Posts Tagged ‘knitting’

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.

Still hot

{ 30 August 2009 @ 3:03 pm } · { knit }
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It’s still hot, but that hasn’t actually stopped me from making progress.

Here is what I did this morning:

Hemlock Ring Blanked by Jared Flood (Brooklyn Tweed), in Schoppel-Wolle Baby Alpaka naturbelassen

That’s the Hemlock Ring Blanket, all washed and pinned out on my bed. I think it’s lovely, and I can’t wait to pass it to its recipient on Christmas. I hope he likes it!

While that’s drying (which, due to the extreme heat and lack of humidity should take about 10 minutes) I’ve moved my computer, knitting bag, and myself into a comfy chair at Barnes & Noble to suck up some free air conditioning.

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.

Yay, It’s Done!

{ 16 August 2009 @ 12:01 am } · { knit }
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After what seems like forever (although I know it’s only been a week or two), I give you…

drumroll

…a finished project!!

This is the Meandering Vines Shawl (a free Ravelry pattern), knit with 2 skeins of Manos del Uruguay Wool Clasica on size 17 needles. I started this way back in July (you can see Max contributing to it here), and the only reason it didn’t get finished was due to my easily distracted nature. I picked it up again yesterday after I went thru the cursed basket of yarn, and did the entire second skein in less than a day!

This is a great design. There are only two “pattern rows” to remember; one slants to the left, the other to the right. The other plus is that it is very simple to find where a mistake was made before you go on to the next row, as every knit row ends with “k3″. There were several times where I had 2, 4, or, at one point, 6 stitches left at the end, and I immediately went back and counted my stitches, found my error, and fixed it.

Accomplishments

{ 9 August 2009 @ 10:38 pm } · { knit, spinning }
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Today was a good day. We went out to breakfast (at an hour that warrants breakfast food) at Papa Bear’s in Valley Center. After stuffing ourselves with way too much food, as usual, Alex took Max to the bookstore & I got to spin and knit the afternoon away.

I spun a little more of the baby alpaca, then plied 144 yards of this:

144 Yards of Merino-Tussah Silk (the pink/red) plied with Baby Alpaca (the gray)

After plying, I resumed work on the Irish Hiking Scarf, and made a lot of progress. Here it is, after the second skein was finished.

Tomorrow, Jojo has an appointment for a sports physical (she’s going to try out for the freshman volleyball team), and we all know how good the doctor’s office is for providing quality knitting time!

Good night all!

Anything but Orange

{ 2 August 2009 @ 12:55 pm } · { knit }
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Maybe, someday way WAY in the future, I will knit something orange again. But it won’t happen anytime soon.

Here is Jojo’s shawl, washed and blocking on my bed.

Technically, it’s just drying, as it is so huge that I cannot pin it evenly. I’ve managed to talk Jojo into seeing the charm of leaving the edges ruffly. In the end, it took 6 balls of KnitPicks Palette yarn in Sweet Potato to finish, and from tip to tip is about 8 feet wide and 3 feet long. I think my gauge might have been off a bit, but since I don’t have the book with me right now (it’s all the way out in the car, and I just don’t feel like getting it), I can’t say for sure that it ended up being bigger than it was supposed to be.

But you know what?

It’s done, and Jojo is happy with it, so I’m happy with it.

I’m going to celebrate by knitting on something anything else. For all those cheering me on from cyberspace, my knit night group, and Wisconsin, I thank you for your support!

The Endless Sleeve

{ 22 July 2009 @ 9:02 am } · { knit }
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You know, I’ve never claimed to be great at math. My estimating skills, likewise, leave a lot to be desired.

Yesterday, I tried on my sweater and measured the space left between where the knitting stopped and where my wrist is. I came up with about 6.5 inches. I measured how long each pattern repeat was (1.25 inches), and did the math. According to my calculations, I had 25 rows left. I knit 10 rows during lunch, then 5 more during a break. This morning I knit 10 more, and tried my sweater on, wondering if I’d have to rip any out due to going too far.

It’s still only halfway down my forearm!! What the….?

Well, if I’d bothered to compare my math plus the number of repeats I’d already done on the sleeve with the number of repeats I’d done for the body, I’d have realized that I was WAY off. With my math, I’d end up with ~23 repeats in the sleeve. The body has 19 repeats. My arms are about 1.5x the length of my torso. That just doesn’t add up.

So, here I am, a day before the knit night where I’d planned to debut my not only finished but washed and blocked sweater, with a sleeve and a quarter still to go.

The yarn I needed to finish Jojo’s shawl arrived on Monday, but I’m still working on Sami’s costume (still stymied by the zipper).

My wheel is still in North Salt Lake City, UT, according to the FedEx tracking website. I’m hopeful that this is because it’s still en route there from New York, rather than that it’s been sitting there since Saturday, forlorn and forgotten. Tomorrow is the big day (theoretically) . I wouldn’t be able to stand it if I didn’t have a gazillion other things that needed to be done.

Today my editor was Max, who contributed by smacking the keys on the right side of my keyboard, sometimes adding a bunch of “\”, sometimes deleting a whole chunk of text. So, if any of my sentences change topic midway, it was due to Max’s fine editing skills.

Quick update

{ 18 July 2009 @ 5:07 pm } · { knit }
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I’m crazy busy today doing house-stuff, so here’s a quick status update:

  • I’m half done with the first sleeve on my February Lady Sweater
  • My wheel is in Utah

Although I’m “busy with house stuff,” my house still looks like a tornado just held a rave here. Back to work!!

Oh yeah!

{ 17 July 2009 @ 11:11 am } · { knit }
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What a way to start the weekend (I only work half days on Fridays)!! First, last night I finally got a FedEx tracking number for my wheel. The last update stated it left Syracuse, NY, at 7:30am East Coast time. Oh, I am SO excited. The only down side is that it’s currently scheduled for delivery on Thursday, which is my knit night. I haven’t decided if I’ll be able to focus on my friends and knitting knowing that my wheel is here, still packed in its box.

Also yesterday, I received my July Rockin’ Sock Club shipment. The yarn is wonderful, the pattern is cool, but the best part is the “extra” they threw in this time. It’s a bumper sticker that says, “No Coffee, No Workee”. I didn’t realize the ladies at Blue Moon knew me personally!! I can’t wait to post it on the door to my office!

Finally, the coup de grace:

Next up, sleeves! But first, I have to find either my short, size 8, circular needles or my size 8 DPNs.  Wish me luck!

Unraveling my Nemesis

{ 7 July 2009 @ 10:27 pm } · { knit }
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I see it as a sign of my growth as a person and a knitter that this evening, as I sat on my bed unknitting my very first sweater (started way back in March), that I didn’t cry. Not even once. Heck, my eyes didn’t even well up as I sat there, pulling out row after row after row and winding my sweater back into (many) balls of yarn.

I took the band-aid approach, and ripped back the sleeves and the bottom edge before I realized I should probably document this potentially psychologically damaging undertaking. That way, when my husband got home and found me blubbering in the midst of what seemed like a mile of lovely yarn, he and the doctors could use the photographic evidence to piece together just what led to my demise.

Here we are a little further in the unknitting process. At this point, I was cursing the fact that I’d knit the sweater with two balls of yarn at once, doing two rows with one, then two rows with the other in order to spread out the color variations a bit.  Aside from the inevitable tangles of string, knitting this way was not a problem. Unknitting it, however, proved to provide just the right amount of frustration to take my mind off the three wasted weeks of work that had been lost.

Nothing but yoke. Ha! You could say that, at  this point, I had egg on my face (get it, nothing but yoke (yolk)?). Or, if you have a proper sense of humor, you could just skip it and observe the growing number of yarn-balls in the background. Horrifying, yet it grabs your attention and holds it, much like a train wreck, would you say? Admit it, you’re thinking, “Better her than me.”

And here we are. Back at the beginning.

The whole time I was doing this, I kept thinking that if I’d had just a little more yarn, and if the lady at the yarn store hadn’t mentioned the fact that my knitting was arse-backwards, I would have had this sweater done months ago, and could have avoided freezing to death in my office.  But now, I’m looking forward to making a more beautiful, if only because it will have been knit correctly, sweater. Although no longer my first sweater, this project will always have a special place in my heart.

Featured here is the February Lady Sweater by Pamela Wynne, (undone) in Araucania Toconao Multi (which, although a lovely smooshy yarn, is a pain in the butt to match hank to hank)

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