and myself a cup of coffee, and we settled on to the couch to watch some Disney. After a while, I got up (feeling a bit guilty about the still messy state of the house) to wash the dishes from last night’s coffee/snack binge. When I returned to the living room a few minutes later, Max was nowhere to be found! I peeked into his room – no Max. I looked behind the couch and rocking chair – no Max. I looked into our bedroom…and there I saw two heads of black hair resting on my husband’s pillow. One was snoring, the other making little “coo” noises. Apparently, I was the only problem with Max’s sleeping situation.

I quietly closed the door, and pulled out my knitting bag. At last count, I had two more pattern repeats to do, which would take me only about 40 minutes. Well, I put a movie in the DVD (Greenfingers, with Clive Owen – I highly recommend it), and commenced to knitting. At the end of the movie (which took a great deal longer than 40 minutes, I assure you), I’d finished one repeat. I knocked the second one out in no time (by turning the TV off), and I counted the little bobble-clusters on each side of the scarf, to ensure I’d made it even. I’m sure you won’t be surprised to learn that I had one more additional (I know it’s redundant, but I want to make sure you know how ticked off I was) repeat to knit.

I did it, then I counted again (I can’t begin to describe how mad I would have been if I now had one repeat too many), then finished the scarf off with the bottom border. I eventually distracted Max with lunch, and was able to weave the ends in. And now, without further ado, I give you…

Willoughby, by Jared Flood (brooklyntweed), Berroco Ultra Alpaca Light (4.5 skeins), size 9 needles
dimensions: 17″x104″ (oops, I made it a bit long!)

As it is pictured here, the scarf is folded in half because my bed is not long enough to accommodate it’s great length. It ended up being a full 34 inches longer than the directions indicated. I know that this could be because I used larger needles, or because I did 25 repeats on each side (rather than 20). But I find it odd that I still have a skein and a half of yarn left over. O well. Maybe she’ll get some mittens to go with!

Halfway There

{ 7 October 2009 @ 10:55 am } · { knit }
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Willoughby has officially reached the halfway mark. Last night at Knit Night, I finished the bottom edge of the first half, and this morning I carefully removed the blue yarn that was holding my provisional cast-on and started the second half.  Unblocked, including the bottom border, it measures 40″ at this point. Which will result (theoretically) in an 80″ scarf. It will be interesting to see how long it is after it’s blocked. I’m betting close to 8 feet.

Willoughby, half done.

On Friday, whilst Max and I were doing the Tour de Yarn Stores, I picked up some rosewood DPNs by Lantern Moon. I used to love using DPNs, and hated the circulars. Now, I find that I’d rather use circulars than even straight needles. I think it’s because there’s no way I’ll lose one of my needles in the middle of a project.

Anyway, I bought these DPNs because a) they’re really pretty; and b) because I thought maybe the reason I’d moved on to circulars was because I was constantly bending my DPNs. These are far sturdier than the bamboo needles I’d purchased in the past. I made a small something, just to test them out. They were lovely to work with, and didn’t bend at all.

a new sock for Max (I’ll do the other one today), and my new DPNs

Today is overcast and chilly at my house, and Max had the right idea. This

turned into this

and so now I’m going to do some of this

before he turns back into this

Have a good Wednesday!

Hooooooray for Friday!

{ 2 October 2009 @ 8:43 am } · { knit, spinning }
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It’s 8:30, and although I’ve been up for several hours, I’m still in my jammies. This is partially because none of the places I need to go today are open yet, and mostly because my hair is being so evil I can’t imagine actually going anywhere.

So instead, I’ve been taking glamour shots of my yarn & knitting. My artistic director is Max. He was jumping on the bed (where I normally take my pictures) in order to encourage me to take advantage of the much better light  (and the cleared-off table) in the kitchen. I whipped the boy up some pancakes and raspberry jam, and Bob’s your uncle, here I am.

First up, I plied the singles I showed you in Monday’s post and this is what I got:

And here is the recently spun skein along side the one I spun right after I received my wheel, with some baby alpaca on top for decoration.

And finally, I have for you the Willoughby Scarf, posing seductively in the big red bowl (this bowl has a story; anyone wanna hear it?).

I love this scarf. The bobbles are a little frustrating (I’m beginning to have strong negative feelings for rows 5 and 7), but there are only three per pattern repeat, so I just suck it up when I get to them. They’re not hard… I think the issue I have is with turning my work back and forth in the middle of a row. In this photo, I’ve finished 18 pattern repeats, and the scarf is a little more than two feet in length. I’m only half way thru the second ball of yarn, and I’ve allocated 3 balls to each half. I’m going to finish this ball, then switch to the other side (where the blue yarn is now; this scarf is knit from the middle) and do two balls of yarn. Once I reach that point, I’ll measure and decide how to proceed.

Another Christmas Scarf

{ 23 September 2009 @ 1:05 am } · { knit }
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Even though the first Christmas Scarf (that would be the Irish Hiking Scarf), is still on the needles, I’ve begun a second scarf. I won’t tell who it’s for, as I’m not sure if she reads my blog or not. But suffice it to say she’d better like it. If she doesn’t I’m going to have to insist she return it, because I think it’s the cat’s pajamas.

This is the Willoughby Scarf, pattern by Jared Flood. The pattern calls for cashmere, but I couldn’t find any that was inexpensive enough to afford the 800 yards required. So I’m using Berroco Ultra Alpaca Light. I’m also using size 7 needles rather than the size 8 he suggested, as it looked extra sloppy with the larger needles. Because of these two modifications, I’m quickly realizing I’m going to be doing WAY more than 40 pattern repeats. But that’s ok, because I really like this pattern.

The Fascine Braid Socks are on hold. I’m nearly to the point where I can start decreasing for the toe of the sock, but when I tried it on I noticed that my purls are not even, and the sock looks… not very well done. This may be due to my inadvertent substitution of thin sock yarn for the recommended medium.

I’m going to do a quick swatch using smaller needles and figure out where to add stitches to make the pattern work, then start over. Just as with the Willoughby, I’m not upset about this because the pattern really flies.

Well, back to work!

ps…

Valerie, I did see your comment on my last post voting for the FLS to be the next thing I worked on. However, we went on an adventure (we drove to Julian) and the sweater was too big and hot to work on in the car.

Actually getting somewhere

{ 16 September 2009 @ 11:20 pm } · { knit }
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My Christmas knitting is coming along, although it would help a lot if I could finish a few things rather than continually casting on. I suppose this is why I started in August… I need all the lead time I can get!

I did manage to get one item done. Kaylie’s sweater is

Mabel sweater in Cascade 220 Heathers

It even has a button!

Pewter Celtic Knot button from Clever Knits in Vista, CA

Last night at Knit Night I bought two skeins of white malabrigo sock yarn, which I quite intended to turn into the Willoughby scarf. Alas, after six or seven attempts at getting past the first repeat, the yarn finally got its point across that it didn’t want to be a scarf, it wanted to be socks (hence the name). So, Willoughby has been put on hold until I can find some more cooperative string, and instead the malabrigo is being turned into these:

Fascine Braid Socks by Tiennie in malabrigo Sock yarn (who knew?)

I love how the picot hem turns out, but I really, really hate knitting it. I murmured, “It’s only one row. It’s only one row,” to myself thru the entire ordeal. It was totally worth it.

Check out the braids. Aren’t they clever? The best part is that they’re not cables. And the second best part is that because they’re not cables, this pattern moves really fast. I’m not sure who these are for yet, and I won’t have to make that decision until I get to the foot length, so it’s anyone’s guess, really.

I’m going to spare you more pictures of my uncle’s scarf. Suffice it to say, it’s six feet long, and still not long enough (according to the several big-chested men who indulged me and tried it on). I ordered two more balls of yarn from Knit Picks, which should add another 16-24 inches to the length. If it’s still not long enough at that point, the scarf is going to someone littler, and my uncle is getting a book.

Weird Weather and Other News

{ 22 August 2009 @ 8:21 pm } · { knit }
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It looks as though summer has finally arrived here in Southern California. Our May Gray and June Gloom extended, with only a few exceptions (i.e., really outrageously hot days that happened to fall on the days that I was at home rather than in my over-air conditioned office), well into August. In fact, just yesterday there were thunderstorms in Santee (thanks for rubbing it in, Sharon!), and strong winds and overcast skies here in Escondido. It felt more like October than August, and I was happy for it was perfect knitting weather.

Today, it was HOT and HUMID. Apparently, I was a little too happy yesterday, and the weather gods have put me in my place. And yet, even though it was about a billion degrees, and 900% humidity (yes, I did that on purpose), I knit. I finished off the 5th skein of yarn and started on the 6th for the Irish Hiking Scarf. I’m really, REALLY liking this project. The only thing that would make me like it more is if I’d used yarn that had more than 110 yards per skien. I used the spit-splice method of joining the ends, so I’ll only have my first and last tails to weave in, but still. What a pain in the arse!

I’m taking a short break from the Hemlock Ring Blanket because my needles are too short. I just looked up 60″ size 10.5 needles online, and have to wonder: why is there a $5.00 price difference between the size 10 needles (which I could have used) and the size 10.5 needles (which I rather foolishly did use)? Well, I can tell you that there is no way I’m starting over again just so I can save five bucks. I’ll skip a coffee or two this week to make up for it. The blanket, despite my break, is doing well. I quite over-achieved on my plan to do five rows per day (which would make one “feather and fan” pattern repeat), and am now ready – as soon as I get some suitable needles – to begin the ninth out of 14 repeats.

I put in a “lifeline” (I threaded some cotton string thru the stitches) and removed it from the needles so I could check my progress. I measured it, and it’s only 41″ in diameter. Wow, and I thought I was nearly done. Well, after some further reading, I found that brooklyntweed’s blanket was just 48″ in diameter, so it would appear that I’m on track. Especially since I didn’t stretch it out at all to take that measurement, and I know that my stuff grows with blocking. Although it would be more comfortable using longer circulars, I might just finish this up on the ones I’m using now so I can call it done and revel in all its loveliness.

Revisiting an old Friend

{ 19 August 2009 @ 12:03 pm } · { knit }
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Last night I went to Knit Night at Clever Knits in Vista again. In preparation, I pulled out my Hemlock Ring Blanket and frogged the very last project I’d been working on back when I was twisting my knit stitches. I think I may finally be over it (knitting wrong thru so many projects) by the time I’ve finished this blanket. Why, you ask, is it going to take me until I’m done? Why not be over it right now? Well, because the difference in the appearance of the product, when knit the correct way, is so stunningly great that I can’t help stopping every so often and marveling at how much better it looks now. The center isn’t nearly as puckered, and the spots where I’m gathering three stitches together lay in a neat line, one above the next.

While I was at Knit Night, a lady asked about what I was making, and I replied that this was the fourth time I’d knit this pattern, and still had nary a blanket to show for my efforts. I explained further, and was shocked to find that two others, sitting very near me, had had a similar experience. One had twisted both her knit and purl stitches, and (although she now knits the right way) argued that a twisted stitch was a perfectly valid stitch. True, I replied, but only if that’s what you were meaning to do. The other lady did exactly what I’d done (twisted the knits, but not the purls), and had likewise banished the sweater she’d been working on at the time of her discovery to a bag in the closet. “I’m still angry with it,” she said. Funny, that’s exactly how I’d felt about the FLS!

The second lady was wearing a beautiful shawl that she’d made, and was working on another project, so it looks like she’s embraced the idea that just because you didn’t do something right when you started, you can still do it right later. You know, it’s that whole “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again” lesson. She was very nice, and I’m glad that she kept at it, otherwise I’d never have met her (although I still didn’t remember to introduce myself or ask for her name).

I’ve made it to the charted part of the Hemlock Ring, and I think I’ll do one pattern row along with the four rows of knit a day. This will be easy at first, but once I get up toward the end, it might be a bit of a stretch. According to my (current, optimistic) schedule, I’ll finish it by September 2.

In between rows on the blanket, I’ll continue working on the Irish Hiking Scarf. Here it is, with the last of the yarn. I’m almost done!

So close

{ 1 May 2009 @ 10:33 am } · { knit }
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The knitting gods smiled upon me these last two days. At least, that is, until last night.

I knew it was too good to last, but I was tired and weak (two more reasons I should have known better). I was so close to the chart portion of the Hemlock Ring Throw, I just had to keep going. I got to the point where I was moving my markers over 9 stitches, and in the third pattern repeat…wait! Why isn’t this falling neatly in between those two decreases?? OMG! I missed one! Three rows back??!! 

Needless to say, I stuffed it into my knitting bag and went to bed. Today I’m cleaning again rather than knitting. Oh well. I won’t get my blanket done, but my house will look nice.