The rest of the Christmas gifts

As Christmas is over, I can post the rest of the gifts I had been knitting.

All of these were for my mother:
Pattern: Entrlac Scarf
Yarn: Plymouth Yarn Boku
Needles: 7

This took a while as I stopped knitting it for the commission knitting. I didn't block it, since I wasn't sure if mom would like it one way or the other.


Pattern: Aran Isle Slippers
Yarn: Malabrigo in Buscanda Azul
Needles: 6
I knit the largest size on smaller needles, as I wasn't getting gauge. Unfortunately they turned out too big after blocking. Mom is going to unblock them, and if that doesn't work, we'll felt them a bit. I don't think mom was too pleased with them. Pattern: Calorimetry
Yarn: Malabrigo in Buscanda Azul
Needles: 6
Made this with the left overs from the slippers. I made a mistake by not knitting both sides evenly, so when I was doing the short rows back, I had too many stitches on one side. I fixed it, but then knit too many rows. I had to cast off two rows early so I would have enough yarn. I think this will be used the most. Mom puts a handkerchief over her hair when she cooks or cleans, and this will be a more stylish alternative.

Completing the first round

Half of my immediate family lives far away, and so all presents must be sent in advance. I was hoping that my package would have been sent out yesterday.... but I'm still one hat shy. And this one will have to be blocked within an inch of it's life. And since that part of the family rarely goes on the internet (at least last I checked that sort of thing) I can post their soon to be wrapped and shipped presents. For my step-mother
Project: Multidirectional scarf
Yarn: Patons SWS in Natural Earth
Needles: 6
No modifications on this. Simple, just let the yarn do the work for you. I received quite a few compliments as I knit this, and I think mom wants one too. For my "little" brother
Project: Turn a Square
Yarn: Patons SWS in Natural Denim and Classic Wool in Dark Grey Multi
Needles: 6 and 7
Really love this. I was afraid the top might be too girly. I also cut out a yard or so of particularly purple/blue. With a 15/16 year old boy, you never can be too sure what will make something unwearable. The husband will also be getting one of these, and probable one for myself as well, and with as much self striping yarn as I have left over from things, one of our friends might get one too. And for my father: Pattern: Fake Isle Hat
Yarn: Patons SWS in Natural Denim and Classic wool in black
Needles: 7

I had knit one of these for myself, and I knit it too short, so with this one I knit it exactly as the pattern stated. It was tight and long, but after blocking, it should fit my father.

Christmas Knitting

I'm sure everyone is in a frantic knitting fury, and I am no different. All my commission knitting is done with these scarves: Project: Princess Scarf
Yarn: Knit Picks Essential in Princess Multi
Needles: 1 1/2
Pattern: A highly modified Jaywalker

Project: Purple Scarf
Yarn: Knit Picks Essential Kettle Dyed in Eggplant
Needles: 1 1/2
Pattern: A highly modified Jaywalker

The lady who asked for the scarves liked the brown one I made, and preferred the thinner size, so I simply repeated it for the last two. I'm not really happy with either too much: the Princess looks like a strange tiger stripe pattern, and the purple just doesn't have enough variation to be interesting. I finished a much more enjoyable project for my cousin.


Project: American Lobster in Germany
Yarn: Knit Picks Wool of the Andes in Firecracker Heather
Needles: size 4
Pattern: Knit Lobster

I loved how this turned out. The tail alone took an hour, but that really was the most fiddly part. I did modify the claws. I didn't like how the I-cord claw looked, so I picked up some stitches from the side of the larger half of the claw, then decreased. My cousins brings a few stuffed animals with them when they come to America to visit, two of which are crabs. There weren't any super cute crab patterns, so I thought a lobster was the next best thing.

A month of knitting

So I've been busy. And lots of things have been started and many things finished.

I'll start with the finished:
Project: Checkered scarf
Started: October 3 2008

Completed: October 23 2008
Yarn: 1 ball of Knit Picks Essential in Carbon Twist
Needles: 3

This is the first scarf I made for my commission work. I made it on the biggest needles I have for the fingering weight to maximize the size. It turned out fairly wide, but only 3" long. I didn't add a boarder, believing the mixture of balanced moss stitch and unbalances stockinette would cause it to lay flat. This made the edges wave a bit, bit not too bad. It curled a bit, but a light wash and flat dry fixed that.

Project: Jaywalker scarf
Started: October 20 2008

Completed: November 5 2008

Yarn: 1 ball of Knit Picks Essential Kettle Dyed in Timber
Needles: 1 1/2

This was the second scarf I knit for my commission job. I REALLY love how this turned out. I actually bought 4 skeins of this, anticipating 2 for the scarf and possibly 2 for a hat for a boy described as similar to Mr. Potato Head. Well, the hat was not to be a good idea, so I have three skeins... Enough to make ME a scarf!!
Project: Windy City Hat
Pattern: Windy City Hat

Started: October 28 2008

Completed: November 1 2008
Yarn: 1/2 ball of Knit Picks Essential Kettle Dyed in Eggplant
Needles: 1

This could be considered "inspired by" Windy City as I changed the yarn weight, number of stitches, length of stockinette portion, and how I did the decreases. Hopefully it will fit a 2/3 year olds head.
Pattern: None

Started: November 7 2008

Completed: November 16 2008
Yarn: 1/2 ball of Knit Picks Essential in Carbon Twist

20 inches is pretty big for a kid's head. With a marl, I have found that only knit/purl stitches show up well. So a nice simple hat to go with the scarf. Matching, but not identical.

Pattern: Noro Spiral Hat

Started: November 16 2008

Completed: November 16 2008
Yarn: Knit Picks Essential in Princess Multi
Needle: 1 1/2

Another inspired by hat. There are very few patterns for fingering weight hats for child.

I will have my new WIPs up soon.

I was wrong.. there is no magic drink

So I went out to the kitchen to make another pot of tea for last night and grabbed the tea my husband had left out. Yep black tea. So the secret to success is what everyone already knows. Caffeine helps you stay awake.

I should mention, I try not to drink caffeine normally, and that is why miracle of tea was new.

Some knitting was done, I plan on finishing a scarf today, but last night was mostly spent trying to find a phone number. I got the new "job" and so I hade to call in for someone to take my place AT my job for the day. Of course I couldn't find the number anywhere. I used to keep it in my old phone, and I had forgotten to transfer the numbers before I gave the phone to my mom. This meant I had to talk my mom through finding the number with a phone I hadn't used in 4 months. I did have an identical model to help, but since I had also given away the power cord, I couldn't turn it on. I was pretty frustrated, but since I got the number, I think I did ok. Technology was NOT meant to be taught over the phone.

The secret of my success

Last night my checkerboard scarf became this: My Jaywalker scarf became: All because I drank a pot of this: And before you ask, no it's herbal. I have tried drinking things before to keep myself awake, but ususally milk or juice. I learned in high school that eating helped me stay awake. But last night my throat started to hurt (still does) and I thought a put of tea would hit the spot. Didn't help my throat at all, but sure helped my knitting. This should be a good week. I received and order at work, and while not EXACTLY for me, opening boxes are fun. I should be getting a package from The Loopy Ewe tomorrow or Thursday. (This is my third order. I'm half way to Loopie Groupie status.) This was bought as a gifty from the husband, though I did pester him for a week for it. And after sorting through all my stash, I am more excited about the yarn I already have. Also, I should have heard yesterday about a new job opportunity I applied for. It was the *potential* of become a slightly different career. I am excited, but am trying not to work myself up too much. If I get it, great potential, extra pay, and something exciting to try. If I don't, less stress, no need to worry about transportation, and no days out of work to plan for.

Maybe my stash isn't SO big.

Sunday I planned to knit all day. I got distracted by a new project, but realigned myself. I decided to take pictures of my stash and update Ravelry. That was when I found it. A moth hole! Two to be precise. In a cake of Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud. A more thorough investigation revealed more larva (though not a disgusting looking as the name sounds). So I proceeded to pick them off, and throw all my wool into a garbage bag. I did photograph it, but then I caked them all, and into freezer bags and the freezer they went. I now have a stinky moth ball in my stash box, where my non-wool resides, and all but a few skeins are in the deep freeze for the week. All stash will remain in the bags, which will be properly sealed, so moths and the moth ball smell, shouldn't be too much of a problem. In the end I only lost half a ball of the Alpaca Cloud and about 10 yards of another lace weight. There were a few more breaks, but it was never decided if they were moth, or mechanically caused.

I did discover and interesting tidbit. I had a ball of deep teal yarn, with a little buggy on it. When I squished it, it was green inside! Apparently it can't digest the dyes.

Also in this, I brought out my umbrella swift. It was a wonderful birthday present from my mom. I tightened it to cake some lace weight, (lace weight alone makes a swift worth the money) and the umbrella fell down. I attempted to retighten it, and I wouldn't! The threads on the bolt had broken off. I have since e-mail Knit Picks. I am confident they will replace it, but I don't have the invoice, so I am not sure what I should send in its stead.

Knitting was done, but not much

The saga goes on. I continue to try to knit, but fail miserably most days. I decided that my desire for yarn could be quenched by casting-on for another project. As I am determined to finish the commission knitting before moving on to my own projects (read: Christmas is doomed) I went for another scarf. This is in Knit Picks Essential Kettle Dyed in Timber with the Jaywalker pattern. There is nothing to see however. I have cast-on and frog said scarf at least 4 times. These at the ones I remember, there may have been a few when I was initially casting-on. The first, I only did one repeat and a seed stitch boarder. ( I do LOVE seed stitch). Verdict: Too narrow. I did some research, and find another (though very similar) pattern with two repeats. Verdict: The chevron is in a bad ratio with the boarder and it is a bit too wide. I recast on with a smaller number of stitches to correct this. Verdict: Wrong number of stitches. I cast-on the number I thought, turns out however, that I did the math wrong. (Again) I have since cast-on again, but have not knit past the bottom seed stitch boarder. (If someone can tell be about another well balanced stitch that looks as pretty as the seed stitch, I'd love to hear about it.) I am also determined to knit one square of the checkerboard scarf everyday. That way I get it done and I don't get too tired of it. Or at least not any more tired of it than I am now.

Why I didn't knit in 4 words

I forgot a needle!

Fate is against me.

A day (hopefully) of knitting

I spent yesterday at work, so today I'd be free to have some fun. I'll be in the car for a few hours and hopefully there will be some knitting. Luckily it is mostly freeway driving, I get sick very fast trying to knit in the stop and go traffic of towns. And if I am very lucky there will be a trip to a local yarn store.

My streak continues

I just can't stay awake. I was again, asleep by 9. Well, it is the weekend, so only one day of going into to work and I get to choose how long I'm there for. And I can put on a movie as I work. That will be nice. Oo! I can watch Pride and Prejudice again. I haven't seen it in about 6 months. Shame on me.

Less working, more knitting

My first fingering weight scarf has been knit to about 15 inches. Since this will be for a fairly short individual, I don't think I'll need to make it much longer than 3 feet. I an very tempted to cast on for something else thought. I have discovered that my yarn cravings come from not being able to knit on something I really want to work on. I'm ok for the momnet since at least I'm knitting a pattern I chose, but I need to finish this one soon so I don't become tempted by more lovely fiber morsels.

Late on account of sleep

No knitting has been happening lately. I am just too dog tired. I was barely awake for my dinner at 7 last night. I was under a blanket ( a sure sign of imminent sleeping) on the couch at 7:30. I even missed Dirty Jobs! I'm not sure if I can forgive myself.

I'm not doing too well with this "blog every day". I feel more like I am following the spirit of the law (make an effort to blog more), rather than the letter of it (blog everyday in October).


This last weekend I spent in the local big city, where my mother lives. I was able to visit a few yarn stores, where I found one was starting a three weekend spinning class. I asked them on Saturday at 4:00, and they told me there were probably 2 or 3 spots left, and they closed at 5. I wasn't sure if I wanted to pay that much money right now, or to drive the hour every week. I thought about it and decided to do it. Sunday at 12:10, 10 minutes after they opened, to find out that not only was the class full, but there were 5 people on the wait-list. I was very disappointed. There aren't any yarn stores in my area, and none of them offer reasonable spinning lesson. AND this one has wheels to take home over the week!

This is what I don't understand. If spinning classes always fill up, why don't more places have them, and more often. The closest LYS to me has them twice a year, but you have to buy carders on top of the $50+ class. Another one SAYS they have them, but they only schedule them as people ask. Of course, as someone who would have to drive 45 minutes, this is just not the way I need it scheduled. Tell me when the class is about a month/2 weeks before hand and I'll make arrangements. I am not comfortable with someone planning a class based on my interest. What if it is not a good time for me? Or I change my mind about the expense for that month? I feel better knowing that it is already planned, weather or not I can attend.

On the good side, that LYS has another spinning planned in November.

Movin' right along (Dunca dun dunca dun)

The first scarf is now about 6 inches. I have a feeling that it will block a bit longer. I'm still not sure about the hats. The lady I'm doing these for says her 3 year old has a 20 inch head. This seems a bit excessive to me, since I have a 23 inch head, and upon first sight, you don't think of Mr. Potato head or an orange on a toothpick. I would think more like 15-18 inches. If anyone has a 2-3 year old, maybe I could get an average.

First attept, FAIL

I decided on a rather simple checkerboard scarf, alternating stockinette and moss stitch. unfortunately 4 stitches makes for a rather wide scarf. I'm still not sure how well it is going to work. The yarn is a marl, I believe a brown/grey. Marls tend to hide many patterns. I've only worked with one before, so I know that purl stitches show. I'll cast on with about 30 stitches and see what happened.

I think I knit under a hundred stitches

My yarn order came in, a day early at that. I'm certainly not one to say that I'm upset about that, but now I am thrown back into the commission knitting. I have to knit two scarves out of fingering weight. Unfortunately there aren't very many patterns out there for finger weight scarves. And I know they will take some time, so I need to start.

I ordered two different colors of Knit Picks new Essential kettle line. I had received four balls for my birthday. I enjoyed the diverse colors in each skein, but was quite upset that two, same color and dye lot, looked nothing alike. This order, I can barely see any difference in the colors. Unfortunate, because I was going to make a scarf with the jaywalker stitch, but with almost no variation, I'm not sure if that is the best idea.

Back to our regularly schedualed knitting

I am back to working on MY Christmas gifts. Mom’s gift was slow going before, but now it has been languishing for 13 days. Today I finally was able to take off the purple caps and reattached my much used size 7’s.

As I was knitting the wedding scarves, I thought the connecting ends of my needles looked duller. Well, it is definite now. The difference between the needles and the cord is fairly visible. I have mixed feelings about this, as I do with most things. This tarnish does nothing to the effectiveness of my needles. All it is, is the look. This could be seen as a badge of honor. Vintage needles, and heirlooms are made by being used. On the other hand, I LOVE shiny things. And these were a gift from my mother and I pride myself on how well I keep my things. I guess I'm worrying about nothing; it's not like I can fix it (Can I?), or I'm going to buy a whole other set just to replace my non-shiny 7's.

I also have a set of 3's that did this, though they just look darker. I guess it much be knit picks nickel plating.

Blogtoberfest

This just might be the kick I need to keep blogging. I’m not sure WHO I’m trying to kid with that idea, but someone must think it’s funny. I really do feel that blogging is something I should do. I did have a journal, and wrote in it fairly often. Then my husband bought me a really nice journal, and I stopped. Why? Because I began to work. When I was a SAHW (no kids, so I can’t have a M), I would have tons of feelings, and ideas to write. I got very emotional and my marriage had problems. DRAMA DRAMA DRAMA, as we say in our house. But when I started working, it all went away. Eventially..

Now I work a lot. I'm at work by about 7:15, and I leave anytime between 4:30 and 6:30. I do not get an hour lunch (I get 30 minutes at best), and I have one 10 minute break at around 10. I gets to be a long day at around 11. I go in on the weekends as well. So far the last two Sundays. I am fighting sleep by 8 p.m.

I know this is in no way healthy, but I can't help it at this time. I am a bit (read: really) disorganized and I tend to work on larger, not really necessary project, rather than the stuff that needs to be done for tomorrow.

Oh well, I don't want to think about work when it isn't around yet. Knitting has been constant the last two weeks. And boy do I have stuff to show for it. Two, count them, two cabled scarves. While a tad narrow, the one with the twist cable comes out at 75" (6' 3"), and the one with the braided cable is 64 (5' 4"). Both are a respectable size for their recipients, 6'+ and 5' 4". Each one took a week. The longer one was exactly a week, and I finished the other yesterday night. So 13 days. And now until my yarn order than has all of my other commission projects arrives (ETA: Saturday), I get to knit whatever I want!!

Chugging away

I'm actually pretty impressed with myself and how far I've gotten on the Wedding scarfs. I am at a little over 5 feet with the first one. I was planning for 6 to 6 1/2 feet for the whole thing, but I'll see. My goal was 1 foot a day, and while I was behind all week, I caught up last night. Well... kind of.... Yesterday should have been 6 feet, and I'm probably 6 inches short right now. I'd better go knit!

Pictures up soon!

What I have I gotten myself into

Last May, I mentioned my knitting to a co-worker, and she expressed an interest in a pair of socks for her son. Summer started without any solid plans. August came around and she again expressed her interest. I happened to have a single ball of sock yarn in a grey color. Two weeks later, a pair of ribbed size 8 socks. I didn't want to be paid for them; the yarn was cheap, and I was happy to knit for someone else, and in a quick knit.

Fast forward to last Wednesday, she comes to me to say she wanted to hire me to make some Christmas gifts. I thought, why not? I am planning on knitting some of my own gifts, but who says I can't squeeze in some small knits too.

Thursday we meet, and here is now my list:

2 cabled scarves for a Wedding on Oct 3rd! requested by her mother ( yes this means my ban on cables has been lifted.)
One sock/hat combo in Knit Picks Princess Multi for a 6 month old
One sock/hat combo in Knit Picks Lantana for a 2 year old
One hat/scarf combo for a 3 year old with a 20" head in Knit Picks Carbon Twist
One hat/scarf combo for a 2/3 year old with an even bigger head in Knit Picks Timber kettle

I know I'm crazy for agreeing, but if I ever want to do SOMETHING in knitting for a living, I have to start somewhere, and this seems as good a place as any.

Now I know a lot of people have a lot of opinions on how much to charge for hand knitted items, but I will not be charging a reasonable price for my time. I am a college educated professional, so in my job I am highly skilled. In knitting I have 3 years under my belt, with a wide variety of experience. I CANNOT reasonably charge for my time. The way I think of it, I'm already getting paid to do my professional job; knitting is what I do in my free time. I'd be knitting anyway in my free time, and NOT getting paid, so any money I make is gravy. My mom told me this when I was about 9, and wanted to make money making lanyards. And I still think this is be best advice for hand made items. I also, do not pretend to be as skilled as those who craft for a living. Balk at my decisions if you must, but I know I wouldn't pay $100 for an acrylic scarf. (Of course I won't pay $40 for a pair of shoes, and those are workhorses.)

Official Results

Edit: I wrote this when I should have, but never posted it.
I now consider my summer over. Yes, it is still hot, yes it is only August, but for me it is the start of fall. So how did I do on my goals?


1. Finish Manly Man sock. (not a real goal, as I have about 20 rows left on the second sock.)
2. Finish Cable Net socks. (The second one has been languishing since January.)
3. Finish Dem Fisher Sin Fru.
4. Finish the last handle on the Everlasting Bag Stopper.
5. Cast on and finish Tangled Yoke Cardigan.
6. Cast on and finish Brea Bag.
7. Cast on and finish Black Sea Hat.
8. Cast on and finish Odessa.
9. Cast on and finish Shedir.
10. Cast on and finish Sophie.

Not to mention I plan on finishing a few books:
1. An Assembly such as this
2. Fool Moon
3. Sense and Sensibility

3 knitting objects, and two books. However, I did finish some things that were NOT on my list. My small chevron scarf, which I also dyed and spun, a pair of fetching, and a hither to unmentioned pair of Evangeline mitts.

And it is coming to a close

My summer is rapidly coming to a close. I won't have made ALL of my goals, but I thought that might happen. Truthfully, the deluge of cables was what slowed me down the most. I am also getting antsy. I knit 20 stitches, then get up for something, sit back down, repeat for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. I cast on for Shedir on Sunday, and have been working steadily on it ever since. I'm using a worsted weight, so I think I'll only by knitting three repeats rather than 5.

Hopefully this will be finished before the week it out. I will post the round up of my summer goals either on Friday, or Sunday. (Guess it depends if I can finish the hat quickly.)

EDIT: FINISHED!

I made this post, was going to add an in-progess photo. but got distracted, and finished it.

Pattern: Shedir
Yarn: 1/2 Skein of Nashua Handknits Creative Focus Worsted in Carolina Blue
Needles: Size 3 Knit Picks DPN Nickle plated
Started: August 3rd
Completed: August 7th

I modified this slightly, as I was using a worsted weight. I used the recommended needles from the pattern, as I am a loose knitter, but I only did 3 out of the recommended 5 repeats of the pattern. I read in many projects they only used 4, so I figured the thicker yarn wouldn't require as many. All almost all my hats are, it is a bit too small. I have a large head, and I always over estimate how much the decreases will be. I'm not sure why I keep knitting beanies. They are not very flatering on me IMO; I look like a man. (Although, that isn't me in the photo.)

Next set of goals, only ONE cabled project.

Hollow Victories

So a week ago I took three of my FOs to the county fair. Last Friday I went to go see my things on display, and yesterday, I picked them up. The good news, all of my items placed. The bad news, I was the only entrant.

The good part of this whole experience, is that I put myself out there, which I do not normally do. I was active in my own "destiny" rather than sitting back and letting it happen. I also learned that I do not value empty victories. Which I think says a lot about my character.

Forgive me for not putting up any photos, this whole experience has been rather embarrassing and I haven't been able to put it completely behind me yet.

Sweater Harvesting

I am cheap. The "frugal" meaning of the word, mind you, but I prefer the negative connotations cheap has. "Frugal" gives a feeling of distinction to one's penny pinching ways. It portrays you as the sort of person who purchases the things they want in life, they just find good deals, or save up for them. Nope, I'm not that kind. I'm the kind that will go without purchasing clothes for a year, because the ones we own only "have a few holes", or "are just a bit faded". If my shoes are not LITERALLY falling off my feet, I don't feel I need them. A can of soup is a viable dinner in the middle of summer, when I won't turn the air conditioner on, if it's at the end of the month.

I believe that if you won't pay for things, you should find an alternate way. With many things, it is simply to give them up. For things like food, have a garden and harvest your own. That being said, I crave yarn. I can't own sheep so, when I just can't get myself to buy yarn, I go to the thrift store to find my harvest.

I found a lovely merino sweater the other day:

I ripped open the seams, and started pulling.

I'm quite happy with the result at the moment. It was knit double stranded in a lace weight. I've ripped both sleeves and a good portion of the front. However, I'm putting it on hold until the husband returns and he can wind one of the strands and I the other. I tried it my self, but the strands are twisted just enough that slowly pulling one side, then the other catches the fuzz into a ball and makes a lovely felted knot holding them together. I hate leaving the hard work for last and I'd rather unkink the yarn after I did the horrendous task of separating kinked lace weight.




And now to contradict myself. I am TOTALLY buying myself yarn if I won anything at the fair.

Allow me to boast a tad

I have heard, on occasion, of some lucky person finding a treasure at a thrift store or garage sale. In fact, the nearly weekly trips my father made in the non-rainy seasons were called "Treasure Hunts." I myself have found one such thing; a set of four coffee mugs in my mother's Mikasa pattern (I still look at the mugs every time I go in.) However, this was years ago, and nothing spectacular has happened since. In literary terms, this is called foreshadowing.

Yesterday I went to a local thrift store for some sweater harvesting. I found a lovely cream (read dyeable) cabled wool men's sweater (Pretty much a trifecta), but low and behold upon further inspection, it was sergered and cut. I did find a merino wool ladies sweater, but I fear it may be too fine a gauge to be successful.

However, I did go and check the bin with the lumped together yarns. Mostly it is all acrylics or crochet cotton. One bag caught me eye. It contained two large skeins?/balls? of crochet cotton. One was unopened and 1000 yards, other had to be at least 500. More than enough to make one of the doilies I've been eyeing. There were a few other things that were interesting, a skein of Christmas acrylic, a smaller ball of size 30 cotton, and a few balls of some fuzzy stuff. 2.29 and Wednesdays are 20% off.

I had to rip it open as soon as I got in the car. The loot:

The fuzzy stuff was incredible! So soft and I had about 2.5 balls in white and 2 mildly matted balls in camel. There was no ball band, but inside was an odd hexagon cardboard with tabs to give the ball something to wind on. All it said was Belangor Made in Belguim.

And on to Ravelry I flew. The Christmas acrylic was not on Ravelry, which I quickly corrected, but the sinful fuzziness was a bit harder. I assumed "Belangor" was the city, as the husband said as much. No tags. So to yahoo I went.

With just Belangor yarn I found my answer. Joseph Galler Belangor French Angora. Angora. 100% French angora! Almost $50 of angora yarn! I can't believe it. I just have to find something to do with it. I only have 145 yards of it, but I am most grateful for it.

The tiniest of scarves

I couldn't just let my handspun sit there. I had to do something with it. It is VERY scratchy, and is making my hand eczema flare like nobody's business. (Did I never mention the eczema? Had it for years, went into remission for as long, then came back with a lovely friend for my knitting hand. I suspect I don't react well to cotton (?) and lanolin.) So this made the option of fingerless mitts a torture devise. Home items, such as a satchel were possible, however partially due to the eczema, I am not a fan of scenting anything. *

So a scarf it was. Being the math master that I am (sarcasm is one of my favorite flavors of humor to employ. As is mixing metaphors.) I tried to figure out how long I could conceivably make it. Watch as logic slowly gets twisted to my reality of how things should be. The longest I could make it would be 97 yards, meaning a string of yarn wrapped about my neck. If I divided it in half, it would be two strings wide, and 48.5 yards long. Now if I turned it on it's side, making it 48.5 yards WIDE, I could begin to fold the yarn upon itself making it narrower and narrower,, but longer and longer. SO, if I wanted a 5 foot long scarf, (97 yards x 3 ft/yd= 220 ft; 220ft/5ft= 4.4ft) I would need to use 4 feet a repeat.

Do you see the problems?

First off, dividing a piece of yarn in half does reduce the length, and make it twice as wide, but the width is increased by the width of A SINGLE PLY! Did I measure that? No, so all of my math was completely arbitrary. Second, notice the last math step? 220ft/5ft=4.4ft. I obviously didn't write any of this down before hand, because as any fourth grader can tell you, when you are dividing with lengths, the length is canceled out. ft/ft= no ft! And it's wrong!! I didn't hit the 0 on my computer calculator. (Twice I might add, because I do always check my numbers. But apparently never the logic.)

So how did I find out my 97 yards was becoming a 20 inch scarf? I started knitting, noticed how slowly it was growing, measured it, frogged it to see how much yarn I had used and did some GOOD calculations. In the end, what did I do? I swatched. All that math, All the fiddling with the concrete laws of mass conservation and what did I learn?

Swatching is there for a reason.

* As an aside to this, the husband visits friends once a week and when he returns I immediately make him take off his shirt. Am I just so filled with longing from his absence I am reduced to a frantic animal? No. He smells like the detergent they use, and I can't stand it! Detergent was the original trigger for my eczema and I didn't find out until I left for college. I now have a gut reaction to detergent smells. I almost always hug him when he gets home (if I'm knitting then he has to wait until I finish the row), and every Wednesday I hug him, then forcefully push him away. Mixed message sent, I make a disguised face and demand the removal of the offending shirt before it sinks into his skin. I have a more sensitive nose than he, so he never notices.

True success

I made quite a few goals for myself this summer, many of which will not be completed. I am ok with this. I knew that it might be too much, and I was distracted by some other projects. It's not to say I won't have some others of my goals finished before my summer is officially over, but the most important one is.

My Cable Net socks. I spoke on length about this projects in this post, so I won't go into too many details. The point is, they are done. DONE Done done-y done done done. I am happy with them, they fit extreamely well and are not completely itchy like my last (and first) socks. These are my fifth completed socks and the second for me. My plans for these: never wear the until next year!

What! you say. How can you say such a travesty? Do you know how many knitter's families would like a completed pair of socks, instead fo having them be WIP set aside for more interesting, popular projects?

I am tremendously proud of these socks, and want as many people as possible to see them. I want to submit them into either the state fair, or the local county fair. Since the deadlines have past for both, I have to wait for next year. I also want to see what kind of things get submitted. I put in a few things for the county fair this year, since it was cheaper, and I was less intimidated by the local fair. I'll find out how I did by the end of the week, and maybe I'll go see the state fair so I can better judge what I should put in next year.

Adventures in spinning

A week ago Saturday I want to Dixon's Lambtown. It is a fairly small festival, but I wanted the opportunity to take a spinning class. The only spinning class given in my area requires owning a spindle and a set of carders on top of the fee for the class. So, after two hours with my small spindle I had a tiny ball that I plyed on itself.

Two spindlefuls later I tried plying. I got this:
I still had quite a bit of the first ball of roving, but I was tired of poorly spinning plain colored, ugly yarn. I decided to try dyeing the roving, hoping color would detract from the poor spinning. After WAY too much research, I started to dye.

I set out the saran wrap on my table, while my roving soaked. I prepared two colors. The first was two packages of Ice Blue Raspeberry Lemonaide in a lot of water. I added a sprinkling of Grape, and another half package of Ice Blue. I made a batch of dark red (two packaged Black Cherry), with only 7 tablespoons of water. I was afraid the blue was too thin, so I boiled it a bit to get some water out. Of course I then had to let it cool. I layed the roving out, folding it four times. (unfortunately I did not do this with the ends at the ends of the bends, and this caused some potential problems later, which never came up since I didn't ply it.)

I dyed the red first in patches. I worked the dye into the roving. It took a lot more dye than I thought, but didn't realize that the dye would spread later. I did the blue and lightly worked them together. I rolled it up and started to steam it. Here came the unexpected complications.

The water was too high and leaked into my steamer, and in turn into the roving. This caused the dye to blend more. I had to empty out some of the water and I turned the roving sausage over. It continued to steam, and the dye continued to leak. I didn't need to use so much. The steaming process would have spread out the dye to the undyed fibers. Or, maybe if I had wrapped the sausage tighter to prevent water/steam from getting in.

After 30~40 minutes I put the sausage into a glass brownie pan (8X8 Pyrex) and microwaved it for about 1 minute to make sure the dye was set. (I didn't do the whole 2 minutes recommended because the sausage was puffing up to the point I was afraid it would burst.) I set the whole thing into the sink to cool. It expedite the process I filled the bottom with water until the touched just the bottom of the pan. I added some ice to help out too.

After it cooled I rinsed it, and set it out to dry. I was happy to see that almost no dye came out from the roving. The whole process made the house smell fruity. It reminded me of getting snowcones with my family in the summer. The only flavor I could remember was "Tiger's blood", so that was what I named it.
I spun it, but figured out I would only get 35 yards if I plyed. So I decided to make it a one ply. Of course, it was terribly over spun.I washed the yarn, set the twist, then "blocked it" out. I dry it with a 4 pound bag of sugar hanging from the bottom. The finished skein, dyed, spun and set by me:
97 yards of somewhere between a fingering and a lace weight. And I have no idea what to do with it.

Lambtown

I am heading to Lambtown! Hopefully the spoils will be up next time.

My inspired Anthropologie-Inspired Capelet

A few weeks ago I was cleaning out the craft room and found a bag of acrylic I had purchased for gifts about a year ago. I had the intention of knitting scarves for Christmas gifts, but I was too busy and I was not interested as much in knitting at the time. (I know, the HORROR!) Well, it didn't take too long for me to be hit hard by the knitting bug, and to find I preferred nicer colors, and thinner yarn. I knew I had this yarn somewhere, but never could find it.

Now that I have, my stash has gotten bigger, and I would like to rid myself of the bulky stash filler. I had queued the Anthropologie-inspired capelet awhile ago, and I had a quiet enough bulky weight, so casting on I went. The knit went pretty fast, but I could see that I would have a lot left. Now lately I've been finishing off skeins with about 11 yards left. (This is called fore-shadowing) Too much for me to throw away, but not enough to find a project. I had incentive to try to use up as much as I could. So I decided to add a lace edge.

A few months ago I had seen a lace cover-up that I loved. I charted the pattern as best I could (and I'm sure weirded out the kid wearing it). Of course, I left the pattern at work so, I used A Gathering of Lace to look for an arrow-head like pattern. I had 89 stitches on the body, and while there was a 12 stitch repeat pattern I really liked, I found a nice 8 stitch. With 11 repeats this would make 88 stitches. I decreased on in the middle of the back, and I began to plot.

The sleeves only had 38 stitches, so I would need to increase somehow. I decided a simple row of eyelets would not only make the increases on the sleeves invisible, but would allow me to add a decorative ribbon. This turned out the be the hardest part. An eyelet every 8 stitches would make an even pattern. The FIRST time I knit on the body, I had the incite to make the first eyelet only 4 stitches in so they would be even in the front. Unfortunately I actually made them every 9 stitches, so I was completely wrong. The SECOND time, I found out I had an odd number of eyelets and it would make the ribbon come out on the inside of the capelet on one side. For the THIRD time, I made them every 4 stitches (thus doubling the number of eyelets and ensuring the ribbon came out right), but found out at the end that I had forgotten to make the first eyelet at half the repeat. This made the first one three stitches in from the "buttonband", but the last one right on it. I couldn't let that go, so I knit it a FOURTH time. The lace went easier. The only other real "fub" I had to fix was that I originally cast-off with a picot on every stitch. It reminded me of a cheap fringed jacket from the 70's. I decided to make one at every point in the lace.

I messed up a bit on the sleeves. I made one eyelet a stitch off, but it ended up matching up with the lace. Unfortunately I didn't notice until after I didn't get the same result on the other sleeve.

I then killed it so it would drape. I am currently adding some embellishments to the picot points. While this is a potentially reversible knit, the lace and the soon to be added extras will make it a preferred stockinette side. I haven't been able to look for ribbon, but I hope to fix that soon.
PS: This is what I had left:
Yep. 11 yards.

Pictures galore!

So, I was properly shamed after the last post and I immediately got dressed and took pictures of all my projects.

I finished a pair of hats and a pair of fingerless mitts. (Although, when I described them as such to my family, they didn't really get the picture. A better description became wrist warmers with a thumb .)

First up:Pattern: Odessa by grumperina
Yarn: Crystal Palace Merino 5 in white
Needle size: 6
Started: June 20
Completed: June 22

After I made my mother's Odessa, I knew I wanted one for myself. I bought two of these skeins, but found that the hat as written would take a little of the second. I decided to end the hat a little early to save the entire second skein. The hat is a little small, but I think I can live with it. It yarn did break A LOT as I threaded the beads. One ply would break, then the rest would quickly follow. But don't worry, the yarn got it's revenge. I actually broke my big eye needle too working on this .

Next:
Pattern: Black Sea Hat by; grumperina
Yarn: Most of one skein of Frog Tree Pima Silk in purple
Needle Size: 4
Started: June 22
Completed: July 1

I had purchased two skeins of this yarn at the closing of Knitter's Playground in Davis, in order to make a hat for my mom. I did make the hat (the Odessa), but it only took one skein. I decided to make this hat for myself with the leftovers, but couldn't find the beads. So I used the extras from MY Odessa.

Then:
Pattern: Fetching
Yarn: Crystal Palace merino 5 in white
Needle: 5
Started: July 2
Finished: July 4

I am working on stash busting as well as my summer goals. Since Odessa only took up one skein, I decided to make these out of the second one. I still have 11 yards left, but I consider it used up or all intents and purposes.

And because I never can be idle:

This is Anthopologie-inspired Capelet. I added a few modifications, and since this is a long enough post (although slightly dry) I'll post about it tomorrow.

Confessions

I have not been blogging for two reasons, and I am going to be perfectly honest here. One, I have been busy outside of the house for the last week, and time in the house without the husband has been limited. Let me clarify that. I do not blog when the husband is around. Why you might ask. "Are you making a concerted effort to spend evenings together?" No. In fact, it is a normal occurance for the TV to be on, and both of us to be on our laptops all at the same time. Usually one of us is watching the TV and surfing (me) or writing (him), while the other watches a show on their laptop (some anime for him, and Doctor Who for me). The fact I don't write the blog in front of him is because I don't really want him involved. He has to deal with my knitting obsession every other time of the day and the blog is so I don't have to tell him EVERYTHING. Bottom line, I blog to save his sanity.

Reason two, and here is where the ugly truth comes in. I have been knitting, and in fact have finished a few projects, but I refuse to call them finished on Ravelry, or talk about them here unless I get a picture. I have not taken pictures of my FOs because I would like natural light to have good pictures, but to get natural light you have to go outside and to go outside (here's the kicker) you have to get dressed. And I don't want to.

It is hot here in my little part of the world, and I won't turn on the air conditioner. (I also can't, but that's another story.) So getting up the effort to put on jeans in 90-100 degree heat is just not worth it, especially if I'm only going to have to go out in the horribly smoky heat, just to come in 5 minutes later, strip off the heavy clothes and return to my cotton jammies. (You might be able to guess where abouts I live from that.) I will get pictures soon. Maybe even today. After reading that back, I'm a little ashamed of myself. I'm an adult, I probably should make an effort to get dressed when I'm not sick.


Oh, in case you're all wondering what I do when it comes to work, I'm on vacation. So it's not like I'm walking into an office in bunny slippers and a robe or anything,

DONE DONE DONE

I actually finished on the 18th, but life has been getting in the way. And this week I have some commitments on my time.

I love this so much. I cannot wait until fall comes around. I also finished my Odessa, but the camera is dead at the moment. Now I have to be off. I have homework.

Almost there

No pictures, sorry. The husband had to steal the camera.

I reached the unfortunate "I'm done with this, but it isn't done with me" stage on the Tangled yoke about half a week ago. The cables are what done it to me. I now realize why I can't pick up the Cable Net sock. They take so long, and are so fiddly. I love the way they look, but between these two projects, I am DONE with cables for a while.

I finished the collar, and was extremely happy with it. I had never done a three needle bind off, but I really like the results. I tried to do the button band, but I started on the right side instead of the wrong. (Ironic...) I then decided to re pick up the stitches as I had not done it too evenly. I was worried that since I couldn't pick the stitches up in the same way on the other side, the ribbing wouldn't match. I now no longer really care... but I still ripped it out. The stitches were stretched out, so I decided to "block it". It's more like soak it then lay it out. But I can see why swatches lie. I picked up the sopping thing and it just stretched. With all that weight from the water and the rest of the cardigan, I'm now worried it will be huge, hah! and I was worried the fronts would be too small. I squished it around a bit, so I think it will be ok. With the heat here, it's almost dry. In the meantime I'm working the cabled heel flap of the Cable Net.

The trials and tribuations of cardi construction

I finished the second sleeve Wednesday night and decided to go ahead and try to connect them at 10:30 at night. Quite harrowing.

The instructions are a little vague, but I understood how the yoke was supposed to work. Knit the right side of the body, add the sleeve and knit the top part of the sleeve, knit the back, then add the other sleeve. Stitches on the bottom of the sleeves would be grafted to the body. The problem was that the instructions said to "return held stitches for right sleeve to needle with RS facing". This made no sense to me, as if I added them to the needle I was using for the body they wouldn't be knit. I took this to actually mean to return them to the dpns and knit the stitches from there. This worked out, and the sleeves were attached.

The problem was that there was a hole where the sleeve stitches were stretched apart. It reminded me of the hole made when you're picking up the stitches for the gusset of a sock. The problem was that I wasn't knitting these and I couldn't reknit anything I picked up. I decided to kitchener the underarm seams right away, rather than waiting until the end. Problem was that the yarn left from the sleeve was in the middle of what I was supposed to graft. I just ran the yarn through the stitches and grafted.

Two notes. One: the yarn that I threaded though showed on the RS. I accepted it since it would be under my arm. Two: I had to spit join more yarn to finish the graft. That was a PITA. The join wouldn't hold, and because I was threading rather than knitting, the small ends kept catching and pulling back. I am a bit worried that some parts of my grafting is only with one ply. I wish it was noted in the pattern to make it a long tail.

I didn't like the way the yarn showed thought when I threaded it, so with the second underarm I decided to knit the stitches so the tail was at the end for grafting. I still had to join more yarn to finish, but I did it sooner so I didn't have to deal with trying to join with a too small tail. Now I am knitting the yoke. Knitting the yoke over the sleeves was a but difficult at first. It was too tight and I had to hold my needles in a very stilted way.

I'm hoping to get the plain part of the yoke done today, as the husband will be gone and finally has some work. I love him, but I never seem to get much knitting done when he's home.

Tangled Yoke Cardigan, but no tangles, and no yokes

When we last left our hero, hints were made as to projects begun.... So, yeah, I cast on for the Tangled Yoke Cardigan. This is in fact the only large fitted project I have yarn for. Deciding to do this was part desire, and part stash busting. I have a bit of history with this pattern.

The Interweave Knits that this pattern came in was the second one I purchased and I fell in love with many of the things inside. But at this point in time, I had only knit scarves, a few toys, a hat, and a pair of socks. I thought jumping to a cardigan might be too much. I discussed this a bit with some ladies at a LYS and they said it would be ok. They recommended a yarn, but since they didn't have enough in the only color I liked, an order was put in. (My mother, btw, purchased the yarn, as I could not bring myself to pay 40+ for a sweater I had to make and that might not fit. I have many hurtles to get over in my yarn purchasing. :) ) The yarn, however, was very late in coming. I called, and waited; family members closer to the LYS than me dropped in. It took over a month. By that time the urge to knit it was over, I was over my head in work and I knew I could never finish before winter was over. So the yarn "cured". It actually never made it into my normal stash. For some reason it was exiled in the "sewing room" with the novelty acrylics bought on sale at the big chain, before I learned of "wool" and it's mystical properties. It was found about a month later, at Christmas. Time + yarn should have equaled WIP, but no. The cardigan had attained epic status. I would never get gauge. I would never be able to follow that pattern. I was sure to end up with a huge bag of frogged yarn. Besides, I had signed up for a KAL in November; my first, and it was set to start in a few weeks. There was no way I could deal with two big projects.

Months past, KALs were signed up for and completed. Patterns were saved and stored for later. Lace weights were horded. Summer began to appear on the horizon. The pattern still intimidated me. I tried to read though it, but everything past the first page looked like gobbledy-gook. (This in itself was actual progress, back in October, I couldn't get past the first paragraph.) But, I thought, I have tackled lace, which many say is difficult, and they included cables, which some say are tedious, and I could read a chart, which many worried over. Maybe, just maybe I could do this.

And so, last Monday evening, I cast on. And now, One week and one day later I have this:I am completely impressed and proud of myself.